Tuesday, 02 November 2010

• Currently Story of Your Life By Matthew West see related

  An Open Letter To Our Friends & Family

  Greetings!  What an amazing year it has been!  Elizabeth and I sit back often and reflect on how blessed we have been by God through you, our friends and family.  Each time we look around our home, each time we cook, each time we open our closet, and even each time we enjoy a glass of wine, we are reminded of the love, the generosity, and the support that you continually pour out over our lives.  As we approach the holiday season, it is with this joy in our hearts that Elizabeth and I would like to extend three opportunities to you.

  Firstly, Elizabeth and I would like to know where you and your families have seen the greatest needs this year - whether personally, in your communities, in our nation, or in the world.  Who or what has been reaching out to you?  Or, how has God been calling you to reach out?  We know that we will personally be supporting the town of Mellier, Haiti this year, as part of a congregational commitment at Campbell UMC, our home church.  But, as we’ve done for the past few years, we still wish to make the rest of our Christmas gifts on your behalf.  So, if you would, please take some time out to call us, email us, or come see us and share with us those needs that are on your heart, so that we can be faithful as we plan our Christmas spending.

  Secondly, as most of you know by now, Elizabeth and I will be heading to Haiti for a week next June, possibly even to the town mentioned above.  This was a prayerful decision for us.  Both of us have committed time and money to disaster relief and serving the poor here in the states, but this will be the first time either of us has travelled to a truly impoverished nation.  Actually, it will be Elizabeth’s first time out of the country, period.  In the midst of our own questions of “why” and “how,” we have simply recognized the magnitude of the need in Haiti; it has spoken to us, both in our faith and in our hesitations.  We have seen that we can go, and therefore, we will go!

  Subsequently, our Christmas “lists” this year have gotten very short.  Instead of stuff, we are asking for your support – not only financially, but with prayer and encouragement as well.  The expenses per person, roughly, will amount to $2,000.  This includes contributions on behalf of our teams to hire two Hatian citizens for every team member to work alongside us.  This 2:1 system has been put in place by UMCOR so that we may also contribute to the rebuilding of Haiti’s economy, even as we build relationships with the people there and work to reconstruct their communities.

  If you are willing to support us financially, we ask that you send any gifts directly to Campbell United Methodist Church, 1747 East Republic Road, Springfield, MO 65804.  Please include a note clearly designating your gift for Haiti Missions June 2011 – Kory & Elizabeth Wilcox. Your gift is tax-deductible, and you will receive a tax receipt from the church.

  If you would rather support us with goods, here are some ideas.  Elizabeth and I intend to depart with six pieces of luggage and return with one, maybe none.  At least two of our suitcases will be filled with items such as flip flops, deflated balls, silly bands, and granola bars.  We also intend to leave behind the majority of our clothing.  With this in mind, you can imagine how we plan to pack.  Gift cards to any stores that sell clothing, sporting goods, toys and food are welcomed.  Also, we could use some old luggage, so long as it’s durable enough to make the trip!  This is all we want.

  Lastly, this year, the prayer ministry team at Campbell UMC has decided to publish our congregation’s annual Advent Devotional Book online so that it can be shared with everyone.   We would like to invite all of you to join with us this year in a daily journey through the season of Advent, which is a time in the Christian liturgical year that we come together to anticipate the arrival of Christ on Christmas day. 

  This Advent book has become a tradition for our church, a means of spiritual reflection and refuge from our culture’s emphasis on shopping and presents.  Instead, we choose to daily emphasize the presence – of God, of family, and of one another.  The daily entries are submitted by members our congregation – so really, they are just a different kind of gift, sent from one busy person to another – and they can be found beginning Sunday, November 28^th at www.itsallaboutthepresence.org.

  Elizabeth and I believe very much that life and especially Christmas is more about relationships than it is about possessions, and it is our relationships with you all that we cherish the most.  We hope you will consider these opportunities to share with us, partner with us, and journey with us during the holidays and in the year to come as we continually seek to understand more deeply, together with all of our friends and family, Jesus’ call to love God, first and always, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

  Sincerely yours,

  Kory & Elizabeth Wilcox

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