He heard my cry.

Hey y'all! 

I pretty much feel like my Philippines updates have been a little all over the place lately, and you know what? 

They pretty much have.

One minute we are planning to still go in December.

The next we're not.

A couple of days after the storm devastated the island of Leyte, I was informed that we would not be able to travel to our orphanage in December like we had planned. I briefly mentioned it over here, but y'all, if I'm being honest, I was just really, really upset. In my mind the things I was being told made sense. 

It's too dangerous.

The roads are impassable.

There is no food or water.

Electricity may not be restored for over a year.

There's still bodies everywhere.

But in my heart.....

my heart just wasn't having it. 

I had peace in knowing that if it was truly meant for me to go see my sweet babies at Rosemary's Home of Hope in December, God would make a way.

All I could do was pray.

And pray.

And pray some more.

I would be lying if I told you that these past couple of weeks haven't been a wild, emotional ride for me.

I'm not sure what it is yet, but I'm still convinced God is doing something bigger than I've even dreamed up in this heart of mine.

I've felt restless.

Helpless.

Full of energy to do something about the destruction that struck the people I love so much.

They are family.

And with everything inside of me, I want to be there.

I want to hug them, and tell them it's all okay.

I want to lift a hand where I can.

Carry food and water to the famished.

God, use me. Wherever and with whatever, just use me.

That has been my prayer.

As of now, myself, a friend of mine, and hopefully a gentleman who knows a little something about building, will be leaving around December 11.

It will be a super short trip, but I know it will be worth it.

I have a feeling God has something huge in store. 

The rebuilding will probably not begin until after the first of the year.

It is our job to go in December, assess the situation, and analyze what materials we will need to begin the process.

I'm so excited for this opportunity, and unbelievably grateful that God saw my heart, and answered my prayers. 

To help out with funds needed for travel expenses & rebuilding, please see the following:

• Visit the official page of Rosemary's Home of Hope at www.rosemaryshomeofhope.com and select
• Visit the Support link listed above. All donations given on this site will be used to directly assist relief efforts and rebuilding, as well as travel costs for my December trip.
• Purchase a Rosemary's Home of Hope T-Shirt @ the Store. Not only will all proceeds be given to Rosemary's Home of Hope, but it's also a super great way of raising more awareness for our home in the Philippines.
• **For more information, please visit http://www.hopeforthehopelessministry.com/blog.html

Update.

This post was copied from my ministry website, http://www.hopeforthehopelessministry.com/blog.html

Update. 11/12/2013 0 Comments with Steve last December giving out Christmas shoeboxes Last night we finally received communication directly from Steve, and I can't even begin to tell you just how overjoyed my heart felt seeing his name pop up on my phone. The good news still remains...all of our children, staff, and village families that stayed at our home are safe and doing well. We did however learn that there was more damage done to the home than we initially thought. The roof was blown off of the boys dorm, our main building, and our dining hall. The only roof to survive was the girls dorm. Also, we were informed that our church was completely destroyed, and will need to be built back from the ground up...nothing remains. We are now beginning to collect the information and devise a plan to most effectively help out our orphanage, as well as our village. Right now, our biggest concern is food for everyone, as the supply and funds are scarce, and also tarps until our roof can be replaced. The estimation for food, roofs, and our church rebuild is $10,000. I would like to point out that any amount given will be a huge blessing, and will help tremendously in taking the first step in getting them the immediate needs they are needing. There will not be a rebuild team going until spring, but we hope to supply the Filipinos with the funds to help do some of the work as soon as possible.  To make a donation please click the support link. Once again, I thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! our church: East Marietta Baptist Church of the Philippines taken December 2012 with my Filipino Lolo (grandpa) taken December 2012 with Jenny Lynn, one of our younger orphans taken December 2012 with Unice, one of our orphans taken December 2012

Answered Prayers

hi ladies.

It's so nice catching up with each of your blogs, and "hearing" how you are all spending your summers.

I don't know about you, but this is my favorite season of all.

time of work.

sunshine.

freedom.

flowers.

vacation.

ok...I could go on and on and on, but I'll stop there :)

As I mentioned back on this post, I have created a website specifically to raise awareness and support for my work in the Philippines. You can check it out here. 

I shared a couple of weeks ago that there would be fundraiser held at our local community center to raise money for travel expenses and such for my July trip. I am so over whelmed and grateful for all that was done through the people of our community.

I am so humbled and blown away by God as I reflect on the past few years, and all that He is done.

I'm so excited to be sharing a brief history of how it all started as well as the results of my fundraiser with you all today!!

July 2008 forever changed my life as I boarded my first flight ever, and traveled to the Philippines. Before the trip, I really underestimated God, and truly thought this would probably be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and something I may never have the chance to experience again. Fast forward two weeks and I could not imagine a summer without serving with the Bob Tebow Evangelical Association (BTEA). However, it's amazing how God changes us, and shifts our focus and our hearts to other aspects of ministry. 

Over the course of the past two years, I have not served with BTEA as our orphanage Rosemary's Home of Hope really took root, and expanded in ways we never imagined possible. While I am still really involved with Rosemary's, and plan to visit this coming December, I feel that it is time for me to join back up with my dear friends from Florida, and share the salvation message of Jesus Christ with children in the schools of the Philippines.

It was this past January when I really felt the Lord speaking to me to join back up with BTEA. I remember a pang in my heart as I knew God wanted me to sacrifice two weeks of my summer to go serve Him in this third world country.. I began to have some sort of war going on inside of me. I had people telling me I was a fool to continue "wasting" my money and my time constantly on people so far away. (Read More)

a servants heart.

last week was crazy. crazy. but somehow through the craziness i have once again realized something so important, and so obvious. i love to serve. God has given each one of us spiritual gifts, and although i am still searching to figure out just what mine are, i am sure of this... serving others, it's my passion.

 ^"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:  whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

                                                                                                                   1 Peter 4:10,11
last week i helped out with AFA's Sharathon, and through that God highlighted that area in my heart, and brought me back to who i truly am. sometimes i get so wrapped up in life that i lose focus of that. serving may sometimes get put on the back burner while it should be etched into my very being so much that in absolutely every single thing that i do i serve.  i love working with people who have come from different walks of life, but who share one common goal---expanding God's Kingdom.

while last week was such a blessing to me, i am reminded that it doesn't take a special event such as the AFR Sharathon to serve others. it's daily life.

what is the AFR Sharahon, you ask. AFR (American Family Radio), is the radio station provided to us by AFA (American Family Association). if you don't listen already, go here and find a station near you. they totally rock! they are 100% listener supported. no financial help is given to them by the government or any other associations. it's up to you and me to keep them going, so what are you waiting for? it's not too late to help out.  go support!

here's just two of the many sweet people i was blessed to meet while working:

callie. turns out we are from the same area. beautiful young lady.

and this...is birthday dave. he is from south mississippi (there were people working from all over the country). he will ask a person their birthday before he will their name. within five seconds of finding out the day, month, and year, he will know the day of the week. it's kind of remarkable.

what are your spiritual gifts? share with me!

have a terrific tuesday!



Rosemary's Home of Hope

Hi all!

I want to start this post by saying, thank you for stopping by and reading this. This post is one of the most important post I have ever written. I sincerely ask that you would please have an open heart for what you will read.  I would mean the world.

I few months ago I shared a story with you from my summer trip to the Philippines, and told you there were more details to come.  You can read that story here. Scroll down until you see "A heart for the orphans..." There you will find the story which will get you caught up to this point.

After spending the evening with those two sweet children, I was even more eager to help the orphans.  My heart always breaks for those who seem to be so hopeless in this great big world, and I have such a desire to do all that I can.   

I arrived back at the hotel that night feeling overwhelmed by all of my emotions.  I was so grateful I had had the courage to follow God when he told me to go minister to a street kid. Overwhelmed by what He had done in not only showing us one child, but two as well as a grandmother. However, at the same time, I was heartbroken to have to take those two children back to their terrible, terrible situation. I felt confused. I wanted to do more.  There were countless kids walking the streets day and night without a home, without food, and without love. Many of the children are what Filipinos refer to as "trash kids." They pick through the trash cans on the streets with hopes of salvaging what food they can find, and collect any of the trash they might can sell to get money. There were no orphanages in Southern Leyte that could help these kids.  I wanted so desperately to help them, but how?

That night Ray come up to me and told me he needed to share his vision with me.  He said something like, "God has given me a great vision. We are going to start an orphanage." I at first think I responded with something like, "Are you serious?!" It was such an answered prayer.

Pastor Steve, one of the pastors who serves with BTEA, and his wife, Care, have been praying for several years for the opportunity to have an orphanage; however, they haven't had the support that was needed to get the process started, until now.  Steve, Care, and their children have relocated to Southern Leyte to run our orphanage, Rosemary's Home of Hope.  We have found land, but have not been able to purchase it yet.  We are in need of about $30,000 just to get it started.  

Although we do not have our land purchased or our buildings built, we were still able to go ahead and rescue three children from poor situations. We need your help so we can take the next step in this process.

If you would like to make a donation or receive more details, please email me! I will gladly give you more information! 

If we don't help them...who will?

Meet Rosemary's first orphans:

Unice: 4 years old

Clyde: 6 years old
Clyde is Unice's older brother.

Andy: 8 years old
Andy is one of the many street kids I referred to earlier. Steve & Care have been teaching Andy the normal every day routine things, such as basic hygiene.

One Hundred Six

A few days ago my mom was listening to Wizard 106.7 as she was headed to work. On this particular morning,  Kelli and Roadkill Bill were trying to find ten people in our area to commit themselves to helping Le Bonheur Children's Hospital raise at least $106 each.  Mom thought it would be a terrific thing for our family and friends to help out with, so she called me and I signed us up!

A little about Le Bonheur...
LeBonheur is a non profit, regional pediatric medical center which provides 225 patient beds and 45 medical subspecialties. In 2010 alone, Le Bonheur treated  more that 130,000 children, the majority of which were younger than five years old.  Children come from all fifty states to Le Bonheur in search of medical help. 

"Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has developed and maintains the largest surgical brain tumor program in the United States.  Pediatric surgeons at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital use the most advanced technology and work in conjunction with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital for multidisciplinary therapy for brain tumors."

Every single dollar that I raise will go toward helping  benefit the children in Le Bonheur.  As I said...I committed to raising $106. I only need eleven people to commit to give $10 to make that happen; however, I would really, really love to raise a lot more than that, so if you can give..please do :) This is for a very, very good cause. I encourage you to help out!

***If you would like to donate, you can mail cash or check to:
                     
                             550 Grovner Springs Rd.
                             Fulton, MS 38843

If you have any questions, feel free to email me :)
                                 emily.paige.white@gmail.com

"We're not put on earth for ourselves but to give back to others. It's not ours to begin with.  It's God's gift and we must use it wisely.  Everything I have is a 'loan.'  Laying the groundwork for the next generation is the responsibility of everyone." -Kini Kedligh Plumlee