P4O – Unshaken

Jaynee Hodgkins, Bethel Vatsaas, Amanda Purvis, Celina Baldwin, & me
Not pictured – Karen Sear, Marisa Ala, Jen House, Erin Rowland

In January 2013, just 1 1/2 years ago,
we launched Passion for Orphans as a ministry of Mavuno Market.
A gal who I had just met, Terina, willingly helped plan our first ladies retreat.

We had no idea what to expect, but in April 2013, in Estes Park,
we had 64 ladies from 15 states join us for the weekend.

This past April, we hosted our 2nd ladies retreat with 46 ladies from 6 states.
Terina and her family were living in Uganda at the time, so I did most of the planning.
I had a handful of ladies step up and help with the details.

After doing most of the planning, I realized that we could not continue
… unless I got some ladies to form a planning team!

And so – – seemingly out of nowhere, there are 8 ladies who have done just that!
I am so encouraged – and blessed – to call these ladies my friends.
We have such fun planning this event.
They are filled with ideas, suggestions, and input.
And they are willing to carry this great responsibility with me.

Through much discussion,
we have come to realize that our April retreat needs to become a fall retreat.
There are 3 other major orphan/ adoption events that happen from February – May.
Wanting to see the number of attendees grow, we decided to move it to October.

Celina and Amanda started researching locations and gathering bids.
In the end, we have decided to host it in the Boulder area.
And this week, we set the date!
It will be October 3-5, 2014

Amanda is working on finding the speakers …
and our next planning meeting is in 10 days.

I love these ladies!
I am truly thankful for who they are and all they do!