Thursday, December 22, 2011

Dreaming of Christmas... in Mozambique!

 It blows my mind every once in awhile that it was in 2008 that I first felt called to spend Christmas in an orphanage. Now for my 2nd year in a row, I will celebrate Christmas in an orphanage… who cares that it isn’t on December 25th. I’m happy to celebrate the birth of Jesus any day of the year and so are the kids and staff in Mozambique!

As if it’s not enough work to raise financial support for myself, I’ve been busy collecting money and gifts for the kids in Mozambique. I have to say that it’s a really hard balancing act… since I don’t have all of my financial support raised I should probably be focusing more on that, but I really want the kids & staff at the Center to be blessed this Christmas!

It thrills me that people are so generous and it’s so awesome to see how faithful God is with carrying out the crazy things he lays on my heart! I also love that God has given me the gift of giving and I get to put it to such good use!

This Christmas God has given me big ideas for the kids… well maybe the ideas aren’t big but when you are trying to buy gifts for 15 – 40 people and then travel 8000 miles with them… it’s a big deal! I’m planning to take as many water bottles, headlamps, pairs of underwear, watches, coloring books, crayons and key chains over as my bags will allow! I’m also excited that I will be able to buy bigger things like shoes and soccer balls in Maputo (the capital city).

Here are a few specific things I’ve been doing to gather donations for the kids & staff this Christmas...

Two weeks ago Genesis: the Church held it’s annual Hope for the Holidays market. I sold items hand-made in Mozambique and also collected donations for the things I plan to purchase in Maputo.

I’ve also had an amazing opportunity this year at Barnes & Noble (in Grosse Pointe, MI)… I’ve been wrapping presents for donations! I love wrapping and I love that the donations will help us to buy Christmas presents in Pemba this year!

I’m such a planner when it comes to things like this. I’ve budgeted out everything from a low to high figure and how many each dollar amount allows me to buy for. Also as the number goes up it allows me to splurge a little more and buy good shoes for each child and a few fun things for the kids to share… like a few remote controlled cars =) Who doesn’t love a remote controlled car?!

I’m happy to say that I’m right around my low figure and I think after wrapping gifts this Friday and Saturday I will have enough money to buy all the kids (in the house) new shoes! And these are just my efforts alone! 

So I guess that means it time to get back to my own fundraising.

But one last thing… I’m featured in the Christmas video this year, so be sure to check it out, it's only 2 minutes long.


Support Update:
I’ve raised 68% of the funds needed for my trip in January and 21% of my goal for monthly support for long-term ministry.

Prayer Requests:
-  With 20 days before my trip, I’m starting on some of my final preparations. Just that I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed with all that I need to accomplish in 20 days.
-  I sent my visa application off on Monday (passport included). Join me in praying that I filled everything out correctly and that I will get everything back in a timely manner.
-  That God would continue to give me peace and direction about the role I’m in. That He would give me more ideas than I know what to do with and the resources to see them through!



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