support letter.

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you are having a great summer and that this letter finds you well! Summer is one of my favorite times of the year, so I’m enjoying life post-graduation. I am a little sad to not be returning to the University of Florida in the Fall (and missing out on Gator football tickets), but I am excited to see what God has in store for me in this next stage of life.

As you are aware, last summer I was blessed with the opportunity to spend two months in Malawi, Africa, serving with Children of the Nations in orphans’ homes. This experience dramatically altered my life and left a lasting impression. Malawi opened my eyes and made my world so much bigger. I’ve seen poverty on mission trips before, but I never saw it like this. I was never exposed to it as much as I was last summer. I have seen extreme poverty, and it now has a face. That is not something that can be shaken off easily. One day last summer, my team was doing outreach in a local village. We were playing duck duck goose with the village children when I noticed that there was a little boy sitting off to the side. He was the only boy who wasn’t playing. There comes a point when you are so malnourished that you don’t have any energy. As a result, children can’t even go to school and they definitely don’t have the strength to play games. That is the state this little boy was in, and he was the sickest child that I have ever seen in my life. The image of this boy haunts me, reminds me of the poverty I saw, and urges me to continue to fight for children in Africa and against the injustices that millions are facing there. This boy makes me want to return to Africa, and I have been anxiously waiting for the day that becomes a reality. Well, this November, I have been given the chance to go back to Africa, and I would like to share this with you.

I will be returning to Africa with Children of the Nations for 3 weeks in the Fall. The dates of the trip are October 30 through November 20, and I will be spending two weeks in Malawi and one week in Uganda. I am so excited about the chance to go back to Malawi and to travel to Uganda for the first time. Uganda has been on my heart for about a year because of the issue of child soldiers. This trip is a little different from most of the trips that I have been on in the past. Besides the standard loving on kids that comes with COTN trips, my team will also focus on writing. This first-time COTN writing trip will travel to Malawi and Uganda to interview children, national staff, and teachers in order to write stories for the communications department to use throughout the year. The stories written will help to communicate to partners, supporters, and the general public about the desperate needs of the children in Africa and what God is doing through Children of the Nations in Malawi and Uganda. My team will also be giving writing workshops during the 3 weeks in country, and I will even get the chance to go and visit the kids that I spent last summer with. I am excited to be able to use a passion for writing to help COTN further its mission to “raise children who transform nations” and to return to the continent that has captured my heart.

The estimated cost of the trip is $5,200. This includes room, board, transportation, and training materials.

While God has opened up a door for me to develop a greater heart of compassion for His people around the world, the exciting part is that you will be able to share in this. I would like to ask you to partner with me through prayer and financial support.

COTN would like me to have my funds in by September 1. Should you decide to send financial support, you can do it by either check or an online payment. Please make your check payable to Children of the Nations. For proper tax receipt from COTN, DO NOT put my name on the check, but instead put my venture code MA_TLC110 on the memo line. You can mail the check to me in the enclosed envelope. If you decide to make a payment online, you can do so at http://www.cotni.org/opportunities/6. Be sure to include my venture code to ensure that payments are posted accordingly.

For up-to-date information regarding my support raising and other ways to partner with me, I’d encourage you to check out my Africa blog, http://kmafrica.tumblr.com. In addition to sending support letters, I am also collecting aluminum cans that I will cash in at local recycling centers. There is more information about this endeavor on my blog listed above.

Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, all of your support is appreciated. Thank you for partnering with me.

Sincerely,

Kristen Marks