A few weeks ago we had a party (Fiesta) to announce and celebrate a new venture the Rajski's are stepping into. If you weren't there, or you were there and couldn't follow my nervous speech, here it is with more clarity:
On January 27th Trent and I will be taking a 5 week "sabbatical" to the Riviera Maya in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico to explore future Humanitarian/Missions opportunities. Here are some questions that people have asked - you might be wondering too, so here goes:
Where is the Yucatan Peninsula? It sounds really far away!
Heck no it's not far away. The Yucatan Peninsula is the name for a big thumb shaped piece of Mexico that sticks out and kind of points up to Florida. From Chicago it is only a 3 1/2 hour trip by plane. It's really easy to get to. If you've ever heard of Cancun or the Riviera Maya - that's where we're going. We will be staying in Puerto Morelos - a little fishing village just 4o minutes south of the Cancun airport. We usually stay much farther south in the Riviera Maya, but this location will make it easy to get just about anywhere in the Yucatan (plus we'll have access to fresh fish and lobster every day!!)
Click HERE for a map. Click HERE to see a cool website about the Riviera Maya.
Why Mexico? Can't you find people here in the U.S. to help?
20 years ago we found this area by "accident" - although come to find out, it's not an accident at all. When we're there we feel like we're home. It is truly one of the most beautiful places in the world with natural wonders and beauty like I've never seen anywhere else. We have fallen in love with the people and feel that God is calling us to make that area and the Mayan people part of our lives.
Yes, there are plenty of people to help here in the U.S. and we do our best to do that in many ways. Different people are called for different things - we believe that there is something special God has for us to do for the Mayan people in the Yucatan, so we are stepping out in faith to see what that might be. We will continue to support and help the people in our family and in our community too.
What about Cody - is he staying home alone? (or in other words . . . what kind of parents are you - leaving your teenager for 5 weeks???)
NO, he is NOT staying home alone! We wish he could go with us, but it's not in his best interest to take him out of school for that long. We have it worked out where we will only be apart for 2 weeks at a time. We'll be gone for 2 weeks and he'll stay with close family or friends - then he'll fly down with Trent's brothers family and stay with us for a week on the beach - then they will all go back home and we'll be back in just two weeks. Works out perfect! We will definitely be skyping every day though and I'm sure we'll miss each other alot, but Cody is totally on board with us and is exploring the possibility of spending a long stretch of time down there after he graduates from high school. He's been there before and loves it!
Someone told me you're selling everything and moving to Mexico, or you're staying for 6 months - is that true???
Now that's how rumors get started - so stop that!! NO, we are not selling everything and moving there. SOMEDAY . . . when Cody is much older, we would like to consider the possibility of living there 4 - 6 months out of the year, but for now we are just going for a little over a month. We'll see what happens from there. BUT, if we come back and can't stand the Indiana winter, I'll make sure you get an invite to the big Garage Sale - ha ha!
What are you going to do for 5 weeks - lay on the beach and drink margaritas??
The purpose of going down and spending a long stretch of time is to meet people and explore the area more than we are able to when we are down for just a week. I picture us getting in the car and taking off and exploring as much as we possibly can and talking to as many people and organizations as we can. At this point we are keeping an open mind and just exploring what might be needed and what might be possible.
One of the things we are dreaming about is just having money in our pocket to do random acts of kindness. For example, if we go to a small village and they need food, then we will get them some food. If their kids need underwear or shoes, then we'll get them some underwear or shoes . . . we'll just do what we can with what we have, spur of the moment. Sounds pretty fun, huh? (That's what my new photography and art business is raising money for).
And yes, I'm sure there will be a little bit of laying on the beach and a few margaritas here and there in our future!
What about Trent’s shop - how will it survive without him?
It will be fine! Our nephew Shaun is in training as we speak (or read) to take over the business when Trent is gone and he's doing very, very well. If it doesn't survive, then maybe we will be selling everything and moving to Mexico - lol! All joking aside, we feel that if we're doing what God has prompted us and wired us to do, then He will provide and take care of everything we need.Are you scared? What about the crime and all the people getting killed in Mexico. What about the swine flu???
No, we're not scared at all, we're super excited (or maybe clueless??). There is not a lot of crime where we are going. We have always felt safe there before and have never been threatened. This area of Mexico is much different than the parts you're hearing about in the news. Here's an article on how it's more dangerous to vacation in Orlando than it is in the Riviera Maya - click here. I'm not a-skeered of the swine flu either!
What do you hope will come of all this?
Wow, that's hard to say right now. We hope that God will give us clarity and that He will go before us and prepare the way for whatever it is we're supposed to be doing. There are soooo many possibilities that excite us that it's hard to say right now.
The main thing that we hope will come from this is that people in the Yucatan AND people here in the states will benefit - that lives will be made better and that people will know that there is a God that loves them, sees them and wants the best for them. That people will become aware of who God created them to be and embrace that and use it to spread love and make the world a better place.
What can we do to help?
Well, right now you can pray for us and just encourage and support us by not saying "that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard", or anything like that. In the next couple of months we may have some opportunities for people to come on board and help us feed a village of kids, or give them new blankets or something like that . . . so if you could open your e-mails and respond to that when we send it out, that would be great!
I've started a new business of inspirational photo art and wire wrapped jewelry that will be helping to fund our humanitarian work while we're there. If you could do your Christmas or birthday shopping with me, that would help a lot (25% of the proceeds go straight to help empower women and families). The website will be live shortly - here's then link for future reference http://www.livehappy4life.com/
You could also help by watching out for my kid while we're gone. If you see him in his big blue truck driving like a teenager with his parents out of town, or he's somewhere you don't think he should be - send me a text or something! (Ha ha - just kidding Cody)
If you read all the way to the bottom of this post - thank you very much for listening and supporting us - you've already made a difference!
This is my baby nephew Shaun (who is 22 now and is Trent's partner at the shop) and our God daughter, Holli Houghton. They were adorable! Right after this shot Shaun decided Holli must taste as good as she looked - he lifted her arm right up and took a big bit out of it - not cuz he was being mean or anything, that's just what he liked to do when he was two!
