double the blessing

Can you believe the month of May is upon us this week?  With May comes Mother's Day and the end of the school year.  No Longer is hosting one big house party this season, so don't miss your chance to get a unique Mother's Day gift for someone special or to get a jump on end of the year teacher gifts!  Want to get your young girls involved in the shopping this time around?  They can be a part of the fun shopping for items priced within their budgets.  Seriously, there is a little something for everybody!  We'll have a lot of your favorites from past parties, but we will have a wider focus this time around.

By shopping at this party you will be giving a double blessing.  Not only will you be helping No Longer raise support and funds for the orphanage in Santo Domingo, you'll also be directly supporting men and women around the world who want nothing more than a way to feed and provide for their families.  We will be featuring more than a few great fair trade groups and non-profit organizations that produce unique, one-of-a-kind, handmade products, and we are so excited about it!

Light Gives Heat
"We want to do anything possible to not only help meet needs in Uganda though job creation, but also give the West a way to connect to individuals in Africa - in a personal way."  LGH employs and provides consistent income to women in Africa through the production of handmade jewelry.  Every piece is gorgeous and comes with a gift bag and card with the artisan's bio.  I love every bit of it and we will have a huge selection at the party.

 

Freeset

Freeset is located in Sonagacchi, the largest, most infamous sex district in Kolkata, India. Within a few square miles more than 10,000 women stand in line selling their bodies to thousands of men who visit daily. Many are trafficked from Bangladesh, Nepal and rural India. For others poverty has left them without options. The cries of their hungry children drive them to sell their bodies.  Women looking to escape or avoid this life have learned to sew and produce bags through employment with Freeset.  The women are paid around twice the going rate for an equivalent job elsewhere and as part of their employment package have health insurance and a pension plan. A woman is employed full-time to ensure that staff are able to access their health insurance entitlements.  Every woman who finds freedom through Freeset also brings freedom to her family. They find hope for a brighter future and the means to make it a reality.  We will be featuring beautiful bags and purses created by these courageous women.  We cannot wait for you to see them!
 

 

MudLove
MudLove is "a small love-centric business founded on the principle that giving is far better than receiving."  They give 20% of all sales to clean water in Africa through a faith-based organization called ICDI.  All MudLove products are handmade by a staff that "is fully committed to loving the people around them as well as those who are not."  We will have some inspirational MudLove bracelets available at the party.  And if all goes according to plan (fingers crossed), we will have bracelets stamped with No Longer ready for you to purchase!  They are perfect for women of all ages!

Acacia Creations

The mission of Acacia Creations has always been to improve lives in a long-lasting and sustainable way.  They go beyond fair trade by creating jobs, providing training, and giving back to the community through education and healthcare initiatives, working directly with hundreds of craftsmen and women at a Nairobi studio and across East Africa to improve their skills and product designs.  We will feature several different products like bracelets and wooden bowls and serving pieces from this great group.


 

Open Arms
Every year, thousands of refugees flee oppression around the world and are resettled in America.  To help them avoid the trap of poverty, Open Arms employs refugees at a living wage to create one-of-a-kind products using recycled t-shirts.  We are happy to be featuring skirts and headbands made by these refugees.

Global Mamas
Global Mamas transforms the lives of women in Africa by creating sustainable income opportunities which lead to financial independence. Global Mamas reduces the economic inequality of women by significantly increasing wages and generating new jobs through the production and export of fair trade products. This in turn improves the standard of living for women, their families, and the larger community.  We will be featuring purses, bags, and headbands made by Global Mamas artisans.

2nd Story Goods
This is a group of "co-laboring women and a few good men, working together in Haiti to make beautiful things and create sustainable income for our families."  We will feature jewelry and other housewares made from recycled glass and pottery found in Haiti.  The artisans who create the pieces for 2nd Story Goods are able to provide for their families and work to bring their communities out of poverty.

 

We look forward to seeing you and your friends at the party this weekend!

 



good always wins

***Paige Dorr is a No Longer supporter, advocate for adoption, marathon runner, and she loves the Lord.  We asked her to be a guest blogger to tell us why she ran the 2013 Boston Marathon and to remind us all that good always wins.***

 

 

I am sitting down to write this after running the Boston Marathon, a lifetime goal of mine, much as it is for many serious runners.  Here's a little background about me...  I am 35 years old and am married to a precious man named Eric.  We have three sweet girls: Hannah, age 7, Emma Kate, age 2, and Chloe, age 1.  We love the Lord and are passionate about adoption.  We felt God's call to adopt three years ago and followed through when we adopted a beautiful baby girl from Jacksonville, Florida.  She has totally blessed our lives!  The entire, miraculous process of adoption has changed so much of how we think about Christ and how he has adopted us into His family.  Shortly after adopting our sweet Emma we found out I was pregnant with Chloe, and that is all a miracle in itself and a great story for another time!

I have always loved running.  I ran my first marathon twelve years ago and have been addicted to the sport ever since!  It is my stress relief and my time with girlfriends to chat.  I look forward to every morning I can rise and run with my friends!  I have run several marathons, but I have never run to raise awareness for anything I was passionate about until the 2013 Boston Marathon.  I really wanted to do something to help my friends, Gary and Amanda Knotts, who are currently in the process of bringing their twin boys home from Haiti.  Being the mother of three small children and with so little time on my hands, in my heart I felt the Lord telling me to use my love of running to raise awareness about adoption!  And, of course, I said YES!

Isaiah Kevenel and Isaac Kelley live just outside of Port au Prince at an orphanage called Three Angels. They just celebrated their first birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Gary and Amanda have an amazing story of how God placed them together with these precious boys, and it is awesome to read about the little miracles He has performed along the way to have them ready for each other at exactly the same time.  The fact that they wanted twin boys and decided to go through an orphanage with only a few kids living in it, and then there "happened" to be twin boys is only one of the many miracles!!  You can visit their blog at www.knottsfamilyjourney.blogspot.com to read their full story, and I encourage you to do this because it will bless your heart.

I ran the Boston Marathon in honor of these two boys to raise awareness of adoption and this family's personal story.  Prayers for Isaiah and Isaac as they wait to get home to their family are greatly appreciated!  I also ran to raise funds for this family.  They are currently paying $800 every month for their care in the orphanage until they bring them home.  The Knotts are also paying for multiple bonding trips to visit the boys in Haiti out of pocket.  Anyone interested in helping them can contact me and I will give you information about how to make a donation.  The money goes directly to care for Isaiah Kevenel and Isaac Kelley.  I, as well as the Knotts family, appreciate all your prayers and support.

Little did I know when I woke up Monday morning, planning to have the "race of my life," that all of this evil would occur!  I finished the marathon about an hour before the bombings and thankfully had just met my husband a couple blocks away when we heard the boom.  All we saw were people running with fear in their eyes.  We went in the same direction they were running, away from the smoke, not knowing what had happened.  As we were walking, a lady shared with us what she had witnessed and we were awestruck.  She showed us pictures of where I had just run past moments before, and it sickened me that someone could do this at such a happy event and one that is so near and dear to my heart!  What should have been a day of celebration and happiness turned into such a sadness that I can't find the words to explain.  We heard so many stories from people who were right there when the bombs exploded and so many miracles of how their lives were spared.  My heart breaks for those who were affected and the families of the victims.  What I do know is that we live in a fallen world and there is evil all around.  A friend of mine shared this verse on Monday and it sums it up best:

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Please join me and continue to pray for Boston and for the Knotts family, as well as for the safety of Isaac and Isaiah. 

Thanks for all of your prayers while we were in Boston! 

We are so blessed!

-Paige Dorr

 

 

***Since Paige is too modest to brag on herself, we thought it would be fun to share her final time in the Boston Marathon.  As the first woman and third overall to cross the finish line at the No Longer 5K,  we were all cheering her on as she traveled to Boston.  So it should come as no shock that Paige crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon at the 3:26:40 mark.  That is keeping a sub-8:00 mile pace for 26 miles!!  Absolutely amazing and the No Longer family is celebrating the accomplishment with you, Paige!***

 

being the hands and feet

As exciting as it has been to watch our faithful Father guide No Longer step by step, gaining more and more support and advocates for "the least of these" daily, I can't contain my personal yearning to actually be the hands and feet of Jesus to the little ones who are continuously breaking our hearts.  For those of you who read Tracy's words in our last post, you can clearly see a common heartbeat among all of us... the desire to GO.  At the same time we are all being constantly humbled by His timing and trusting He knows best.  With that said and hopefully without causing Tracy or anyone else to envy me, the Lord has opened up doors in His perfect timing to send a crew through No Longer to the Dominican Republic on a medical mission trip April 27th through May 3rd!

God is crazy sovereign... emphasis on the crazy part considering he has ME leading this trip!  Seriously, I'm nothing more than a measly 3rd year med student working my way through school when a mentor physician of mine who works with UAB approaches me about No Longer.  Next thing you know, we're getting a UAB-approved course created and immediately start game-planning!  Our medical missions team consists of one physician, one dentist, one pharmacist, eight medical students, one administrator, and one kids' leader.  We are going through SCORE International to provide transportation, housing, food, translators, and other needs.  The plan is to set up several clinics throughout the week in different villages on the outskirts of Santo Domingo with the help of local churches and pastors that SCORE has built relationships with over the years.  Not only will we be able to take care of 50-100 people per day, but we will also be spending much of our time teaching moms, dads, and other adults in the communities about sustainable healthcare issues.  I was fortunate enough to go on a trip through SCORE two years ago and to see lives radically changed in the DR... not from medicine, but by the Great Physician.  I am now as excited as ever to go back to the place where I left pieces of my heart two years ago, and once again to simply be a vessel used to extend the mind-blowing, unconditional, infinitely loving arms of Jesus to those who desperately need Him.

So how does this exciting trip truly involve No Longer and the orphans we so deeply care about??  Like we've said before, we are still patiently waiting for the Lord to finalize certain issues before the orphanage is actually up and running.  Our incredible partnership with GO Project has made some exciting things possible.  They reached out to Pastor Altagracia to let her know about the medical team coming to the DR, and if everything works out according to plan (we'll see what God's timing has to say about all this), our group will actually get to worship with Pastor Altagracia and her congregation, minister to her and her community, and possibly even do healthcare screenings at the kids' school.  This will give us a chance to further our relationship with Altagracia, as well as serve her community in whatever way we're needed.  Regardless of the hectic details of this trip, the uncertainties of what exactly we will be doing, and the insane notion that I'm the numbskull leading it, I am confident in this: Jesus will deliver hope to the hopeless, the blind will see, the oppressed will be set free, and I myself will never be the same.

Much love and peace!

Drew

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

So, what can we do to help Drew and the UAB medical missions team?  They are in need of as much gauze as we can find and also small/simple craft kits, pony beads (plastic with a large hole for yarn to pass through), pipe cleaners, yarn, and stickers to entertain the kids.  We will be collecting these items all week and need your help!  Contact us at info@no-longer.com if you need info on where to drop items or any of the No Longer crew will take it from you.  Thanks so much!

dreaming while waiting

This has been an amazing year in the life of No Longer.  From sitting around dreaming about the "what ifs" to it being "all very real and happening."  Lots of super cool fundraising has been going on lately.  We have just completed our inaugural 5K and it was a HUGE success in our books.  Success would have been five people showing up.  HUGE success is defined as total awe, mouth wipe open, can't believe this is happening success.  More than five people showed up AND they weren't all our relatives!!!  Stay tuned for a more detail report in the coming weeks.

It's been exciting to plan the race, upcoming home party and even a CrossFit fundraiser.  But, if I'm being totally honest here... I'm just ready to go LOVE on some kids.  I'm so ready to pack my bags and go.  I'm ready to see little girls move into the orphanage.  I'm ready to see the boys dormitory being built.  I'm ready to experience this with my family.  I'm ready for our definition of love and sacrifice to change.  I'm just ready!!!  See the overall theme in the previous statements?  "I...  ME..."; however, God's not ready yet!  This has been a hard, bitter pill to swallow!  At times it seems as if time is dragging by or standing completely still.  I know fundraising and raising awareness to the orphan crisis is HUGE and important.  But, I just want to go.  Picture me standing with a suitcase whining to God, "I want to go NOW!!"  My tantrum in my head is similar to that of my 3-year-old's comical outbursts.  Through some humbling experiences I've had to step back, close my mouth and listen for His voice.  And right now that voice is saying it is not time yet.  It's frustrating for someone who lives by their calendar to not be able to plot the dates of the maiden voyage to see the kids.  But, it's not frustrating to Him.  He still says, "Just wait."  I've always thought I was a patient person.  It's always funny how we think we are and then to see how we actually are when we remove our rose-colored glasses.  Because I am a patient person...  as long as I know the plan.  Okay, I'm not a patient person.

 

In the meantime, I dream about their faces.  I dream about their smiles, their stories, their personalities.  I dream about losing myself in a different culture.  Very soon, these dreams will become reality.

Thank you for supporting us this past year as we travel down the path of unknowns.  Thank you for making a difference in the life of an orphan.  In the big picture it doesn't matter WHO you help or WHERE you go... it only matters that you make a difference and ACT.  To some that means travel and sacrificing time, to some it means adoption, to others it means contributing financially and to some it means simply praying!  All of those areas beautifully weave together and collectively we can accomplish big things and make a difference in the life of a child.

- Tracy