Fund-Raising Photo Shoots

Over the past couple of weeks Evergreen Photography Studios has been running a special where all proceeds go towards my fund-raising efforts for my mission trip to Russia! Based right here in West Michigan, Evergreen Photography Studios is owned and operated by my wonderful sister-in-law, Michelle Curnow!

A big THANK YOU goes out to Michelle and all of the clients who participated in this special. So far we have had 5 photo shoots and 2 more scheduled on Monday. There is still some time to schedule your photo shoot with Evergreen Photography Studios and take advantage of the "Janessa Is Going To Russia" promotion. My deadline is July 1, 2010, so schedule your booking now by clicking HERE to go to the Evergreen Photography Studios website! If you can't schedule a shoot during the promotion, still check it out- they do all kinds of events and packages and are very reasonably priced!

Here is a picture from one of the photo shoots- two of my good friends, Amanda and Nicole, have daughters who were born one day apart! BFFs Annika and Charlee got their picture taken with "Nessa" during their shoot. It was towards the end and they wanted to go play, but they still look ADORABLE!!


Fund-raising efforts are still going on, so please consider donating in anyway you can. I need an additional $1,100 by July 1st!! Click HERE for more details!

♥♥ Janessa

Unofficial Russia Team Meeting= Awesome

This past Thursday, me and a few of the women I am going to Russia with met for an informal Russia Team Meeting. We had an official meeting scheduled that day and the date changed, but we still wanted to meet up and get to know each other better. BEST. IDEA. EVER.

I had such a great time getting to know those women better. The women who showed up were: Autumn, Lindsey, Nicole, Jessica, Kristen, Lori, Jen, Allison, Emily (Em) and of course, me! There were about 15 people who couldn't make it- sad- but we had a good time. We talked about how we heard about this trip and what made us sign up for it. We heard pieces of each others testimonies and we prayed for each other and the trip.

We have an official team meeting in Grand Rapids on Monday, June 21 and another "unofficial" team meeting in Plainwell on Tuesday, June 29. A big THANK YOU to Lindsey who has been so great in planning our informal meetings and to Autumn who provides a place for us to meet!

Talking with the girls on Thursday definitely started getting me pumped for the big trip. I was excited to go, but distracted by other things in my life that I didn't give it much thought other than how much I still needed to fund-raise. Thursday really made me realize that this is coming up soon and we are going to have such a great time!

Speaking of fund-raising... I do still need between $1,500- $1,700 for the trip, so please consider donating if you have not already! Please visit my past post for details on donations or contact me at janessac917@yahoo.com if you have additional questions.

♥♥ Janessa

Halfway There!

In this post I first wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far towards my mission trip to Russia. As you may know, June 1st was the first deadline and we had to have $1600 in our trip accounts to pay for airfare. This coming week they will make all the finishing touches on the tickets and then we will find out the final cost of that portion. When I find that out, I'll know officially how much I have left to raise to get me to Russia! Right now I am estimating anywhere between $1,500 and $1,700 to go!

As we get closer to the final deadline for fund-raising (all money due by July 1, 2010!!!) I do start to get anxious, but I trust that God will provide. I pray that He speaks to the hearts of friends and family (and strangers??) to give what they can and help me meet the financial needs. From there I will be able to focus on gathering supplies that we'll be taking to the orphans and also working with my team to create a program for the time we spend with the orphans.

Once again, if you are in the West Michigan area and would like to get your photos taken by Evergreen Photography, contact Michelle at michelle@evergreenphotographystudios.com and schedule a photo shoot. If you mention my trip, all proceeds will go towards my trip! Book before July 1!!

On June 10 a few of us are going to have an informal meeting to just hang out and get to know each other better. I hope I can make it and that work will not interfere. Then on June 21 we have our next "official" team meeting where we will meet Paula from Orphan Outreach in person. Paula will be going on the trip with us, but since she works at Orphan Outreach in Texas, she was unable to make our first meeting. We'll also be turning in our Visa applications on the 21st!

Please continue to pray for me and my team. Please pray that we all receive the monetary donations we need to go on the trip, that we bond as a team and that we keep our minds and hearts open to the experiences we'll face in preparation for and during the trip.

Grace & Peace
♥ Janessa