HopeChest T-shirts are back!

Buy your exclusive, limited edition t-shirt from Children’s HopeChest today in our online store. We don’t do this very often, so if you want a shirt: don’t wait. Giveaway ends on March 18th on My Crazy Adoption blog.

Your t-shirt purchase helps orphans in Haiti, supports sex trafficking survivors in Moldova, and enters you to win a free mission trip with HopeChest!

[BUY YOUR SHIRT TODAY]

When you buy a t-shirt, you do ALL THREE of these…

	1. You provide food, clothing, and medical care for 37 orphans at the Haiti Home of Hope in Pignon, Haiti.
	2. You support 8 survivors of sex trafficking at the Beginning of Life rehabilitation home in Moldova.
	3. You get entered to win a free mission trip with HopeChest. (One entry per t-shirt!)

All that, and you can wear it too.

HopeChest t-shirts make great gifts for Easter, graduation, Father’s Day, or just because.

Please visit the links above to find out more about the projects in Haiti and Moldova you are supporting. And, please share this great opportunity on Facebook.

Got a blog? You can get EXTRA entries into the free mission trip giveaway. Just write an article and post a link on your blog. We track our traffic, so if anyone buys a shirt after linking from your blog, YOU will get an extra entry in the drawing. Get posting! Include the link http://www.hopechest.org/store

Don’t delay! These shirts are only on sale for a little while longer. Head over to the HopeChest Store to get your shirt today!

For the Fatherless,

Tom Davis, CEO
Children’s HopeChest

P.S. Here’s a sneak preview of our best-selling design so far. To see the rest, just visit the store!

[ENTER THE MINI-GIVEAWAY HERE]

Today has been a tough day on my heart and it’s something I need to share, so you can pray through with me. I woke up this morning so excited about the mini-giveaway. I just knew that hundreds of my crazy readers would leave a comment and enter to win the contest. It hit me around 10am when only 20 people stopped by here that I didn’t do a very good job communicating to you. I struggled all day wondering if you really knew the behind the scenes to the giveaway and I want to make sure I’m honest and real with every one of you. You truly have no idea how much I love you, the bloggers, who have stuck with all my craziness and the impact you have made to change the world. I couldn’t do this without you! Do you realize what you have done in blog land? YOU helped raise $60,000 for Simply Love projects over the past year that touched the lives of children who desperately need to know they are loved. YOU are mission-hearted people who helped me give away 5 mission trips that radically changed the life of 5 people ordained by God to go on the mission field to love and share God’s good news. Now, we have the opportunity to give away a 6th trip- YOU are making that possible. If you can’t go on a mission trip this year, win the trip for a friend!!

What I want you to know from the bottom of my heart …. this is not about me, or the free mission trip, or the tee shirts, or Simply Love or Man Up ministry. I do not make a single penny from partnering with this amazing HopeChest project or any of the mission projects we do together. I really hope you hear my heart. This project means only one thing to me (and you) and that is the children we are making a difference for in Haiti and Moldova. I want to change the world with you. I want a child who is fatherless and feels unloved to know that people they may never meet in real life care and pray and hope and support and love them. I hope you are never turned off by my craziness, but understand how deeply burdened I am to find the projects that seem the most impossible or unreachable or unattainable. That’s what being crazy is all about. Real faith is celebrating the miracle before the miracle happens (The Circle Maker) and I hope you will join me celebrating the project in Pignon, Haiti and Moldova before the miracle happens.

The purchase of a tee shirt is just the beginning. The challenge is overwhelming, I know. It’s hard to wrap our brains around 147+ million orphans, but the Tom Davis Children’s HopeChest project I have partnered with brings that staggering number down to 8 girls living in Moldova “Beginning of Life” safehouse rescued from human trafficking and 37 orphans living in Haiti at Haiti Home of Hope orphanage and the 70 children cared for at clinic day. So, if you are holding back leaving a comment this week, wondering if you should REALLY get involved with this project, I challenge you to pray, think long term, invest and go. This is your chance to change the world and love big.

Starting today, will you pray with me that we can challenge 1000 people to purchase a tee shirt or two and make this project something we’ll never forget? Next week, I want to show you the real faces of the children you are helping, the stories that will break our hearts, but call us up to live James 1:27 in a radical way. Be radical this week, do it afraid, and enter to win a life-changing mission trip. I promise you will have no regrets. I went on my very first mission trip three years ago and God changed everything about my life…. I have new dreams, new purpose, and an overwhelming burden to love big! I love being crazy for the fatherless and the unreached people groups who need Jesus!!

Mission Trip Giveaway- grand prize: Win free trip [value $3000] with Children’s HopeChest Ministry- any of their 2012 scheduled trips- you pick the trip if you win!

I’m going to keep the mini-giveaway open till Saturday and I hope after you have prayed about it, you’ll join our project with a fresh heart. I need your help spreading the message to your family and friends. You can simply click on the social media tools at the bottom of this post and share …. and share …. and share!!!

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is LOVE. (1 Cor. 13:13 msg)

I don’t feel so heavy hearted now, thanks for listening and I’d love to know what you feel about being part of this life-changing project with me & Tom Davis. Share in the comments- please don’t be shy (I really want to know your heart)

(Baby Rudy with his parents living in Pignon, Haiti- part of the clinic program)

[UPDATED WITH WINNER]

Here’s the winning comment selected by random.org number generator:

“I shared this on FB and Twitter. I have already purchased two shirts for my husband and I, but wished we could buy one for my teen who is passionate about the fatherless. I would like to win the trip because I’d like to go on the Moldova trip for my 40th birthday. I clearly remember the original trip to Moldova. It completely shifted everything in my life from that point on. Ask Tom, he’ll tell you what has come of it!”

Congratulations, Brandy Freeland for winning the mini-giveaway contest!! You have won a free tee, free entry to win the grand prize mission trip, and 2 signed copies of Tom Davis’ best selling books! I need you to email me and share your tee pick and information! Just think, you are entered to win a FREE mission trip. If you win, are you going to keep the trip or give it away?

********************************************************************

Hello crazy bloggers, if you are new to My Crazy Adoption blog… I want to welcome you! In case you’re wondering if you heard the rumors correctly – YES YES YES I’m giving away a mission trip with Tom Davis’ Children’s HopeChest ministry! You can read here what our two special projects are we’re raising HOPE for the fatherless in Haiti and Moldova. If you WIN the grand prize, you can pick one of Children’s HopeChest’s mission trips for 2012 and go love big!!! Don’t you dare miss out on this amazing opportunity- you could win this trip just by leaving a comment!!! Special note: even if you have already purchased your giveaway tee, you can enter the mini to win an extra entry!!!

This is a Mini Giveaway! I’m giving away 1 mission trip tee shirt (you pick) and 1 Free Mission Trip entry and 2 signed copies of Tom Davis’ books, Priceless and Scared! This is huge… someone could WIN a mission trip just participating in the mini giveaway fun! Even if you have already purchased a Simply Love/Man Up tee, you can still play the mini!!

Here’s what you need to do to enter the mini- just pick 1 from the choices:

If you don’t have a blog or website, that’s OK … you can still enter the mini, just let me know in the comments, why you want to win this trip!

1. Add My Crazy Adoption button on your blog or blogroll located on the side column. Let’s stay friends!
2. Shout out on Facebook, or Twitter, or Pin It and share the Mission Trip Giveaway to your social friends! You pick!
3. Share with me why you want to win this mission trip giveaway.

Now, leave in the comments how you entered to play the Mini Giveaway today.  I will randomly select a winner and update post [here] on Saturday, March 10th. Get ready, get set, goooooo!! Please limit to only 1 comment. 

Q- What do I win?

You win 1 giveaway tee shirt (you pick) and 1 FREE entry to WIN the mission trip and 2 signed copies of Tom Davis’ books, Priceless and Scared!

You can purchase Simply Love/Man Up mission trip GIVEAWAY tees here.

If you enjoyed one of this week’s project posts or learned something new- please share it!!!

If you are new to My Crazy Adoption … welcome to my crazy blog!! Tom Davis and I are GIVING AWAY a FREE mission trip with HopeChest Ministry. You even get to pick the trip! This is our 2nd project together and we are simply thrilled to not only give away a mission trip [value $3000] but help two very special projects with your purchase of a Simply Love and Man Up tee shirt.

When you purchase a Simply Love tee, your donations will support Haiti Home of Hope (HHH) Orphanage in Pignon, Haiti. I visited HHH last month with an amazing team and saw with our eyes the difference your help can make in Haiti. The 37 children living at the orphanage are loved big with the care of Bill and Jennifer Campbell for the past 8 years.

Here is a special video (I made) to show you exactly where your donations will go and the precious faces you will Simply Love.

The Story of a Child Slave

When I stayed at Haiti Home of Hope (HHH) there was one little boy that captured my heart the second I met him. His name is Wiskindly and he was a former child slave. Both his parents died and he was sent to live with his uncle and aunt, but worked as their slave in Pignon. He was abused and broken … somehow finding his way to the clinic at HHH with his slave owners. Jennifer told me when she saw Wiskindly’s eyes filled with fear, it brought her to tears. She knew immediately that this little boy needed to be rescued. He was 6 years old, but only weighed about 20 pounds. Jennifer had to decide if she was going to put him on the program, and make him a stronger slave; or not put him on and he would likely starve to death. During the next few weeks, the uncle brought him back for treatment for exhaustion and sickness, not understanding the Campbells had a special plan for him. “What we ended up doing was eventually convincing the uncle that little Wiskindly would never make a good slave, he was too small and weak. That he should just give him to us.” They finally gave up the boy and Wiskindly had a new home. It’s been challenging for the Campbells to help him through the healing process, but with hope and love and miracles, God will restore Wiskindly’s heart again!!!

Your purchase of a Simply Love tee will make a difference in the life of Wiskinley and the other precious children living at HHH – providing food, clothing, and medical care for the community of Pignon- especially on clinic day!!

Here are a few of the projects Haiti Home of Hope are working on:

• Mother’s milk [formula] and clinic program
• Building project for mother/baby safehouse
• A brand new home for a family of 4 living in Pignon
• 37 orphans permanently living at Haiti Home of Hope orphanage- Food, clothing, and medical care
• Helping Pastor Clebert expand his church building

 Jennifer Campbell shares more about Haiti Home of Hope:

HHH was founded by Webb Chenault. He had a vision of opening an children’s home one day. He purchased the land, built a mission house and a boys home, and then began looking for a family to come in and open it up. God called Bill and I, and our son Jesse, and in January 2003 we moved to Pignon, Haiti.  In August, 2003 we opened the boys home, and later opened a girls home. We now have 37 boys and girls, ages 3 years old to 19 years old. We have 23 employees. These are cooks, wash ladies, guards, yard guys, etc. We have been sent out from Red Bridge Baptist Church in Kansas City, the sending board who supports our ministry.

Most of our children were in bad shape when they arrived at HHH, many were close to dying from starvation. About half of them were infants when they came to HHH, the youngest being 4 days old. They are now healthy, attending church in town and a local Christian school. We have some special needs, some with learning disabilities and some with physical challenges.
We have never done child sponsorship, because we are such a small organization. I think we would be overwhelmed with too many sponsors and too few kids.

In addition to the orphanage, we run a feeding clinic  and milk program. The feeding clinic is for malnourished children from 1 year old to about 8 years old. They come in every two weeks, are weighed and evaluated. We address any needs, medical or otherwise, and give them food and supplements to take with them. We have around 50 kids on this program.
The milk program is for babies whose moms have died. Occasionally we help a mom with HIV with formula for her baby. The babies are weighed each time they come in, to ensure that they are receiving the formula. We give them a two week supply of powdered baby formula. We try to keep under 20 babies for this program.

The great thing about these programs is that it keeps the kids with their families, which is always our first plan. After we put them on the program, we can then closely monitor their situations. We are always on the lookout for restaveks, child slaves. We have several children at HHH who were slaves, or possibly getting ready to be ‘sold’ as a slave, that we were able to rescue.

We love our clinic families, and do what we can to help them, when funds allow. We always share the Gospel with them, and have seen a number of families leave voodoo and come to Christ.

If you enjoyed this post or learned something special- please share!!

Man Up for Moldova Orphans! Mission Trip Giveaway Project…

Thank you for making our first day of the project such a crazy success! Your donations are going to make a real difference in the life of a child living in Haiti and Moldova with Children’s HopeChest ministry! Please join us for the next two weeks sharing our project with your family and friends! I’m praying specifically that 1000 mission-hearted people will buy a tee shirt to provide  protection, food, clothing, and medical care for hundreds of orphans – and WIN a free mission trip!! But, if you can’t go on a trip this year, win the trip and give it away to a friend!

If you just bought your Man Up tee shirt and now wondering what exactly does your donation support- let me make it quite simple. WE HATE HATE HATE EXPLOITATION OF ORPHANS!! This quest will take REAL men to MAN UP and fight for justice, projection, and love big for the fatherless!!! We are truly blessed to be able to join the Beginning of Life project- an organization that knows how to Man Up in Moldova!!! Here are a few reasons WHY we are fighting against human trafficking of orphans partnering with Beginning of Life.

CARE FOR THE SURVIVORS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN MOLDOVA

Moldova is a small country in Eastern Europe nestled between Ukraine and Romania. The poorest country in Europe, many Moldovans leave the country illegally to find work in other countries. Experts estimate that nearly half of all Moldovans working outside the country (300,000) are victims of human trafficking or illegal migration.

Unfortunately, that means over 30 percent of Moldovan children are social orphans—children of parents who have illegally left the Moldova to find work in another country. In many cases, these parents send money, but will never return to Moldova to parent their children. Given these dynamics, trafficking rings in Moldova now export tens of thousands of children into the global sex trade each year. Children’s HopeChest partners with “Beginning of Life” to offer a rehabilitation home and program for survivors of human trafficking.

GOAL

Restore victims of sex trafficking through the Beginning of Life by providing:

• Safe living conditions in a transitional living facility

• Therapy, counseling, and relationships with caring Christian professionals

• Food, clothing, and medical care

• 24-hour supervision

Currently 8 girls live in the transition home and receive services. The length of time the children are in the program depends upon the level of abuse and violence they have experienced.

 Personal Story of a Rescued Girl:

Tatiana, was trafficked into Turkey, were she worked as a prostitute in a brothel. Thankfully, a police raid closed that brothel, put the pimp into prison and returned the girls to their home countries. Tatiana lived the Beginning of Life home for four months. After finishing trade school, she went to work in a bakery and lives on her own in an apartment. Each woman’s needs vary depending on their background, education, family status, type of abuse, and length of abuse. Beginning of Life creates a specific counseling plan for each woman, and starts the process of rehabilitation and reintegration. In general, all participants receive the following care:

• Accommodations. The safehouse provides safe and complete accommodations, including a bedroom, bathroom, food, and medical care for up to 12 months.

• Counseling.  The staff psychologist identifies each woman’s unique needs and develops a specialized, individual counseling plan.

• Social Assistance. The social workers live with the girls 24-hours/day, taking care of all their needs and educating them basic life skills. These might include tasks such as cooking, cleaning, personal hygiene, and other daily routines.

• Cultural Services.  The staff organizes special events for the girls, inviting them to local theaters, concerts, and public events. The goal is to teach the girls to see and experience the good parts of society, and to begin integrating with other people in society.

• Group Activities. Once each week, the girls watch a movie with the

social workers and then discuss the themes and applications for their

own lives within a group context.

• Bible Study & Church Attendance.  Beginning of Life invites a

local pastor to provide Bible instruction classes for the girls. He

teaches lessons and helps the girls develop a prayer life. All residents

are invited to worship at local churches. Most choose an evangelical

church, and attendance is purely optional.

• Art Therapy.  Victims of sex trafficking struggle to find their gifts

and self- worth.  Art therapy is a tangible way to show the girls they have special gifts. A professional

art therapist helps the girls identify their talents, and helps them create jewelry, cards, paintings, and

clothing items.  Beginning of Life also organizes exhibitions to sell their artwork. This aids the

healing process when the women discover that their artistic gifts are valued by others and purchased

as gifts. This provides them not only with a self-esteem boost—but a small source of income.

• Drama and Role Play Therapy. Sex trafficking victims struggle with depressed emotions, and have

tremendous difficulty sharing their past experiences. At the start, these young women are closed up

within themselves almost completely.  Dramatic role playing helps the women experience and relate

to the emotions of others that are similar to their own. This allows the women to open up and relate

to others. Processing the similar emotions in the “third person” helps the women understand

themselves and begin to open their hearts again.

• Trade schools. Beginning of Life has relationships with a variety of different trade schools.  We

attempt to place the girls in a good trade school to receive professional training and the opportunity

to work in the future.

• Reintegration.  As graduation from the program gets closer, our staff help the women make the

first steps toward independence, housing, and employment.  Once a good job is located, the girl must

maintain employment for thirty days before she can leave the safehouse. After this point, the staff

help locate a safe apartment or dormitory for the girl to live in, and the program pays the rent for a

few months while the girl fully transitions back into society.

• Follow-Up.  All of the Beginning of Life graduates are invited to spend the holidays at the

safehouse, as well as just stopping by. The home is a place where they can always come for help—even after graduation.

 PROGRAM RESULTS:

10 girls have graduated from the program, and currently 8 women are living in the Beginning of Life Safehouse.  Other results include:

- Two national days of prayer that drew over 300 churches and 20,000 adults to pray for victims of sex

trafficking.

- Over 23, 000 people received prevention information detailing how sex traffickers operate and how

to avoid their traps.

- Approximately 1,500 individuals received training through partnerships with local churches.

PROGRAM TESTIMONIALS-

Natasha’s Story

Natasha was abandoned to an orphanage by her parents shortly after she was born. Having grown up in an orphanage, Natasha followed the footsteps of many other orphans into a technical school where she was to learn baking. One day, the director of the school invited a young man to come and meet with the girls. He developed a close relationship with Natasha, and after about two months offered her a job in Moscow. He promised to take her away from Moldova and provide her with a better job than she could dream of. She agreed. When she reached Moscow, Natasha was locked in an apartment, and began to realize that the teacher from the technical school and her boyfriend had worked together to kidnap her and bring her to Moscow. That night, she entered the sex trade. As a forced prostitute, she was raped and brutally beaten when she tried to resist. The brothel owners would torture Natasha by burning her with lit cigarettes and cutting her with knives. Natasha still has those scars today…

One night, Natasha boldly and secretly called one of her own clients for help. He was a builder from Tajikistan who took an interest in rescuing Natasha—even while using her as a prostitute. He had been afraid that Natasha’s owners would kill him if he helped her. But he acted anyway. He paid for Natasha for the entire night, and then put on her a train back to Moldova.

Natasha entered the Beginning of Life Safehouse and there she received help to overcome her fear, sense of guilt, nervousness and a emotional withdrawal. The team offered Natasha sincere love, kindness, and caring. She is now studying to become a baker, and is beginning the hard road to full healing and integration.

We will draw the mission trip winner’s name on April 2nd and announce on facebook here. Purchase your Simply Love & Man Up Tees here- Children’s HopeChest Store.

Please SHARE today’s post link on your blogs, facebook, twitter, and don’t forget to Pin It!

What Makes Simply Love Fundraising Kit So Unique?

After answering hundreds of emails on My Crazy Adoption Blog about fundraising for adoption, three years ago, I created the Simply Love Kit to help adoptive families raise their costs. Now, anyone can use the Kit for fundraising needs. The products will create buzz and momentum for your fundraising by involving your friends, workplace, youth group, family, and church.  It is proven to raise hundreds and even thousands of dollars. We offer 24 exclusive country shapes and 15 unique designs! {Updated} Simply Love is featured in two documentary films and showing up all over the world! Films: Spreading Hope and Man Up and Go The Movie.

What is Simply Love?

To bless women & orphans heart, soul, mind, & strength by partnering with bloggers, adoptive families, and organizations to be a part of the solution of living James 1:27 by trusting steadily in God, hoping unswervingly, & loving extravagantly.

We have developed a program that allows you to purchase exclusive products from our Simply Love collection at wholesale prices. In turn, you can sell the products at full retail price with 100% of profits being used to raise your costs.

Please read the program overview information below and follow the 3 simple steps to join my fundraising program.

If you have any questions, you can email me for more details.

What is Simply Love Kit?

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is LOVE. (1Cor. 13:13)  When we adopted our beautiful, Zoie Senait from Ethiopia three years ago, we created a special tee shirt to raise our adoption costs.  Well, my fundraiser was a total disaster and failed miserably.  We ended up with boxes of unsold tees stacked in our garage.  I felt discouraged, stressed, and uncertain how to raise money for our adoption. I was determined to help other families learn from my mistakes how to FUNdraise successfully!  The past three years, I have had the honor of supporting and helping hundreds of families fundraise for their adoptions using our exclusive designs.  This year, My Crazy Adoption Blog has raised over $60,000 for missions projects and caring for orphans with Simply Love products.  God had a different plan for Simply Love and now it’s my gift to you.

I want to help eliminate any additional stress during your adoption process and fundraising projects.  Therefore, I have done all the groundwork for you!  My Simply Love designs were created by a gifted graphic artist with layers of artwork that are beautifully printed on shirts and gear available! All you have to do is sell your products!  There is no middle man, so you are in the driver’s seat customizing the program to best meet your fundraising needs.

The Simply Love Kit includes:

• 15 exclusive graphic designs!
• 23 Country shapes to pick- USA, China, Africa, Nepal, Haiti, Russia, India, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Philippians, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Afghanistan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Sierra Leone [and more!]
• Exceptional printing company- our Simply Love Department is ready to go!
• Over 20 unique products to print- Tote Bags, tee shirts, hoodies, umbrellas, blankets, distressed baseball hats, aprons, mugs, pens, journals, water bottles, koozies, rubber wrist bands, stuffed animals, and many more!
• My step by step fundraising ideas designed to help you sell products successfully on blogs, FB, email blasts, giving letters and events.

Which Simply Love Designs are Included in the
Fundraising Program?

You can print our 15 exclusive graphic designs on any of the products available with my printing company.  You pick: COUNTRY, PRODUCTS, INK COLORS, AND DESIGNS!! It’s all up to you!

You can view selected black and white graphics here.

How Do I Start Using the Simply Love Fundraising Program?

1. Purchase the Simply Love Kit to have exclusive rights to print our 10 stunning graphic designs.
2. Once your account is setup, you will receive an email from me with your online packet attachment including: printing company’s contact information, wholesale prices of products, and fundraising ideas.  This package is effective for as long as you are raising funds to advocate for orphans.
3. Your adoption blog can be listed on My Crazy Adoption Blog as an authorized Simply Love fundraiser if you would like to share your experience with others.

Purchase the Kit Here:

This is a one time only payment of $79.00 for exclusive rights to sell Simply Love.

How do I start selling my Simply Love Gear?

Once you purchase the Simply Love Kit for fundraising, you can begin selling your exclusive products with 3 simple steps!  Your supporters must purchase the products directly from you.  You will keep 100% of profits.  There are several ways to begin the selling process:

1. Contact the Printing Company and pick your country, products, graphic designs and receive your customized mock ups (photos of your products) to start advertising on your personal blogs, email blasts, giving letters, fliers, and FB.  Start creating a buzz with your family & friends to support your project! (High Resolution photos are available at request.)
2. Pre-sell the Simply Love gear for $15 more per item than the wholesale price using pictures from the printing company for your specific country.  Collect the full retail price for each item as you take orders. Then you can order exact sizes and quantities from the company at wholesale prices.
3. Purchase the Simply Love gear outright from the printing company choosing sizes and quantities that you think you can sell (minimum of 25 of the selected product.) Then you start selling your gear for $15 more per item than the wholesale price -  You will be notified by email of any changes or additions to the fundraising items.

Fundraising Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the Best Seller?

Top 11 Sellers:

1. Simply Love Tees
2. Tote Bags
3. Zip Hoodies
4. Hats
5. Coffee Tumblers & Mugs
6. Polka dot Umbrellas (adorable!)
7. Cups & Water bottles
8. Blankets
9. Rubber wrist bands
10. Stuffed animals
11. Journals

You can print any of the 15 Simply Love graphic designs on ANY gear we offer wholesale. We have added several new items… go a little crazy!  Any of the gear can be customized to meet your fundraising needs.  When you wear Simply Love, people will ask you questions about your stuff and want to know where to purchase one!

Can I pick my own colors or customize my products?

Yes, you can pick your products, graphic artwork, tee colors, and ink colors from 10 exclusive designs! The best part- you can keep coming back when you sell out and pick a new design to keep up the momentum!

Can you create My Adoption Country for my Simply Love Gear?

Yes, we can custom design your own exclusive Simply Love Country. If you request a brand new country, you get to name the Simply Love design- a place of honor for your child’s name. The names are placed on the front blended into the graphic design.

Like it? Is it helpful? If so, I have two simple requests:

1) Let me know. Share your feedback in the comments or write me directly.

2) Help spread the word. Pass this along to the entire universe. OK, maybe not the whole universe, but you know… all of your crazy adoption friends would be good. Feel free to start with the facebook button at the bottom.

Thanks for the opportunity to help you start the journey of a lifetime- making the difference in the life of an orphan.! I can’t wait to hear about your own fundraising success story.

*****

Original Simply Love™ art was created by Heidi Rohr
All rights reserved. Trademark – Copyright (c) 2010-2011
Any unauthorized copying of these photos or posts or original art will constitute an infringement of copyright. No part of this blog or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.

In 24 hours, you will have the chance to join the craziness to WIN a Children’s HopeChest mission trip + support two special projects simply with the purchase of a tee shirt. We are SO EXCITED to kick off on March 5th the Simply Love – Man Up projects partnering with Tom Davis and his amazing ministry. Take a teaser peek here at the store. Simply Love tees will fund Pignon, Haiti Home of Hope projects and Man Up tees will fund the Moldova “Beginning of Life” project!! 1 tee = 1 entry to win the CHC mission trip, but most importantly …. your donations will help support life-changing projects in Haiti and Moldova that will make a difference in a big, crazy way!

Stop by here in the morning and let’s kick off our project with a bang! I know YOU can do it!!!! Soooo … what do you think about my new project with Tom Davis? I want to know in the comments!

One of my favorite things (as a mom blogger) is when men speak up and want to share on my blog. I appreciated this post from my friend, Caleb David-  Machine Gun Camera here and thought this would be another cool perspective on short term mission trip. My guest, Ben Singleton, really challenged me to look deeply in the heart of what Jesus considers “wasteful.” I want you to feel like your growing and gaining greater understanding when you have the opportunity to go and share the gospel with the world’s unreached people groups- there IS a place for long or short term missionaries- mission-hearted people that want to simply love and live James 1:27 in a crazy way. I want to know your thoughts after you read this new post.

First of all, I think the conversation about short-term mission trips vs. long-term holistic solutions should be started in scripture.  Matthew 25 provides crystal clear support for meeting urgent (short-term) needs.  Jesus recognizes his own by their response to hunger, thirst, nakedness, imprisonment, etc.  It is important to note the response that Christ affirms as “knowing Him” is embodied in giving a drink, a meal, a shirt, or a visit.  He doesn’t necessarily ask for holistic solutions, economic development, not even (interestingly) any preaching, teaching, or theology lessons.  What lessons can we take from this?  First, the obvious message is that if we truly indwelt by the Spirit of God, we will see people (especially “the least of these”) with love & compassion in a way that make’s their needs more important to us than our own agendas.  Second, the gospel can be clearly and effectively communicated to the lost and hurting by our attitudes and actions if we truly love God and love others as ourselves.  Third, each of us is not called to solve every problem under the sun, rather we are called to respond with love and compassion to needs that God puts in front of us.

If you enjoyed or learned something from this post- please share it!

Hello crazy readers, I wanted to personally say …. I’M SORRY if you came over here and got bit by a nasty computer virus bug. I have a brand new web manager and thick walls of protection around my site. I’m 100% virus free and you can feel safe to “share” links or “Pin It” to your blog friends. I’m grateful to you, my faithful friends and appreciate your patience waiting for new posts. I had to take a mini vacation absence during the clean up, but have the official GO to continue blogging daily to encourage moms, support adoption, and celebrate our humanitarian projects to make a difference in the whole wide world!

I’m sooooo excited to announce our 2nd collaboration with Tom Davis and Children’s HopeChest ministry starting March 5th right here on My Crazy Adoption! This will be the craziest, biggest, heart pounding 2 week project we’ve ever done together! We have two projects we are raising funds for in Haiti and Moldova, as well as GIVING AWAY a special mission trip (value: $3,000) to one mission-hearted blogger! 1 tee = 1 entry to win!!

I need your help before we kick off the crazy project 3/5. Children’s HopeChest needs 10 volunteers to purchase 1 tee shirt for a test run to ensure the new store site is running without any snags. We want the process to be problem-free from start to purchase for every donation. If you are interested in volunteering, there is a bonus gift for you. We can refund you for your purchase or we can give you an additional tee shirt, including an extra entry to win the mission trip giveaway! Please email me here and let me know you want to be a “Crazy Project Volunteer” I will pick the first 10 people starting now ….. on your mark get set GO! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the new Tom Davis + Simply Love Project coming soon!!

BTW- Happy Mardi Gras Day. We took this “Fat Tuesday” photo of Zoie in 2009! Hope this makes your day happy!

One of my favorite days in Pignon, Haiti was meeting Baby Julie and her family. They live 15 miles from Haiti Home of Hope and walk every Wednesday to clinic day for formula and food and care. Baby Julie has some special needs and her family loves her very much. Life is so hard in rural Pignon, it was difficult for me to wrap my heart around how very difficult it was for this family to care for her needs. The entire family are followers of Jesus and greeted us with such warmth and kindness to their home. We had brought several gifts for the family, as well as bottles for Julie to help her drink easier without effort. Thank you again everyone who sent monetary donations for formula and bottles for Julie. It was so fun to go shopping with my mom the night before I left for Haiti and bought Julie two adorable outfits. I will never forget Julie’s mommy’s face when she opened up her gift- pure joy!

I was so touched holding this precious baby and knowing God was taking care of all her needs. Our team has helped organized her surgery for cleft palate repair and can’t wait to see her grow and thrive.

I want to challenge you to wrap your heart around Haiti … please!! There are many organizations that you can sponsor a child from Haiti, as well as go and minister! If you can love big, give hugs, pass out food, organize crafts, pound a hammer, hold hands, bring hope, pray, sing, and dare to try new things, you are EXACTLY what Haiti needs! I promise, your heart will never be the same.

We received an update today on Julie and she needs our fervent prayers! Julie and her mother are both in the hospital with cholera. This is SO SERIOUS … please pray for God’s protection and healing!

Please share this with your blog friends … spread the word to pray for Julie!

I asked my extraordinary Visiting Orphans “Simply Love Haiti” team what was their very favorite thingsabout their mission trip to Haiti and here’s what they wanted you to know:

1.  It’s only a 2 hour and 15 minute flight on American Airlines to Port-au-Prince from Miami, Florida. Is that easy or what! (Kari)
2. The endless opportunities to love. (Stephanie)
3. The mango’s (hanging from trees) at Well-Being, the church service in Pignon, praying with different families on clinic day, home visits, seeing our witch doctor friend singing along with Jesus Loves Me on clinic day, the beautiful Haitian countryside, and above all the KIDS! (Susan)
4. The smiles and endless hugs… The kids running down the road with us after the church service!!!! (Becky)
5. The blankets of stars in the sky, hearing a bunch of little kids sing their hearts out in a shack church, unbelievable scenery, the blind woman singing on clinic day! (Sonja)
6. I have to agree with the stars and the cacti fencing- very resourceful!!! I also think it is pretty amazing that so many women were able to live together for a week closely with shared bathrooms and limited food and not one person got disgruntled. There is so much to love… Jen’s facial expressions, I also cannot get out of my mind the forlorn face of the brother whose sister was in the witch doctor’s care… I can only imagine what his face looked like when he got formula for those babies and offered a job!!!! The singing… everything. Can we go back ???? (Ashley)
7. I loved the singing in the little church! I have a video of that and I watch it everyday! The love, smiles and endless hugs from all the kids! (Jennifer)
8. I loved watching the kids leave for school in Pignon in the mornings all decked out in their uniforms. (Becky)
9. Watching the team walk into ministry opportunities daily and embrace every single moment with a big heart! (Mama Kiki)
10. And my favorite was seeing how God used the talents of every member of our group through-out the entire week. The breadth of knowledge utilized through the various situations and projects was mind-boggling. (Becky)

This was just a taste of our 7 days in Haiti. We (the girls) talked late one night under our mosquito nets about how important it is to spread the word when we get home about our time in Haiti … to open eyes and hearts to come here and serve. Haiti needs you to come and love big! There are endless reasons you’ll fall in love, too! If you can love big, give hugs, pass out food, organize crafts, pound a hammer, hold hands, bring hope, pray, sing, and dare to try new things, you are EXACTLY what Haiti needs!

I’d love to know if you have any questions about going on a mission trip to Haiti … how can we (the team) help inform you about going, your concerns, fears, or anything!!!! We are NOT pros, but we fell in love with Haiti, so can you!

Team Photos:

This is the story of a baby boy named “Rudy” who captured the hearts of our Simply Love Haiti team. We were all so excited for clinic day at Haiti Home of Hope (HHH). We heard there would be about 60 people that would walk over 15 miles to receive care, food, and baby formula. Almost all the babies on the milk program are there because their moms have died. These babies would most likely die without this lifesaving formula. We also work with nursing moms who are having a hard time nursing. We help the moms with vitamins and food, to improve their nutrition, so they can nurse well. I want to thank those of you who donated formula- Tymm Hoffman’s ministry Brighton Their World. We packed their storage room full of life-saving formula! We were beyond surprised when over 120 people arrived (maybe they heard about 16 crazy Americans being there) and we had the opportunity to love, feed, care, sing, and share the gospel during the 6+ hours in the outdoor waiting room. I want to shout out a special thanks to the Campbell family, missionaries who live and love in Pignon, the past 8 years dedicated to making a difference to the unreached people groups in Haiti. I was simply amazed watching this family in action and fell deeply in love with all 38 of their children!! I want to be YOU when I grow up, Jennifer!

We had invited several people the day before on our home visits, including a witch doctor named Luckner. This poor man had no idea what he was walking into, but we had an incredible time sharing and praying with him during clinic day. Pignon, Haiti is located 100 miles from Port-au-Prince up in the mountains. It’s a rural, very poor area that desperately needs our help and care. We met many new mothers and caretakers in the milk day program that literally are keeping their babies alive with the donated formula. They were overjoyed and so grateful that we were there helping. One of my favorite memories was when team members, Amanda and Becky started singing. Our team shared a few songs, and then we asked it THEY would sing to us. There were many women who came forward and gave us their gift of song. One in particular was a blind women who had a voice like an angel. We were so touched and blessed with our impromptu sing-a-long.

One of the mothers had a challenging history with HHH. She was abusive to her children and left three years ago (illegally) to live in the Dominican Republic. She came back on clinic day with baby Rudy. He was 2 months old, but weighed barely 5 pounds. Of course, I was immediately back in time holding my baby Zoie with memories flooding in my heart. However, this baby boy was being deliberately starved by his birthmother. Jennifer Campbell rushed the baby inside the clinic and we immediately started giving him urgent care. He was so sick and weak, he couldn’t suck the bottle, so we had to put a NG tube down his nose into his little tummy. I started bawling, because I had to do this with my own premature daughter, Hannah and the emotions overwhelmed my heart! Jennifer requested from Rudy’s mother the choice to allow us to nurse him, literally back to life. She agreed and left HHH for several days. We nursed Rudy around the clock 24/7 and slowly he started growing stronger. There are no words to describe what our team felt caring for Rudy. He was truly our miracle boy. There are a lot of details I won’t share in this story, but I wanted to update you (Monday 2/6) Rudy’s parents showed up this morning and we all went down to Cap Haitian. The parents denied that he tested positive for hiv, so a doctor did another test, which came back positive. The father is having a hard time with this news, and what it means to him. He changed his mind about leaving Rudy in the Cap Haitian orphanage, and decided to take him back to the Dominican and seek medical care there. So we gave them money for transportation, and took them to the bus station. God is still in control of this situation. We know that Rudy’s father loves him very much, and wants to be with him. Because of this, I believe he will find the medical treatment he needs. Please continue to pray for this family. Jennifer. (photo- Parents are pictured below with Rudy.)

We are grateful for the time we had loving him, feeding him, giving him his first bubble bath, and rocking him as we fed him each hour, every day. My dear friend, Kari Hamilton ended up staying an extra week to help the Campbell family take care of him. Baby Rudy has 21 new adopted aunts, uncles, and a mama Kari in his life watching over him and loving him and praying for him.

(Baby Rudy 2 days after we fed him every hour 24/7)

My personal challenge dealing with Rudy’s mother was not judging her, but having compassion. I had to keep saying 1 Cor. 13:13 over and over in my heart. It was very difficult and several times during our stay, I wanted to judge her angrily with my words and actions for hurting Rudy. God (and my team) kept reminding me that God has a special plan for Rudy and despite the abuse he had to endure from his mother, he was in the care and hands of our heavenly father. I had the opportunity to pray and talk to mom with the help of Pastor Clebert … sharing the gospel and also my own struggles and mistakes as a mom. I had a heart to heart talk with her and shared about Zoie’s adoption and Hannah’s miracle story. God used MY pain to hopefully encourage this young mother. Please pray for baby Rudy and his parents…. we will keep you updated on his progress. (photo: Lina Campbell taking good care of baby Rudy)

Please email me if you are interested in going on your own Haiti mission-adventure. Life is pitiful, death so familiar, suffering and pain so common, yet I would not be anywhere else. Do not wish me out of this or in any way seek to get me out, for I will not be got out while this trial is on. These are my people, God has given them to me, and I will live or die for Him and His glory. – Gladys Aylward (Live-Dead)

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