kid on mission

For the past three years, our family has sponsored a young girl named Maria in Mozambique, and a two boys, Darlin and Mercideau, for even longer in Haiti. We sponsor them through our church which has an ongoing relationship and partnership with ministries in both countries. Our kids very regularly pray for and talk about our three sponsored children, and we also get to see pictures and hear stories from teams from church who head to Haiti and Mozambique annually to nurture those partnerships.

Over the past three to four years, I've dreamed of taking our children to both Haiti and Moz before they leave home someday. I considered the Haiti trip when they are 7th or 8th grade, and the Moz trip in high school. Now that our kids are entering 6th grade, I began to more seriously consider what that will take to accomplish such trips. Cha-ching. It will take lots of cash, so last week, while the boys were riding their bikes across the state on RAGBRAI, I mentioned to Sara that maybe, due to the cost, Nathan should go to Haiti in junior high, and Sara to Moz in high school.

Sara's response: No way. She vowed to help pay a big part of her way there, and got busy painting magnets to sell the first day. Within 12 hours of the comment, she had sold three magnets and pursued the idea of selling some of her wares at a local coffeeshop. The following day, as we cheered the RAGBRAI riders into Waterloo, she sold ice cold lemonade and giant homemade rice krispie bars in the driveway of a friend who lived along this year's RAGBRAI route. Along with her price signs, she wrote a "Help me get to Haiti" sign, which attracted conversation and some generous tips.

This morning, we're heading to the bank to open a "Sara's Haiti fund" account. Her passion is contagious, and she's ignited a sense of focus and commitment, that God-willing, may end up helping our entire family of four get to Haiti in a couple of years.