Support letter for the World Race: Human Trafficking Edition

Hi friends!

After returning from Panama, I jumped into the busiest semester of my life. Class, papers, and school obligations kept me hopping! Over Christmas vacation, I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri to attend the Urbana 09 missions conference hosted by InterVarsity, and to Kansas City, Missouri to spend a few days at the International House of Prayer (and let me say that I have never experienced such bitter cold in my life! This southern girl wasn’t bred for single digit temperatures! : ). This past semester was another busy one, but much less so than the fall, and on May 23rd I graduated from Barton College with a bachelor of liberal studies, concentrating in psychology and biology.

For about the last year, I’ve been looking to do some kind of missions work for a season. I plan to attend nursing school in the near future but did not feel the Lord had it in mind for me to go this fall after graduating, so I’ve been planning to take part or all of the coming year to do…something! I applied for a couple of things that did not pan out and finally applied for something called the World Race, with Adventures in Missions. I first heard about the World Race in 2005 while interning with Teen Mania Ministries and knew immediately it was something I wanted to do someday. The World Race is an 11 month sojourn into 11 different countries around the world, with the intention of living out the life of Jesus each day—living in community with other believers, reaching out to the poor, the children, the orphans, the widows, the oppressed, the enslaved, and more.

I’ll be leaving with the World Race in January, 2011, but I won’t be doing the usual 11-month journey. Instead, along with about 30 other individuals, I’ll spend five months in India, Thailand, Cambodia, and the United States focusing on preventing, combating, and raising awareness of the injustices of human trafficking. Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world, and affects at least 27 million people, mostly women and children. I believe this issue is something very close to the heart of God and that His desire is to use us as His instruments to bring about change.

On this trip, we’ll work with local leaders, organizations and ministries, as well as organizations and ministries that are more international in scope. We’ll work in large cities and small villages. We’ll work to create awareness among at-risk populations and educate them on ways to keep from becoming victims of human trafficking. We’ll work with those already trapped in the vicious cycle in an effort to get them free, and we’ll bring the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ to those who’ve been brought out of it.

This trip will run from January to May, 2011, and will cost about $7,300, not including supplies, international health insurance, miscellaneous expenses, and transportation to the starting point or back home. I’m looking to raise about $9,500 to $10,000 overall. If you want to be a part of this, there are several ways you can support me in this endeavor.

(1) Prayer. Prayer is absolutely the most essential element of any work done for and with God, and it is what I desire above all other means of support. Pray that the Lord will go before us to prepare the way; that He will make provision for each individual He desires to have on this trip; that He will prepare our hearts for the onslaught of dealing directly with human suffering; that He will teach us to place our hope and trust fully in Him; that His protection will be apparent as we go about our work; that He will be fully present, working in and through us; and that we will be able to deal with all we experience on this trip in a manner that teaches us deeper love and compassion for our fellow beings—both the victims and the victimizers. We will need to be able to love not only those who suffer, but those who cause the suffering, and to be able to forgive them for their actions just as Christ has forgiven us.

(2) Finances. I fully believe that the Lord wants me on this trip, and He will make it happen! I would love for you to be a part of this. If the Lord lays it on your heart to partner with me in this endeavor, donations can be made directly to Adventures in Missions via https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For+Bethany+Horner. Alternately, donations can be made on my behalf by clicking the “Support Bethany” link on the left sidebar at http://www.supportbethany.com/. These will be tax-deductible through LifeSpring International Ministries (my dad’s ministry). If you would prefer to send a donation by mail, the address for LifeSpring International Ministries is 740 Greenville Blvd., Suite 400-212, Greenville, NC 27858, and the address for Adventures in Missions is P.O. Box 534470, Atlanta, GA, 30353-4470. There is a donation coupon that must be included with mailed donations to Adventures in Missions, so send me your address and I’ll mail one to you.

With financial support, both one-time and monthly support donations can be made. I am also looking for at least five people to commit to pray for me daily until my return. If you will commit to praying for me daily, or even weekly, or to supporting me financially (whether one-time or monthly), let me know! Also, let me know how I can be praying for you. If you’d like a paper copy of this letter, message me your address and I’ll gladly send you one. I’ll also be making cards that you can put anywhere it’s convenient to remember to pray for me.

If you’ve made it this far in reading this, thank you! Whether or not you can support me financially or in prayer, I appreciate you taking the time to read this. It will take all of us working together in prayer and in action to bring about justice and end the scourge of human trafficking, and God wants to use each of us!

May God richly bless you and keep you!

Bethany Horner

Relevant links:

http://www.adventures.org/ –Adventures in Missions

http://www.theworldrace.org/ –The World Race

http://www.theworldrace.org/?tab=humantrafficking –This is the specific trip I’m going on

http://updates.theworldrace.org/?filename=wr-human-trafficking-prevention-ministries&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter –More about the trip

http://consecratedworship.blogspot.com/ –My personal blog! I’ll be posting updates as I prepare for the trip and when I go.

http://bethanyhorner.theworldrace.org/ –This hasn’t been set up yet, but will be my blog site for the World Race. Updates will also be posted here.

http://www.supportbethany.com/ –my personal support website