Friends and family,

As I prayed and asked God for a word to focus on for the year 2019, I felt the lord lay the word gracious upon my mind and place a psalm upon my heart. “The Lord is gracious and compassionate” Psalm 146. Compassion is a word that I interact with quite often as I deeply desire that the love of God be incarnated in my love for people. The word gracious struck me as a bit more difficult to define and apply. Yet, what I am learning is that the two might be inseparable in the Kingdom of God. For only when I have humbled myself to graciously receive the gifts of God and of others with open hands, will I then be able to live in compassion and offer these gifts to others with the same open hands.

Today I come to you with open hands, hoping to both give and to receive. I want to share with you what the Lord has been preparing in my life and extend an invitation for you to partner with me in such. In the months of May and June, I will be traveling to La Paz, Bolivia to learn, serve, and live alongside those who are a part of the ministry of Word Made Flesh. WMF takes an incarnational, holistic approach to missions and desires to make Jesus known to the world’s most vulnerable and poor people through the context of friendship. The community of WMF in Bolivia that I will be joining builds relationships and holds hope for those who have been affected by prostitution in this region’s red-light district. I believe that the Lord has called me here to both give and receive. I hope to bring a presence of joy and peace as I encounter the love of God though prayer and enter into friendship with others. I also believe that part of my calling in this season is to be faithful in learning and in preparing for the vocation that God is calling me to. Therefore, I will be completing an internship track and engaging in at least 45 hours of Spanish training at a local language institute as I walk in obedience as a student. 

Simply put, I do not like asking for things. I have feared establishing a sense of expectation, obligation, and dependency. However, I am prayerfully awakening to the idea that I am not asking for donations to fund my own pursuit, but rather I am desiring to invite you to partner with me and invest in ways that I trust the Lord will bring the Kingdom of heaven to earth. I want to be honest and transparent. I am using this time to fulfill academic requirements for my Spanish, International Relations, and Biology degrees as well as for spiritual formation. I am currently not in a place of financial need so as that I must attain funding to be able to go, but I do want to offer you the opportunity to place your treasure where your heart is alongside me and perhaps this is a chance for you too to be blessed by doing so. More often than financial needs, I am often made aware of the community and spiritual poverties in my life. I am confident that many of you have access to the provisions of heaven, and these are the resources that make a difference in the work of the Kingdom. I am seeking people who will commit to seeking the heart of the Father in prayer and to sharing their wisdom with me as I navigate these new steps. I need your partnership and your friendship.

Giving financially may be one way you feel that God is calling you to support the work of His Kingdom in this season. If so, thank you for your joy-filled generosity! I trust that God will bless you in ways beyond that which you can imagine so that you may continue be a blessing for others and bring evermore glory to God!

Peace,

Michaela