How to Fund a Mission Trip

Last year when I was planning my mission trip, the cost was an overwhelming fear.  I knew I was suppossed to go.  I had all the divine confirmation I needed.  I had the overwhelming passion about orphans, the desire to help, and it's all I could talk or think about…this mission trip.  I knew that God wanted me to go.  There is no way He would put that desire in my heart and confirm it with His scripture and then not make it happen.


“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

After I signed up for my trip and paid the deposit, I did something I had never truly done before.  I told God that I was going to have complete faith wiht the fundraising!  I KNEW He wanted me to go on this trip, so I promised to have faith that He would get me there!  I also asked him to show me if I was starting to doubt Him and to quickly redirect me.  I also asked my friends and family to keep me accountable.  

I had to do my part, but I also needed to trust completly in Him to make it happen.  This wasn't easy.  I had failed miserably at having complete faith during the adoption of our daughter.  Waiting for over four years on "His perfect timing" was not easy, infact it was the most difficult and challenging thing I had ever encountered spiritually. Trusting Him with raising money for my mission trip was an opportunity to for me to learn to have complete faith in Him, to learn to ask for help and to grow spiritually in the process.

I am so thankful for that journey.  It taught me so many things, but most importantly that if and when you give up control and trust completely in Him…HE WILL COME THROUGH!  It's as if God was just waiting on me to stop doubting, worrying and being filled with fear, and just trust Him!    

If you are signed up or are considering signing up for a mission trip, I'm pretty sure that you are supposed to go. That desire in your heart is the first clue.  And His word is the second.  Pray that God would give you more confirmation.  For me, it was running into people that had been on a mission trip, an ad in a magazine, a burning desire to do something about it.  I would follow blogs and watch videos of others on short term mission trips and picture myself there.  

Fundraising for a mission trip can be very overwhelming.  It can be overwhelmingly scary.  Or it can be overwhelmingly amazing.  My past fundraising experience was overwelmingly amazing!  Thru my friends, family and strangers, I raised ALL of the money I need with EXCESS in just six weeks!  For real!  I blogged about it here.  I am no superwoman, or anything extrordinary.  I just chose to try something different, and I got different results!  

So if you have considered joining a mission team, please don't let money keep you from doing it!  I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life.  I saw Jesus in the children I loved on.  I fell in love with a country and it's people.  I grew deeper in my spiritual life and I learned that if we trust God, He will do miraculous things!  

I hope to lead two mission trips a year with Visiting Orphans.  This year, I am leading the following:

Ecuador (March 3-10, 2012)

Uganda (July 21-August 1)

Join me…really!  There are many spots still available for Ecuador and Uganda is filling up fast!  There will be a waiting list after the trip is full.  

Need a little more time?  No worries…I will have another two teams next year!  

The countries may vary, but the mission will never: to love, to serve, to give and to love some more!  

Ecuador…Here I Come!!!

I have recently been chosen to lead ANOTHER mission trip!  Yes, you read right!  Two in one year.  I am elated!  So I am headed to Ecuador in March and would LOVE for you to join me!  This is going to be a smaller group and we will only be in country for seven days.  If the Uganda trip is too much for you, this is the PERFECT trip!

Details: Ecuador teams will be working with two orphanages in Quito - loving on orphans who are desperate for love. There will also be a sightseeing day to experience the beauty of Ecuador.
Our missions teams do not go in with an agenda, they go in to serve and to love.  Often times on our trips  all you will do for hours on end is hold infants who need the love and attention they deserve, or play sports with a group of six year old boys until the sun goes down.  Other times you will work on construction or restoration projects for the actual building that houses the orphanage.  It will truly be a life-changing and unforgettable experience.


March 3-10, 2012
Quito, Ecuador

Here are some blog posts and a write up from some others who have recently traveled to Ecuador with a Visiting Orphans mission trip.

http://followinghimbyfaith.blogspot.com/2011/10/highs-and-lows-at-quito-orphanage.html

http://followinghimbyfaith.blogspot.com/2011/10/cristo-me-ama.html

http://followinghimbyfaith.blogspot.com/2011/10/couple-more-pics.html

http://followinghimbyfaith.blogspot.com/2011/10/heartbreaking-convicting-and-inspiring.html

http://followinghimbyfaith.blogspot.com/2011/10/adios-ecuador.html

Why I Didn't Want to Join Pinterest!

I am an information junkie!  There, I said it!  Seriously, I will research stuff until it's dark outside!  I just love information.  I also am an aspiring Martha Stewart!  In the past few months I have received more Pinterest invitations than I knew what to do with!  I did not need another time stealer.  But friends pushed me, and insisted that I would LOVE it!  Well guess what?  I joined and I'm hooked!  I've Repinned and Liked so many things and that if I got off of Pinterest long enough, I MIGHT just have time to try one of the projects or recipes….seriously!

So today I was checking on the newest popular pins and it gets really quiet…REALLY QUIET!  What did I find?

So thank you Pinterest for being so stinking cool that my child goes unsupervised (sarcasm attached)!  Now I just need to figure out how to get lotion out of my sofa…hmmm, maybe I can find some ideas on Pinterest, LOL!

Spiritual Gifts

I believe that we are all called to be Senders and Goers.  As Christ followers, we are all given a Spiritual Gift that God ordained in us.  You may call it your passion, your calling, your talents or skills, something you are really good at, or you may not even know what yours it.  Think about what breaks your heart.  What is it that you could go on and on about?  Ask your friends and family.

The following scripture shows that whether your gift is compassion, teaching, healing, leadership, giving or one of the many others, you are a vital part of the whole body of believers.




Unity and Diversity in the Body
 ¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. ¹⁴ Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

 ¹⁵ Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. ¹⁹ If they were all one part, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

 ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

 ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. ²⁸ And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues^[d]? Do all interpret? ³¹ Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Spiritual Gifts are facinating, to me at least!  I have been praying for my July Uganda Team that God brings all the gifts on my team that we need to accomplish something GREAT for Him!  It is amazing watching my team fill up with the exact people I neeed with with skills that I don't have.  He knows.  It is truly a miraculous thing to watch!  

We are all call to be Senders or Goers.  Some of us can't send, some of us can't go.  But we all can send those who can, and go for those who can't!  So if you are a Goer, check out our July Uganda Trip.  If you are a Sender, help sponsor someone who is going or go to Visiting Orphans give page and donate to our team!  Enter Elisa Hyman Uganda 2011, and that donation will go towards our team!  

If you can't tell, Missions is the thing that gets me going!  It's what breaks my heart!  It's what I can't stop talking about!  It's my gift!  

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago I had cried my eyes out with joy as I held my daughter and learned how to be her mommy.  She was such a fragile little girl with no hair.  I remember getting off of the plane and our friends wondering if we really brought her home from Africa because of her fair skin.

Today, I still cry with joy as I remember the journey that led us to Marley. She is a tough girl who wrestles with her big brother…and can hold her own!  She has a head full of curly hair that I LOVE to braid!  And she has blended perfectly in our colorful family.

Two years ago, Miles finally became the big brother we had been talking about for over three years.  He held her carefully and made silly faces waiting for her to laugh at him.

Today, Miles is still careful with her and still makes silly faces.  He also gets frustrated with his baby sister beating him up.  They tickle each other and scream when they get mad.  Today, they are brother and sister!

Two years ago, this little Ethiopian princess joined our family and her life was forever changed.  The language, the smells, the food and the routines were all different from what she knew.  She studied us.  She was hesitant to get too close.

Today, she knows no different.  She knows that somehow "Ethiopia" and "Marley" go together, and when we say who is from Ethiopia she says, "Me!"  She imitates us and wants to be as close as she can get to her forever family!

Two years ago seems so distant from today.

The Mission Your on Makes You a Missionary

I have never really thought of myself as a missionary, although I am.  I am on a mission to achieve great things for the Kingdom of God.  Or at least I am striving to.  I have a deep deep passion for many things.  Some might say I have a soft heart for those in need, but I see it as a God given calling.  It as if He put that ache in me to want to do something about it.

I love this video!


What makes your heart break and your fists clenge?

Whoooo Hoooo!!!

Y'all read about my love hate relationship I have with extreme couponing.  I saw both sides last night at the midnight walgreens sale, but…all I have right now is a LOVE LOVE LOVE relationship with it!

Walgreens is, by far, my favorite place to coupon.  They lure you in with phenomenal deals, expecting you the consumer to buy other items while you are there for the "free" ones.  Extreme couponers know these marketing ploys and only buy the deals of the week and save tremendous amounts of money.

At midnight last night, Walgreens Black Friday sales started.  I had studied their add about a week or two before and collected the neccessary coupons to make my transactions practically free.  And here is my loot!!!


ALL FOR  $6.14, and a savings of $411.81!!!!  This includes a $14 bottle of wine, two packages of Huggies Slip On diapers, three Revelon lip glosses,  two Venus razor start up kits and much much more!

If you are not familiar with Walgreens, you MUST educate yourself…or don't…and leave all the deals for me…lol!  I planned out 12 transactions at two different Walgreens stores and spent a total of $35.54 cash and I still have $15 Register Rewards (Walgreens Cash), and 12 free Redbox coupons!  When I take the value of the Register Rewards and the Redbox coupons, I spent $6.14 cash on all of this GREAT stuff!

WIN A MISSON TRIP!

This is for real!  My girl Kari with My Crazy Adoption is partnering up with Visiting Orphans to give away a mission trip!  For every T-Shirt that you buy you get an entry into a drawing for a FREE mission trip!

What a great way to give and get at the same time!  And yes…I have a shameless plug!  I WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO JOIN MY JULY 2012 UGANDA TEAM!!!!

So head on over here to get your T-Shirt and get entered in the drawing for a FREE mission trip!

My Babies

I have some pretty cute kids!  I love them dearly and am very thankful that I am a mom to not just one, but two earthly angels.  

Miles just turned seven…seven!  I can't believe I have a child that old!  He is such a sweet boy and is going to make an amazing man, husband and father one day.  He still likes to cuddle with us and wants me to hold him when he has had a bad day.  I LOVE IT!

Marley…well she's just a big ham!  For one, she KNOWS she's cute, and uses it to her advantage.  She just learned how to say Paweeeeeeaaaassseeee, when she wants something really really bad.  I'm sure the eye batting will be coming next.  When she is not playing mommy with her baby dolls, she is dressing up in her tutu's and jewlery!  A very fashionable and loving mommy she will make one day.

It just amazes me that in just a few weeks, we will be celebrating our Family Day!  On November 29th, Marley will have been home for two years!  

Adoption is such an amazing thing.  In the beginning, it is exciting, challenging, frustrating, painful.  Then is becomes exciting again, and then challenging, frustrating and painful all over again.  But once they are home and they are yours, all the difficult times just seem to fade away, and become a distant memory. 

For us, after two years, the topic of adoption mostly only comes up when someone else brings it up.  It's not that we are avoiding the topic, it's just that it's not as important of a topic anymore.  Marley is our daughter.  Yes, she came to us through adoption, and we celebrate that.  But she is our daughter, just as Miles is our son.  We forget a lot of times that she was not born of my body.  

Adoption will forever be a part of our family and a part of Marley's "story."  But it will not define WHO Marley is, just how she came to us.  We talk about Ethiopia often.  It's so amazing how a two year old can begin to learn her story at such a young age.  She points to the many many Africa t-shirts we have and says "me!"  I love it!  And we celebrate it!  

I love my two babies.  One born of the body, and one born of the heart.  

Extreme Couponing

I have a love hate relationship with extreme couponing…the show! I have been a couponer for many years now. Because of TLC's Extreme Couponing, I have sparked an interest in jumping up my game and dabbling in a little of extreme couponing myself.

 I have learned that I will NEVER EVER pay for toothpaste, body wash, deodorant, pasta and over the counter medications again! And I will never pay over a dollar for paper towels, toilet paper, many canned goods, household cleaners and more! Basically, I am not impressed until I have saved over 50% of my bill at check out.

 So thank you TLC for bringing me this show to help me to learn how to step it up! I LOVE extreme couponing! What I don't love it the flack a lot of couponers are getting in response to this TV show. I have been accused of stuffing my paper with extra coupons before checking out. I have been told I can not use coupons that are in Spanish. I have been limited to only using 4 of the same coupon per transaction. I have watched some of my favorite stores change their coupon policy…all because of this TV show.

 It is giving couponers a bad name! Everyone thinks we are shelf clearing, hoarding, neurotic ladies that would give the birthrights of our next born for that $2.00 Olay Body Wash coupon. Okay, so maybe some of us are a little neurotic! But, we are not all shelf clearing hoarders, so please stop treating us like we are…hah!