“Mom, I traded it fairly!” Caden said as he held his binder filled with trading cards close to his chest. “And it’s not fair that he is coming back saying he wants it back a month later!”

Caden has a growing collection of trading cards, and is often found at the center of trading circles at various outings and events. He loves studying cards, and has read many books on their value and how to tell which cards are worth more or less. He loves helping other kids as they trade, and finds so much joy in organizing his many binders when he gets new cards. So as he sat across from me, after I explained that another mom expressed concern over some allegations her son made, my heart tore in two listening to Cadens response.

Another boy, who is younger, claimed Caden took his favorite card. Caden claimed he traded for it. The little boy was devastated as this specific card was a gift from his mother. Caden shared in precise detail which cards were exchanged. The other boys mother unsure how to navigate the situation, asked me if I could help her resolve this problem. I said I would talk to Caden at home and try to come to a solution.

So we talked, and, honestly, I agreed with Caden; It wasn’t fair. And it seemed further unfair for me to ask him to give back the card, not expecting anything in return. Yet I asked him to do just that. After much conversation, He looked at me and agreed “If I made a mistake like him, I would want the other person to give me grace.”

I shared these events with Gabe, and I couldn’t help but be so proud of Cadens response to the hard situation. He had every right to refuse my request and keep the card, but he chose to love, even as he was being accused of stealing the card.

The next morning I went online and saw a man was selling a vast trading card collection for a very low cost. I was preparing to move past it, when I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to buy these specific cards. So that’s what I did, I reached out, and I purchased them; Two giant paper bags filled with cards.

Before showing Caden I looked him in the eye, let him know his actions didn’t go unnoticed, and told him how proud I was of him. He smiled and nodded his head as he mumbled an “I know”. I then proceeded to place both bags on his lap, and confusion filled his face. I repeated “You made a really hard choice, Your actions didn’t go unnoticed, and I am so proud of you.” He looked in the bags, his eyes bugging out of his head as he repeats “No way! No way! No way!” He looks up at me “Are these really for me??” I nod as I once again say “You made a really hard choice, and I am so proud of you.”

He opens the first box of cards and begins looking through them singing under his breath “I’m so blessed, I’m so blessed” and suddenly He freezes. “Mom!!!” I look over and he holds up a card for me to see “Jesus gave me the exact same card back!!!”

Sure enough, It was an identical card to the one he gave back to the boy. Caden looks at me, tears welling up in the corner of his eyes “Jesus cares about the details, huh?”

Planting Hope Ministries

We truly believe that the title non profit is a tool for us to be able to build the kingdom, so it can be hard to see where the ministry starts and stops. We believe that our lives should be a reflection of Christ and that ministry should be a natural extension of living a life that follows Jesus. If you are wanting details of why we are here in Hawaii and what God has called us to, I highly encourage you to check out our website for Planting Hope Ministries to learn more about what we are doing and why. We would love to have you partner with us!

Bulldozer

As we are building we continue to find that biggest needs to effectively continue with any major building projects, not just for current projects but future projects, is a large piece of equipment. Not having a larger piece of equipment has meant we are paused for much of our building until we can fully fund either renting a larger piece of equipment for each project or purchasing one.

The tractor we have been borrowing is not able to handle the load of digging and flattening the land which means we keep having to put money in to repairing it. Although, The tractor has served us well and is a big asset when it comes to road work, and helping with some of the mowing; we have been pushing it beyond its capabilities. After some research we are hoping to raise $50,000 for a bulldozer or an excavator. We are praying for people who feel called to support this specific project. If you would like to donate to our bulldozer fund click the link below

Property updates

We have planted so many trees- Lemon, Lime, Orange, tangelo, Avocado, more bananas, coffee trees, a few more dragon fruit, and several pine trees. We had our first citrus tree pop a baby fruit which had us doing a happy dance , and We have put up fencing around the garden space, to protect the trees from the animals.

Speaking of animals, The animals are getting bigger. The pig is living her best life getting daily head scratches. The chickens are constantly following us around waiting to be picked up or fed- sometimes both. The goats have continued to be a huge help as we move them around the property eating down the tall grass. Still no regrets with getting goats(we totally got lucky with their sweet personalities!!)

One HUGE new property update is the bathroom/Shower facility being built.We have been working with a group from Minnesota called Side-by-Side(A program of Good in the ‘Hood). They are a Minnesota based youth program that reached out to us about coming out on a mission trip to help us on the property. They fundraised to purchase building materials AND fly 16 people at the end of July for a 10 day trip to build a large bathroom/ Shower facility on the property.

Why a bathroom/shower facility versus another building? In order to begin welcoming kids for sports programs, day camps, overnight retreats, we must have some basic infrastructure in place. The bathroom/shower facility will serve as a functional space for youth and future mission teams who will support the ongoing development of the camp as we continue to build, and enable us to begin hosting youth programs at the property.

To prepare for their arrival, we have already cleared, and flattened the space where the building will go. A friend who is a plumber has volunteered his time to come help us as we lay the plumbing. We have concrete being poured this coming week, and have several friends volunteering their time to help with the pour.

We shared the exciting news of the mission team coming out and how we were preparing with some friends of our from Hilo, and their family was so excited about the investment this mission team is making into this community and our ministries goals of working with kids, that they donated some building materials, and tables so we could build a covered eating area specifically for the mission team coming out.

It is very encouraging to us, to see how mission group coming out is encouraging the community to come together and partner with what God is doing here!

If you or your church is interested in doing a mission trip to Hawaii. We would love to talk with you more. Check out Planting Hope Ministries mission trip info page

Support Raising

We are currently funded at about $850 a month, and have been so blessed by those who have given generous one time donations and partner with us monthly. We still have a goal of raising $10,000 of monthly support for the ministry. I am blown away every month and filled with gratitude towards those who feel called to support what God is doing here. But since we are not fully supported, we are praying and continuing to trust that God will call the right people to help us build here.

If 200 people pledged $50 a month we would be completely funded. 

What does financial support go towards? First, it goes to provide personal support for our family as we are working full time to grow and develop the ministry. As a family of 6 we have expenses and we are trusting God that as we build His kingdom He will provide for our family. The second part of that support will go towards providing building materials for various buildings and projects around the property. Currently we are working to build the worship and prayer center which will be a foundational building as we work towards building a Bible camp(which is multiple buildings), green houses(fencing, water tanks, structures), Sports field(lights, sprinkler system, bathroom facilities), and the A-frame discipleship homes.

If you would like to financially partner with us and what God is doing in Hawaii, either one time or on a monthly basis, click the button below to be taken to our Planting Hope Ministries Donate page.

Kelly’s Kitchen

We continue to sell bread at the market and get the opportunity to engage in so many wonderful conversations.Wednesday is by far my favorite day of the week. This day has become even better as we have started to expand this ministry. Several people have asked “What do we do with leftover bread?” over the past year we have done several things: We have taken it home and frozen it for our families consumption, we have given it out to neighboring vendors, we have brought it to outreach events and given it to attending families, we have gone to local businesses and given It to the employees.

This past month we began partnering with Hope Dia-mend Ministries TLC food distribution. They have been operating a food ministry outreach for several years in the Kau area. Every Wednesday they drive to Kona to pack and pick up pre-cooked meals, drive back to Kau, set up in a parking lot across from the bus stop, share the gospel, and pass out food to anyone who needs. The first week we visited, we passed out hygiene packets and we brought the leftover bread from market, but the Lord spoke to us so clearly to increase our bread production so we could donate 10% of bread specifically for this outreach(plus any leftovers). We thought this was the craziest idea ever because we were so stretched for time on Tuesday bake days and couldn’t fathom making additional loaves. However, We obeyed, and somehow we have found that our time to make bread has decreased, with enough wiggle room so we can all sit down and eat dinner on Wednesdays, now.

I can not explain the God math, but God math is always perfect AND its fun to see the impact of passing out bread . We are moved by the gratitude of people, and love seeing the excitement people have as they take their bread. Its so hard to put into words, but God is touching peoples hearts, and it is so evident as we hug, and shake hands with those we are feeding.

Friday Youth Night

We continue to partner with Purpose Ministries on Fridays. This has been an amazing opportunity to meet with and invest in the youth in our community. We love joining with Purpose Ministries to provide community support and we love seeing the impact this outreach has on the kids as they memorize scripture, and are taught more about the Bible through song and scripture.

Pray for this outreach as it grows that the intentional discipleship would having meaningful impact and that the word of God would continue to touch the hearts of these youth.

Project Nehemiah Hawaii

We have been given the opportunity to partner with the organization Project Nehemiah Hawaii. They are a very well known Christian ministry that is grass roots boots on the ground in the fight against human trafficking. They have resources through out Hawaii, and have the respect of many government officials. They have primarily worked on Oahu, but are working to pull together resources and bring further awareness of this issue on the big island. They have been incredibly supportive and helpful as we have been partnering with them to do outreaches in the community.

I had the opportunity to go with Project Nehemiahs big island director to represent Project Nehemiah at a women’s conference in June, we were able to speak with many church leaders from all over Hawaii, and share with them our hearts for the people of Hawaii. We are looking forward to getting to do several homeless outreaches with Project Nehemiah this month as we hand out hygiene packs, and work to build relationships with the houseless community in out area.

We are also be working with them to put on a Hope community event this summer that will aim to bring the community together and shed light on the issues of Human trafficking, child abduction, domestic abuse, exploitation, and youth on drugs and alcohol.

We are currently looking for donations for giveaways at the event in August, and looking for donations of outreach supplies for creating homeless packs. If would like to learn more about this, or how you can support us as we do outreaches in the community please email me at plantinghopeministries@gmail.com

Prayer requests

**We are looking for 100 people who will commit to pray with us and for us. We currently have 20 people who have committed to this role on our behalf. We firmly believe that everything we are doing here has to be rooted in Jesus and we want a team with us who will go to Him on our behalf and intentionally take time to pray with and for us. We send out separate emails and updates to that specific group.Thank you to those who have already said yes to partnering with us through prayer! If you are wanting to be apart of our prayer team please reach out to me via email: plantinghopeministries@gmail.com

-Pray that God would bring the right financial partners to join us. We threw out a big number asking for $10,000 a month in support. We received several one item donations, and have $850 of on-going monthly support committed. We don’t know how God is gonna provide financially, but we are 100% trusting that He will. We felt very confident that He was telling us to trust Him, so we are praying that our personal needs will be taken care, and all funding will be taken care of for building materials, and land development moving forward. If you would like to financially support us click the button below! 

-Pray for a Bulldozer. We have been borrowing Gabes parents tractor, but the availability is limited as it often needs repairs, and the work that could be done, is a lot. We need bigger equipment to properly work the land.We have had to pay to rent various equipment so we can clear land, level the ground, and dig to prepare for foundations. This gets very expensive, vey quickly. We would love to have our own equipment.

-Please pray for continued health of our family, We have all been down with illness the last month, and we are coming in to a very busy month of July, Please pray that we would be in full health, pray for continued protection both physically and spiritually, and for wisdom; that God would continue to speak clearly to us so we can walk forward confidently.

-Please pray for our vehicle situation, Our truck is showing some signs of trouble. We are looking at the very real possibility of needing to retire the truck and seek out a different option for an affordable truck. This is a big deal as this is the truck we use to carry water, haul building materials, pick up heavy gardening supplies etc, We are VERY dependent on this truck, Please pray that this truck is fixed, that we get a truck donated to us, or that financing would become available to purchase a truck.

-Pray for our outreach events: protection over volunteers, that the right connections and partnerships would be made and that the community would be blessed.

-Pray for Side By Side mission team coming out. Pray for their health, pray that as they are out here that their time in Hawaii would be fruitful and for them to be encouraged to grow in their faith.

-Pray for the weather for the end of July. Pray that we don’t get rain during the day so we can build the framing and get the roof on the bathroom/shower facility during the time we have the mission team volunteers

-Pray for the people we get to meet, that every interaction would be one that points people to Jesus and that we could love this community the way God loves them.