Hey there, everyone! In case you only know one of us or don't know either of us personally, we're Jordan and Danny. We've been together for a year and a half now, and we love Jesus and love to serve Him. In the time we've been together, we've made it a priority to serve God in other countries. Together we've been able to serve in 2 countries so far-first in the Dominican Republic while we were celebrating a friend's wedding, and second in Mexico, where we are able to volunteer frequently with different ministries. 

We are passionate about bringing God's love to other people through doing something practical for them. In the Dominican we put on a Vacation Bible School (an afternoon of fun, games, worship, and learning) and then donated whatever we could to the church that hosted us. In Mexico we have built homes, added onto a church we partner with, held VBS's, and ministered to people in general though visiting and regular conversation. We believe that just spending time with someone that needs a friend can be valuable. 

So, you must be thinking, well, that's nice and all, but what does this have to do with me? To answer your question, we have committed to going back to the same island as the Dominican Repulic, but on the other side of it to a poverty-stricken nation called Haiti. As you know, Haiti stays in the news for the constant devastation that it recieves by hurricanes. It can be easy to become numb when you see something over and over again, and we know that. For that reason, we decided to travel to this nation that has yet again been recently decimated by a hurricane to help build homes and provide sustainable food for people to live off of for years to come. 

Us, alongside a small group of 10 others from our church will travel to Jérémie, Haiti for two weeks, January 12th through the 26th, to support the people there and show them the love of God. We are partnering with an organization called Hopestart International to do this. With the recent hurricane, 80% of the homes were wiped out. Therefore, our goal is to build 5 homes to provide shelter to some of the families of the community that we will serve. Also, we plan to help create an aquaponic system that will allow them to grow crops and hopefully fish, allowing them to eat regularly. As the old saying goes - "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day-teach a man to fish and he eats for life." We are going to be providing them with materials and insight on how to maintain a sustainable community that will perservere long after we leave. 

So, all this will obviously cost money. Yes, it's easy to think, "Well, you're the ones deciding to go on the trip, so you should be the ones paying for it." We understand that, so we want to share why we need your help. First, we both are already giving our time and energy to actually GO! We will be using up all of our vacation hours to go build homes and a sustainable community in the poorest country on the western hemisphere. If you donate to us, you don't have to wonder who or what is being done with your money. You will be able to see exactly where it goes through our pictures and you can call us and ask us to tell you what our experience was like! You are literally sending a representative on your behalf to serve help people in another country. Second, we are staying for two weeks, so there is going to be a week where we don't have vacation time that we are going unpaid. Therefore, we're not only giving up our vacation hours, but we're also giving up a week's worth of pay so we can serve. That means we're making a legitimate financial sacrifice. So we're not asking for a free ride here. We're asking for partners in the sacrifice we've already committed to making. Finally, any money that we get above the cost of the trip will be donated to funds needed to build the homes and the aquaponic system. We're not going to pocket anything for ourselves. We're only asking for what's needed to cover the trip costs, and the rest will go to blessing the Hatians we get to work with. 

Our deposit of a large chunk of the trip cost is coming up soon, so we could use funds as soon as possible. We know that the holidays are coming and money is tight, so anything you are able to give will help, even if it seems like a small amount. Don't look at $3,000 and think that you could never impact us. Look at what you might be able give and know that it makes a difference. On the other side, if you haven't thought about a place that you can give a Christmas offering to over and above your regualr giving and you know you'd like to give somewhere, then we would be so honored and blessed if you helped send us to this desperate nation. A sacrifice on your part will greatly bless the sacrifice that we are trying to make to go into all the nations and be a light. 

Genuinely, if you read this and feel inclined at all to give, you cannot imagine how thankful we will be. Both of us feel called to serve God other countries, and that is why we are willing to give up our time and miss a week's worth of pay and all else that comes with it. We know that God has asked us to go, so we are asking you, "Will you help send us?"

John Piper has a great quote, and we want to leave you with it: "Go, send, or disobey." Not everyone can go, but we are all called to make disciples of all nations. So, if you aren't called to go, or you can't go, will you please send us? We promise, you will be blessed to know that your funds will serve our Father and His children in a place of great need. And, you can bet that our lives will be changed forever as a result.

Thank you so much for your consideration and God bless you,
Jordan and Danny