Awesome Responsibility

First, some updates:  The flights have been booked!  We're counting down to April 30th when we will fly out of Calgary with the HOH Team!  Lacey has raised $1680 so far. (Woo Hoo!!)  I have raised $300. I am looking for a job to help me raise funds, though so far it has been difficult to find something that works around church and our family's schedule.  We will be booking our immunizations soon (ouch!) and are continuing to look for businesses to donate to our online auction, which will unfortunately will not be able to take place before Valentine's Day.

Now to the reason I'm writing today.  I recently received an amazing and completely unexpected donation.  I was so touched by it that I started thinking about how much I feel responsible to each of our donors.  Let me explain.  We, of course, are seeking to do what we can for the women and children of Rwanda and Kenya.  We want to be tools in the hands of our Heavenly Father.  We must not, however, forget that you, our donors, have entrusted us with a great responsibility to see through this mission trip.  We must work hard to raise the funds to completely pay for our trip so that we are able to go to Africa and do this work.  When we are there, we promise to remember each of you as we do the work we are assigned to.  When we see the faces of the children, we will remember that it is because of you that we are able to help them.  It is an awesome responsibility and one we do not take lightly.

In closing I would like to share with you a video about one of the ministries we will be involved in.  It is called The Stella Project.

A special thanks to each of you who has donated, read our blog and said a prayer for us.  May you be greatly blessed!

Love,

Michelle

Why Africa?

Thank you so much for visiting our blog.  I'd like to begin by giving you a little background into why I personally feel so strongly about embarking upon a mission trip to Africa - specifically Rwanda and Kenya - this Spring 2013.

When I was growing up, we had visiting ministers come to our church several times a year.  Many of them had worked in "far off lands" like India, Africa and Asia.  I would fight to sit close to these people of God and listen to their stories of the mission work that they did.  One story particularly touched my heart, even as a little girl, and I've never forgotten it.

Somewhere in Africa, I'm not completely sure of the country, there was a place where children were taken and murdered.  A trough ran to a body of water and it spilled over as a river of blood.

I prayed often for these children and their lost souls.  From my early childhood on, I felt a strong connection to infants and expectant mothers.  In my adulthood, after my own children were born, I found my calling as a certified birth doula and I now work helping families welcome newborns into their homes.  

I try to keep abreast of women's and children's issues worldwide and advocate for better healthcare during the childbearing year.  Still, I was shocked when my longtime friend, Lacey Klassen, told me about what was happening in Kenya.  Newborn children are being thrown away in a city dump. Home of Hope is working to rescue these children and have set up the Dream Centre, where children are fed and cared for.  Yet, with so many children being left in the dump, Home of Hope has their hands full caring for them and needs volunteers to help with feeding, educating and supporting expectant mothers, and even simply holding and loving these sweet little ones.  

After months of praying and talking things over with my husband and my two children, I feel compelled to go to Kenya and Rwanda to assist Home of Hope in their efforts.  I know that there may be dangers, but I do not fear.  I know the Lord is with us and He will protect us.  I dream of the faces of infants and children.  I dream of their mothers in their desperation.  A piece of my heart is in Africa and I know a bigger piece of my heart will be left there when I return from mission work.  

Dear family, friends and supporters, I ask for your prayers.  Pray for the children.  Pray for Home of Hope.  Pray for Lacey and me in our efforts to raise funds to go to Africa and, above all, pray for our safe travels.  We look forward to sharing our journey with you.  We are so thankful for your continued support!  

God Bless You All!

Love,

Michelle