I hope that each of you is doing well! I finished my undergraduate degree in May at Mississippi State University and am working in the biomedical research field. It has been a busy but exciting year! I cannot express all the things that God has taught me this year by being at school, work, and at home. At this stage in my life, I feel as if God has opened the world before me and so many opportunities exist for the future. While I am unsure of the plans for the years to come, God has led me and now opened a door for me to explore short-term missions. He has given me the opportunity to serve for six months in Kenya, East Africa. I will be under the leadership of SIM and serving with a Kenyan woman at the Bethesda Children’s Home. God planted the possibility of foreign mission work in my heart as a junior in high school and this is a calling I am certain is from the Lord.
SIM is an interdenominational mission organization whose main focus is to glorify God by evangelizing the unreached, ministering to human needs, discipling believers, and establishing national churches that fulfill the Great Commission. This organization was recommended to me by the children’s camp I served with several summers ago, The Cove.
The Bethesda Children’s Home is located in Kerogoya, Kenya and is currently home to 12 girls. These girls come from different backgrounds but all share their need for a safe place to life and a desire to be loved. Grace, the owner of the orphanage, is in need of help. She needs assistance in everything from setting up profiles for each of the girls to simply spending time and loving each child as we are called by our Lord. My time in Kenya will be spent with Grace and being used by our great, sovereign God as he sees fit.
My main purpose for writing this letter is to enlist your prayer support as I prepare to go to Kenya. Prayer is the most important part of my ministry and I am requesting that you help by praying to Our Father who is the source of all provisions. I am also beginning the process of fund raising and I will need to raise $8,400 to cover flight costs, medical insurance, and living expenses while in Kerogoya for six months. The financial support for this trip must be raised by December 15, 2008. I would ask you to please prayerfully consider helping fulfill the Commission by supporting me. Please return your check made payable to SIM USA, with my STA#30261on the memo line of your check. You will receive a receipt of your tax-deductible contribution from SIM.
I would appreciate so very much your prayers for the preparation of this mission trip. Times will be stressful right before I leave. Please pray for a smooth transition and that my lifestyle will exemplify the holiness of our God as I seek to know Him more. Pray that I would have the opportunity to share Christ love and mercy with all those I am around. Pray also that I would learn the language quickly so that I can better communicate with the people and I would be able to adjust well to the culture. I pray that God's blessings will be on you as you decide to advance the Kingdom by your prayers and financial support.