This is a copy of my support letter! They went in the mail this week – after way too many hours writing on envelopes (anyone who knows me knows that my handwriting is so slow).
Read and enjoy!
Hey there,
Thankful for you! Today I share with you the most recent opportunity God has given me for this upcoming year. I get to join the interdenominational mission sending agency Adventures in Mission on an eleven month, eleven country journey called the World Race. From January 2017 to December 2017 my team and I will travel to Mozambique, Swaziland, Madagascar, Mongolia, China, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and El Salvador working with local churches, ministries, and nonprofits to serve those in areas of need.
I am beyond thrilled to serve in this capacity – it has been a whirlwind transition joining this mission. I applied in May and was accepted in the beginning of June. Just two weeks after acceptance I left for my fourth year of commercial fishing in Alaska. After returning to South Carolina this summer I was left with just five short months to raise financial and prayerful support for the journey.
As I continue to live a story that is not about me the World Race will be an integral part of the continuing formation of who I am. My team and I will feed the hungry, clothe the poor, pray for the hurting, befriend the friendless, and live in a community that demands intimacy. We will live this way carrying all our possessions in a backpack. I expect to see many broken things and be broken myself. I expect to realize my innate smallness and my own neediness through the neediness of others. It is going to be one of those hard but good things that always end up giving us a lot of life.
Your part to play: join me! Sign up! Not feasible? Okay, but barring that, I will ask what Paul often asks of the church in the New Testament: pray for me. Be my encouragement. Email me ([email protected]). I will look forward to the correspondence of you who are sending.
The next thing you can do is to financially support me. As of the date of this letter I just reached my first deadline goal of 30%. My total financial goal is $17,417 for the entire eleven months, an amount that has seemed daunting. That sum will cover all of my expenses including travel, health insurance, lodging, food, and ministry needs. By enabling me to go on this journey you are a part of God’s Kingdom building work. To him be the glory, you are his instruments. I could not do it without you. Follow along with my blog (williamolds-benton.theworldrace.org), where you can also donate from a tab on the top of the page. By clicking that tab and making sure my name is in the “racer” box you will be giving directly to me and not to the TWR as a whole.
I am praying that God would place on your heart the best way for you to support me. I am excited and thankful for the process and look forward to following up with you.
All the best,
William Reed Olds-Benton
