On Our Way!

The 5 of us are on our way (along with 11 others) to El Salvador in the morning! We are so excited and ready to see what God will do and what memories we will make. Thank you to so many of you who have donated, encouraged and prayed for us! We were able to raise $8,300 to cover the expenses of our trip with the remaining amount going towards a project for the school in El Zonte.

Please pray for safety, unity amongst our team and for the good news of Jesus to be lived out and received by many. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing opportunity.

1 TIMOTHY 1:15-17
¹⁵ Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. ¹⁶ But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Half way there!

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for checking out our blog.  We are getting more and more excited for December.  The pieces are starting to come together (passports and paperwork are done, and we're working on shots... ouch!).  We are so thankful for all of you who have helped us out so far with the financial part of this adventure.  We could not do it without you!!!

To date, we are half way to our goal.  Thank you!  Thank you!  What a blessing y'all are (Just came back from Texas, and I am determined to make that phrase work in Cali).

I have been working hard on our "thankful" banners to sell to help raise money, and they are ready.  I'm not sure the best way to list them, other than to just put a # next to each one and it is first come first serve.  Just let me know which one you would like in a comment and I will get it out to you. (There may be a small shipping charge depending on how far away we need to send it, but I will let you know.)

We are selling them for $25 a piece (please make checks payable to Holly Horn).  They are each unique, ready to hang, and come with everything you need including mini clothes pins and the little leaves to write your thanks on.  Here is a photo of the one I made for my family last year...

Every night, the week before Thanksgiving we would sit around the fireplace and write one thing we were thankful for on a leaf and then clip it to the banner.  By Thanksgiving, our banner was full of good things and it was such a great reminder, for us, of how much God provides for us.
The best part was that I saved the leaves from last year (I dated them), and when I pulled out the banner this year it was so fun to see what we were thankful for the year before (soup, R2D2, our church family, etc.).  A great family tradition.
So, without further ado... here are the banners.

#1 SOLD

#2 SOLD

#3 SOLD

#4 SOLD

#5 SOLD

#6 SOLD

#7 SOLD

#8 SOLD

#9 SOLD

#10 SOLD

#11 SOLD

#12 SOLD

#13 SOLD

                    

#14 SOLD

#15 (multi color stripe with slate blue letters)








Well, that's all of them.  I hope you like the selection and that you see something that might work for you.  I LOVE the idea of these banners, and I hope you do too. :)

Thanks again!!!
Holly

Passports and Support Letters

We're headed to get our Passport photos (only Geoff has a valid passport) and send our applications in today! Will is stoked as his teacher told them about passports at school yesterday.

And hopefully, we'll have most of our support letters addressed, stamped and ready to go today or tomorrow!

Party of Five!

There is a lot of excitement (and a little trepidation) as we prepare to go on a mission trip to a foreign country as a whole family. It has been a dream of mine to take our kids on adventures and to do big things for God. New places, a different culture and way of life, interesting people...there is nothing like travel to broaden our view of the world and begin to see how big our God is.

Are we ready to take our 3 young boys on an adventure like this? I had this in mind during my trip to El Zonte in 2009...Would it be a safe (enough) place for our kids? Would they be able to help and contribute to the team and the work we are going to do? I am confident that the answer to these two questions is YES! El Zonte is a small, secluded beach hamlet about 40 minutes from the airport. We won't be doing any driving other than to and from the airport and the town is very safe. Kids/Niños are everywhere, we'll drink bottled water, etc. The primary work of the mission team will be to put on a Vacation Bible School (with local kids the same ages as our boys) and Jackson, Will and Samuel will be able to help with this in a few different ways; primarily by leading by example in their groups and helping with crafts and games (This will be a stretch for Samuel--I get that). Ultimately, we feel like God is in this so we are stepping out in faith and beginning our fundraising for the trip.

If you have any ideas for us on how to raise support, advice on things to think about before we take our kids on a trip out of the country, any Rosetta Stone [Spanish] software you want to loan us or any other feedback, we'd love to hear from you!

Geoff

At the time of the trip Jackson will be 9 1/2 years old, Will 6 1/2 years old and Samuel 4 years old.

2009-2010 El Zonte Trip

I (Geoff) was part of a trip to El Zonte the last week of December 2009 into January 2010. Our team consisted of 13 of us from the U.S. and 8 from Guatemala City (the 6 members of the Osborn family plus friends Pablo and Ammi). For each of the last 4 years, a team from the U.S. has joined the Osborns to share the gospel and the love of Jesus to the residents of this tiny beach town. Dave, Mandy, Spencer, Nicolas, Camden and Cambria Osborn have invested much in this community and are regarded as "locals."