Would you partner with us?

In light of our recent decision to go on our first missions trip to Africa as a couple in June of next year, we also have the humbling realization that we can not make it there on our own. We need help! We need financial and prayer support from our friends and family members. 

It is never easy to ask our loved ones for finances, in fact, I consider it painful and humbling. But I also know that it is an opportunity for our loved ones to "partner with us". 

This is a journey that we can walk through together. We get to share the impact and the ministry with everyone who supports us. So when we go to Africa, we know that we did not get there on our own but by the support of all who love us back home. That means, that any positive change and influence that we have over in Africa is of a result of those who have chosen to enable us to go. So any impact that we have is not just our impact but your impact, your influence!!!

So would you consider joining us on this adventure as we go to Africa? 

Would you be willing to give so that we can minister to and love the orphans
we will be in contact with?

What we need: 
Both Curtis and I each need to raise about $3,400. 
We have already invest $400 of our own money towards the trip and wanted to make sure that we made an investment of our own money first before asking others to invest as well. 

How to give:
There are 2 main ways that you can give financially -

1) you can write us a personal check and send it to our address
     203 N Carroll St. #20
     Thurmont, MD 21788

2) you can give online at visitingorphans.org for a tax-deductable donation. 
     Be sure to select "Hyman Team - May/June Uganda & Kenya"
     Also be sure to select that you would like to donate to a team member or ministry name. Then type either  Curtis Dooley or Katie Dooley in the space provided. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Click here to donate: www.visitingorphans.org 

What you will receive:
It is our desire that you are blessed when giving to our mission trip. So for all who give financially we will mail you a follow up newsletter updating you on our trip, what we learned, who we met, what we did and more!

give $50 or more!
- and you will also receive a CD of pictures from our trip

give $100 or more!
- and you will receive a newsletter and video DVD of our trip.

Our contact information:
Katie - Katiedooley87@gmail.com
Curtis - Curtismdooley@gmail.com

Thank you for considering to partner with us on this journey!!

- Katie & Curtis Dooley 

We're going to Africa!

Where:
Jinja, Uganda and then western Kenya

When:
May 31st- June 14th

With Who:
Visiting Orphans - you can learn more about them at visitingorphans.org

What will we do:
We will be visiting a number of orphanages in each location throughout the trip. We will be loving on children, doing activities with them, learning about there lives, cultures and the orphanages they are living in. We will also seek to be a blessing in anyway that we can including but not limited to emotional encouragement and support, any work that needs done around the orphanage, helping with meals, and just to be an all around blessing to the people there. Once we know more about specific activities we will be doing then I will make sure to update our blog!

Why:
For our first year of marriage Curtis & I really wanted to just "lay low" in terms of ministry and mission work. We wanted to take time to just focus on setting a strong foundation for our marriage and relationship. Yet, even through we have not been very involved in outreach, we have been talking, praying and considering what we would do together as a couple. Both of us have had done extensive overseas mission work before getting married, both of us love Africa and both of us love working with young people. For me, I especially love caring for babies and young children. For him, he especially loves working with the middle and high school age group. So what do we do?

Well, I began to look back at the 19 months total that I spent in Tanzania/Kenya between 2008-2010 and I asked myself... What was the most fulfilling ministry that I was involved in? When did I experience the most joy in pouring out my life and serving others? When did I have the most passion and love in my heart?

And I remembered... It was when I was taking care of this little boy...

This name is Abdallah and we met on Christmas Day 2008. Our team was doing an outreach at the local orphanage and that night I met this sweet little boy. He was brought to the orphanage because he was abandoned at the local hospital by his mother and the nurses practically forgot about him. He was not being fed or taken care of at all and I was horrified at the condition of his health. He had absolutely no fat on his body whatsoever. He was completely skin and bones. I knew that if he did not get the love and care that he needed then he would die. Even though the orphanage was doing the best they could to care of him, my heart was moved to do my part as well. So I decided to visit him everyday for as long as I could. 

When I first began feeding him with the bottle he would throw it all up. His stomach was rejecting the milk because he was not used to being fed that much. So I sat there, holding him for hours, putting small drops of milk in his mouth at a time until he had stomached a couple of ounces of milk. After a couple of weeks of working with him, he finally was able to drink from a bottle. He got some meat back on his bones and was beginning to look like a normal baby once again, (which was when these pictures were taken).

During these couple of weeks I absolutely fell in love with him. I would have dreams about him at night and would miss him during the day when I was not with him. My heart longed to hold him and care for him! I do believe that I loved him like I would my own son during those couple of weeks. But one day I went to visit him at the orphanage and he was gone. They took him away ... maybe because I was a Christian and he was a Muslim boy and they did not want me influencing him or adopting him. I don't know, but I never saw him again after that.

Though I did move on,

I never forgot him. 

Yes, God's purpose in all of this was so that I could help him get back to health but I also believe God wanted to use Abdallah to influence my life as well and to give me a heart for orphans in Africa.

So with Curtis' heart for youth, my heart for orphans and both of our heart's for Africa, we have decided to take a first step forward in our ministry together by going on this mission trip. We are considering this our "vision trip". We want to be with orphans, be in Africa, see how orphanages are being run, see what works and what doesn't work, and then pray to see how we will get involved long-term for years to come.

This is the beginning of our story...

Here are some pictures of Curtis on his trip to Zambia & Zimbabwe in 2007.

On this trip he worked with an organization called "Every Orphans Hope"

3 months in Maryland!

It has been about 3 months since our move to Maryland, so I thought it was time to give a bit of an update on our time here. It has not been without some hard-times, challenges, adventures, fun, excitement, definite long-lasting memories and everything in between ... But I must say, it has all been worth it!

(some flowers and chocolate my husband left me one day)

I have an amazing husband who loves and supports me no matter what comes our way and that has made the world of difference since our move out here. No matter how rocky or uncertain our lives may be... I know that his love for me and our relationship is strong and steady. So I feel like I can walk through so many challenges with so much peace and assurance! 

Ok, enough with the deep and meaningful  :)

Here are some pictures of a couple of our adventures here in Maryland...

Curtis and I, along with my sister's family, hiked to a near by waterfall. 

It was a perfect day for a hike!

We were so proud of Hannah who walked almost the entire way, there and back. (Except for the few times here mom and I rotated in carrying her) Aaron did good just hanging out in the backpack carrier while Jim carried him the entire time. 

(Hannah actually took this picture with my camera. Not bad for a 3 year old!)

The most recent adventure was Hurricane Sandy. We didn't know what to expect from this storm. Some people on the coast were ignoring the orders for evacuation and some were calling it "The Perfect Storm". So we did our best to prepare, without over reacting.

Again, I have so much confidence in my husband, who grew up in Oklahoma where dangerous storms were a norm. So it seemed like he thought of everything we would need and knew exactly what to do and how to prepare.

We were blessed through it all! Even though the winds got really bad and the down pour was immense, we did not go out of power once and we had no major flooding in our town. The Governor of Maryland stated this morning that we literally dodged a bullet with this storm. There were times they thought it might hit us directly but instead it went just north of us to the New York, New Jersey area. The damage on the coast there was devastating, so our thoughts and prayers are with those people. 

(this body of water is not supposed to be there)

This picture just goes to show how much water fell within 24 hours. The water had already gone down a bit by the time it was calm enough for me to take this picture. 

So there you go... just a few of our adventures in Maryland!

I am sure that many more are still to come!

Our new home!

This may or may not come as a shock to some of you who read this blog but... we moved to Maryland! It was something that we had been talking about and contemplating for a while now but the opportunity came sooner than expected. We thought that it would be years down the road that we would actually move out this way but we felt like the time was right ... so we moved! 

We knew that there would be many challenges with a move half way across the country, which there have been of course, but through this move we have found more blessings than challenges. To say the least ... we love it here! 

                                                                 (our town square)

                                                                           

     We love our new place

          We love being close to my sister and her family

               We love living in a small town nestled right next to the Appalachian mountains

                    We love the way that Maryland is a state where the North meets the South 

                                                                                                 (so we both feel a bit at home)

                         We love this new season that we are in (in life and marriage)

                                                                   (Catoctin Mountains)

We are both so excited for the future that the Lord has for us and will try to keep this blog updated on new things happening in our life. But in the meantime, know that we are doing so well and are so blessed to be here!

Weekend with the parents!

It was so refreshing to have my parents here for a few days. It gave Curtis and I an opportunity to see and experience more of the sights in the area. In Bloomington, MN there are an endless amount of activities to do and sights to see. Here are just a few of them we got to experience with my parents.

Excelsior, on Lake Minnetonka

The water was so clear and clean that I could see my ankles while standing in water up to my shoulders. We all swam out to a sand bar that was a ways from the shore. I had never seen a sandbar in a lake before. 

We also went to downtown Minneapolis to have dinner at a restaurant that sat right on the river. We did not know that they were having fireworks that same night right on the river. So we got to see fireworks go off over the city lights. 

The State Capitol

"Everyone point at the capitol!"

That's my husband :)

Gone campin'

Curtis and I decided to take a couple of days to go camping this weekend… the first time ever since we’ve been married. It was a awesome and relaxing get away for just the two of us but it wasn’t without some lessons from the Lord. We packed up our car and had a perfect plan of where we wanted to camp for the night about 1 hour outside of the Twin Cities. The last time we had visited the park on a nice weekend there was hardly anyone there so we thought that we would have no problems getting in. But to our surprise… once we arrived we discovered that all the camp sites had been filled. There was not one spot open.

This was so disappointing since we had been planning this trip for a few weeks and had drove an hour to get there. But I asked Curtis to back in to ask if they knew of any other parks around the area that we could go to instead. The man was very helpful and gave us a few more numbers to call. The first number was busy and so Curtis tried the second. The man who answered the phone said that we were about another 20 minutes away and that he should have an opening by the time we got there. 

So we hit the road and prayed that God would reserve a spot for us since it was first come- first serve. As I drove, I admit that I was a bit stressed in my heart that we would not get a spot to camp. Which was disappointing since I had been look forward to this trip for a few weeks now.

But God told me to continue to trust him and rest my heart in Him. As we pulled into the beautiful park I noticed that it was nestled right up next to a beautiful lake where there were boats, skiers, wakeboarders, etc. I thought to myself that this park could be much better than the one we originally planned on going to. It turns out that they only had a couple of camp spots left in the park and they gave us what I think to be the best one. It was a private sight, all to ourselves and just a off the beach to the lake. We were not surrounded by other campers and people. But instead we were set up on top of a small hill overlooking the other camp ground area. This spot was sooo much better than what Curtis and I had planned and expected.

So God taught me this … we may have our plan perfect and our direction set but where God wants to take us is so much better! Curtis and I had an amazing camping trip planned but God had a different place He wanted to take us this weekend. It was a much better camp site and at much better park! In the same way, He has such a better plan for our lives than what we could have ever hoped, dreamed or imagined for ourselves.

So the lesson that was refreshed in my heart is to let go and let God lead and even redirect my life in the way He chooses. I have peace in knowing that His plan is so much better than mine!!!!

Here are some pics from our camping weekend!!!

I love this picture for 2 reasons

1. the awesome light squiggle lines from the spark above the fire.

2. you can see the lights from the other campers fires in the background!

Our little patio garden!

So this summer Curtis and I have spent many afternoons, evenings and meals relaxing on our little patio. We are on the 3rd floor of our apartment building and have a nice size patio overlooking a portion of campus. I have tried my best to make our patio feel "homey" and welcoming for ourselves and others. We are also trying out our "green thumbs" and so decided to do some planting. I have never really gotten into planting flowers myself but this summer it has been a joy to see the flowers grow and bloom.

There is also an older man on campus who has a lush garden on the property here. So we stop by ever so often to check out how his fruits and vegetables are growing this summer. Of course, when we see him there we like to ask him so many questions about gardening. He loves to talk about his garden and could stand there all day giving us tips that he has learned throughout the years and we could stand there all day listening too, just soaking in his knowledge. We are so interested because one day we want to have our own garden for our family. Our hope is that many of our fruits and vegetable would come from our home garden that we keep together as a family.


But that is a ways down the road and impossible for this season of life, since all we have is an outdoor patio on the 3rd floor. So we'll just start with flowers and some small veggies in a pot for right now. Here are some pics... 

It is amazing how God's creation works together, just a little bit of sun and water each day can make a world of difference for plants!

Love' in the Kitchen

For the first few months of marriage many of our meals were eaten in Bethany's cafeteria as a part of our work package here at the College. But in just these past 2 weeks our status has changed and we no longer receive meals... so that has given me the blessed opportunity to become more active in our own kitchen. Really, it is the first time that I have had to plan, buy, prepare, and cook all of our meals! Since leaving home (many years ago) I have always been apart of a school or program that provided meals, or someone else was cooking and I assisted, or I shared the responsibility with other women. So I was a bit nervous at first!

Would I be a good cook?
Could I plan meals well?
Would Curtis enjoy my cooking?

Well, I have to admit... Now, I absolutely love it! I've got a system down that I really enjoy and I'm excited about.This system has eliminated so much stress because I am not haunted by the daily question, "What are we going to have for dinner tonight?" This question can stress me out when I don't know and am unprepared with the right ingredients that I need. For me, having a plan and system eliminates most of the stress associate with cooking so that I can enjoy and have fun with it.

Before the week starts, I plan the meals for the week and then make a separate list of all the ingredients that we need. The meal schedule goes up on the fridge so that we know what's coming up for each day. I think Curtis enjoys knowing what's next for meals and I enjoy watching him get excited when he looks at the schedule to discover that I am making Barbecue chicken in the crock pot that night! :)

I have also decided to make my own personal cook book full of recipes that I have tried to make and we love to eat. I search my recipes online, in cook books and through the recommendations of others. After eating the meal Curtis and I decide whether it is keeper or not. If so, then I set it aside to go into my own personal cook book, which I will title "Love'in the Kitchen ~ All meals made with love".

Why that title? Because I believe that part of my ministry as a wife and some-day mother is to love my family by cooking in the kitchen. Some of my fondest, most comforting childhood memories were when I came home from school knowing that my mom had a home cooked meal for me. It meant so much knowing that she was waiting for me at home and cooking. I could feel her love for me and desire to provide healthy, wholesome food through her home cooked meals. So my desire is to express that same kind of love for my husband and future children through good, healthy, wholesome home cooked meals!

My goal is to have my own personal cook book, full of recipes that we know and love, by the time we have children. No, we are not planning on having children in the very near future (so there is no particular rush) but I would like to start it now. That way, when a few kids come along down the road I have a plethora of recipes to choose from, gathered in one source, and easy to choose from. I suspect that will personally eliminate a lot of stress from the chore of cooking with children by making it easier to choose recipes! ... at least that is my hope!

And with this title ~ Every time I pick up my cook book to seach for a meal to make for my family... I will remember that cooking in the kitchen is not just a daily chore but a ministry and expression of love for my family!

I am so excited!

* Wow, I never thought I would say that about a cook book, but I guess marriage changes you :)

What's next?

Curtis & I are working on 5 months of marriage... and it has been AMAZING! I have no regrets, no hesitations, and no doubts about the decisions we have made in getting married, moving to Minnesota and working in our current rolls at Bethany College of Missions. We have enjoyed these past 5 months as newlyweds and have set a great foundation for the rest of our marriage. We don't want to rush this season to the slightest degree. Instead, we want to soak up every single day yet, because both Curtis & I are planners :) ,we can't help but wonder, "What's next?" 

It is so exciting to be at the beginning of our life together and wonder...
Where will God lead us?
What will we accomplish together?
Where are all the places we will go in the world?
So many questions ... and so many dreams to live out!!!

It's exciting!

Just in the past month or so we have begun to ask ourselves some of these same questions and weren't getting many answers. So we decided to get away from Bethany campus for an extended weekend to pray, seek the Lord, relax, and have some fun!

A few weeks ago, we packed up the car and headed to Wisconsin Dells
where we enjoyed the weekend at Chula Vista water park.We had a blast together, spending about 8 hours each day going down extreme water slides, floating down their "Crazy- river" (instead of lazy-river) and livin' up the many water attractions. In the evenings we could come together and really talk about the specific dreams that we have on our hearts to do in life, family and ministry. We even took some time to separetely write down all of our dreams, desires, callings, etc so to make them simple and clear. Afterwards, we came together to share them!

It was amazing to see how our dreams and desires complemented each others in so many ways!

Through that weekend of retreat, we came to conclusion that we will not be staying at/with Bethany International long-term. After writing out our dreams and desires we realized that they can not be accomplished here, in this place, and with this ministry. Our time at Bethany will be only for a season, to prepare us for what God has next around the corner. So we set a time in the near future for us to move on and begin stepping into our dreams. By the end of this year, we will be leaving Bethany and moving on.

Where?
you may ask...

We don't know!
There is a bend in the road ahead.
We know that it leads away from Bethany but we're not sure where it leads next.

 But that's the adventure of it all!
God, where will you lead us?
Where will we go?
What will we do?

I guess we will all have to stay tuned...

My favorite wedding pictures!

So we got our wedding pictures back a few weeks ago and after going through them all one by one, I have decided to post my favorites here! So enjoy!

The Dress

The rings

Father & Daughter

The Ceremony

So in love ... and finally married!

The wedding party!

Our friends who hooked us up!
So thankful for David & Rachelle!!

Pictures at the park

A kiss at the reception

The first dance

Our friends and family!
Thanks for all your love and support!