A few months ago, my church in Orlando asked that I design promotional materials to encourage its members to travel to Africa and assist in the mission and outreach work of international non-profit, Children of the Nations. For me, this was a cool opportunity, for one, because I got to design a lot of custom tribal artwork (which is fun and challenging to be authentic and creative with), and two, because I felt in some way connected to the actual act of inspiring people to worship God by traveling overseas to serve.
Summit does these trips multiple times per year, and I’ve actually been wanting to go on one of them for awhile. I’ve told my friends and family for at least the last 3 years that I had hoped to go, but for whatever reason, I just haven’t. Whether it was being surprised I had to spend an extra year in college for my degree, pursuing a job out of state, or actually getting a great job in Orlando this past summer, there’s always been a good reason, or maybe one that just seemed good to me, that I didn’t participate in years past. I know this sounds cliche, but this winter everything has seemed to align perfectly for me to go this year. I think if I’m honest too, I may have placed more value in traveling, or adventure for that matter, than a sincere concern for the people I would be going to serve in years past. That’s another likely reason God has deemed it wise for me to wait.
This fall, however, I had prayed a lot about this, and have been encouraged by a ton of people to go. So as of the new year, I’m stepping out and am now officially on a team headed to Africa on March 1st. This whole process has come as a whirlwind, but I’m thrilled at the chance to go and do this.
This is the mission for my particular trip...
In this part of the year, the villagers need help caring for their children throughout the afternoons and assistance on various building projects. That will technically be the mission we take on, but in addition, our team will actually split up in the mornings to spend a significant part of the day in villagers’ homes helping them with their daily needs. This experience will be unlike any other trip I’ve been on, and is sure to be an incredible time to really engage them in conversation about Jesus, step into their culture, and develop a relationship with them.
As always, there is a sacrifice for going on these trips: time, energy, and resources. In the Bible when God is orchestrating a event or mission for His servants to go on, His will was for them to respond in a child-like willingness to follow and let Him take care of the details. There is a huge degree of wisdom involved too, but I think God’s desire is for men and women (that are presented with a chance to glorify Him in a straight-forward call to action) to jump at the opportunity to do it. I’m not comparing myself to Isaiah or Jonah or Paul by any means, but this is still a big step of faith for me to travel and go do this.
There are 2 key ways I could use your help if you are willing...
- PRAYER.
This is huge. I’ve seen how powerful a praying community of believers is while serving on past trips and just in life, day by day. If you would like stories, just ask :) So again, this is huge. I personally could absolutely use prayer for wisdom, joy, faith, perseverance, energy, and health while I’m there. The villagers, our team’s unity and continual heart of worship is equally important, if not more so, as well. That would be greatly appreciated!
- FINANCES.
The trip cost is $2800. I believe the deadline to raise this amount is the last week of February. There’s no pressure to give or support me in this, but if you can and would like to, I would be most appreciative! You can send cash or check to 2874 Carew Ave. Winter Park, FL 32789. (If you’d like for this gift to be tax deductible, please send to the same address, but make your check out to Summit Church).
I will definitely keep all of you updated on the project before and after I go, and I’ll most likely create some kind of cool artwork from it, or as a result of what I experience there to share with all of you as well.
Thanks for taking the time to read this!
In humility,
Evan
