Your Turn

Have you been meaning to sign up to help support Mocha Club?

Well we have a link for you to get started! Join the Centenary Clean Water group or feel free to start your own group benefiting a different area the Mocha Club supports.

It's Live Yall!

Tonight at Live.MochaClub.org Dave Barnes, Matt Wertz and Brandon Heath will talk and play live at 8pm Central Time!!! Its only $1.50 for a ticket to watch with all the proceeds going towards clean water. So get going and buy a ticket! :)

World AIDS Day

Today is world AIDS day. And although this is a clip supporting (RED) through Mocha Club just $5 can provide the life-sustaining Anti-Retroviral medication. Its simple, save a life.

Feel the need to give a one time gift? Click Here.

Bring the Change

I was just thinking about Mocha Club and was really lost as to what I could do now at college because I don't have the same abilities I did before at VC, then I stumbled acrossed this.

How cool is this?!?!

Finishing the School Year

Graduation has officially come and gone, now the three of us will go our separate ways as we head to college. Before the school office closed for the summer we got our canister that had been sitting in the office window for the majority of the year. I've finally totalled it up and we have raised $400.00! That is so amazing and I am so excited about how many people we can help.

International Justice Day

Today is International Justice Day.

With this knowledge we are called to act. What will you do? Are you ready to change the world? Don't wait!

Mowing Lawns and Making a Difference!

It's always encouraging when someone stops me in the hallway to tell me that they're proud of my friends and me or give me some extra change they have in their pocket for Mocha Club. I love the heart of some people. There's a junior higher at VCS that particularly caught my interest and really brought me to tears when he tracked me down in the hallway the other day.

Seventh grader, Scotty Worley, came up to me with his arm outstretched and some cash in his hand. I looked at him with a puzzled look because its not every day that a junior high boy forks over cash for no reason... or ever for that matter!! He said, "It's for Mocha Club!" I smiled and figured it was a dollar bill but when I lifted it from his fingers the number it revealed was 20 instead of 1... I looked up in amazement and said, "SCOTTY!?" He smiled and began to explain.

Apparently, this young man is more of an adult than I'd ever thought. He told me how he started a lawn mowing business and was dedicated to donating his first 3 paychecks to Mocha Club. I almost started to cry! I was so shocked that anyone would do something so profound and so Christ-Like. His servants heart and love for Jesus Christ truly shone threw him at that moment and I can honestly say I've never been more proud of a junior higher in my entire life!

His mom later told me that he had promised God he'd donate his first three paychecks to help some charity and felt Mocha Club was a proper fit for the position. Completely baffled and extremely touched by the support, I decided that he needed to be advertised because he not only deserves the money, hes also tithing before he's even got a STEADY INCOME! Most ADULTS don't tithe!!! HOLY COW! I am so in awe of this kid! I swear! He's amazing. It's just plain and simple.

I'll put all his contact information below so you can call him up and have him MOW AWAY! :) He's such a role-model for his generation and I hope this inspires you to give more just like Scotty. Scotty. We love you so much. Thank you for all your help and support. We'd love to get you involved in Mocha Club and want to start involving you in campaign process this summer as well as set you up so you can continue to raise money for Mocha Club at VCS while we are away at college. :) We're handing the baton to you my friend. :) Take it and start sprinting! :)

God Bless You Scotty!!
All my love,
Your "big sister,"
~Sammie R.

Scotty's Mowing Service includes: Lawn mowing, weed-whacking, weeding, sidewalk-patio-and-deck sweeping, and even 'doggy dropping pickup.'
It's $10 an hour (or) negotiable by the job. It even has a senior discount!!!
You can call Scotty @ (509) 533-9571 or email him at scoblu@gmail.com to reserve your weekly or bi-weekly lawn maintenance service for this summer...
It also says that He is committed to donate 10% of his profits to Mocha Club. Scotty, you rock. :) Keep up the good work and hopefully this brings in some serious business for you! :)

On Air1!

So today I was totally driving around in my car to all the great places I need to be with my radio tuned to Air1 and they started talking about Mocha Club! It is their featured cause right now and it was totally great to hear about it on the radio where so many people around the country can discover it.

Check it out on their web site: www.air1.com/Ministry/Partners/Featured.aspx

~Sydney E.

Update

Here is just a quick update because we have been pretty busy the past few weeks. With the crazy demands right now that we have from school with graduation and college our work for Mocha Club has been sadly pushed to the back burner. I'm hoping that once we are graduates our time will free up a bit more so we can devote more of our time and energy to this. But we have made some slow progress and after emptying our can that sits outside our school office and totaling all the spare change rolling around my house we have come to a total of $324.79. Yay!

We continue to search for new and fun ideas to mix up our fundraising campaign. If you have any suggestions or words of encouragement we would really appreciate them.

~Sydney E.

Raising Awareness

Fundraisers have been difficult for us now that basketball games are over so coming up with new fun ideas has been a slow process. While we are waiting for our brains to jump-start we have made a collection container that we placed in the office window at our school. Many people have asked us about it so I finally made a beautiful masterpiece lol. It does the job, and it has become weighted down with change. How great is that? We haven't even had to do anything and people are still wanting to make change for Africa!

Our school recently had an auction to raise funds for the next school year and the three of us got together and donated a Mocha Club basket. It was a bummer because we couldn't get it to work out to where the money donated for our basket would go to us, but we found it to still be a great opportunity to share with someone outside our school the need and a way to get involved. In our basket we put a travel mug, two coffee cups, a bean grinder, two bags of beans and a copy of our video. It didn't sell for as much as we would have like but nonetheless it was a great chance to get our cause into the hands of someone else.

~Sydney E.

Hey I'm: Stephen E.

Hey I'm Stephen. I am eighteen years old and in my last year of high school. I am a pretty cheerful guy. From a pretty early age my favorite verses have been Psalm 144:15 "Happy are those whose God is the Lord." and Proverbs 17:22 "A happy heart does good like medicine." I really love trying to pass that joy around. I play football and tennis but I don't plan on pursuing either. I teach Sunday School at my church and absolutely love it. Reaching out and teaching kids is really my passion. I can't get enough! Kids are great and I learn as much or more from them as they do from me.

From there it is pretty easy to see why Mocha Club is important to me. When I realized how many children in Africa were in need it really broke my heart, and when I learned how easy it was to help it was an easy choice to get involved. God's Word tells us to help those in need and I feel so blessed that I am able to help those that are less fortunate than I am. Especially in such an easy and fun way through Mocha Club. I want to continue to help Africa no matter what. God does amazing things and I know He will bless the continent of Africa through Mocha Club.

~Stephen E.

Hey I'm: Sydney E.

Hey I'm Sydney, a senior in high school. I am the class treasurer and I sing on the Worship Team. Sports are a major part of my life with volleyball over and tennis starting I am a busy girl. However my true athletic passion is equestrian show jumping. I am blessed to own my own incredible horse. To follow my dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete I will be pursuing Riding and Instruction as a major.

While I am working towards a solid future I am also determined to continue reaching out to Africa. After seeing what needs to be done not doing something to help is not an option to me. Lamentations 2:19 "Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street." This continues to inspire me to keep up all efforts to do what I can. What the Mocha Club does is simply amazing and I get to be apart of it!

God is good and gracious and through us we can do his work for those in need. How amazing is that?! That a huge, all-powerful God can use someone as small and insignificant like me to help do His good and perfect will blows my mind! I am letting the Lord lead my life because "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11.

~Sydney E.

Hey I'm: Sammie R.

The name’s Sammie. I’m a senior this year, OW OW! I am very involved in my school, I am most usually utilized for certain Graphic Design elements that the school does. I love my class! We are very close and I’m so blessed to call them my friends! I’m not your average girl! I love to make people laugh and smile but I’ve been through quite a bit in my life but I plan to use it to show people God’s amazing love and redemption through the saving grace of Jesus Christ! I plan to go into Graphic Design for my future career field. Design is my passion!

I also have a heart for ministry , mostly youth but I love it all! My heart is taken 100% by Jesus Christ and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Mocha Club for me has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I get to help change the world while it changes mine, AND I get to do it with my best friends at my side. How cool is that?! God has really given me a passion for ministry and missions and I would LOVE to go to Africa to give life and share the gospel!

I love getting lost in God’s word and the verse I cling onto for the change I want to bring to this world is Deuteronomy 15:11; “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” So I’ll ask you, just like I was asked, “So you wanna change the world? What are you waiting for?”

God Bless

~Sammie R.

Some Recognition.

Recently the work Sammie, Stephen, and I have done has been recognized in a couple ways. The first was in our schools quarterly newsletter where our principal Derick Tabish talked about passing on a purpose to those younger than us and helping one another grow as servants of the Lord. At the end of his article he complimented us on the challenging work we are doing to send a helping hand to Africa through the Mocha Club.

After contacting our representative from Mocha Club and telling her about our efforts and this blog, she immediately linked us back from their website. Check it out by clicking on the Mocha Club Make Change Campaign link.

We can't believe the support we have gotten and continue to give all the credit to God! Only He knows the plans He has for us but they are plans to prosper us and to give us strength.

~Sydney E.

Fundraiser no. 3!!!

This past Thursday we had our third and final basketball halftime fundraiser. Our team was playing the Rearden Indians and their crowd was few. I must admit I doubted the success we were going to receive. But great is the Lord, He proved that even small numbers can generate a big response. We made $57 dollars and some change! Our efforts to make change are doing just that, we have raised over $178 dollars all for Africa! So far our short journey to relief has been a prosperous one, God is definitely not done with us!

Here are some pictures of us hard at work :).

We have had tons of fun thus far! And we don't plan on slowing down.

~Sydney E.

Fundraiser #2! Ow ow! :)

This time around we weren't expecting to make much because the opposing team was much smaller. We walked in with our hearts full and ready to receive anything that God had for us. As we started the fundraiser it basically played out the same. With determined people and Stephen's mad auctioneer skills we made a good $50s. It was really encouraging to see two teams and masses of people come together like one big family and really care about the cause! :) It was nice to see the unity and experience the amazing and life changing love of God.

We were SO blessed by all the people who helped out without question and we were also extremely excited to make more than we ever could have imagined! We are off to a fantastic start and are SO excited to see what God has in store for the future!!! PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE A TIME FOR US TO EXPLAIN WHAT WE ARE DOING AND THROW A FUNDRAISER OR JUST RAISE AWARENESS! It would be such a blessing to be recommended to campaign more than just at the schools' home basketball games! We are looking for youth groups and conventions to further God's calling for this campaign!!!

Thank you so much for your support!

With God's Love,
~Sammie R.

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.

Getting Started!

We had our first Mocha Club meeting the other day and we are super stoked with the things we got planned out. We have a list of fundraisers that we want to accomplish like free throws at basketball half-times, t-shirts and many others. After contacting the Mocha Club we were assigned a rep. to answer any of our questions. We even talked to the ASB and are going to get time during a chapel to talk!

~Sydney E.

Mocha Club

Last Sunday Sammie, Stephen and I went to the Sanctus Real concert with Tenth Avenue North and VOTA. It was a really fun concert! It was really nice for bands like that to come to Spokane. Just being there to begin was a total God thing for me, I normally don't find out about stuff like this so to hear about this on two different radio stations and to have it pop up online was totally out of my norm. Between Tenth Avenue North and Sanctus Real a man named Sammy A. came up and talked to the crowd. He started sharing some incredible details that really got us listening.

43 million people live with HIV/AIDS

- 2 out of three live in Africa

44,000 die every week

6,300 every day

5 every minute!

And with only $7 dollars we were told that we could make a difference. That sounded easy enough to us so after the concert was over we connected with Sammy and got information on how to get started!

~Sydney E.