Dear friends and family,
I never write you letters..or emails OR Blogs! Wow, that’s a weird way to open a church missions trip support letter. It was suggested to use a form letter to follow but it felt even weirder! The truth is that I don’t write anyone letters and if I opened up this letter by pretending this is just the latest in a lengthy chain of correspondence we’ve kept up over a long time, that would feel as fake as when people run out of things to say and ask you questions like, “hot enough for you?” Wow, that was a really atrociously long run on sentence, but I’m excited about this missions trip and I’m not going to let sentence structure stand in my way! (My sisters probably just pulled out a chunk of hair over that horrible misuse of the English sentence structure. Apologies.)
My heart has burned for overseas missions for years (like since the permed hair and staring into Minnesota cornfields days-sorry for that mental flashback). I have been well aware that the gift of motherhood would take precedent over the desire to "globe-trott" for Jesus. What a joy motherhood has been and continues to be! I am glad to be able after many years to take the life lessons (however profound & small they may be) to a new longitude and latitude.
I’m super excited to be going with my church, K2 The Church, to Swaziland, Africa for 11 days in July. Saying yes, wasn’t a hard decision. 11 days of caring for hundreds of orphans and making an impact in a community that is in desperate need, feels like a no-brainer. Nope, deciding to go was easy. Paying for it however, is a real challenge.
I just don’t have $3,500 laying around the house. The thought has crossed my mind of selling my plasma 87 times. Instead, I thought it through and decided to send letters to people I don’t usually write and ask for something I don’t usually ask for, money! I’d love it if you could financially support me on this mission trip. A little, a lot, anything would be great! (Currently, I am at about 35% funded)
Obviously, by now you realize I am not a huge fan of a typical "support letter". However, I DID really like something in the "normal" letters included- a request for prayer. If you could pray about the trip, that would be awesome. I truly believe that prayer changes things, goes before us and works inside of us. We will no doubt face challenges as we prepare to go to the people/children of Swaziland and will have obstacles once on the ground. Knowing that you are praying for the team is something so valuable to me personally and I would be honored to know you are praying!
To give you an idea of what we are embarking on here ya go! Ekudzeni is located to the west of Manzini, Swaziland. There are just over one million people living in the small country of Swaziland, however this small nation faces the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world. One in four adults in Swaziland is living with HIV and 69,000 children have lost one or both parents due to HIV/AIDS. The rural area of Ekudzeni has few employment opportunities and a high rate of alcoholism, and many families in this area go without food on a daily basis. Many children are abandoned and are left to be raised by the community “gogos” (grandmothers). There is an incredible need to support orphaned and vulnerable children in the community.
The Ekudzeni CarePoint currently provides food for more than 200 children—from ages one to 18. There are currently 5 "gogos" who volunteer and cook at the CarePoint. The people at this location have an incredible vision to holistically care for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of the children at this CarePoint by meeting basic needs and providing life-giving discipleship to give them hope and a future. K2 has partnered with Kids Against Hunger packing highly nutritious meals to send to countries all over the world. So far we have packed 135,000 meals just to feed "our kids" at the Carepoint in Ekudzeni!
While some of the details of our itinerary are still firming up, we will be spending our time in Swaziland in Ekudzeni with the children and people there. Through the leadership of the church there, they are completing the school building currently. By the time we arrive, some of the projects we have helped to fund as a church, like the well, kitchen, fence, and latrines will be under construction. It is very possible that we will be able to serve alongside the church there in completing some of these projects. a short summary of the type of work we will be doing in Ekudzeni, Swaziland for those of you that want to know more. http://www.hopechest.org/community/ekudzeni/">Children's Hope Chest is the organization we are partnering with
(over achievers can go to and read more! )
Below is a link from K2 The Church's website to give financially online towards my trip. Simply follow the online instructions for giving and make sure to add a note in the message box stating "Tammy Holm-Swaziland Trip".
K2 The Church Secure Online giving click here
Donations also can be sent to K2 The Church, mailed to the address below with a memo-Tammy Holm Swaziland Trip.
Thanks for reading my enthusiastic ramblings and down-to-earth approach to fundraising! I am grateful for all prayers and any donations. Looking forward to sharing more of my upcoming experiences in the next few months!
Yours truly-
Tammy Holm
Mailing address -
K2 The Church
193 W 2100 S
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
No comments:
Post a Comment