The nitty gritty...

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks until our family Senders take our family Goers to the airport.  

Our trip to Uganda is fast approaching.  

It has been a great journey for our family as we've learned to ask, trust, wait, work, receive and persevere.

We've stamped, stuffed and labeled hundreds of letters...

...and thank you notes!

We had some Skype training with our friends at Lahash International...

We've spent hours at the immunization clinic doing our least favorite activity of all... shots!

We're working on an update postcard to send out next week... 

And coming soon.... 

Bryan and Daniel learn how to do JoyAnna's hair in preparation for 18 days without Mama...

It has been a good season of loving and learning together.  

Friends, thank you for joining us.  

We couldn't do this without you!

When one thing leads to another...

Do you remember when we dreamed up "Hoops for Homes" as a creative way to use ability and interest to raise funds for housing in East Africa?

Daniel practiced, our family worked alongside him and you partnered with us. 293 hoops in 30 minutes with over $5,500 raised.

But it didn't end there. Because sometimes the first step is just the beginning...

Daniel's local, public school invited Daniel to talk about H4H on their video announcements.  He was nervous, but he courageously shared about the project.  His school asked what they could do...

...and that was an invitation for Daniel, Josiah & JoyAnna to ask their classes to donate school supplies for us to take with us in December.

And then John Z.'s teacher at the Middle School caught the vision and offered to make "Supplies for Students" their 6th grade Thanksgiving project.

And sometimes our small step is just the spark of courage needed to fan the flames of creative vision in another...  

Charis is a young lady knitting beautiful bears to raise money to build homes. Her goal is to raise $500.

And Casey hasn't had short hair since 1995, but all that changed when he decided that hair might very well be his small step. $5,072.70 came in and today his hair came off.

Sometimes small steps lead to big adventures.  It has been a great journey of wonder and worship as we stand in awe of a God who takes loaves and feeds thousands- our God who takes hoops, bears, hair and so much more to build and grow and teach.  

I love it when one thing leads to another.

Help that Boy Grow...

This week our friends at Amazing Grace Children's Home started digging a well for clean water on their new land.  A Lahash servant team member wrote a little about the water project in her blog.  The short story: these kids need clean water.  

The boy pictured on the top left of the above water picture is our Sebur.  

Our boy needs water and we want to help.

We are also investing a lot into our upcoming trip and the building fund.  But water.  

Water is important.  I began praying specifically for ways that we could help bring water.

For days I'd been praying.

And then I remembered...  

I remembered the beautiful woman with a head full of grey who came up to me during a recent trip to MD.  She grabbed ahold of me and said, "This is for that boy that you showed us- get him something good that will help him grow."  Then she slipped me a fifty dollar bill.

We are taking books with us to help start a small library at the Children's Home.  Today our first book arrived: "Heroes in Black History"  Our friend in MD paid for that book.  And now she's helping to give our friends water.  

Thank you for being part of loving the vulnerable with us.

Why Lahash?

I've been wanting to write a post about why we partner with Lahash International.  

Last week I was looking through old emails and I came across these interview questions that our friends in Portland asked us to answer a couple of years ago.   Bryan and I wrested together to answer these questions as honestly as possible...and I think we would answer the same today.

If you have a moment, I'd love to share a glimpse into our thinking...

____________________

What initially led you to sponsor children through Lahash?
We first heard of Lahash through our college friend, Dan Holcomb.  For some time, we read about his trips into Eastern Africa and specifically his work with the Amazing Grace Children's Home

As Christians, we want to be grateful for what we have been given and share with those who need.  As parents, we have to be deliberate about not losing our family entirely to the middle-class American pursuit of ease and pleasure.  We want to teach our kids about the greater physical needs in other parts of the world and show them how we can practically love others.  Sponsoring a child through Lahash has been one small way for us to do so.  We've appreciated how Lahash has made use of videos, pictures and blog updates, helping us feel very connected to Sebur, the boy we sponsor.

Please describe the kids you sponsor - names, location, etc.
In 2007, we began sponsoring Sebur Emmanuel (currently 12 years old). He lives at Amazing Grace Children's Home in Adjumani, Uganda.

(NOTE: After this interview, we added three more children.)

Neema Benjamin (11)

Scola Raphael (10) 

Frank Msafiri (6) 

Each of these kids live in Tanzania.

How have you gotten involved in their lives?
Our children pray for Sebur regularly.  Since Sebur is about the same age as our oldest, our 4 children find it easy to write letters, share gifts, and make crafts for him.  

What are some of the fun ways you've found of involving your own kids?
The kids light up when they find ways to involve Sebur in their lives without him ever being here.  Sharing a duplicate coloring book, purchasing an extra craft kit or asking our dentist for an extra shirt that he's offering to all his patients.  It has been such joy for them to see him in photos receiving and wearing these things that have come straight from our home! 

Our kids wearing their shirts from the dentist...

...and Sebur wearing his!

What has been the impact on your family?
Our family is becoming more globally aware.  Sponsoring a child through Lahash is one small step in that, but it's a small step that has invited us to take other steps.  Because we've grown to love this young man and his large family in Uganda, we take part in March's Rice & Beans month. 

Eating Rice & Beans in 2010

2011

 2012

When given an opportunity, we jumped at a chance to visit an Children's Home in Juarez, Mexico and we've even started saving for a family trip to Uganda.  Again, small steps, but we're growing and changing...and we're doing it as a family.  

_________________

...And now here we are in 2012 planning a family trip to visit Sebur in Adjumani, Uganda!  

We leave November 30th and return December 18th.  

The relationships that we have built through child sponsorship has changed our lives...and we are so grateful.

More kids are waiting for sponsors.  If you are at all interested, please consider sponsoring through Lahash. You can click here for more information. 

Main Senders & Go-ers...

Friends, we have great news to share!  

Because of God's great kindness to us through your generosity, 

we are 100% funded for our trip to Uganda this winter!  Three Mains will be traveling with Lahash International to Adjumani, Uganda November 30-December 17, 2012

Any funds that come in beyond our need will be used to help other travelers on our team or a current project at Amazing Grace involving latrine building.

Now to answer our most often asked question...

WHICH THREE MAINS ARE TRAVELING?

Good question!

We would all like to meet and spend time with our friends at Amazing Grace Children's Home so it was hard to narrow down our travelers to only three.

We decided that pulling straws was too easy and casting lots had some negative connotations. So, we employed a different decision making strategy....

And there you have it.  We have three senders and three go-ers...

Thank you for continuing to encourage and support us!

Hoops for Homes- EVENT

It has been fun over here on Main Street! 

On Sunday, friends gathered with us for Hoops for Homes...

Daniel shot thirty minutes of hoops across the street where our neighbor generously lets us use their basketball hoop for daily practice and play... 

John Z. created basketball balloons and JoyAnna donned her best cheerleading outfit...

It was a chilly 48 degrees and perfect for 30 minutes of action

Daniel had a rotation rebounders and balls...

And lots of smiles and cheers!  

I love this photo that John Z. took of the action!

Friends, are you ready for this?  Daniel made 293 hoops and raised over $5,500 for our friends in East Africa!

If you have time, we created a 3.5 minute video re-cap of the event.  

(If you're receiving this in your email, please click on the link and come to our blog or click here to watch the video) 

Multiplication...

This comes to mind each time that I think of Hoops for Homes:

Our friends at Lahash are partnering with compassionate East Africans helping the vulnerable in their midst.  We are partnering with Lahash to help build homes for our friends- Sudanese orphans who are, are once again, being asked to leave their current home and find a new place to live.  

A partner in Texas sent in a $30,000 donation toward the housing. One check- THIRTY thousand dollars! Friends, that's a lot of zeros. 

Sometimes we  begin to question our "meager" efforts. One family, one boy, one ball. Then I remember what Jesus did with one kid willing to share two loaves and a few fish. 

The beauty in all of these efforts is that God is the God of multiplication. ALL of this is beautiful and needed and part of what God multiplies for His glory.

Thank you for joining us on this journey.  

Hoops for Homes is THIS Sunday, October 7th.  If you'd like to team with us through sponsorship, please send us an email, text, call, shout... we'd love to have you on board.