I am very excited to announce where I’ll be spending my nine months this upcoming September. In no specific order, my squad will be traveling to Botswana, Malaysia, and Guatemala. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to go back to Guatemala, where I spent a week this past summer. That week was a huge part of what began my desire to serve the Lord and His people daily.
On another note, I’d like to make my support letter available to those who either didn’t receive it or would like to share it with others. Also, if you received one in the mail, you may notice that this one is a bit different as it’s open to a larger group of people. Feel free to send this to anyone that you think would want to hear this.
Hello,
Thank you for showing interest in the direction that the Lord is taking me. Maybe you know me; maybe you don’t, so I’ll start by saying a bit about my background. I was born in Webster, New York where I was baptized Catholic and received my first communion as well, but as I grew older, my family started falling away from the church. When I was 7 years old, we moved to Colorado and after only a year or so out here we started looking for a different church. We explored Calvary Chapels, Presbyterian, non-denominational, and many others. However, it wasn’t long until we really un-invested in the church as a whole. When I reached middle school, my faith became more of my choice rather than something my parents put on me. I had a tough time committing my time to the Lord, but remained in and out of youth groups for a few years. It wasn’t until my senior year that I really began pursuing the Lord and His will. Which is why when I enrolled to Baylor University for the fall of 2014, I felt that I was making a decision that He would be happy with because Baylor is a Baptist school. It was, in my mind, a win-win situation. I got to experience the big-school environment with great athletics while I pursued God. However, something was still off, it was a month before my move-in date that I had realized that making my own decisions and praying that the Lord will bless those decisions is not enough. It takes prayer, lots of it, to see what decision the Lord wants us to make, and then it’s our choice to follow or not.
For me, I realized that Baylor was not the plan that the Lord had for me, he had something different. What it was I wasn’t sure, so I waited a month or so till something came by that I was really passionate about. It was the World Race: Gap Year and I knew that the Lord had been calling me to that for over a year and that it was time that I listened. The World Race is an incredible opportunity for me to go to three regions: Southeast Asia, Central America, and Africa and learn what it means to be a servant. Starting this September, I get to spend 9 months alongside some like-minded folks my age, whom I have had the chance to get to know already and they really are a great group of people. As far as what our days will look like, we could be spending time with orphans, praying over the sick, or working with victims of sex slavery. It’ll depend on the immediate needs of the communities we invest in.
With any mission trip like this, a lot of support is needed. I’m not going to sit here and ask you guys for just money because that’s not what I’m looking for, it is always appreciated, but there’s so much more to it. Here are some ways you can help:
Prayer: Prayer is easily the most important thing when it comes to an opportunity like this. Matthew 21:22 “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” I cannot emphasize how incredibly powerful a simply prayer can be.
Supporting My Squad: As I said, I’m going with a group of people my age who are answering the same call, and I really encourage everyone to take a look at what brought them here. You can find their blogs at http://www.theworldrace.org/?tab=participants&group=15G0901 and at each individual blog you can choose to support them financially or maybe get in contact with them!
Sharing: If I chose to reach out to the people I know and leave it at that, I think I’d be missing a lot of people who are willing to help us. This may be the biggest thing you can do to help my squad; simply share this email with a friend, family member, or coworker. There are so many people that I don’t even know who are willing to help, and I’m asking you guys to reach out to those people in your life, it would mean so much to us.
Finances: This is the ugly part. The part I really would’ve liked to just ignore as a whole but it’s something that I have to address. If you do choose to support me financially, I would like to say thank you. Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it. There are a couple ways to do this; you can either send in a one-time donation or commit to a monthly pledge. Whatever you choose to do, just know that I am extremely grateful for any gift. You can choose to donate online or you can also send cash and checks in the mail. To find out more about how you can donate, go to https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=Thomas%20Dean
Other Ideas: If you have any other ideas of how you may help, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I love hearing unique ideas and I love getting advice because the reality is that I have no clue what I’m doing. This experience is unlike anything I’ve ever done, so maybe you’ve done it all before and have some wisdom you want to share, please do!
Now as I get ready to leave, I try to keep everyone informed on what this process has looked like through my blog which you can find at thomasdean.theworldrace.org and I will also be keeping that as up-to-date as I can while I’m out on the Race. You may also call, text, email, Facebook message, DM me on twitter, whatever you want for the months leading up till my launch in September. While I’m on the Race, communication will be tough but please don’t hesitate to send me a message, keeping contact with our homes is such an important thing for us to remember while we’re gone.
Thank you all and God bless,
Thomas Dean
303-588-4232
Thanks again to everyone so far for all the support, it means so much.
Blessings,
Thomas
