Hello friend,
I hope this letter finds you well. I have some exciting news to share with you!
After graduating from Taylor University last spring, I moved out to Hartford, Connecticut to begin graduate school for music. While the Lord has definitely provided for me during this new season of life, He has also been pulling my heart in a different direction.
As you may know, three years ago I spent a month in Nepal as part of a Taylor University Lighthouse missions trip. While in Nepal, I was able to partner with an incredible organization that provides a better life for children and also seeks to eliminate sex trafficking. This month was an incredible opportunity to serve those in need and to experience God’s heart for the world and how I could be a part of His mission. After returning from Nepal, I spent my final two years at Taylor with the Lighthouse organization as a student co-director. It was my job to assist in preparing the teams, organizing travel information, leading events, sending off the teams, helping them to process their experiences, and much more. I saw God move in incredible ways during my time with Lighthouse and the Lord repeatedly cultivated this passion for missions within me and affirmed in me that this was something I desired to continue pursuing.
During my senior year as I began to look towards my time after Taylor, the Lord kept putting Lighthouse on my heart and in my mind. This left me confused as I had just sent in applications for graduate school for music and had plans on eventually becoming a music professor. I wrestled with what I wanted to do and where the Lord was leading me for quite a while, but I decided that I would continue on the path that I was on until God led me in a different direction. As I have made the transition to Connecticut, I prayed that God would reveal to me the true desires of my heart and how I could serve Him. As I have prayed, I have felt the growing desire to return to something similar to the work that I did with Lighthouse. I began to search for missions opportunities that I could do before possibly returning to graduate school for a missions related program and I came across the World Race, a program of Adventures in Missions. The World Race is an 11-month missions trip to 11 different countries for 21 – 35 year olds. While in each country, teams partner with local pastors and long-term missionaries to assist them in whatever way they need to advance the work of their ministries. This could include construction, evangelism, English lessons, and much more. After working with an incredible missions organization for a few years, I spent a long time looking into the World Race to see if they pursue missions in a holistic, respectful, and effective manner and after my research I believe that this is true of this organization. After debating for a while to apply or not, I sent in an application and I was accepted!
Lord willing, I will be leaving in August to spend 11 months focused on serving those in need and sharing the Good News of our Lord, all while living out of a backpack and a tent! The specific “route” that I was accepted for is a new route for the World Race, focusing solely on South America. We will be working with established ministry partners in many of the countries, as well as forming new relationships with pastors and missionaries in some of the countries that the World Race has not been to yet. The relationships that we will form will create opportunities for more teams to come and serve in these countries in the future. I am excited about the idea of working with and forming these new relationships, as well as growing in community with my team.
Obviously, this is no small task. First, I would like to ask for your prayers for my team and myself. This has been and still is a constant walk of faith with God and involves stepping out into the unknown, one step at a time. Please pray that I would be bold and confident in following God along this path he has placed before me and as I begin to prepare for this incredible opportunity. Secondly, as I’m sure you can imagine, spending a year doing missions work also comes with a large financial cost. In order for me to go to South America, I need to raise $17,561. This amount covers all of my travel, food, and lodging costs for the entire year. It is a large and terrifying number, but we serve a strong and even bigger God. During my time with Lighthouse, I was amazed every year by God’s faithfulness as we never came short of our fundraising needs. I would like to ask that you would prayerfully consider financially sponsoring me on this journey, whether through a one-time or monthly donation. You can either write a check to Adventures in Missions using the information in this envelope or you can submit a donation online at geoffreynelson.theworldrace.org under the “Support Me!” button. If you choose to write a check, be sure to include NELSONGEOFFREY in the memo line. All donations are tax-deductible and non-refundable. Also, on my blog I will be posting updates about my experiences on the race, so be sure to subscribe! As a potential supporter, I want to keep you updated on the ways that God is working through my team and this is the best way to do so.
If you have any questions, you can email me at [email protected]. I will be calling you sometime within the next month to talk about the possibility of partnering with me on this journey. The people who send are equally important as the people who go, so I ask that you would prayerfully consider partnering with me to help bring the Good News of Christ to South America.
In Christ,
Geoffrey Nelson
