It’s summer 2011, a major heat wave is in full gear, the kids are home from school, the bathroom is being renovated and her husband needs some time to prepare his sermon for Sunday. In the midst of all this Amanda Bedard packs her suitcase in anticipation of traveling to the Czech Republic for a 12-day mission trip.

It takes a very special woman, with a very supportive husband, to leave behind five children and a bathroom reno to travel across the Atlantic on a short term mission. And in spite of husband Steve’s support there is no way that she could have gone if a trusting heart was not part of her make-up.

Amanda is special. She’s the mother of five children, three of whom are adopted. Two are autistic. Parenting any child is not for the faint of heart. Imagine then the reserves out of which Amanda draws just the right blend of patience and love . . . day in and day out. Her patience and love are abundant – as any of her facebook friends will confirm. Indeed, her caring, motherly instinct is never far from the surface. She is always available to care for others when she senses her attention is required – a trait that served almost every member of the Czech Republic mission team and the children to whom she taught ESL.