Mission Moments: Compassion International

August 3, 2015 By Kristin Hill Taylor 4 Comments

Life is worth celebrating. I want to rejoice for the life of my kids, who we adopted as newborns. Their birth moms chose life for them. That is worth celebrating each year and each day, really. And, yes, there is joy in unwrapping a gift that someone chose just for you. I get that. And I want that for my kids.

But I don’t want stuff to drown out compassion for others who don’t live the kind of life we have. Kids don’t choose the circumstances into which they’re born.

While I worry about how I can help combat the greediness in our culture, I know there are mommas in other places – some even right down the street – who spend time thinking about how they’ll feed, clothe, and medicate their kids. I can’t imagine wondering if my son and daughter will be educated and medicated in ways that will help preserve their future.

One way our family has learned about poverty – and how to give to others – is through Compassion International, a child-advocacy ministry. The ministry strives to release children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty. The goal is for each child to become a responsible and fulfilled adult. This happens through monthly sponsorships as well as other financial gifts.

Throughout the years, my family and friends have collected money at our annual Jesus Birthday Party to purchase gifts for families who don’t have monthly sponsors and hosted Compassion advocate and musician Shaun Groves at our church. My kids and I write our sponsored children letters and send extra money for their birthdays and Christmas.

But I want to share one of my favorite ways I’ve seen Compassion – both the organization and the characteristic – lived out in my house.

For a couple of Ben’s birthday parties in November, we celebrated the life of Jean in Ecuador. He’s one of the Compassion International kids we sponsor and shares my boy’s birthday, although they’re eight years apart in age. The kids at my son’s parties made Jean birthday cards and donated money for us to send to him. We asked for the donations instead of gifts. Of course, some people still brought gifts. But they chose to bless Jean while celebrating Ben.

Not long after one of the parties, we received a letter from Jean. He thanked us for the money we sent and told us what he bought: two pieces of cloth to make a school uniform, a backpack, a pair of shoes, a ball, and two pairs of sandals for his sister. Seriously. My kid got dinosaurs and superheros and Jean bought himself clothes and shoes for his little sister – and was happy about it.

This is why I spend time thinking about stuff. I can’t imagine Jean’s momma wondering how she was going to buy her 11-year-old boy school clothes. But I can imagine how proud she was her boy wanted to share his birthday money with his sister, who needed shoes.

We’ve done the same thing for some of Cate’s birthday parties. Our Compassion girl Roselyn in Guatemala is six months older than Cate. This meant she received fewer gifts, but, let me tell you, my girl was still blessed with some new horse toys, a cute cowgirl outfit, new crafts, and other goodies. She unwrapped joy.

One year, a bunch of little girls collected $147.54 for Roselyn and her family. The girls at the party also colored pictures and made her cards. One sweet friend brought a Zip-loc bag full of change, the money she usually uses to buy stickers to send to her Compassion friend. Roselyn unwrapped joy when the blessings prepared at the party here arrived at her house there.

That’s celebrating life. And that’s compassion at its finest.

Learn more about Compassion International online at its website, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

Shared by: Kristin Hill Taylor

Mission Moments: Redeeming Stories With Fair Trade Friday

July 6, 2015 By Mel Schroeder 21 Comments

image courtesy of Fair Trade Friday

I love a good story.

While you’ll often find me with my nose buried in a good book, my favorite kind of story is one of redemption, one where God takes a seemingly hopeless situation and turns it into something beautiful.

I’ve seen that in my own life, and I’m hoping you’ve seen it in yours, too.

About a year ago, I was introduced to Fair Trade Friday.

“FTF exists as an avenue for women to empower women. We are tackling poverty through job opportunity and empowerment rather than enablement. 100% of the proceeds support the artisans, more than 500 women and their children from all over the world. FTF is a ministry of Mercy House Kenya, a non-profit organization.”

Fair Trade Friday offers a monthly subscription box of fair trade items and also an earring of the month club. You can also purchase items in the Mercy Shop. (Both subscriptions are currently wait-listed…BUT there are are openings often! So sign up, and you won’t be waiting too long.) 🙂 And just a warning: if you go over there, be ready to fall in love with some beautiful pieces!

But the thing is…these awesome fair trade items are really only a tiny piece of the story. (<====Tweet this.)

What I LOVE about them? Is the hearts, the hands, the women, behind them.

image courtesy of Fair Trade Friday

These items are their stories…given to me to hold in my hands and in my heart.

Each month, usually in the first week, I get the happiest, white envelope in the mailbox. I seriously squeal EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I see it.

🙂

And then I open it, and each item…it holds a story. A piece of God’s redemption. I think about each woman who touched these items and I never get through a package with dry eyes.

Just two days ago, I pulled a gorgeous, fabric headband out of my July box. Attached to it was a woman’s picture…the woman who made this headband. She is able to support her family…and her life is being changed because people are saying yes to fair trade.

Saying yes to her.

And I don’t know her name…sometimes the card tells me who made it, sometimes it doesn’t. But I see her face, and I know she’s from Swaziland…and, more importantly, God sees her and He knows everything about her, and He loves her.

And so I whisper up a prayer, and I thank Him for her and ask Him to take care of her and her family, and He knows.

I LOVE that.

We ALL matter to Him. Every single one of us.

Being part of Fair Trade Friday is a small thing that I can do to make a difference in lives. I might not be able to change the entire world, but I can be a little part of helping to change someone’s story.

image courtesy of Fair Trade Friday

Fair Trade Friday recently sent me a box of fair trade gifts…as usual, every single item was amazing. Between that box and the monthly boxes delivered to me, there’s a lot of fair trade goodness floating around my house. I have plans for some of the items to be gifts, and I do keep some for myself because, of course. Every item is incredible and beautiful. 🙂

But there’s a part of me that wants to share the love and let you know just how amazing and beautiful these items…and the stories behind them…are.

And so I decided to give away my entire June box. (And, oh, it’s a GOOD one!) One of you will win all of this!

Included in it…a produce bag from Caring for Korah (this is such a cool bag made from a recycled t-shirt!), pottery earrings from Back to Africa, a paper bead bracelet from Embracing Hope Ethiopia, a paper diary from Village Artisan, and a Father’s Day card from The Refugee Project.

You can use the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of this post to enter. (U.S. residents only, please.)

And even if you don’t win, I hope you’ll jump over and check out the online store here. You can join the wait list for a subscription or pick out something cute and know that you’re making a difference in a life.

A huge thank you to Mercy House Kenya and Fair Trade Friday for the use of their images. AND for the box of life-changing gifts. AND for their hearts for changing lives around the world.

Let’s all be part of this life-changing story! (<====Tweet this.)

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For Such A Time As This

June 29, 2015 By Jennifer Hand 10 Comments

Ten Years ago, I stepped on a plane to serve as a summer missionary in Nepal. I had heard I would be spending the summer doing medical work, and I was very excited about that prospect. Sure I had no medical training, but I had watched lots of episodes of ER on tv, so that counted, right?

My dream had always been to serve God overseas. This was one step in that dream. However, I quickly found, as we generally do, God’s dreams for me were different than I had planned.

That summer, our team’s job assignment was to make maxi pads for the maternity ward. Yes, you read that right, making maxi’s for the glory of the Lord.

It seemed so mundane. It was very unlike I had planned. It was not a great missionary glory story.

Sometimes the steps to our God-sized dreams seem so mundane. They are very unlike what we have planned. They are not the glory story we had planned– but God is doing kingdom work behind the scenes. (<====Click to Tweet)

Maxipad making led to a desire and a calling to go back and serve God in Nepal full time. This led to leaving everything I knew and loved in America to go live in Kathmandu Nepal for two years.

In those years, I learned the language, learned the people, and the culture. In those years, I fell in love with the people, the culture, and the God who had called me so far out of my comfort zone.

God-sized dreams evolve and change, even if we feel more comfortable when they stay the same! (<====Click to Tweet)

I thought I would stay in Nepal forever, but God began to work on my heart, calling me to return back to America, get my Masters in Christian counseling, with an emphasis on trauma, and start a ministry called Coming Alive Ministries

That’s where the title “For Such a Time as This” comes in.

In the Book of Esther, Esther is called to do something scary. She has the chance to go before the king and ask for his help in saving her people. It would take bravery. Our kingdom work takes bravery.

It would take using her months of training to be a princess. Often God uses practical training for our dreams.

It would take being in the right place at the right time.

Esther 4:14 And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

In the month of May I got to experience what I call my Esther moment when I returned to Nepal.

This time, I was there to help after two large earthquakes had devastated an already desperately poor third world country.

God put together all kinds of pieces for this dream He had dreamed for me.

I already spoke the language fluently.

I had a degree in trauma counseling.

And I had a love for these people.

For such a time as this. I will never forget the first village we went to. There was nothing that remained standing. There was a pancaked church with 8 bodies still inside. And there was a group of those that had survived, bandaged and bruised as they were, huddled under a small piece of tin. And they were looking for hope.

I opened my mouth and was able to speak in their language. Simply be with them. To walk them through this unspeakable trauma.

Village after village this happened. They came for hope.

It was a God sized dream that I would never have dreamed.

God is putting together the puzzle pieces of your life for His kingdom work, for such a time as this. (<====Click to Tweet)

How have you seen Him call you for such a time as this?

Shared by : Jennifer Hand

Have your ordered your shirt yet? There’s still time (ends July 8th)! It’s $22+shipping and all proceeds will be applied to the operating costs of the website. Don’t forget to snap a picture of you wearing your shirt and tag us either on Instagram or Facebook so that we can share your pic with all of our readers! Click the link to order yours today ==> GSD T Shirt

Mission Moments: The Sisterhood We Must Not Ignore

June 1, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers Leave a Comment

The headline blared: Boko Haram Militants Raped Hundreds of Female Captives in Nigeria.

It was the above the fold story. The first thing I read in the paper that morning. The opening paragraph from the Times on May 18th screamed this indictment: Hundreds of women and girls captured by Boko Haram have been raped, many repeatedly, in what officials and relief workers describe as a deliberate strategy to dominate rural residents and possibly even create a new generation of Islamist militants in Nigeria.

The voice in my head screamed louder: HOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW?

The how rapidly morphed into a howl: within the same 24 hours I read the gut-turning, mind-shattering story of the atrocities being committed by ISIS against NINE YEAR OLD girls over at Ann Voskamp’s corner:

Click away, turn the other way if you want, but those girls are wild to turn and escape — and they can’t. They are categorized. Stripped. And shipped naked. Examined and distributed. Sold and passed around like meat. Livestock. You can walk into any mall and buy a pair of NIKE running shoes for what they are buying a Christian or Yezidi girl from 1 – 9 years of age – $172 dollars. And she’s yours. For whatever you want, for as long as you want, to make do whatever you want. Sit with that. Yeah, we’re all done living in a world where a pair of shoes can last longer, have more worth, be treated with more value, than a fondled, raped and discarded 9 year-old-girl.

Dreamers, we CANNOT permit this to happen on our watch. These girls are our SISTERS. They are our daughters, our friends, our nieces, our cousins, and we will never forgive ourselves if we do not use every ounce of the God-given talent and vision we have to CHANGE THIS.

There is no other audience that would understand this. Everyone else would say, We can’t do anything? That’s well beyond our control.

But we here, this tribe of God-sized Dreamers, we believe in the impossible. God places us on the starting line AT impossible. {===> Click To Tweet} No is ammunition for us to prove them all wrong and show them all what a BIG GOD we serve.

THIS IS NOT BEYOND HIM. But we have to be willing to do something.

We have to do more than pray. We MUST act.

Here are some ways you can step out in faith and make a difference:

Preemptive Love Coalition, which we previously introduced to you, has a new initiative to support the women and girls in crisis in Iraq. They are on the ground bringing a message of uniting not dividing and working across people groups and faith to bring healing. You can find out more about the Love First mission and how to give on the link.
Doctors Without Borders/MSF – MSF is on the ground in Chad, on the border of Nigeria, helping the thousands of refugees fleeing Boko Haram. There are still some areas they can not get to because MSF is unarmed and the fighting is too dangerous in certain communities. DWB/MSF is in numerous such communities, not just supporting those suffering under Boko Haram attacks, but they are one of the few organizations actually supporting this particular region.
Catholic Relief Services – This organization partners with local entities in both Iraq and Nigeria (as well as throughout the Middle East and Africa) and has long worked with governmental partners like UN to get relief to areas most under siege.

What shocked me more than anything in researching how we could specifically support our sisters in Iraq and Nigeria and the adjacent countries setting up recovery camps is how little specific relief efforts are underway. We should be able to change this. We have to stand up for these precious ones.

If you know of other organizations directly supporting girls and women that are recovering from ISIS and Boko Haram assaults, would you please share that information with us in the comments or on Facebook so we can update others? I believe this community wants to help. But that also requires letting everyone within our sphere of influence know what is going on. Let’s blanket our social media outlets with a cry to unite in supporting these sisters in the greatest need today.

Photo Credit: New York Times.

Mission Moments – Lulu Tree

May 4, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers 6 Comments

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” ~ Proverbs 31:8-9

She has a quiet way about her, speaking softly. But the volume of her voice doesn’t hold a candle to the volume of her heart. A woman with a passion to care for orphans and empower and equip women in Uganda, Emily started The Lulu Tree. An organization who’s mission it is to be “preventing tomorrow’s orphans by equipping today’s mothers.”

I met Emily in person for the first time on a shuttle from the airport in Greenville SC on our way to the Allume Conference in 2014. She was pregnant and just showing with her rainbow baby, a daughter given after a difficult loss. She was still dealing with some of the pregnancy sickness and looked a bit weary. But in the few minutes we had to visit, she pressed into the conversation. Her heart for others is evident from the moment you meet her. Grace-filled and transparent. She was leading one of the seminars and she was nervous. I told her that I would find her the morning of her talk and we would pray.

Sometimes that is all we can do – be a support and encouragement to one another and pray. The little things DO matter!

And Emily is doing just that in her work with The Lulu Tree.

After travelling to Uganda on a blogger’s trip, Emily came home and knew that she needed to do more. Finding employment is difficult for women, especially single women in Uganda. So often the only support they can get is if the child is sponsored by a program like Compassion. Wonderful programs yes, but how amazing would it be if these women were given the opportunity to find employment that would provide income and end the cycle of poverty in their families?!

And so through The Lulu Tree they are equipping women to chase dreams of their own. To train them in a trade of their liking…in Emily’s own words “Our ultimate goal is that these women become confident, joyful and self-sufficient.”

One of the things I love most about The Lulu Tree is that it is helping women chase their dreams. Dreams of being a tailor, a hairdresser or a seamstress. Dreams that seemed impossible but now are becoming a reality. We get that here don’t we?!

There are so many different ways that you can support The Lulu Tree. They have an Etsy shop with many beautiful items created out of African fabrics. 100% of the proceeds from the items sold benefit The Lulu Tree.

And they even have a sponsorship program. What I love most about this program is that with the funds the women are given the ability to better support their families and also taught budgeting and saving skills so that they continue to have a positive impact on their own community.

Women helping women, dreamers encouraging other dreamers…yes we CAN make a difference in the life of another. Will you join us?

If you want to know more about The Lulu Tree and other ways you can help, please check out all the information that they have here and help spread us the word about this wonderful organization!

And for helping us spread the word about The Lulu Tree today, Emily has graciously donated a copy of her book Atlas Girl! This is a beautiful book about finding home. Enter to win in the Rafflecopter below!

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Mission Moments – No. 41

April 6, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers Leave a Comment

Today I threw away more wasted food than I’d like to admit.

I stumbled over multiple pairs of shoes that cluttered up our entry way and grumbled to myself over the mess of it all.

And this morning I ordered a early Christmas gift for my daughter…granted I had a $10 off coupon, but I didn’t even stop to think if I should spend the $25 or not.

How often do we go through our days unaware of how good we have it? I know that money is sometimes tight, and we may have to stick to a budget…but if I am being honest I have not ever experienced a time in my life that could be classified as extreme poverty.

My kids always have shoes to put on when they need them, and their bellies are always full. They have never gone a day hungry, wishing for food.

And yet this is the reality for so many kids in third world countries today.

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In 2010 after a mission trip to Rwanda, Tara found herself broken for the people there and knew that she needed to do something. Not having a plan, but trusting God with His, she moved to Africa to work at an orphanage. It was here that God gave her a vision of what she might do to make a difference…one life at a time.

Recognizing that there was a deficiency in the provision of a school lunch program for the kids and also a need for better care of the “adult” orphans…No. 41 was born.

The idea started with providing these women sustainable employment. By teaching them how to make bags that would be sold to not only provide for them, but also to help feed children in the village.

In their own words: “When No.41 started, there were, roughly, 100 young adults over the age of 18 living in the Noel Orphanage. With no family and limited resources, the prospect of university or becoming gainfully employed was low. Along with that, confidence was low, dreams were small and hope was almost non-existent. It was important, not only to provide a means of sustainable employment doing a culturally relevant trade for these girls, but also to remind them that they were created for a great purpose, by an even greater God. We all have been given gifts and talents and, once realized, we should spend those helping others and that is where the feeding program came in.”

Today No. 41 employs several women who are helping to make a difference in their own community. They have also seen more women go off to University as well! God is working in these young women and it started with a “yes” from a young woman who knew she needed to do more.

In addition No. 41 has started a school lunch program. In the schools there, they have a 20 minute break for lunch where the children can leave to go and get food. Most of the children can’t afford food so they go hungry. For just $5 a month you can sponsor a child and feed them for an entire month!

Can you believe that?!

What can I sacrifice for $5 this month that would provide lunches every day for a child in Rwanda?

If you would like to know more about this amazing organization, cheek out their website!

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As a reminder, if you are interested you can join our Pure Charity Giving Circle. Each member that wants to participate will donate a minimum of $10 to Pure Charity. Please take a moment to check out our link: God Sized Dreamers. All donations are tax deductible and would be deducted on the 15th of each new month. At the end of the month, we will request that Pure Charity donate any funds raised this month to Preemptive Love! It is a simple way to give back and make a huge impact. We hope you will join us on this adventure.

Mission Moments – How To Be A World Changer

March 2, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers Leave a Comment

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We are so excited to share another amazing organization with you this month, and this is a personal favorite of mine. I asked my friend Amy, who is the VP of Marketing with ViBella jewelry, if she would share a little bit more about the ViBella story this month for our Mission Moments in March!

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There are a couple of responses that we can have when we see injustice, poverty, and despair. We can be afraid and humbled, saddened and dismayed and do nothing. Or we can get on our knees and pray that God can use us. Little, seemingly small, ill-equipped us.

I am glad that world-changers choose the latter.

Julie Hulstein is one person who chose to be used to make a dream a reality. And it was a God-sized dream. An undertaking and calling that would stretch her and eventually many others to impact poverty in tangible, life-changing ways.

After traveling from Iowa to Haiti in 2010, Julie’s heart was stirred by the extreme poverty and the destruction caused by the earthquake. The understanding that the people of Haiti had lived in poverty for generations did not escape her, and as she returned to her home in Iowa, something stirred. The unsettling she felt was not ignored. The face of one woman who hosted her in her small tent stayed with her. But more so, her words stayed with her. Her words that had spoken of so little hope. And the name that this one young woman had given her: “Mama Julie,” began to define a calling.

One thing that Julie knew for certain was that in a country where there were more aid workers on the ground than any other place in the world, handouts were not the answer. Employment was. She thought about her own daughter, who was about the same age as the young Haitian girl who was faced with such desolate circumstances, and she knew she would not leave her own daughter in such conditions, so she began to pray and to plan. There had to be a way to help.

And so the concept for Vi Bella Jewelry began in 2011. The word “Vi Bella” means “beautiful life,” and this became the goal of everything that sprung from the ministry~ to create beautiful lives for women and families. The idea was to design jewelry and hire women from Simonette, a small village outside Port Au Prince to be the artisans.

From the very beginning, Vi Bella used materials that were part of the landscape of Haiti. Plastic bottles that littered the beaches and streets were gathered, sanitized, molded and painted to make bottle beads. Strung together they told a story of making broken things beautiful. In much the same way, newspaper was recycled into making paper beads: rolled, glued, painted and finished to tell a story of redemption.

What began as a small call to respond has grown into an organization that now employs more than thirty artisans, expanding from one original center in Simonette, Haiti to four centers: two in Haiti, one in Croc, Mexico, and a home office in Sioux Center Iowa. All employ artisans who earn an above-average daily wage and are given the opportunity to attend bible studies. In addition, artisan’s children are sponsored to have the opportunity to attend school, and Vi Bella gives back to the communities where they operate.

Each day artisans, their families, and communities are made more beautiful.

All of us here at Vi Bella are so glad Julie answered a call and invited others to be world-changers.

And you can be part of the ongoing beautiful story. By becoming a Beautiful Life Ambassador, hosting a beautiful life gathering, or purchasing Vi Bella jewelry, you contribute to the God-sized dream that is still unfolding in these lives and communities.

Amy Breitmann
Vice President of Marketing, Vi Bella Jewelry

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Mission Moments – Preemptive Love Coalition

February 2, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers 3 Comments

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As we filtered into the conference hall for the next round of speakers, I wondered about who some of the presenters were. They were not familiar to me. A man walked up on stage and started talking…. Jeremy Courtney talked about hospitality and leading with love.

A man lead to Iraq, a foreign country, where he would learn some of the biggest lessons about loving our neighbors.

He shared that when he first was in Iraq, he would go and sit at these coffee shops to not only learn the language but also to engage people. He would bring his Bible, a dictionary and the Quran. He said that often he went into these times with his fist up, ready to “fight”.

He said he had the kind of attitude that says “I know my Bible and you are wrong” {BAM}

I can tell you about Jesus, and prove that what you believe isn’t correct {BAM}

But then he asked, what are we showing people when we approach them with fists up?

Self-righteous and full of “knowledge”…but lacking in love and grace.

Jeremy said at some point it changed for him, he was struck by the idea that he needed to enter these spaces with fists down, and arms wide open. That is when change can happen, when we can make a difference.

Loving one person at a time.

God calls us to love one another, besides loving Him first it is the second commandment. Luke 10:27 “And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Are we doing this though?

Are we reaching out and loving our neighbors – even if they are “different” than we are? If they don’t share the same beliefs? Aren’t we just called to love our neighbor, not the neighbor that looks like us, or believe like us?

And that is what Preemptive Love Coalition is doing.

Finding ways to make a difference in the lives of people in Iraq.

Loving on their neighbors.

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The problem was a big one.

In Iraq, they report 10 times more heart defects in children at birth than the rest of the world averages. The cause, likely a myriad of things related to the “environment” there, but really that isn’t what is truly important.

Instead the focus has become what can be done about it?

Preemptive Love Coalition partners with local hospitals, local doctors and helps make the life-saving heart surgeries possible.

They have come alongside the people of Iraq to offer hope.

One child at a time, one heart at a time.

Jeremy’s story was a powerful one, but even more powerful was that such a small amount of my “extra” could make such a big difference.

If my son or daughter had a heart problem, I would fight with everything in me to make sure they had access to the care they needed so they could be healed.

The mothers and fathers in Iraq are no different.

The only difference is that the reality that they would be able to find and afford this type of care is limited. And that is where Preemptive Love Coalition is making a difference. In this month when we are surround by hearts and symbols of love, can we all take a moment and be in prayer for those children, those parents that are waiting for a healed heart?

Lord, we come to you and thank you for the work that Preemptive Love is doing in the hearts and lives of the people in Iraq. Offering hope. Lord we know that you love all of your children, so we pray for healing for any child who is sick. Thank you for the teams of doctors and nurses that are being trained through this organization. Guide their hands so that they may continue to offer hope to those who need it. And may these acts be translated into your love for the people there. May they come to know you more as a result Lord. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen.

You can find more ways that you can get involved and help here.

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Mission Moments – Sole Hope

January 5, 2015 By GodSizedDreamers 1 Comment

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We are thrilled to be introducing you to our first featured organization here for Mission Moments in January. Sole Hope is one of the first groups that I came in contact with at Allume in 2013. Dru and Asher, the founders of SH, were like so many of us… living life, chasing dreams, when God placed a burden on Asher’s heart to help cure the problem of jiggers in the children of Uganda.

The solution seemed simple, jiggers spread in uncovered feet…so shoes were the answer. But Asher took it one step further and came up with a design of a shoe that could be made by people in Uganda out of simple materials like old jeans, milk jugs and old tires! Isn’t that amazing?!

Sole Hope was born and the strides they are making in the fight against jiggers is unbelievable!

At Allume several of us participated in a group Shoe Cutting Party. This concept is so much fun. Gather your friends/family together, get a Shoe Cutting Packet from SH and set to work. They make it easy, providing the patterns needed to cut each of the shoe parts as well as a video that you can watch that explains the jigger problem in more detail.

Everyone has a spare pair of old jeans right?

It is amazing to me that a simple, used pair of jeans can make such a difference in the life of a young Ugandan child. But they do!

You can host a shoe cutting party in your home or your church, heck your entire community can be involved!

With the help of a shoe cutting packet, you start by tracing the shoe patterns on the jeans and cutting them out. Gather the pieces together and safety pin them as a set. Those sets are then mailed to North Carolina where they are packaged and sent over to Uganda where Sole Hope employs local men and women who sew those pieces into the actual shoes.

The cost to make the full set of shoes is $10 a pair. Sole Hope encourages everyone to donate that amount for each pair that you send to NC for processing! This money helps pay the salary of the shoe makers in Uganda.

This was one of the things I loved most about what Sole Hope is doing, they are providing opportunities for men and women in the local community to make money for their own families. This is what true mission work is about!

In Uganda the work is tough, the Sole Hope team works to host foot washing and jigger removal clinics. Each child and their family that comes through is educated on what jiggers are and how they can be prevented just by wearing shoes. And each child goes home with a new pair of handmade shoes. For the most severe of cases, they now also have an Outreach Compound, where children can be treated and cared for as they heal.

This is God’s work and it is such an honor to walk with them in this fight.

As a parent I can’t imagine not being able to provide such an essential, basic need. But it isn’t easy for these mamas, so we have the opportunity to walk beside them in the care of their babes.

Because Sole Hope is our organization for this month of January, we would love if you joined us in praying for them throughout this month. One of the biggest prayer requests for 2015 is that Sole Hope is working to purchase 8 acres of land that they can use as a permanent place to hold clinics and house the Outreach Center! Please pray for Dru and Asher and their family, for their health and safety and that God would guide their efforts there. Pray for the children that will attend a jigger removal clinic this month, pray for healing and hope. And pray for the parents, that they would be educated in the care of their children and would be blessed by the mission that Sole Hope is providing to their children.

For other ways you can help or participate with Sole Hope, please feel free to visit their site to find ways to get involved!

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As a reminder, if you are interested you can join our Pure Charity Giving Circle. Each member that wants to participate will donate a minimum of $10 to Pure Charity. Please take a moment to check out our link: God Sized Dreamers. All donations are tax deductible and would be deducted on the 15th of each new month. At the end of the month, we will request that Pure Charity donate any funds raised this month to Sole Hope! It is a simple way to give back and make a huge impact. We hope you will join us on this adventure. If you are interested in being a part of the giving circle please email us at prayermomentsGSD@gmail.com so we can send you an invitation to join us.

Photos Courtesy of Sole Hope

A Heart for Missions – Will You Join Us?

December 15, 2014 By Kristin Smith Leave a Comment

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I blame my parents. 😉

I grew up with wonderful parents who have a heart for others. They have both been on missions trips around the world and have started a Kids Against Hunger (KAH) satellite packing site in my old hometown. 5 years ago when Haiti had their devastating earthquake, the Sioux Falls, SD KAH sent over 1 million meals to various churches/orphanages/groups in Haiti. I personally went on a mission trip to Jamaica when I was a freshman in college and would love to go somewhere again. Marriage, kids and life have kept me from travelling abroad since, but I believe that we can make an impact for the world serving right here at home.

For many months I felt a strong pull to start featuring some of the amazing organizations out there that are doing just that, making a difference. We learned about several of them when we went to Allume the past 2 years. I felt that as a community of God-sized Dreamers we might be able to make a difference together. While my voice may not be loud enough, or my dollar may not stretch far enough, when we come together and pool our talents, resources and voices, change can happen.

So I approached Christine with an idea.

Starting in January could we take one day a month and feature a non-profit organization that is making a difference in the lives of others? She was supportive, and Mission Moments was born.

At Allume, Delonna and I started talking about the idea and we got more and more excited.

We both have a heart for missions and we have a feeling that many of you here in this God-sized Dreamer community do as well. So here is the “plan”. On the first Monday of each month we are going to feature a new non-profit organization. Some of these we discovered at Allume and others we have found various other ways, but each organization has a heart for seeking and reaching the lost, the orphan, the lonely and broken. The idea that we can link arms together and make a difference as a community, well that’s just plain exciting!

Some of these may be companies that sell fair trade goods, or offer a chance to partner with them…but please hear me on this. Most of all we want to bring awareness, we don’t want you to feel a pressure to give financially. Even a simple prayer lifted up on the behalf of an organization is HUGE. But if you are like me, you may be unaware of these amazing companies, so our heart is to share them and then we pray that God will guide you in what ways, if any, you might join in as well.

As the ideas swirled, Delonna came up with something even more fabulous so I am going to let her explain a little more about that one! Take it away girl! 😉

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I grew up with a heart of compassion due to my mother’s ability to love on people where they were. Our house always had guests over for meals and parties. Everyone was welcomed in my home. She taught me the art of loving on people and making them feel special. It’s the little gestures that warms the heart of others.

Often we are lead to believe that if we don’t have a large donation to give that an organization could never really use the small donation we do have. However if we come together with our small donations we can actually make a huge impact in the lives of others. Together we can make a difference in the lives of orphans, women and poverty. (<====Click to Tweet)

We believe as God Sized Dreamers that collectively we can make a difference in our world. We believe together we can be the hands and feet of Christ through our giving. We want our giving circle to come alongside others and support their God Sized Dreams. We want to pour out love on our neighbors wherever they may be. Together we will live out Mark 12:30-31.

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

We are excited to partner with Pure Charity and start our own giving circle. Each member that wants to participate will donate a minimum of $10 to Pure Charity. Please take a moment to check out our link: God Sized Dreamers. All donations are tax deductible and would be deducted on the 15th of each new month. At the end of the month, we will request that Pure Charity donate any funds raised that month to the organization we featured in Mission Moments. It is a simple way to give back and make a huge impact. We hope you will join us on this adventure. If you are interested in being a part of the giving circle please email us at prayermomentsGSD@gmail.com so we can send you an invitation to join us.

Thank you for partnering with us, we feel so blessed to be walking with you in making a difference for others!

Shared by: Kristin Smith and Delonna Gibbs