Approved...

It feels like forever ago that we started on this journey to make Heart for the Needy a nonprofit organization. It has been about a year and a half of work, but we definitely didn't do it on our own! The amount of paperwork wasn't as much as I had first thought, but all the "additional information" that went along with every question was seriously tedious and frustrating most of the time.

The birth of this organization happened about the time I found out that I was pregnant with Jadon. About this time, we were going through so many changes as a family, like Phil getting a new job, me finishing school, and just being pregnant was a huge change! I was extremely tired and trying to finish school and Phil was learning so much at work that we weren't very motivated to really work on the nonprofit paperwork. Then Jadon was born and more life changes occurred and yet again, we put it on the back burner.

Thankfully, our board of directors has been amazing and so encouraging. Sandy Goodell really pushed me to get going on it. She was so helpful and so knowledgable that I couldn't help but get motivated. Finally, in April of this year, I sent in the first copy of our nonprofit application. From prior experience with the U.S. government and Phil's residencey paperwork, I assumed right off the bat that we would hear something about the status in about 4-5 months. Only 3 weeks later we received a phone call from the IRS. They needed one more piece of information in order to push our application through to the next level. After this was done, on May 31st, we received a letter from the IRS stating that we are now a 501 (c) (3) - in other words, we are now a NONPROFIT!!!!! YEAH!!

It was the best news I could have asked to hear. We were so blessed to have such wonderful people here and at the IRS who were fighting on our behalf. I truly believe that God's hand was on every piece of this process. How amazing!!

Now the only thing that is holding us back from fullfilling our God-given dream and mission is money - hey, if God can take care of the IRS in 8 weeks, I'm pretty sure he can help us raise the necessary funds. We really need to revisit our budget for the orphanage because we are using figures from 2 years ago and things all over the world have changed. I think if we could raise about $125,000 we could head back to Mozambique for good! Now that we are completely tax deductable, we are praying for donors to help us realize this dream. The great thing about Mozambique is that we need about 10% of what an organization in the U.S. would need to do what we want to do in that country. Thankfully, God has given us a heart for a place that so desperately needs an orphanage and we can't wait to get started!!

Our board will be meeting soon to get ideas solidified for some fundraisers coming up late this summer and in the fall. Feel free to send ideas this way! Or, if you'd like to get involved, stay tuned...we are working on getting our website up and running. More info on events to come!