I have been so blessed in this process of raising funds for the trip and this weekend I experienced a case of awesome generosity yet again. So I figured, why not share them on there so you guys can be encouraged that God can and will provide for anything that is His will :) 

 

Here are 3 stories about things that have really, really encouraged me!

 

 

One of the first donations I got came from one of my friends who is 6 years old named Matthew. He is my neighbor's grandchild and lives in North Carolina (my neighbor and their entire family is like a second family). He is a very, very smart little boy and loves learning about different cultures all over the world. One night he was running around the house totally naked and told his mom about how some kids in Africa run around naked too. (He had just seen a tv show on it). She kind of dismissed the whole naked thing and moved on to telling him that I was going to Africa. He was completely intrigued and immediately said he wanted to help. He didn't have much money, but what he did have, he wanted to give it ALL. Yes, ALL of it. He didn't want another matchbox car or dvd, he wanted to give all his money to me so I could go help the African kids who needed it. So a couple days later...I received an envelope with his precious little writing on it and opened it...It was the most vaulable $3 I had ever received. Yes, 3 dollars isn't that much considering the trip costs $4,600, but it wasn't the money itself that was so valuable to me, it was his attitude of giving. It was the most encouraging thing to see someone willing to give EVERYTHING! Matthew may only be 6 years old, but he has the best heart attitude I know. And I couldn't help but smile the rest of the day thinking about it :)

 

The second story is one about another friend who lives a couple states away named Sierra. Her company does a corn maize race every year with other workplaces and each year the winner receives $500 to give to any charity or cause they wish. Before the race, they had to turn in the name or company of who they were going to give the money to, IF they won. It was getting down to the wire on deciding when on one of the last days to decide, she got my support letter! Immediately she sent me an e-mail and told me to pray pray pray that they win because she and her workplace had chosen ME and my trip as their cause...Let's just say a couple weeks later when I got the text  that they had won, I literally squeeled with joy during my nursing class!! :)

 

The last story happend this weekend on a youth retreat with my church this weekend. I'm a small group leader for my church's youth group and look forward to every event, especially Fall Retreat! It's always an awesome time whether I go as a leader or a member of the youth and I also come home with plenty of encouragment. THIS time, however, the encouragment was amazing! The first night we got their our director, Michelle, announced that everyone needed to put their cans in a separate trash bin to be recycled for Kati's Africa trip. This was the idea of a fellow leader, Rebekah, who knows I love the earth and I need money for my trip, so she figured why not collect alllll those cans from the weekend. She even made me a sign "Cans 4 Africa." The concept behind the idea was great, but of course I knew it wouldn't bring in TONS of dough since it takes quite a bit of cans to get any money. I was still so happy that they wanted to help though. Well...soon after Michelle made the announcement, one of our amazing cooks asked "Who did you say was going to Africa?" She pointed me out. He asked how much it was and shortly after handed her a wad of money. I was goofing around when she walked up to me and said "here. this is for Africa." I looked down to see a handful of hundred's and asked, "WHAT?!? Where did you get this?!?" She pointed to the kitchen. The man who gave me this money, $400, did not even know me. I had seen him at church before, but we had never met. He just heard the call and knew he should give, so he did. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!Let's just say I've never hugged someone I just met so hard in my life. And looking back, I thought...all because of those cans. All because she announced the recycling of the cans for Africa, that's how he heard. So the moral of this story is this: Sometimes what seem like very minimal fundraisers can actually turn into huge ones, it's all about faith! Don't be afraid to start small :)

 

 

There are so many other stories of generosity that I could share. So many of my friends and family have been incredible throughout this young journey just giving, giving, and giving. I have been encouraged beyond belief that this is God's plan and he WILL provide, even if I am foolish and have doubtful thoughts sometimes.

 

 

But, yes, that is it. I just had that on my heart and thought I'd share :)

 

Praying for you guys!! That your fundraising is going well too!!