Benefit Dinner Success

What a wonderful night! God has truly blessed my family and I with a wonderful church family at Fairlane. I was overwhelmed with all the wonderful people who gave of their time, money, and efforts to help this benefit dinner be a success! So, first of all, I want to express my sincere THANKS for all those who were a part of this night! Below you can find some pictures from this special night! We raised a total of
$2, 373 and also had several pledges made for monthly support!! GOD is GOOD!!!! I continue to be amazed at how God brings together his people to accomplish his purposes, and I thank you for allowing HIM to use you. I am very humbled by your generosity!
Also, I now officially have a departure date!! My dad and I bought our plane tickets last week! So, on JULY 25, I will begin my 2.5 year journey in Guatemala! Thank you to all of you who are making this happen!!

Helpers hard at work in the kitchen

Mom and I in the kitchen with the delicious dessert spread

                                             The table decorations

                                                     Speaking!

Dad giving me a blessing for my new ministry!! Made me cry!

Thanks and new Benefit Dinner

First off, I want to say how wonderful the Benefit Concert was last weekend for my mission and Jimmie's adventure! It was so much fun, and I was so honored to have so many people show up to support us. Thanks to all the bands and performers who volunteered their time to support these missions! I also want to thank everyone who helped put this whole event together! We raised over $500 that night, but on top of this, an anonymous donor decided to match whatever was raised!! Therefore, we ended up raising a grand total of $1100!!! All I can say is THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

This coming Saturday, March 17, there will also be a benefit dinner at my parents' home church Fairlane Church of Christ in Shelbyville, TN. Anyone is invited to attend, but if you cannot, please see my blog about how you can donate. Here are the details for the benefit dinner:

Guatemala Benefit Dinner for Jennifer Giesemann's Mission to the New Life School

Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012

Time: 6:00 pm
Place: Fellowship Hall at Fairlane Church of Christ, 101 Dow Drive, Shelbyville, TN 37160 (Building behind the auditorium)

Cost: $10/person

RSVP: Email Jennifer at jenngiese82@gmail.com or Patti at pittypat52@bellsouth.net

NASHVILLE BENEFIT CONCERT!!!

So, in my last post, I mentioned that a group from my church was hosting a benefit concert for 2 different mission opportunities, including my own. So, I wanted to post the official flyer for the concert with all the details. It is an open invitation, so anyone in the middle TN area (or just in town visiting!) is welcome to come! I am thankful to everyone who is putting this on and willing to help us out!! Hope to see ya there!

Benefit Concert

Throughout the fundraising process, it has been amazing to watch God work through his people to bring about my dream to move to Guatemala. Once again, my church friends have rallied to support me through a benefit concert. This concert will benefit two different mission efforts, which includes my Guatemala mission. I want to thank all the people who are putting this together and hope that many of you can come out for some awesome music and great fellowship!!
Here are the details:

Where: Harpeth Hills Church of Christ, 1949 Old Hickory Boulevard
Brentwood, TN 37027

When: Friday, March 9, at 8:00 pm

What: A Benefit Concert, featuring the band "A Girl's Guide to Marrying Well" 

There will be a small cover charge to enter. Other donations will be accepted. 

**Guatemalan coffee bags will be for sale as well.**

8 Months and Counting

8 months!!! Really?? Many people have asked me recently, "So, when are you planning to move to Guatemala?" I often hesitantly say, "July of 2012, if all goes as planned." But what I should be saying is "JULY of 2012!!!" with confidence in my voice. The New Life School will begin a new school year in January of 2012. I wish that I could be there to begin this new year with them, but I know that God is still preparing me in many ways before I go down there. I know that God has called me to Guatemala, and if he has done so, he will provide me with the funds to do so. I have been so humbled and honored by the amount of people who have asked how they can help. God continues to amaze me in how he is working to touch people's hearts to give to HIS effort through me! I know that none of this can be done on my own, although sometimes my thoughts and actions say otherwise. I ask for your continued prayers for increased faith that God "who began this good work will bring it to completion."

Where I will be 8 months from now!!!

If you are at all interested in keeping up with me through this journey or in donating to this effort, please sign up for my newsletter at the top of this blog. I truly appreciate all your prayers, concern, and love that you have shown me throughout this process. I pray that God will use all of you mightily in his kingdom to spread his love throughout the world!

Fundraising 101

In order to work with the New Life School, it will be necessary to raise a full salary for at least the 2.5 years that I have committed to work there. Before I even decided to work in Guatemala, one of the volunteers at the school, Amy, recommended a book to me called Funding your Ministry. It not only gives practical ideas on how to fundraise effectively, it also provides a Biblical rationale to fundraising along with an extensive Bible study that shows how people throughout Scripture were funded for specific ministries. It has opened my eyes to how God looks at fundraising and giving. Fundraising is not just about you asking people for money, but it is about Christians giving to God and missionaries receiving those gifts from God. This has given me a new perspective on raising the money I need for this ministry that God has called me. I have been praying for God to show me the people whom he wants to use to join me in this ministry, and it has been amazing so far to see how he has worked. I continue to pray that God guide me to the people whom he has called in this effort. I am currently speaking to several churches and am also seeking the support of individuals.
If you are interested in joining me in any way on this journey, this is what I ask of you:
 
1.First and most importantly, I ask that you join me in prayer to petition God for his guidance, protection, and provision in my life 
2.If you know of churches or individuals who would be willing to meet with me, please email me at jenngiese82@gmail.com 
3.If God has put on your heart to support me in any way, please provide your information above to be added to the newsletter

Thank you so much!!! 

Blessings, Jennifer

New Life Graduates

The New Life School's school year runs from January to October unlike the American school year. So, the school just celebrated another class of amazing students graduating from the 6th grade this week! I just wanted to share the post by Judy on her website so you can see and congratulate all these students. Without this school, many of these children would never have dreamed of graduating from the 6th grade! Not only that, they have gained a Christian education that will help them to be lights to a very dark world around them. Here is a link to the website: http://www.newlifeguatemala.com/. If you would like to send a note of congratulations to these students, feel free to post a comment, and I will send them on to Judy and the graduates! Thanks!