Did you know that today is the National Day of Encouragement? Don’t you love that? A whole day dedicated to encouragement. If you’ve been around this site very long, you’ll know that I am in love with this and will take just about any reason to celebrate with cupcakes and pumpkin spice lattes! I think that today those should both be declared calorie free…yes?
(in)Mercy
I have two super exciting items to share with you today that tie in with my love for encouragement AND my love for community! First, I would LOVE to introduce you to an amazing new project that (in)courage has been working on furiously. I mean, we sat at a table in July and secretly brainstormed this idea and now? It’s launch day! And I get to share it with all of you! Yippee!
I adore Mercy House Kenya. I first heard about this amazing organization and the women behind it – Kristen & Maureen – during the first (in)RL. I remember sitting on my sofa, listening to these two beautiful women from different worlds talking about their God Sized Dream to build a home for pregnant mothers in Kenya. And they made it happen. As soon as the weekend was over, I’d popped over to the Mercy House Kenya site and signed up to host one of their home parties because I knew I needed to support them, to share their story with my community here in PA. And when (in)RL 2013 rolled around, I had more Mercy House items available. I cheered like crazy when the (in)courage community funded a playground for the Mercy House kiddos, and I am so humbled to be able to participate in this huge 5 Phase fundraising project.
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| Photo Credit: Bess Brownlee |
My heart melts when I see the photos of the kids and their mamas. The toddlers are right around the same age as my Madi, and when I think about how much she loves playgrounds, or how much I love that she can safely ride in our cars, donating a few dollars to gift something similar to the Mercy House family seems obvious. And now? When (in)courage asked if I would help promote (in)Mercy? I mean just look at that sweet girl. How could a mama say no?
So here’s what’s going on. (in)courage is partnering with Pure Charity to raise funds in 5 phases for Mercy House Kenya. There are teams of bloggers assigned to each phase, and we’ll be raising money to support 5 very specific needs in Kenya:
Phase 1: A new van
Phase 2: Classroom additions
Phase 3: A new generator
Phase 4: A computer lab
Phase 5: A second home
The total goal? To raise $74,000 for Mercy House Kenya by Christmas 2013. Yep. This year. We want to encourage our sisters in Christ around the world by coming together and supporting Mercy House. I think we can do it. And I think it will happen before 12/25/13. Anyone want to help me make that happen?
Find out how you can help by visiting the Pure Charity site.
A Giveaway
And second, a little something fun, just for you, for being amazing, wonderful, encouraging readers of this blog. Staci Egan, owner of Contempo Jewelry in State College, PA has graciously offered one reader a beautiful pair of gold stud earrings – and a gemstone of the winner’s choice! Just enter using the Rafflecopter, below! Winner will be randomly drawn using Rafflecopter and emailed on Monday, September 23rd. No extra entries or anything if you support (in)mercy financially, it’s all just one big happy fun day of encouragement where I get to cheer for my favorite encouragement team, one of my favorite charities, and one of my favorite handmade shops, all at the same time!
The snowflake obsidian stud earrings are absolutely gorgeous!
I’ve been involved in fundraisers like this before, and I know that no matter how carefully you plan ahead, the needs may change before the project is actually completed and funds are actually raised. My church once raised money to build a new wing to the education building of our partner congregation in Tanzania, as planned, but then discovered that the church had grown so much and so quickly that the church building could no longer accommodate everyone who wanted to come to their services. An expansion of the church took priority, and with more people attending and more offerings coming in, they were able to partially fund their own expansion to the education building!
Short story long, I would love to help fund any phase of this project!
I would loved to support in Mercy number 5 which is help the organization build a new home!
I am just so pumped about (in)Mercy. Love. It. I’m helping with the classroom addition and new home…but they’re all so practical and GOOD.
Oooh, the agate tree necklace is so pretty!
How to choose!! The homeschool mama in me has to say classroom additions!
That cream freshwater pearl necklace is heavenly. Just sayin’.
I’m supporting phase 1 and 5 🙂 Woohoo!!!
I love Staci’s cascade earrings, they are gorgeous!
The computer lab sounds like an amazing goal!