Ranier Christian School raises over $5K for Sweet Sleep

In February we told you about Ranier Christian School, Maple Valley Elementary Campus in Renton WA.  This year the faculty of the 140 student school chose Sweet Sleep to be the focus for their missions project.  They chose Sweet Sleep because of the simple impact they could have on educating the students on the plight of orphan children in orphanages in countries like Moldova. Following is the rest of the story.

28 of the 140 students from Rainier Christian Schools-Maple Valley Campus celebrating with a Sweet Sleep Slumber Party! The entire school celebrated exceeding their goal of raising enough money to build beds for orphans. What slumber party would not be complete without wearing pajamas, cuddling with a favorite blanket or stuffed animal, enjoying milk and cookies and a bedtime story? A great time was had by all!

Doesn’t everyone want a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in each night? Many of us feel we deserve it, but not everyone has that basic need met. Half way around the world in the small Eastern European country of Moldova, 10,000 orphans are currently living in state-run orphanages. Most of these children sleep on 50-year-old broken beds with springs that have “sprung,” causing them to sag to the floor. Their mattresses are cotton mats, which are less than one-inch thick and have been soiled for decades. Two children might sleep in one of these beds and share a threadbare blanket.

We set a goal
Recently, through the ministry of Connected by Grace, an advocate for adoption, foster care, and orphans, the 140 kindergarten through sixth grade students on the Maple Valley Elementary Campus of Rainier Christian Schools learned about the plight of these orphans and determined to help Sweet Sleep, a faith-based nonprofit organization which provides beds to the world’s orphaned and abandoned children. The students set a goal to raise enough money to provide 3 beds from each classroom – 21 new beds in all. These new beds have beautiful, wooden frames, six-inch-thick foam mattresses and fluffy new pillows, vinyl mattress and pillow covers, new sheets and a cozy new comforter. The cost of each bed is $200. So, within a month’s time the students did extra chores at home, worked for neighbors cleaning up from storms, shared their birthday money, and sought donations to raise the necessary $4,200 to donate to Sweet Sleep and the orphaned children of Moldova.

Small change adds up to large donation
The month came to an end, and all the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and bills were counted. The final funds raised were fabulous! The students had raised $5,600! This was enough money to purchase 28 new beds for 28 orphaned children living in Moldova. What a joy it was all involved to know that not only were goals exceeded, but lives of children both here in Maple Valley and across the world in Moldova are being changed.

I believe in Sweet Sleep. And I'm a bedhead.

We love our Bedheads! Here is a rerun of a story from Bedhead Ashley Hamm. You can be Bedhead too by making a gift of $30 a month or more at www.sweetsleep.org/donate. You'll even get a cozy Sweet Sleep tee for signing up.

Ashley Hamm and her husband, Clay. 

Today, there are many organizations that are doing great things -- with countless opportunities to serve, volunteer, give, and participate in life-changing movements. The endless availability of these foundations that offer and implement much-needed change around the world is amazing, but choosing the right place for your contributions is a difficult decision.

My heart was broken when I first heard the story of Sweet Sleep several years ago. Sweet Sleep, started by a sweet family friend, takes care of our future leaders, teachers, parents, innovators, and world-changers by providing a soft place for orphans around the world to lay their heads at night -- to rest their minds and bodies.

A few months ago, while complaining about the discomfort of my 8-inch-thick, pillow-top mattress, I began looking into the price of a much-coveted and absurdly expensive memory foam mattress. I hear they are amazing. However, around the same time, my sister (and friend) was on a mission trip with Sweet Sleep to Gulu, Uganda. Doing the math, I realized that the price of the mattress that would allow me to jump on my bed without spilling a glass of water, could provide over 30 orphaned children in Africa a bed, a mosquito net, bedding, and a mattress. Enter humility.

I didn't need a fancy mattress to help me sleep better after all. Peace of mind has worked just as well. I am a bedhead because it helps me fall asleep knowing that I am contributing to the comfort of someone on the other side of the world, who is also trying to sleep sweetly. I am a bedhead because I know that when life is hard, a sweet sleep is a great escape; a sweet sleep means a fresh start -- a rested mind, heart, and soul. I am a bedhead because I believe in this organization, its mission, its purpose and its integrity. I believe in Jen Gash and her hard work. I believe Sweet Sleep is fighting to ensure that thousands of abandoned and orphaned children have the opportunity to wake each morning with strength. And I believe in the future of these children.

Sweet Sleep is doing amazing things. Just $30 a month can make a great impact. That’s a dollar a day saving thousands of lives; preventing hundreds of illnesses; and allowing millions of sweet dreams. If you are able, join me in becoming a bedhead and helping orphaned and abandoned children around the world sleep sweelty. Just go to www.sweetsleep.org/donate and make your gift of $30 a month or more.
You'll even get a cozy Sweet Sleep tee for signing up.


Ashley Hamm is an entrepreneur who lives on Okaloosa Island in the panhandle of Florida with her husband Clay, who currently serves in the U.S. Air Force. Ashley recently graduated with an International Business degree and now hopes to share her passion about global issues through her writing and lifestyle.

Holiness and Morality are Different

It is this time of year that I naturally begin to think more about the death and resurrection of Christ. Don't hear me wrong. I think about this often regardless of Easter being near, but there is something about this celebration that is completely sobering. It makes me think about how much we have been given through Christ. It also makes me think about what my response should be to Him. The answer is that I am to be holy. 1 Peter 1:16 says, "Be holy, because I am holy." Seems pretty clear, right? 

 Holiness is being set a part for God. It positions believers to be and act in ways that bring glory to God. As we attempt to live the life of holiness that we are called to as believers, we are often challenged to think about what pollutes our lives. Influences like television, movies, music, etc. quickly come to mind. We tend to think about ways that we can perfect our morality. We end up cleaning up the outside of our lives and meeting standards that are oftentimes set by ourselves and/or others.

Many times, we do not end up anymore holy than when we began. Instead we face more risk. We risk exposing our lives to the influences that continue to “pollute” us and at the same time we risk becoming the “polluter.”

Garbage in, garbage out is still true. We may seem like we have no garbage coming in, but it is. Even if we deny it or choose to not acknowledge it at all, it still comes out. It’s one reason why seemingly godly people do ungodly things.

Believers can be the polluters.

You see the reality is that holiness and morality are different. Scripture calls us to be like Christ. When we have His Spirit in us particular fruit from our lives (Galatians 5:22-23). Holiness results in believers loving people well. Holiness involves humility in its truest sense. Holiness is not polluted.

James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

It’s not enough to do good things and count it as pure and faultless religion. When you choose to pursue holiness in your life, spiritual growth will happen. It will create in you the desires to do and care for all people in ways that you cannot imagine. You will love in ways that you cannot do on your own.

Think about it. Where is the tension in your life between morality and holiness?

 

 

Announcing TN Acteens in Uganda Summer 2103

Awesome weekend at the TN WMU Missions Gathering in Gatlinburg!

We had a great time with Acteens in worship and our founder, Jen Gash led 4 inspiring workshops.

Our special announcement is that we are partnering with TN Acteens to take trips to Gulu & Kampala, Uganda on May 31-June 10, 2013. Both trips will include ministering to children through provision of new beds, Bibles and mosquito nets as well as through sharing the gospel to both of these communities.

You don't have to be an Acteen to participate in this trip. Any girl or boy age 13 and up can participate in this trip.We will keep you posted here and on Facebook other ways that everyone can support this trip.

See pictures from the weekend at Facebook.com/sweetsleep.
More questions? students@sweetsleep.org  Click here for FAQs: Gulu or Kampala

Sweet Sleep will be with TN Acteens in Gatlinburg this weekend

Sweet Sleep will be at the Tennessee WMU's Mission Conference this weekend, March 23-25, 2012, at the Gatlinburg Convention Center in Gatlinburg TN. This conference is designed for woman and girls in grades 7-12. It will be an exciting weekend focused on missions education and awareness as well as worship celebrations, breakout sessions and ministry displays.  Sweet Sleep has an exciting announcement for the Tennessee Acteens! Our Founder, Jen Gash will be leading in 4 sessions over the weekend.


Don't Forget

Special Uganda Informational Meeting 

on Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 pm 

at the Sweet Sleep office in Brentwood, 

116 Wilson Circle Pike, Suite 100 

(in the same building with Mazatlan's near the Brentwood P.O.)

This summer we are once again offering a special Back2Back experience in Uganda. We will send one team the first week of June and another team the second week. But for those who have extra time in the summer we offer the opportunity to make an 18-day journey that bridges both weeks. For only about $500 more you can double your ministry experience with our Back2Back trip.

Uganda Experience – June
3 options – 2 different trips or a 1 extended trip

Gulu – June 1–11 – Open
Cost: $1200 - $1700 plus airfare
Team will be providing hundreds of beds kits to (probably) HIV+ children in northern Uganda. They will also be ministering to and sharing Bible stories to thousands of children, caretakers, and members of surrounding villages.  Download Gulu FAQs

Kampala – June 6–18 – Open
Cost: $1200 - $1700 plus airfare
Team will be providing beds to children in an orphanage in Kampala. They will also be doing arts & crafts, leading Bible studies, and doing recreational activities with the children in the orphanage for the duration of the week.  Download Kampala FAQs

Uganda Back 2 Back Experience – June 1–18 – Open
Cost: Open $1700 - $2200 plus airfare
Team members will be participating in both the Gulu week and the Kampala week. This is a great opportunity for students, teachers and others with extra time in the summer. Because airfare is a big part of the cost, for only about $500 more this trip almost doubles the ministry opportunity.

Application Due April 1 for all three trip options. Download applications here.

Religion, Pure and Faultless

One of the great blessings to volunteering within the Sweet Sleep ministry is that I have the opportunity to build new relationships and from those new, outside influences I grow in my faith; being shaped however it is that God intends to shape me.  Recently a new friend helped me read a familiar line of scripture in a new light. 

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. 
                             James 1:27

This scripture makes a lot of sense in the context of Sweet Sleep, in whose mission orphans -- and by extension -- widows are served.  But what about the rest of the verse; the part of the verse that spoke to my new friend and called him to become my teammate in Gulu last month?

What does it mean to keep oneself from being polluted by the world?  I did not realize I had been struggling with this, silently, for several months. 

As my involvement with Sweet Sleep has increased, my family has had to adjust to a new normal at home.  They had never had to share me with the outside world.  Over time I have realized a new sensation: 

What do you do when selflessness becomes uncomfortable?  Do you stand firm in the faith that God is using you, actively, in a season?  Or do you allow yourself to be polluted by the world and believe you do not have time or ability to serve Him as He has called you?

What happens when your act of service begins to not make sense to others, or to your life.  Do you adjust so that you can pursue Christ as God has called -- and indeed expects, or do you allow yourself to be polluted by the world and believe in the cynicism and  displaced trust that our society breeds?

What happens when you give until it hurts and what does that even mean?  God expects much from those to whom much has been given.  Do you give with faith that God will provide, even in tight times or do you allow yourself to be polluted by the world and believe that you should hold onto your resources; save them for a rainy day?
   
The answer is simple:  Religion, pure and faultless is not comfortable.  Pursuing Christ with selfless abandon should feel like drinking from a fire hydrant.  It should overwhelm us and take our breath away and make us cry.  How can we possibly assume we can tolerate His greatness without a measure of pain?  When we love and ache for something so deeply, boundaries and limits of what we would sacrifice tend to become irrelevant.  And when we approach those limits, and tip our toes across those boundaries, and live a life unpolluted by the world, we realize we still have not done enough.  We could never do enough to repay the limits to which our Father has gone for us.

Madelene Metcalf
Trips Coordinator

Why I'm a bedhead...

We love our Bedheads! Here is a rerun of a story from Bedhead Alyson Walker. Alyson has also participated in our Uganda mission trips. You can be Bedhead now or join us on an upcoming Uganda trip this summer. Our Uganda mission trip info meeting is Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 pm at the Sweet Sleep office in Brentwood, 116 Wilson Circle Pike, Suite 100 (in the same building with Mazatlan's near the Brentwood P.O.). Contact trips@sweetsleep.org for more info.

Why I'm a bedhead...

A few years ago, I became familiar with Sweet Sleep at a conference. I never had thought about how children were sleeping. It just broke my heart to think children, especially orphaned and abandoned children, were sleeping in such terrible conditions.

As a preschool minister at my church, I suggested that we give our VBS offering to Sweet Sleep last year - participating in their Build-A-Bed program. Our kids loved it!

Later, our staff was challenged to read "Radical" by David Platt. After reading it, I saw that Sweet Sleep was going to Gulu, Uganda and I felt that I should step out and go. I am so thankful that I was able to join the work of Sweet Sleep. I saw first hand the children that got new Sweet Sleep beds. Seeing how excited they were for a bed was an amazing experience. I even had the privilege of going to a home and setting up their new beds and nets. The children said they could not wait for bed time to come. I don't know many children who are excited about bed time here at home.

After returning from Uganda I wanted to do more. Becoming a bedhead is a simple way to help each month. Every penny counts and helps children sleep sweetly.

Click here to join Alyson and become a bedhead!

Alyson Walker is currently serving as Minister to Families with Preschoolers at South Tulsa Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has led Sweet Sleep's Build-A-Bed and Nickels for Nets Projects in her church, is serving as a Sweet Sleep Regional Rep for her state and is looking forward to going to Cape Town South Africa with Sweet Sleep this November.

Sweet Sleep is on the go

Here at Sweet Sleep we always seem to be on the go. We want to continue to celebrate the team's return from Moldova, click here to see photos on FaceBook. 

But before you know it we are off again to Uganda this June. 

This summer we are once again offering a special Back2Back experience in Uganda. We will send one team the first week of June and another team the second week. But for those who have extra time in the summer we offer the opportunity to make an 18-day journey that bridges both weeks. For only about $500 more you can double your ministry experience with our Back2Back trip.

If you are interested in any of the Uganda trips this June, we are having a 

Special Uganda Informational Meeting 

on Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 pm 

at the Sweet Sleep office in Brentwood, 

116 Wilson Circle Pike, Suite 100 

(in the same building with Mazatlan's near the Brentwood P.O.)

Uganda Experience – June
3 options – 2 different trips or a 1 extended trip

Gulu – June 1–11 – Open
Cost: $1200 - $1700 plus airfare
Team will be providing hundreds of beds kits to (probably) HIV+ children in northern Uganda. They will also be ministering to and sharing Bible stories to thousands of children, caretakers, and members of surrounding villages.

Kampala – June 6–18 – Open
Cost: $1200 - $1700 plus airfare
Team will be providing beds to children in an orphanage in Kampala. They will also be doing arts & crafts, leading Bible studies, and doing recreational activities with the children in the orphanage for the duration of the week.

Uganda Back 2 Back Experience – June 1–18 – Open
Cost: Open $1700 - $2200 plus airfare
Team members will be participating in both the Gulu week and the Kampala week. This is a great opportunity for students, teachers and others with extra time in the summer. Because airfare is a big part of the cost, for only about $500 more this trip almost doubles the ministry opportunity.

Application Due April 1 for all three trip options

A Gift that is Greater than Riches

This past week will be one of the most memorable weeks of my life. I knew the trip would be hard as I have always held a special place in my heart for children but couldn’t imagine the affect it would have on me.

The last night in Transnistria Tony, our team leader, asked us what was the single most memorable moment was from the week. Well when it came my time; I copped out and said “tons, to many to just say one.” Well I must admit that even though this was mostly true it was probably more due to the fact that I thought I would break down in an embarrassing, blubbering cry if I had to talk much longer.

Well now that I have had time to stop and ponder, I must say my most memorable moment was when a group of the older boys that had been helping us (these guys latched on to me all week) were going through my phone and looking at all my pictures. They were asking tons of questions about my family, hunting and America.

At the beginning I was proud of showing off my two year old son but then as they were scrolling through my 400 something pictures, I quickly felt guilty. I realized that they may see my house or the size of my T.V or just in general how much I have compared to how little they have. By no means am I considered rich in the States; I live in an averaged sized brick home in an east Texas suburb, but to them I might as well have been a millionaire. In that single instant my eyes were opened to how materialistic we Americans are.

I wanted to do something. I mean I had brought several hundred dollars for travel money and my first thought was to give it all to them, but that was not what we were there for. We were there to share the love of Christ through our bed building and the time we spent with them. I really struggled with guilt after this because of how many worldly possessions I have and how little these kids have, and I had grown to really care for these kids and wanted to give them riches beyond their dreams.

It’s funny how if you look in the Bible, God will always show you an answer, whether you are looking for it or not. Towards the end of the week I had woke up early before everyone else and had decided to go down to the hotel lobby and work on my devotion for the week and came across what the true meaning of riches is.

Proverbs 3:13-15

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who obtains understanding. For her benefit is more profitable than silver, and her gain is better than gold. She is more precious than rubies, and none of the things you desire can compare with her.”

Colossians 2:2-3

“My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches that assurance brings in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

On the last day we were able to hand out bibles to these children. The look on their faces helped me to realize that we were able to give them something that was better than gold and more precious than rubies; the word of God

A Mother's Love...

It's so hard to find words to express our experience here in Transnistria. Yesterday was our final day in the orphanage; beds were built; crafts were completed; Bible stories were all told; snacks were consumed. It was the orphans turn to share a little of themselves with us. Our team was treated to a concert performed by the children. Easily one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. We entered their auditorium and were immediately escorted to the front row where they had saved seats for us, the guests of honor. The performers were assembled off-stage to our right decked out in traditional costumes. Their smiling faces and fidgeting feet betrayed the excitement they were feeling, anxious to perform. The auditorium was suddenly filled with music accompanied by the audience clapping to the beat. As child after child took their place on stage to sing or dance I couldn't help but be amazed by the amazing talent the children possessed. As I sat, watching and listening, smiling and clapping I began to imagine what my reaction to them would be if they were my very own children. How my heart would swell with joy and pride as I watched my child on stage. Then it hit me. These kids mama's would never get to see how beautiful they turned out to be, how talented they were. As I watched a beautiful young lady, about the age of my own daughter) sing, tears sprung to my eyes. I tried to control them so that she wouldn't catch me crying--I didn't want her to think I was anything but thrilled by her performance. I wanted her to see reflected in my face what she might see in the face of her own mother if she were able to see her. So, I have a new prayer request for orphans everywhere; when you pray for God to meet their needs, don't forget the intangibles--like seeing someone who thinks you hung the moon sitting on the front row applauding your every move. Pray that they won't miss out on those experiences as well having comfy beds and Jesus in their hearts.
Arlene McDonald