Our Wishlist

During our support-raising trip in May, we had a number of supporters recommend that we do a Wishlist of things we need. This way, people that are not able to support us financially could still contribute to our ministry—possibly with things they already have in their own home! It took more months to put together than we anticipated, but without further ado, here is our Wishlist!

For our ministry...

These items will help us keep the ministry running efficiently and without added cost to our monthly budget.

• Button-down shirts for Elliott (size Medium)

• Nice pants for Elliott (size 32/32)

• Stamps (for mailing our newsletters and thank-you cards)

• Cards and stationary

• Business-sized envelopes (for mailing our newsletters)

• Gift cards to coffee shops (so we can take our students out more frequently!)

• Gift cards to book stores (so we can get books for our students)

o We particularly like to shop at Hearts and Minds Bookstores, since the owner is a partner of the CCO. http://heartsandmindsbooks.com/

• Board games (so we can have more game nights with our students)

• Printer paper (for our newsletters)

• Gas cards (for all that driving back-and-forth between home, school, and church that we do nearly every day, as well as for support-raising trips)

More personal...

Having these items will help us cut down on added expenses.

• Financial advising

• Baby stuff (for our expected arrival in June!)

• Sneakers for Elliott (size 11)

• Food items (canned vegetables, anything gluten- and corn-free for Rachel, chicken broth, spices, etc.)

• Soap, dish detergent, paper towels, etc.

Please contact us with any questions or clarifications.

Elliott can be reached at 215-756-3155 and elliottsimko@gmail.com.

Rachel can be reached at 215-756-3020 and chellysimko@gmail.com.

Over the "Break"

Our work in campus ministry follows a different sort of path. We are, in a sense, on the same schedule as our students. We take life in semesters and follow the ebb and flow of midterms, exams, and then a nice, long break. Of course, while the students are snuggled warm in their homes, we have a different sort of work to accomplish.

We kicked off the break with a massive push for support-raising. In our efforts to be faithful to God, we spent two full weeks in meetings (and traveling all the way to Richmond!), making phone calls, sending out cards, delivering Christmas yummies, and praying about meeting our support-raising goal. We have continued to hover around 40%-60% of our goal, and would sincerely appreciate the prayers as we ask God to see us through to full support.

Elliott spent a week in service with some other college-aged guys. Each day was spent serving these people in our area: Hope Works, Norristown Community House, Norristown Homeless Shelter, Broad Street Ministries, and City Team.

To see a little bit of the work the guys did that week, please go here. Trust me, the video is work a look!

We also had the opportunity to hear one of our students speak at her church service about the lessons she learned the past semester about the Lord. It was an incredible experience to hear how the Lord has used us, and I wrote a little bit about it in my personal blog.

That's it for now! More frequent updates coming soon!

-Rachel