Help-Project, A Creative Resource Ministry

Creative Support for small ministries. We exist to see under-resourced ministries thrive by providing them with the creative tools to grow and share their mission.

Help-Project Blog

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God’s Been Talking To Us All This Time: Part Two

 

I cannot believe that Christmas is days away and we get the opportunity to celebrate the joy of a little baby that was born in a manger to save us all from sin, to be our strength, peace, and joy to the whole world.

His name is Jesus!

I wrapped a few presents last week and put them under the tree unlabelled, and it’s been driving the kids up the wall. Not knowing whom they belong to is hard, but with that comes expectancy and anticipation. I think this is a lot like faith. Our faith journey for the last few years has been a lot like that. God has given us hints and bits of information but not the clear story until this year. Knowing what lies ahead, and as we wait with anticipation it makes me giddy.

A few weeks ago I shared that our friend had participated in a listening to God workshop three years ago and she wrote down the words that God gave us through her. I shared my card a few weeks ago, so today I’m sharing Darryl’s. Thanks again friend, Thanks God. 

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Oh my Beloved Son Darryl,

How I love you and I am so proud of the man you have become. Keep going! Keep pressing into me. I have so much I want to show you and teach you. You have a voice, use it to speak for me, about me. Do not be afraid my son of what they will say about you or your family. I have plans for you, keep going! You are a man of honour and strength and respect and I want to use you for my Glory. Ask me for wisdom and I will give it liberally, ask me to speak and I will. Open your ears and heart to me continually and I will pour myself in. Do not worry about what it looks on the outside. I have plans and purpose for you that are way beyond your imagination and way beyond what makes sense on the outside. Don’t worry about outside appearances. Keep pressing into me and I will bless you for your pursuit. I have created you for adventure – will you join me in the grand adventure I have for you?

I love you my son, Darryl

Your Father

Thanks for standing with us in this huge leap, we cannot do this without you!

Jodi and Darryl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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God’s Been Talking To Us This Whole Time: Part One

As we start to look back in the ways that God has been slowly guiding us it’s all so clear now, but it felt really foggy a few years ago. Back through 2013-2014 we were at a cross roads with our businesses. Our life was good, work was very successful but it seemed like there was something more out there that we were missing, waiting for, but really unsure of what that was? We know that God has always been guiding us like an unveiling of fog patches along the way. We know God heard our cries for direction and our longing to hear from him clearly. We know that now.

During the Christmas season of 2013 our good friend was going through a “listening to God” workshop and she began to write down on a note what she felt the Lord was saying to us and these cards (Gods words) have been a blessing for the last three years. Every time I read the notes, I can feel God speaking to me though her writings. Thank you friend. Thank you God.  

This is Gods letter to me, and I’ll be sure to share Darryls another day.

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My Precious daughter Jodi,

How I love you, How I am in love with you. I am so proud of the woman you have become, how you have healed and walked forward amidst the pain and challenges you have encountered. And for what you have done with your interior design business – I am so proud of you and I love watching you at work and bringing my life and colour and touch into people’s lives. I love it!

Oh, but I have so much more for you! You have only scratched the surface. I have placed dreams in your heart. Will you let me show you? Let’s talk together, lets listen to each other, let’s do this together, shall we? Oh that is what I dream about, to be in deeper relationship with you, to show you greater depths of my heart, to partner together to bring me to your world. Will you come – Join me on this grand adventure? Come Beloved, do not hold back. I love you, perfect love casts out all fear. I am with you, I am for you, come beloved, let’s do this together. Walk forward into me, and I will do imaginable more than you could ever ask or imagine.

I love you and I am with you precious daughter

Your Papa

By partnering with us, you are helping to build a committed community of people who want to use their lives and skills to make a lasting difference on world poverty by supporting effective yet under-resourced ministries. We would be honoured by your partnership and financial support with an ongoing monthly commitment or a one-time gift. While the need is great, even small monthly donations will all add up so we can make a difference together.

Please go to the support section and donate as God leads you, or feel free to email us at info@help-project.org if you have any questions. Please be praying what role you could take in our community, and don’t forget that we are just an email, coffee or FaceTime meeting away if you want to know more about what God is calling us to.

Never Doubt Gods leading in your life and  you never know where he could lead you?

Thanks for reading,

Jodi

 

 

 

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Ways You Can Partner With Us

It has been really busy starting a ministry in the New Year, and to say that it’s been easy would be a lie. What we do know is that we are leaning in each day, in prayer, silence, and all-knowing that our heavenly father will continue to guide us, and provide the way. This I know.

This week was a leap of faith, as well a small leap of faith towards next year.  This year the vision is greater, so great we both have moments of paralyzation.  What keeps us going is the quote by St Francis.

Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible; and  suddenly you are doing the impossible.

Step by step, we put one foot in front of the other. The only thing that we are clear of right now is Gods vision and the strength that it is. God has called us to help under -resourced ministries to share their story and to thrive, and we’d love for you to be apart of that partnership journey.

YOU can support HELP Ministry in a variety of different ways.

  • We need a team of prayer Warriors. This ministry is built on prayer, not because we dreamt it up one day. I’ve tapped a few of you on the shoulder because this is a great need and we want to include you in  this ministry. Will you consider being apart of this team?
  •  We value your friendship and partnership financially. Consider going  here to donate, We absolutely cannot do this with out people like you.  If you would like to know more, we would love to chat with you. We also love coffee, and we would love to tell you about our ministry and all that God has laid on our hearts. That’s all.

One of the few ways that we’ve felt supported is though our friend Karen. She is an amazing woman of God, mother of 2 sweet kids, and a married to a very dedicated husband. Karen and her family have been new friends, but we quickly realized how much we appreciate their support in all forms. Karen is a travel consultant, and her business is Tatum’s Tailored Trips. She was able to find us the most amazing flights to be able to get on the ground for a ministry trip this next year. What can I say, but a big thank you! Thank you Karen for taking the time to book our flights, and love on our ministry which is all we can ever ask. 

 

 

 

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Is It Worth It? We Think So.

 Is it worth getting into ministry?

We think so. After all this ministry we are starting has very little to do with us, and a lot to do with the vision God has placed on our hearts. We know this to be true because this dream, this vision, that God has given us is big and the two of us (Darryl and Jodi) tiny humans could never attempt to pursue it without his guidance, direction and endless supply.

Our vision:

We envision a community of men, women, & children empowered to give their unique gifting & abilities, finding joy in the service of helping others in need with kindness & compassion.

-Help Project  

Are you worth it?

We absolutely think so, and I already know what God thinks of you. He Loves you so much! After all in Psalm 139 it states that God made us from scratch, and knit us together in our mothers womb. How crazy is that? Now just think about this more. Your skills, your gifts, the things that make you different from the person next to you were made for bringing God praise.  To bring his love to the world. Please don’t over – estimate the power of this, or doubt this process. 

Psalm 139:13

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Are we worth it?

Yes,  and it took us a long time to figure that out. We both spent years not completely living out exactly what we felt God wanted for us. It makes me think of how the waves of the ocean tide comes in.  The powerful water slowly erodes the sand and creates holes, and the water and sand eventually get pushed back out towards the ocean again. God slowly comes into our lives, shakes things up a bit and then sends us out again for another session just like the powerful waves. He does this day after day like the tide if we continue to ask him. The beautiful part comes when we can truly trust in this process even when it’s hard.

It’s worth it for us to take a look at ourselves and say that we are worth it,  and God is worthy of our praise to him.

Got something to say?  We’d love to hear from you. We love to see people passionate about serving him with their whole being, so please free to email us at info@help-project.org

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Within The Frame Of A Photo

I was organizing our bookcases the other day, (aka getting my OCD therapy in)  and I stumbled upon a photography book of Darryls.  Within the Frame by David duChemin, a photographer Darryl really admires and respects.

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Darryl has owned this book for quite sometime and I’ve paged through it many times. I know if you had the conversation with Darryl regarding it, he’d highly recommend it. The book is about finding and expressing your photographic vision as a photographer, and telling a story through photo and how photos truly do draw us to people, places, and things.

This book is full of beautiful and inspiring images by David. It’s not a manual for how to use a camera, but a manual to help reshape your thinking towards people, and the places you travel along with your camera. What draws us to a photo is different for everyone, and everyone reacts differently to a single photo. One thing that all photos have in common is that they will grab people on most levels and they will tell a story.

We see this is Steve McCurry’s photo of  Afghan girl named Sharbat Gula, taken in a refugee camp in Pakistan in 1984, and was one of National Geographic magazine’s most famous covers.

photo by Steve McCurry
photo by Steve McCurry

The eyes are so powerful that without looking at the rest of the face we can interpret the emotions therein. It is not even with the mouth that we smile, but with the eyes. -David duChemin

Be sure to check out Davids book, and I believe he also has a second edition too.  I might want to think about that one as a great gift for Darryl one day. Shhh….

Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

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We’ve Been Accepted!

We have great news! As of last week we have amazing news that our application was processed through the agency The Great Commission Foundation.  We were informed that the processing time (the application process is quite extensive) would take 4-6 weeks, but thanks to God our application was accepted a few days after we applied.  Thank you Jesus!

What An Agency Means For Us

I wrote here about why we are choosing to go with an agency, but here are a few more reasons.

  1. We have felt Gods nudge to go into a full time capacity to use our gifts to further his Kingdom. The primary project we will be working in the 2017 year is  helping the Vineyard Church establish and better share their Child Sponsorship Program. The most immediate ways we will do this is through enhancing their websites, photo and video projects, brochures, etc. This is extensive work and we feel it is very much worth the tine we spend on it
  2. Many of you have been very generous to us over the last few years while we are in Mazatlan serving with the Vineyard Church. We thank you, and we could have not done this without you! You’ve donated gift cards for grocery stores, brought food to our home, home schooingl supplies, and donations to go towards flights to Mazatlan to mention just a few. Soon our agency will be able to issue official tax receipts to you for the work done through our ministry!
  3. Going to a Full time capacity will allow us to be able to continue our Ministry in the Spring when we come back from spending three months in Mazatlan. The Continuity will be more beneficial for the Vineyards Child Sponsorship Program to being established. We are very excited at the opportunity to partner with some really great people and make a difference in the world.

Goal #1

Our first large goal is to be able to get be in Mazatlan and work there for January, February, and March. We will be flying out in January, and we will need to fundraise for flights/travel, lodging/home costs (both countries, as renting our home in Langley is not longer an option). We know this is a large first goal, but we serve a Big God who supplies our needs when we need them.

I’ve been reading  Joyce Meyers book – Live Courageously for a few weeks now, and I am still learning that if God is leading us and if we are obedient in that calling, that if he orders something, he pays for it! 

Prayer Requests

I’ll keep you posted on how you can partner with us so we can help the Vineyard establish their ministry, until then please be praying for the following:

  1. We need to book flights in the next 8 weeks, please be praying that the right funds to come into place.
  2. Starting a full time ministry and working part time here in Langley for 2016 has been demanding to say the least, but we are excited for what God has in store for us. Please be praying that we receive the perfect work here in Langley that continues to help us build the ministry in 2017.  
  3. Please be praying for our kids, as the principals of both schools have stated what we have been doing for our children education the last few years in Mazatlan has been awesome and to keep doing it. They see such value in our children spending time in another country. We made the decision to hire a part time tutor for Ben and Emily to guide them in their studies a few times a week while we both work full – time in Mazatlan. I have messaged with one gal in Mazatlan, but please be praying for the funding of that, and to find the right fit for the kids and our situation.  
  4. As well, please let me know how we can be praying for you and your family.

Stay tuned for more updates as things take shape!

Jodi, Darryl, Ben and Emily.