I hope this letter finds you well. It is with great pleasure I am able to send this to you. Since graduating from UNT, I have been searching for what it is God would have me do. While in college, I hastily chose a major and never considered what kind of value it would have for the kingdom. After much prayer and research I knew God was calling me to nutrition. I have been interested in nutrition and health for many years but I never thought to make a life out it before. While I started making my way towards a degree in nutrition I also started a full time job. Around this time I noticed my life began to feel barren and my soul was the most restless I’d ever felt. I prayed about this and I received the word of God telling me, “You aren’t supposed to be here.” What did this mean? I kept praying and pursuing what God was telling me, and I’m so glad to tell you I believe He is leading me to go on The World Race. I knew this is what God was bringing me to because I felt peace and joy more so than I had in the past few months.
The World Race is a program of Adventures in Missions, which is a non-profit missions organization based in Gainesville, GA. While on the Race, I will be doing ministry in a different country every month for 11 months. I will live out of a backpack and sleep in a sleeping bag, sometimes inside of a tent. Before I leave, I will go through a two week training camp to learn more about the countries I’ll be staying in and their culture, and learn about what ministry will look like while I’m there. Each month could look completely different. Some months we could spend time building homes and churches, while in other months we could be caring for orphans or playing soccer with street kids. I will travel with a group of about 40 people, and do life with five or six people once we reach our contact host in the country. This will be a time of great growth and discipleship in my life. My team and I will do bible studies together, worship together, and challenge each other in the pursuit of sanctification.
I believe God wants to give me a great adventure while revealing more specifically how He wants to use me to further the kingdom. And I believe The World Race is the great adventure He wants to give me. However, I cannot do this alone. I must plead for your support and help during the next year and a half. First, I absolutely need your prayers- the enemy is real and does not want to see God’s plan accomplished. Please pray for protection from the evil one as well as for me to only see, touch, hear, taste, and feel God’s good truth. I will also need prayers for my financial deadlines- I must raise $16,285, which brings me to my next need. I would greatly appreciate your financial support whether it is a one-time donation to my World Race account, a monthly donation to my account, or purchasing something for me I will need while on my trip. To break that sum down, if 75 people were to donate $36 each month for six months, I would meet my goal! The details for donating to me can be found on the other slip of paper you found in your envelope.
While on The Race I will have a personal blog where I will post updates about my trip including what God has been doing in my life and the lives around me, and pictures of the adventure I’ll be living. You can see what I’m up to while I prepare for the Race, when I leave, and after I’ve left by visiting sarahgifford.theworldrace.org. There will also be a direct link to donate to me on my blog at the top of the page.
Friends and family, I thank you for your support thus far in my life and ask for your continued support as I go forth whether it be prayerfully, financially, or even both! I often wonder why God has chosen me to go and be His hands and feet, to proclaim His name. I am a servant of Christ who doesn’t measure up to righteous standards. I like to believe I am a stalwart follower, but fall short each day and need my Savior, Jesus. I have found that this is a common theme among the stories in the Bible: God chooses those the world would consider the least to do His work. What a great and creative God we have! I thank you for taking the time to read this letter, and I thank you and God for your role in my life up to now and again for your involvement as I go forward.
Lord be with you,
Sarah
HOW TO DONATE Donations may be made by check, money order, credit card, bank transfer, or EFT (Dynapay)
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Check/Money Order- Must be made payable to Adventures in Missions with “Sarah Gifford” in the memo line. Mail to: Adventures in Missions, PO Box 742570, Atlanta, GA 30374-2570. Please mail only one check per envelope, as checks are processed mechanically.
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Credit Card/Bank Transfer- Click on the “Support Me” link on the left-hand side of my blog (sarahgifford.theworldrace.org), and you will be directed through the process of making a one-time, monthly, or quarterly gift by credit card or bank transfer. All donations made this way will be charged a transaction fee of 2-3%.
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EFT (Dynapay)- Go to adventures.org/dynapay to fill out an online form for a monthly Electronic Funds Transfer from a checking account. No transaction fee will be charged for donations made through EFT.
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No cash donations are accepted if submitted to Adventures in Missions.
Your donation is tax deductible. Upon the close of each calendar year, Adventures sends donors an annual giving statement confirming tax deductibility in the U.S. Deductibility varies for other countries outside of the U.S. and therefore it is the responsibility of any international donor to consult with their tax advisor as to the deductibility of their donation. Adventures is not incorporated in any country other than the U.S. Checks made out directly to the participant or non-financial gifts to Sarah Gifford are not tax-deductible.
