Here's a recent letter I sent out to friends and family...
Dear Friends and Family, April 13, 2009
After six very short (or at least they felt short to me!) weeks in Guayaquil, Ecuador- I’m back! In fact, I’ve been back for about a month now, and you may have been wondering what happened to the update I promised! First, I want to thank you again for your support, whether it was through prayer, financial giving, or encouraging words or e mails. I thank you on behalf of our whole team for helping us as we prepared to get things up and going. As a team, we made several difficult and critical decisions as to where we will be heading with Foundation Restoration, and I thank the Lord for providing the right information to make those very important decisions.
Let me give you a brief update! Just three weeks before leaving for Ecuador I was able to meet with Bill Legere, the founder of The Foundation for Hope and Grace. Bill and I attend the same church, and this foundation was born last summer in memory of his 9 year old daughter Grace who was killed in a terrible accident. The Foundation for Hope and Grace is committed to reaching out to orphans and children at risk all over the world. They’ve already worked with projects in Romania and Nigeria, assisting orphanages in those countries. They have also agreed to partner with us as we get things up and running in Guayaquil! This is a HUGE blessing as Bill’s organization is already registered as a non profit. PRAISE GOD!
I arrived in Guayaquil on January 28th. The next day Breana Martin joined me in Guayaquil to assist and be a support as we dove into the project. Then, just a few days later came along Bill, with Anna Cousineau and Jenn Moore. Anna has helped lead the trips to Ecuador several times, and her sister Jenn had her first experience in Ecuador this time. For about a week we worked together chatting with church leaders, visiting families of potential children to be sponsored, talking with lawyers, etc. It was an interesting process as we tried to get many things done in a short time. If you’ve ever been to Ecuador you may understand how the people there seem to have very little concept of time, or a schedule. Everyone is late to everything! In fact, funny side-note: we were invited to dinner at a friend’s house one night. We were told to show up around “you know…7/7:30ish.” So, in punctual North American spirit I made sure our group arrived at 7:05! It happened to be the family I was staying with who invited the group over for dinner, so I entered the house first. My friend Rosa gasped and said “Emily! What are you doing here already?” To which I replied, “You said to arrive between 7 and 7:30, so…here we are!” She laughed, a little out of embarrassment I believe, and said “I expected you to be here around 8! I haven’t showered yet and the food isn’t done! Take your friends to go buy us some cola for dinner, and slowly make your way back.” Ecuadorians are so gracious and un
derstanding. The family was still laughing about what had happened after everyone left. The picture to the left is of our little group having lunch at our friends Rosa and Victor’s house.
Getting back on track, over the 6 weeks we were able to accomplish a good amount of ground work. A board of directors for Foundation Restoration was set up. We have a cook and teacher ready to work with the kids. The legal groundwork (including government registration, setting up a bank account and a mail box) had already been completed for Foundation Restoration when Pastor Dario stepped out in faith a few years ago, anticipating that this project would soon begin. With the money that was donated we were able to fix up the church kitchen by installing electricity, smoothing out the floor so the door could close, putting bars on the windows and installing shelves with locks to keep supplies safely inside. We also purchased a new burner for the oven, a new blender (essential for making Ecuadorian food and drink), and utensils for eating. When I left they had a giant old freezer up for sale, hoping to use the funds to buy a new refrigerator. Thank you SOO very much to those of you who were able to bless us with a financial gift. We were able to stretch our funds a long way to complete several projects.
Since arriving back in Maine, our team has been working together to set up a plan to begin. Our goal is to start in the month of September! Meanwhile, we’re hoping to educate people about who the kids in our program are, the difficulties they face, how we’d like to help them, and how people here in the US can be involved! If you know someone who might like to be involved in this sort of ministry, please don’t hesitate to share with them about the Foundation for Hope and Grace. I’m also hoping to find some churches that would be willing to let us speak to their congregation about Foundation Restoration. We’re not only seeking financial partners, but prayer partners- an absolute essential piece to ministry.
You may be asking, “How is this program different from all of the other sponsorship programs out there?” In our program, the responsibility of the sponsors goes beyond sending a monthly check. We want our sponsors to be directly involved in the lives of the kids, creating and building a relationship with the child. Sponsors will receive regular letters from the child, updates about how they’re doing in school, as well as how you can be praying specifically for their family. We want the sponsors to commit to praying for their child, writing back and sharing how God is working in their lives. Also, how the child can also pray for their sponsor. The needs in Guayaquil are more than just financial, they’re also spiritual. The sponsor’s commitment to the child will be a testimony of God’s love, and will open doors for witnessing and sharing Christ’s love with so many people.
Well, I hope this letter is a testimony of God’s goodness through blessings and provision. When I think of how close we are to starting- to giving kids a second chance to excel, loving on them, sharing with them that there is Hope in this world through Jesus Christ- my insides bubble with excitement. Thank you for the interest you’ve shown simply by reading this letter. In the picture just below are three of the kids that I’m hoping will be some of the first to register in the program. They also say “Thank you!”
God Bless You!
Emily Goss
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Dear Friends and Family, April 13, 2009After six very short (or at least they felt short to me!) weeks in Guayaquil, Ecuador- I’m back! In fact, I’ve been back for about a month now, and you may have been wondering what happened to the update I promised! First, I want to thank you again for your support, whether it was through prayer, financial giving, or encouraging words or e mails. I thank you on behalf of our whole team for helping us as we prepared to get things up and going. As a team, we made several difficult and critical decisions as to where we will be heading with Foundation Restoration, and I thank the Lord for providing the right information to make those very important decisions.
Let me give you a brief update! Just three weeks before leaving for Ecuador I was able to meet with Bill Legere, the founder of The Foundation for Hope and Grace. Bill and I attend the same church, and this foundation was born last summer in memory of his 9 year old daughter Grace who was killed in a terrible accident. The Foundation for Hope and Grace is committed to reaching out to orphans and children at risk all over the world. They’ve already worked with projects in Romania and Nigeria, assisting orphanages in those countries. They have also agreed to partner with us as we get things up and running in Guayaquil! This is a HUGE blessing as Bill’s organization is already registered as a non profit. PRAISE GOD!
I arrived in Guayaquil on January 28th. The next day Breana Martin joined me in Guayaquil to assist and be a support as we dove into the project. Then, just a few days later came along Bill, with Anna Cousineau and Jenn Moore. Anna has helped lead the trips to Ecuador several times, and her sister Jenn had her first experience in Ecuador this time. For about a week we worked together chatting with church leaders, visiting families of potential children to be sponsored, talking with lawyers, etc. It was an interesting process as we tried to get many things done in a short time. If you’ve ever been to Ecuador you may understand how the people there seem to have very little concept of time, or a schedule. Everyone is late to everything! In fact, funny side-note: we were invited to dinner at a friend’s house one night. We were told to show up around “you know…7/7:30ish.” So, in punctual North American spirit I made sure our group arrived at 7:05! It happened to be the family I was staying with who invited the group over for dinner, so I entered the house first. My friend Rosa gasped and said “Emily! What are you doing here already?” To which I replied, “You said to arrive between 7 and 7:30, so…here we are!” She laughed, a little out of embarrassment I believe, and said “I expected you to be here around 8! I haven’t showered yet and the food isn’t done! Take your friends to go buy us some cola for dinner, and slowly make your way back.” Ecuadorians are so gracious and un
derstanding. The family was still laughing about what had happened after everyone left. The picture to the left is of our little group having lunch at our friends Rosa and Victor’s house.Getting back on track, over the 6 weeks we were able to accomplish a good amount of ground work. A board of directors for Foundation Restoration was set up. We have a cook and teacher ready to work with the kids. The legal groundwork (including government registration, setting up a bank account and a mail box) had already been completed for Foundation Restoration when Pastor Dario stepped out in faith a few years ago, anticipating that this project would soon begin. With the money that was donated we were able to fix up the church kitchen by installing electricity, smoothing out the floor so the door could close, putting bars on the windows and installing shelves with locks to keep supplies safely inside. We also purchased a new burner for the oven, a new blender (essential for making Ecuadorian food and drink), and utensils for eating. When I left they had a giant old freezer up for sale, hoping to use the funds to buy a new refrigerator. Thank you SOO very much to those of you who were able to bless us with a financial gift. We were able to stretch our funds a long way to complete several projects.
Since arriving back in Maine, our team has been working together to set up a plan to begin. Our goal is to start in the month of September! Meanwhile, we’re hoping to educate people about who the kids in our program are, the difficulties they face, how we’d like to help them, and how people here in the US can be involved! If you know someone who might like to be involved in this sort of ministry, please don’t hesitate to share with them about the Foundation for Hope and Grace. I’m also hoping to find some churches that would be willing to let us speak to their congregation about Foundation Restoration. We’re not only seeking financial partners, but prayer partners- an absolute essential piece to ministry.
You may be asking, “How is this program different from all of the other sponsorship programs out there?” In our program, the responsibility of the sponsors goes beyond sending a monthly check. We want our sponsors to be directly involved in the lives of the kids, creating and building a relationship with the child. Sponsors will receive regular letters from the child, updates about how they’re doing in school, as well as how you can be praying specifically for their family. We want the sponsors to commit to praying for their child, writing back and sharing how God is working in their lives. Also, how the child can also pray for their sponsor. The needs in Guayaquil are more than just financial, they’re also spiritual. The sponsor’s commitment to the child will be a testimony of God’s love, and will open doors for witnessing and sharing Christ’s love with so many people.
Well, I hope this letter is a testimony of God’s goodness through blessings and provision. When I think of how close we are to starting- to giving kids a second chance to excel, loving on them, sharing with them that there is Hope in this world through Jesus Christ- my insides bubble with excitement. Thank you for the interest you’ve shown simply by reading this letter. In the picture just below are three of the kids that I’m hoping will be some of the first to register in the program. They also say “Thank you!”
God Bless You!
Emily Goss
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
