Dear Family and Friends,
It is amazing to me, how quickly life progresses. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was walking across campus on the way to class and now here I am in the great city of Austin, working hard as a nurse and leading the life of an “adult”. It has truly been a wonderful experience. I am so blessed to have been given such a life and to have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many people around me. It is only because of loved ones like you that I am able and encouraged to follow my heart and chase after my dreams.
Long ago, the Lord gave me a heart for the world. I have had the desire and longing for adventures and experiences beyond the ordinary for many years. My heart and the world are both too big to stay in one place too long. And finally, God has provided an open door to a unique and challenging opportunity.
Recently, I became aware of a ministry unlike anything else I have encountered. The World Race is an eleven-month trek across the world, stopping in eleven countries to help local ministries in any way possible. From orphanage ministry to church planting to manual labor, the range of work to be done is broad. We will spend the next year showing the love of Jesus to people all over the globe.
This around-the-world trip is an opportunity to spread the love of the Lord, abandon all modern comforts so that we might live in total dependence upon God, and to understand what it means to truly live in community. The participants will be grouped into teams of 5-7 people and will travel together, live together, eat together and minister together.
We will also race together. At the beginning of each month there is a race to the next location on the itinerary. We will race against other teams from one destination to the next using a variety of travel means with the resources immediately available in order to increase team unity. But above all, we will invest in the lives of each other and those we encounter on our paths across the world, and live to make a difference in the world in the name of the Lord.
Making a difference in the lives of others has been my biggest desire for as long as I can remember. That is what this trip is about. To surrender my lifestyle as I know it in order to show Jesus to the deep, dark and beautiful places of the world; to abandon all that I know in order to fully commit to the Lord and His work; to be a part of something outside of my individual capacities and abilities, and to rely on a team to fulfill the call of Christ. These are what make this trip so unique and why the Lord called me to this specific opportunity.
Because I know this is a God -ordained journey, I am faithful he will provide a way for me to fulfill my ministry, especially when it seems unattainable. I am hoping to find fifteen people who will commit to pray for me from now, through my departure in April 2008, until my return to America. People who will become partners in my ministry world-wide and are willing to become the most important and integral parts of the work of the Lord.
I am faithful that God’s promise of provision will be fulfilled in amazing and remarkable ways. This is especially true in the financial aspect of the World Race. The total cost of this trip is about $13,800. I hope you will prayerfully consider being a part of my ministry and, if you feel led, to support me financially on this incredible ministry adventure.
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. All donations should be mailed to Adventures in Missions, P.O. Box 534470, Atlanta, GA 30353-4470. Including the enclosed card will provide AIM with all necessary information. You can also pay online with a credit card or use a monthly automatic bank draft. Adventures in Missions is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit 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 your tax advisor.
I am also selling photography as a fundraiser. Photographs will come matted and framed and are for sale on www.flickr.com/photos/jendarrah. Please contact me at [email protected] or 512-461-5975 for more information.
This is a life-changing trip both for me and for those who pray with me. I am thrilled to be a part of a team of supporters and encouragers and I am finding myself blessed beyond capacity with friends and family in whom I find such love.
Thank you for all you have done. I look forward to praying with you in the things the Lord is going to do, on all the continents, both here and afar. May the Lord bless you and may His face shine upon you.
Peace and Hope,
Jennifer
