In a volunteer organization such as ours, which is to say, under funded and over committed, the processes involved in mission planning can become quite involved. When you factor in all that must be accomplished to achieve operational success, an equation that always starts with a negative balance, you begin to look for creative solutions to complex problems.

One such problem we face is obtaining, transporting and maintaining all the tools and equipment needed to properly task our mission teams. In the locations and situations we work, running to Home Depot to replace a broken drill bit or pick up another saw blade isn’t an option. As a rule, if we didn’t bring it to the job site, or pre-arrange for its purchase in-country, it wont be available for use.

On our last mission, we carried down close to three hundred pounds of tools in checked baggage, including a commercial grade portable compressor. A sad fact is, most of the orphanages we work with have little more than basic hand tools, and those they have are often in poor condition. Having learned from our previous mission work, we will now be pre-positioning mission team tools kits in the countries we work. This will allow us to bring down more items for the children, so we might repair their hearts and home with equal zeal.

Beyond the obvious need to outfit our mission teams, we’re actively pursuing a program designed at providing each orphanage or site with a complete tool kit of their own. By giving them the necessary tools to make simple repairs or conduct preventative maintenance efficiently, we help to ensure a safe and secure home for the children.

To accomplish this, we’re looking for donations of tools and equipment at levels that will allow us to move forward with the program. While we’re currently exploring a number of non-traditional sources, to include military surplus, our need remains great.

We would ask that you contact your churches, civic and community organizations, or any other social network you may belong to and ask them to consider supporting our initiative.

They could support us by simply including our request for tools in their regular communications, or by a parishioner standing up in church and advocating on our behalf. It could also come in the form of a charitable tool drive held by the organization, a thrift sale to raise funds to buy tools, or an outright purchase with donor funds.

If you can assist us the project, or need additional information, please contact us.