Looking over the past five years since Hope2Others began, we’ve seen evidence after evidence of God’s faithfulness and goodness. We were encouraged to look back and are at amazed at what He’s done, and we want to remember with you some of the highlights in hopes that you too will be impressed by the God we serve.
1. Missions Camp
The first highlight actually happened before H2O ever started. In 2005, God led us through word of mouth to a little camp up in Troutlake, WA, named Camp Jonah (www.campjonah.com). We had no idea that this first summer camp of ours would so drastically change our lives. Through living like refugees for a day and half at the camp, we learned just some of the hope that can be given to homeless people in physical and spiritual ways.
2. Do Hard Things
In 2007, two friends of ours, Alex and Brett Harris, started writing a book called “Do Hard Things: A teenage rebellion against low expectations.” When they asked us if they could write about our story in their book, we had no idea to what extent God was going to use this. This one highlight, which we literally had nothing to do with, turned into one of the biggest catalysts for H2O.
3. Website
13-year-old Matthew Reynolds read our story in the Harris twins’ book, visited our blog, and went on to email us, asking if he could make us a website. So on January 1, 2009, we launched our first H2O website, which opened the door to share information about H2O easily and effectively and to have an online starter kit, making H2O available to hundreds of other churches and communities.
4. Promo video
Last summer, a friend from church offered to help us make a promo video for H2O. Grant Blomdahl is a gifted videographer and was gracious to invest his gifts in this way. Check out the final product at http://vimeo.com/13588930.
5. Watching God work
The last highlight overall has been seeing God prove Himself faithful time and time again. We’ve seen Him answer prayer in remarkable ways. We’ve watched Him exceed our expectations. We’ve been humbled as He’s shown us how His perfect plans are better than our lowly ideals. We hope you catch a glimpse with us of the joy of seeing God grow His kingdom. It is a delight for you and I to get to be a part of that! Thank you for your support over these past five years. We can’t wait to see where God leads over the next five!
"Thursday, January 13th, at 5:30pm getting on 205 Southbound by the Taco Bell opposite Mall 205. A man is holding a sign but he's on the opposite side of the on-ramp stop area...but at his feet is an H2O bag. What a blessing to see this ministry is broad enough to have two people with H2O bags in their car at the same time and place." -Tanya
Want to be a part of something big, something that offers hope to thousands who are destitute? Sign up for an H2O starter kit, and start spreading hope in your city.
Last Friday, H2O got a shipment of 100 new t-shirts, just in time to sell at our first booth at a missions conference! Why are we so excited?
Well, first of all, these are miracle shirts. We were planning to leave our house for the missions conference at 11:00a.m., and they weren't expected to arrive until 3:00p.m. that afternoon. So we decided to pray and ask that if God desired that He would bring the shirts early. Turns out, the postman showed up at our door at 10:30 a.m. that morning with a big box of 100 H2O t-shirts! So we want you all to be encouraged that our God hears and answers prayers. May He get all the glory!
Also, there are shirts left over! Which means, if you and some of your friends want some, send us an email at laurenreavely@h2obags.com with the number and sizes you want! They're Gildan shirts, 100% cotton, preshrunk. $12, plus shipping. Let us know if you'd like one!
Happy New Year! It's hard to believe another year is over and a new one is beginning. Thank you for the support you showed us in 2010. We appreciate all of you who pray for and encourage us as we serve God through H2O.
We spent a few minutes today looking back on 2010 and all that God did this year. Some of the highlights were presenting a workshop at the Mission ConneXion NW conference in January, challenging several youth groups to take action for Jesus, filming our new promo video, sharing our story and filling H2O bags with hundreds of kids this summer at Camp Jonah, handing out H2O bags to homeless in Alaska, distributing hundreds of bags to homeless in downtown Portland with eager youth, and panhandling on World Homeless Day to raise $500 for H2O. It's been an incredible year, and we're grateful to all of you who have been a part of it physically and prayerfully.
Please keep praying as this new year unfolds. We have another exciting speaking opportunity coming up at the end of this month with this year's Mission ConneXion NW conference. Pray that many will catch the vision of Hope2Others and that more hurting people will find hope as a result.
We're excited about all that God has yet to do through Hope2Others in 2011!
