Help the Godbey's Fulfill Their Mission

We are Estel and Stacey Godbey. My wife has been a nurse and hospice caregiver 20 years. I am an HVAC/AC certified plumber with extensive maintenance history. However, after a devastating loss in the family, my wife and I both were desperately searching for some kind of solace and peace. We had both grew up with trauma and it haunted us throughout both of our lives, causing us to make several wrong turns and walk down many lost roads. We gave all of our pain, guilt, shame, and mistakes and we took it to God. We were baptized a month later and have been trying to walk a different way of life since the beginning of this journey. God put it on Stacey's heart to step away from nursing. She said it wasn't about making a dollar anymore, but to make a difference. We moved out of state from Louisiana to Arkansas for a fresh start in a new life as new people living for and under God. My wife and I didn't have the ability to start a family together, due to life circumstances. However, she had SUCH a compelling and inspiring way with children. She had devoted those 20 years of her nursing career to the elderly who held a very special place in her heart. Especially war veterans. So I encouraged her to pursue a new career path with children since we loved them so much. She studied hard and achieved certification as both a paraprofessional teaching assistant as well as an Autism (RBT) specialist. We obtained jobs at Easterseals. I was hired on as maintenance where I discovered that I, myself shared a strong calling to work with children, especially those with special needs. Fast forward to further trauma, death, and loss. We continued to let go of all of our past selves, lifestyles, even down to food we ate and how we ate it. We both tried really hard to not just GO to church, but to LIVE the church. We sought out estranged loved ones in attempts at family reunification, to move past our trauma(s), but unfortunately, these desperate attempts were neither accepted or received from estranged or disconnected parents and loved ones. We had NO ONE but each other and God. We became more like brother and sister vs husband and wife. We were living in survival mode.

- until....we met a man who restored our faith in humanity and mankind in a fallen and cruel world. This was one of those TRULY GOOD MAN who was a GODLY and good man in every sense of the word. He showed us, as 2 complete strangers, the compassion and tenderness of God. He treated us like Jesus to a child. He was a military veteran, a biblical scholar and a fundamentally GOOD human in a fundamentally bad world.

- his name was Jeff Wilson.

- you see, he took us in as both a spiritual leader and a father figure. Into his home, his kitchen, his life, and most importantly, his heart.

Now, my wife still had ONE parent, her own biological father whom she had been estranged for almost 15 years. Jeff Wilson called us on an early Wednesday morning to tell us to come over for lunch that day, that God just had put it on his heart in a strong way to get us more in the WORD.

- Jeff not only cooked us a home cooked meal that day, but INSISTED we eat it on the "real china" and silverware that day vs the standard disposable cutlery and plates. He gave us MANY life lessons that day for 3 hours straight from the his special edition big blue Defender Bible with the expanded apocrypha. The last thing Jeff Wilson said to my wife that day was "stop running FROM your father in Florida. You need to run TO him". He said " you need to go before it's too late". Jeff Wilson passed away less than 48 hours later. A father, a husband, a grandfather, a brother and a dear friend to many, Jeff Wilson left behind a legacy. We dropped EVERYTHING including our $500 car note and worldly possessions. My wife felt it was her mission and duty to do as Jeff advised and GET TO HER FATHER in Florida, come "hell or high water".

- no one else in the whole world believed in us. Jeff did. In a twist of fate, he had encouraged us to apply to a home for traumatized children in North Carolina as transitional foster parents. We had no idea where this idea came from, but we had passed our 2nd interview for the live in position with housing, vehicle, groceries and health care provided/ all expenses paid. We were called by the owner of this community the day Jeff Wilson passed away. We were officially offered the job that day (Friday). My wife and I devoted the next few days of our lives to serving Jeff's grieving widow and family in this sudden and tragic time. We were then asked to step away by a family member and we did so out of respect. We then sold everything we had to get Stacey to Florida, to her father, to do what Jeff said. We sold our TV, Playstation, my bag of like new tools I had as maintenance man over the years. We even sold my all of my fishing gear, bait, supplies and 2 guitars. Just to make enough money for the tickets to get here. Florida. It has been nothing but GOD moving since then. The reunification of this father and daughter was beautiful. He is very sick. He is very frail. But he now has a peace that he would not have had, nor my wife, had it not been for God moving through Jeff Wilson.

- now, we are here in Florida, staying with his sister until the 8th / Monday where we will need to both leave the state, and the past behind so that we could finally get that fresh start with a family that we had been seeking all along.

- now WE have the opportunity to be foster parents to children who are victims of trauma, just as we were. We have been given this opportunity to BE the family we had been searching for our whole lives. To provide love, safety, security, stability and to truly MAKE THAT DIFFERENCE.

- we are asking in all humility on our knees to search your hearts and to help us get to North Carolina to start this new life. The expenses will be used for the transportation to get there before the 10th/ arrival day, food, medicine and new state drivers licenses and legal documents once there to establish official residency. All receipts will be sent by photo of where every penny of this money goes. Please, Help us achieve our mission and calling and help us get to North Carolina?

- we pray that there is SOMEONE out there that has the heart and the belief in us as Jeff Wilson did.

- please, will you help us?

- Thank you for your time in reading and may God bless each and every one of you and your family members tonight.

- sincerely,

The Godbey's