Updates on Store, Fundraiser, & Blog

Greetings! I thought you would like to hear some of the follow-up on recent posts.

1. Store...The Grand Opening was a great success! Unofficial numbers--$1900 in profits this weekend! What a blessing the store is. If you're in the area on a Friday or Saturday, remember to stop by. Or if you have any donations, let us know and we'll work out a time.


2. Fundraiser...I haven't heard an official number on money raised Tuesday at Culver's, but there was a great turnout!


3. Blog...There are some added features on the blog that I hope you check out soon.

• World Clocks--> There's a clock with Sierra Leone time and one of Iowa (CST) time.


• Contact Links--> Even there is a list of links further down the page, there is an easier way to find the link to the online albums, etc. In that same box, there is an invitation for you to contribute to this blog.


• Subscribe to the blog--> I've enabled the RSS feed (or whatever) so you can probably figure out ways to get new posted emailed to you.
• Friends/Followers--> To be truthful, I'm not entirely sure about this feature. :-) But it could be fun. If you read this blog often and want to keep up with JCC, I would invite you to become a friend! And if you don't....you're still a friend. No worries!

That's all for this edition. Have a blessed week!

Jonathan House Picasa Albums

Definitely check them out.....they're finally ready to be made public! Yay! There is still work to be done, but it's available for your eyes. :-) There are different albums--several albums with pictures from various teams that have gone over. One from some of the Sierra Leone trips before Jonathan House was created.

If you have anymore pictures you'd like to contribute from a trip of your own or events stateside related to Jonathan House, please send them to JHM.Salone@gmail.com and let me know what they are of and I will add them as I can.

If there are any of the pictures currently posted that are mis-labeled or have an incorrect caption, make a comment on it or send an email to that address above.

Picasa has a new feature in which it tags faces. I have tagged many of the kids, but not all. Ideally you will be able to search for a person and all of the pictures that person appears in you will be able to see. For example, let's say you sponsor Adama, you will be able to click on the "Adama" tag and see her smiling face! So when it's all done, it should be a nice feature.

The Latest Updates....

Hello!

Here are a few new "news" items:

• A family has decided to adopt Jerry Benya. They just started the whole process, so pray that it will go smoothly and for patience as they wait. By the way, this is Dylan's family who are adopting him. Before Dylan came back the family called over and were able to talk to Jerry too.
• Roger and many of the teams are back. Pray for good health for each of them and just the whole adjustment process back to life in the States.
• The next newsletter is going to be published soon. Karen is looking for anyone who would like to share a testimony of your experiences with Jonathan House. Email kjb5@mchsi.com if you would like to contribute. If you'd like to contribute to the blog, email JHM.Salone@gmail.com.
• Hopefully more videos and pictures will be added soon.
• Continue to pray for all of the kids as they finish school.
• Continue to pray for the school building project. If you'd like to "buy a brick", email Karen at the address above.
• Hopefully we will hear more about the recent trips on here.

Update: School Campaign, etc.

First of all....Sorry it has been a little quiet on here lately. Working on that. Here are some updates that have come out recently. God is doing great things in Sierra Leone through Jonathan House and that is so exciting!

Second of all...If you are interested in helping with this blog, let me know. (JHM.Salone@gmail.com) This could be in a variety of ways:

• Send in a story of your experiences with Jonathan House--getting to know the kids and staff at JH, getting to know some of the kids who've been adopted and live in the U.S., getting to know your sponsored kids, and so on.
• Look for articles about Sierra Leone and appropriate themes.
• Help in posting and recruiting people to send stories (see first bullet). :-) I would like to definitely start on a regular schedule of when to post.

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1. School Campaign (from Karen): Praise the Lord. To date God has provided $25676.33 for the school. This is amazing! We really need a minimum of $50,000 to get started and a total of $60,000 for the entire project. (This includes floating a second floor for future growth and/or housing, guestrooms, etc.). Please keep praying that God would touch just the right hearts to help provide support for this project. God is good and HIS timing is perfect! I am so excited for the day that we can call the orphanage and announce that God has blessed them with the funds for their school building! THANK YOU!
2. Roger, Outreach (from Karen): Please pray for Roger this week! He will be going to southern Sierra Leone to visit and begin ministering to a group of people who have had little exposure to the Gospel. We do know of one rudimentary church in the area, but it is largely a group who have little knowledge of our Lord. Pray that Roger would travel safely (there are really no direct routes to this area). Pray that he would make connections with just the right people. Pray that God would speak through him and show him the paths we should take in beginning to minister to these people. [He should be there about now...]
3. Teams: Pray for Kayla, Dylan, Rachel & Roger who still have some more time left in Sierra Leone. Several team members left earlier this week and should be back home now (or will be shortly). We will hopefully hear from them soon. Pray for Christie who is there for about 4 more months! Her dad and sisters have been in Sierra Leone spending time with her and working alongside her and just left with this last group.
4. Children's Day: Pray for the staff, as well as Christie and Dylan (that I know of) who will be traveling a Children's Day event soon.

Happy Mother's Day!

Nothing big at JCC (that I've heard) lately. Mark & Ashtyn are back from Africa and they were able to get some important files documented at the Embassy in Dakar for John's adoption. Praise God for that! The field investigation will soon commence. Pray for everything to go smoothly as there were some possible issues. While they were at JCC, Ashtyn was very sick but was better before they left. Praise God!

Many of the kids wrote letters back to their supporters and friends here in America. I worked really hard last fall and wrote all the kids and several staff letters for a trip some friends were making in November. I had been working on replies for the first few months of this year until Solomon passed away, which stopped the momentum in its tracks. I was able to get a few written for Mark & Ashtyn to bring, and just received the replies today. How incredible these kids are! Many of my letters to several of these kids whom I had become very close with and others who had helped me with Solomon while I was there. He was a special little bond that helped me get to know several of the women staff and older girls especially so much better than I probably would have otherwise. And many of the letters from those kids and Aunty Fatmata (his mama after I left) had incredible words of encouragement. We could all learn a lot from the kids and staff about faith! Wow! Perhaps on one hand they're just more accustomed to losing loved ones than I or really they have an incredible faith in our wonderful, loving God! I really believe it is the latter after spending 6 months worshipping God with them. Do you know that sometimes some of the older kids will decide to hold a prayer meeting and recruit other kids to join them?! How joyful the sound of children praising their Heavenly Father!

Pray for the trips coming up:

• Kayla "Boi", Rachel & Dylan will be leaving in about another week to spend five weeks at JCC.
• Two weeks into their trip (or thereabouts), there is a larger group leaving to join them. Roger (int'l director) will be joining them but is glad that he won't be leading this team. Many of the team members on both these teams have been there before. But pray for those who are going for the first time--it can be overwhelming!
• Pray for Christie who is just in her first month of six! She has had a smooth transition thus far and took care of Ashtyn while she was sick. I was able to call her last week and we were able to talk about her first few weeks. There is a lot to get used to--especially being a house mother. I know she is glad that there will be other Americans there for several weeks soon. Some family members will be visiting her soon, too. And then she will have several months "alone" or at least the only American. From experience, it could be challenging during those times, but it was also a time to get to know my African brothers and sisters better--and of course that sweet little baby. :-)

COMING SOON:

• I have a Picasa web album nearly set up--wanted to get the blog up and running before making the web albums public. If you have any pictures to share, please send those to JHM.Salone@gmail.com. I am hoping to have pictures from past teams--looking for former members of those teams to help "create" the album. :-)
• The offer still stands for anyone to share a story! Feel free to email a short story or testimony to the email address in the last bullet.

That's all for now....have a great week!

Blog Update

Hello!

I just wanted to fill you in on some of the changes already implemented or soon to be implemented on this blog:

1. Joshua Project Unreached People Group of the Day "banner":
I had the priviledge of meeting some Joshua Project missionaries a few years ago when I was in Mexico for the summer on a mission trip with a different organization. I've come to respect their organization a great deal. They have a huge heart for reaching everyone with the Gospel. I added a feature from their website (as listed above) on the right margin of the blog. I encourage you to take notice and pray for the specific people group described. Further, I would encourage you to visit their website (joshuaproject.net) to look around and maybe even learn about the people groups of Sierra Leone and West Africa. Just for your reference, JCC is in Bo which is predominantly Mende--one of the two larger people groups in the country. There are 16 or 17 total. There are a few other people groups represented among the kids, though most are Mende (or Krio-speaking).

2. Poll:
The theme is "how are you involved." Since it's anonymous (or should be), it's purpose is not to glorify anyone or make people feel bad because someone is not as involved as someone else. It is simply to show the diversity of "community members" (and so I know someone reads this occasionally).

3. Prayer Requests:
Yes, it has been there, but it's been formatted a little differently. No biggie.

4. Personal stories/testimonies: Coming Soon!
If you can check a box off (which you should all be able to check something) than you can definitely share your experiences with Jonathan House. Perhaps you've been there and have a story you'd like to share relating to your time there. Or perhaps you sponsor a child and/or have pen pals at JCC... how has that touched you? Maybe you've sweated and toiled in getting the store ready to open.... There are many possibilities. Email JHM.Salone@gmail.com with a story and I'll post it on here accordingly. If you have any questions, let me know.

Kim