Friday, June 27, 2014

ONE WEEK till take-off!

Wow... just ONE WEEK till we leave home to fly to Kenya!

Please keep the prayers and support coming.  Our team (of 10 people) have been facing various obstacles and challenges as we reach the final stretch.  

Biggest prayer need for us personally is for Bryan's knee.  Pray for miraculous healing... or that we would have the patience and peace to listen if it is God's will that he not go on the trip.  Bryan injured his knee on Fri night / Saturday day... and it's been swollen ever since.  So for the past 7 days he's been trying to keep his knee elevated and iced, and just laying low trying to let it recover.

I can't imagine going on this journey without my partner in life, but it is looking more and more like that may be the reality of it.  Depending on how he's doing in the coming week, he will be faced with deciding whether or not he will join the team, or stay behind.

Please pray for this decision and for his healing.... and again... for peace.  Perhaps I can attempt to take comfort praying the serenity prayer.... 



Amen.

I will keep you posted of our plans and our travels.  

Ohhh... and our latest financial update is that we've raised $4,680 directly to Bayside and about $300 that family/friends wanted us to use for our other expenses (such as our cost to see Oliva, our Compassion Child, postage, etc).  If Bryan goes, as originally planned, we will still be responsible for raising/paying Bayside the remaining $3,920.  If Bryan cannot travel with us, we're not yet sure what the difference in funding would be (his flight will be covered under the trip insurance, but not sure of numbers and details yet).  We'll cross that bridge when we get there.  

For now... pray for each member of our team and for the work that God has planned for us to do in Kenya.

Donations are still accepted through Bayside  -  Global Outreach ...   http://bit.ly/short-term-support

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Keep the support coming...

A HUGE THANK YOU to all our amazingly generous supporters.  We know that money is a very finite resource and you have likely way too many ways that it is being pulled... so THANK YOU for deciding to contribute what you can to help people who are in even greater need than you and I.

We are making forward progress towards our goal... but are still in need of your support.  It costs $4300 per person (so for Bryan and I it'll be $8600)... about $2200/each is the cost of the plane tickets to Kenya and then $1800/each goes to HEART, the wonderful non-profit organization that we'll be serving with while in Kenya.  The remaining $300 goes towards our food/travel expenses throughout our 2 week journey.  Our deadline is Monday June 16th and as of May 29th, we have raised just under $4,000.

You can still contribute...
- mail a check (made out to BAYSIDE CHURCH) to BAYSIDE - ATTN: Global Outreach  PO BOX 2336, Granite Bay, CA 95746.  DO NOT INCLUDE OUR NAMES ON THE CHECK.  Instead, include a note (even a post-it will work) that says something about KENYA - Bryan & Rebecca Ragle!!!  This way you will get a receipt of your tax deductible donation.
OR
- donate online (you can pay using PayPal) http://bit.ly/short-term-support  Select KENYA - July and then Bryan & Rebecca Ragle from the drop-down list... then type the dollar amount directly next to it.
OR
- place a Cutco, AdvoCare or MaryKay order through Bryan or Becca... contact us through e-mail... bryan.ragle@gmail.com or rebecca.ragle@gmail.com.  THANK YOU and please contact us THIS WEEK!


I had a request to share a little about what we'll be doing on this two week mission trip of ours... so here's a little update for all our readers....

Our team of 10 (3 men and 7 women) will be partnering with H.E.A.R.T. (Health Education Africa Resource Team... www.africaheart.com).  We'll spend some time outside Nairobi at the HEART Lodge, in Kibera (the largest urban slum in all of Africa), and Kisii.  Some amazing pictures and a better description of what our trip will be like can be seen at our Team Leader's blog from last year...http://adisciplelife.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/kenya-2013-in-the-mud/

Basically, we will be building houses and working with HEART's WEEP ministry.  Read below...

Women’s Equality Empowerment Project  (WEEP)
Keeping mothers alive, healthy, and self-sustaining so they can raise their children

As an orphan prevention initiative, WEEP empowers women with HIV/AIDS. Our projects saves the lives of mothers suffering from advanced stages of AIDS, sparing their children from becoming orphans. Operating in impoverished areas, WEEP identifies HIV positive mothers who have been widowed or abandoned. WEEP commits to providing medical care, nutrition, vitamins, shelter, and access to ARV drugs. We also assure that their children have the resources to attend school. Once physically stable, the mothers are taught a trade at a WEEP center, where they come self-sufficient and break out of poverty.
In a country where unemployment is estimated to be close to 70%, a job allows the WEEP women to provide for their families in a way that would be impossible without this project. Beyond the devastatingly high unemployment level, the lack of information and the stigma associated with AIDS make it nearly impossible for an HIV positive woman to secure employment, support her children, or access ARV drugs. WEEP’s objective is to keep mothers alive, healthy, and employed, and protect her vulnerable children from becoming orphans.
Again, thank you for your support.  Big or small... we want to say THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Monday, June 2, 2014

Matthew 6:25-34... DO NOT BE ANXIOUS


It's not too late to donate... 
An easy way to donate.... go online to www.baysideonline.com or the short-cut link to take you directly to the Global Outreach Support Page.... http://bit.ly/short-term-support

Do Not Be Anxious

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you,even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.


Praying for peace... for miraculous generosity... and for a calming of my mind regarding our financial obstacles... or as some might call it "opportunities." Praying that God will help remove this frustration, disappointment, and eagerness within me. I truly am praying for a change in perspective... that I will more easily see our cup of blessings as over-flowing... none of this "half empty" nonsense. God is good. All the time! And all the time... God is good!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH to each and every person... family, friend, generous stranger... who has helped to contribute to our 2 week mission trip to Kenya this summer. I just know that our lives will be changed forever by this opportunity and pray that somehow God will ease our financial hardships and work a financial miracle to help multiply our funds in the coming weeks.

An official update: 

Bryan and I have received word from the church that we have raised a total of $3,474.94... plus two more checks today (for +$225). 
The trip costs $4,300 EACH PERSON, so we need to raise a total of $8,600. This means we are still short on funds by $4,900. Definitely sounding like we need a miracle, doesn't it?

Any ideas on how we could raise $5,000 in the next TWO WEEKS! (We need it by Monday June 16th!) We will be turning in a bunch of recycling this week... perhaps God can multiply it.... a lot. :)

There have been a few glitches with the accounting of things, so if you donated to us and are not listed below... you may need to reach out to us (rebecca.ragle@gmail.com) or Bayside Church directly (Global Outreach or the Finance Dept... www.baysideonline.com).


Our list of donors (updated May 29th):

THANK YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!!!
Jerry & Cesca Erb
Joanne & Gary Bach
Carol Culian
Tanja Sacco
John Aubert
Linda Drever
Rob & Lauren Prichard
Steve & Melissa Magee
Julie Kvarme
Lottie Hinson & Beth Jolley
Ken & Dottie Magee
Rory Kinoshita
Linda Weber
Justin & Laura Patterson
John Wott
Linda Kline
Carl & Mary Sue Jacobson
Skip & Janet Magee
Pat & Wayne West
Tim & Ruth Magee
Tony DeLoney
Pete Bauman
Lori Ford
Tammi Lovvorn

Johnna & Wayne Humbert
Kimberley Clark
Dorinda Adams


IF YOU DONATED TO OUR MISSION TRIP AND YOUR NAME IS NOT LISTED ABOVE... CONTACT ME, BRYAN, OR BAYSIDE CHURCH DIRECTLY, ASAP!

Thank you for your contribution.  We are still accepting donations (our new deadline we've been told is Mon June 16th).  
An easy way to donate.... go online to www.baysideonline.com or the short-cut link to take you directly to the Global Outreach Support Page....  http://bit.ly/short-term-support


Humbly and sincerely,


Becca & Bryan Ragle