First off, I'm so sorry it has been so long since I have posted on the blog but I have had a lot going on. Besides running off to Vegas last weekend for a birthday get away for Kevin and I, things have been nonstop around here. The end of the school year always is met, in my line of work, with exceptional business. Because of this business and all the other commitments, I have not had hardly any time on the computer and when I am on the computer, I am working. So, sorry for being missing in action.
Onto my next line of business. Kevin and I have really grown a heart for missions. Kevin has spearheaded this as God has really been working on his heart and he has a renewed commitment for missions. Both Kevin and I are going to Haiti with our church at the end of June and Ethan will be going on his first missions trip to Guatemala at the same time with our dear friends. I am thrilled at the direction our family is headed and I strongly feel that God has called us all to missions work, but He is poking us hard right now to remind us of our calling. I will begin fund raising for the Haiti and Guatemala trip soon but for now, I have another passion I want to present.
I was asked to be on the Board of Directors for an Orphanage in Manipur India. The orphanage is called NEHEMIAH CHILDREN'S HOME and it is in the heart of the child trafficking ring. It is a very needy place with children suffering trafficking, malnutrition, disease, poverty, neglect, rebel insurgents, violent crimes and unfortunately, children often fall victim of crimes as they are not valued. Many children are orphaned in this area and are left to fend for themselves while others are sold into the sex trade by their own parents. Nehemiah Children's Home works to not only provide these children with hope and a safe haven but also to provide a Christian education with all their physical needs met. It is a worthy cause to support and I am blessed to be a part of the board in order to help fund raise for these kids.
One of the orphans
Sorry this is so small, but here are some of the orphans.
There are a couple ways to help. First off, we are heading a drive to get school uniforms for the orphans. We just raised enough to pay for their tuition to get all the school age orphans into school but we now need to get the funds together to purchase their uniforms. Each child's uniform costs about $50 each and that includes shoes, socks and everything. We are looking for people who would like to provide a one time gift (tax deductible) of $50 to purchase a uniform for one child. We have a long way to go to get all the kids uniforms so please spread to word so we can get all their uniforms soon (school has already started but the orphans are wearing their normal clothes until we can get the uniforms).
The next way to help is monthly sponsorship for a child. We need approximately $42 a month to cover all the care for one child. If you would like to be a part of the month sponsorship, that is a great way to help these kids. I have come up with a program I would like to spread in an effort to get the basic needs of these kids met (ie. monthly sponsorship). I am encouraging school classes to take on one child--- 1 CLASS FOR ONE KID-- Ill come up with a better catch phrase later but essentially that is the program. One school class sponsors one kid. If there are approximately 20 kids in a class, each child would be responsible for a monthly commitment of $2 to sponsor their kid. The class would get a picture of the student they sponsor and the students info. The class would be able to collect the money and send it off each month to Nehemiah Children's Home to sponsor their student. This is a wonderful way to teach kids within an American class about giving their resources to kids around the world who are less fortunate. I encourage all of you to approach your kids teachers and ask them if they would be interested in sponsoring a student. Get the principal to buy into this and have all classes within a school to do this-- imagine the ramifications if we got a whole school on board!!!! This Children's Home can grow significantly and the more sponsorship we can get, the more children we can help. So sell this to your kids school and if they need more info, email me and I can talk with them. I know its the end of the year, but if the teacher adopted this child, then the sponsorship for the child will just go into the next school year and the actual child they support will stay with the teacher. It would be an awesome opportunity for these classes to learn about giving (and of course this is a 501(c)3 so everything is tax deductible).
Please help with this cause. I know so many of you out there have a heart for orphans and we are called to help these kids. The website is
http://www.nchindia.org/ and I am including some pictures of the orphans and a picture of the uniforms. Please prayerfully consider giving to this charity. If you would like more info, please email me and I can email or call you back. Also, if you would like to copy this post onto your blog to spread the word, please do so-- I would soooooooooo appreciate you helping. Remember, this is a new orphanage and a new program for this area so we are in the beginning stages of building this and this is the time we need your help. So please spread the word.
Scruffy, one of my parents dogs in the background.
Balancing on rocks
My cute little girl!!!
Sammy watching the game on the TV in the box
My brother and Kevin watching the game
Boys having fun as always- Owen, Jake, Carson, Ethan and Christian
The girls were not as into the game as the boys and spent much of their time running around the suite and playing tag. 
Mia and Haileyanna - Cousins-- too cute!!!
Judah, Nathan, Christian, Ethan, Carson-- and the girls running around too
The players on the Ducks were in the Olympics and on many different county teams. Here are the jerseys of the players that were on the top 3 teams. Very cool display!!!
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