KOMO TV – Northwest Afternoon

It is amazing to me how we are finding favor in getting the news out about our project.  On Monday, Jan. 28th, we went into KOMO TV to shoot our segment on “Northwest Afternoon”.   It was an interesting experience; nothing like I expected!

We arrived a little early because when we left our house the roads were covered in snow.  What a day to have snow!  As we headed towards Seattle, the roads became dry and it was obvious that most people were still at home.  We were escorted to the “Green Room” by Amara Russell, who has been very helpful.  As we waited, more and more guests arrived.  We met some wonderful people who are doing a “Teen Court”, which is actually a legally binding program.  It was very interesting!

Once we were prepped by the Producer, Sandy Dang-Asher, we were escorted into the studio were the taping took place.   My husband and children were seated in the audience.  Vanessa and I watched as they taped the segment on the “Teen Court”.  I was happy that I wasn’t first.  It gave me a chance to see what to expect.  Kent made a mistake and they started over.  As soon as they finished taping that segment, they came over and mic-ed us.  They told us where to sit and asked us leading questions.  Kent did ask me a question that wasn’t planned, but it all worked out.  Vanessa did well.  She forgot the word “self-esteem”, so her sentence didn’t flow out as well as she would have liked, but I think her heart for the children came out.  I honestly don’t know how I did. 

The taping seemed so surreal.  One moment we were waiting our turn and the next moment we were done and home.  It will be interesting to watch it today.  It shows today (Thurs., Jan. 31st) from 3pm to 4pm.  My prayer is that God will stir the hearts of those that hear the show to respond.  If everyone who hears about this project gave what they were able to give, we would be shipping the container in a few days.

UPDATE: 

Here is the link to watch the video of our segment on Northwest Afternoon:

http://www.komotv.com/nwa/archive/15084601.html?video=pop&t=a#

If you know of anyone that might like to be a part of this project, please pass along this link to them.

Kiwanis Clubs making a difference in this world

I have been so blessed to find the Kiwanis Clubs.  Vanessa and I have worked with 3 different clubs so far; the Auburn of the Valley Kiwanis, the Tacoma Kiwanis, and the Kent Kiwanis.

The President of the Auburn of the Valley Kiwanis club, Wendy Price, was the first person we got in contact with.  She has been so helpful and encouraging. 

David Corner, President of The Gathering Project, is from the Tacoma Kiwanis and he is the reason that we are sending a 40 foot steel shipping container to Ghana.  He is the one who inspired us to “think bigger” and he is the one who is helping us with all of the details involved in shipping a container to another country.

Marti Reeder and Michele Campbell from the Kent Kiwanis have both jumped on board along with their group to help us fill the container.  They have a competition to see if they can fill a trailer that is parked outside of the Golden Steer Restuarant in Kent with school supplies and books to send to Ghana.

We are scheduled to speak to the Federal Way and Renton Kiwanis as well.  What a great organization of wonderful people who are willing to serve their communities and make a difference in children’s lives.  I have met some of the nicest people through Kiwanis, people who are really making a difference in this world!

I wanted to publicly thank each one of you.  You have really added lighter fluid to the flames of this project!

Vanessa’s project in the news

We realized that we had a huge project ahead of us.   In brainstorming how to get the word out, we came up with the idea of contacting the newspapers and any media that we could think of.

I wrote a letter to several newspapers about the container project that my daughter and I were working on and the Seattle Post Intelligencer decided to write a story.  The link is:   http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/swift/347462_mary16.html

KOMO TV Channel 4 in Seattle saw the article and called us and asked if we would be on their show “Northwest Afternoon” on Jan. 31st at 3pm.  We agreed!

We are praying that God would touch the hearts of those who hear about our project and spur them to action.  If everyone who has a heart to help the poor would donate something, then the container would get funded really quick.

I really believe that this is a “God Project”.  As soon as David Corner mentioned that we should purchase a container to send to Ghana with our mission team, I instantly knew that we had to do it!

I have never doubted that we would raise the $16,000. in one month.  If you knew our financial situation, you would know that we couldn’t do it ourselves.  We are very wise with our money, but we are a single income home.

“Ghana Container Fund” at Key Bank

A lot has been happening since I was last able to write.  I set up a donation account at Key Bank called “Ghana Container Fund”.  That is an account where anyone can go to any Key Bank and donate directly to the fund.  All they need to know is the name of the fund.  We figured that was a good first step.  People need to know how they can get involved and how they can donate.

After setting that up, we got started in brainstorming how to get the word out quickly.  Vanessa, my daughter who got the vision for this whole thing and who I am going to Ghana with, is writing a “Public Service Announcement” to air on KOMO next week.  We also contacted newspapers and asked them if they could help us get the news out.

We are finding favor with this project!  It sounds crazy, but I really believe that we are going to succeed in getting not only the 40 foot steel shipping container purchased, but also filled by the end of the month.

A reporter asked Vanessa what we will do if we are not able to complete this project by the end of Jan. and she said that we will continue with the project until it is complete, even if it has to be sent to Ghana with another team!

It is exciting to be involved with a project that will benefit a whole tribe of people, but that doesn’t benefit us in the least materially and yet we have grown so much in the process.  Our confidence has grown!  We have realized that God really can use a teenager and a stay-at-home mom to do a huge thing in this world.  Neither of us have done anything like this before, but God has connected us to those who have.  People that we never knew before starting this project.

We didn’t start out by planning on sending a shipping container to Ghana.  My daughter really wanted to go on the Bamboi, Ghana mission trip in April, so I agreed to go with her.  We started talking about the fact that we would like to do more then just send the supplies that fit in one suitcase.  We got a vision for drilling a well to bring clean water.  That dream was a stretch for us and we would only need to raise about $3000. more to accomplish it.  Then Vanessa made a connection with a gentleman that ships all over the world and we decided to see what God could do through us.  Now the vision is bigger, but we really believe that we can accomplish it with help.

We have been talking with some gentlemen that want to do water drilling in Ghana.  In fact, they are over there right now scouting things out.  They may want to send drilling equipment over there and we are seeing if we could work together.

We have another speaking engagement with a Kent Kiwanis club on Friday.  They have been very excited about what we are doing.  Some of the clubs have been helping us raise money for books for the schools.  There has also been some that are excited about supplying some children’s vitamins and school supplies.  It is so exciting to watch as different people’s visions all come together on this project and how if we work together, we can do great things!