Gives me the shivers...

We had successfully sent 2 boxes of a shipment to Uganda to an orphanage of 200 children. We had sent 2 more boxes for the complete shipment for all children and the final 2 boxes got stuck in customs...which is something that is a problem we have encountered. Customs was trying to charge us over $500 dollars to get both boxes out. After almost 2 months of prayer customs lowered the cost to $310. After verifying with a larger organization I work with that this orphanage was in good standing this sunday a check came in to almost completely cover the custom charges. I was having lunch with the donator today and she said she just felt God was telling her to donate to us. I told her the story of how I had been praying and wasn't sure what to do with the customs problem and that when her check came to me with that amount I knew it was God saying for me to send the money. She said it just gave her shivers because she knew God had been telling her to give her money. I won't say her name because she knows and more importantly God knows who she is and He will bless her more than any human could in praise for her donation. I pray you will rely on God in prayer and faith and be obedient when He asks you to go or to do. Because of her now all these children will soon be getting a blanket and bear.

Juarez Mission

20 blankets and bears are being sent to an orphanage in Juarez, Mexico with a church group. The team will distribute the blankets & bears to the orphanage this coming week October 30th thru November 2nd. Please pray for safety and that the blankets and bears all make through customs smoothly. Thanks for all your support!

Pictures of Bears Arrival in Liberia, Africa

Go to Mission of Hope Liberia on the link below to see if you can see a bear or blanket you donated this summer that arrived in Liberia! These pictures will make your heart smile!
Talk about a Bear Hug!

http://missionofhopeliberia.net/BlanketsandBears.html

Good News

Today I received an email that two boxes of blankets and bears arrived successfully at the orphanage in Uganda, find out more about them at http://www.orphansforchrist.com/. They are still waiting on a third box to give out all 200 blankets and bears to their children.

Yesterday the missionaries from Nicaragua were in the states for dental work and were able to stop by and visit. This is were we went this June and passed out blankets and bears to an orphanage and a children's hospital, you can find out more about them at http://www.saviorstear.org/ .

Saturday the lady that solely runs an orphange in Liberia called to say she was able to pass out all the blankets and bears we sent earlier this year. She just got back from a 9 week visit there, her link is http://www.lighthousecommunitycog.com/misson_of_hope_orphanage .

Thanks for all you do to support our cause, all this good news wouldn't be made possible without your support. Please check out some of these websites to see how you can help out these children. Keep watching the blog for pictures of these children receiveing their blankets and bears once the leaders get them to me!

Blankets & Bears 5K Fun Run

We had 62 runners this year at the 5k at Medipark! Race results are posted at http://lonestarrunnersclub.net/ under results and then Blankets and Bears Fun Run 5K. Thanks to all the sponsors, runners, friends and family who invited runners or called sponsors, volunteers who came out and help and especially my husband Luke for everything! None of this could have been so successful without all of you...way to go!

Blankets & Bears 5K Fun Run

It is our 2nd race! This year's Blankets & Bears Fun Run is at the same place, Medi Park, meet in the parking lot between Botanical Gardens & the Discovery Center. Registration will be at the big red travel trailer starting at 8:00. The race starts at 8:30 am on Saturday, August 29th. Entry is $25 and 1st 25 registered get a free t-shirt. You can get an entry form online at www.lonestarrunnersclub.net or email Tori at toridawn@hotmail.com. All funds raised for the race go towards shipping costs. Blankets & Bears is a nonprofit that collects donated blankets & bears in the Amarillo area and sends them to orphanages in third world countries. Started just last November, the organization has already sent hundreds of blankets and bears to orphanages in Liberia, Madagascar, Uganda & Zimbabwee. This summer blankets and bears was able to go and hand deliver bears at an orphanage in Managua, Nicaragua. Scroll down on our link for videos of the trip and more information about what all we are up to! If you know of a business or individual who would be interested in supporting or advertising on the back of our race shirts for this year's event please call Tori at 676-5332. Thanks, this is only possible by donators and that is you!!!!

Shipment to Uganda

Last Monday I sent 200 bears to an orphanage in Uganda. Today I mailed out 65 blankets to that same orphanage but was unable to mail my other package box of blankets because of the cost of shipment. The postal worker said Tori, you look discouraged. Of course I was, I wasn't able to send all I could. It is the winter months there in Africa and the director seemed excited about getting more blankets in the winter months. We have a box of blankets ready just to put the postage and be on its way, if you would like to donate towards this shipment email me at toridawn@hotmail.com. The box weighs 50 lbs, cost is $264.50 for shipment from Panhandle,Texas to Kampala, Uganda.

Mission Trip Presentation

We will be doing our mission trip presentation for the sermon this coming sunday at the First Christian Church. Services start at 10:15 am. Luke will present the sermon on our mission trip and we will show our last video...the best video. Please come and see how God worked in our lives through this trip and how He doesn't want to stop there but start with you!

Not as Planned...but God's Plan

Not everything went as planned but it went as God planned. We have had such difficulty getting videos to upload and we even have a video ready for upload now but a new problem, the program is saying insufficent memory. (We will get it though, keep watching.) Customs never released our shipment over with goodies for the kids. Finally on the last day, after realizing the bears and toys weren't going to come, we got the items we needed through the missionaries and went to the orphanage to give to the kids. We never got to go to the Children's Hospital because they quarantined it due to the Swine Flu, so that was probably God keeping us safe. After they lift the quarantine in a few weeks or so, the missionaries will pass out bears there for us. Another mission team was there for the first of our trip, but we really learned a lot about bringing a mission trip over just by watching them. We never planned on seeing Sister Ruby but that was probably the most encouraging for us all and personally for me the place I felt the safest. I was praying in her prayer room and remember thinking I just want to stay here, I felt so safe, so at peace and we were in one of the roughest neighborhoods. We were never in that neighborhood at night.

For Wayne & Elaine things haven't gone as planned either. This is their 3rd year there and one of their schools was burnt to the ground by gangs not too long ago. When they first went down they believe they were supposed to have their school in the dump grounds. They signed a 50 year lease with the city for land, built an expensive wall around 3 acres of land for the city just to say the lease was no good. The wall still stands as a reminder. They didn't go home either, they didn't give up and things didn't go as planned. They have had children from their school go into prostitution, be kidnapped and just stop coming to school to stay on the streets....but their faith keeps them strong.

Day Four & Five Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvGWAHJgZDs

Comments

Please keep your comments coming, we are receving them and love all the encourangement and just knowing you are watching our blog. Please comment if you haven't!

Going to Church

We are on our way to church this morning. It is 80 degrees (27 C) with 80% humidity. It looks like it is about to pour, and most people walk to their destinations. We are going to a church congregation of 6,000 that used to have service in a tent every Sunday. They just got a building but it only has fans for air flow. We will pass through numerous beggers, some children, some children holding their own children to get to church. Our translator, who also works at the school here, was beat up one sunday for his watch trying to get on the bus. The missionaries said he made it to church a little late with blood on his shirt. I am thankful that I have a car to get to church, I have security in my small town, I have an air conditioner in my church and I have the ability to give my children food, clothes, a home, and safety....but I only have all those things because of God, I am thankful God has blessed me more than I could ever imagine. These people didn't choose to be born here just like I didn't choose to be born in America.

Day Two Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXOooR8Oo0A

What in the world are we doing in Nicaragua?

Today was actually our free day in Nicaragua. We went to market and got a few things. They are really big on pottery, hammocks, and jewelry. After market we really sat down and discussed why we are here. Wayne & Elaine's true mission is to give these kids hope. They have 2 schools that feed the children at the school. This country is so poor that they have heard many stories that the meal they serve at the school is the only meal some of these kids receive. When it comes to poverty at this level these children grow into adults who know that they really don't even matter, it is just about getting money to eat. We are here to love these children, to smile at them, hug them, play with them and for a lot of them, give them something small like a bear, candy necklace, bouncy ball or match box car. Yesterday, we went to Salinas to another school. After games and singing the children would just walk up behind you and touch you just to be touched. We are here to touch these children.

Day One - Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1-hiH8pXRk

The Beauty within the Ugly

Their homes are just some sticks with tin sometimes thrown on as a roof and if they are lucky as siding, but if you look close while driving by some have beautiful mosaic tiles as a porch. The people here make and sell the expensive tile roofing sold in america. According to Wayne & Elaine (the missionaries we are staying with) the average salary here is between $60 to $100 a month. Trash is just thrown everywhere here. But in the all the ugly of the trash, poor living conditions and so on... sometimes there is a beautiful roof or tiled porch. What is everywhere here though, is beautiful trees and flowers beside those huts. Trees like lemon, coconut, avocado, palm trees, you name it...it is probably here. There is a verse in the bible that just came to mind in connection with this place and the fact that God is here.

"The poor and needy search for water but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive. I will set pines in the wasteland, and the fir and the cypress together, so that my people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it." Isaiah 41:14-17

La Escuela...notice gate and wire on top of fence

Roads

This is a picture of the road near the school, just all of a sudden large chunks of the road was missing. Most vehicles are SUV, standard diesels for all you guys. They usually have grill guads but they call them donkey killers here. Lots of people ride motorcycles too, there are cops but most don't have vehicles, they are just on the street. Buses are loaded past full potential.

Street vendor selling water....they are at every intersection

Arrival in Nicaragua

After getting up at 3:45am to make or flight out of Dallas, we finally made it to Nicaragua. We left the airplane and stepped into the Nicaragua airport to see all airline employees with masks on..talk about a little scary to us. Then we had to stand in front of an infared detector to see if we were running fever. Apparently they had their first Swine Flu case yesterday and 20 possibles. We went straight from the airport to the christian school to play soccer (or football) and frisbee with the kids at the school. Tommorrow we head to another school they started to play, visit and teach the kids. We have video and pics, but our blogger page isn't working so check back for video. It is SO hot, but we are blessed to stay in an airconditioned house that is considered a luxury here. We ate at TJIFridays and they even had an english menu for us! The first thing we noticed was how crazy everyone drives here, we thought we were going to get hit getting out of the airport. Everyone honks and no one even looks to see who honked. Our shipment of bears, coloring books for the children's hospital and other activites for the kids are being held in customs. Please pray that it is released soon.

Box 1 Arrived in Zimbabwee

Here is a letter from the orphanage in Zimbabwee:

Dear Tori
We would just like to inform you that the first box of blankets have arrived - Praise the Lord! I took it up to the children today and there was great excitement as the cold weather is starting to set in now. We had to pay customs $59,00 which is a pity as we usually get this all thru for no charge at all - but believe me it is worth every cent.
Thank you so very much for your love and care and we will let you know when the next box arrives.
God bless
Aurrell Olivier
On behalf of Good Shepherd Committee

Successful arrival in Liberia

I received a call this morning from Debera at Mission of Hope Orphanage in Liberia, the blankets and bears have arrived successfully in Liberia. She will be arriving in Liberia this June and pass them out personally and take pictures for us!

http://missionofhopeliberia.net

Donating Locally

When I was in the process of starting Blankets & Bears one response I got was what about people here at home, I really didn't have an answer for them except that my heart has been lead to help the orphans in Africa. Isn't the plan always bigger than we could imagine! Today I got a thank you note from the Downtown Women's Shelter for Blankets & Bears support. We often have items donated to Blankets & Bears that are too large and too heavy for shipment, after going through all the items from our recent drive, my mom had dropped off some of these items to the shelter and I had dropped off some to another charity in Amarillo. Who would have thought that this mission wasn't just about helping those children in third world countries but it was also going to help here at home.

Mission Trip to Nicaragua

Blankets and Bears will go on their first mission trip this June to Nicaragua. We will being staying with a couple originally from the Amarillo area. They have started a school with the help of Trinity Fellowship and work closely with an orphanage there and a children's hospital. It sounds like it is going to be a great opportunity to love some hurting kids and adults. We will be staying in a gated community and have a translator with us at all times...my spanish is un poco. Two highschool girls from Panhandle will be coming as well.

You are a Love Letter

I just heard a preacher the other day speaking about how we are love letters and I just wanted to share it. He put it this way, you read the Bible and then you go out into the world, a world where many people in it don't read the Bible. The people in this world then watch you, what you do and say...to them you are God's love letter. Hopefully everything you do and say, they can read is because of God's love. In a month of love, go out and be God's love letter to the world, letting them know how much God loves them!

Oh my gosh! God is Great! He answers prayers!

Since the day I was given this mission to reach these children, I have had to pray a lot and then wait a lot for what God wanted me to do. Sometimes the waiting is quite frustrating but honestly I have no other options. The goal is to help these children and the only way to do that is with God. My funds, blankets and bears are almost completely depleted so I asked God what was next. He gave the story in the bible of the woman who lost her husband and was poor. She went to one of the prophets (hate to guess the wrong name) and they told her to gather many vessels from neighbors and then go in her home and close the door. Then she would pour the one jar of oil she owned into all the others she had collected and miracously be rich in one night. God was telling me to go get as many places to deliver these blankets and bears to and he would fill the rest. I did I found 4 large organizations whose only goal is to create orphanges in Africa and God gave me the favor of Ester so that these organizations would partner with me. I have had many no's....but these newly partnered with organizations allow for this mission to reach thousands of children. Now here is how God is awesome...this sunday we received a monetary donation of $500! Pray, believe and have faith while you wait.