2/25/2013

    Saturday was our yard sale to help fund our Kenya trip. It went fantastic. We had so much "stuff" donated to us, it was wonderful. With everything that was donated, only about a quarter of it was left when we called it a day. All the leftover miscellaneous items were picked up and donated to Goodwill. We had all kinds of things donated to us; sofas, entertainment centers, a bed, kids toys, (LOTS of) clothes, electronics, and so much more. 
    
    Friday night a few of us spent the night in the church so we could get an early start to the day. We had spent most us last night sorting the "stuff" and pricing it. We finally got to sleep around midnight. We woke up, well we tried to wake up, at an early 5 am that morning. We were working on moving all the stuff out to the front of the church by 5:15 am. The sale was supposed to start at 7 am, but we had people there going through everything at 6 am. It was pretty intense, but it was awesome for us because it meant more sales. 

    All in all, it was a wonderful day. We made over $2,100 to go towards our Kenya trip. We had a ton of fun, while working hard. Another exciting thing is that we got our Kenya shirts that we'll be selling. We're doing a really cool deal called 1-4-1 where if someone buys a shirt from us, they get the shirt and then they get a second shirt that will be sent over with us for a child in Kenya. Each shirt is $15, and that's for the Kenya shirt and a shirt for a child over in Kenya. 

 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus

Philippians 4:19

All of our "stuff"! 

Some cute cat playing cards in a gold box. (awwwww)

Some of the group with our nifty stand.

The GINORMOUS clothes pile!

The whole group. =]

The AWESOME shirts we're selling!!!

A really cool laser disc (pre-DVD) I found at the yard sale.

1-4-1 flyer

2/19/2013

    This week we have our first fundraising event. We are holding a rummage sale at the church. It should be a lot of fun, and it should really help to fund our trip. I'm looking forward to it to be able to get to know some of the others going on the trip too. I live in San Diego, and the church is in LA, so I can't go to the church service every Sunday, so I don't know everyone going to Africa with me. But, I know I will get to know them and become good friends with some of them. In my next post, I'll make sure to include pictures from the rummage sale that I take.

    This week I had an amazing opportunity to meet Britt Nicole. She came to a local music station and I had won tickets to see her. I was thrilled, to say the least. She was so down to earth and she was phenomenal live. I was able to talk with her after her performance, and she's gone to Uganda, Africa a while back so I asked her about it. She told me that she loved how simple everything was over there. No one has mirrors, so they don't know what they look like, so they aren't worried about their appearance like we are here in the U.S. Another thing she loved was the dancing and the singing, and the pure happiness of the people. It was great to be able to talk to Britt about Africa, and hear her stories. She really is an amazing vocalist, and an amazing person. I'm so glad I had the chance to meet her. 

 My friend Bianca, Britt Nicole, and me.

    This is a scripture that Britt said, and I really like it, so I will end with this. 

    Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.

1 Chronicles 28:20

2/11/3013

    In 142 days, I'll be leaving for a life changing trip to Kenya, Africa. I'm going on a missionary trip with Valley Christian Church, and I'm more than excited to go. I've known since September that I wanted to go, and things are just starting to get real. But with the excitement, comes fear. Going to Africa I will be exposed to deadly diseases, such as malaria, yellow fever, and other parasites. It can be a scary place, but I know why I'm going, and I know I will be OK. I know that I'll be fine. I'll be safe, and taken care of, but every now and then I have to remind myself, and my mom, that God will be with me, and I'll be taken care of. 

  "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you," Psalm 56:3. 

    I'm so excited to be going on this trip. I only have 142 days until we leave. We still have a lot we have to do to prepare ourselves for the trip. We still have a lot of fundraising to do and we have to pack (that comes much later). 

    This is going to be quite an adventure that I'm really looking forward to. =]