The Ends of the Earth
November 7, 2011
This morning I woke up in my warm bed, went downstairs and drank of cup of coffee and then took a hot shower. Across the world in Nairobi, they are lucky if they can get a cup of clean water to drink. Sometimes I think we need to become uncomfortable with our comfort so that we can enact change.
I have had the opportunity in the past to travel to St. Maarten, Jamaica, the Dominican Repulic and Honduras on short-term foreign missions trips. I have written about some of those trips in this blog. It is through these opportunities I feel as though I have come to learn what it really means to be a Christian and act like Jesus. This coming spring, I have an opportunity to travel with them to Nairobi, Kenya for 10 days. During this time we will be visiting the slums, working with Jacaranda Creations ministry, and possibly doing some medical interventions.
Jacaranda Creations is a ministry started in the slums provides work for mostly HIV positive, single mothers and gives them a source of income and pride. The ministry teaches the women to sew and allows them to create items for sale and develop community. Jacaranda recently expanded to Jacaranda Kids ministry that helps a child to be sponsored so that they will receive an education, clothes and food.
The cost of this trip is $2,600 and I need help. The money will be going toward flight, lodging, and assisting Jacaranda ministries. I have been saving money and participating in group fundraisers but I need your help. Any donation is much appreciated. You can donate on-line by going to crosspoint.tv/give, (click: One time donation, Campus: Bellevue, Other: [A box will pop up] then type Amanda Fordham + Nairobi then continue to the payment info.) or by clicking on the button below. All gifts are tax deductible.
The most important thing I need is your prayers. This trip is going to be especially challenging for me. I need to be mentally prepared for what I am going to see and also, I need to know what am I supposed to do once I go. Coming back from these trips are always hard because you can so often feel helpless. There is so much poverty and it seems not enough help. However, I believe even more important that finances, we are offering these people hope. Hope that there is a God that loves them, that can overcome any circumstance and that knows them by name. Thank you so much for partnering with me.
You make me cry! While brushing my teeth yesterday morning I flashed back to Beatrice and Esther and how they never have water in the morning to brush their teeth. What must it feel like to never feel clean. Last July, they had their first showers and experienced that with warm water they had never known before. What a treat that was for them. I can’t wait to hug their smiling, dirty faces and to introduce them to you. They will be 7 years old by April! Each time a flashback occurs my heart breaks over again but from that painful moment new energy is created to reach out touch the broken, the lost, the hurting. In their faces as Mother Teresa once said, “I see the face of Jesus.”.
Love you and believing for provision for you,
Rhonda