Just a recap of all the great things that are occurring with Mission: Hope!  I want to thank all the Board Members and all the Team Members for being a part of the start-up of this Mission... for continuing to pray and considering trips for the future!  I also want to thank all the donors who have given to this Mission!  My heart is overwhelmed and excited about our start for this mission!  We're lining up tickets to Nairobi, Africa THIS week for our ministry in the slums of Nairobi with a home-based ministry called "Mumomatei Foundation", which serves HIV+ people in Nairobi, and our ministry to "Hope Africa Ministries" in Sakwa, Kenya.  Because of YOUR donations, we are able to send funds to Hope Africa Ministries to purchase uniforms for the kids and provide some school supplies.  How awesome is that?! We'll also be doing a Women's Medical Clinic, helping to bring education to these women in health care, childbirth and a medical condition known as "fissures", which makes it quit difficult for these women to live.  The community school we are helping was formed in February 2007 with 23 students.  Today it has grown to over 300 students, some of who are orphaned and some who are HIV positive.  We will go with a mindset to work.  Our 1st few days will be in Nairobi working in the slums and then travel 3-5 hours away to Sakwa.  Please pray for us!  We can still use support for some of our team members, if you'd like to help!  We are still collecting GIFT bag items for the women's clinic (shampoos, lotions, etc) and paperback picture books for the kids.

Wish List!

WISH LIST for Mission: Hope! www.missionhope1.blogspot.com
1. DSLR camera (Canon, since we have lenses for that) for Videography (that's a biggie!) :)
2. Your USED phones you want to throw out! We can get cash towards Mission: Hope.
3. Any easily-shipped, valuable :) Ebay-worthy items, that can be sold to raise funds.
4. Your hotel soaps/lotions to make gift bags for our Africa trip
5. Your nice, used paperback children's books :) THANK YOU for remembering us during this Christmas season!

Donations!

Please consider donating your clean, used PICTURE books to us, so we can bless the village children on our mission to Sakwa, Kenya (Africa).  We are also looking for donations for our Women's Medical & Informational Clinic there.  The type of things we are looking for are easily transported in our luggage (bandaids, toothbrushes, notepads, little soaps, small bottles lotion or any other small item like this).  Thank you so much!  Natalie Evans

In a Day

Circumstances can change in a day.  A single day.  When we are tempted to be discouraged, to wonder if God remembers us... or to wonder if we are doing the right thing - CHANGE can happen in a day.  As director of Mission: Hope, one of my jobs is to raise funds.  That's probably the least favorite activity I could do.  It involves work, and it involves asking for donations to a cause I believe is worthy.  Since no one on our mission board, including myself, receives any salary or compensation for this position, we do need to raise our individual funds for any mission trips we are a part of.  Since I launched this mission on January 1st, 2013 - we have been blessed to raise more than $2000 for Mission: Hope.  Since I put out my own personal fundraising letters, I've received gifts totaling $150.  Everyone on our team has a goal to raise $1000 towards their trip by the end of this month.  This was such an encouragement to me, especially since I became a bit incapacitated due to my cycling accident (which incidentally was planned to be a FUNDRAISER!).  

In moments, I asked God, "Lord, do you remember me?  Did you truly call me to do this?"  I tried not to be discouraged and God let me have moments of encouragement through other people!  Today, at our church, the Lord's prayer was taught.  Specifically, "give us this day our daily bread."  And it reminded me that I need not be concerned about the future, but only this day.  As I was leaving church, a friend gave me a check for $100 towards my personal trip!  And when I checked our P. O. Box, I found a check for $500 towards my personal trip!  I am at $750 of my $1000 goal!  Circumstances can change in a day and increase our faith!  I am overwhelmed and grateful... and full of hope & faith for what God is and will be doing in Africa July 2014.

Why I do Missions

A dear friend, Sarah Morin, passed this awesome book to me.  What is so great about this book is that it has challenged my heart and motives.  Why am I driven to do Missions?  For one, reaching out and "doing" gives me that great feeling that I'm making a difference in the world.  I go to sleep feeling a little better about myself... and think, "Wow, that felt so good - I want to do that again!"  But what if "I" were the recipient of the help?  I much prefer being the "giver".  What if I had to be the receiver?  That doesn't always feel so good.  As we plan our first trip to Nairobi, Kenya - first to the slums and then to the villages... we want to not just be a source of temporary help, so that we can feel good about what we've done.  We want to EMPOWER the local church, as they develop long-term RELATIONSHIPS with the people.  We want the money collected to be used to build up LOCAL organizations that truly will empower the poor - long after we leave.  To Africans, we are known as the "mzungu" - the powerful, rich, educated white people.  When we leave Africa, we want to be known as the "humble" - seeking to direct the poor to Jesus, because WE too, are poor without Him -.  HE is the one who can bring light into their darkness.  Please keep praying for this trip... For safety... For wisdom... For blessings to all those we encounter.

What's in the works?

What's in the works?
* Kenya, Africa - July 2014
We're taking a team to Kenya.  Our plans are to work with suffering AIDS victims in the slums.  We will hold hands with the suffering, cry with those who feel alone in their dirty beds, and pray for their children.  We will buy food and bring a little light into their lives.  We will travel to a small village and perform some clinic days for the women in the village.  We will bring funds that have come from you and others to purchase uniforms for the kids... and picture books.  We will share all this in the name and love of Jesus Christ.  If you would like to help with this project and cannot take off time to go with us, please send your tax-deductible donation to: Mission-Hope.  Send to Life Church, PO Box 1764, Jensen Beach, FL 34958

*Honduras, summer 2015
We are looking at potential plans to spend a week in Honduras.

Thou Anointest My Head with Oil

"Thou anointest my head with oil..."  A verse in Psalms 23.  It denotes that God pours a blessing out for me.  I'm holding out for that.  Because three weeks into recovery from my bike crash, I am desperate for it.  
What do you do when the efforts you are making in a direction get thwarted by accidents, tragedies or diseases?  Do you decide that God is closing all doors and you should close up shop?  Or do you decide that Satan is trying to stop a good thing and you keep going?  How does one proceed in life?  I believe you place all these issues and  more in God's hands.  How must Joseph have felt when he had dreams and visions?  And then he must have thought, "Wow, my Father gave me a beautiful coat of many colors - so I am favored of him.." - only for Joseph to be sold into slavery by his own brothers.  But Joseph prospers again, ONLY to be thrown into prison on a false charge.  He stayed upright in all his ways.  He was even highly-esteemed in prison, and helped to get others released - only for his good deeds to be FORGOTTEN.  How lonely he must have felt?  How he must have asked God, "Where are you?  Why have you left me all alone?  Do you even see what I am going through?"  And then, in the appointed time - God POURED out blessing after blessing.  I have to say that my accident has put me in a bad place.  I experienced a blunt trauma, slight head injury (sure thanking God that is was slight!), some broken ribs and broken thumb (which doesn't seem like much, until you try to do ANYTHING with your writing hand.  That's fun! haha).  My osteo doctor asked how I injured myself.  I told him I was training for a FUNDraiser - haha.  I figure now I am in the red by $--,---.--.  Okay, well, that didn't work out too well! haha  But, how do I respond to this?  I have thanked God that my injuries were not worse.  I have had a few panic attacks due to medication and a too-tight cast. haha  I have ASKED God, "Why?"  And I am asking Him now to anoint my head with oil.  Because now, more than I felt in a long time, I am more cognizant than ever - that I NEED Him to bless my efforts.  Like the worship song says, "You're the BREATH in my lungs... our hearts will cry and these bones will sing."  I am certainly relating to this song right now.  I need HIM to anoint my head - to give me the blessing that I need to be His hands and feet.  Everything else in life is so small in the scheme of life.

 So, will you pray with me and for our team?  We need God's anointing for our trip to Kenya, Africa July 2014.  Thank you.