Reasons to support me...

It's interesting to me how hard/humbling it is to ask for support for oneself. I'm so used to doing it for Habitat (where I work) but have never actually done it for anything like this. I'm sure some of you will roll your eyes at this request, and I respectfully understand your sentiment. But please read on and if nothing else, join my trip by praying for me, or being excited for me!


I feel a bit weird about trying to raise support to go to Haiti. Briefly, here's why:

1. I work.
2. Doesn't it seem selfish to ask people to help me do something that will undoubtedly be one of the biggest adventures of my life?


So here's why I'm going to try it anyway:

1. You don't have to give. I'll still be your friend. (maybe) :)
2. I like the idea of having your whole community involved in your life and passions.
3. I've given to help lots of these trips because I want to be part of the work going on across the world.
4. Ultimately a (large!) portion of the money is truly going to radically improve the lives of people in Haiti. I can't even imagine a place without water. In fact, I'm drinking a large glass of clean, fresh ice water right now.

Here's what you'll be part of (I'll add to this as I go):

1. The mission to Haiti.
I've known several people who have been to Haiti in the last year. I think God was preparing my heart and my head for this opportunity. Did you know that Haiti doesn't have a sewer system. (p.s. I promise to blog about the challenges this presents when I return. I know you'll all be morbidly curious!)

So yea, Haiti doesn't have an infrastructure for water. As the Raincatcher's website says, "Water is Life." Raincatchers is the organization we're going though.

I will devote a whole post to my understanding of the need and what we'll be doing soon. For now I know that water is scarce. Money is scarce. Life sounds like a fight for survival.

This is really unimaginably for me right now. (Read this post about how selfish I am)

2. My personal growth.
I've heard that half of the value in mission trips is personal growth. You find yourself challenged in ways you'd never imagined and have to rely on your community and Christ to make it through.
I am hoping to learn some lessons and develop some character through this experience. As I mentioned before, life is pretty stable for me right now, and I want to see what life is like in a third-world country, and do my part to change a life or two.

If you give, you can always say "Why yes... I am responsible for Maggie's spiritual maturity."

3. Adventure/Travel/Excitement.
Growing up we often studied explorers, and pretended to be trailblazers and discovering lands that no man had ever set foot on. I'm pretty sure that this will be the fulfillment of that fantasy.

Perhaps this seems more in the "selfish" category, but my soul longs to travel. I long the adventure, and the food, and the unpredictability of new cultures. I long for knew tastes and the open curiosity between cultures. This trip will be physically demanding (I know you're shocked to hear that rugged michigan hasn't prepared me to hike across mountains.) - and I'm looking forward to that.

Really though, I think God gave us these wonderfully different places on the world, and cultures, food, language, dance and laughter to enjoy. And I plan on enjoying it!

4. An epic, life-changing, mission-focused, unprecedented adventure! 

This will come in handy when you're at your next cocktail party, trying to invent some small talk. After this you can simply say, "Did you know I've been instrumental in installing rain-catchers in Haiti?"

5. I'll love you forever. 
Ok, I'll love you forever anyway.

Thanks for reading this, and for giving if you decide to do so!

Information for giving is located on the right sidebar of this blog. Thanks!