The Time is Drawing Near! Please Help.

I know that many of you may be getting tired of my pleas for help, but please read the caption of this photo. This is why I am going to Kenya!!! I have been placed on a medical team as well as a women's ministry team to assist these at-risk expectant mothers. I still need to raise $1194 to be donated directly to Home of Hope in my stead.http://homeofhope.ca/sponsor/onlinesponsorshipform I only have a few more weeks before the deadline! Please help me go to Africa. For these women, their babies and for all of those who have donated for me already. I don't want to let them down!

We want to REACH them before they need to be rescued:
One of  Home of Hope's FAVOURITE projects right now is helping starving, 
pregnant prostitutes in Kenya who see the sign to not throw 
their babies away. You can partner with us to help women and save their children.

Love,

Michelle

Lights, Camera, Action!

We're so excited!  As you can see, we've made some updates to our blog to help you see how we're doing with our fundraising as well as make it easier for you to donate.  Thank you so much for your donations thus far.  We are praying God's blessings for all of you!!

A quick update, Lacey is still at about $1681.78 and I, Michelle, have now raised $448.22!  Slowly but surely we are making it!

We will be starting our Facebook auction within the week and will post a link here.  We now have several more items for all of you to bid on including plumbing services, massage, doula services, and more!

The big news for today is that we will be on Global News Lethbridge tonight with Mark Campbell!  Check us out at 6:00 pm.  The broadcast will also be online.  We will share video here when it is posted.

We will also be appearing on the Miracle Channel program entitled INSIGHT.  We will be on-air twice in March.  Once earlier in the month and again on March 25th.  We will keep you updated you on that as well.

Finally, we'd like to leave you with the following video.  As you watch, let these children move your heart.  Look at what God can do!  Look at what you can do and are doing as you support us to reach these little ones.  We cannot wait to hold them in our arms!

God bless you all!

Love,

Michelle

Mums to Slums

I write to you today at the end of a wonderful day. Have you ever reconnected with old friends, and there is a feeling that you were never apart for long? Such was the case for me today as I re-visted my MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group. Due to doing preschool at home, I have been unable to attend this year, but was invited back to speak about our trip to Africa. What a blessing! I have truly missed getting together with other moms in the same life stage to discuss our current struggles and (sometimes) distant dreams. 

We talked a lot about the slum in Nairobi, Kenya that Michelle and I will be visiting.I have been learning a little about the slums there. About how dangerous they can be. About the open sewers. About how many people live in such a crowded area. About the despair.  But I know it is God's will that we go, and I want to be His tool, guided by His hands.  It is for His children that I want to go and not only help, but to learn from the people there. I may have grown up and live in the elite of the world, but I am well aware that these people and babies halfway across the world have much to teach me.

After a whirl wind day of being here and there, I am ready to take some time with my Maker to be still. I ask that you too do the same, and pray for those living in the slums throughout the world. Although this is normally declared at the beginning of the day, I can gladly declare that This is the Day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Sharing God's Love

I am happy to be posting for the first time ever on a blog! The purpose of my post today is to explain a little bit about who I am, and why I want to go to Africa.

For those who don't know me, I grew up in the Lethbridge area and have been a Christian for my whole life. I was blessed to be raised in a home where I was taught about God and His love for mankind. Two years ago, God called us to our local mission at Streets Alive. Through a few miraculous events, God made it clear that He wanted us to serve there. I have learned lots, but have so much more to learn about showing God's love! A little over a year ago I heard a message by Brian Thomson - the director of Home of Hope. As soon as he talked about how they were rescuing babies from a dump in Kenya, I knew I wanted to go and help. We had two little girls at the time and were expecting our third child. I have never considered myself a "natural born" mom, and God has taught me much about loving my kids. I believe that He has taught me this not just for my own kids, but to show God's love to orphans and widows too. I want to live James 1:27 and visit the orphans and widows. This trip to Africa will most likely be my only chance to go as a wet nurse, and I am excited to do so.

I have asked God if it is His will that I go on this trip, and He answered me with an undoubtable YES! He has also designed it so that I cannot pay my own way to go, so I have to trust Him. Thank you for this opportunity God! You are my biggest supporter!

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