Matching Gift & Give-a-Way! - Village of Hope

**New Opportunity** We invite you to share a word of encouragement to our staff at Village of Hope-Guatemala. To do so, please comment on this blog or on our Facebook wall and it will be forwarded to our staff. Thank you in advance for your kind words of support!

Please enjoy this update from Village of Hope-Guatemala,

Every child deserves a safe place where they can be a kid. A place where they can freely problem solve, use their imagination, develop physical strength, coordination and balance. A place where they can grow, dream, imagine, explore and gain a sense of self.

For many children in Guatemala this is nonexistent. Many of the children here lose their childhood too quickly due to the stress of just trying to survive.

 

(photo credit) 

 

The children who come to Village of Hope often have lived in desperate poverty and will for the first time have a safe, permanent place to call home. Our goal is to provide them with the opportunity to grow and develop into the humans the Lord intended them to be through providing a safe place to grow--as every child deserves.

One of our big needs here at Village of Hope is a safe place for the children to play.Because the facility is built in a mountainous area this isn’t as simple as putting in a swing set and a soccer goal. A large area will have to be dug out, a retaining wall put up to keep the mud from sliding and then the playground will be put in.

 

View from a different direction...

We have been blessed by a donor who has offered to match up to $10k for the ground to be dug out, a retaining wall constructed, a grassy area planted, and a playground for the children at Village of Hope.

Every $1 given between now and Sept. 6th it will be doubled! What a great way to invest in the kingdom and see your dollar stretched! AND to make this even sweeter--everyone who donates gets entered into a drawing for a chance to win a Kindle Fire!!!

To give to the $10,000 match please go to: Lifesong for Orphans and please indicate it's for "Village of Hope Guatemala--$10K Match".

Family Friday: Bruce & Karen

Bruce and Karen have a story of patience, faithfulness and perseverance. Through pregnancy difficulties and adoption hurdles and heartbreak, God had slowly been preparing their heart and home for what He had planned for them. 

Through the hard times, Bruce and Karen thought maybe God didn't want them to have children of their own.  But things changed on Mother's Day 2011.  A friend from their church told them of a little boy who was deaf in Hungary who needed a forever family. AMAZINGLY, Bruce and Karen had both been learning sign language because they believed God was calling them to start a deaf ministry at their church!  After much praying, fasting and wisdom-seeking, they believed God was opening this door for them.  Even though it was scary to think of the challenges ahead, they chose to walk through it!

Through a matching grant from the James Fund (Partnered with Lifesong for Orphans), Bruce & Karen were able to raise the funds they needed to complete their adoption.

First meeting with their new son, Marcell.

First official family picture!

We were blessed to find Lifesong and to be accepted for a matching grant.  Our friends and family donated over $3,000 and James Fund/Lifesong matched every penny of it!  Receiving the checks from Lifesong was an added encouragement to us as we continued on our adoption journey. The costs of adopting internationally are so large that at times we felt overwhelmed. But knowing Lifesong was behind us, and people there were praying for us, helped us continue on our journey.

-Bruce & Karen

Family Friday: Andrew & Jessica

Listen in as matching grant recipients Andrew & Jessica share their testimony of God's amazing provision as they adoption their little girl, Sophia Lynn, from China...

We had been to China several times on missions trips.  The most recent was before our adoption to a special needs orphanage where we agreed that God was leading us to pursue adoption through China’s special needs program. We knew that financially, we didn’t meet all their requirements. But we also knew if God led us to adopt, He would make a way.  

We were not intending to write support letters with our adoption. We had various fundraisers going and applied for several grants. Then we received the matching grant through Grace Church/Lifesong and we made a long list of friends and family who we could support letters to. We were overwhelmed and blessed at the response. We felt like we were able to keep people more ‘in the loop’ of our adoption journey through those letters and the follow up thank you’s.  We were also able to share what God was doing in our lives through our adoption process. 

We knew about our little girl from when we first applied to our agency, but were told she wouldn’t be getting her surgery or paperwork done in line with our process and it wouldn’t work to adopt her. We moved forward but kept coming back to her in our hearts. Six months into our process we were still feeling pulled towards this little girl so we asked about her again and our agency agreed to help us find a way to pursue her. They said it would be a miracle if it happened. After months of writing to her orphanage, praying, waiting, and more praying, we were a part of a miracle indeed! China not only said yes to us adopting but matched us with our little Sophia Lynn directly! We are still in awe of how it has all worked out. 

Grace Church/Lifesong, thank you for being the catalyst for us to bring more of our friends and family into the journey with us and let God be greatly glorified!  -Andrew, Jessica, & family

THE BIG BUILD!

The Big Build from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

Both Hands, in partnership with Lifesong for Orphans is excited to give you a glimpse into the 1st Annual Big Build project!

The Project took place on 3/20/10 is the first annual fundraiser by Both Hands Foundation. Our goal is to raise $50,000.  That money will be used in three ways –

1. Adoption funding (grants and loans)
2. Orphan Care projects
3. We have a generous philanthropist who has agreed to match whatever we raise, dollar for dollar. In other words, all the money raised will go towards adoptions and orphan care and the operating expenses of Both Hands will be covered by the matching funds.

We are currently at $45,668.19 and invite you to be a part of this awesome opportunity. You get two for the price of one!!  Think big!!

Need a last minute year end giving idea?