[ the search begins ]

As summer comes to an end, the school year begins! Trying to find the time for fundraisors is quite difficult in between full-time graduate classes, student teaching, and substitute teaching for a few extra dollars. Thankfully, a few more people seem to be interested in Open Door Ministries and God's journey He is taking me on in the future so the hard work pays off!

Harvest Baptist Church's Jr. Church hosted a "Penny Challenge" in which each grade level from preschool to fourth grade competed to see who could bring in the most change. The fourth graders wiped out all the other grades by hundreds of dollars! The Jr. church brought in a grand total of $763.62! Boy, what a NUMBER. I about fell over when I read the grand total. Thank you Jr. Church for your hard work and dedication. (left: 4th grader Victoria)

In addition to the Penny Challenge, Harvest Baptist has been collecting pop cans over the past month. Pepsi cans, Mountain Dew cans, Sunkist cans, I receieved them all of every kind! The church collected over 35 bags of pop cans! Thank you Harvest Baptist for your donation! When the aluminum prices go up, I hope to turn them in! As I become more knowledgeable in support raising, I am learning that every penny counts!

As the year comes close to its end, I am becoming more and more nervous on making sure I find an actual place to go! Without a doubt I know the Lord is leading me to Nairobi, Kenya for my beginning ministry work as a missionary. So the search for applying to christian organizations that help cover missionaries. There are hundreds, even thousands of organizations that missionaries can apply to. These organizations usually take care of airplane tickets, health insurance, financial organization, and placement direction. Although, missionaries themselves could manage to do all this themselves but it is an immense amount of work and time. And time is of the essence! Please pray for me in my search for the correct organization. Currently, I have narrowed it down to a few. I hope to have this accomplished by the end of the year.

Thank you again for all of your prayer and support as the Lord molds my vision into His vision. May all the glory go to our Great God!