Packing up donated items

Yesterday afternoon some of the team gathered together to pack in suitcases the donated items from our community to take down with us to the Dominican Republic. What an outpouring of practical things to meet the needs of the Haitian children and adults.

We packed toothbrushes and toothpast donated by local dentists, soap, smile packs with various toletries and goodies, hand towels, screw drivers, tennis shoes, basketballs, etc.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are almost ready to go and very excited. Your prayers and generosity are so appreciated.

Vic for the team

Preparation

There has been much prayer and preparation going into this mission and God's hand has been upon us all the way. We aren't even there yet, as our departure date is Sat. Aug. 1st. Wow! We have an amazing team and I'd like to introduce them all to you. To the right you see my oldest daughter Erin who will be joining us from Whittier, Calif. Erin has a heart for missions and is fluent in Spanish, and brings a passion for children and teaching with her. 

On the left is my niece Amy Woodward, sandwiched between daughters Carly and Ellie. Amy is very athletic, loves to have fun and loves children. She is a servant. Her four years of high school basketball and awards for team leadership will be a blessing as we teach the Haitian villagers the fund

amentals of the game. Ellie and Carly will most likely focus their efforts on crafts and games with the younger children, but may shoot the basketball a bit too. They are excited and a bit nervous as this is their first trip to a third world country.

Our friends, Darlene and Sarah Clark from Friday Harbor, will focus on the younger children and have great plans to use crafts, parachute games, stories and other activities with them. Darlene, Maggie Andersen and Sarah are busywashing cars at one of the three car washes we held to raise support for our trip. Thank You Friday Harbor community for coming out to support us. We washed a ton of cars, van and trucks and had fun too. 

We not only washed cars, but we held yummy bake sales and fun raffles. On the left is Maggie pointing out the delicious goodies for sale. We had some fabulous donated baked goods from frien

ds who did their part to help us raise support. Maggie is a Friday Harbor High school junior who is an all around athlete and good basketball player. She just wants to serve God and touch lives with his love. She brings joy and laughter to our team. I can't wait to see her and Amy team up. Yippee!

                                                                                                                     

On the right is Austin Scheffer. Austin will be a college freshman next year, attending Western WA Univ. in Bellingham. I'm looking to Austin to keep our team focused with attention to details. He lead by example and do a great job of teaching basketball skills and playing with the older guys. He is in shape, so if we get into any games with the villagers, he will carry us. He desires to serve and help others sharing the hope that God gives us for life. Austin is wearing a T-shirt he made for every team member and we wore them at every car wash and bake sale, very cool. It says: "Children of the Nations" inside of a basketball, 2009.

On the left are Steve and Tate Brumsickle, who sensed God tapping on their shoulders to join in the adventure and share hope with the Hatian people. Tate will be a frosh in high school and Steve is a school teacher at Paideia Classical School. They will be helping with the basketball skill teaching and game playing with the teens who come to the court to learn basketball. 

And last but not least, here is Monique, my incredible wife with friend Winnie Brumsickle. They are shouting out "CAR WASH" and waving cars into our human car washing machine. Monique has been amazing in her attention to details and organization for this trip. Winnie also help Steve get a shoe drive going at the local health club and washed a ton of shoes in to prepare them for kids and adults in the Dominican Republic. 

This mission has truly been a team effort with our Master Jesus Christ control of everything. Will you join us in prayer as we wind down the final days before take-off on this mission? We depart from Seattle on Sat. night August 1st and return on Sunday night Aug. 9th. Hopefully we will be able to add to this journal from the D.R. Stay tuned. 

We are grateful for your prayer support! 

For the team,

Vic