Our first Fundraiser! Woo Hoo!

Our first fundraiser was a complete success! At half time of the boys varsity game against Chewelah, we gave the fans an opportunity to get involved with Mocha Club. For one dollar a piece, the crowd was able to show off their basketball skills for a shot at a 2 liter bottle of soda. We had multiple half court shots get made which was exiting to watch in itself but what was really exiting was to see the support of the crowd.

Not only did our hometown Panther fans get involved but almost half of the shots that were taken were from Chewelah! Even the moms of the players were getting into it, and trust me that was entertaining to watch! It was wonderful to see that it did not matter where the fans were from, but they were just happy to help out a good cause (and have some fun in the process.)

We made over 70 dollars in one night! That means that with the money we have from just that one fundraiser we were able to give 70 Africans water for an entire year. Of course the crowd enjoyed their soda pop, but when it was announced how much they had done to help, they were even more exited. We are looking forward to being able to do even more exiting fundraisers in the future, and even more so, we are looking forward to seeing how much we can do for the continent of Africa!

God Bless...
~Stephen E.

Speaking at Chapel!

When I was first asked to speak at chapel, I told Sydney she was insane. Me? What do I have to offer? All I do is crack annoyingly funny sarcastic comments with the occasional, "I love you" in between... Why do I need to be the one to speak at chapel? I didn't want to speak to the WHOLE school (total of only 166 kids hahaha but still...). I reluctantly agreed but as usual, complained the whole way. As I was asked to come up on stage I didn't know how to start. At first I thought I was going to just up-chuck in front of the whole school and completely embarrass myself, then I thought as I looked into the crowd, "wait a minute... I can name each and every person here..." Then it hit me. I knew all the people in the crowd. At some point during my 3 years at VCS, I had spoken to each and every one of them at least once. Then something else hit me; Did I really care what other people thought about me? So there I was, scared to death and literally shaking, when Syd handed me the mic.

As I began to speak I realized that some of my comments made them laugh and I became more and more comfortable. I began to explain how God has spoken to me during the Sanctus Real concert and how the fact that the man preaching had the exact same name and managed to speak in the third person the whole time! I could really feel God tugging at my heart to get something going and just like the night at the concert, my heart ached for people to understand the extensiveness of this genocide occurring just a continent away. So, I spoke from my heart, I said anything and everything that came to mind and I not only encouraged my peers but also managed to somehow encourage myself.

Turns out , everyone loved the video and wanted to help in one way or another. It was so encouraging to see my friends get so involved in something that started out so small. Ever since then, we have been gaining recognition and really been putting forth an effort to really make a difference in the lives of those in Africa. Not to mention the fact that I get to do this while having two of my best friends at my side. I keep hearing people encourage me by saying, "You're making a difference in the lives of people you don't even know."When all I really want to say back is, "Well, look at the difference they've made in me."

God Bless!
~Sammie R.