Hello friends and family! Or as they say in Swahili, Jambo!
My name is Tessa Ratner, and I am a 21-year-old Simpson student majoring in Cross-Cultural Studies with an emphasis in Transformational Community Development. This is quite a mouthful, but basically it means that I hope to fulfill God’s call to become a holistic missionary. I am passionate about the kingdom of God and fulfilling my call to be a part of Missio Dei, or the mission of God. I feel very blessed to have found such an incredible church family at the Stirring, and I currently serve there in the toddler class room at the morning service, as well as being involved in the creative team, creating images and art for the many series we have. I have been receiving training here at Simpson to be sent out into the world and serve him. And right now I have some very exciting news!
On May 10th I will be leaving on a jet plane: destination Kigoma, Tanzania. There I will be completing my internship requirement for the Cross-Cultural Studies major. I will be working with an incredible mission called Joy in the Harvest, www.joyintheharvest.com, learning from the missionaries, and the local people there. I have been so blessed to get to know Lowell and Claudia Wertz over the past few months, as we have been corresponding and they are excited for my arrival! I am so excited to join them in Kigoma and each day the excitement rises! While I am unsure of what I will be doing there, I know they have many different projects, ministries, and outreaches that I will be able to participate and be a part of.
Joy in the Harvest is a holistic ministry in Kigoma, Tanzania. Some of their current projects and ministries include:
Feeding the street people three times a week
Refugee camp outreaches, ministry and assistance
Construction of community center
Destitute camp for the handicapped
Job training and education
Trees for Tanzania
And many other services helping local churches and missionaries.
I will be there until the week of June 11th! I am so very excited to have this opportunity to have such an adventure with God. Please partner with me by praying for me during my time there! Also, I am still raising funds to make this trip possible. I am about $400 away from being able to purchase airfare, which I need to pay for by Monday, and then I still need some more for the trip and hopefully a gift to the ministry I am going to serve in. That leaves me with $1100 more to raise total. If you would like more information on how to donate to my trip fund, please email me at tessa_renae@yahoo.com!
Blessings to you all!
-Tessa Ratner
No comments:
Post a Comment