17 Days To Go! All My Bags Are Packed....Sort of...

You've all heard the song....sing it with me now:
"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go, I'm standing here outside your door, I hate to wake you up to say GOOOOODBYE......"

This masterpiece has been stuck inside my head for the past few days. I'm working on packing, but it's SO hard to finish. I've got all of the flip flops and medical supplies that I can fit, I have to squeeze my clothes in my carry on and my other junk on top of the mountain in my other bag-----and then pray that every bag is under 50lbs.

In other news, all of our team is bursting at the seams and we can no longer accept donations- this is a GREAT thing! The polka dot bag you see in the picture has literally busted a seam- thank goodness it's just around a piece of wire, so I think it's going to make it; it won't be coming back though.

I know that quite a few of you wanted to donate more supplies, so I can only offer this solution: If you donate on the paypal link before May 29th, I can get it transfered and withdrawn from my account in time for the trip. Money will go to buy supplies and food (for citizens, not our team) as needed during our time there.

I appreciate all of your continued love and support! When I found out that I needed more money for the trip, you guys came through and donated it in a matter of days! I'm so grateful that God gave you a giving heart! You're all wonderful people! I can't wait to share my photos and experiences with you when I return!!

Love to all,
Amanda

For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of love and of power and a strong mind. -- 2nd Timothy 1:7

42 Days to go! Oh the FUN of Baggage Fees!

Hey friends!

42 Days to Go! How exciting!
I don't have much to say, I just wanted to say Hello and update you all a little bit. The joys of baggage fees have really been driving me crazy lately; I'm trying to figure out how much it will cost to get the bags to NY flying Delta and then to Kenya flying Egyptair. I want to make sure I have more than enough just in case I run into some unforeseen costs. Other than that, everything is trucking right along!

Please do not forget about our Yard Sale on May 12th if you're in the Austin area! We are taking donations of unwanted items, so please let us know if you have anything that you would be willing to donate. All of the money goes toward our trip. You can find more info in this Facebook Event!

We reached 300 Supporters on the Facebook Page on Friday! How exciting!! Please don't forget that this particular page is where I will be posting updates from Africa, so if you're not a supporter be sure to check it out! :D

We are still asking for donations of Glow in the Dark Stars and Pony Beads! Please let us know if you have any that you would like to donate! We are also working on a few other craft activities that we will be taking into the schools, as soon as we have Blessing Requests for that we will post them on the Facebook page. If you have a craft idea for the Dry Bones lesson please contact me!

As I go forward step by step, the way will be opened up unto me. (Proverbs 4:12) = God is leading these feet! I couldn't be more excited!!
 

90 Days to Go! HOLY FLIP FLOP!!

HOLY FLIP FLIP, ONLY 90 DAYS TO GO!!

WOW! This is a picture of the flip flops that have been donated to the trip! There are over 300 pairs!! It took me about an hour to stage them all like this, then it took me about 2 hours to try to force them into suitcases!

I do have some good and bad news: bad- they don't all fit, I have about 50 that won't go in. I packed 2 suitcases to the bursting point and I still need a suitcase for clothes, beads, string, stars, snacks, etc. The good news- I can have another fundraiser for baggage fees.

It's looking like each extra bag (the first 2 are free- we are going to need 4) is going to cost $200 to get it from NY to Nairobi (so that's $400). The problem is getting it from Austin to NY, domestic flights are extremely pricey when it comes to extra bags. If we fly AA it will cost $360 for extra bags. If we can fly Southwest (it would be a MASSIVE blessing lol) it would cost $100. United would be $260. So if we have to fly AA the total amount of extra baggage will be around $760 and so on. We also have to consider that the price will increase if any of the bags are considered over weight or over height.

I'm open to fundraiser suggestions! I have $300 for extra baggage at this time- so a fundraiser is definitely going to have to happen.

PLEASE PRAY!! God has shown His favor on this trip and I KNOW that He will get the items to Africa! Please keep praying that everything will go smoothly!



104 Days to Go! GOAL REACHED!!

Well, we moved the date up for travel reasons, so we're leaving on June 4th! I updated the countdown and I'm excited! That's 2 days closer!! I also reached my goal for the trip! I'm OFFICIALLY going to Africa! However, I'm not stopping there!! We have a lot of little mouths to feed and kiddos to medicate, so fundraising will continue until mid May! We want to make sure that we have enough to help as many children as we can!!

We're still collecting pony beads, string and glow in the dark stars for our crafts! If you have any extras that you're willing to donate, please let us know!!

This is short and sweet but filled with LOVE!

Your life is your chance to love and inspire, get out there!

Love,

Amanda

Happy New Year! 140 Days to Go!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope that you had a wonderful year last year; I hope this year is full of love and blessings for you!

I have 140 days to go until we leave for Africa! I still have about $1,000 to raise. I'm tossing around ideas about another Yard Sale in the Spring, so hold out on your Spring Cleaning until March when I'll be taking donations! :) I also still have shirts for sale! I'm out of adult smalls, but I have every other size!

I'm beyond ready for this trip! The next 5 months cannot go by fast enough! :) I've really been dwelling on this verse since my sister made me a phone cover with it (it's with me everywhere I go...and it will be written on my heart forever)- "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you!" John 14:18

I know that God has His hands all over this trip, I know that hearts and lives will be changed, I know that I will never be the same! Will it be a heartbreaking experience? Yes. I want Him to break my heart for what breaks His...and I know that the amount of suffering there has to have the greatest effect on Him, because I know with all of my heart that He LOVES His children! I know it will change the way I see the world, especially the world around me when I return home. Nothing will ever be the same for my heart...and the thought of it excites me to my core. This will be the trip of a lifetime, an experience for the books, a cry to the Heavens for mercy and love to be poured out all over His people in Africa. I can only hope that by serving Him on this trip that our relationship will be stronger than it ever has. I cannot wait. I'm ready.

"I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light" — John Keith Falconer

"Sympathy is no substitute for action." — David Livingstone, missionary to Africa

"Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible." — C.T. Studd

Joy to the WORLD!

Well, I have some awesome news- LACEY IS GOING TO AFRICA!!! Over the last two weeks Lacey has raised well above the targeted goal to get to Africa! I'm so proud of her! Now, I just need to get back in the swing of things and finish raising mine lol I have zero worries about reaching the goal. :)

(I just paused to eat my very first gluten free cupcake- it was AWESOME lol)

Now, where was I...
Oh yes, Africa...

There are no words that can describe how ready my heart is for Africa. I've done some soul searching and I've decided that as soon as the Battle for a Cure Foundation is underway and funding enough clinical trials to actually have hopes of finding a cure; I will start to plan to build an orphanage in Africa. I feel like a large piece of my heart has always belonged there; I feel like I will not be complete until I have actually made a difference in the children there. I know that a dream like this is BIG and that it will not come true without a lot of hard work. However, I also know that the God I serve is a BIG God and He has BIG plans for me. I don't want to count this life as my own...unless I've given all of my heart before my life is over, I have not done my job. I want to get to Heaven completely used up and exhausted because I used EVERYTHING that He gave me to further His cause. An orphanage seems like the next step. Battle for a Cure is cruising right along; I am learning SO much! This year we will start fundraising for our CURE Account- to fund promising clinical trials in hopes of saving these kids' lives. God is moving right along here. I find it hard to put a time stamp on my dreams...it will all happen in His time. I am so excited and in love with life!

I'm excited to share this experience with Lacey...and to come back and share it with YOU! I'm looking forward to almost 2 weeks without my iPhone; it's always attached at my fingers and I'm excited at the thought of being completely lost in Love, Prayer and Africa! :D

Until next time,
...

216 Days to Go!

The days are flying by! I've been swamped with work and all of the Battle for a Cure Christmas Festivities, but I do not want to let the holidays go by without extending the offer to give you a shirt if you provide life saving medicines and food to the children in Africa. For just $25 you can literally SAVE A LIFE! Please consider this offer! Please see the previous blog entry for more details!

I would also like to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to Jan Halash for her donation of funds, flip flops and friendship bracelet materials! Jan, you are an angel on earth, THANK YOU!!!

My flip flop ministry now greatly exceeds 300 pairs (I have yet to sit down and get a final count)! WOW! Thank you all, what an amazing job you did to get this ministry to this point! I am no longer accepting flip flops because the number of flip flops far outweighs the funds I have for extra baggage fees (none so far). I know that God will provide the funds needed to get me (and ALL of my stuff lol) to Africa this coming June!

Thank you all for your continued support! I wouldn't be where I am today without you!

Love,
Amanda