The following is a letter I emailed to my financial supporters. I figured I would go ahead and share it with everyone! Thank you to everybody who is following my story that I don't even know. I hear through my parents that "so-and-so who works with so-and-so has been asking about you!" I am honored to be sharing with each of you, both people I know and people who I look forward to meeting, what God is doing in me and through me on my trip!
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Dear friends and family,
Our final deadline is quickly approaching. I must be fully funded by February 28! I am just $1,462 away from having all of the expenses paid for my trip (including gear, vaccinations, and plane tickets to training camp and launch). It is overwhelming to see how God has provided through all of you, anonymous donors, and the different fundraisers I put on prior to my trip!
To be honest, the financial burden was never my biggest fear of the trip. I allowed the enemy to place thoughts in my head like, "You aren't good enough to be a missionary" and "You're supposed to get a job and make a living after you graduate because that what people do". After I followed through with my application, completed my interview, and put down my initial deposit I had to continue pushing these lies aside.
I recall having one day when I doubted God's ability to provide the funds and gear for my trip. In that same day he miraculously provided a brand new pack (the most expensive piece of gear) through a girl who posted on her blog that she wasn't able to launch for her race. She also happened to be in Ft. Worth, which is, of course, on my drive home from school that I was making a few weeks later. After that I didn't have any doubts about funds!
I have learned so many things about God's love on this trip. The love he has for me, my teammates, those we encounter, and the people I love at home. I am starting to grasp (because I don't think it is ever possible to fully understand) the love that he has for ME. Even after all of the things I've done and ways that I have failed him, he desires a relationship with me. In the past months I have been filled with a joy from his spirit, a joy that hits me in the mornings where I can't not be excited about each new day.
I have seen the ways God is able to use me if I am willing to say "yes". In Cambodia, we loved on the children in the villages. These kids had next to nothing, including very much love from their parents or peers. I could literally feel God's love for them. I would hug them and hold their hands. As I did this I had a sense that it wasn't me holding their hands, but it was God's! It was such a clear example of how I am supposed to love the people in this world, but not out of my own strength and to make myself feel awesome. We are called to love to give God's love to others!
God needed to take me around the world to open my eyes to see his love for me. Through loving on people in these six countries, I've been able to let walls fall down and past wounds be healed. I am so excited to see what the second half of the race holds!
Please continue partnering with me, not only financially but through prayers! I am honored to be the one half way around the world getting to experience all of these things, but I want each of you to know that you are each involved in my story for a specific reason. God wants me to share this journey with you so that you can experience his love just like the children in Cambodia experienced our Father's love through me.
Addison
