your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope this letter finds you well! I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know what God has been doing in my life over the past couple of years and what I will be doing next. I learned about an organization called Adventures In Missions about a year ago and have been praying about one of their mission opportunities ever since. At the beginning of March I applied to go on the World Race and I am excited to let you know that I will be leaving mid-June as a member of the June 2010 World Race Team!! It is an 11 month mission trip where I will be traveling to 11 different countries with my team. In each country we will be working with different ministries to share the love of God with everyone we meet.
As many of you know, I traveled to Uganda in the summer of 2008 and absolutely fell in love. I loved the culture and the people that I met. More than anything though, I fell in the love with the children that I met. I knew my first week there that I would never be the same. I learned what it means to truly be open and love without regard to being hurt. I knew that it would hurt to leave the children I love and the friends that I made, but I didn’t let that stop me from becoming attached to them. As I suspected, it broke my heart to leave Uganda and I knew that God had bigger plans.
I came across the World Race about a year ago and immediately knew that this is where God was calling me. In my heart this is what I desire to do with my life. I have a passion for working with orphans and serving God’s people. Combine my love for travel and other cultures into this and well, it just makes sense that this is where God would call me. Over the past year I have stayed busy with work and school and then a few months ago I finally got back to asking God what He wanted me to do. I stopped trying to plan a trip to Uganda and I stopped looking into potential places I would like to work when I graduate in May. I finally handed it back to God and as soon as I did, everything began falling into place.
While on the World Race I will be a part of a small team with other young adults that will become my family for the next year, living and serving together. The countries that we will be going to (although they are subject to change) are: Ireland, Ukraine, Romania, Israel, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, Pioneer Africa, Thailand, Cambodia, and Pioneer Asia. Pioneer Africa and Pioneer Asia are considered Ask the Lord Months, meaning we will pray as a team and ask the Lord to send us where He wants us to minister and that will be the country that we go to. Some of the things that we will be doing include teaching, door to door evangelism, working with orphans, and working with women that are stuck in prostitution…just to name a few. Our main mission is to share the love of God and to teach others about Him. I can’t wait to see how He will use me and my team on this journey!
As excited as I am about this opportunity, I can’t do it alone. I would be honored if you would partner with me on this journey. Please pray for me and for my teammates as we leave the life we know and venture out to see how God wants to use us for His glory. Also, prayerfully consider partnering with me financially. I need to raise $15,000 for the year. Donations can be made through one time gifts or monthly donations and I will be holding multiple fundraisers over the next few months. This money will cover all of my necessary expenses while I am on the race.
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 and return the response card with your donation to Adventures In Missions PO Box 534470 Atlanta, GA 30353-4470. The response card will provide AIM with the information necessary to send you a receipt for your donation. Please send all donations by April 30th.
Adventures In Missions is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. Donors will receive receipts for their gifts with the understanding that the disbursement of those gifts lies completely at the discretion of Adventures In Missions and that the gifts are non-refundable and non-transferable, per IRS regulations. Gifts may be tax deductible; please consult a tax advisor.
I can’t wait to see how God is going to use me over the next year. I will be keeping a blog at heatherhorton.theworldrace.org to keep everyone updated before I leave and while on the field. This website also has more information on how to financially support me over the next year. I hope that you will prayerfully consider partnering with me in this ministry. Thank you!
~Heather
