Hello out there,
You can call me Neesy. I am a Christian missionary who is preparing to go overseas for the next two and a half or three years. Right now, there are several locations we are considering. I hope to go to Guinea-Bisseau in West Africa.
You may be wondering why I would want to give up years of my life to do the hard work of translating 50 to 70 Bible Stories into the language of a people group who don't have the Scriptures yet. (And to do it all for free on top of that, too!)
Well, let me tell you my story. When I was born, my mother was only 18 years old and she had just graduated from high school a few months ago! Of course, she was a bit too young to really know how to raise a child.
I'm very thankful that I grew up in the house of her mother and father, my maternal grandparents, who helped to raise me. I am also blessed because I come from a very large family. My mother is the youngest of fourteen children, and all of my aunt and uncles (except for two) live in the same town here in Michigan. My mom and I really needed a lot of help growing up, and all of these relatives pitched in to help raise me.
All of this made a big impression on me growing up. I knew from a young age that my ability to go to school, the food I ate, and the clothes of my back all existed because many other people had sacrificed for me. I had a burning desire to help other people the same way that I had been helped.
Despite many struggles with due to money problem and a difficult home environment at times due to my alcoholic father, I studied hard and was able to go to Amherst College in Massachusetts. I spent my junior year abroad studying Japanese in the AKP Program at Doshisha University in Kyoto. I enjoyed Japan and returned to Japan for the next three years to teach English in the small city of Kumano.
I was there when the tragedy of 9/11 happened. My response to that act of terrorism was to do something for world peace. Together with about twenty other colleagues who were teaching English in Japan, I went to Vietnam in 2001 and 2002 to do volunteer work. As America had gone to war with Vietnam in the past, I wanted to be a part of the healing process for that nation.
My students got involved. They made Christmas cards and donated clothes, toys, and books, pens, and paper. In Vietnam, we gave away these items at one-day clinics we set up in the countryside, orphanages, hospitals, schools, a nursing home, and even a leprosy village. To my surprise, one of the most popular things that we gave away in Vietnam were the pens!
I got involved with this work for my students, but I discovered the one who was the most changed by this experience was me. It changed my life. I truly realized how many needs there are in so-called Third World country. Still, I felt there was a great need for someone to do even more. I wanted to do more to help people not just for a short time with material things but also for eternity... only I did not know how I could do that.
In 2003, I moved back to Michigan. My grandmother began to be very sickly. I became one of her main caretakers. For the last two years of her life, I spent a lot of time caring for her.
When she passed away, I again felt the Lord was calling me to do something worldwide to help other people in the same way that she had helped me. That's when a good friend of mine from college recommended that I consider becoming a missionary.
After spending two years praying and making sure that this was truly what God wanted me to do with my life, I decided that I would become a missionary. So that is how I came to where I am today.
However, I am very much in need of prayer and monthly financial support. Can you pray for me? Please send me a message to tell me that you can do so. Are you able to send me a financial gift? Then please contact me and I can give you more information about how you can support me. My deadline to raise 100% of my monthly support is by the end of August. Please help me to go and give God's word to those who do not understand it well because they cannot hear it in their own language.
Thank you for reading this little message. I pray that you will be blessed. God's peace to you, wherever you are.
Neesy
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