Hi Everybody!
I want to give you an update of all that is happening in Ft. Myers, FL. Our Maine missions team of 8 was able to spend Thanksgiving week helping Adventures in Missions (AIM) with the work they are doing in the Harlem Heights community. This community has been totally devastated by Hurricane Ian. In fact in total, nearly one million homes have been impacted by Hurricane Ian. Yet God has been faithful to continue to send blessings of provision, alignment of His timing, and wisdom and direction to AIM for the work that needs to be done there.
You can check that out in this video I was able to create during my time there:
In partnership with Adventures in Missions and many other connections we were working to help connect with residents to evaluate their needs for removal and reconstruction, organize and prepare the onsite base for the work that needs to be done, and set up our base location for larger teams to be able to partner with us here.
We are hoping you will partner with AIM as they continue this work that God has called then to. You can partner with them in any or all of the following ways. Your constant prayers for God to continue to reach the hearts of the locals through His sending of workers, donations, and supplies for all of the work that needs to be done. Funding for all of the work that is taking place. As a missionary family, Chris and Sarah Horvath are fifty percent funded for the one year duration they currently have planned for their time in Ft. Myers. In addition, there is a constant need for more supplies that will help continue to improve the efficiency of the work being done. Most importantly, we would like to invite you to go and help in Harlem Heights! While we were there, we were able to help organize the mission base for future individuals and groups to come, partner in the work being done, and stay onsite with AIM. As you can imagine, this is no small task and they can use as many helping hands as possible. They now have space for teams up to forty people to stay onsite! (Thanks to Malachi and his team of workers who built eighteen bunk beds in just two days!
To get involved in this project you can go to:
https://www.adventures.org/response/
As a team, we were also able to participate in the muck and gut process of two different homes. This means we worked to take out all of the old contents of the homes so that these homes can be rebuilt. We took out the nails and floor of one home and also took down the walls and cabinets in another home. Although that might not seem like a lot, our team was small and the work takes time, especially in the Florida heat. I can promise you, we worked our hearts out to make progress in these homes.
Additionally, Heather and I were able to help with some of the behind the scenes work that needed to be done for the program to continue. Many hours were spent collecting data and organizing it in such a way that it is useful for AIM to continue to connect to families in Harlem Heights as well as continue to reach out to supporters with updates.
Lastly, we were able to incredibly bless the work that is being done and the people doing the work in Ft. Myers. With the abundance of funding we ended up receiving we were able to donate more tools, supplies, items and a few Christmas gifts to the volunteers working with AIM right now. It was such a blessing to be a blessing in this way! We are so thankful to everyone who donated towards our time in Ft. Myers and who gave even extra for us to be able to bless the community we worked with.
One of my favorite moments while we were there was when we got to meet one of the homeowners, Denise. She came on site to check in on the progress and was ecstatic about the progress we had made. She encouraged us, prayed for us, and blessed us just by stopping by. It made the hard work worth it to see the fruit, the joy our labor was bringing to these homes.
Again, thank you for your prayers, your support, your donations and your encouragement as we continue to follow where God is leading us. This trip has certainly not diminished my desire to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus. It has once again stirred in me a greater desire to continue to partner with God in His Kingdom work happening all over the globe. I am actively seeking Him and waiting on Him for the next green light for a mission opportunity.
Lots of love and thanksgiving,
Savanna Kandiko
Thanks for serving and sharing the stories through this blog and the video! Well done on all counts.
Savanna – great videos! Thank you for sharing the story of what God is doing.
I love that you continue to be willing to say, “Here am I, send me!” God continues to bless you and all you do because of that! I’m excited to hear where your next adventure will take you!