SYL: Mosaic Village

Last week I received an email from one of the reviewers on MamaBuzz, Heather from Sit a Spell in Hendrickville. She and her family had recently moved to Haiti to serve there. It has been such an eye-opening experience just reading through their blogs, that I had to share.

Sit a Spell in Hendrickville

Heather and her husband, Aaron, now live in Haiti with their four boys. Aaron teaches at a Christian school there, and Heather serves with Heartline Ministries in their women’s program. You can read their entire story of how they even came to be in Haiti on their website, Mosaic Village. It’s amazing how God works. Life in Haiti definitely brings many heart breaking situations, literally, to their doorstep. Heather says it best when she writes, “When you hold a statistic it becomes real.” There are so many orphans there, over 500,000 before the earthquake, no telling the number now.The main reason I wanted to write about Mosaic Village is that when you read their story, you can see God at work in their lives as they seek to serve Him in Haiti. Not only are they teaching and working to help the people of Haiti, but they are raising their own children, as well. They’re also seeking to match others, longing to serve in some capacity, with the right ministries or jobs in Haiti. Mosaic Village is an avenue for bringing people with all different skills and talents and matching them up to areas where they can serve in the country of Haiti either short-term or long-term, where so much is still needed. So many Haitian people are still suffering, still homeless, still hungry. Children are taking care of children. It’s a wide open area for service, and you can find out how you might be of help through Mosaic Village.You can also support Heather and Aaron’s ministry in Haiti through both prayer and donation. Read their story, and be inspired. Open your heart to what God may be doing in your own life.

(Photos used with permission of Heather Hendrick.)

SYL: Ronald McDonald House & Make Family Time Happy Time

As parents there are, God forbid, times when our children are sick and need more attention than what they can get at home. Sometimes children have to be hospitalized, and when they do, Ronald McDonald House is a great resource and support for families going through an illness with a child, especially when it comes to finding a place to stay so far away from home. My nephew Trey stays at a Ronald McDonald House in Manhattan every time he goes back for scans. I know it’s been a wonderful way for their family to connect with other parents and families going through similar things and to participate in different projects and events with the kids, just to help get their minds off of the illness, even if just for a little bit.

Ronald McDonald House Charities are one way that you can shine your light to other families who just need all of the encouragement and support that they can get, particularly when going through a dark valley in their lives, such as a diagnosis of neuroblastoma or leukemia. There are ways to volunteer at your local Ronald McDonald House or even donate.

McDonald’s sent me the following information on a way that you and your family can help, as well….

Right now McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are donating proceeds from Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal sales to Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC). This ongoing donation will help benefit more than 11,000 sick and critically ill children and their families each day. As part of the fundraiser, McDonald’s has brought the new RMHC fundraiser to life online through a sharable “Make Family Time Happy Time” online application, where families are encouraged to pledge minutes of “happy time” together and share their own creative activities with other families via McDonald’s Facebook page or their personal blogs. Here’s how to get involved:

  • Visit McDonald’s Facebook page to download the application and participate in the campaign.
  • You can select from an existing family time activity provided on the application, or you can submit your own tip and pledge to help RMHC.
  • McDonald’s will donate one penny to RMHC for each minute pledged, with a goal of reaching 1 million minutes and $10,000 to use towards family time activities for RMHC guests.

This is a fun, interactive way to get involved, especially if you have young children….I know that it’s not as easy to actually volunteer somewhere when you have littles, but that’s ok. There are plenty of other ways that you can help and encourage others. One more way that you can help, is to vote for RMHC on their Members Project. This could help them to win $200,000 towards helping even more families who are in need. You can follow RMHC on Facebook and @RMHC on Twitter.

Don’t forget to shine your light!

(Note: I am working towards making Shine Your Light focused more heavily on the fight against human trafficking. If you know of organizations or links that might be helpful, I would love to know about them. Thanks for reading!)

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