highlight // fundraiser event for the danli cdi

On July 1st, there was a fundraiser event held in Covington, VA to benefit the GCLA Children's Development Center (CDI) that we work with here in Danli. People from Jamey's home church, Faith Baptist Church, and other churches in the area all helped to make this event possible. We were so fortunate to be able to be in attendance at the event to witness all of the people who came out to support us and this ministry! We had roughly 120+ people in attendance. With so many people filling one event space, we had to turn the dessert table into overflow seating! (Which is not a bad problem to have!). There was a spaghetti dinner, which included awesome salad, bread, desserts, and refreshments as well. 

We just wanted to say again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who helped make the event happen, to all who came out, to all who donated additional funds, to all who brought school supplies to donate, and to all who sponsored kids at this event! We were so happily overwhelmed by it all. In just one night, we received:

• 9 new sponsors for new children to start coming to attend the CDI,
• Monetary donations to the CDI that totaled around $1800, and
• Enormous amounts of much needed school and craft supplies for our students (Like 2500 crayons!)

Some might ask, how will these things specifically aid the Children's Development Center in Danli? First, adding new students to the CDI does not only allow us to help and feed more children, but increasing our number of students will hopefully help us split up our after school Bible and English classes into separate age-specific classes. We are also excited for our current students to have even more kids to play with. Since the children in our program attend public schools, they only go to school for 4.5 hours a day, which leaves little time for playing or recess. Our recess time is some of the only "fun time" that our students get with other kids! 

With the donations that were so graciously given, our hope is to complete the floor in the kitchen and the upstairs classroom (our future computer classroom) with tiling. Most finished floors in Honduras are tile, but right now these two rooms have only rough concrete. Not only have there been lots of falls and skin scrapes on this rough floor, but in the kitchen especially is hard to fully clean We are so excited for a new kitchen floor that can be swept AND mopped! Also with the donations, we hope to buy new tables for the classrooms. There is also one very old wooden table that was given to us, but the top finish has been torn off and there are tiny bugs that we can't seem to keep out. As we increase our numbers, we are going to need more tables!

The very first craft project that the CDI students completed with their new supplies
were Bible bookmarks to give as gifts to the mission team that came to visit and play with them. 

And with the school and craft supplies, the possibilities are endless for how much these things will change the lives of our wonderful students. First, some of the school supplies are now being used for our Bible and English classes, but about half have been tucked away in order to make school supply packets for our students when they start their new school year in February. This is an incredible help to the families, because most of them don't have the money to buy most or all of the supplies for their kids. Students in Honduras also have to wear uniforms, so hopefully by providing their school supplies, buying a new properly fitting uniform might be a little easier for some families.

Also, why do we do crafts? Well, arts and crafts are great visual examples of class lessons for children, but to these children, it's more than simply that. Almost all of these kids do not receive any art classes in their schools, and we've been able to see what effect that has on them. They have never been encouraged to be creative, or create something that is their very own. They often ask Lesley "What color am I supposed to color the girl's shoes in the picture? What color is right?". And though she encourages them to choose whatever color they think would look great, they can't. They're frozen. We love that by having the capacity to occasionally do crafts with our students, even with simple items such construction paper, crayons, scissors, and glue, we are able to open up their minds just a little bit more. And let them be kids and grow.

Last, but not least, here is the quick video that we showed at the event that we'd like to share with everyone now. (Please excuse any glitches in the video, we need better editing software!). These are the sweet children you've helped with your generosity!

CDI Video from Jamey Smith on Vimeo.

There are still some kids on our waiting list to attend the CDI.  If anyone is interested in child sponsorship at the Danli CDI, please contact us (Jamey and Lesley Smith) personally and we'd be happy to give you more information and help you set up the process or you can visit the GCLA website.

Also, to be kept updated on what's going on at the Danli CDI, visit the Facebook Page.

friday photo dump // thanks for the visit, Virginia.

in cased you didn't catch them all, please enjoy a quick review of our trip to Virginia in photos!

Mom & Dad were pretty excited to see us at the airport!

Day after we got home, it was Jamey's mom's birthday!
Pretty cool birthday present, huh?

The line for dinner at the CDI fundraiser event was pretty long.
We had to use the dessert table as overflow seating!

We were very pleased by all the great questions during the
 Q&A session at the CDI event! Thanks to all again. 

SO many school supplies for our students were donated at the event!
Half of them were saved for the kids to receive school packets
 at the beginning of their new school year in February. 

We just beat all the storms in the area for our July 3rd family kayaking run.
We had a great time being outdoors in our beloved Virginia. 

Jamey and his mom had a mother/son lunch date while Lesley and her mom
 had a mother/daughter lunch date. I guess you could call it good timing! :)

It felt amazing being able to celebrate the 4th of July in the U.S.!

We went to see the fireworks show at the VMI Campus in Lexington, VA.

And it was awesome! We might have also had black raspberry ice cream for dinner.

While we were in, we helped Lesley's grandma purchase a new tv.
She wasn't so sure about how to pick out flat screen tvs, but her
 old one that she bought in 1990 got struck by lightning.
We also taught her about surge protectors. 

We were overly blessed by having the family that Lesley previously
nanny-ed for host us in Northern Virginia for Jamey to be in a wedding. 

And that handsome groomsman would be Jamey. Jamey was so glad
to get to be in his college roommate, Josh's, wedding while we were home. 

There's the happy couple! Congrats, Josh & Louisa!

As the two weeks came to a very quick ending, we couldn't help but
choose Bojangles as our last meal in the States for a while!

highlight // weekend wrap-up

When we do a "highlight" post, we love to feature someone in our lives that is making a big impact on us, on our ministry, and so forth. Maybe even just someone that we think deserves a little spotlight. Well, with a weekend (plus Monday) so jam-packed with people, seriously wonderful people, this post needs to love on more than just one person this time.

Here's a little more about our extra BIG weekend!

Saturday:

On Saturday, we finally got to see something that we have been planning for months come to life! Jamey and I joined forces with his mom to throw a super special surprise party for his dad for his retirement. Now when Jamey's dad retired from the local school system, he at one point in his career held the title of each the P.E. teacher, the tennis coach, the much-celebrated varsity basketball coach, and the high school guidance counselor... all of which made just about everyone around know him by name. And he still holds many other various positions! Yet he tried to quietly & quickly retire on the Tuesday before our wedding last year, so that no one would make a big fuss about it. Yeah, right! Like we weren't gonna do that!

The invitation to the surprise party!

So in conjunction with his 60th birthday this year, we decided it was time to celebrate both occasions and throw one amazing surprise party. And the most amazing part is that it WAS a surprise and we got one over him! Anyone will tell you that getting something past Jimmy Smith while being right under his nose is one very difficult task!

The party was themed towards his varsity basketball coaching days, with everything decked out in Alleghany HS colors, and with all of the pictures, yearbooks, newspapers, and awards he had collected over the years all pulled back out for everyone to see. And of course, you can't forget yummy food and lots of cake!

First, Dad's surprise as he came in; Second, his cake with the phrase he coined for his team;
Third, one of his best friends rolling out a wheelchair for the "Old Man". 

Jamey and I put it a lot of work over the past few weeks to help his mom get everything ready: I designed the invitations, we both addressed them & got them out, we did lots of running errands and shopping trips, even a DIY project or two. Lots of staying up into the early morning to work on things after Dad was in the bed. But the biggest amount of work that Jamey and I put in before the party was our birthday present for his dad; we went through all of his old newspapers that he'd saved but never been able to really look through because they were stored away in a box downstairs and created scrapbooks for him of all of his games and seasons in order so that he can enjoy them, and so that they are safely kept for him now. Needless to say when Jamey presented his dad with the gift at the party, there were tears from the both of them!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to celebrate Coach Smith with us, and for helping us surprise him with a great night night full of memories and friends. We can definitely report back that he absolutely loved it and keeps talking about it!

Sunday:

And then if we hadn't had enough excitement for one weekend, it also just happened to work out that we were throwing another event on the next day! We hosted an Open House for our ministry team members and close friends to come and visit with us one more time. Since we will only have about a week at home between Colorado and Honduras, we have had to say all of our final goodbyes to everyone except our immediate families before leaving for Colorado. The Open House idea was great for that, so that we could bring everyone to one place and serve them so yummy food, too! 

We wanted to say a huge thank you to the 35+ people that came out on Sunday, and for those who couldn't make it that sent their thoughts & prayers. We felt very encouraged and rejuvenated afterward, and loved getting to see each of you again! We have SUCH an amazing group of people on our ministry and prayer team!

In case you missed it, here's a little peak of Sunday's Open House. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and an almost mountain Fall-like feeling, so we pulled together the lawn furniture to the front yard and hosted the party on the front porch. Aside from having an excuse to try out this adorable cheese and grapes sunflower, I also served a double batch of my family recipe for Yum Mexican Chicken Dip straight from the crockpot, and there wasn't a spoonful left to speak of at the end! 

Monday:

On Monday, my best friend Caroline was sweet enough to spend her day off from work driving all the way from Lynchburg, VA to come see us in Covington ... and help us PACK! That's what I call a great friend!! Caroline spent the day catching up with me, then first helping me decide on what to pack for our training in Colorado (since the temperatures will most likely be between 35 and 75 degrees any day, it was a hard decision!), and second helping me inventory and pack up some of the piles of things that is already laid out to go to Honduras with us. And on top of that, we also found the time to try our hand at making homemade cheez-its (um, awesome) and make a yummy dinner of fajitas & homemade queso dip!

Homemade Cheez-Its! And only 4 ingredients :) 

Bonus... today, Tuesday, Sept. 17: 

Today is Jamey's dad's actual birthday, and he is currently enjoying his homemade cinnamon sugar covered pecans his coworkers made for him, and is about to enjoy a homemade crust chicken pot pie we're making for his dinner tonight! Can you tell we love food around here? :)

We also just ended our "sending" phone call with GCM, GCLA, and NLCF to discuss our final expectations and preparations... more on that later!

church // "God's Big Backyard" VBS

We were so blessed last week to have Christ United Methodist Church in Covington, Va choose our ministry with GCM to be their missions focus for their Vacation Bible School! The theme of their VBS this year was "God's Big Backyard", which taught the kids in attendance about how God wants us to care for, reach out to, and serve our family, our friends and neighbors, people in our communities, in our country, as well as throughout the world. The kids at the VBS raised money all week to "reach beyond their backyard" in a kids-serving-other-kids approach. The money will be used to help support the work we will be doing in Honduras, and we loved getting an opportunity to share with these kids how the ministry we will be doing will be specifically impacting the children of Danli, Honduras. The kids were so excited to have well surpassed the goal they had set for the week!

Because we were unable to be at Christ UMC for the week of their VBS, we recorded a series of videos to be able talk to the kids all week. This was a first for us! Definitely something we had never tried before. Lesley was the behind-the-scenes videographer and recruited Jamey to be the handsome narrator. Because he's just really adorable, please enjoy watching this video from the first day of VBS. :)

easter // He is Risen!!

Happy Easter from our family to yours! He is Risen!

"Christ is risen from the deadWe are one with Him againCome awake, come awakeCome and rise up from the grave....

O death, where is your sting?O hell, where is your victory?O church, come stand in the lightOur God is not dead, He's alive, He's alive!"

bump into us // Covington, Va

Let me introduce to you the "Bump Into Us" post, well, because though it will always be short and might even seem silly, I'm actually really excited about it! Here's why: we want people to know where we are headed each weekend so that you can literally bump into us! If you know anything about Jamey and I, you know that we love people -- like really love people -- and we just feel so blessed and energized when we get some face-to-face contact time with people who are really excited about our ministry. We never get tired of it! So we'll posting regularly about where our travels are taking us, and we hope that you take us up on the offer that we want to see you. And with these posts, please be praying for safe travels, encouraging meetings, and that God will continue to prepare our hearts for everything that is to come along with this journey!

This weekend we will be travelling back to Covington, VA (Jamey's hometown for anyone who is wondering!) since we haven't been back in almost a month. And the really exciting news is that we will be speaking at Bethesda Temple of Praise in White Sulphur Springs this Sunday, March 10. We'll be at both services if you're hoping to catch us! We are very grateful for this opportunity to share about our ministry to another great church.