K has a Dream

This Spring we will be embarking on our first foreign mission trip as a family--to Pico Escondido, a Young Life property in the Dominican Republic. We are thrilled that we can go to a place of great need within the 'safety net' of a ministry that we love and support. Our travel companions will be a small group of local Young Life leaders that have been familiar to our family for the past few years.

For the last few months we have been talking to our children about the trip--about the living conditions of many people in the DR, about the hope that Vida Hoven (Young Life in Espanol) brings high school students in that part of the world. The jury is still out on how hard they will 'work' on the construction/improvement projects at the camp--but the exposure and the conversations it has led to have already been a huge blessing.

When we first decided to go--back in the Fall--the kids held a lemonade stand (all their idea) to raise money. Their love offering for the Dominican people that started with that $8.32 profit has grown to over $70 so far. They have done this by putting $1 tithes at a time in a Mason jar--and consigning a few old toys.

Perhaps the most beautiful surprise blessing of all came this weekend when I was going through the work in K's backpack. Friday her class worked on a booklet about Dr. King's dream. The final page was an opportunity for them to illustrate their own dream...
"I want to raise over $100 for them to build Young Life in the 'Doninican' Republic," she explained.

It is amazing to watch how God has given my children such hearts for a people group they have never met--just by talking about them, praying for them and raising money towards the cause.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21