where we are at....

well a quick update..

• our coin drive was a success!! we raised $527.27 and counting...we are still getting coin donations trickling in even after the drive ended. it is so cool to me that we brought in that much spare change. i consider it a great success!
• our trip count is at 13 now. since our first meeting we have lost a total of 7 people. as of now there are 13 of us continuing on with the trip in June.
• we are having a meeting reprieve for the month of December. although we are trying to get a group activity planned so we can have some group bonding outside of our usual meeting times. i think it will be a good way for us to get to know each other better.
• at our last meeting in November we were all given our individual fundraiser totals...i think it was a harsh realization for everyone still going that we have a LONG, LONG way to go to raise the remaining funds needed to go on the trip. i know it was for me. i just hope we can all come together and get everything raised in time!
• we have a pretty big fundraiser coming up in the next couple weeks. jessica price is going to put on a benefit concert for our group on December 19th at 7pm at TVC. all the money raised will go straight to our trip. we have had a great response from the church and hastings community so far. if you're not familiar with jessica she appeared on the most recent season of america's got talent. she made it all the way into the top 10. we are all so appreciative of her doing this in support of our trip. tickets are $10 and there is limited amount of seating available. let me know if you are interested in tickets.

well i hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season, i know i will be much more relaxed after exams next week. thank you for the continued support and prayers, it means so much!

audrey jane

some more details....

So you may be wondering a little more about our youth mission trip...this trip is kinda a "joint-venture" so-to-speak, between TVC, the church i belong to, Fusion 412, TVC's Youth Group, Living Laura's Hope, which i will explain more about later, and World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org/).

TVC stands for Thornapple Valley Church (http://www.tvcweb.com/). It is a non-denominational Christian church located in Hastings, MI. TVC's vision is "to demonstrate authentic Christianity from the heart in an atmosphere of acceptance". Fusion 412 is the name for the Youth Group at TVC, headed up by Joel, who will be leading our youth mission trip to Zambia. World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. They are involved with work world-wide as their name indicates. Living Laura's Hope started from the foundation of Share Laura's Hope (http://www.sharelaurashope.com/). Share Laura's Hope was created in honor of Laura Dickinson. Laura, (the girl pictured to the right), was a 22 year old from Hastings, MI. Laura's life was taken from her in her dorm room at Eastern Michigan University, where she was attending school, back in December of 2006. Her parents, Bob and Deb, started Share Laura's Hope in honor of their daughter and her passion for wanting to support AIDS victims in Africa, most specifically the orphan children who are made vulnerable by the disease. Bob and Deb have partnered with World Vision and to date have raised $26,600 in honor of their daughter for the organization.

Bob and Deb Dickinson attend TVC as well. When the idea first got under way for the mission trip at TVC it was suggested by some staff that Share Laura's Hope be incorporated into the trip. By including Share Laura's Hope into the trip it was then decided to use World Vision as the organization we would go through for the trip because a relationship was already established between Share Laura's Hope and World Vision. As I said before, Share Laura's Hope was started in order to raise money for orphans in Africa. Living Laura's Hope was then created by Laura's parents as a result of the decision to move forward with the mission trip. The thought behind Living Laura's hope was that Bob and Deb Dickinson and the selected group of TVC members would be going to Africa to "Live Laura's Hope". We would actually be carrying out what Laura herself hoped to have done one day.

Bob and Deb decided they wanted to go on the trip. They want to do this for Laura. Everyone else going on the trip had to proceed with an application process. The trip was limited to TVC members only, as well as, limited to teenagers who were in grades 9-12. After the applications were reviewed, we ended up with a group of 10 teenagers, 6 girls and 4 boys. As well as 10 leaders. Four leaders have since decided not to continue on with the trip which leaves us with a remaining 6 leaders.

Our first meeting was back at the end of July and since have had monthly meetings and actually have our next meeting on Saturday. We get together to do some team building activities as well as work on fundraising ideas. I am so excited! I am so excited for everything. This whole trip has brought so much joy and excitement into my life. I really feel like I can't even begin to put into words how much passion i have for this trip. it is amazing!!! it excites me and everyday i can't wait to get things done that make it that much closer for us to be able to go on this trip.

As far as fundraising goes, we have to fund-raise all our own money. If you don't fund-raise your $5,000.00 you don't get to go, it's that simple. We are responsible for ourselves going. The church isn't covering for any of us to go. Which leads to some anxiety along the way hoping all the money we need to raise will be raised. That's where my prayers come in as well as my belief that God will provide for us to be able to carry through with the trip.

audrey jane

FUNDRAISER....

"Calling all Spare Change"

Well we have our "first" fundraiser getting underway this upcoming weekend, October 25/26. I have organized a "Spare Change Coin Drive" at TVC that will run through November 9th. We are asking people to bring in their spare change and donate it to help fund the trip. We have collection boxes at church to collect the donations over the next 2 weeks. I am hoping we get a good response! It kinda symbolizes that if eveyone just gives a little we will be that much closer to being able to make the trip possible. The point of the change drive is to show that every penny counts! If you have change you would like to donate, please let me know! Any little bit is appreciated. Thanks!

audrey jane

One in five 15-to-49 year olds in Zambia is infected with HIV

Nearly a quarter of all the children in Zambia are orphans

Three out of four children in Zambia live below the poverty line

Seven out of ten AIDS orphans in rural areas of Zambia don’t attend school

More than half of all Zambian children

are chronically malnourished

....these are the facts provided by World Vision Humanitarian Organization. And we are here to try and make a difference; however small it may be. Please continue your support of the trip!

much love,

audrey jane

Mbala, Zambia...

You may be wondering where are we going exactly???

Well the map above is a picture of Africa, showing where exactly Zambia is located on the continent. And the map on the right, is a picture of Zambia and the red dot is Mbala. Mbala is the largest most northernly town in Zambia. It is 25 km away from the border with Tanzania. The second highest waterfall in Africa, Kalambo Falls, lies about 40 km (by road) northwest of Mbala. (We might be able to go there as part of the trip, i'm keeping my fingers crossed.)

thanks for the continued support!
audrey jane

successful weekend!

well we had a successful past weekend at church. so many people were very enthusiastic after hearing about our trip announcement. it means alot when people are there to support you. after the services we welcomed people to come and talk with us. we had an outpouring of people that came to see us at TVC Central (which is basically just a spot out in the lobby that information is available and various things are sold). we were there to talk with anyone who was interested in learning more about the trip and also to sell our africa 2009 t-shirts (a pic to come, if anyone is interested in purchasing one for $10, proceeds to go toward the trip). the kids did a great job, i am so proud of them and their dedication to the trip, they were very enthusiastic all weekend long. it is very inspiring to see people their age, in today's day and age, focusing their time and energy on something as important as giving back of themselves to the community.

*we will be promoting at the caledonia campus this upcoming weekend, to get our satellite campus involved with our trip as well.

much love,
audrey jane

update...

okay so i just found out yesterday that we are going to be promoting our trip at church this weekend at all 3 services. i'm really excited about it. this is really going to be the first "official" announcement about our trip to the church members. i'm really excited for the TVC family to get behind us. we really do need everyone's prayers as we make this journey together. there are alot of pieces that all have to come together in order to make this trip possible...so thank you for your continued support!

much love,

audrey jane