Departure date set :)

May 19th, 2013

As many of you know, our family: Mike, Marie-Eve, Raph & Vincent is heading to South Africa.  The date has now been set and we are leaving Manitoba June 4th!!!!  We will spend one week in Quebec with family and will arrive in South Africa June 13th.

What you may not know, is why we feel called to GO as opposed to sending our money there to help.  I have asked that question in the past, and I know some of you are wondering too!!!  The truth is, more than trillion dollars in aid has been poured into Africa in the last 50 years, and yet extreme poverty remains one of the greatest challenges because what has been forgotten is the people.

It is time to invest in the development of people if we want to see lasting change. Hope Africa Collective aims to do this through holistic personal development.  As people grow in their own personal capacity — in their skills, knowledge, spirituality and understanding — widespread community transformation always occurs.  This is the power of investing in the one, to influence the many.  Sounds like good investment to me!

In just 20 weeks, an individual goes from their introductory meeting with one of the trained staff to acquiring a sustainable job, having learned skills that will last them a life time, and having gotten to know Chris better.  How amazing is that???

Now you see why we are so excited to go and experience how God is changing lives in such practical ways: freeing people from bondage, giving young men and women hope and enriching their relationship with Him.  We have been working towards this so long and can hardly believe that we will be there soon working alongside with Hope Africa!!

The last few weeks have been crazy as we moved out of our house and are currently living with Mike’s parents, but we are so grateful for all the support we have received.  God has been so faithful and we are so excited to see what else He has in store for us once we are in Africa.

All the details of our departure are slowly falling into place, but we continue to covet your prayers are we are constantly dealing with details, paper work, ...  

Raph is having a harder time with adjusting and feels the uncertainty of all this a lot!  We ask that you keep him in your prayers and us as we need much wisdom in parenting those 2 boys!!!  Raph really doesn't like change and this is taking definitely hard on him!  Vincent hasn't slowed down yet with all this and is causing more chaos than ever.  We apologize to all people affected by tornado Vincent for what he has already broken.  Nothing contains him, not even his play pen.  Not even large pots.

Have a blessed long week-end.