Final Support Letter

See previous post for my first letter (if you haven't read it, it gives more explanation of the trip and the reasons behind it).

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for your support! I wanted to send out one more letter before we leave as a reminder to be praying for my team. I realize that in my last letter I did not include the dates that we will be gone. Our itinerary shows that we are leaving on December 11^th from the Detroit metro airport. We will be traveling through Paris (but unfortunately will not have enough time to leave the airport), and arriving in Bamako, Mali sometime on December 12^th. We will be staying for roughly 4 weeks and then returning on January 8^th. To make it seem a little more real, from the time I am writing this letter we will be leaving the country in 22 days.

We are blessed to have a little more insight into what we will be doing while we are over there. One of the main words to describe this trip is flexibility; therefore, our entire trip could look different than expected once we arrive. That being said, I will share a few things that we know. We will be spending 10 days in Kadiolo. During this time we will probably be working with church and the local school. The students are working on learning English, so we may have the chance to work on their English (without knowing their native language, this should prove to be interesting).

Hopefully, we will also be traveling to a nearby country to visit an orphanage; Kadiolo is fairly close to the border. Lastly, we will be spending some time in the capital city of Bamako serving in a ministry called Street Kids. From what I have been told, this is their story: men travel to the outlying towns and villages and convince the children that they will bring them to Bamako to get a good education and they will become successful. In reality, they are taken to the city and enslaved; the boys for labor, and the girls for prostitution. Some of them are able to escape, but then they have no resources for living. They are literally living on the street. As of now, the Street Kids ministry is only boys, simply because they don’t have the resources to help both boys and girls.

I cannot express how important your prayers are. We serve an amazing and all powerful God. If you would like to help more financially, I am looking at an immediate need of $500 more dollars before I takeoff. However, I would like to emphasize my point that if you are not praying, your money is worthless. The money will come, God is in control of this; but what I covet is your prayers. In addition to praying, I encourage you to keep up with my journey by reading my missions blog called “Live The Jesus Revolution”; it can be found at LiveTheJesusRevolution.Blogspot.com. I hope to post updates and pictures on the blog while in Africa, but the internet is unreliable (again, flexibility is the word).

In closing: PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY, and give thanks to God for all the wonderful things He has done!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

With Peace, Love, and Joy found in Christ,

Nate Storvik

First Support Letter

Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ!

I would like to ask for your partnership in my upcoming mission adventure. Throughout my adult life, I have had this calling to “go”. After all, Jesus told us to “go and make disciples”. As life went on, this calling got stronger and stronger and I realized more and more that it is something I wanted to do. For the past several years I have been telling God and myself that “going” is something I will do someday, but until last December, it was just a fantasy.

As my passion for missions grew stronger (and I can’t really explain why it did, but I am thankful), I decided it was time that I stopped waiting for an opportunity to knock me over the head. I decided that it was time to create my own opportunity. As I asked the Lord where he wanted me, my friend Kaitlyn Manzer informed me that she was going to visit missionaries in Mali Africa and wanted a few people to go with her. Well, God didn’t have to stick two huge signs in front of my face, that one was enough! I knew then that God wanted me in Africa!

One of the exciting goals of the trip is for it to be an adventure in faith. Matthew Chapter 6 says “So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” So just as Jesus has instructed us, we are not going to be worrying about the specifics of how the trip will work. God spoke this world into existence; that is more than enough reason for me to put my faith in him in all aspects of life, including the details of this trip!

I will be going on this trip with two of my friends, Kaitlyn Manzer and Rachel Hull. We will be flying into the capitol city, Bamako, Mali, then driving for 8 hours to reach our destination city of Kadiolo (pronounced kah-jo-lo). Once we are there we will be staying with Ernie and Jan Eadelman, a missionary couple that Kaitlyn knows. We will be staying there for roughly 3 weeks, and our day to day routine will be greatly determined by the Spirit. There won’t be much planning ahead of time concerning our daily adventures because we have no intentions of putting Jesus in a box. We are there to be used in whatever way the Spirit leads. Some examples of things we may be doing are helping in the school, helping out at the church, spending some time at an orphanage, and spending quality time with the local people in hopes of impacting their lives for Christ.

In addition to everything that we will be doing while we are there, we are also excited about the prospect of raising enough money to buy a pair of oxen and a cart for a Mali pastor. This will help support the pastor and possibly provide for his eventual retirement. Any additional funds on top of what is necessary for the trip will go directly towards the ministry in Mali.

I had mentioned at the beginning that I would like your partnership in this adventure. To paraphrase the magazine HeartCry, the great commission is divided into two parts, those who go down into the well, and those who hold the rope for the ones who go down, either way, there are scars on your hands! I am asking you to hold the rope for me.

There are two ways that you can do this, but one of the two is infinitely more important than the other! What we need more than anything are your prayers. I don’t think that I can stress enough the power of prayer! Please let me know if you would like to be a prayer warrior on our team so that I can send you updates along the way! The second way you can hold the rope is by supporting me financially. The trip will cost about $4000 for each of us. I know that it is a lofty goal, but that is what excites me! I know that God will provide, because I know that God wants me there!

We are attempting to partner with the mission organization World Venture so that donations will be tax deductible, but there is quite a lot of red tape and time involved in that process and the time to buy our tickets is near. I am quite certain that God is bigger than tax deductions and I know he will provide for the tickets none-the-less. If you would like to help financially support me on this mission and taxes are not something you are worried about, then make a check out to me and put Mali trip in the description line. If taxes are a concern but you still want to give, you can send a written pledge back in the envelope and I will let you know if and when we have partnered with World Venture.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support; it is my prayer that God’s blessing on your life is overflowing! May God continue to use you for His glory.

In Christ,
Nate Storvik