Meeting the Orphans: Jenneylyn

For quite some time now, many people have been asking for the stories of each of the children at Rosemary's Home of Hope. I've been telling myself I am going to break it down, and introduce one child at a time on this blog, but I just haven't gotten around to it. In December of last year, I wrote down each of their stories for twenty of the now twenty-three children.
Without further adieu... let's meet..

     Jennelyn!

  Of course I don't have favorites, because each child is precious, one of a kind, & truly a blessing; but, with that being said, Jennelyn is kinda my favorite (shhh!).

I met Jennelyn on my very first trip to visit Rosemary's Home of Hope, and fell. in. love. immediately.
                      Seriously, can I not bring her home yet?
Jenneylyn is also known as "Tornado," and it doesn't take long after meeting her to figure out the reasons why. She is one of the most bubbly, full of life, and energetic five years old I have ever met! I met her when she was just three years old in March of 2012. She had only been at the orphanage since the fall of 2011, but already you could see the Lord working remarkably in her life. Each time I visit Rosemary's, one of my biggest prayers is that God would continue to break my heart for them. Jennelyn's story, as well as the other children's stories, always break my heart. When I see their sweet smiles and embrace their loving, never ending hugs, I cannot help but think, how in the world could someone not love them.

Jennelyn's mother was a prostitute in the city. She was left homeless on the beach, and often given alcohol as a small toddler. Her mother made it habit of putting out cigarettes on Jennelyn's body, as well as biting her, both leaving scaring on her small body. At age two, in 2011, her mother gave her to a pastor, who brought her to the orphanage, and told him "This is my daughter. Do with her whatever you want."

As I write this, tears still spill out of my eyes as I think of where she came from, and where she is today. She has the most adorable, contagious giggle that will melt your heart. Ever heard of people who smile even with her eyes? She's got that down pat. I have to believe her love of life comes from her love for Jesus, and her understanding of a true Father's love. 

For more pictures of Jenneyln, and more information on Roseymary's Home of Hope, as well as updates on how the Lord is using me in the Philippines, please visit Hope for the Hopeless Ministry.

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

Saturdays in the South

Well, hey y'all! 

Looks like we all survived Monday, and now heading right on into Tuesday.
 I can't believe how quickly time is passing, and how near in my future a break is.
A BREAK....it almost brings tears to my eyes thinking about just sitting and doing nothing.
but really...I'm super pumped to spend sweet time with my family & friends.

This past weekend was a big, BIG weekend here in Starkville. The tide rolled in and competed against our Bulldawgs. Y'all, we played Alabama  a good game. I think we were all a little in shock by this, as honestly, we all expected quite the slaughtering. Ha. 

I would say we held them pretty good. And unlike ahem...the school up north....we actually scored. 

and doing something they didn't..well, that's all that truly matters :)

my roommate and i are horrible about taking pictures
the lighting here is horrible, and why the heck is my face so shiny?!

military recognition weekend
by far the best halftime show by our Famous Maroon Band

BSU stadium cleanup crew
each week we clean the stadium (yuck!)
the money the school gives us for doing it all goes to missions (major plus!)

I wanted to leave you guys with this. You all know my heart is super burdened for what's going on in the Philippines right now. So touched by this girls bravery, humbleness, and genuine love for the Filipino people! 

Philippine Typhoon Relief: We need your help!

the main building of our home soon after the typhoon hit

It's been just over a week since the typhoon hit the island of Leyte. As the days pass since the storm, the death toll continues to rise, and devastation continues to reveal itself. Our orphanage, Rosemary's Home of Hope, is located on the island of Leyte, in the remote village of Kananga. Although we did not receive a great deal of flooding, we took a heavy hit with wind damage. With winds reaching 230 miles an hour or more, it is a miracle in itself that our orphanage is even still standing. Taking shelter in our home that day was 21 children, our orphanage staff, and over 30 families from the village. 

Three days after the storm passed, we finally received word from Steve, one of our caregivers at the home, that they were all safe, and only received damage to our roofs and church. As you will see in the pictures below, the damage done to our buildings was not all minor, and is in need of repair as soon as possible. Our church is completely gone, and out of our four buildings (main building, dining hall, boys dorm, girls dorm), only the girls dorm still has a roof. Right now, we are trying to fund makeshift roofs, simply to get something over their head. It is raining on the island again, and we hope to prevent our children getting sick.

The most pressing issue right now however, is the lack of food. The island basically only has rice since the storm passed, and it's not enough for all of the people. Yesterday, Steve went to the island of Cebu to try and find a better supply so that he can go back home, feed our orphanage, and begin helping the village. They are hoping to soon set up somewhat of a relief center at the orphanage so that those who have had no food can be fed, before they all become extremely famished. 

our church. Steve, our caregiver & Filipino pastor stated "at 7:10 the church flew away!"

dining hall. .this is the building where everyone was staying during the storm

I'm asking you to please consider giving financially to help us provide for our orphans and our village. Any donations you make will be tax deductible, and will be greatly appreciated by us all.

Your donation will go to:

• provide food for the orphans & staff
• help to feed the people of the village
• provide a makeshift roof
• begin making repairs
• any unforeseen emergency needs

For all donations, please click here.

Our hearts and prayers continually go out to the Filipino people. Please continue to pray for their guidance, and God's sovereign plan through it all.

**For continual updates please visit here.

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