Introduction
I hope that this letter finds you well. I wanted to share with you some wonderful things that God is creating in my life. My summer of 2021 will be spent in the Philippines on a mission trip. I will be joining Kids International Ministries to spend my time serving children and the poor in a variety of ways. Joining youth ministries, church ministries, and a program currently feeding 190,000 people each week in the wake of the pandemic. Assist with a school, children’s home, and a pregnancy clinic. My squad mates and I will be living out James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I will be sharing my summer with the beautiful people in the Philippines as a living expression of the gospel.
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.
My Story
I first felt the calling to do missions before my junior year of high school. I prayed and tried to figure out if it was right for me and my walk with God. I never seemed to get answers from myself or my prayers to God, so I put the decision out of my mind for a while. Then came the beginning of my freshman year at college where I would participate in school, improve my relationship with God, and work. But turns out God had different plans because yes, I did the three things, I wanted to but also had other decisions thrown my way. I went to Cru and plan to all through college. The participants of Cru eventually decided to have bible study groups. So naturally, I started going to women’s bible study every Tuesday night. That is fun, and it helped me to get to know quite a few women on campus. One day after bible study was done one of the women was telling people about her mission trip she is going on. So, then I asked her for details. She then talked to me about her mission and told me about the organization that it is through. I then looked at the website and looked at some of the missions they have. I read probably a dozen or so descriptions of the different places and missions. I prayed on it for a couple of days. I always knew that I wanted to do a mission internationally and something to do with children. So, there was only a couple that stuck out to me but the main one was the Philippines. Where I get to help children and women that are less fortunate than I am. Also, to spread the word and love of the Lord. After figuring out what trip I wanted to go on I started filling out the application. Then I prayed on it by myself and with others. I wanted to make sure this was a decision made by myself but also according to God. Then a couple of days later I decided this was something I wanted to do so I submitted my application. The admissions representative from Adventures contacted me about a week or so after to conduct a phone interview. The phone interview was just to clarify the details of my application. After that he said that he wanted to proceed so he said I needed a reference so I texted my youth group leader/mentor to see if she would be my reference. She said yes but then it took her a while to submit my reference due to daily life but that is ok. Then I had to commit to going which consisted of putting a deposit down. Now I have to start fundraising which brings me to where I am now.
Mission Info & Goals
The thing is that I still have to tell you what this mission trip is about. My end goal would probably be to have a better relationship with the Lord and to become a more confident Christian in my daily life. What am I going to do to make that happen? To be honest, I am not internally sure yet, but I know just going through this is going to make me a better person and help me get a new perspective of the world and the Christian faith. One of the biggest things that are going to help me to meet my goal and be successful in serving the Lord is your support.
