Now that it's set up for the donations to go through Proyecto Compasion so that people can get tax deductions, it's time to get this rolling as much as possible.

So far today I have asked the following people/organizations to help:

• Air 1
• Klove
• KMLE Country (Dave Pratt)
• Extreme Faith Productions
• Craig Haugo (thanks to Brady)
• Roger Cline and the Peacemakers

Hopefully this weekend or next week, Jen and I can get together to do the interview so she can write up an article, and I can submit it to different valley newpapers.

Originally, our goal was to raise the $45,000 by the end of August, and I know that this sounds crazy... But, I would really like to still try to meet that. I am not discouraged, we do already have $535, and it will probably be $1,500 by the end of the night. That would make us at 3%.

If any of you have any other suggestions on how to raise the money, please let me know.

Also, if you know anyone that wants to donate and mail in a check, they can send it to:

Proyecto Compasion, Inc.
P.O. Box 91796
Tucson, Arizona 85752-1796

Please make sure that it says "Playground Project for Casa de Elizabeth" somewhere on the check.

Thank you! It's an exciting time to see how God's going to make it all work! :) Rember our God multiplies... If you forget that, then please read my post below. Raise the roof for God!

Our miraculous God!

Okay, so this week has been VBS at our church and me and DD have been in charge of the snack room. I have been responsible for purchasing all of the snacks for the 150+ kids every night... and that's kind of hard to try to figure out. Anyway, on Tuesday, our snack was mini chimichangas covered in guacamole with two tooth picks so they look like little caterpillars. Well, I didn't buy enough, because I thought we only had 120 kids. So, the last class got pretzels with guacamole instead.

On my way home that night, God was convicting me hard core! He kept asking me why I didn't pray to ask Him to multiply the food... and you guessed it! He reminded me of the story of the 5000 and the fish. I was reminded that I don't always practice the faith that I teach the kids about.

So, TONIGHT.... we were cutting it really close with the amount of fruit roll-ups we needed for the last class. I bought way more than enough, but trust me in this. Fruit roll-ups are hard to be able to unfold without tearing, so we couldn't use every one like I would have hoped for. Heather came to me and said, "We don't have enough for the last class. Should I cut them in half to make more?" She showed me a stack that wasn't even an inch thick and we needed 25 more! I told her no that we just needed to pray and ask God to multiply them and have there be enough. I prayed out loud right there and asked Him to make it happen. Well, guess what! She kept peeling them apart and I went back into the Maraca Munchies room and I saw 5 more that were not eaten yet by the kids. After I brought them and she finished peeling them apart... we set up the classroom. The kids came in, we moved all the snacks around, and you guessed it.... There was just enough! There was none to spare and no kids went without. Our God is an awesome God and He still does miracles!

Child Sponsorship at Casa de Elizabeth

In the past only about 5-10 kids have been sponsored at a time. They have close to 100 kids. More and more people are needed. They have actually ran out of food before. This orphanage is not government sponsored, and they rely solely on donations. Please help. It only costs $35 a month. You can pick your child or you can have them pick one for you. You can go to http://www.casadeelizabeth.org and click on "How to Help" and then "Sponsor a Child Today", e-mail Colene McKee at eekmc@hotmail.com or me.

You can read more about the article here: http://www.proyectocompasion.com.

As of right now, my work is cutting a check to support the fundraiser project for Casa de Elizabeth. Pray for generosity.

Thank you.

Camp Barnabas

I was so excited to go but stressed out that not everything would be taken care of while I was there... Yet, God gave me His peace and a friend like DD that I could leave everything to for her to check on and/or do. Wahoo! If it wasn't for her, I would not have been able to enjoy the week like I did.

We got there reasonably late, and we got our cabin assignments. I found out that I was in B4, which is a boys cabin, and that Nick (Courtney's boyfriend), and Derek Danner were both in my cabin as well. By this time, all of the campers were chosen but 3, so that's who we got. I felt like God told me to let them choose first, so I did. Yet, I got the best camper of them all.

Matthew.

Here's a picture of him covered in red glitter. Matthew was a 10 year old boy that had a mental age of 5. I was told he was non-verbal, a hitter, kicker, screamer that sometimes wets his bed and only knows the word "No".

He was so precious. During the week, yes, he did sometimes hit me and others, and sometimes, it doesn't feel great to get backhanded, yet.... He was so sweet. There were times where he would hit me because I was talking to someone else... It didn't matter if it was an adult or another camper, he wanted all of my attention, even if I didn't think he was paying attention. One of those times that he hit me, I asked him, "What's wrong?" He replied with "nothing". He actually used the word nothing 2 times during the week and also used the word yes. His mom was so stoked. His vocabulary is growing.

He also made other accomplishments during the week like doing every single activity. He is a huge toe-walker. I tried to continue to tell him to put his heels down, but he almost had to stan with his butt sticked out in order to do it. Yet, on the 2nd to last day, we went down tons of stairs to get to the fishing and canoeing area, and he ONLY used his heels to go down them. It was awesome. Then, later that night, he was walking and using his entire foot as we walked back up to the cabin. I didn't ask him to put his heels down, he just did. It was amazing.

Some funny stories about him....

He was the first person to pee on the carpet in the Silver Lining (one of the buildings that Extreme Home Makeover built).

He straight up pulled down his pants and started to pee in the middle of the cabin while he was plugging his ears. The guys that were in there at that time totally cheered him on and loved it.

I will give more updates later... .but I wanted to start off my series of blogs regarding camp with my camper. The best one of them all. :)

Random blog

1. It hurts your body from going between 3 different climates in 3 days.
2. Breathing is WAY over rated.
3. I hope everyone has a VIVArific day.
4. Any updates on Jared?
5. God shows his miraculous powers even in snot.... How else could my nose fill up with so much right after I blow it?

Crazy but awesome times are coming...

Camp Barnabas is the 16th-23rd
Mexico is the 24th-25th ( return to church @ 9 a.m.)
4s & 5s at the 11 a.m. service.
Setting up for VBS at 1:00 p.m. (Still on the 25th)....
VBS is after work on the nights of the 26th-30th.

I have been a little stressed out about everything, just because there's so much going on. It has mostly been because I thought we were getting home from Camp Barnabas at midnight on the 23rd and I am leaving for Mexico at 5 am on the 24th. Wondering if I could even get the energy off of 2 hours of sleep was stressing me out. Yet, yesterday I found out that our flight gets in just before 6 p.m., so I am stoked. I will have plenty of time to rest, unpack, and repack. I will definitely have the energy I need to love on those kids. Without the stress of this, I will also be able to love on my camper throughout the week at Camp B.

So, Camp Barnabas. I have finally got all of the necessary materials for the theme nights. I am bringing stuff for my entire cabin for our "talent night". It's going to be awesome. My cabin will win for sure! I can't spill the beans, because then someone will try to take the idea, but let's just say, it's pretty rad, and I know everyone will be able to say it's their talent.

My Old Maid costume is incredible. I found the perfect dress and shoes at Savers. I now finally have a costume for this year's Harvest Festival too.

Oh, and I am officially Anti-Good Will and Pro-Savers. See, Goodwill costs $8 for dresses. If I wanted to pay that, I can get a new one from a sales rack or Walmart. Savers, on the other hand, prices every item individually which is better, because the dorky stuff I got for my costumes, especially because they are things no one else would ever want to buy. :)

Please pray for my friend's cousin:

I just need to ask you all to say many, many prayers for Kurt's little girl Faith. She was diagnosed with Leukemia yesterday. She is currently at Albany Medical Center, Pediatric Intensive Care unit. She will be having a spinal tap today to see if the leukemia cells have invaded the spinal fluid. She is also having a port-a-cath inserted into her chest tomorrow and will be beginning chemotherapy either Friday night or Saturday. The reason she is in the PICU is b/c the glands in her neck are swollen and pressing on the trachea, causing her to whez and they want to monitor very closely. Her liver and spleen are also, very enlarged. She is only 4.