My Missions Support Letter

Here is my personal support letter. The original is written up and printed out of Word. I tried to use the same kind of text wrapping around photos like you can do in a blog post. The easiest way to do that was to create transparent tables and then have text or a photo in alternating cells along the same row. Yeah. What can I say, I can be lazy. Actually though, I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. First time I've ever put graphics in a support letter.

Up to now, I've not really worried at all about the finances. But as I thought about some of the numbers, I'm getting a bit worried now. I have 25 people on my list. Each team member costs about $2K. Realistically, we have about 6 weeks. Hmm.... Anyway, we will see what happens. On the flip side, I've never heard of anyone cancelling because they didn't have enough money. Is that because in many churches, anything to do with missions is believed to be inherently good? The teams go whether they raise enough or not? That's probably a topic for another post.

Here is the letter, pretty much as it would look if you got it in the mail. And, if you feel like making a contribution, get in touch via email or comment.


Thanks so much for your ongoing support of my involvement with students over the many years. I'm exhilarated to continue to report to you that this generation of students is excited to be on mission and working with them is one of the thrills of life.
SPACE (Students Prepared to Act for Christ's Empire), the missional component of GCC's youth ministries continues to gain momentum. This summer has us overseeing three student teams, all three of which are going to serve GCC missionaries – two overseas and one in PA. We also have an entry level series of day missional excursions into Washington DC.

For my role, I will be actively taking part in three experiences this summer:
- July 10-13 - Working and serving with a youth pastor friend in AZ. I will be leading some devotionals for his students and staff and working alongside them as they execute a community outreach program. The long range potential could be a missional partnership between our two student ministries.
- July 15-17 - Leading a team of middle school students to serve and encourage at CMTS ministries, a GCC supported ministry near Lancaster, PA, which provides automobile and other technical services to missionaries all around the globe.

- July 29-Aug 8 - Leading a team of 10 high school students and leaders to serve and encourage a GCC family living in Londrina, Brazil, working with college students. Our primary goal is to participate in a culture exchange, helping the McM's jump start some of their college ministry and relationships. Reading the McM's write about 'how deeply honored' they feel to be hosting a team helps to clarify one of our goals – sending students to serve with GCC families already placed strategically around the world.

Your prayer and financial support is crucial for these summer projects to be a success. My estimated costs for this summer are around $2000 per person, mostly to fund the Brazil trip. If the Lord leads, your support would be greatly appreciated and can be made to Grace Community Church. Thanks for being a partner in this ministry and for joining with me to shape a movement of students that long for a world to know Jesus.

Images: graduating GCC Seniors on a weekend missions trip to NYC, Londrina Brazil, K(7) and E(4)

Related: Historical Mission Support Letters [2007, 2006, 2005]