We’re going overseas!!!
Though we try to visit each of our partnerships annually, it’s been more than 2 years since we’ve been able to travel to our Children’s Homes overseas. We’ve been “stuck” in the US – partly due to a lack of travel funding, and partly because (on a personal note) we’ve been working on stacks and stacks of paperwork required for an international adoption (which is very exciting, but also very time consuming.) But today we have great news! We aren’t stuck anymore! We’re going overseas!!!!!!!
Right now we’re in the “waiting” phase of our adoption, and thanks to some very generous people in Arkansas (thank you FUMC of Monticello!) and Mississippi (thank you EBC of Greenville!) we were able to raise the $10,000 we need to travel. We are so grateful! We can’t wait to hop on a plane to Thailand!
Our tickets have been booked, and we couldn’t be more thrilled! We’ve missed our kids, and our international partners so much over the past 2 years and we can’t wait to be back with them! We called our 8 little girls in our Children’s Home in Thailand (that we haven’t yet been able to meet) to tell them the news this week. Every time they have talked to us via phone, they’ve asked us “When are you coming to see us?” As soon as the House Mom translated this news – they erupted into squeals and cheers and giggles! It was music to our ears!
Right now, our plan is to be gone for a month and a half. We’ll be spending time in 9 cities and 3 countries (Thailand, Burma, and India.) While we’re there, we’ll be visiting 5 of our Children’s Homes, reporting progress on past projects to our donors, researching new needs, and collecting media (photos and videos) from each country to use for future fundraising projects.
For those that are wondering – the $10,000 we raised is enough to cover our airfare for 2 (round trip tickets to Thailand, round trip tickets from Thailand to India, and domestic flights to different areas of Thailand and India.) It is also enough to cover our ground transportation (rental cars, cabs, tuk tuks, etc), lodging (hotels, guesthouses, etc), food, and communication (cell phones, internet time, etc).
Now we’re working through the logistics of our trip, and we’ve realized we do have a few “incidentals” that we still need. From equipment, to travel immunizations, and even a special project we’re planning – it’s going to take just a little bit more to make this trip happen. We hope you’ll partner with us to meet these needs so that we’ll be truly prepared to take this trip!
Here are our remaining needs:
- – Travel immunizations = $250
- – Travel insurance = $175
- – Camera bag = $40
- – Internal hard drive (for laptop) = $300
- – (3) external hard drives = $300
- – GoPRO video camera = $415
- – (2) 16 GB SD cards = $20
- – $200 for each Children’s Home (gifts for the children, “fun days”, other needs) = $1000
Total = $2500
We will be working extremely hard while we’re gone, and we must have this equipment to do our jobs! To give to these needs, donate here* or mail a check to: PO Box 320044, Birmingham, AL 35232
*Simply write “Travel Needs” in the designation box or memo line.
We would also like to set up Children’s Libraries in 2 of our homes while we are overseas. If you aren’t familiar with this project, then please check out this video. Children’s books are extremely expensive and hard to find overseas, so they are the one item worth taking with us. We already have 5 boxes of books (which should fill 2 large suitcases) – but we still need funding to make these libraries happen. It will take $1000 to set up 2 libraries ($500 each). We have $250 raised, but we still need $750 to cover our baggage fees (as the bags of books will be overweight) and to buy bookshelves once we get to Thailand.
Total = $750
If you’d like to give toward this $750 need, you can donate here or mail a check to: PO Box 320044, Birmingham, AL 35232
This is going to be an INCREDIBLE trip – and we’ll be sharing videos, pictures, and stories all along the way! So be sure to Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook, and subscribe to our blog to make sure you don’t miss a minute of this adventure!<