Cakes & Lasers

Well, things have been busy as usual over in Wilmington! All of a sudden, we seem to have an explosion of kids coming to the Center which hopefully means we are doing something right. We were able to do our first fundraiser a couple of weeks ago, for which we hosted a Bake Sale right outside the Center.
For me, it was doubly good because
I love baking and I really miss being
able to do it regularly!
The fundraiser was a real success and the kids really enjoyed helping us out. It was good for us to be able to meet people in our neighbourhood and I was personally blown away by their support of the center. One of the Churches that supports us also allowed us to sell the rest of our cakes and they were so generous. In the end, we managed to raise:

$265.70!!

As a well done to the kids, we used some of the money to take them to Laser Tag at a place called Boomers in Pennsylvania. It was nice for them to go have fun and get out of the Center. There weren't enough seats in the car for me so I just sulked at home and washed the dishes. Not really. Well, I did wash the dishes. Because no-one else does. Not really. Anywho...they loved it! 

Look at their little faces.

As a team, we decided this weekend that we should spend some time exploring a bit more of our surroundings too. The guys wanted it to be free seeing as though I suggested a museum and we came up with the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover - Delaware's capital city. It was quite a trek and not the best idea I've had since it was raining and the majority of the fun stuff there is outside but I didn't step on my plane without a raincoat and umbrella so I was sorted. We enjoyed a packed lunch in the car and then had a wander around the museum. It was actually pretty fun, we got to go in the control tower and look out at the other planes and I flew a plane (simulator) but still it was pretty scary and I felt like a real life pilot. 

Here I am with Bill & Hillary's old ride. Aka Air Force 1. 

This is what I have to live with. Not the plane.

This leads me to the exciting part! Following our fundraiser, I got to book tickets for the 4 of us plus NINE kids to travel to The Big Apple this weekend!!We are going all day Saturday, so it will probably be quite tiring, but Ican't imagine a more exciting way to get my first experience of NYC than with a bunch of our kids! We are planning on seeing as much as we can in the hours that we have.

Last week, I said my goodbyes to the wonderful Urban Promise Wilmington which was an emotional moment but also a lovely one. The kids were asked to give me words of encouragement, which boy oh boy they did! They thanked me for teaching them to say please, thank you and you're welcome and one of them said I had a strong faith that encouraged them! They sent me away with a few tears in my eyes, kind words and PG Tips. However, it's not all over - I saw them the next day in Chick-fil-A at their fundraiser! Phew.

 

The final thing I would love you all to look at is our Wishlist. We have already received art supplies, games and other fun things from it and love getting to open these surprise packages in our morning meetings. If you feel like you can support our work, even in a small, anonymous way - it could make a huge difference to our kids. We get to tell them that people who don't even know them want to send them gifts, which for them - is an alien concept. We would LOVE to take them on more trips, even just to the movies or to a restaurant as well as provide them with creative/sports/community based projects from our Center. 
Follow this link and see how you can help us! 

Thank you ALL for reading this, I love knowing that you can keep up with my journey and seeing our work here develop. As always, if you're the praying type - please send a few up for us, that we will find time to rest as well as work and that what we do now has a long-lasting impact for these kids! 

                        "This is the day that The Lord has brought about. We will rejoice and be glad in it!"

Psalm 118:24