Fundraiser Results

The numbers are in and the fundraiser dinner proved to be a HUGE success. So many people came out to support our mission efforts from all of our circles and beyond. The cafeteria was so full that we even set up tables outside for diners. We had so many great volunteers help to make it such a successful evening. Many thanks to Adam Kreft and the Muddy River Ramblers (http://blog.muddyriverramblers.com/?p=5) for their great music. We went in with some projections for the evening and were blown away at the money that was raised (more than double our projections). Almost $12,000 was collected for the mission efforts! It's absolutely amazing to see the power of so many come together for one great cause. Many people have asked who the winners were of the "big raffle" so we have decided to post them. Please note all of the items were donated (most by the businesses themselves) so feel free to thank them with your support if you are ever in the St. Louis area. Drumroll please...and the winners are:

Ted Drewes' Cardinal Tickets--Marty Stephanitch, 2nd prize tickets and dinner--Joanne Harder, 3rd prize tickets--Justin Wagner, 4th prize tickets--Brian Donahue, 5th prize California Pizza Kitchen cookbook--Tim Ode.

We also had several mini raffles and the winners of those are:

Chicken Dinner at Lodge at Grant's Trail--Agnes Kelly, Kenrick's BBQ basket and Johnny's Market GC--Ken Kinzel, Are We There Yet day trip--Ray & Shirley Brinker, AB products--Ken Fisher, Cardinals Fan Pack--Janet Ardenrieth, Schlafly Brewery Tour--Jack Magee, Pottery Bowl--Sue Klenc, Xmas giftwrap--Jan Casey, Psghetti's family dinner--Jan Casey, Muny tickets/boxed lunch--Cindy Eatherton, Mary Engelbreit tour/basket--Michelle Artz, BeautiControl basket (from consultant Joanne Harder)--Nathan Barger.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks again to all of our supporters.

Two More Days!!

As I sit here writing this I'm also running through massive to-do lists in my mind. We've got just 2 more days until we begin what will probably be one of the busier weekends in this mission journey. On Friday we're anticipating feeding 400-500 people at our Mission Fundraiser Dinner & Raffle (see previous post for updated info)--amazing especially since I don't think we really know that many people. On Saturday we're having our second of two "Spring Spruce-ups" to get our house ready for our 1 year absence (see spring spruce up post for more info on that).

Preparing for these events has been, at the very least, quite time consuming. Admittedly, Andy has found it to be a bit more rewarding than myself. He's the grand "people person" and has found it very uplifting to be able to use this marketing opportunity to talk to people and spread the Good News of this mission--he's the Mary from the Mary & Martha story in the bible. I'm definitely the Martha and am more of a behind the scenes kind of person. I tend to use my creativity and talents on the planning side of things (if your child has had the privilege of attending one of our children's birthday parties you might know what I'm talking about). The planning and preparations that have gone into this upcoming weekend have been huge. Don't get me wrong, I can plan almost anything and do a very good job with it. But the Martha in me has found myself wondering why I'm spending so much of my time planning for these events when I should be preparing for the "big send off" in June--just 7 weeks away mind you.

But then it's become more clear to me over the last few days. Our mission trip doesn't start when we get off the plane in Belize. It started when we decided to spread the news about this trip months ago. That was the ultimate transformation from a "calling" into a "mission."

We've already heard countless stories of people whose hearts have been moved in one way or another to be called to action because of what we're doing. And while this weekend does have some focus on support raising it goes way beyond that. The Kuhnert family is not going out in our name to do our thing. The book People Raising has reminded me this week that we are going in the name of Jesus to do work which He has called His people. This weekend is about bringing awareness. It's about giving God's people an opportunity to fulfill their responsibilities to help the "least of our brothers." There will be more than just food and labor flowing from our resources--we're really hoping to make the dinner and the work day a focus on what our mission is and help others to see how they can become a part of a "team" that will impact the world.

Forgive me if the Martha in me sometimes seems to get in the way of that focus. I thank God that He constantly brings me back and reminds me not to worry about such things and instead turns my head towards that which is most important--serving Him.

Of course we certainly hope that involves you coming out to eat with us on Friday and work with us on Saturday!