Mission Trip 08

22Jul08

Family and Friends
As some of you may know I have been attending Zion Church for the last four years and for the past nine months I have been serving as a leader within the music ministry. As a leader and someone that feels drawn to serve I have decided to go on a short-term mission trip to Nairobi, Kenya October 19-28. My church is partnering with World Hope Baptist Church to reach out to people in a very impoverished area in Nairobi.

You may wonder why I have decided to travel at this time and the answer can be found in one of my favorite quotes “whenever we do something that fills us with enthusiasm we are following our legend.” I visited South Africa last year (the journey is shown below) for a personal vacation and during that visit something within me was stirred up. I feel that God has given me so much and that he desires that I use my gifts and abilities to impact other lives.

Since January 2007, Zion Church has been working with World Hope Baptist Church and investing in the Hope Center. Over 300,000 people live within one mile of Hope Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Thousands live in some of the most tragic conditions imaginable: 75% of the adults in the Kawangware slums are alcoholics; 50% are infected with HIV. 90% of the children living there are given little or no education. Hope Center reaches out in a variety of ways: it supports an extensive athletic outreach including basketball programs and four soccer teams, an HIV/AIDS ministry, several micro-businesses, as well as Hope Baptist Church.

One of the major reasons I’m interested in going is to visit and work with girls at the African Inland Church (AIC) Girls Boarding Primary School, which is focused on improving the quality of education it offers students and providing shelter for some two dozen young girls, as young as nine, of the Massai tribe who have been “rescued” from pre-arranged early marriages.

The reason I am writing this letter is because I am looking for a support team. This is a team of people who will promise to pray for our team before during and after travel, give toward this project, or both. We need prayer as we strive to meet other people’s needs and we also need prayer for safety as we travel. Financially, I need to raise $2800 to cover the cost of my expenses while on this mission trip. I will be contributing from my own personal funds but I’d truly appreciate your support as well. If you’d like to give you can click on this link “Donate to Mission Trip 08″ and pay through pay.pal. If you prefer to write a tax deductible check it can be made out to “Zion Church” with “Africa Mission Trip c/o Christen McCluney” on the memo line (email me your address and I will send you a self addressed stamped envelope). Even if you can’t give I still would appreciate your prayer and moral support while we are on our mission.

Thanks so much

Christen

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