3 crazy reasons to come with me

Check it out… Big Nanny goes on Visiting Orphans Mission trip– she’s officially part of the craziness! BIG CRAZY NEWS- We have 2 more slots open to fill! If you are feeling a passion about this trip, please continue to pray and fill out the application when the time is right! Spots are filling up fast!

My personal journey to missions- I want to challenge you to come with me on this mission trip! I waited 41 years before I went on my first mission trip.  I had to really go!  I love kids and love traveling… why did it take me so long to go on missions. I hate to admit this, but I was intimidated and it was never convenient for me to go. I’m a stay at home mom and the timing just never seemed right for me.

My hubby was supportive, but not in a “do it now” kind of way. I always had an excuse.  The money was usually my down fall.  I had no idea you could fundraise for a mission trip. I assumed I needed to do it all on my own.  I felt responsible to raise the money or not go. Why would anyone want to help me go on a “vacation.”  I never dreamed my family and friends would rally together and help me make my mission trip dreams come true.  Last summer, I was asked to go to Haiti with my church family.  I asked Roger to let me go. This was it… I was determined to make it work.  Zoie was only 1 year old and my kids were starting school several days after the trip started.  I could feel the guilt seeping up in my heart, but I moved forward.  I knew I needed to go, but I had to raise $1,500 in two weeks.  I prayed and prayed that God would give me a creative idea.  I pushed my old fears down and moved forward with a plan.

Family and friends embraced my project and I raised $2,200 for Haiti!  I was able to purchase donations with the overflow and hand deliver the items personally. It was a lot of work organizing the fundraiser, but once things got rolling, it was so much fun! Please don’t make the same excuses I made for so many years: pray, move forward and allow God to do the rest. If the door is slammed shut in your face, well that’s OK. Stand in line again, and move forward in a different direction. I challenge you to call or email Visiting Orphans today and request an application. If your heart is stirring, don’t wait – start the ball rolling, especially if you feel excitement and joy and yearning when you read our itinerary.

Here’s 3 Reasons why you should come with me to Ethiopia & Uganda:

• Orphans desperately need you to come and simply love them– BASICALLY Haiti is happening to children all over this world….the media is just not covering it. They lose their parents suddenly to HIV, malaria, malnutrition, starvation and other horrific ends to a life.  Or, they are traumatized as they are just abandoned and left with a feeling of worthlessness, feeling forgotten and not knowing the consistent love of a parent or anyone else.  Some orphans never even get to see outside of the building of their orphanage.  Orphans in this world, unless visited by God’s people, will not know their Savior as their Abba Daddy.  He is their Father and He is the only one who in our absence can give them the consistent love they were created to receive.  If we don’t go…who will go for us?  (thank you Amanda)

• Lose some weight with me- Are you loaded down with the weight of mommyhood?  The busyness of your life as a mom- the comfortable, conveniences of structure, playdates, Target runs, carpools, sports events… well, mission trips do a great job at shaking things up and forcing you to let go and serve out of your comfort zone.  Traveling to a foreign country can be really scary, but being immersed in a different culture allows you to see and smell and touch and taste and hear things that will literally change your life.  Leave your busyness at home (it will be there when you return) and open your hearts wide to crazy love orphans.
• Be part of a God-Adventure- this means doing something radical, out of the normal, daily routine we get stuck in as moms.  You get to see God work in others lives and in your own life on a mission trip.  Plan on something going really crazy- this is all part of the adventure.  I encourage you to super-size your joy and patience and understanding and compassion and affection on a mission trip.  If you have set expectations, I guarantee you will be turned upside down.  Leave your expectations at home and allow God to guide your steps through Uganda and Ethiopia.

Here’s what one mom shared- “as an adopting Mom I first thought, I’m already doing my part, I’m adopting an orphan! While talking to my husband, I couldn’t stop crying because I was thinking about our baby. I kept asking, what if an American Mom was able to be in the orphanages everyday? What if we knew there were always volunteers through Visiting Orphans there to hold, feed and love our baby E? I know that my 14 days in Uganda and Ethiopia isn’t going to change the world BUT if Mom’s across our country would go and be present 365 days a year, it would change the lives of all the orphaned children.
July 19th isn’t really a “good time” for me to go on a Mission Trip. Who knows where we will be in the adoption, if we will have the

money, or if I can emotionally handle it.  However, we pray, someone is there right now, regardless of the “right time” to hold our baby.” (Ashlie, mom to be)

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