Fundraiser Objectives and Results!

Well, So far we have raised $2,619! Amazing! 
I am so impressed by people's generosity and willingness to help. Thank you so much!

Your money has already purchased my airline ticket ($1486) and Volunteer Fees ($766). This week I am purchasing my traveler's insurance ($121) and getting my vaccines ($250-300... I'm not quite sure yet).

In addition to awesome donators, my pampered chef fundraiser had 17 orders and raised over $140 towards my trip! Thank you Heidi Cumings and all my shoppers! You guys are wonderful.

Also, Brad from my Starbucks store is letting me collect new or gently used clothes for the kids. :D I work for a wonderful company. I am allowed two free suitcases for travel with Delta, and I'm hoping to fill one of them with clothes/shoes/socks for the orphans.


Thank you to those who continue to pray for me and this trip. I can tell that you are doing it!

A Great Friend

So, Dec. 9 from 6:30- 8:30 there will be an Pampered Chef Party at My House. It's hosted by my great friend, Heidi Cumings and Myself. She is generously donating all of her earning from the party towards Kenya!
How Awesome!
I am so blessed to have such giving people in my life.

So, please stop by Dec. 9 and shop around. :-)
(If you need directions fb or call me.) 

 These are two cute photos of Heidz and I bowling. haha

So Amazed!

WOW! We went from 1,000 to 1,500 in less than a WEEK! Thank You SO much. Wow! I'm speechless.

If you'd like to contribute; there is time! I still need money for the volunteer fee, vacaniations, and water while in Kenya. You can send a check (addressed to me) to my home address or stop by for some Jewelry Shopping! My mom is selling retired Silpada Jewelry for a discount, and all the proceeds are going towards my trip. (Awesome Mom!)

Also, this Sunday Marcia and Leeland Houvingh brought me with them to an African Church Service. It was awesome. The worship was in Swahili and the sermon was in English. It was nice to experience some of the Kenyan culture here in the USA, and talk to these sweet Christians.

God Bless

Mini Update

We are up to $1,000 raised! Wow! Thank you so much for your support. I feel so blessed. I cannot wait to go, and your donations have made this possible.

Last week my mother and I went to Win-Some Women Retreat up in Mackinac Island. We saw some amazing speakers, and now I feel spiritually refreshed. Next year they have a women who ran the largest marketing firm in Canada come and speak. She left her job and started working with orphans in Kenya. Wow! I can't wait to see her... and maybe work for her? We'll see, but I am so positive this is the path God wants me to take. 

Also, on Sunday I spend 2 hours with a couple who lived in Kenya for years. They were missionaries, and they are trying to connect me with their family/ friends in Nairobi while I'm there. They also are taking me to some of the African churches in Grand Rapids soon. 

Thank you for your prayers. Please keep them coming. 



 

Finances are Growing!

Thanks for all your donations over the last two weeks since my letter. We went from $420 in the donation pot to $600. :D

Second Update Letter

The second update letter is sent. If you don't receive yours and would like one, please let me know!

The main topics of interest on the letter:

1. We are at 20% of our support goal. There is $1700 left to raise. I'm not worried... I am absolutely positive that going to Kenya is God's will, and he will provide a way.
 
2. A girl from work may be coming down with me for two weeks! :-) It would be so great to have someone to work with that I already know. Plus, she's super fun and sweet.

3. A group of Calvin College students are headed down to Nairobi, Kenya in January. I'm going to contact of the of the girls to see if I could "tag" along with their group to explore the city.

4.  One of my neighbors lived as a missionary in Kenya for 20 years! I'm going to see if she can teach me some culture and customs before I leave. What a  great blessing she would be.


Mainly, I am getting SO excited for this trip. I can't wait, and I am so thankful to all the people who are helping make this happen!

Peace

My mom said the sweetest thing to me last weekend. 

We were sitting at the breakfast table in a hotel. She says, 

         "Leah, people keep asking me if I'm scared about you going to Kenya or if I'm afraid for Layna's safety in the Middle East. But I think the safest place you can be is in the center of God's will. I have a peace about your trip. I think God is blessing it." 

My mom is so great.

Online Donation Page Up and Running

Wow! It's amazing how long it takes to write a one-page support letter. I think I spent about two hours looking up sample letters, thinking about what I'd like to write, and actually writing it. The two hours doesn't even count all the revision time. It's funny that writing for something I'm passionate about is so much more fun than writing about school topics.

The online donation website is also ready to go. It's a paypal based donation. To donate you don't have to have a paypal account. It only means there is a secure connection.
If you'd like to check it out or donate the link is:
http://funds.gofundme.com/leahrmattson/LeahtoKenya
You can also scroll down to the bottom of this blog. The website is embedded.

God Bless

It's Official!

Well, It's official; I am now going to Kenya, Africa January 13, 2011! 

I will be going through International Volunteer HQ.They are a organization based in New Zealand that sends volunteers from all over the world wherever they are needed. They work with the organizations in other countries to make sure their volunteers are safe and needed. While in Kenya I will be working with Fadhili Helpers. They will be my main contact and support while in the country.

I will be staying with a host family within walking or short bus ride distance from the orphanage. I wont be assigned an orphanage until I arrive in Kenya. This way they can make sure that I am a good match for the placement. 

The reason I am so desperate to go to Africa is because almost 2 years ago I read the book, A long way gone, by Ismael Beah. It is a heart breaking true story of a boy soldier from Sierra Leone. My heart strings were so far strung that only a passing thought of all the children orphaned from war or AIDS all over Africa brought me to tears. I remember sitting in the van saying, "I need to go, mom." That one phrase was all that would squeak out through my tears. Unfortunately, time, school, and money has prevented me from actually going. I looked into traveling last winter, but nothing seemed to "fit together." I knew that if I was meant to go God would open up a door into Africa or my eyes to another time.

Next winter is God's perfect timing. I know this without a doubt because the moment I thought, 'January, I'm going to Africa' a extreme peace calmed me. I was worked up over graduation, getting engaged, finding a job, moving somewhere with no snow, and my sister going to the Middle East without me. I was extremely stressed out, and I was trying to make everything I think are my dreams become realized. I was praying, and it's funny that this happens to everyone but you, (but it happened), God sent a thought to my brain. Now, that I have decided, found an organization, and paid the first down payment, I am so ready and at peace. All the other stresses seem so small now that  I know what I'm supposed to do.

Soon, I will be sending out support requests, and there will be a link onto an online donation opportunity. Please feel free to pray about all the work this future trip will be for the organization down in Kenya, the children who I will be working with, and my family who is a little bit concerned about diseases. ;-)