Haiti: Prayer and Support

Hello Friends!

I've taken a break from blogging for the past month to spend more time in prayer, reading and studying the Word, and being intentional with relationships with important people in my life. It's been a great month with lots of growth, exciting revelations from God (sorry, not ready to share everything yet with all of you!), and a time of growing appreciation and love for the Word.

For the next few months, leading up to my trip to Haiti, I plan to change gears with my blog posts. Instead of focusing on how I see God working in my daily life to grow me, I'm going to write about my experiences preparing and growing as a first time, short-term missionary.

After moving, leading the high school students from church on their Pittsburgh Project mission trip, and life in general, I've been feeling a little behind and overwhelmed with my Haiti adventure. How am I supposed to raise support for this trip? How will I know who to ask to support me? How will I develop the prayer warrior team I suspect I'll need to be faithful and persevere throughout this adventure?

Well, I began my own prayer warrior journey, and it's been amazing to see how things have come to pass. One of my good friends works at a missions organization here in town, and stepped up to be the best support letter editor ever (Thanks, Jennifer!). The first batch of support letters hit the US Post Office on Friday, and my support tracking spreadsheet is growing daily.

If you've never raised support for a missions trip or similar ministry, let me tell you...it's incredibly humbling and difficult to ask for support. I could easily pay for the trip myself, using my savings, but how does that help me spread the Gospel? How does that help me share my story with others, and therefore share how awesome, loving, and powerful God truly is? I've had a complete change of heart, and realized how critically important raising support is for missions work, outside of the financial implications. In the past, I think I've been a bit too flippant reading support letters from friends, losing them in a pile on my desk, and ultimately blowing off too many of them because "I wasn't really convicted to give." Shame on me...and my apologies if this was your support letter. Recommended reading for this topic: 3 John.

As I developed my list of potential supporters, it was such an amazing example of God's work in my life and a living testimony to the amazing people who have poured into me, crossed my path, and spoken truth and grace into my life over the past years. It truly does take community to grow in your walk with God, and I am so thankful to everyone who has been my community over the past years.

I've also grown in prayer as I prepared to send out my letters. I have prayed over every letter that has left my hands, for the folks that would receive it. Not only have I prayed that God would speak to their hearts and encourage them to support my adventure to Haiti, I've prayed for their health, their relationships with Christ, their relationships and community, their struggles and challenges in their walks. For some, I pray that my letter does not generate financial support for my trip, but that the recipients are exposed to an increased knowledge of the possibility of what a life surrendered to Christ looks like, a life that is not conformed to the world. This truly is the good news!

It's hard not to fall into the trap of, "if x number of people donate x amount of dollars, I'll be fully funded." This week has reminded me that our God is Jehovah Jireh, our true provider of all that we need. Instead of thinking about support in terms of numbers (which isn't my strong suit, anyways), I'm focusing on thinking about how big, explosive, and amazing are the provisions of God.

Phew...that's one big lesson for one week! But we serve a big God! I can't wait to see how God grows me just leading up to the trip, let alone after working with the Haitians and my team for a week!



If you would like to support me financially, the easiest way is to follow this link. Please also email me at erincweeks@gmail.com or comment with your email address if you would like to be added to upcoming email updates about my trip plans, preparation, and growth.