If it was real flowers I were talking about, I think they’d wilt before they got there.

However, I’m talking about the University of Arkansas at Monticello girls softball team. They’re the Cotton Blossoms! They’re pretty darn good this year (currently in first place of the GSC West Division (32-7, 11-5).

One of our church members is a pitcher on the team, and when I first approached her about taking the Blossoms to Poland this summer, she was a little hesitant. The main issue it seems, was money. Most of the girls are on scholarship and like other college students just don’t have $1500 to pack up and go to Central and Eastern Europe.

However, after several interest meetings and constant encouragement, there are now seven girls who are committed to going with us. I’ve told them time and again that we could raise the money for them all to go. Lou Arnold, another member of our church, has raised 105% of her goal through her Facebook ChipIn page, so I figured that between creative internet fundraising and old-fashioned bake-sale-car-wash-type fundraisers, we could send these girls to Poland.

Here’s what they’ll be doing:

• Sports clinics (softball, baseball, etc.)
• Conversational English classes
• Coffee houses
• Cultural tours
• Attending Polish church worship service
• Trip to Auschwitz

The overall purpose of the trip is to help the missionaries in Poland build lasting relationships with more people with the hope of leading them into a love relationship with God in Jesus Christ. I’m confident that this trip will also be a life-changer for many of those going as well.

Here’s what I’m asking you to do:

• If you’re on Facebook, join the Blossoms to Poland page and leave the team an encouraging note.
• Donate the cost of a tall coffee at Starbucks to the trip ($3). If you’re feeling extra generous, donate the cost of a large pizza at Pizza Hut ($12). You can use the ChipIn widget below (we have to manually post the donations, so don’t worry if your donation doesn’t show up in the totals immediately).
• Pray for the girls and the others going on this trip.
• If you’d like to receive an autographed softball by members of the girls softball team, please leave a $25 donation, and email me your mailing address using the contact page above.

I’ll keep you posted here as to the status of our fundraising.

On this day...

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• Different viewpoints on youth group attrition - 2007

Tags: fundraising, Poland, softball

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