June 27, 2007
Dear Family and Friends,
As many of you know I’m graduating and had planned on going straight into graduate school to get my Master’s in counseling. Funny thing is, you can make a plan, but you never know what can happen! Over a very short period of time, God has revealed to me that He wants me to do something incredibly different and incredibly rewarding. He has called me to travel the nations!
This has definitely been an overwhelming and frightening calling. I have asked God for confirmation that this is really what He wants me to do over and over, and He is so good to continue showing me, Yes, He does really want me to do this. As frightening as it was at first, He has begun to prepare my heart and help me to grow in excitement for what the World Race holds for me. It is an 11 month trip to 11 countries! I’ll be traveling with a team of people, who are also giving their lives up for a year.
Well, simplicity and servanthood are the keys. When we travel, we’ll do so cheaply, and in many places, we’ll stay in tents or wherever people invite us to stay. As we go, we seek to serve partner ministries that are caring for the poorest of the poor.
As you know, I love people. I had been working toward going to graduate school to help young women to find hope and healing, in the midst of pain and despair. There are many hurting people here in the United States, but there are also many hurting people in other countries who have a hard time just surviving. I feel so blessed to even be able to be a part of such a ministry!
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Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” -James 1:27. That is exactly what I want to live in my life for the year that I’m gone and for the rest of my life. I see 2008 as a year for me to be able to live just as Jesus did, serving the poor, loving what our world calls the “unlovable.” Personally, I have in my life had a lot of fears. I’ve had fears of bugs and snakes, but I’ve also had fears of change and of not meeting up to who I am supposed to be. This next year I am expecting to be broken of these fears- and to be taken farther than I’ve ever gone before. What separates this from many of the other mission trips that are offered is that this is for 20-somethings like me who are serious about committing to a lifetime of radically following Jesus. And, in each country that we go to, we will partner with local churches to establish long-term kingdom works that will last long after we leave.
This will be a challenging year, as I begin to raise money and trust that it will all come in for me to go and as I submit myself to what God is calling me to do-I am asking for fifteen of you to commit to pray for me each day until I return. I will need support both prayerfully and financially. While the cost of an average college might be $2000/month, the World Race costs just over half that – $1150/month. My entire World Race experience is $13,800. If 20 people pledge 35 dollars a month for 10 months, that would meet more than half my goal! Will you prayerfully consider supporting me for whatever amount you can, monthly or one-time?
I have enclosed a response card and pre-addressed envelope, which invites you to share in this ministry. Please make checks payable to Adventures In Missions. You may write “appealed by” and my name in the memo section of the check if you wish. Including the enclosed card will provide AIM with all necessary information. In turn, they will send you a receipt. All gifts are tax-deductible. You can find more info about the World Race at
www.theworldrace.org
. I will be posting a log on the web at
www.alissasawyer.theworldrace.org
throughout my trip and you’ll be able to read about and see photos of our adventure during the trip. I am very excited about how God will use me and what He will teach me through this experience! I hope not only to be a blessing to those I serve, but also to you. My desire is to go as your representative of Jesus Christ. I hope you will prayerfully consider being part of my ministry.
Blessings,
Alissa Sawyer
