Open Support Letter

Linda Collier
156 Monterey Ct
Noblesville IN 46060

Dear family and friends,

Recently I made a decision to go on a short-term mission trip with Food for the Hungry. Drs. Ron and Annette Cargioli have been supportive by allowing me the time away from my job. I’m excited about the opportunity God is giving me to share the love of Jesus in Bangladesh and I’m writing to tell you more about both the opportunity and how you can be involved.

“Why Bangladesh?” Bangladesh is one of the poorest and spiritually unreached countries in the world. The average family lives on less than $1/day with over 300 unreached people groups. Most importantly, the millions of Bangladeshis who suffer will become dear to us as real people with real names and real needs.

“What will I do in Bangladesh?” Our team will support the educational program led year-round by the Food for the Hungry staff by helping the teachers develop their English skills. Also during this time, the team will organize and participate in activities, crafts and fun with the children in the program! Our team will be ministering to the untouchable caste, the lowest of the Hindu caste system. Our team will be demonstrating in word and deed to these families that they have tremendous worth and value. We will be the hands and feet of Jesus on this trip.

I am requesting prayer for preparation for my trip; please begin praying that I will depend on God to strengthen my character. Please pray that I go as a learner and a loving representative of Christ.

I will also need financial support. The amount for me to serve on this team is approximately $3,200 and I am trusting God to supply for His work. This will go towards the ongoing child development program costs as well as provide for my trip expenses. If you aren’t able to help financially, please know that I consider prayer support just as important. If you are willing to pray for my trip or able to give financial support, please complete the enclosed form and return it to me by September 30, 2008.

In closing, I thank you for reading this letter and considering my needs for prayer and support. Please contact me if you have any questions. I am extremely exciting about this ministry and hope you can share in my excitement.

I have enclosed information on the area of Bangladesh that we are visiting. To learn more about Food for the Hungry, please visit our website at www.fh.org.

Please leave a comment or message me if you would like to support this mission in any way.

Little by Little

I have been working on my support letter little by little. I actually nabbed a sample letter off the internet. I really liked some of the things it has on it. It says I am not asking for money because I know God will provide that (of course through my supporters filling that need). I am going to work on tweeking it more tomorrow. My biggest need in my estimation is prayers. I know the value of prayer and I appreciate all the prayers that can be offered up on my/our teams behalf. Above all else this mission trip is to shine God's love and light in a place where there is little hope or light.
I have never been on a mission trip. Someone told me the biggest aha for her was how needy WE are. Not how needy they are. They don't know what they are without. It is the only life they know. We on the other hand go into their world and very quickly realize how much we need that is not available to us in their world.

The Great Adventure (lyrics) Steven Curtis Chapman

Saddle up your horses

Started out this morning in the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible and I read about me
Said I'd been a prisoner and God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between the pages it hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me and I heard somebody say "let's go"!

CHORUS
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other - this is The Great Adventure

Come on get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion in a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for

Chorus

Bridge:
We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all we'll find that
This is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams

Yeah... oh saddle up your horses... come on get ready to ride

Chorus
1 Cor. 2:9,10
Eph 2:4-10

I am working on the support letter this week. I will post it as soon as it is in the bag.
I will never grow tired seeing incredible miracles in my life and my families life.
More soon.

New blogspot

In an effort to make my blog easy to access, I am starting to write my blogs here on BlogSpot. My intention for this blog is to keep those of you who have agreed to pray for me and support me through this journey to Bangladesh informed as to my training. My thoughts, fears, and praises.
Our first training meeting is Saturday August 30. I will get to meet everyone who has agreed to be a part of this team.
I am still reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is an autobiography about Greg Mortenson's journey. His mission was/is to build schools for the children of Pakistan.
About a year ago I was reading Donna's blog and ultimatly began corrosponding with her. She had been in Pakistan for 10 years. Her husband and she were working with a mission organization and built hundreds of houses and a few schools while in Pakistan. A year ago the Pakistan government refused to renew their visas. They are now living in North America near their daughters. What an awesome gift they gave in their service.
What a small world we really live in.