July 26th, 2015. I’m standing inside the somewhat empty bowling alley my fundraisers at. I’m nervous.
What if nobody shows up? What if it’s a bomb? What if… what if…
What can I do? Nothing.
So I stand there and wait at the table I had set up with tickets, silent auction items and a giant mason jar for notes and what not.
Two o’clock rolls around and so far, it’s just my family and I…
Before I tell you how the fundraiser went, I would like to thank my employers, Debbie, Steve, Greg, and Brandon, who are seriously the most amazing people ever! They have been a joy to work for and I’ve never had a better work experience for any other employer as I have had with them. They’re not only my boss’ but they have also become my friends too.
Not only did they donate all the bowling games, shoe rental, soda, and pizza for my fundraiser, they gave personal donations as well. I am seriously blown away by their kindness and generosity! Literally, ALL OF THE PROCEEDS went to funding this mission trip! It was definitely a huge blessing and I am eternally grateful! Love you guys! As I was saying earlier…two o’clock rolls around and a few minutes after, a family walks in. They just happened to be friends of my father and were there to bowl! Woot woot! Well, at least I’ll be able to say I had some people show up!
They purchased their tickets and then went and bowled. And before ya know it, it’s almost 5 o’clock, the time my fundraiser ended.
What happened in between 2 and 5 you ask? Let me tell you.
CRAZY, INCREDILBE, GOD THINGS.
I had many friends show up with their families or friends of their own, as well as complete strangers who wanted to help out. I was pleasantly surprised at the turnout! During the 2-5 duration, we had a silent auction and a 50/50 raffle.
The woman who won the 50/50 raffles name was Sue (for privacy sake, I am not using her real name). She turned out to be an angel. She donated the 50/50 raffle back to my trip and then came up to my father later and handed him a check to further help support my trip.
I was and still am blown away by her kindness. A complete stranger, willing to help someone she had never met before, go and share Jesus with others around the world. I was speechless and God just used her to show me how faithful He is. That even when I have a large sum of money to raise, He will provide for me. Even through complete strangers like Sue. If there was ever a perfect stranger, I haven’t met anyone more perfect than her.
When I arrived home later that evening I counted the total I raised from the auction, raffle, ticket sales, and random personal donations.
My socks weren’t just blown off, but I’m pretty sure my brain exploded too.
The fundraiser definitely brought in funds; all totaled up it came out to be a little over $2,000!
TWO WHOPPING THOUSAND DOLLARS!
*insert tears here*
Needless to say, I was so overjoyed and thankful and all the other feels.
God is so SO good all the time.
So now that brings me to where I am at now! I am currently 61.69% funded! Y’all that’s more than half!! 😀 I have a little less the $6,000 left to go, and boy let me tell you, its totally doable!
If 200 people donated just $30 each, I would reach that goal!
My friend and I are working on a letter that I am going to mail to 200 people and see what happens. But I am completely and entirely confident that God will provide the other $6,000. He already got me past $10,000! Believe it!
I leave for Georgia in 18 days for launch.
Guys, THAT’S EIGHTEEN DAYS! I still have a lot to do. Like: practice packing my bag, get my shots (yeah…I procrastinated.), get some extra batteries, a travel hairbrush and whatever else is on my list. Thank goodness for lists, I’d probably have gone completely bonkers by now if I didn’t have one.
OH! I also signed up for a charlesSCHWAB bank account today. They are super awesome and helpful! They are going to overnight my debit card for me so I can get it in time J. As I said to my mother, “Procrastination pays off.” But not really, so I don’t suggest waiting as long as I did.
Also, guess y’all may wanna know where my first country is! We are going to Serbia!! The town we are working in is called Sombor. We’ll be working with a local church to minister to the community and share Christ with them, teach English, and just get to know them. I’m super excited for what God is going to do! So please be praying for the town of Sombor and the church we’ll be working with as well as the people we get to meet!
If you wanna hang with me before I go, lets do it. Cause time is running short.
CHEERS!
18 DAYS.
