Pray With Us

Hello Everyone!

Just a quick update to let you know that this Sunday, Sept. 2nd, Kelly and I will be commissioned at the 5pm service at UPC. We are very excited and encouraged to receive UPC's blessing in this journey and hope that you can join us at the service. As it happens, this will be our last week at UPC before we head out. Please also keep us in your prayers for:

1. Our emotions. We are beginning to feel a bit anxious about leaving, restless about staying and sad to be saying goodbye. Please pray that we are able to leave well and in God's timing.

2. Our packing. We have decided upon bringing two suitcases each (though we only have 3 that we own so we will be on the hunt for a fourth this week.) However, even though we know how much space we are working with, we are unsure what will actually be chosen to go in that space.

3. Our funding. We received a large blessing this morning that brought our upfront total to $12,700 so we are quite close on that line. Our monthly budget total is up to $1650 so we are on track but still a ways off. Pray that we would look to God for guidance on sourcing out the remainder of the funds that we need.

Love,
S&K

Status Update

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you all for your generous gifts of money, wisdom, love and support. Kelly and I are very excited to go and feel encouraged and confirmed in this call. But, there is much sadness too at leaving behind a wonderful community that has surrounded us for so long. God is good all the time though and we are eagerly looking forward to our training in Colorado and our time in the Dominican Republic. We wanted to give you a brief update on where we're at and what our timeline looks like from here out. Our next step will be to spend some time over in Silverdale, WA getting to know the systems that support COTN's missionaries. We will spend about 4 days at COTN's headquarters in Silverdale beginning Sept. 3rd (Labor Day) before leaving for Colorado Springs, CO on Sept. 7th. We expect the drive to take us about 24 hours. On Sept. 10th we begin 5 weeks of cross-cultural sensitivity and language acquisition training. Following that, we will spend about a week in the Chicago area visiting with my parents and my sister Katie before flying from Chicago to Santo Domingo. Once there, we will begin about 5 weeks of language training before heading to our site in Barahona. So, after all of that prep, we expect to hit Barahona sometime in early to mid December! Whew!

Currently we have raised $10,700 of the $13,000 that we needed upfront and we have commitments for $1600 of the $2500 that we need each month. Praise God! We have truly been humbled by your generosity and God's provision. If you have committed to giving monthly or have committed a one-time gift that you have not yet given, please plan to begin those gifts by Sept. 1st. You will receive a receipt from COTN after each gift that will have a detachable portion that you can mail in with your next month's check if you are not giving online. On our blog ( www.skhampton.blogspot.com) there are directions for setting up automatic withdrawal and the address to which you are to send your checks if you are not giving online. You can find that information under the Support/Donations link in the Table of Contents. Thank you again for your generosity. Kelly and I have been deeply blessed by you.

One other piece of information is that you can now subscribe to our blog. Basically what that means is that once you register your email address, you will receive an email each time we post something new. To register, simply visit our blog ( www.skhampton.blogspot.com) and scroll down through the Table of Contents until you see the heading "Stay In Touch". Below that heading is a place for you to enter your email address. Once you have done so, it will take you to a third party screen where you will confirm that you really want to subscribe and then you will receive a confirmation email. Once you have activated the link in the confirmation email, you will begin receiving alerts when our blog is updated.

Please don't hesitate to email or call either of us if you have questions or if you just want to say hi!

In Christ,
Scott and Kelly Hampton

Scott: 206.920.7504 m.scott.hampton@gmail.com
Kelly: 206.930.6159 kcruze@hotmail.com

2 1/2 Weeks Left!

Greetings! Our whirlwind tour of Italy came to a close on Aug. 7th (nearly the 8th by the time we arrived at Sea-Tac). Shortly after, we left for Camp Side-by-Side (Aug. 12th). For those that are unfamiliar, SBS is a ministry through our church that supports families that have a child with a critical illness that is being treated at Children's Hospital here in Seattle. Camp, is a week long adventure where we invite families (16 this year) to come cost free and experience a break from the hospital and their [ab]normal lives. It is a very special week where God's grace and mercy abound, lives are changed and all involved experience a renewal of spirit gifted by the God who redeems all circumstances and who boundaries all things.

We're now in the throes of preparing our lives to embark on this great adventure. With that, we'd love your prayer on a few things.

1. Please pray that God continues to bless our finances. We currently have raised 82% of the money that we need upfront and about 62% of our monthly costs have been pledged. So, we are greatly encouraged but are asking that we see how to be proactive and participate in God's timing for the rest of these funds.

2. Please pray for our emotions as we are saying goodbye to our dear friends. We love you all so much and our hearts are breaking as we are parting. Please know that we are praying for you that God would show his favor in your lives and that he will bless us with a closeness to you despite the distance.

3. Please pray for our list of things that need to get done. Each day it grows longer even as we check things off. Yikes! Pray that we would continue to just take it one thing at a time and not get overwhelmed by the amount of detail.

4. Please pray for my sister and Brandon as they are preparing their own lives to join us in the DR in early February. There is much to do and we ask that God strengthen and support them.

5. Please pray for the Dominican Republic. Hurricane Dean's closest contact to the Dominican was very near to our new home, Barahona, and they experienced quite a bit of flooding and some debris. As well, in the capital, Santo Domingo, there was quite a bit of rock and debris thrown up from the sea that did cause some damage to roadways, etc. Please pray for the DR and the rest of the Caribbean as they begin to reorder life after this tremendous storm.

6. Please continue to pray for COTN as they participate in the work that God has called them to.

Ways to Donate

We are so thankful for all of the ways that you have given to us - your words of encouragement, financial gifts, opening your homes to us, meals, gifts and friendship. God has truly humbled us through the outpouring of your love.

Below you will find more information on how to give a financial gift to Kelly and I for our trip to the Dominican Republic. Thank you again for all that you have already given in our lives.

To make a donation online OR sign up for automatic withdrawal:

1. Go to www.cotni.org

2. Click “Make a Donation” (on the left hand side of the screen under the category “Get Involved”)

3. You will see several categories such as General Donation, Special Projects, etc. Scroll down until you see “Support for Individuals”.

4. Fill in the boxes for COTN Staff Support. Fill in the amount and our names (Kelly and Scott Hampton). If you are donating monthly, fill in the amount your will be giving monthly.

5. Click “Continue to our secure submission form” at the bottom of the screen.

6. Fill in all the required personal information and your bank information. Automatic withdrawal:
Under the “Donation Frequency” box you can select a monthly or weekly withdrawal. Underneath that box it will ask you for the duration of time. If you are committing to 2 years, your dates would be from September 2007 until September 2009.

7. When you have completed the whole page, click “Go to Confirmation Page” at the bottom of the screen.

8. Donation Confirmation page – Make sure all your information is correct and then click “Submit Donation” at the bottom of the page.

If you prefer to NOT pay online, please send your check to Children of the Nations at:
Children of the Nations
11992 Clear Creek Rd
Silverdale, WA 98383

Make your payment out to Children of the Nations. **IMPORTANT** Do not put our name anywhere on the check. Rather send a note that states the funds are to be given to Scott and Kelly Hampton.