Well, I'm currently preparing to go on another summer project. I'm super excited about it, and I thought to make my life easier, I'd copy and past my support letter to kind of explain the whole shindig:
Hope you're doing well; let me give you a quick update on my life: I'm in my fourth year here at KU, studying social welfare and getting a minor in sociology. Next year I'll be doing a practicum doing school social work, which I am excited for as it is my number-one interest in the field of social work. This year I also saw the end of my time as a Marching Jayhawk-at the end of January the torch was past on to next year's drum majors and now I am an alumna. I also have joined KU's club ultimate team-the Betty's-which is challenging, but I love getting to play a competitive sport again. Beyond school, band, and the Betty's, I've also had the wonderful opportunity of being involved in Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru).
Cru is an international, non-denominational organization that meets every week here on campus. In addition to our weekly meeting there are Bible studies and opportunities to learn and grow in a relationship with Jesus as part of a community that is seeking Christ here on campus. One other way that Cru helps foster growth is through Summer Projects.
As you may know, I spent last summer in Juneau, AK on project with Cru. The summer taught me so many things-more than I could put in a letter. I have loved keeping in touch with people I met while there and seeing how things from the summer are so relevant in my ministry here on campus. One of the best fruits of last summer has been getting to apply the things that I learned here at KU. One example has been trusting God and leading in faith: I have had the blessed opportunity to start and lead a Bible study for women in the marching band. I’ll confess I was nervous, but God truly blessed it—we started out as six girls and have since doubled to twelve and are still meeting this semester. It has been so fun getting to know each of these girls and see God work in their lives and use them to work in my life.
After seeing how spending time focused solely on serving others and loving God, without the distraction of school, I am excited to have the opportunity again this summer. This summer I’ll be spending the month of July serving on a mission’s team in Ethiopia! Why Ethiopia? As one of the oldest Christian nations in the world, it is in a prime location to reach its neighboring countries with the good news of Jesus Christ. And being located in Bahir Dar, a university town, we’ll be rubbing shoulders and sharing the Gospel with the future leaders of Ethiopia. The structure of our time spent there will consist of days volunteering and serving in the community and evenings engaging in spiritual conversations.
I’m so excited and thankful for this opportunity; God will truly use us to reach his people in Africa. In order to make this happen, I need a group of ministry partners willing to support me, both prayerfully and financially. While being in Ethiopia will provide opportunities for a lot of growth, another big area of growth is trusting God to provide for me before I even get there. I need to raise $4,550 to cover travel expenses and housing once I get there. To meet this need, I am looking for people to invest $50, $100, or whatever you feel led to give to help impact the lives of people in Ethiopia. It seems overwhelming, but I’m trusting the Lord to provide.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read, think, and pray through this with me. I cannot say thank you enough for being a part of my life and supporting me so much already. I am excited for the opportunity this summer will provide to stretch and grow me, as well as reach God’s people with his good news.
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Through sending my support letters, however, I have been further realizing God's faithfulness so I wanted to take a moment and praise that in way that I can look back when I'm struggling and all that jazz. Somehow I've come up with the goal of sending a letter to every state in the US. The crazy thing is I definitely don't know someone in every state, so I've asked friends to volunteer people they know in the states I don't have. Basically, I've been sending letters to strangers. But I love getting to do it. I put a hand-written note in each letter to explain why I'm sending them a letter and who I got their information from.
(this was enclosed in the envelope-it's a postcard with the "claim to fame" of the town they live in) Today I got my first "stranger" letter back! It was from the parents of a girl in my Bible study, and it is just so cool. I'm so amazed at the fact that people would take the time to read a letter from a crazy girl in Kansas, let alone respond to it with a sweet note and even some support! I guess it's not as far-fetched because her parents kind of know who I am, but it's still amazing and exciting!
Other than that first letter, it's been amazing to see the people God has used to provide states and even what states have and haven't been provided. I just got some addresses in Hawaii! I just think that's really exciting. Funny thing is that for another obscure state-Alaska-I have many addresses from spending last summer there. It's been so fun to send letters to people from Project I care about and to see the way they respond. I just love it.
A couple girls and I were talking to one of our staff women about a month ago about support raising, and I think I agree with her perspective on it: raising support is a privileged place to be. Why? Because none of this money is coming from anything that we are doing. Especially sending letters to strangers. Plus I love getting to be thankful and write letters. Pretty much a combo of everything I love doing.
States left:
Alabama
Delaware
Iowa
Indiana
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Maine
Mississippi
Nevada
Oregon
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Utah
West Virginia
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