Several years back, my
husband and I decided that we needed to scale back on Christmas. We celebrate
with Santa in this house, but we wanted to make Christmas about giving rather
than receiving. So we decided that Santa would bring 3 gifts to our kids on Christmas
morning, and our gift to our children was to give them $50 each that they have
to spend on someone else.
The first year we did
it, it was really more fun for us to watch than them I think. :) We got the
Samaritan's Purse catalog and they spent the longest time looking through
deciding what to do with their money. Did they want to buy chickens, or goats,
or school supplies, or medical supplies, or combine their money and buy
something bigger like a donkey? It did this momma's heart good to watch them
spend hours looking through to decide what to give others. I think all in all
that year we ended up with mosquito nets, chickens, school supplies for 50
children, and a goat. Not too shabby for $200.
The
next year when they were looking through the catalog in October, Brayden (8
years old at the time) was reading each section. He was very thoughtfully
reading the description of what each thing would provide, and trying to make
the best choice he could with his $50. He said, "I think we should
supply clean water for Christmas." I told him, that he didn't have enough
for the hand held water pumps. They would clean water for 1 household for up to
3 months. But it was $250. I told him he would have to convince his brother and
sisters to combine their money, and then they would have to try to raise $50.
He said, "No Mom, for a whole village. I want clean water for the whole
village." I kind of laughed and said, "well buddy, that is $10,000. I
don't have $10,000. We only have $200." He looked at me with the most
sincere and serious face and said, "well... we have to try."
That is where the idea was born. I could not turn him down. I knew it was a long shot, impossible actually in my mind, but I wanted him to know we did everything possible. I wanted him to know God could do BIG things. So scared to death, we let the kids write a letter to friends and family.
That is where the idea was born. I could not turn him down. I knew it was a long shot, impossible actually in my mind, but I wanted him to know we did everything possible. I wanted him to know God could do BIG things. So scared to death, we let the kids write a letter to friends and family.
We spent the next 2 months doing so many
little odds and ins chores for generous people. The kids were 3, 5, 7, and 8...
so we were a tad limited on what we could do. But people came up with some
crazy awesome things for these little people and we did it! Sorting Legos,
picking up sticks and pinecones, decorating Christmas trees, feeding
farm animals, addressing Christmas cards, making Christmas cards...
if people thought of it, we tried to do it! We baked about 9 million
cookies for cookie exchanges and Christmas parties. The kids went through all
their toys and started selling them. They gave their birthday and Christmas
money to the cause. A local paper picked up the story, and MOPS
international picked up the story. We had all kinds of people sending money in
that were far away, but wanted to help us reach our goal! Any where from $2 to
a $2,000 donation came in. It was unbelievable and humbling.
As we got into December we learned that
Christian Relief Fund (another amazing organization) had an
anonymous donor that would be willing to match whatever we raised! We were
so excited!
All in all the kids ended up reaching the goal and building the well! It was such an AMAZING lesson for my children God can do ANYTHING!
February of 2014 when the well was dug, they sent us pictures and it was the amazing, awesome feeling all over again! The well provided clean drinking water to people who were walking 9 miles to the closest (not clean) water source. This was the beginning of a life changing situation for this community.
All in all the kids ended up reaching the goal and building the well! It was such an AMAZING lesson for my children God can do ANYTHING!
February of 2014 when the well was dug, they sent us pictures and it was the amazing, awesome feeling all over again! The well provided clean drinking water to people who were walking 9 miles to the closest (not clean) water source. This was the beginning of a life changing situation for this community.
Since that year of taking a leap of faith,
we have continued to stay in touch with the village and the needs that arise
there. In 2016, after moving to Maryland we took another leap of faith to raise
a huge sum of money to put a solar pump in the existing well. The clean water
that was being able to accessed was still on a hand pump situation. This would
not only make it easier for the children to access the water (they are the
primary water fetchers), but it would also allow them to farm the land.
This is the year we started to partner with
We Help Two. It is an amazing organization that lets us sell fun and funky
socks and receive 70% of the profit AND they provide us with a pair of thermal
socks for the homeless in our area for every pair we sell. This was the perfect
opportunity to show our kids how we could help both globally and locally. It
also gave us the platform and opportunity to speak Jesus in the public school system
where the kids were attending.
That year we had an outpouring of love from
our community and a ton of people we didn’t even know. We raised $8,029.33 to
help a little village in Kenya! And beyond helping the village on the
other side of the world, y'all bought funky socks... like tons of them! And
with the generous WE HELP TWO we provided 550 pair of warm socks that were
distributed all over the state of Maryland, Washington DC, Missouri, and a few
states in between for people in need over the winter time. And not only that...
but 174 pair of fun funky socks for kids in the hospital! With those
funds you provided a Solar well pump for fresh flowing water for that little
village in Kenya. Not only did you do that, but there was so much money raised
beyond the goal that they purchased beds, and mattresses, and lots of goats and
chickens for the community!
Last year in 2017, my mom passed away from
kidney cancer after a very short but fierce battle. She was a pre-school and
kindergarten teacher for the last 25 years. It felt very hard to want to do
anything last year with the loss of my mom and the (very unexpected) birth of
our 5th child, but when our contact at Christian Relief Fund told us
that the biggest need was to build a pre-school and kindergarten classroom, we
knew this was what the Lord wanted us to do.
Our goal was to purchase 2 cows and a classroom (to be donated
in my mother’s name) for the village in Kenya and to be able to have 200 pair
of warm socks to donate here locally. Not only did we meet the goals-
y’all blew it out of the water! We got not 2, but 3 cows! We got not 1, but 2 classrooms!!! Not only did we get the classrooms, but desks for all 60 students! All of them y’all!!! ALL! And we have more than 400 pairs of socks to donate! and we did it in my mom’s name. We partnered with We Help Two again, and we were able to use the end of the campaign to have people sponsor socks to go to children fighting cancer.
In the last two years we have donated more
than 850 pairs of socks to the homeless in Southern Maryland/ DC area and more
than 250 kids in the hospital and foster care in our area have received fun
funky socks… and that is only the local impact.
We believe the Lord is doing amazing things
and letting us be just a little part of that.
This year our goals were HUGE! We wanted to get all 34 students
attending at the Kriete School in Chemurgui sponsored. This would provide them
with clothing, food, schooling, medical and Bible teaching. This was our number
one priority, to make sure these kids were taken care of. We achieved this goal
through lots of generous friends and family on Thanksgiving Day 2018!
Our secondary goals this year were to:
1.Provide the village there with a herd of
25-30 goats. Goats are hearty and multiply fast. The goal is that this herd
will become 150 in the next 2-3 years. It will provide much needed milk for the
school and give employment to many there that need it. People in the community
can be hired to tend to the goats, use milk from the goats to sell at the local
market, along with other things. This has a price tag of $1,500.
2.
Build a bathroom at the school. The school we built last year currently has no
bathroom. They share a one stall outhouse that is collapsing (both underground
and the outward structure) with the church across the road. We wanted to dig a
new pit latrine that would provide a stable, 10 stall bathroom structure at the
school. This has a price tag of $5,000.
So once again, we are partnering with WeHelp Two to try to raise funds and put socks on the homeless here in Southern
Maryland. We also are trying to get 50 pair of socks sponsored to donate to
kids in the hospital and foster care system.
So here in the final stretch of this year’s
campaign,
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1. BUY SOCK- $15 is for a 3 pack of socks for you. When you do that, $9
goes to the bathroom project in Kenya AND a pair of thermal socks is donated to
the homeless here in St. Mary’s county. You can order those HERE through WeHelp Two sock store until DECEMBER 21st! Just put KRIETE in the
organization you would like to support (step 3) at checkout.
3.
DONATE! Socks aren't your thing but
still want to see this awesome things happen? We've got you covered! You can
send donations to be applied 100% toward the BATHROOM project through PayPal to krietechristmas2018@gmail.com HERE or you can send donations to:
Cassie Kriete
27595 Avonlea Ct.
Mechanicsville, MD 20659
4.
5-SPREAD THE WORD! If
you have already bought socks or donated... please spread the word! Share our story and our mission! Wear your socks! Take
pictures and tag me in them! We are relying on you to help us get the word out!
5.
PRAY- If
none of these monetary options are for you, we covet your prayers. We ask for
prayers for the people of Chemurgui, Kenya and the homeless here in Maryland.
And as a mother, I ask for you to pray for our family… that we always keep the
focus on the Lord and remember we are just the hands and feet to His amazing
works!
THANK YOU!!! To everyone that has and continues to support this mission! Thanks for joining us on this journey!
