Widow's and Orphans

In a month from now I am getting on a plane and heading for India. A dear friend of mine has an amazing ministry of supporting orphanages in Honduras. Her ministry is beginning to expand around the world. Long story short, I began to feel the tug from God to help her get to orphanages in India who have contacted her for help. Thus far she hasn't been able to financially support them. She needs to visit them to prove they are legitimate. God showed me that my passions were the perfect tools to help. Three of my greatest passions in life are God, orphans and travel. I don't remember a time (other than God calling us to Maylin and Pierson) when I have heard God so clearly calling me to do something. 

Exciting right?! Yep.. and scary. After committing to go and raise the money for Tara and I to travel I started to second guess myself. How am I going to raise the money? How are we going to travel in country? How in the world are we going to find the orphanages once we are there? God is settling those nerves and helping me plan the trip. I am trusting Him to provide the final cash. God is good all the time so I will not have fear.  

Our first step was to hold a fundraiser. The idea was to help a widow while asking for sponsorship for the orphans. James 1:27  says: "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."
This fundraiser was designed to do just that.

The family tried to build more sturdy stairs before we got there to do the project. (It was more solid, but it was practically a ladder. And when we were trying to figure out how to remove them we realized they pulled off without any effort.

We met Mrs. Elma. She is an elderly woman who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She needed a new porch. Her current porch was beginning to crumble. It was what connected her back door to her wheel chair ramp. Without the porch she wouldn't be able to get out of the house. The stairs down the porch literally crumbled under the weight of Maylin's feet. (a total of 41lbs!)

This is what remained of the original stairs.

Brandon getting his morning 'pick-me-up' before we really got cranked up!

We were able to take apart the original porch with nothing but hammers. Needless to say it was pretty rotten and not built to code.  The original joist were about 4-5 feet apart. They should be 18 inches apart!

Super woman aka Kate ripping one of the boards off with nothing but her body leverage.

There were some cute little dogs at the house. This one had 5 puppies who were 8 days old! Oh my goodness they were so cute. But I think they had fleas! Pierson is covered in bites!

GQ Adam! Holding up the new frame!

Chris brought his contractor's expertise! And some very nice tools!

Adam showing Pierson safety tips.

Maylin eating her subway sandwich! (thanks Mom for providing lunch to all 7 of us!)

The kids LOVED the puppies. Amazingly enough they didn't ask to take one home!

Cutting out the stringers for the new and improved steps!

Kate and Katie were a force to be reckoned with! They hung the joists with skill and speed!

The final product was sturdy and quite attractive. Mrs. Elma was extremely appreciative. Now she will be able to leave her house without fear of falling through or off. 

The final product. (minus a quick trim to the end of the hand rails.)  

It was an amazing day. Two lives were blessed that day. Mrs. Elma was blessed to receive a porch free of cost. I was blessed to be apart of helping her as well as having the love and support of great friends who are committed to Christ and service.

A special thanks to those who have contributed financially! I am not sure what I would do without the support of you all! It has been amazing to see the generous hearts of those committed to the cause of helping widows and orphans. I thank you! The orphans will thank you and our King thanks you!