Priceless - Friendship Baptist

Priceless – Friendship Baptist of Wilmington, DE

“Priceless” ….. that’s exactly what our relationship with God is…………priceless. Never should we take for granted the gift HE has given us in HIS son Jesus Christ; nor the plan HE has for each of us; and especially the daily opportunities to be part of HIS agenda in all situations!

Well we are counting our blessings for the “priceless” experience of being in fellowship with Friendship Baptist of Wilmington, DE just this morning. Trust me when I say, our whole family is walking RENEWED and WITH MORE VIGOR from more than just the brisk autumn morning. Our increased joyful awareness has been a revolving door as we visit with churches, businesses, schools, clubs and individuals.

Thank you Sister Alberta, Rev. Jackson & Rev. Heath for allowing us to share our adoption/ministry story before the church. We are so appreciative of your sincere interest & support in the work of Shoes 2 Share. Everyone we met today was so joyful and filled with an incredible amount of excitement for Lord and working for HIM! The shoe filled boxes & containers will find new owners in the many children, teens & adults that would otherwise go without. Thank you again and we will never forget the “up out of your seats” singing & swaying that we experienced today in the pews of Friendship Baptist!

Mountain Momma in WV & DE

Rhonda grew up making yearly trips to the southern area of West Virginia. It’s there that many of her relatives still reside and have given her the best of those simple and pure childhood memories. Hours of laughter & tears. And some of the the most wonderfully quiet (yet squeaky) chained porch swinging episodes are forever burned in her memory bank. The roadtrips never failed to have atleast one radio airtime playing of the famous lyrics “West Virginia, mountain momma, take me home, country road!” There’s something very, very special about the people in West Virginia. For starters, you can expect to consistently receive a hearty greeting upon walking into an establishment . Then there’s the official term for a soda - “pop” and the famous slogan “I’d say so & ya’ll come back now ya hear”. And if you haven’t had the pleasure of eating the best southern bisquits & gravy breakfast, on a classic melamin plate, while sitting on a front porch overlooking a crystal clear creek, then your truly missing some of the finest down to earth fellowship in the world!

Well some folks from WV have proven themselves again in being friendly, selfless and so gracious in their simple giving spirit. The youth of Brake Brethren Church

http://www.cob-net.org/church/brake.htm

not only collected hundreds or shoes, but they also collected hundreds of dollars in spare change to help offset the cost of distributing the shoe donations! This was such a blessing to S2S in helping to complete the mission of getting the shoes to their recipients. As we collect more shoes, the cost to distribute them increases - so thank you to our new friends in WV for the insight & leading to take S2S on as a project in full circle. And thank you to the Howard family for sharing the S2S mission with your family in WV and traveling back & forth to get the donations to Delaware. Your appreciated and admired in so many ways!

This month we received many individual donations, being dropped off at our warehouse. Lots of email inquiries to host shoe drives have come in and phone calls with questions on how to get involved. One group in particular went the extra mile, The Pike Creek MOMS Club,

http://www.geocities.com/pikecreekmomsclub/home.html

who mailed a monetary donation to S2S and with plans to kick-off a shoe drive soon. Thanks ladies for your dedication in being moms and for sharing with us the gift of giving! The small mountains (more like one big hill) of Pike Creek in Delaware obviously shares the same qualities of the large mountains of West Virginia!

No Fear

Over a month ago, I was asked to be a guest speaker/presenter at Crossroads Presbyterian Church in Middletown, DE. Well at first I thought, NO WAY I CAN'T DO THAT! And then I was quickly and gently reminded that I have no fear in the Lord's work.........that this was another chapter of my life and the S2S ministry that was unfolding before me. Soon a handful of incredible women lifted me up in consistant prayer as I prepared for the big day. May 5th has come and gone, but the day will be a milestone for me forever. With a completely calm spirit set within me (though my knees wobbled for a short bit) I was able to share our adoption/ministry journey.



It was a bittersweet experience planning for the day.....
......remembering the details of how God orchestrated our family.....
......turning us inside out experiencing life in a 3rd world country.....
......laying on my heart the need of something as simple as providing shoes to children going without in Haiti and beyond.....



I am so grateful for the many women who were spurring me on, encouraging me in the Lords leading, and spending time getting to know one another. I am even more grateful for the other women who also shared their journeys & hearing how God is walking beside them. The day was complete with each attendee bringing donations for SHOES 2 SHARE during this wonderful event titled "Stepping Out in Faith - Ladies Brunch & Conference"



I encourage anyone reading this to make a point of never denying yourself the gift of being around those who can bring out the best in you. Allowing the time to be in the presence of others - young or old, rich or poor - who will help you to become what you only dream of and what you may never have seen in yourself. Don't be afraid of what lies ahead!

Thank You Everyone at Crossroads!

Joyfully, Rhonda

Bike-a-Palooza

A dedicated group of parents & their kids of Chesapeake City Cub Scout Pack 336 got together recently for a great fundraiser. And I mean great! The weather was absolutely perfect and the parents were right on with providing food to fuel everyone.

But the Cub Scouts & their siblings showed the most enthusiasm by riding their bikes (helmets intact) like a pack of serious trained athletes.

The kids were sponsored for each mile around the oval track.......and boy were they racking up the miles!



In addition to raising money for Cub Scouts, the families also brought shoe donations to the event, for Shoes 2 Share, as an ongoing service project.

Enjoying the few hours of excitement with the pack also included bringing our newly acquired, decked out S2S cargo trailer! Thanks to our friends at


of Wilmington, DE for a beautiful job dressing the old girl up so we can take her to special events just like this!

So a BIG THANKS to PACK 336 of Chesapeake City, MD for a fun day and for helping to make a difference in their own kids lives, as well as, other kids around the world!



As the Cub Scout Promise goes:
I promise - To do my best - To do my duty to God and my country,
To help other people - and To obey the Law of the Pack.

Fondly - The Gang of Shoes 2 Share

Beautiful Strangers

Wednesday thru Friday were such beautiful days. I was looking forward to my ladies group gathering on Friday evening, though it was the closing of our current study, and already I'm missing them and being in their fellowship weekly! But I had several busy days ahead of me, cleaning, sorting & organizing......efforts toward trying to prepare additional rooms at our plant for all the donations that are pouring in. Also.....trying to seek some quiet time to work on a presentation for a women’s church group I'm speaking at about our adoption & ministry. We've only talked about doing this for 2+ years so it's not too serious that I waited this long, is it? Be nice now! But all of this isn't what stood out and made the days so beautiful. It was the strangers who I met, but don't feel like strangers at all. And the young girl who's not a stranger, but a little lady in training (my joyful 12 yr old daughter) also made these three days exceptionally beautiful.

During our travels, my daughter suddenly announces that "we should pray for our busy day Mom." And she did just that, in the most sweet & tender innocence of a child. Let's just say I had to pull over in order to not be a reckless driver and wait until I could see again. Pass the tissues please.....you get the picture right? So while passing through Middletown, I met with a gal at The Little Gym to pickup shoe donations from her. She happily introduces me to the manager, who was so excited to help us and work on establishing "shoe drops" in their establishments for an ongoing collection of shoe donations! That was awesome!

Later we meet several ladies at our plant who also have shoe donations. But that wasn't all - they sincerely, wholeheartedly, with devotion to serving, want to help beyond this. They have already rolled up their sleeves and are serving in many ways, and I'm sure I'm not the only person on this earth who has experienced the blessings through these women.

So thanks to Kristi, Deborah, Linda, Barbara & Wendy - strangers in passing no more, but ladies who I will be happy to continue experiencing the gift of their true desire to help others.
And also a special thanks to other women who have impacted me: Mom (aka Monnie), Laurice, Stef, Lynn, Maria, Heather, Merrily, Annie, Lisa, Kathy, Maureen, Kelly, Stacey, Debbie, Kim, Karen, Margie, Jamie, Cindy, Tammy, Elizabeth, Hope, Ellen, Nicole, Summer, Kris, Kathy, Chris, Robin, Isman, Sharon, Jacinta, Allison, Jen, Lisa, Joni, Margo, Stephanie, Lydia, Sandra, Cheryl, Gina, Nancy, Connie, Donna, Jo-El, Beth & Pocahontas (kidding, kinda). If your name is not here it's only because I'm running on overload with emotion and little sleep. I haven't forgotten you, but rather just my human memory is running at a slower pace than I'd like it to at the moment. My Ginko-Biloba herbal supplements don't always do what I'd like them to! HA! So much to be thankful for..........celebrate it daily! I feel like dancing - and I think I will!

Game Faces off the Field

Did you ever notice how much fun people have using "sports lingo" in everyday life. Like when someone yells at the TV "awe come on" during a competive sporting event. Or the kids playing wrestle mania and announcing " in this corner". And how about "you gotta put your game face on" before stepping on to the field of battle!

It's very admirable when athletes display true sportsmanship on and off the field. Well, we got to personally experience a whole team with their true "game faces on" after last Saturdays softball game at Caravel Academy. Cape Henlopen's Varsity Softball Team, after playing a good game of ball, did another good thing. One by one, bags of shoes were taken off the back of their bus and placed into a pile, next to the field, for donating to Shoes 2 Share. They were trying to leave quietly when we asked them to hop back off the bus and put their "game faces on" one more time for a picture with the shoes they collected and brought for us.



So from Caravel and Shoes 2 Share, we say a big "way to go" and "that's outta here" to all the players & coaches of Cape Henlopen Varsity Softball Team for taking the time to make a difference in the lives of others. You definitely exemplified the sayings "We gave it our all" and "There's no I in team".

Have a great season playing ball!

Tim & Rhonda Wampler

Surprise!

Just when I think my week is complete, I get a huge surprise birthday party.

Upon returning home from an Audio A & Mercy Me concert with my hubby
& kids - I'm surprised with a house full (and I mean full) of people to help me
say goodbye to my 30's. It was so shocking that I jumped up & down like a
rock star on stage - and there's video to prove it!

But you'll never see that! Instead here's some real rock stars and their fans!


Audio Adrenaline -
their program in Haiti - http://handsandfeetproject.org/

The Wampler Gang - 3rd row from stage!


Mercy Me

But beyond my fun weekend of "rockin the fish", getting surprised
and spending time with people very special to me - there's was an
even bigger gift. My sunroom is overflowing with shoes in bags,
boxes & storage tubs, that were brought for donations to S2S,
in lieu of gifts!



Thank you everyone for making my birthday special.......but thank
you even more for making a difference, in the lives of others in great
need, by donating so many shoes!

Getting older really isn't that bad after all! Rhonda

WOW!

3.22.07

Greetings All,

Wow, what a blessing! We're excited to announce the success of our first 2007 "SHOES 2 SHARE" school shoe drive held in February.

Our thanks go out to Marcia, a parent from our boys travel baseball team. Marcia led an enthusiastic group of school staff and students at Bay View Elementary School located in Cecil County, MD. Over 500 hundred "new & like new shoes" were picked up by S2S volunteers. Also in MD, Chesapeake City Elementary principal Tom Duffy has given his students a 3rd marking period challenge. For every student who shows improvement in their effort, grades & attendance, Principal Duffy has pledged $1 to S2S.

Just this week, the News Journal (Wilmington, DE) wrote a wonderful article about my husbands retirement from coaching softball at Caravel Academy. The story featured Shoes 2 Share and it's mission. The enthusiastic response, from the community at large, has been just incredible! We are just amazed at the amount of emails, web-hits & phone calls in the last two days. We have even been contacted, off our website from folks around the United States - Maine, Illinois, Oregon, Conneticut, New Hampshire, Texas, Arizona & Florida being the most recent. These individuals & groups are eager and excited to be a part of SHOES 2 SHARE and it's efforts to meet the needs of children & their families in great need.

As I write this letter we are preparing for our first purchase of an S2S delivery/pickup shoe trailer. A friend of ours, in the moving business, is helping us to make educated decisions on choosing boxes/containers to collect & ship. We're also in the process of making contact with a new direct shipping lane out of The Port of Wilmington to the country of Haiti.

So many things are falling in place, yet there's still so many more exciting things to do. Our benefactor list has continued to grow and we are discussing future "shoe drops" depending on the amount of donations we receive. No doubt these will be numerous thanks to all the folks willing to help us above and beyond what we ever expected! We've also been presented with new opportunities in other countries for the future.

The family of SHOES 2 SHARE would like to ask for your continued support and prayer in our endeavor to help those that would otherwise be forgotten. You can read more about who we are, and what we do, along with our mission statement on our website http://www.shoes2share.com/

Joyfully in His Service,
Rhonda Wampler & Family