This is the support letter I wrote to help me raise the finances for my trip. I appreciate your prayers, encouragement, and financial contributions very much! Thanks in advance for making this opportunity possible for me. I love you all!
God has been doing some exciting things in my life recently that I would like to share with you. For the past 2 ½ years, since graduating from the University of Cincinnati with my degrees in Spanish and anthropology, I have been having a blast teaching the youth & children of my church about Jesus. This step in my life wasn’t in my plans, but I’m so glad it was in God’s! It’s been an indescribable blessing to gain ministry experience while getting to live in community with the church family that I have grown up with. Now I’m excited to share with you the next opportunity that God has brought me.
I have decided to participate in a mission trip called the World Race. The World Race is a ministry of Adventures In Missions, and with them I will travel to 11 different countries in the span of 11 months. The countries on my route are Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Japan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Swaziland, Botswana, and South Africa. In each country I will partner with local ministries to serve some of the most needy people in the world. Some of the ways I will be serving include preaching, street evangelism, caring for orphans, feeding the hungry, working with women caught in prostitution, manual labor projects, and more. I will be living and traveling with a close team of other young adult Christians like myself, where we will encourage, strengthen, challenge, and help each other grow. It’s going to be a great opportunity for personal spiritual growth and discipleship, as well as ministry training experience.
As many of you know, I have had my heart set on being a missionary since I was a little girl. I would read verses in the Bible about reaching the ends of the earth, and my heart would race as I’d imagine seeing people of every nation, tribe, people and language gathered around God’s throne, worshipping Him, as described in Revelation 7:9. I’ve had to wait longer than I expected, but God knows what He is doing, and I have grown and matured in my faith and gained valuable ministry experience over the past few years. I believe the World Race is the next step in my missionary training, as I get to taste 11 different cultures and learn how to serve Jesus in each of them. Isaiah 66:19 says “I will send some…to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations.” I am honored to be one who is called to go and proclaim God’s glory to the nations.
I am called to go, but we are all called to be a part of bringing God’s Kingdom to the ends of the earth. Jesus’ last words to His disciples are “Go, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). You have already impacted the Kingdom of God by investing in my life, shaping me into who I am today. So I would like to invite you once again to be a part of what God is doing in my life, and also to be a part of what He will do around the world through me.
I am in need of your prayers and financial support. God doesn’t intend for us to do His work alone, and I definitely can’t do this on my own. I will need prayers for strength, wisdom, courage, and the grace to be changed by God. For this trip I need to raise $16,264, which will cover all of my expenses while on the field. That is a large amount of money for one person, but with many working together, I believe I can meet this goal before I leave in September of 2014. For example, if 60 people contribute $25 a month for eleven months, or if 163 people made a one-time donation of $100, I would be fully funded. You can contribute by mailing a check, along with the enclosed support card, or by making a donation online at www.adventures.org/give. Scroll down to click on “Mission Trip Participant,” then complete the information, including entering my full name. There is a 3% service fee for one-time online donations, but no fees for checks or recurring online donations.
Thank you for being a part of this exciting new adventure in my life! I know God is going to do some amazing things in and through me. Subscribe to my blog to receive updates on my trip at melodysmith.theworldrace.org. I pray that God blesses you as He uses you to bless me!
