Luggage Full of School Supplies

Mark and I were especially touched over the last couple months to hear from the church we had attended while living in southern Minnesota. They wanted to make us the missions focus for their summer Vacation Bible School.

When we agreed to this, they said that they would share with the kids about what we were going to do in Mozambique and that all the offering money collected during VBS would go toward our trip. We’re planning on visiting the church in the fall, sometime after coming home, to share with the kids about what we did while we were in Mozambique.

The money the kids collected during the week surprised and delighted us. The school where I will be working mentioned that whatever school supplies I could bring down with me would be helpful, as quality supplies are hard to come by where we’ll be. It seemed natural, then, when we realized that we would have enough money, to decide to bring an extra suitcase full of school supplies to the school where I will be working.

Feel free to watch the video that we sent to the VBS program at the church in Minnesota here. Be warned: we filmed this video at about 11:30 p.m. on a Saturday evening after a long and busy week.

We think this is a good use of the money for a few reasons: 1) the school in Mozambique would benefit from the supplies and 2) the children at the church in Minnesota will get to see a tangible way in which their offering money was used. We’re hoping and praying that seeing how God uses their offerings will cultivate in each child a generous heart and a passion for missionary work both in and outside of the U.S.

Here’s the school supplies in the suitcase, artistically arranged by Mark:

Please pray that this suitcase and all its contents make it safely to Mozambique!