Pizza for dinner!!!

I think I've said this 100 times already, it came as quick as I knew it would, but it's here!! We are officially packed, minus those day to day items. I was worried about getting our teaching supplies to fit into our luggage, but after we went shopping for snacks, that was a whole other question. Snacks are going to be vital...lol!

Pizza is for dinner tonight!! We had to have it before we left because we most likely will not have it while we are gone, I'm guessing that will be our meal we return as well...haha!! Then Taylor talked me into ice cream, a rare item in our house.

It's been over 4 years since our first trip and my heart has yearned to go back ever since. From Taylor quickly falling in love with our stories and pictures, to God waking me up at 5 am, I can already look back and see how God orchestrated this trip for the past 2 years. Each year as the trip dates were announced I'd quickly look at our calendar and ask, "This year Lord?" When the answers where no, I was disappointed, but understood. Then when he said, yes to this trip it couldn't have been more clear. The dates were perfect, other than Taylor being in school, but we prayed and asked for the doors to be open for her and they were. She has amazing support from the school and one of the best teachers yet! I quickly had peace with these confirmations. Alley and I have been placed in jobs that have allowed the flexibility with the extra time off, and so much family support, Terry most especially, but also including our church family. We couldn't ask for more!

All of these confirmations have been huge to us knowing this year was the year He said yes! There's nothing else more exciting to me, than watching Him work in our lives. I share this with you not to boast, but to encourage you to keep watch for Him to work in your life! Do you journal? That's a great way to start seeing each day, and each step He is with you. Be sure to give Him the glory when those confirmations are revealed! 

We are truly blessed for all of your support and can't wait to share the trip with you when we return.

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

It may be empty today, but...

it will soon be loaded up with everything we need for 17 days!!!

Yup the bags are officially out and about to be packed! The check list is in the works, all of those many things to do prior to leaving are almost done (I really thought they would be never ending, like I need a vacation just for preparing for this trip...lol) the travel itinerary is ready (did I tell you we will traveling for over 2 days to get there...eek!) I think the travel is the hardest part of the trip, I remember last time the flights there weren't so bad, but coming back is harder because we are usually so ready to be home and it will feel like forever getting here.

Pray for Taylor as these flights will be her first ever...she doesn't seem to have any anxiety as of now, and she does handle motion very well, so I pray she stays in peace about it. She has stated that she's pretty excited about the plane ride :) I'm thankful the first flight is a short one, nothing like what we did to Alley on her first one...which she handled like a trooper! I can already see lots of Swahili practicing, book reading, movie watching, as well as many games of UNO and Skip-bo in play until we pass out!

Continue to pray for the Terry while he stays home handling the daily tasks. Pray for peace and low anxiety levels as well. We will miss several life events while we are gone, Terry's bday (Sept 25th), my parents anniversary (Sept. 20th) and my mom's bday (Sept 24th), but we will be celebrating one big one on the trip, Alley's 21st bday (Oct. 4th)!! 

Also, please continue for our team as we head out and for the mission that lies before us. May our hearts be ready and flexible to any and every opportunity God has planned. 

Thank you again in advance for all of the support!!! We love you guys and can't wait to share this experience with you.

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

21 days!! What we need most...

I have this pile of "things to take" sitting on my kitchen table and chair. It's official that we are getting the those necessities ready to go, things like dry shampoo (there's no telling what options we will have), toilet paper (very much needed, cause again, there's no telling)...

What we need most are prayer warriors...

Tanzania Mission Trip 2016 – Prayer Guide

“Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” Acts 13:3

Dates: Wed. Sept 21^st – Friday, Oct. 7th

The Team - Bro. Scott and Leslie Whitson, Ken and Michele West, Paula Moore, Bobby Rich, Chris Smith, Becky Willyard, Alley Fuller and Taylor Willyard.

Pray for our hearts to be open and guided only by God’s plans for this trip. That He gives us divine opportunities to share salvation and that we are aware and ready to respond when those moments arise. Pray for our individual health, safe travels (plane, bus, taxi’s), and for our families that may be holding normal activities in place in our absences. Pray for any additional funds that may be pending.

Our translators – Bro. Jeremiah and Bro. Elias along with the others, we don’t have names for as of now. Pray God gives them the words that coordinate with our language. Pray for the travels and their families holding normal activities in place.

Other areas to pray:

Outreach – door to door visitations

Sunday Services

Pastors and Wives Conferences

For the Pastors hearts to be open and receptive to God’s words, their travels to the conference and for their families.

For the wives and other women who attend that they are also open and receptive to God’s word.

For the children in each area as we reach out to them through various Bible Club activities each day.

Safari travels and opportunities to share Christ during this time but also a time to be refreshed in His beautiful creation.

Below is a schedule if you’d like to pray for specific times/details of our trip:

Sept. 21/22 – Depart DFW to Entebbe, Uganda – stay overnight

Sept. 23 – Bus to Bukoba, Tanzania

Sept. 24 – Rest, Plan, Pray

Sept. 25 – Visit/Preach in Bukoba area churches – split into 3 teams

Sept. 26 through 28^th am – Bukoba Pastor/Wives Seminar and afternoon Bible Clubs for area children

Sept. 28 pm – Travel to Biharamulo

Sept. 29 through Oct 1^st am – Biharamulo Pastor/Wives Seminars and afternoon Bible Clubs for area children

Oct. 2 – Visit Preach in Biharamulo area churches – split into 3 teams

Oct. 3 – Travel to Mwanza, spend the night

Oct. 4 through 6 – Sahari, travel to Arusha, Tanzania

Oct. 6/7 – Depart from Kilimanjaro Int’l Airport travel to DFW- arrive at 3:15 pm

Where are these places you ask? Here is Tanzania, Africa.

And here are the places we will be...

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

You are going with us...

Are hearts are full with all of the love an support we have received for this trip! God has brought each one of you into our lives and so a part of you will be with us on this journey! It could not have been possible without you.

We are now 50% closer to our goal just compared to three weeks ago, putting us at 70%!! Wow! God is so faithful! We just know that the remain 30% is going to be downhill ride. We currently have our Cookie Dough Fundraiser in progress, our goal is to sell 300 boxes of cookies...yikes!

It's hard to believe that it's less than one month away! Someone asked me the other day, "What happens if you don't get all of your funds?" I honestly didn't have an answer, not because I didn't have a plan, but because I still fully believe God has called us on this trip and my faith rests completely in Him.

Preparation is vital as we approach the next few weeks; creating lists to bring for personal supplies, picking up some skirts for Taylor, getting the supplies for the children lessons and games...all good stuff and needed, but if we aren't preparing the most important item, our hearts, then we are going to miss this all together. Last week Taylor and I started to see how God wanted us to prepare our hearts for this trip, He led us to the Galatians 5:22-23 The Fruits of the Spirit. We are praying over each fruit and asking God to fill us with His Spirit so that we may produce the kind of fruit He wants to see in us. Please join us in this prayer as well.

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

When the number seems too big!

 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

We can get so busy looking and worrying about things we need, that we miss the blessing in between. As I knew the toughest part of preparing for this trip would be to leave my worry behind as we started our fundraising. I remind myself over and over again that I feel very confident in God's calling on us for this trip that I know with all of my heart He will provide the way. We've really come so far so quickly, so as we are approaching just over one month to go, the number seems high, but my God is faithful. 

This past Saturday we met with our team (10 of us) going on this trip. We learned some basic information and received some assignments. I will get to work with the children! I think the only hard part about planning this is how to fill 2-3 hours without tables for crafts and very, very minimal supplies to bring. Overall it's going to be a blast sharing Jesus with them and loving on them! I think the biggest word will be GAMES!

Woohoo!! Look who got her passport in! She was pretty excited to see it.

One of the most exciting parts of this trip is that it's not our first trip, so there are things we know we can do that maybe we held back from doing before, and things we know we need to do better where we failed before. Oh how I praise God for the second chance.

Up next...we will share you one of the ways we are preparing our hearts for the trip. God has clearly showed me the first word, "LOVE."

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

Because he loves us!!!

This guy has been nothing but a huge support to me and the ministry God has called me to be in and he continues to show true to this after this crazy garage sale weekend!! Haha! He is behind us going back 100%! We praise God for him every day!

This weekend we had huge success with our garage/yard sale fundraiser!! It was a lot of work and we are still recuperating but it's SOOOO worth it! Both of the girls worked hard and sacrificed their time and energy, even in the hottest part of the day! Watching Taylor continue to sort and organize clothes in the heat of the sun to loading up the left overs in the hottest part of the day showed me how much she feels called to this trip. We even made it through with out melt downs, yes from me too!! We each stood strong and worked hard!

 




So were are we at now? Check out the new goal tracker on the page. We are making progress that's for sure! 

What's next? 

We are wrapping up the end of the T-shirt Fundraiser, thank you to all who supported this one! This weekend is the first team meeting, I'm so excited to see what God has in store for each of us.  Pray for us to bring the exact message that they need to hear from God, through us.

We are also going to have another fundraiser...cookie dough!! Who doesn't love them some cookie dough right? We will start taking orders soon, so stay tuned.

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

Free Fundraising Thermometer by:
www.easy-fundraising-ideas.com

Time is going so fast...

I can't believe we have less than 2 months now before we head off to Tanzania...eek!!! We still have so much to do! We are just really getting ready to go strong into our fundraising, we've done some small things so far; Taylor's side work, one round of Alley's t-shirt fundraiser (thank you to Chile Red Co. http://www.chileredco.com/ for making the shirts!!) and a shout out to our church who provided some funds through our VBS missions. All together we've made a small dent (about $900) into the $8,100 we need. However, my heart is sure on God's calling for this trip therefore my worries are few! 

This weekend we will be having our Garage Sale (more yard than garage) and I'm already so thankful for the many items donated! Be sure you come by this Saturday, July 30th from 8 am to 3 pm at 820 N. Nolan River Road, Cleburne, TX 76033. As I shared just a few items with a friend and she said, it sounds like more of an Estate Sale! Whoop whoop! This is going to me our main fundraiser so please share and pass this along. We've made three pick ups this week so far! God is providing as always!

                                 . Check out all we have so far and it's only Tuesday!!! 

So what does our goal look like you ask? Our goal is to have half of our fee turned in by July 31st. This is a huge mile marker for us. Please pray for a great turn out this Saturday. August we will start meeting with our team and learn more about the work we will be doing there. 

Please continue to pray for us as we prepare and for the work God opens up for us to do. I can't wait to share next week how we surpassed our goal!

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

Pulling their weight...(WARNING: Bragging mom moment)

When it comes to their hearts being fully into this trip, I can't say enough how proud I am of these girls! We set a goal and they've committed 100%!

 Alley just wrapped up her T-Shirt fundraiser and Taylor is working her Summer away, literally. She's been mowing, doing office work and housework. Do you have something she can help you with? She still has some slots open.

When it comes to pulling their weight, they've pulled it and more! My heart is full!

We have another BIG fundraiser coming up at the end of July, stay tuned to learn more.

It's crazy how quickly time is already flying...we have less than 3 months to go.

Please start praying now for our trip; pray for our hearts to be prepared and opened, pray for the hearts we minister to that they are prepared and open to what God reveals, pray we stay open to all God has for each one us and obedient to His plan, pray for our team and our safety. Thank you in advance!

 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 2 Corinthians 8:8

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor

When God Says Yes, But Didn't Say When

I still remember Him waking me up with the distinct message, "You will be going back to Tanzania." Did I tell you it was at 5 am? It was one of those moments that your eyes instantly open and the thought is there. There was nothing audible, but my heart sure felt like it was.

It's been almost 2 years since that moment. Every year I've wondered, will it be this year, this trip? As the dates surfaced I would see the doors close. Sure, I may have been a bit discouraged, but I knew that it only meant that He was waiting for the perfect timing, not only the date, but the timing of the trip and the team.

When Alley and I returned from our trip in 2012, my youngest daughter Taylor fell in love with the pictures and stories we brought back. Each year she would take some pictures we had given her and share them with her teachers. I really think she told stories as if she was there. As I've watched her heart grow over those years I knew one thing; God was waiting for was for her to be ready, for the trip and team to be ready for her as well. Who there does He have waiting for her and heart sweet servant heart? How will He use this trip for His will?

With that said, when the dates for this years trip surfaced I did what I had done in the last few years; 1) Checked my calendar, are the dates open? 2) How about days off, can I manage? When both cleared I thought, what about the girls? Alley is all clear. The dates are set during school season, so this was new for me to see how it would work. It was important for Taylor to see how God works things out for His will so I shared the upcoming opportunity with her, have you ever seen her excited face? Haha!

So here we are now, deposits paid and excited for what He has planned. We have some major fundraising to do but know He will work all things out. We currently have a shirt fundraiser going and you will be seeing other ways you can help us out within the next week or so. 

If you feel led to give in any way, please contact me via phone, email, Facebook or however you are reading this blog today. :) To be completely transparent, I will not be getting paid from my Full-time job during this time off, my previous vacation/PTO time is already allotted for VBS and Kids Camp so our total due includes a little extra to help with this missing paycheck.

If you can start praying for us know, this is by far the most important thing you can do. Please pray for us are we prepare our hearts for this journey, for the hearts of those we will be going to minister, for the team we will be working with and for safety in travel and while we are there.

We are going for only one reason, to show and share the love of Christ.

Becky, Alley and Taylor