We are so excited to introduce you to our dear
friend Eddie Humphrey, Minister of Childhood Education of
First Baptist of Belton, TX. Eddie was introduced to
Sweet Sleep while attending the LifeWay Kids Ministry Conference last fall in Nashville,
TN with his wife Kelly. We’re so
thankful Eddie’s Sweet Sleep Journey has just begun!
“After my introduction to Sweet Sleep last
fall, I really sensed that God was calling me and our church to perhaps focus
on Sweet Sleep for our upcoming VBS missions offering. I began praying about that at the conference and
then the months to follow.”
For each VBS, the children,
families, and teachers are asked to bring offerings to be used towards a good
cause of their choice; this year they decided to use Sweet Sleep’s mission
project, Build-a-Bed.
“I felt the mission of Sweet Sleep, kids
helping kids, would be something that our children would be able to hear and hopefully
relate to.
They chose to have a boys v. girls
and weighed the change brought in each morning of VBS on their “Scale of Wonder.”
“The families and kids responded so
graciously this summer. For our church it was the largest VBS offering we’ve
ever been a part of! We set different goals, and if we hit $5000 the kids could
shave my head on stage; they were able to do just that! (pictured) We felt led
to send our money specifically to Gulu, Uganda.
In Gulu it costs $50 per child to receive a bed, malaria net, and bible.
$5,000 was raised meaning over 100 beds for the children of Gulu!”
Eddie continued to pray through the
summer how their relationship with Sweet Sleep could be a lasting one. After receiving encouragement from his
supervisors and pastoral staff, they decided a mission journey to Gulu, where
they could meet the children and work with local ministers, would be an
incredible opportunity for them to continue their partnership with Sweet Sleep.
Just so it happened a church from
Minnesota was planning a Sweet Sleep mission journey to Gulu on November
16-25! Eddie and his colleague were
invited to join the team on this bed distribution trip to carry their
experiences back to their church while deepening their partnership with Sweet
Sleep!
“I’m just elated and very humbled to
be a part of this journey. I look
forward to seeing how the Lord will use our team and the power of his spirit. I’ve had the chance to speak to the team
members from Minnesota on a conference call and that was a joy to hear their
heart for the Lord and hear how the He has stirred this need in their life as
well. We’re forever grateful for this
great body of people in Minnesota to let us jump on their team.
I’m looking forward to finally arriving and
actually being able to meet, shake hands, and hug the necks of the kids—that’s
what I’m most excited for.”
Eddie shared that another priority
in going to Gulu is to gather pictures and video footage to bring back and
share with the children and members of his church. For next summer, he plans to partner with
Sweet Sleep again and incorporate his personal experiences in Gulu into the
mission focus of VBS!
Stay updated with Eddie and the team through the
Sweet Sleep Blog and Facebook page as
they show God’s love to the the orphaned and abandoned children in Gulu through
the provision of beds, bibles, and life-saving mosquito nets!
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