We're Back!!!!
We arrived back in the USA on May 14th. We landed in Nashville where our sons, Ben and Will, both live. We have a house there and we spent several weeks working on different areas of the house to get it ready to rent to our son Ben and two other roommates. It is amazing all the little things that need fixing and how long it takes to fix (especially when we are not too experienced with some of those things!).
This past school year Threads of Hope had been paying for 17 students to attend
colleges in various towns/cities by covering their expenses. This ended up being fairly overwhelming and
as of April the ministry decided to stop with the scholarship payments for the
students. If there are any of you who
would be willing to sponsor any of these students, please contact Chris Kuhlow
at kuhlcrew2@gmail.com to work with
her in getting something set up. These
young people need financial help. Some will likely have to drop out of school because we cannot help them with scholarships this year.
One of our continual needs is to raise more financial support. Our goal is to raise our support by $1500/month. We have been short in our support for the pass 4+ years which leaves us in the situation of not being paid about 3 months out of the year. We would be humbled if you would choose to partner us to help us in that endeavor.
We drove up
to Wisconsin on June 13th and went to Marinette to visit Julie’s
mother for the weekend before getting settled in the Valley. We are again staying with the Perkins family
this year. When we arrived at the house we drove around Jo's car to our NORMAL parking space to find this.
We know we are loved! We are truly humbled by their
generosity and warmth shown to us. We
are amazed – they treat us like family (Bill told Jim, “you need to cut the
lawn!” LOL!) Actually Jim volunteered to cut it – one way
for us to show our appreciation.
Each summer, we try to take inventory of our products, represent Threads of Hope at a couple of festivals, try to raise more support and work on business applications that are easier tackled here than from the other side of the world in a time zone that is 13 or 14 hours ahead of the time in the US. This summer one of the goals is to add a new dimension to our shopping cart that would allow customers to pick a specific dog collar and/or camera strap for purchase. That sounds pretty basic, but we have never done that before because our products come in assorted bundles.
Each summer, we try to take inventory of our products, represent Threads of Hope at a couple of festivals, try to raise more support and work on business applications that are easier tackled here than from the other side of the world in a time zone that is 13 or 14 hours ahead of the time in the US. This summer one of the goals is to add a new dimension to our shopping cart that would allow customers to pick a specific dog collar and/or camera strap for purchase. That sounds pretty basic, but we have never done that before because our products come in assorted bundles.
This summer is the first summer that Threads of Hope did not order bracelets throughout the summer. Threads of Hope just did not have the funds available to be able to finance 3 months of bracelet orders while we were not there. We will be working this summer to build up the funds accounts to be able to start ordering at the end of August when Julie and I return to the Philippines.
One of our continual needs is to raise more financial support. Our goal is to raise our support by $1500/month. We have been short in our support for the pass 4+ years which leaves us in the situation of not being paid about 3 months out of the year. We would be humbled if you would choose to partner us to help us in that endeavor.
If you would like to know more about what God is doing through Threads of Hope and what we do in the Philippines we would be honored if you would join us for an Open House at Calvary Bible Church on Sunday, August 4th from 6 pm to 8 pm. It will be held in the music rehearsal room which is in the west wing of the church near the sanctuary if you are unfamiliar with the layout of our church. Please mark your calendar to come and see us and say hello. There will be snacks, stories and socializing. There will be a question and answer session. We really hope to see you there.
If you cannot come to the Open House and would like to spend some time with us please contact us via email at jijumarsh@gmail.com. We would love to touch base with all of you. We appreciate your prayers and support as we prepare to return to the Philippines for the 6th year! We will be leaving the Valley on August 12th.
Blessings,
Julie and Jim
If you cannot come to the Open House and would like to spend some time with us please contact us via email at jijumarsh@gmail.com. We would love to touch base with all of you. We appreciate your prayers and support as we prepare to return to the Philippines for the 6th year! We will be leaving the Valley on August 12th.
Blessings,
Julie and Jim
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