Concert Fundraiser : Well the first fundraiser was a HUGE success! I planned it so quickly and trusted in God to fill in the gaps. And boy did he!

I started by making lists of people who could/would help me with this project. Then I made phone calls. My friend Kathy Haymond plays the piano at church and I approached her about playing for me at the concert. When I asked her she said yes. I told her I would pay her and she said no it would be her contribution to Jonas. Then I asked her husband to help with the sound setup. I offered to pay him as well. Yep, you guessed it he said the same thing. Amazingly he had ALL the sound equipment needed to put on a concert! They are an amazing couple!

Then I asked 6 different friends to sing with me or do a solo.Four were able to join me! Shannon Sellers, Brent Carter, Donna Howell and Kyle Carnahan.Then I asked a husband and wife team (Jonathan & Amy Phillips) to do some praise and worship songs for everyone to participate in. The whole thing was amazing! I really wanted to make sure God was praised. After all he is the one in charge of this whole process.

I asked our friend Kyle Hanson to video the concert so some day I could show Jonas the different ways we worked to get him home. He did it for free as his contribution to Jonas too. Amazing. We have been blessed with some great friends!

The moment that was most special to me was when my daughter Jessica and I sang a duet together. Because I am a singer to my very core, I was sooooooo very proud at that moment! I have waited a very long time for the day that I could sing with one of my daughters! And it was finally here. And she did AMAZINGLY!!!!!!!!! The song we sang was not an easy song to sing! At one point we were both singing at the same time but different parts doing two different things. I have known grown adults who can't do it and here Jess was 10 yrs old doing it, and doing it well. God really blessed my socks off!

My friends did great. They all have beautiful voices and I felt honored that they gave of their time and talents to help Jonas.
At the concert we also had a table set up with Todd's art prints for sale. We ended up saleing 5 of them. Yeah!
We also had a table of Jonas Jars set up. they were just jars I picked up at the resale shop. I placed pictures of Jonas on them with our phone number on them to call when full. We asked anyone that wanted for a time to place their spare change in the jar and donate it to the Jonas fund feel free to take a jar home with them. About half of them were gone at the end of the concert.


I had asked Sharon Bechtel to speak on our behalf about the love offering. I didn't want it to be a pressure talk. Just a state the facts and leave the rest up to God. Boy was I in for a surprise. God was really speaking thru her. What she shared and said was nothing short of a miracle. It was beautiful and non pushy. Others that attended said they were really impressed with how all that was handled. Sharon really did a beautiful job. I could not have said it better if I tried. Thanks Sharon!

And last but not least, I asked my friend Michelle to speak about Three Angels and the adoption process, her son Noah, and anything else she wanted to say. She did wonderful! It really showed how much she believes in this orphanage and it organization that runs it. thank you so much Michelle for sharing your heart!

Around 50 people came. I was a little disappointed at first. But I had prayed that those that were suppose to be there would be. And the weather didn't help either. It downpoured 10 minutes before we started. But God was good to us and made it stop for the whole concert. I was really pleased with who came. It was very comforting to look out and see friends and families faces. The support was very comforting!

The end result was $1,500 . God is good! We were shocked! I don't know why. God is in charge of this whole thing why wouldn't he supply for what he called us to do?
It was a beautiful day full of music and praise. And we are one step closer to getting Jonas home. Thank you to all ,but most of all thank you God for bringing us on this journey!
Hugs, Kristina