El Salvador?
Well, I think I posted in here that I was taking a mission trip to Brazil, but if not...I am taking a mission trip to not Brazil, but El Salvador. Background support letter:
Dear_____________,
Can you envision a childhood with no family, no parents, and no love? I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity God has presented to me. During December 26 - January 7, I will be going to Fortaleza, Brazil to work at an orphanage with a team from Clemson’s FCA. Before I go into details, I would like to tell you a little about myself and why I really feel that God is leading me to go on this trip.
I was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a mother who had mental, emotional, and physical problems. To this day I have never met my father. At the age of seven, I was taken by the Department of Social Services and put into a series of foster homes. I stayed in three foster homes over the course of one year before I was adopted. Throughout my life, my adopted parents have continued to foster and adopt children. Today my parents have three biological children in addition to six adopted children. Up until I graduated from high school, I attended a Catholic church, but looking back I would not have considered myself a Christian. I did not enjoy church, I did not understand it, and I did not pay attention. During my first semester at Clemson University, my roommate was a very strong Christian and a wonderful person. She would bring me to things like church, FCA, and other Christian organizations. It did not take long for me to realize how amazing Jesus is. I had been missing out on something that I never even knew existed: a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am now a senior and in the past three years God has shown me the person that I am, and the person that I want to be. I have also learned that God gives everyone different pasts. He reveals different things to different people. It is our job to take what we have learned and reveal it to others. I have seen in my life that Jesus really did come for the neglected, the overlooked, and the orphaned. And it is my hope to reveal Jesus to other children like myself.
Our two week trip will focus on the children of Davis Lar orphanage through different types of ministries. The purpose of our trip is this:
• First, we will be allowing God to work in our lives through the personal enrichment that comes from this type of mission trip.
• Second, we will encourage local Christians in Fortaleza, especially those that are connected with Davis Lar. Our presence will hopefully boost their spirits and support their work.
• Third, we will look at scheduling discipleship and studies mainly focused for teens, but also for younger kids.
• Fourth, we will look at sports as an outreach for the orphanage and the community.
• Fifth, we will possibly do some construction work in the orphanage. We are there to help fulfill their needs; if construction is one of those needs, that is what we will do.
I am excited about the opportunity and experience that lie ahead!! I hope you see the value in what we will accomplish. As you can imagine, a trip like this requires financial support from a number of people. I need to raise $1,600 by December 20th. If you can support me financially, I would be very grateful. Most importantly, I need your prayer support. Prayer is the fuel that will allow us to be successful as we follow God’s leading in ministry in Brazil.
If you would like to be part of this mission through your financial support, you can send a check to:
Stacey Flannery
105 R Sumter Ct.
Central, SC 29630
Please make your checks payable to Clemson FCA. While money is important, it comes in a distant second to my need for your prayer support. Since prayer support is so important to the success of this mission trip, I have enclosed a written verse that you can use as a bookmark, put on your bathroom mirror or fridge, or anywhere else that you might see it everyday.
Your time and support are valuable. Thank you, or as they say in Brazil, “Obrigada.”
Weeelllll.....I was so super pumped because I had never done foreign missions before, and I was working with orphans. But....there were a lot of problems/complications with flights to and from Brazil. And by complications I mean we had no flights. Sooo....luckily Clemson FCA is awesome and we had other missionary connections in El Salvador. While this will still be in a foreign country, we are no longer working with orphans (unless God presents an opportunity that we dont see yet) which stinks cause i really wanted to. It is cool that God is already teaching us things before we have even left. We prayed and prayed that God's will would be done and not our own. And then all of a sudden the door to Brazil was shut but God opened a door to El Salvador. We were a little worried at first but then we realized...we prayed for God to show us His will...and that is all He is doing. It was awesome how everyone responded with open hearts and minds and submission. So, since this change in places was so sudden and only a couple of weeks before our trip, it was too late to get shots for things like malaria and typhoid and what not. UH OH! But I am not scared...I am just gonna not drink the water and pray I dont die. Good plan right? Oh, and I have never been on a plane. Well, all this to say, I am leaving in a week, I am a little nervous, but I know God will do wonders because we are focused on doing His will and not our own.
Dear_____________,
Can you envision a childhood with no family, no parents, and no love? I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity God has presented to me. During December 26 - January 7, I will be going to Fortaleza, Brazil to work at an orphanage with a team from Clemson’s FCA. Before I go into details, I would like to tell you a little about myself and why I really feel that God is leading me to go on this trip.
I was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a mother who had mental, emotional, and physical problems. To this day I have never met my father. At the age of seven, I was taken by the Department of Social Services and put into a series of foster homes. I stayed in three foster homes over the course of one year before I was adopted. Throughout my life, my adopted parents have continued to foster and adopt children. Today my parents have three biological children in addition to six adopted children. Up until I graduated from high school, I attended a Catholic church, but looking back I would not have considered myself a Christian. I did not enjoy church, I did not understand it, and I did not pay attention. During my first semester at Clemson University, my roommate was a very strong Christian and a wonderful person. She would bring me to things like church, FCA, and other Christian organizations. It did not take long for me to realize how amazing Jesus is. I had been missing out on something that I never even knew existed: a relationship with Jesus Christ. I am now a senior and in the past three years God has shown me the person that I am, and the person that I want to be. I have also learned that God gives everyone different pasts. He reveals different things to different people. It is our job to take what we have learned and reveal it to others. I have seen in my life that Jesus really did come for the neglected, the overlooked, and the orphaned. And it is my hope to reveal Jesus to other children like myself.
Our two week trip will focus on the children of Davis Lar orphanage through different types of ministries. The purpose of our trip is this:
• First, we will be allowing God to work in our lives through the personal enrichment that comes from this type of mission trip.
• Second, we will encourage local Christians in Fortaleza, especially those that are connected with Davis Lar. Our presence will hopefully boost their spirits and support their work.
• Third, we will look at scheduling discipleship and studies mainly focused for teens, but also for younger kids.
• Fourth, we will look at sports as an outreach for the orphanage and the community.
• Fifth, we will possibly do some construction work in the orphanage. We are there to help fulfill their needs; if construction is one of those needs, that is what we will do.
I am excited about the opportunity and experience that lie ahead!! I hope you see the value in what we will accomplish. As you can imagine, a trip like this requires financial support from a number of people. I need to raise $1,600 by December 20th. If you can support me financially, I would be very grateful. Most importantly, I need your prayer support. Prayer is the fuel that will allow us to be successful as we follow God’s leading in ministry in Brazil.
If you would like to be part of this mission through your financial support, you can send a check to:
Stacey Flannery
105 R Sumter Ct.
Central, SC 29630
Please make your checks payable to Clemson FCA. While money is important, it comes in a distant second to my need for your prayer support. Since prayer support is so important to the success of this mission trip, I have enclosed a written verse that you can use as a bookmark, put on your bathroom mirror or fridge, or anywhere else that you might see it everyday.
Your time and support are valuable. Thank you, or as they say in Brazil, “Obrigada.”
Weeelllll.....I was so super pumped because I had never done foreign missions before, and I was working with orphans. But....there were a lot of problems/complications with flights to and from Brazil. And by complications I mean we had no flights. Sooo....luckily Clemson FCA is awesome and we had other missionary connections in El Salvador. While this will still be in a foreign country, we are no longer working with orphans (unless God presents an opportunity that we dont see yet) which stinks cause i really wanted to. It is cool that God is already teaching us things before we have even left. We prayed and prayed that God's will would be done and not our own. And then all of a sudden the door to Brazil was shut but God opened a door to El Salvador. We were a little worried at first but then we realized...we prayed for God to show us His will...and that is all He is doing. It was awesome how everyone responded with open hearts and minds and submission. So, since this change in places was so sudden and only a couple of weeks before our trip, it was too late to get shots for things like malaria and typhoid and what not. UH OH! But I am not scared...I am just gonna not drink the water and pray I dont die. Good plan right? Oh, and I have never been on a plane. Well, all this to say, I am leaving in a week, I am a little nervous, but I know God will do wonders because we are focused on doing His will and not our own.