Yep, God has provided us with some very classy artists, a date, a venue, equipment, concessions and lots of anticipation.
In true infomercial style: But wait, there's more! We've been cleared to return to Guinea in mid-late October regardless of where our funds stand. We have enough money now for about 4 months and after talking to our field leader it was decided that it makes sense for us to be in Kankan as much as possible during the school year since we do so much work with professors and students. The University is scheduled to start classes in October.
Our meetings with local businesses have not been going as well as we had hoped. But as disappointed as we've been with some choices NOT to partner with us and the fall-throughs of many promises, we've been more impressed with who God HAS touched to partner with us. When we returned to the US in April, Brandon's analytical mind saw $125/day for 6 months. Insurmountable. Now, October's around the corner and we're ticket shopping!
Pillows and future paintings by Hannah for a Chicago friend
What else do we have going on, you ask? This is a pivotal few weeks for us. In addition to our benefit concert (featuring Seth, Alex and Eric on Aug 30- or did you know that already?), we have a meeting with Grace Community Church in Carmel, IN (turns out their head pastor visited Kankan 10 years ago!), a week-long west coast tour, and Hannah will begin her commissioning on paintings for friends in Chicago and South Bend.
We've been enjoying our American summer attending bonfires, riding bikes, helping friends with home repairs, developing depth in relationships, grilling,
lifting weights with the dog,
and visiting family (Hannah's mom moved to AZ!). We also attended a WorldVenture Guinea field retreat in Ohio as well. It was really cool to reconnect with colleagues in a totally different context.
You should take some time to check out the incredible talent we will be featuring at our show: Seth Abram, Alex Renbarger, Eric Carpenter.
