Dearest Family and Friends,
I am writing this letter to talk to you about an important opportunity that has been set in front of me. I am going to Mali, Africa this upcoming semester with a team of three other people from Grace University. The Lord has been working on my heart and teaching me many things this past year and one of them is ambiguity. I have been asked for the longest time, “What do you want to be or do when you grow up?” The answer that always came to mind was either a kindergarten teacher or a famous singer, but what I never thought about was “What does God want me to be when I grow up?”
This year I have been reminded constantly of the verse Jeremiah 29:11 “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Now, is the time to act upon where the Lord has been leading me, so here I go! This experience will take me as far away as Bougouni, Mali Africa and will bring me closer to the life lessons that I could not experience here in Omaha, Nebraska.
We leave on January 2, 2011 and yes it is coming up so close I can hardly believe it! God has been such a graceful and loving Father to me through this time, he has taught me that I should trust Him and His plans for me. This is a tough lesson to learn but it is totally worth it! Not knowing what is coming next seems scary but I have learned that if you are walking with the Lord, He will carry you.
For more on what my team and I will be doing: January 2, we will be flying to Florida where we will attend the "Heart Institute" school. There they will teach us: What to do if the power goes out, how to stay healthy, how to cook etc. We will be there for 3 weeks and then on January 22 we will head to Bamako, Mali Africa in which we will live for a month. After that we will head to Bougouni, Mali Africa! We will stay here four months and this is where I will join the choir. Yes, I will be joining the Malian choir! I'm excited! On June 25th we will go to Paris, France where we will spend about 3 days and come home on June 30, 2011.
During this experience we will learn how to do things the Malian way i.e cooking, washing clothes, yes: going to the bathroom and more. We will be shown how life there isn't so much about "doing", as it is about “being” within the moment. Not only will we be learning hands on but we will also be taking classes to better our French as well as taking classes, for example, World’s Living Religions being one of them. We will also be helping to teach English classes and computer skills to the Malian students who are there.
As of right now God has definitely had a hand on how far along I am in the financial area of this experience. The total cost of my mission experience is about $7,800. God has been such a great provider in helping me raise $6,020.47 in just three months! However, I still need to raise $1,779.53. I know that God will provide for me because he has done this much for me already! It will all go by in the blink of an eye and I want to make sure that I soak up every moment of it. I want to thank all of you for all of the support that you have provided whether it be in prayer or finances or both. It means a lot to me!!
Donations can be made to support my participation in the ministry of Grace by sending checks made out to Grace University sending them to Kaeli Mincey at 1311 S. 9th Street, Omaha, NE 68108., with “edge Mali Kaeli” in the memo-line. You can also donate directly online by going to http://www.graceuniversity.edu/donate_to_grace/index.shtml Just be sure to write "Kaeli Mincey" in the spot where is says who you are supporting; In addition be sure to click on "Edge Program/Missions Trip" . Please do not hesitate to call if you have any more questions to Kaeli’s cell phone: 402-320-6436
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