WHAT just happened??

Text Message Conversation between Bethany and Regina:

R: I've been crying all morning and dancing around for joy. Just landed in Chicago!! See you soon, friend!

B: They are having problems with our plane and we have not yet left. I'm freaking out. We are going to be cutting it close to make it to Chicago on time.

R: You're gonna be fine. Take a breath. God brough you this far and you're going to make it!

B: Let's hope! Tina is freaking...this is scary!

R: I am too a little bit now. Haha. But faith. Totes gonna be okay!

B: I think I'm gonna puke. There is no way our bags will make it. Even if we leave now we have 20 min to make the flight.

R: My whole body is shaking. I just ate cheap chinese food and it may come up in a moment...hah.

B: Do whatever you can to hold the flight. I don't know if you can do that.

(50 minutes later after what should have been an 1 1/2 hour flight)

B: Landing...come to gate H15.

R: Got it. I'm rebooking us for the same flights as yall. Our bags have been transferred to the London flight. I'm getting our flight confirmation numbers now. Where you at?

B: Sitting against the wall at Nuts and Clark.

(Finally met one another in person...not awkward at all...) (While running through the airport to catch our flight...)

B: Hi, nice to meet you!

R: Okay, LET'S GO!

Tina: RUN!

(5 minutes later)

B: You got it, Grandma! I need my inhaler!

R: KEVIN!

(Fast Forward through our flight to London!...book it off this flight to catch our plane to Brussels)

(Repeat)

R: Now, I need my inhaler!

B: KEVIN!

Mean Flight Attendant in London: Mam there are no flights until Sunday.

US: OH. FOR. THE. LOVE! THIS CAN NOT BE HAPPENING! I WANT TO BE IN AFRICA! THIS SUCKS! YOU GOTTA BE FREAKING KIDDING ME! I NEED MY INHALER STILL!

Next two days: Toured London.

(Strolling by Buckingham Palace)

B: This is nice and all...but I'd rather be in Africa.

B: Save me from these creepy European men.

R: Let's make fun of the London guards.

(Reprimanded severely.)

(In Harrods Department Store)

R: Oh Look! We can go shopping! 50% off today only!

B: Oh for the love! This bag is $400!

R: How many orphans can we save with that? I feel bad being in this store when we should be in Africa!

B: I'm freezing and...I feel outplace in this store in these Africa clothes! Let's go look at the jeans!

R: Oh, only $600...so much better.

(Fast Forward to Sunday morning on the tram having heart attacks that we aren't going to make this flight...PLEASE MIND THE GAP!)

B: I have to pee.

R: Bethany, when don't you have to pee!

B: I need to teach you the Hoedown Throwdown when we get to the airport!

R: MAYBE...everyone will join in with us and the whole airport will dance with us!

B: .......Maybe........

(Many different nationalities observed us American's dance the Hoedown Throwdown in a coffee shop in the London Airport)

(Finally Boarding the Flight...with such jovial flight attendants....not!)

R: I've never been more excited to be getting on a flight!

B: I'm gonna cry!

R: I need my inhaler!

B: Me too! Let's do it together! PUFF on the count of three!

(Many Sierra Leonians staring)

Flight Attendants: Prepare for landing in Sierra Leone!

B: JAZZ HANDS!

R: TIGHT ARMS! WOOHOO!!

We're definitely not in Kansas anymore! Everything from the airport, the helicopter, the drive to our hotel...our actual hotel...is straight out of a movie! It's unreal! But, we could not have been happier to finally land in Sierra Leone. The suspense definitely made it all the sweeter! Everyone is safe, healthy and ready for a week of surprises from the Lord! We're going to The Covering to see the kids tomorrow! Thank you for your continued prayers! We'll report later! Until Next Time...

Dancing Through Life,

Bethany and Regina

And if our God is for Us...

As I stare at the keys on my laptop words that Jesus has spoken to me over the course of 6 months run through my mind and I don't even know where to begin. In twelve hours I will be on my way to Sierra Leone, West Africa. Not only that but I will be on my way to meet someone God placed in my life to start an organization that I have NOT even met! Seven years ago on a small retreat in Louisiana God placed ministry on my heart and placed countries with high orphan populations on my heart. I was also heavily involved in dancing and musical theatre and just knew firmly that the Lord would guide me to a place to combine the two for his glory. I waited. Fast forward to December of 2009 (and many experiences later) I sat in the audience of a retreat center as a youth minister at a church outside of Nashville. I prayed for God to give me amazing amount courage in 2010. Courage to step out and do whatever he wanted me to do, even if it meant stepping out of my comfort zone. That weekend I listened to a woman talk about the extreme poverty in Sierra Leone, West Africa. As tears rolled down my cheeks and goosebumps covered my body I knew I needed to know more about this organization. Upon returning home I e-mailed The Raining Season, telling them about myself and asking for more information on their organization. I received a response I would have never expected.

A young girl ALL the way in Minnesota had the same dream I had and was praying for someone to come on board to help make this dream a reality. It's overwhelming how God can intertwine the lives of people before they even know one another. Over the past six months I have grown to love Bethany without even knowing her and am more than excited for this exciting adventure we are about to embark upon together. I feel so many more emotions than I could ever place in to words, but I keep coming back to the line in the song "Our God is Greater", "And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us!" With God on our side who could ever stop us from finding homes for all 147 million orphans in this world? With God on our side who could ever stop us from feeding the hungry? From healing the broken? From living lives worthy of God's call? I know I fail miserably in my own life to measure up to how God would want me to live, but I do know that despite our shortcomings God has incredible plans for each one of us to bring His Kingdom here on earth. To make things right. To ensure that children do not go hungry. That people not only have life, but LIVE life! That children are able to dance through life! :-)

That is what Firefleyes seeks to do. To bring hope to the brokenhearted. Brit Nicole sings, "Don't let your fire burn out...Cause somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe." Wherever you sit in your life tonight, know that somewhere somebody needs a reason to believe in Sierra Leone. My mother always says that you find healing when you reach out to help others, but I think I'm learning that God does not intend for you to be healed...He intends to break your heart. To break your heart for the need around us as our eyes are opened to what needs to be fixed.

So, I ask for you to pray for our team over the next 10 days. Pray for our safety, peace, courage and strength. But also pray for our hearts to be broken. And I ask for you to pray for your heart to be broken too. Because those pieces of our hearts that are broken will only be spurred on to action when we truly grasp ahold of the incredible wonder and reality that...if our God is for us...then who could EVER stop us...stop us from changing the world!

Peace and Love,

Regina

We need your help!!

Our team leaves on Thursday and we are having trouble getting all of the stuff we are taking over the the kids in 50 pounds per bag. Now our only options are to either cut everything in half, or pay an arm and a leg for each of us to take more bags. We would really love to have one more bag for each of us so we can bring EVERYTHING that we have collected and make so many more kids happy. If you would like to help us out and donate to the cost of luggage you can contact me by email and visit www.therainingseason.org and donate on The Raining Season web site.

We are getting SO EXCITED! Thank you for EVERYTHING you have done to make this trip possible. You are such a blessing.... God is good.

WOW!

As today wraps up it is officially 9 days until our team heads to Sierra Leone! Its so amazing to think that in just a little over a week i will be laughing and playing with the precious children who live at the covering, and experience a life changing week. Last night was the sorting of ALLL the baby dolls and soccer balls that Firefleyes has collected in the last months. The children of Sierra Leone have been blessed with the generosity from people in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and even donations from all over the country. Its been a really humbling experience for me to meet people in the process of Firefleyes who would reach out to a total stranger and help me put a smile on a child's face. Meeting people who get more joy out of their life by helping others than by helping themselves is an amazing feeling. This overwhelming amount of donations in just a few months proves to me that anything is possible..... People inspire me to keep Firefleyes going and make it bigger and bigger with each new project we take on. I'm looking forward to write back to everyone while in Sierra Leone. Please check my blog each day and see what our team has been up to. Your prayers are appreciated!!!

So here it is..... 418 baby dolls and stuffed animals and over 100 soccer balls!!!! Still looking for more soccer balls so if you would like to donate a ball please let me know! THANK YOU everyone! You inspire me..... God is good.

lighting fire in hearts again...

I recently went and talked with Ms. Kellers kindergarden class. I was a bit nervous at first.... didn't know how the little ones would respond to talk about orphans in Sierra Leone. When i got there they were immediately eager to learn about my project. You can only imagine the kind of questions i was getting!! I showed them the globe and pointed out the route i would be taking when flying over there. We went around the circle to take a guess how long I would be on the plane. "100 weeks?!- 700 hours?!- 5000 hours?!" It was fun to hear the guesses! I told them about the children there that don't have a mom and dad to take care of them, or food and clothes like they get everyday. It was amazing to see the compassion they had for children all the way around the world that they didn't even know. It was God's way of demonstrating to us that kids are kids... whether or not they go to kindergarden in Ms. Kellers kindergarden class in MN, or they are live at the Covering in Sierra Leone Africa. They were all eager to go look through their toy boxes at home and bring toys back to school for me to bring with me on my trip. They each colored a picture for me to give to each kid at the Covering. One picture really touched my heart.... it read in the most precious kindergarden writing "i love you world" and then he drew a big world on it. The love and concern these kids had for children just like them many worlds away was so precious..... I think what i really realized while i was with the class was that not only is Firefleyes lighting the fire in the hearts of the orphaned children...... but its lighting the fire in EVERYONES hearts....... to get them excited about making a difference and helping out others in need. Once again..... God is so good.

Rummage Sale!

The count down is now 33 days until our team leaves for Sierra Leone. I can't tell you how overwhelming that is for me to think about. I just received the papers in the mail a few days ago stating that Firefleyes is now an official non profit under the state.... praise God! He is so great..... if someone would have told me in August when i was packing up for my first year of college that i was going to be starting a non profit organization in my freshman year i would have said they were crazy! Its truly an unbelievable feeling to think back on all that has happened in the past 9 months and all that i have been through!

There will be another fundraiser for the Sierra Leone trip at celebration church this Thursday the 20th. Clean out the closets and bring everything you don't want anymore this week to the church and we will be having a giant Sartell rummage sale! There are some great things being brought in and i would love to get more! All proceeds go directly to the trip and the orphanage and we appreciate your support. Any amount of clothing you can back into a grocery bag will only be 5 dollars! Spring cleaning and awesome deals... can't beat it! :) Looking forward to seeing you all there and thanks again for everything. God is so good.

Firefleyes Fundraisers!

This past weekend on March 20th in Sartell Minnesota we had a Fundraiser for Firefleyes and invited over 25 vendors to come and sell their products at celebration church. It was a great success and a great turn out. THANK YOU so much for everyone that came and shopped and brought donations for soccer balls and baby dolls for these children. You have made such a difference in the lives of these precious children. This journey has been such a blessing and i thank you all so much for all your support. Here are some great moments from the day.......

Regina Rigney lives in Nashville TN and is partnering with me in the efforts of Firefleyes. Together we will be going to Sierra Leone in June and distributing soccer balls and baby dolls, as well as introducing our love of dance in the US to the children in Freetown SL. She put on a Fundraiser in Nashville this past weekend and here is a note from her.....

Last weekend in Nashville, TN we had an incredible House Party w/ a Purpose to raise money for The Raining Season and Firefleyes! 4 local artists: Jeff Holstein, Lindsey Wells, Daniella Mason and Alvin Love, came together and played their songs and just had a great time w/ friends! It was an incredible success for our first fundraiser and drew in a lot of college students! I felt really blessed and can't wait for what else is in store for Firefleyes! Thanks to everyone who made it possible!