Loading up

The Man Up team is mostly assembled in DC and we are going through the painful process of checking in. It is rough with large numbers of people as it is, but with this number of bags and luggage, it is a headache at best. We scrambled at the hotel to make sure everyone's bags were under 50 lbs. The Cottons from Dude Perfect had 96 nerf footballs and countless basketballs and soccer balls that needed to get in. Then the airline threw a curve ball at us and started weighing carry-ons. It appears as though we are going to get everything on, but not without some sweet talk and a few sneaky tactics.

The team is full of amazing people from all different backgrounds, ages, and motivating factors. But, we all have a love for God, orphans, and people in need. I can't wait to see what will be coming next when we hit the ground.

That is, after a 12+ hours flight...

Packing

The packing is in full swing. I am blessed to be surrounded with so many great people who want to help our cause. These are just my donations to take over. If they keep me to my bags limits, I guess I'm not getting it all in, but hopefully with a little help from the man upstairs, the airlines will have a generous heart and want to help us help the kids we are trying so hard to bless. Thanks to everyone who helped out with donations!

Days winding down...

We are now entering the final week of preparation for the great road trip to the other side of the world. We've done our initial filming with the camera crew for the documentary and we are beginning the packing process. Please pray for our team as we make our final plans to leave our families, jobs and homes to spread God's love to orphans who may not know him.

T-Shirt Sales

While the T-Shirt sales have been great, we now officially done selling the "His Puzzle" T-Shirts. They have been a great fundraiser for the mission trip and I sincerely thank everyone who helped by purchasing one. If you are still interested in helping our work in Africa, you can either use the donate button at the bottom of the page, or contact me at mitchhauschildt@hotmail.com.

Another Great Video...

Another great video as to what we will be doing. We will be working directly with most, if not all of the groups featured.

The City of Addis - A Short documentary from Session 7 Media on Vimeo.

Video Clip

Here is a preview of one of the places we will be visiting.  Pretty powerful...

The Village of Korah - A short documentaryfromSession 7 Media on Vimeo

An Incredible Journey...

Our family has been amazingly blessed by adoption.  As many of you know, about 4 years ago, we brought home our beautiful princess from South Korea.  A little over a year later, our son came into the world and joined our family thanks to the power of God and a young but mature birth mother here in the U.S.  Throughout this process, we have learned that God has intended us to grow our family in a non-traditional way through adoption, and continues to be an amazing journey.  This journey has opened our hearts to the orphans of the world.

First, we feel compelled to adopt again.  In all reality, this is a selfish act, as we are anxious to grow our family and those who have been around our family know that our children have given us much more than we have given them, despite the poor circumstances from which they were born into.  We are currently awaiting an assignment of an infant from Ethiopia and are excited for the moment to meet our next little blessing.

We have also elected to help the orphans of Ethiopia and Uganda through missions work.  There are close to 5 million orphans currently living in Ethiopia who need help.  Recently, some friends presented our family with an incredible opportunity to provide love and assistance for many of fatherless boys and girls in Ethiopia and Uganda.  While I will be the one traveling to Africa, it truly is a family effort, as I will be leaving my family behind for 2 weeks, which is difficult for any young busy family, and there is also a rather large financial burden for such a trip (especially while adopting).

The trip will lead myself and 34 other team members (mostly men) to Ethiopia and Uganda for 6 days each (15 days total with travel).  While there, we will be working with a great organization called Visiting Orphans who will be organizing visits to orphanages to provide the children with a rare male influence.  While there, we will be ministering to the men of the villages, providing them with tools to be more family oriented.  Other highlights will include a visit to a deep water well project with Glimmer of Hope, and a Toms shoe drop.

Obviously being sports oriented, I'm very excited that the guys from Dude Perfect (made famous by YouTube) will be joining us on the team.  They will assist us by staging a basketball shot at the deep well site in an effort to continue to grow awareness and understanding for the horrible conditions which the people of Africa live in.

With all of this being said, we're asking our friends and family to assist our family in this mission.  You can join us in this experience in several ways...

• Prayer - We are asking for prayers for orphans around the world.  We would also appreciate prayers for our team's safe travels during the trip and that we are performing the work that God has asked us to do.

• Purchase a Puzzle T-Shirt - With the help of some friends, we have created a wonderful T-shirt.  (Thank you Callie and Roger).  This shirt will serve several purposes.  It will serve as a reminder and help us celebrate the adoption of our newest addition to our family.  We feel strongly that by us adopting again, we are putting together another piece of God's puzzle of love.  Funds that we raise through shirt sales will go to support the ministry that we are embarking on during the mission trip.

• The shirt has our heart graphic on it, including "Another piece of HIS Puzzle".  Under the graphic is scripture from John 14:18 stating "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you"
• The shirts are available in a variety of sizes to fit everyone in your family.  They are available for $15.00.  If you live in the Springfield, Missouri area, we will arrange to have them delivered or picked up locally.  If you are ordering a shirt and don't live in the area, the shirts are available for $20.00, which includes shipping to your address.
• We are currently taking pre-orders for the Puzzle Shirts.  They will be available for pickup/shipping in approximately 3-4 weeks.  Order them now to ensure you get the size you want!

Please help us celebrate our adoption and raise money for orphans with a Puzzle T-Shirt!

• Donations - You can also make a donation to our mission work fund by clicking on the link below.  Any money collected here will go directly to our project.  Unfortunately, by using the button below, you will not be able to use it as a tax deductible donation.  However, if you are making a donation and would like to get tax credit for it, contact me here, and I will assist you in making a donation directly to Visiting Orphans, which makes it fully tax deductible.