Praise God for the birth of Brody, a colt born yesterday and donated to missionary kids, In four months, Broday will take up residence at Emerald Hills. To learn more about Brody and his horse warming party, go to www.brodyhorse.com
It all started when Jon, one of our Team Expansion "missionary kids" (or "MK"), was hard at work at Home Depot in Louisville. Dawn Lott, the smile behind Aurora Acres Equestrian Center in Naples, FL, happened to be shopping at Home Depot — because Dawn and her husband, Danny, are moving to Crestwood, Kentucky. She struck up a conversation with Jon and later remarked how unique it was. "It's kind of funny," Dawn remembered later, "because normally, I have my head focused toward a task and nothing else gets my attention. But this young man was different. He was so … *real* and so engaged in helping me. There are so many young men his age who have such a hard time communicating with adults. This young man, Jon, took time to answer my questions and before we knew it, he had talked to me for a solid hour. He told me all about Team Expansion, … about the Cause… about the reason Team Expansion was at work around the world… and to be honest, I just knew that Danny and I had to do something to help. So we figured we'd give of the most valuable things we have — our horses."
Dawn is right. The Gypsy Vanners (that's the name of the breed) and Drum Horses that the Lotts raise are some of the most unique horses in the world. Jon, bless his heart, had no idea. He told his dad about the encounter … and even passed along the Lotts' phone number. His dad, a vice president at Team Expansion, passed the phone number to Doug.
"I never know what to expect, honestly, when I call a number like this," recalled Doug Lucas, who serves as President of Team Expansion. "I mean — what are the odds, right? Who donates valuable, one-of-a-kind horses like these to people they've only just met? I wondered if they'd even remember Jon… or if they'd explain that they really had to just think about it for awhile. But to my complete surprise, they agreed to meet out at Emerald Hills the very next day.
I invited a couple of people to help me with the meeting, primarily because I know so little about horses. Colleen and Chelsea were willing to meet Danny and Dawn with me. We gave them a quick tour of the place, explained our vision, and there seemed to be an instant appreciation for the way Team Expansion is trying to help people around the world. "They seemed drawn to help people like Jon and the other 200+ missionary kids around the world, serving with their parents in nearly 50 countries. By the end of the one-hour meeting, the Lotts seemed serious: They were going to donate this colt to our organization. They seemed to mean business.
On March 19th, they called with the good news. Brody (the name they gave the newborn colt) had been born. And they were making good on their intention to donate. And all over the world, on nearly every continent, missionary kids are leapin', hoopin' and hollerin' — because tonight, for the first time in all of history, Team Expansion… and all our MK's, have a horse… a horse of course, named Brody!
And that's the story. It's a story of the value of a missionary, missionary children, and a gentle giant horse. It's the story of BrodyHorse.
