An Easy Way to Help!

Spero:Voice is so excited to share an easy way to help support our work with International Refugees in the Oklahoma City area.   A great organization, www.givecards.org , has offered to help us with a fundraiser that costs you NOTHING out of pocket!  

If you have gift cards that you won’t use or that have a low remaining balance, we invite you to send them in to us and we’ll partner with Give Cards to receive cash for most of the value of the cards. So, the last $3.72 on your Chili’s Gift Card can make a real difference to us and doesn’t cost you any green bills from your wallet! 

Just mail us the gift cards by May 15th and we’ll do the rest.

Mail to:

The Spero Project

1515 NW 43rd

OKC, OK     73118

If you want to get real crazy, set up a donation spot for people at school, in your office, or at church and send us all the cards on May 15th. However you participate, we want to THANK YOU for your help!!!

Home Sweet Home

A wonderful Life Group jumped in to serve in a huge way last week and we are most appreciative!  A new family with a 10 month old son came in on Thursday, and when they came in they were greeted with a fully-furnished apartment!  The Litz Life Group worked together to gather donations, bring items from home, and then came to put everything in its place.  Supplemented by a TON of soaps, detergents, etc. by the Donaldson family, this apartment was ready to go!

After a long stay at a refugee camp, a plane ride with a 10-month-old (whew!), and a car trip to some place in Oklahoma they’ve never heard of (!), can you imagine the relief of walking into a place that has place settings prepared at the table, a closet full of clothes, and a kitchen full of food.  We’re so thankful for groups like this who give of their time and money to make a new life possible for others.  

If you’re interested in helping as a group with Apartment Set-Up, let us know!  kim@thesperoproject.com

What A Night!

We are more than blown away at the support we received at Wide Open Corners!  And, we know the women who prepared art for this event were excited, too.  Talking to them after the event was such a blessing, as they began to see the support they had, feel the empowerment they were bestowed, and dream for the future.  We can’t thank everyone enough for coming, for purchasing, and for making a statement with your presence. 

Special thanks to those who chose to sponsor a woman with a microloan!  We received sponsorships for 7 women to begin their own small business.  That’s a lot of lives impacted in one night!!

What a Christmas so Far!

It’s been a great Christmas so far at Spero:Voice!!  On Monday evening, we had a Christmas celebration with the families who we tutor.  They were invited to a nearby home to have Holiday desserts, hot chocolate, and apple cider.  We sang Christmas carols and Brad (co-founder of Spero:Voice) shared out of Luke 2.  It was a powerful time as Brad shared what a true gift the Christmas Story is to us.  It was an amazing glimpse of what an international church right here in OKC could look like!

Also this Christmas, we’ve given the framed pictures of families that Squint Studios took for us.  The mothers are especially excited when they see those!

Finally, with the help of some seriously generous donors, we’ve been able to provide Christmas gifts for families we work with.  I don’t know if we’ll ever see someone else so excited about receiving a new set of dishes!  And, the kids have gotten new clothes, toys, and educational materials–all VERY pleasant surprises for them!  

Thank you to everyone who contributed to any of these Christmas occasions.  We truly believe that we are honoring God in a beautiful way as we give to His creations whom He loves!  Blessings to all this Christmas Eve!

Compute This!

What difference can be made in the life of a family simply by giving them a computer?  There’s no way to do the math on that!  It’s just too big of an impact.  Giving the gift of a computer opens doors to consistent English learning through software and on-line programs, gives students in the families tools they need to succeed in school, and offers them some opportunity to connect with their much-missed home culture.  

Thanks to a generous donor, Spero Voice now has 5 computers ready to donate to families who can really use them!  We’re so excited to offer this opportunity to them and know it will make all the difference in the world!

Zoo Friends

Thanks to OKC Zoo Friends!  They’ve donated two family passes to The Spero Project for our use.  That means families that volunteer with us can take families they tutor for some fun outings at the zoo to help build relationships and encourage conversation!  We really appreciate their gift and are looking towards having a large assortment of items like this we can offer our volunteers as resources.

Thanks to the Super 8!

The Super 8 Motel in Norman contacted Catholic Charities and offered the refugee relocation department over 40 mattresses in great condition!!  So, Brad rented a truck today and loaded it up with mattresses. What a huge blessing to those people coming here from refugee camps who have slept on the floor for years and years.  Just think about how much we long for our own bed when we’ve been traveling for a long time…can you picture laying down in your very own bed after 10 years?!?!?  Thank you Super 8 Motel!