On the way home from Nashville and the Christian Alliance for Orphans conference, we thought about what we should call this ministry. We decided that we would call it Journey Home Jamaica and thought that we would form a non-profit corporation after we returned from Jamaica at the end of June.
So many people starting coming forward, so many doors were opening, our first big fundraiser was already in the beginning planning stages, and so many people wanted to help, that we thought that maybe we should speed up the process a little bit and incorporate right away. And so we did.
Then we realized that we needed to do some advertising to share what we are doing and get even more folks to partner with us. We thought that maybe we needed a logo and a video. So, I contacted my brother and sister-in-law since that’s exactly what they do: media for ministries. They don’t come cheap, though, and we were wondering how we would pay to have a professional produce a video for us. We answered a bunch of questions for them and went back and forth for a couple weeks via email about it. After several weeks, I got a message from them telling me that they are just way to busy to help us out right now but that they might have some time in the summer of 2015. Um, we are on the fast track here so that won’t work..... We were disappointed, but we understood.
The next day was my lunch meeting with Whitney who we had originally met at CAFO, then were re-introduced to in Noblesville at the Bethany Christian Services luncheon. Whitney and I met at a Wendy’s near her and had lunch. All the while on the 45 minute drive to meet her, I was wondering what exactly I was doing. And wondering why God has connected us.
We chatted about the weather and the traffic while we ordered, then sat down to eat. As we started to get to know each other, she began to tell me her story. She has had a heart for orphans since she was 18 years old. Whitney has recently started a ministry for foster kids called 10,000 bags. She orchestrates the collection of individual bags filled with age appropriate goodies, school supplies, toys, what have you. The concept stems from the idea that foster children carry all of their belongings around in a garbage bag. This gives them not only something of their very own, but a nice bag or small suitcase to put it in. A pretty awesome idea, for sure!
Whitney’s Facebook page for 10,000 bags with instructions and suggestions for how to assemble a bag for kids can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/10000Bags I’m sure she would love to come and pick one up from you! This is a gal with a very big heart and lots of great dreams to make the world a better place one person at a time. I encourage you to get to know her if you get the chance!
So, then Whitney began to tell me about her husband, Kassim. Kassim is a filmmaker and has an eye for design. She said that he has caught her vision to help the fatherless and has come along side her more and more recently to help her in ministry.
After attending a recent conference with her (not CAFO, but a smaller local gathering) and noticing that so many of the brochures looked like they were handmade, Kassim commented on how great it would be to help ministries turn out some really nice, eye-catching print materials and videos. Whitney told me that he had talked about it more and more recently but that they weren’t sure how to get started or who to approach first. They talked to a few people but it didn’t seem like a very good fit. And then after meeting us at lunch the week before, Whitney said that Kassim told her on the way home that he wanted to do a video for us! Wow! Just a day after my brother said that he was too busy, now we have someone offering to do a video to help us get started! Just out of the blue. And at no charge.
She also told me that they had just taken possession of a rented a space for their studio a day or two before. It’s in a prime location and will help them begin to grow their businesses. I think that God has some pretty big plans for this really neat couple. And we can’t wait to connect with them again when we get back from Jamaica!
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