We have some
remarkable students within our ministry here at
The Connection Church. Some are creative, some compassionate, and some are just a little wacky [
in a good way]. And then there are those are all three: creative, compassionate, and a little wacky...all rolled into one. Here's a story of two of those girls and how you can help them
change the world...literally.
Makenzie Phillips & Mali Lewis are just two middle school girls who want to
make a difference in their world. Makenzie's dad is the
Lead Pastor of
The Connection Church and Mali's parents lead an incredible puppet ministry called P.A.L.M.S. The puppet team traveled to Belize last summer on a mission trip and had an incredible experience sharing God's love with others. In fact, Mali's mom, Kamala, is a dentist who regularly goes on medical mission trips to Belize. Kamala was planning to go back to Belize this summer for one of those mission trips and Mali insisted that she go. After some discussion about the idea, Kamala told Mali no because she didn't want her exposed to the infectious diseases, such as HIV, that can occur on these trips. And Kamala thought that was the end of it. Here's what happened next in Kamala's own words:
A few months back Mali started asking to do extra stuff to earn money in addition to her chores. She wouldn't say why, and I just figured she was saving for something like someone's birthday present or something. But, she just kept on and on. Finally, I asked her why and she didn't want to tell me because I would say no. I promised her I wouldn't, and that is when she told me she was saving to pay her own way to Belize so I would have to let her go. What was I going to say then? So, needless to say I couldn't tell her no! Who am I to go against what God is speaking to her?
Fast forward to the past several weeks. Makenzie and Mali are close friends and Mackenzie decided she wanted to do something to help Mali follow God's call for her to go serve in Belize this summer. But what's a 7th grade girl
got to offer to a fundraising project, right? Well, it's amazing the creativity that God gives you when you are willing to do
whatever it takes to follow him.
These girls came up with the idea to take your everyday, regular notebooks and design custom covers on them to sell in order to raise money for Mali's mission trip to Belize. And what better way to design cool, creative, custom covers than to use
DUCT TAPE! That's right. Mackenzie & Mali are designing the covers of these notebooks out of duct tape [some have ribbons, stickets, buttons, etc too] and selling them for just $3.99. I think the
creativity & compassion that God has placed within these two young ladies is absolutely inspiring. I believe that they are living, breathing models of the fact that nothing is impossible with God.
You can see a few examples of the notebooks below. But the possibilities and designs are really endless. I think these two girls will even put together a custom design at your request for a few bucks more. So if you live in Kyle or go to The Connection Church, you can buy a $4 notebook and literally be involved in
changing someone's life in Belize.
Your 4 bucks can change the world. And if you live outside of the Hays County area, I've got a deal for you. If you want to support these young ladies and their efforts by getting a notebook [or several notebooks], then
I will personally pay for the shipping cost to get the notebooks to you. Simply leave a comment on this blog or email me at nic [at] theconnectionchurch [dot] org with your name, address, and how many notebooks you want to purchase.
Notebooks that can change the world. Creativity out of compassion. Belize via Duct Tape. Get involved and
do something.
