Kendra's Prayer Letter

Greetings, one and all, and welcome to Kendra and Becky's blog :) As the whole purpose of this first entry is to post my (Kendra's) prayer letter, I don't want to say too much without repeating myself, so without further ado, read on and find out just what this blog is about:

November 1, 2007

Greetings, friends and family!

I know that it’s been awhile, but we are finally working out the final details of what this coming year will hold for me.
As you may recall, I (along with my friend Becky Sirinides) will be going on a “vision trip”, serving with various ministries around the world, getting involved in different kinds of work (refugee ministry, street evangelism, urban poor, teaching English, etc.). We will begin around the middle of January and end in August, making our journey consist of at least five countries in about 7 months:

• Vienna, Austria…where we will be working in refugee ministry at a center called the “Oasis” (which my parents helped start over 20 years ago)
• San Jose, Costa Rica…working on several projects with short-term teams and developing relationships with Costa Ricans
• Woodland Park, Colorado…working at Camp Elim, a Christian camp run by close friends of our family (the Willoughbys)
• Manila, Philippines…preparing for the annual International Leadership Forum meeting, as well as getting involved in building projects, house to house evangelism, and teaching children
• Nairobi, Kenya…helping with a retreat for Somalian refugees

As you can imagine, this trip will require quite a lot of funds, both for the ticket and for the monthly budgets required for each country. It will add up to about $10,000 US dollars. So far, I have saved, and people have generously given, almost enough for the ticket, which we will be purchasing very soon. The good news is that it doesn’t all have to be raised right now! As long as I have what I need to begin with in January, then I will be stepping out in faith that God will provide the rest when I’ll need it.
There are different reasons that I’m taking a “gap year” between high school and college to go on this vision trip. One of the main reasons is that at this point in my life, I don’t know yet what God might be calling me to do long-term for Him, and that is something I’d like to be sure of (or at least have an idea about) before I begin university. Hopefully within this next year, between all the different sorts of work I will be doing, something will “click” for me, something that I know is from God. I also would love to see other parts of the world and how God is working through so many people in a variety of ways to reach those who don’t know Him. Being a part of that would be an honor for me, and I’m really excited about it!
So I would ask you first and foremost to please PRAY for me. Pray that God will show me wonderful things that He is doing around the world, and that I will allow Him to use me as part of His work. Pray that I will have an open mind concerning where He leads me afterwards.
Secondly, if you feel led to support me financially, that would also be great! ☺ Because of changes that have been made from the original plans, TAX-DEDUCTIBLE investments CAN be made by making out checks to International Teams (with an enclosed note that it is for “Scott and Vicki McCracken’s account—VISION TRIP”). Please send to:

International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin, IL 60123-1570
USA

Like I said before, I will work with whatever money the Lord gives me. I believe that where God guides, God provides. I’m looking forward to seeing what He has in store for me!
God bless you all, and thank you!

Love, Kendra


No, this blog is not about trying to get random people in cyberspace to read my prayer letter and give money. It's purely for us to write about our experiences on our upcoming trip. Many people have asked us to keep them posted and give regular updates, and we figured two are better than one in this case :) Between the two of us, there will be regular posts, complete with pictures and anything else we feel worth sharing :)

I'm not sure how active this blog will be until January when we set out, but rest assured it won't be forgotten. I'll try and come on once in awhile and share my thoughts and expectations, and maybe give a financial update or two.

Enjoy the blog, everyone!
-Kendra