November 3, 2011
Dear Friends & Family,
November creeped up on us already and we wanted to take a few minutes to send you an update on our ministry to Haiti. We have found that there is plenty of work to do here in California for the ministry!
Ericlee has been working hard at his new role as a fundraiser for Christian Friendship Ministries. We have various projects for 2012 that we hope to fund to help further the goal of connecting resources to Haiti and developing jobs for Haitians. The grand price tag on these projects is $100,000, which seems daunting to us but not to our God. We find hope in a devotional we read yesterday, “In your prayers, above everything else, beware of limiting God, not only through unbelief but also by thinking you know exactly what He can do. Learn to expect the unexpected, beyond all that you ask or think” – Andrew Murray (Streams in the Desert).
Ericlee’s focus this month has been preparing for two main fundraisers. This Sunday, Nov. 7 we have 26 runners participating in the Two Cities Marathon/Half Marathon in Fresno/Clovis. They have been working hard under Ericlee’s personal training for 12 weeks. They have also recruited corporate sponsors and have raising funds “jog-a-thon style” for our Solar Power Project inPignon, Haiti. We ask that you would remember them in prayer this Sunday morning as they are running/walking.
Our second fundraiser is the 2nd Annual “Haiti Decathlon” Crossfit Competition/Fundraiser on December 3. Ericlee is using his love for fitness and competition as an inspiration for this event. The venue will be the SPEED/CrossFit Combat Fitness gym where Ericlee works. The proceeds from this event will go toward improvement of the four schools in Haiti that are part of our ministry in the northern mountains. The teachers in these schools have many challenges, such as limited resources, too many students in too-small classrooms, and less than decent salaries.
We are very grateful for the interest of Erik Traeger, the owner of the gym, who has been very generous in helping us raise funds for Haiti. In addition to allowing us to host the fundraiser at the gym, he also has deemed one day a month Haiti Mission Monday and all money brought in on those days for the Boot Camp classes goes as a donation to our ministry. Ericlee has also seen a lot of doors open to share Christ and our heart for Haiti with clients at the gym through this job.
Meanwhile, Dorina has been launching our Haitian Bead Project. She has taken the recycled jewelry made this past summer by the ladies in Haiti and sold it in various venues in Fresno. On October 6, the jewelry was featured at Mullins Studio in downtown Fresno for the monthly ArtHop event. We were blessed to see the overwhelming interest. In fact, we are almost sold out of the jewelry we brought home and we haven’t even made it into the holiday season!
On the home front we are trying to find the balance between working full-time for Christian Friendship Ministries and family time. We are preparing for our third baby girl who is due on November 22. We would especially appreciate your prayers for the birth and transition time as we add a new little family member.
We look forward to connecting with each of you soon!
In His Grip,
Ericlee, Dorina, Meilani, Giada & a new Gilmore girl
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