Alex:
Alex went home to be with the Lord on August 24, 2006. Alex is the fourth of seven children born to Christian parents and was raised in a Baptist church. He accepted Jesus as his savior at an evangelistic crusade when he was 14. After high school he attended Keene State College in NH for two years then New England School of Broadcasting for a year before joining the U. S. Army. After discharge, his work was mainly in construction.
Laurie:
Laurie is the oldest of four children born into a Roman Catholic family. She always believed that God is, that the good go to heaven and the bad go to hell but it wasn't until she was 22 that she heard, at a Billy Graham Crusade, that she could be sure of going to heaven. She immediately took Jesus' offer but it was nearly a year before she came to realize that God knows best about everything and decided to live his way.
Alex and Laurie:
Early in their marriage they spent three years in Japan with the U. S. Army and attended the weekly Bible study where the group consisted of people from many different denominations. This exposure challenged them to re-evaluate their beliefs. It forced them into the Word and, as a result, they took ownership of their beliefs rather than having hand-me-down beliefs from pastors and family.
In late 1991 a friend challenged them to pray about joining her and her husband as missionaries in Ethiopia, the second poorest nation in the world. It was easy to see what Alex could do but due to Laurie's physical condition it seemed impossible - she had been a semi-invalid for seven or eight years. However, at their friend's insistence, they prayed and told God they were willing if that's what he wanted. Six months later, immediately after they read Neil Anderson's The Bondage Breaker together, God healed Laurie, making it possible. By this time Alex had already received his bachelor's degree and now returned to school at Eastern College in PA to earn his master's degree in economic development. They have a son and a daughter and four grandchildren.
Laurie works with malnourished and handicapped children at Hope Renewing Center. Laurie cared for 32 children with a wide variety of problems including:
Brain injuries,
Major infections,
Advanced TB,
Paralyses and contractures due polio,
Serious burns, and
Severe malnutrition.
Currently Laurie is receiving additional training in the care and treatment of the brain injured so she can further help these children in Wolaitta, Ethiopia.
You can contact Laurie at:
Laurie Blakney
Equip, Inc.
P. O. Box 1126
Marion, NC 28752-1126
or by E-mail at: wolaitta@joimail.com
Delight in the Lord always and He will give you the desires of your heart. [Psalm 37:4, NIV]
Pictures of the children
Pic1Child#21
Pic2Child#60
Pic3Child#72
Pic4Child#95
Pic5Child#73
Pic5Child#73 another picture
Pic6Child#81
Pic7Child#85
Pic8Child#98
Pic9Child#100
Pic10Child#84
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