Paige Brenner Eubank was immediately intrigued when she heard about a ministry in Kenya that was helping vulnerable kids. In the summer of 2018, Canvas Church sent a team of volunteers through Extreme Response to serve at partner Belwop Child Rescue Center in Nyeri, Kenya. Paige joined the team and served for 10 days there. She fell in love with the kids, the amazing work taking place and Belwop director Veronica Mumbi.

Paige also met Nick Carnill, ER’s team leader for Africa, and she learned of similar work ER is doing around the world. She loves the relationship-based approach ER has toward missions, as well as her experience at Belwop.

“By serving at Belwop, I learned to set aside my Western philosophy of what life ‘should’ look like and deeply appreciate the beauty, love and joy of the family that Veronica has built at Belwop.” It was a life-changing experience.

Paige didn’t forget the Belwop kids after returning home. She shared her passion with family, friends and Chris Eubanks who also worked at Apple. After dating for several years, Chris proposed to Paige on a beach near her childhood home. They originally planned a big in-person wedding in Santa Barbara California, but the COVID pandemic changed those plans.

“So we instead opted to do a tiny ceremony with a small reception in Paige’s parents’ backyard. It wasn’t the wedding we’d originally planned but looking back we wouldn’t do it any other way.”

Generosity Abounds

Chris Eubank was born and raised in Dallas, TX. “We met through a mutual friend who introduced us when Paige was hired for an internship at Apple. We started dating a year or so later when Paige moved back to the (San Francisco) Bay area to join Apple full time.” Inspired by Paige’s love for ER and Belwop, Chris had an epiphany prior to their wedding.

“I got the idea from the salesman who sold me my car. We were small talking while we waited on final approval of the deal and he mentioned they did a fundraiser for their wedding instead of a registry. That really stuck with me. We’ve been given so much already, and we really don’t need more ‘stuff.’ For us, we’d much rather the generosity of our friends and family be redirected to those truly in need,” Chris said. So instead of a registry, the couple asked for funds to be given to Belwop through ER.

“Because of how much Belwop has impacted Paige and from my own conversations with Veronica, it was the obvious choice for us. At first there was some feedback that people would be upset that they couldn’t give us a gift, but overall the response from friends and family was overwhelmingly positive. We’re overjoyed at what a success this fundraiser was. We think this is an awesome model for weddings, birthdays, holidays, etc. and hope our wedding inspires others to do the same.”

“If we approach life with the philosophy that every person is equal in the eyes of God, then we have both the opportunity and responsibility to be good stewards of our resources to help others,” Paige added.

Good stewards indeed. Veronica, the kids at Belwop and all of us at ER thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Encouraged by what Paige and Chris have done? Learn more about ER here. Let us know how you’d like to get involved at info@extremeresponse.org.