Dear Family & Friends,
Introduction
I hope that this letter finds you well. I wanted to share with you what God has done in my life since starting college. I have joined the Cru organization on campus and loved being in a community with other believers just like me. I also had the wonderful opportunity to go on a mission trip to Colombia in June of 2021. We worked with drug rehab participants and evangelized on the streets of Medellin. It was a great experience and I have grown so much from my experience well there. I also had the great opportunity to get baptized while on a weekend trip to Guatape, Colombia. I am excited to say that God changed my plans for the summer of 2022 because I personally was planning to work at Bluewater Covenant Bible Camp this summer. But when I continued to pray on what to do in regard to my summer plans God really put missions are my heart again, so I looked at AIM to see what they were offering this summer. Then I began to pray about where he would like me to go which originally was Africa, but I ended up committing to a trip to Costa Rica. I am hoping to maybe try to go on a shorter mission trip to Africa in the future, but we will have to see. So, I will be going to Costa Rica to serve on a mission this summer.
Goals of Adventures in Missions
The organization that I will be going with is Adventures in missions. Adventures in Missions believes in the unity of the body of Christ, mobilizing and making disciples, the church without walls, and putting people before projects.
Mission Info & Goals
I will be going to Nicoya, Costa Rica from May 31st-July 2, 2022. I will be serving on a squad of 20 people which is exciting because it’s a little bigger than my squad from last summer. Some of the information I have on what we will be doing is broad but here it is. The ministry partner in Nicoya, Iglesia Monte Sión del Evangelio Cuadrangular, whom we will be working with is dedicated to seeing that every province and community in Costa Rica has a healthy church that is able to reproduce with the help of the Holy Spirit. Through evangelism, worship, preaching, and other outreach initiatives, they work with other Christian denominations to represent the Gospel and follow Christ in everything they do, socially and spiritually. Also, a typical day could look like this: We will spend every day with the host family and experience the local culture firsthand. Get our hands dirty with some manual labor projects in the community that will help the ministry thrive long after we are gone. Join in Bible studies and other local church functions. Work with the people in the community, especially the youth, and help empower and encourage them to live their lives for Christ. This is just some broad information that we are given but it all comes down to day-to-day decisions and what the Lord leads us into. There will also be updates about fundraising throughout my trip on my blog and the website is mandyvonrueden.theworldrace.org.
Support
So as brothers and sisters in Christ, I could use all of your support to make this possible through Christ and in His name! Here are ways you can support God’s calling on my life right now in Adventures in Missions Nicoya, Costa Rica.
- Prayerfully If you feel led to support through prayer, I would love for you to pray for these three areas during our trip:
- For safe travels to training camp, to Costa Rica, and while in-country.
- For worries of a financial burden to be gone
- For the health and wellness of my squad and myself
- Financially If you feel led to give financially, I am doing an Adopt-a-Box which means you pick a box and the number inside of it is what you would donate. You can do so online or by mail. I have to be 50% fundraised, $1,625, by April 8th. My end goal to be fully funded is to raise $3,250 by May 17th. Online:https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=partFund&selected=Semesters&desc=Mandy%20Von+Rueden&appeal_id=VONRUEDENMANDY
Mail: By check. Please make all checks payable to Adventures in Missions. I have enclosed a fundraising card that must be filled out and sent with your check to the address listed on the card.
- There will be updates on my adopt-a-box/fundraising on my Facebook, Instagram, and blog.
- Sponsorship or Donations If you feel led to support a different way. I am looking for items for my mission
- Airfare (Airfare is provided from training camp to Costa Rica but not from home to Georgia or back)Clothes- Missionaries are limited on clothing due to dress codes in different countries. I need some lightweight clothing due to Costa Rica being hotter than here.
- I am also doing an Adopt-a-Box fundraiser to help fundraise towards my airfare due to high costs right now.
- Other donations- Can be discussed if none of the above work
I would love to sit down and discuss more if that is something you are interested in please reach out by phone number or email listed below.
Your Friend,
Mandy Von Rueden
If you have questions, comments, or concerns please contact me at:
218-275-3603 or [email protected]
