Keeping Up With The Gibson’s In Nicaragua

The Gibson’s are traveling to a new country, with a new ministry, meeting new friends, and working with a new community. We are very excited to be a part of Project H.O.P.E. Ministry, a Springfield, MO based 501(c)(3) organization. You can check out their website here. We were thrilled to receive their invitation to serve and love big in Managua, Nicaragua. God has allowed our family to spend the past 8 months living on the mission field, living out loud our ministry, Simply Love.

Dear friends, you have been faithful to give and pray and support and cheer us on. We will be the first to admit, we are newbie missionaries, and look forward to what God has in store for our family this year as He patiently guides our steps. We are grateful to the ministry, Visiting Orphans and Amanda Lawrence for partnering with our family and kick-starting our passion to Go. Be. Love. We are thankful for the exceptional training and time spent leading mission-hearted teams on trips to Ethiopia, Uganda, and Haiti for the past four years with VO. I want to personally thank every single person who came along side and gave us the amazing opportunity to learn hands-on what it means to serve on short term mission trips. We never dreamed we would have the unique privilege of being full-time missionaries with our children all over the world. Thank you, Dave Mcllrath and Ethiopia Guest Home for believing in us and allowing our family to serve from June through September 2012 in Addis Ababa. It was incredible being “happy helpers” to the ministries we love: Mission Ethiopia, Project 61, Great Hope Charity, and Hope For Korah who are serving BIG in our daughter Zoie’s birth-village, Korah. We are incredibly thankful for Bill and Jennifer Campbell, for inviting us to live in their home and serve with Haiti Home of Hope orphanage and the opportunity to live out our message to Man Up. Love & Protect the Fatherless for two months in Pignon, Haiti … challenging, teaching, guiding, and training us to be the best we can be on the field. We have so much more to learn, but grateful for the people God has placed in our path. We do not want to take for granted the lessons we have learned, the mistakes we have made, and the miracles God has done for our family.

We want to thank My Crazy Adoption readers and friends who have joined us on our mission-adventure to Ethiopia, Haiti, and Nicaragua. We will work fervently to update here on my blog with stories and photos to inspire you to GO! We want to show you where 100% of your donations are going. Thank you for allowing us to be YOUR hands and feet on the mission field … we are all in this together.

Where are we now?

We will be living at Hope Central near Managua, Nicaragua. Our family will be serving as missionaries with Project Hope, diligently working with their staff, projects, and ministries to impact the community. You can click on the icon at the top of the blog E-News and receive our weekly newsletter, exclusively written by my hubby, Roger Gibson, founder and visionary of Man Up & Go ministry. Check out the documentary movie Man Up & Go and join the movement.

We need your financial support. Timeline: NOW!!

The biggest challenge of missions, is raising support. We ask that you prayerfully consider supporting our family, as your missionaries, with a one – time gift and/or monthly contributions. At this time, we have raised 50% of our funds for 2013. Pray Big- we want to be fully funded before the end of February!! We need to raise an additional $1,500 a month for 2013. Our prayer is to have 60 people commit to giving $25 a month to reach our year-end goal. Of course, you can donate any amount … every penny will make a difference on the mission field.

We have 3 Man Up trips scheduled and ready to accept applications online to serve in Ethiopia & Uganda. Go now to check out the incredible itineraries and meet our group of fearless Man Up leaders here.

Blogging in Nicaragua … let’s stay in touch!

I will continue to blog 3-5 days a week with NEW stories, My Life Is Crazy Too series, giveaways, videos, photos, and updates from the field. It means the world to me when you leave comments- it helps me stay connected with you, my blogger friends. At the end of every post, there are new icons you can like, share, and follow me on Facebook.

Pray for our family.

The best thing about being mission-hearted friends, the band of prayer warriors sending us out on the mission field wrapped in courage, faith, and prayer. We want to continue to ask our family and friends to pray for the Gibson 5 … circle us and pray bold, dream big, and think long. -Mark Batterson We give God ALL the glory for being the ultimate great missionary, allowing us to share the gospel and love one another … we are all called to simply love.

“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 MSG)