Coupons For a Cause

Dear Friend,

I want to tell you about an opportunity to help orphans in La Moskitia, Honduras, without even leaving your hometown.  The best part is, it's free!

I was wholly changed by a recent missions trip to Honduras, and I have a passion to help the people I met there.  I also have a passion for couponing!   Two passions (couponing and children) coming together. 

I am starting a weekly email with a target group of friends in the Dallas area.  Each week I will detail a sale (most likely at CVS or Walgreens) that, paired with a printable coupon and/or store coupons, will be free.  The goal is for friends to collect Health and Beauty items to donate to Reach Out Honduras to help orphans.  I am going to make it very simple so everyone can participate with ease, if they choose. 

If you choose to opt-in please "purchase" at least one item for Reach Out Honduras, but feel free to get items for your family, too! 

I will be the point person, but we will probably have others around the area who will also be organizing collections. 

So, if you are interested, click HERE, then, use the Contact Us form with the subject as “Subscribe to Coupons for a Cause.”

You can start this week with the following deal for the teenage girls at the House of Hope and Mama Tara’s Orphanage:

U by Kotex (14-18 ct. pads, 50-60 ct. liners, or 18 tampons)

Cost: $3.49

Use $1 printable coupon http://www.ubykotex.com/get_coupons/overview

Receive $2.50 in Register Rewards coupon

Final Price: FREE

This deal runs through the end of April.

You can use the Register Rewards on almost anything except for alcohol, tobacco, and the same item you purchased.

Thanks again for helping orphans.

More about Honduras

Until I get a chance to finish my own video, please allow this video to feed your desire to "see" more of what I saw in La Moskitia.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gq93aZ-1x2U

Trust

Some people may wonder how a person can be brave enough, skilled enough, or maybe even stupid enough to go to a place like La Moskitia.  Some people may question (Isn't it really dangerous there?). Some people just don't want to leave the comfort of their cozy little houses in their quaint little towns.  But, when you know, when you really know that God has spoken to your heart about going, for that matter, going to any "foreign" destination, you just have to trust. 

This week I have been working on reading a memoir of my dear friend, and it has reminded me of where God has taken me because I have trusted Him.  I have travelled the world, taught in amazing places, and ministered to wonderful families.  But, what God has taught me, how God has stretched and grown me, is more than I could have ever imagined!  And it all comes down to trust. 

In the midst of a major job change I have had to cling to the hem of His garment and take teeny little steps toward what He has in store for me.  I have felt so blind this year, wondering what the Lord wants.  I learned a long time ago that hindsight is 20/20.  I often wonder if the events of this year had never happened, would I be where I am now?  Would I be in a place that I could have taken a week off to go to La Moskitia?  Would I have felt too financially strapped to give up a week of tutoring and nannying to go on a missions trip?  This is the amazing part about God:  He knew me from the beginning.  He knew what He would do with my life.  He knew how He would fulfill His Purpose in me.  But, I still have to do my part which is to step out in faith and trust Him.  Trust Him to provide, to protect, to give me strength to do His Will. 

And that isn't always easy.

Some days, well, actually most days, I don't know how it is that God would choose me to do His Work.  But then I remember I just need to trust.

Cambio

Ever since I returned from Honduras last week I have felt different.  I've wanted to hug my students a little more, speak kindness to them, and encourage them when I can so they will see the love of Jesus in me.  Why?  That is a question I have been grappling with.  What happened to me in Honduras?  People have been asking how my life was changed during that short week in La Moskitia, and I have struggled to put these feelings into written words.   

For those of you who know me personally, you probably know that my past adventures have included Kenya, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.  I even lived in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in the late 90's for a semester.  But, La Moskitia (the Mosquito Coast) is a whole different world.  For me the smells and some of the sights were the same, but the needs of these people seemed more urgent.  They seemed more important.  God really burdened me for these people.  My friends Alex & Laura are moving to La Moskitia later this year.  I truly believe God sent me on this trip so I could experience what they have experienced. So I can be an advocate for this ministry and the Miskito Indians.   

So, why the change?  It's in these faces.

Lord, be the change in me today.

Hosquili

                  

It's been almost a week since I met Hosquili (pronounced Yos-kelly), the little boy that I am sponsoring at Mama Tara's Miskito Orphanage in Puerto Lempira, Honduras.  I am having a difficult time putting into words how I felt meeting him.  We don't speak the same language.  He speaks no Spanish, only Miskito.  But, I know from the look on his face how he felt about meeting me.  Proud. 

The night before I left I stopped over at Kohl's to use a free $10 gift coupon, and I found this cool tube of bubbles for Hosquili.  I think they were meant for him.

Our team of 9 gringos arrived at the Mosquito Coast after almost 3 days of travel by bus and airplane.  Our first day there we were able to walk through the dirt airstrip down twisting paths about a mile to Mama Tara's.  I felt such excitement and love for these kids almost instantly.  And, it wasn't just the kids I fell in love with.  It was this young lady, too.

She has at least 25 kids who live with her at the orphanage http://www.mamatara.org/.  And, she has lived a very full life.  She used to be governor of Gracias a Dios, the largest state in Honduras.  She speaks Moskito, Spanish, and even some English.  She is an advocate for kids.  She is my new Grandma. 

I went to Honduras and was expecting to meet my Godson, Hosquili, but also met my new Grandma, Mama Tara. 

There are so many stories I have already planned for this blog, and I can't wait to share them, little by little.  But, my heart continues to remember Honduras.  Tonight some of our team members were standing around talking about if Mama Tara would have enough rice for her children to make it through this month.  The local rep from UNICEF dropped off a 50 pound bag for the orphanage, but we figure that will not last more than 2 weeks.  There are at least 6 children who are in need of sponsors.  If you would like to know more about this opportunity, please contact me through the comment section or on Facebook. 

Blessings,
Wendy