For our fall service project, we decided that we wanted to branch out and have a community event. We worked to secure a venue and a date. We invited several local church youth groups as we were having it on a Wednesday. We learned that we will never come up with a date that is good for everyone. So we trusted that we would make the best of what we had. On Nov. 6th, the Movement Club at Petal High School held their second annual Adoption Awareness Day. On that day we were seen on campus in our club shirts depicting orphan facts. We also had a booth set up at lunch with information about Show Hope and the Movement Club. The big event occurred that night.

We hosted ADOPTED: a night of worship for adoption awareness at 6 p.m. at Petal Harvey Baptist Church. We invited 5 families to have booths regarding their adoptions: Brian and Dawn Pippen, Eric and Christen Bean, Lauren and Clay Palmer, Russ and Shannon Rainey, and John and Lorie Marsh. Bethany Christian Services and Lifeline Adoption Services were also present. We were so excited to have Kyndell Dempsey and 3 interns from the Show Hope office. Several students had booths set up with items for sale that assisted the Life is Hope Orphanage in Haiti. The funds raised helped provide mattresses, supplies, and shoes for orphans. Worship was led by the Ashton Waltman band. Our guest speakers were Ken and Dana Whitton. They are in the process of adopting from Uganda. Our club collected Dum Dum suckers for the Whittons to take to the children in Uganda. The event was a success.

We have some students from other schools that are talking to us about starting a club at their own schools. The people who attended were truly blessed by the music and the testimonies of both Ken and Dana. Another local pastor and his church asked to be a part of what we are doing. That really excites us – to see more and more people get involved in orphan care. Our goal is to make this even bigger next year. We are already working on a date and a venue. Next, we will begin lining up our musical guests and our speaker.