Hello again dear family, friends, and supporters in our life,
We have some additional exciting news to share with you all about our upcoming 2012 that warranted a separate letter from our 2011 update! As you can probably tell, the picture in our Christmas card is from our March anniversary vacation to Mexico last year. We had assumed that would be our last trip before starting a family and me being too pregnant to travel, but God had other plans for us.
When we realized we wouldn’t be 7 months pregnant come our anniversary time in March 2012, we decided to start planning another warm weather vacation. While at church one Sunday a few weeks ago, we noticed something in the bulletin about a fundraiser for a March mission trip to Puebla, Mexico. We had actually met the church Missions Director months back and learned about the trip, but were pregnant at the time so couldn’t have joined. When we saw this reminder in the bulletin, we got connected with the team leader who let us know there was still room for us and invited us to dinner with the team of ten that next day. We met with the team, learned about the trip and community they serve, and committed to going with them right then and there.
Our church partners with Living Hope International (http://lovehopemercy.org) – a ministry that sends teams to the town of Puebla, Mexico to serve in the Esperanza Viva orphanage and their surrounding community. Esperanza Viva Youth Homes rescue, train, nurture, and rehabilitate underprivileged, orphaned, abandoned, and street children and youth whose families are unable or unwilling to provide for them. Since 1994, Esperanza Viva has helped provide for and guide thousands of children and their families, including full-time care for more than 350 children.
We have been blessed as a couple to vacation together and be served by others, so this year so are beyond thrilled to be serving others instead. Going on a mission trip as a couple is something we’ve always wanted to do, and it’s only because of God’s perfect timing that we are able to go on this trip. In James 1:27, God calls believers “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” So we are honored to listen to that call and go. We look forward to seeing the world through someone else’s eyes, knowing the joy of sharing Jesus with people of a different culture and making a difference in the lives of at-risk children and youth.
To be honest we had set aside funds to vacation again this year and had planned to use those for the mission trip as well, but were told that the church strongly encourages team members to raise funds from supporters rather than paying for the trip themselves. We like this idea because it allows us to involve our friends and family in our upcoming trip and ask if you would want to contribute to supporting a portion of our trip. We realize that while people may want to actually serve on a mission trip they are not always able, so this is a way for you to make an impact in the lives of those who need it most, by supporting us in going to serve. Additionally, should our trip be funded by faithful supporters, it would allow us to use our own saved funds to bless others in need or help fund future missionaries.
There are two ways we would ask you to support us in our upcoming trip:
1. First and foremost, prayer! Please be praying for preparations before the trip, safety for us and our team as we travel (dates are March xx-xx), and that God would truly use us as His hands and feet to show His love to this community.
2. If you feel led to financially contribute to our trip, you can mail a check to us in the enclosed envelope.
We are so grateful for your love, support and prayers in our lives and are honored to be able to share this experience with you in one way or another. Thank you for prayerfully considering this partnership with us!
Blessings,
Kate & Tyge Blomberg
So there you have it - we're going on a missions trip! This letter explains a lot of our decision making process, but we feel God has been all over it. We really don't know what to expect, what we'll be doing there daily, or who we'll come into contact with but we do know that it'll be life changing. Tyge and I really have been blessed to be able to vacation together to warm weather destinations several times - I fully realize what a treat this is! We were going to do that again this March for our anniversary but were thrilled to learn about this mission opportunity instead and cannot wait to go! We've had a few meetings with the team so far and I am excited to get to know them better and serve alongside them all. We'll have a few more meeting before we go obviously, and I'll share more details about the trip as I learn them.
In the meantime, I certainly appreciate prayer surrounding our trip - the fundraising, our team preparations, the travel itself, the children and community down there, and that God does His work through us!
In the meantime, I certainly appreciate prayer surrounding our trip - the fundraising, our team preparations, the travel itself, the children and community down there, and that God does His work through us!
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