Wow!
In the middle of the bush of Africa, as we borrow solar power to charge up our laptop Cinthia and I are speechless at God’s provision.
We look back to September 2009 when we began our first fundraiser – which was the marathon in South Korea – at that time the goal of $28,600 seemed a long way off, and at times impossible to reach. Since then, with tons of support from friends & family members we’ve been able to hold other fundraising events including coffee sales, bread sales, dinners, games nights, bowling, donut sales, etc.
We’ve also seen many individuals give outside of these events to support us directly. Our church, The Sanctuary Mississauga has also been a huge support for us. This Christmas as they celebrate & learn about Christmas in The Advent Conspiracy they’ve urged churchgoers to support missions rather than buy another gift for someone.
Whether you were able to donate $5 or $1,000, whether it was a one-time donation or a monthly donation, your support has helped us more than you could imagine! Everything we’ve done has only been possibly with your support!
Here are some things you have done:
July – Dominican Republic
– You began the journey with an amazing team, Team GreenLight.
– You loved children. You cleaned a field for them to play baseball without fear of hurting their bare feet.
– You helped a family earn money by splitting peas.
– You helped shine God’s love in a dark neighbourhood plagued by violence, drugs, alcoholism, and depression.
August – Haiti
– You delivered houses to people affected by the earthquake in January.
– You later painted those houses to bring colour and protection from the elements.
– You hiked for 11 hours to visit a mountain village that had never seen Western missionaries.
– You have continued to stay in touch with those from the area and prayed with them & their family throughout the cholera outbreak & recent hurricane.
September – Ireland
– You camped by the ocean in the windy/rainy season and saw your tent become a pancake (if you haven’t seen the video online, check it out through our blog!)
– You did service ministry by cleaning up the streets & washing off graffiti.
– You delivered 10,000 worship CDs while praying over each household.
– You helped behind the scenes at a Worship conference held by 3 different churches.
– You found a home-away-from-home at An Tobar Nua, a Christian coffee shop that is a light in the area.
– You celebrated with Sean, who got accepted to The World Race (their second Irish person)!
– You evangelized to people in the park who had either never heard of God, or had horrible misconceptions of who He really is.
October – Moldova
– You became part of a new team, The A-Team.
– You were flexible and went to 3 different villages to encourage pastors & church communities.
– You befriended your Russian hosts & perfected the art of charades.
– You helped clear a building of wooden rafters and delivered those to a woman to use for firewood.
– You painted the outside and inside of an outhouse (damn those things smell!)
– You celebrated the harvest festival.
– You joined numerous youth group meetings. You played games and shared your testimony.
– You helped clear a yard full of weeds & bushes.
– You chopped and put wood in storage for a family whose son is an alcoholic, mom is going blind, and dad is bedridden.
November – Malawi (Mzuzu)
– You became part of a church community.
– You went to nearby villages to evangelize daily.
– You went to schools and encouraged & shared with the students.
– You taught & preached at services.
– You brought communities together to share with them.
– You became “the travelling dancers” driving on the back of a truck from one area to another to advertise a church event.
– You put on a church event that included games, face-painting, and a skit.
– You now have a family in Mzuzu, Malawi.
December – Malawi (Dzuwa Village)
– You helped to prepare the food for the food-program at the nearby school.
– You feed hundreds of students, once in the pouring rain.
– You helped with a games day for the students.
– You shared at church events.
– You helped prepare food for the teams (which is a full day job here in Malawi!)
– You shared at a village-vs-village football (soccer) match.
– You had the time to really pour into each other, encouraging each other with scripture and lessons God is teaching you.
– You had the opportunity to encourage an American missionary who is here alone for a year (August ’10 – August ’11).
– You went village-to-village sharing with households the love God has for them.
– You lived for a month in the African bush, without electricity & running water.
(UPCOMING) January – South Africa
– You have planned to return to a hostel in South Africa and do “Backpacker Ministry”
– You will help out at the backpacking lodge.
– You will organize bible studies & worship sessions with travellers.
– You will have the opportunity to go to nearby orphanages to help.
– You are excited for the people you’ll meet!
(UPCOMING) February, March, April, May – Asia
– You have 4 months in Asia where you will partner with various new forms of ministry.
– You have 4 months in Asia where your heart will continue to break for those that are in need.
– You have been transformed.
– You have been made new.
– You will no longer see the world the same way.
– You will do your best to live in such a way to bring change to statistics.
– You will remember that 80% of the world live with only 20% of the resources.
– You will remember the struggle of living on the race with $10/day (for food, lodging, supplies, etc.) but most of the world lives on $2.
– You will remember the brothers and sisters you’ve made around the world.
– You will no longer be the same.
Thank you for sharing with us in this life changing experience. Though we’re now fully funded, we’re sharing these experiences with 63 others, some of whom are still in need of financial support. Here are some of our friends who need support:
James Woodley – http://jameswoodley.theworldrace.org (the newest addition to our team, The A-Team Remix)
Amanda Burkett – http://amandaburkett.theworldrace.org (a member of our team, The A-Team Remix)
Samantha Moor – http://sammoor.theworldrace.org (a member of our old team, Team GreenLight)
Will Diefenbach – http://williamdiefenbach.theworldrace.org (a friend who we’ve been praying to be fully funded)
Continue to read our blogs to see what you are doing throughout the nations!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Years!
