Wanted- Additional Team Members for Team Shantou!

72 days until we leave for our mission trip! I'm getting pretty excited! We had our first phone conference as a team about a week and a half ago and I learned a little bit more about what to expect. Our team leader, Jennifer, seems pretty awesome! I can't wait to meet her and the other ladies who are going on this trip. So far, we have seven members (one who actually just joined us this week)! Jennifer's goal is for us to have a team of 10. The orphanage we will be visiting is in the city of Shantou, which is in the province of Guangdong. This orphanage is the home to about 200 kids! Can you imagine?!? Many of these children are older kids. There are three baby rooms with about eight babies in each room. One nanny is assigned to each baby room. So one nanny taking care of eight babies. Folks from AWAA have visited this orphanage before and these babies are well cared for, as far as their basic physical needs. They are clean, they are fed, and their diapers are changed regularly. But what they don't have is a lot of time for interaction, touch, holding and playing with the babies, talking to the babies, singing to the babies, doing all of those things that babies need to feel secure, safe, and loved and to form attachments. The younger babies will often lay in their cribs crying, just wanting to be held, but with no response. There are just not enough arms to provide this need. The older babies often don't cry anymore. They've learned that it doesn't work. They've given up in a sense. One of our main “jobs” at this orphanage will be to hold babies and love on them. Feed them, rock them, play with them, talk to them, pray over them, and just provide them with the touch that they don’t get on a daily basis. The more people that can go with us, the more babies that can be held. Could YOU be our next team member? Is God calling you to help with this mission? Now I know what you are thinking…a million reasons why you can’t go, right? I’m pretty sure all of those reasons popped into my head, as well. I will share with you my top four reasons “why I couldn’t go” and the reasons “why I could” that God showed me. 1.) WHY I CAN’T: “I don’t have the money. No way, no how can I come up with that kind of money before October!” WHY YOU CAN: “When God calls us to do something, HE PROVIDES! It might take a little (or a lot of) effort on your part. You will likely have to make some sacrifices. You will have to swallow some pride. But HE WILL provide if you are willing to follow Him! He will provide you with the wisdom of HOW to do it, the time and energy to follow through with His plan, and he will provide the funds in ways you never could have imagined. I am witnessing this first hand! There is no doubt in my mind that I will raise the rest of the money needed for my own trip and I know he will provide YOU with the funds, if you are willing to step out in faith and commit to following Him if he is calling you to this. “For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet and they would be distributed to each as any had need.” Acts 4:34 2.) WHY I CAN’T: “It’s just not a good time” My main SLP who works for me is having her baby while I will be in China. I will have a new SLP taking over her caseload for her maternity leave. Not exactly the best time for me to be out of the country. But, I have put this in God’s hands and I know it will be fine. I will just seek His wisdom and trust that He’s got this! WHY YOU CAN: “If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done” (Ecclesiastes 11:4) Let’s face it, it’s never going to be a good time. There’s always going to be something. 3.) WHY I CAN’T: “It’s Halloween. I’m going to miss my baby dressed up in a cute little costume going trick-or-treating. She’s only going to trick-or-treat when she’s two once.” WHY YOU CAN: Well this one really wasn’t hard for me to overcome. It’s not like it is Christmas or her birthday. It’s Halloween. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not really all that important. Taking the time to love on some babies that don’t have mommies or daddies seems much more important that than trick-or-treating. “Keep me from paying attention to what is worthless.” Psalm 119:37 4.) WHY I CAN’T: “I don’t think I can do that- see those babies crying with no one to pick them up, children with special needs who are just lying on the floor all day long with nothing to do and no one to play with them. I mean, what would I do? What would I say to them? How would I do it without breaking down into tears? No way. I’m not strong enough.” WHY YOU CAN: Of course you’re not strong enough. That’s why God wants us to do this. So that we have to rely on him and lean on him. That’s the only way anyone can do this. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witness, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even the remotest part of the world.” Acts 1:8 One final word. If you feel that God is calling you to do this, and I believe that if you feel just a hint of desire to go, He is calling you. Pray about it. And really listen. If you hear him calling, say “yes” to this. We would love to have you join our team! “Stop quarreling with God! If you agree with Him, you will have peace at last, and things will go well for you.” Job 22:21

Pride...A tough pill to swallow

I've been meaning to write this post for a couple of weeks now, but, well, pride kept getting in the way! If you've ever had to raise money to do something like adopt or go on a mission trip or any other reason, you know how much pride swallowing is required. When it came down to sending out my "support letter" for this mission trip, I struggled with "asking people for money" and I find it hard even now, as people are so kind and generous, donating money to put toward my trip to accept it without pride sneaking in and making me want to say "No, this is too much." But then I have to remember that this money is not for ME. It's for God's children, so I can help them, show them love, help their caregivers and future families better understand their abilities. I feel better about working to earn the money, but I also know that there's no way I can make enough bibs and burb cloths in six more weeks to earn the rest of the money doing that alone. I'm just about half way to my goal, having raised about $2000 almost enough for my first payment which is due September 1st. but I have a long way to go before reaching my goal of $5000(maybe less depending on the cost of the airline tickets). I am so grateful and overwhelmed by the response and generosity that I've received thus far from friends and family! And I am amazed at how quickly I've been able to raise the amount I've raised so far. God is good! Whenever he calls us to do something, he enables us to do it, too! Sometimes these blessings require a tough lesson in humility. So, here I am swallowing my pride once again, and asking, "Won't you please consider making a donation to help me go to China?" $10? $20? $50? No donation is too small. Please prayerfully consider what you can give. Share this with others who may be able to donate, as well. Clink here to donate. Make sure you choose "ACT Missions" from the drop down box and put my name in the "Participant's Name" box. Also, in the notes box, make sure you put my name again and "Guangdong October 2014" to make sure it is credited to my trip. I will, of course, continue making bibs, burp cloths, and kitchen towels, so let me know if you want to order one of those. And spread the word, please! Thanks! "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

Links

For some reason the links didn't show up in the previous blog post. So... The Just Love Coffee link is www.justlovecoffee.com/Tararoofmissiontrip. The link to donate to my trip is https://www.awaa.org/give/general_donation.aspx

Fundraising like Crazy!

I have been busy, busy, making and selling appliqued items! I am so grateful and humbled by those who have supported me so far! I am almost a quarter of the way to meeting my goal! My first payment of $2200 is due September 1st. I am about half way there, but I have a LONG way to go! Final payment is due October 1st. I am making and selling appliqued bibs, burp cloths, and kitchen towels. I can do a cross or an initial in just about any color. Here are a few pictures of some I've made so far. They are $15 each plus shipping.

I will also be doing game day t-shirts with an appliqued initial or the design seen below in your team's colors for your little ones. Ruffle shirt for girls, plain tee for boys. Infant/Toddler sizes and children sizes available. I am taking "pre-orders" so that I can order the shirts in bulk. Deadline for ordering is August 10th, so place your order ASAP!

As if all this appliqueing won't keep me busy enough, I've decided to make and sell stationary, too. I mean, who doesn't need stationary, right? Right now I have some with these crosses in a variety of colors on white card stock. $10 for a pack of 8. I can take custom orders, too. Just email me and we can talk about what you'd like.

And, for all of those coffee lovers out there, I've just opened a "store front" with Just Love Coffee (no, I won't be making the coffee!). Just Love Coffee is an online coffee shop where you can order a variety of different types of coffees to be delivered to your door. If you shop using this link, Just Love Coffee with donate a portion of their sales to my trip! How cool is that!?!? Please share this link with others who love coffee, too! Click here to shop. Let's just be honest, I'm going to have to make A LOT of items in order to get to my goal, and I'm willing to do the work. Bu I'm going to need some just straight up donations to get there before September 1st/October 1st. If you don't need a bib, burp cloth, kitchen towel, stationary, or coffee, please consider making a contribution to my trip. You can send a check to me or you can pay online here. Make sure you choose "ACT Missions" in the "Designated Funds" dropdown box and put my name (Tara Roof) under "participants name". Thanks, y'all!