Fundrasing Blessings are Pouring In!

Dear Family and Friends,
Robby and I are writing this letter to let you know of a very exciting journey we are going to embark upon! We are leaving for Ethiopia, Africa July 14-24th. We are going on a mission trip through Ordinary Hero and Visiting Orphans and we will be aiding orphans, playing with them and loving on them. There are 4.6+ million orphans estimated in Ethiopia. 800,000+ of them have been orphaned due to Aids. There is an orphan crisis here and in many other parts of the world and God has led us here to Ethiopia to see for ourselves what we may do to help!
Obviously, this is an expensive journey so we are asking for your help. There are many ways to do this!
We are going to be helping with soccer camps for the kids in Ethiopia. The title of our trip is “The Kicking and Dreaming Tour”. Soccer is an integral part of the Ethiopian culture. Soccer brings hope to orphaned children even in the worst of circumstances and through our soccer camps, we will create a powerful connection between the Kicking and Dreaming mission team and the orphans we strive to help! We are traveling with soccer coaches and the Ravenwood soccer coach has offered to “sell” the old girls soccer uniforms. This is where you get a chance to donate towards our trip while getting something in return!! When you donate $55 (feel free to do more if you like) you will get a jersey sent to you and have the opportunity to write or draw whatever you like on that jersey. Mail your jersey back with your family’s picture. We will take your picture, along with your jersey, with us to Ethiopia. When we get there we will give it to an orphaned child along with your picture. Once we give the child your jersey and photo we will host a game with the children wearing the jersey you donated to them and post it on our blog so that you can follow along on our journey. The child will then keep the jersey and you can know that you quite possibly gave this child their first ever soccer jersey or real shirt for that matter. Of course we will do our best to take pictures of all the kids wearing your jersey!  Now HOW COOL is that???? What a GREAT way to get our family involved!! Teach them about giving and about praying for orphans all over the world!
If you want to take it a step further…. We are also collecting NEW soccer balls (deflated) and your family can sign them! We will be handing them out to street children and orphans. You can drop them off at my home or mail them to me.
Still want to do MORE? How about a Donation of $40? This donation will provide an orphan with a new outfit, pair of shoes and a brand new soccer ball. This is a VERY poor country and well let’s face it being in an orphanage doesn’t come with all the perks of a nice wardrobe like we have here at home! This means so much to the kids and we can’t wait to see the smiles on their faces…All because of YOUR generosity!
Well, as you can imagine you can help in other ways too- donations from $100 plus will help us once we hit the ground to get supplies, clothing, basic hygiene, beds, etc for the orphans. Just let me know if you want to help out over and above the items I have listed!
So Robby and I are setting the bar HIGH!
We are hoping to sell 40 (FORTY) Jerseys by THIS Friday!
Email me or call me NOW and let me know if you would like to buy a jersey!!  It is best to take action NOW so you don’t forget about this later. This is a GREAT opportunity to get your family involved through our trip! This is a GREAT teaching moment and we hope you will GRAB it!!
We have joined this trip late so we are way behind on raising donations for this trip! I don’t know exactly how many jerseys are left so please email me if you are interested ASAP so I can work on getting those to you. Email me too regarding your interest level in helping and I will let you know how to get me your donation! Again, help us sell 40 jerseys by THIS Friday! Please! Feel free to pass this email along to friends and family that you think may be interested in helping! Thanks so much for your support!
How awesome would it be to also have 40 balls and 40 outfits to accompany those 40 jerseys on our journey? Each family is different so look in your hearts and your finances to see what is comfortable for you to do.
We will have more opportunities before we go to such as candy donations, small toys for the kids, school supplies, etc for the kids so we will keep you posted….
It is hard sometimes to ask friends and family for money. We are not asking money for US. We are asking you to help God’s children half way across the world to continue God’s work and help orphans! We are very passionate about this trip. We will tell each child that we see that they are special, that they are beautiful, that they are important and that GOD loves them.
Please pray that our team will have unity and that our travels will be safe and we’ll remain healthy. Pray also that God will teach us more about Himself and especially pray that we’ll be able to communicate God’s love to the children we meet.

Blessings,
Gina and Robby Payne 
James 1:27 "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress..."