Pizza and Glowsticks

So the past two weekends Nick and I have tried to do a few fundraiser to pay for Haiti. The first one we did was selling glow sticks at Lyndens Lighted Christmas Parade. Nick bought 500 glow sticks, hoping that we would profit nearly $900. From the beginning I wasn't to sure about this, but Nick was convinced it was a good idea. So last weekend, we both bundled up, drove to Lynden and waved our glow sticks in the air. Nick spent most of the time taping our poster to the car, as the wind was blowing so hard that about every 30 seconds it would fall down. By the end of the parade, we sold 30. This was the second time that we have tried selling these, and we are still negative money. Apparently this was NOT a good investment. We now have them listed on Craigslist, hoping someone else might try to use them for their own fundraiser. Honestly, we just want to get back what we paid for them as we are still negative about $100.

So, if you know any one who would like to purchase between 1-450 glow sticks, we can hook you up!!!





Today we stood outside Cost Cutter in the 30 degree weather and sold Papa Murpheys Coupon Cards. Before we left we made a deal that if Nick sold more than me I would watch Star Trek with him. The count at the end of the day was 20- Nikki 0-Nick, so therefore I will not be watching that ridiculous movie!! We decided that Nick is like the guy who drives the armored truck, he just stands there holding the money while the other guy does all the work!!! He was also very good at letting me know what time it was, "6 mins til we get to go, 5 mins til we can leave, 4 more mins, still 4 more mins... etc." This went on the entire time we were there. I do have to give him credit though, he made both of the signs for these fundraisers, and I think they turned out great!!! It was so cold out that there were occasional snow flakes falling. The only thing that kept us out there as long as we were was knowing that this time next year we will be living in the Caribbean where it'll be in the 80-90's!

We didn't sell nearly as many cards as we had wanted, mainly because there weren't that many people at Cost Cutter today. Hopefully after Christmas we will stand in front of Haggens which is way busier. We did have one guy who thought what we are going to do is awesome that he not only bought 6 cards (he must really like pizza!!!) but is also going to talk to his Pastor and see if we can present at his church to help raise funds. Hopefully that will work out! When I told one lady what we were doing, she responded with a "poor girl." Apparently she didn't like the idea, but after I told her I was excited about it, she bought a card anyway!!




We also sent out a Newsletter this past week. If you didn't get one, then it was either lost, or more likely, we didn't have your address. If you would like one please let us know and we would love to send it to you. This discusses our upcoming plans and what has lead us to decide to move to Haiti.


Prayer Requests

James Njuguna, the direct of Fadhili Helpers which is the group I went to Kenya with this last summer, was murdered in his home earlier this week. As he was trying to get out of the car to go inside, two men approached their car demanding their cell phones. The driver handed his over right away, but James hesitated. One man then shot and killed James. Please pray for his family, he left behind a wife and young daughter. Also please pray for the organization as it helps thousands of people all over Kenya.

Also, my host family is having some financial troubles as they haven't had any volunteers since Summer. They live so far out of Nairobi that Fadhili doesn't send volunteers there unless they are out of beds closer to the city. Please pray that they are able to pay for Mama's college fees and are able to continue taking care of the children in their home as well as running the school.