Ecuadorian House Fire, Rooted Response

        Gangbusters! This January has been incredible. We are blown away by the growing support and enthusiasm around Rooted. Sales have been more than anything we would have dreamed of at this stage, and our small Rooted Team has been running to keep up! Each month we strive to find the right need to address with our “Good For Others” policy (our commitment to give 10% of Rooted Sales to uplift someone in need). That is why Sunday morning January 17th when we got a text from one of our dear friends serving in Ecuador, we knew. In fact just that morning in church we had asked the Lord to highlight the need for this month's give back. 

        Teresa Kiehl and her amazing family are serving full-time in Ecuador. They live a beautifully simple and sacrificial life ministering to a rural region of the upper amazon. A text message this particular Sunday morning alerted us to a humble family from a neighboring village who had just lost everything they owned to a fire. The night prior, an arc from the electrical line servicing their small house, sparked a fire that devoured EVERYTHING. Which for this humble family, was not a lot to begin with. Thank God no one was hurt, though I can only imagine the sadness Modesto and his wife Jacinta must have felt watching their simple hut go up in flames. Modesto and Jacinta, along with many of their indigenous community, earn their livelihood from working the land. They grow cacao (from which chocolate is made), corn, yuca, plantains and bananas. They even raise a few chickens and have a couple pigs. They have raised their beautiful family of 7 children on this land for the last 15 years, and when the need arose, Jacinta and Modesto generously welcomed their daughter-in-law and grandchild to live with them a few years back. All told, that adds up to 11 souls displaced by the fire! Currently the family is living with a neighbor who has opened their home to them as they rebuild.

        This is the point in the story where YOU come in! Thanks to your Rooted purchases this January, we were able to advance Teresa funds to kickstart the rebuilding process of Modesto and Jacinta’s home. I know the support we sent was an answer to the prayers that would have been uttered as this family witnessed their home turning to ash. We are so grateful that we are able to be a part of their life rebuilding, and we hope to share updates on their progress in the weeks/months to come. Thanks again for the difference your purchases are making for those in need around the world!

An Update on Ria:

        Maybe you will remember baby Ria from India who we were able to sponsor with the milk she needed for a month, as her mother Reshma is unable to nurse her due to a medical condition and the treatment she is undergoing. Thanks to your continued endorsement of Rooted products, we were able to ensure that Ria gets her nutritional needs met by providing the formula she needs for another 4 months! This is a really critical stage in Baby Ria’s development, and YOUR purchases this month made all that possible!