Hi my name is Sophie. I am 22 years old and am heading to Australia on the 14th July this year to serve with an organisation called YWAM(Youth with a mission). I had intended originally to go in January but in October last year my dad received a cancer diagnosis and I decided to stay home to be there with my family and him through his treatment and recovery. I'm sure most of you reading this will have been impacted in some way by this horrible disease. As a family this was the worst news. It came suddenly and unexpectedly. My dad's symptoms were not extreme but thanks to the diligence of his GP, sonographers, consultants,doctors,nursing staff and specialists he received an early diagnosis. It has been a long and difficult road to recovery. He has undergone 5 weeks of intense daily radiotherapy and weekly chemotherapy followed by an operation in March this year to remove a cancerous tumour and an oesophagectomy. I am so proud of my Dad in how he has born his illness and as an example to us as a family and myself in particular. He has faith in Jesus and has never once departed from that or questioned any part of this journey. As a way of honouring him,raising awareness and giving back to the outstanding and tireless work of OGCancerNI who as a charity, aim to educate people in symptoms and early detection. Knowledge of symptoms leads to earlier intervention which can save lives. They depend on vital funds in order to run support groups, provide aftercare and support and care boxes to patients immediately following the surgery.

I will be shaving my head at the end of June in order to raise funds for this charity and to support me as I head to Australia for my missionary work. Any money raised will be split equally between these two causes. Please donate if you can.

If I exceed my target I intend to donate any funds over and above to these causes. I will also be sharing my head Shave on social media and would appreciate it if you could share this fundraiser for me.

I am so excited to be heading out to Australia to volunteer with this organisation and their missionary statement is" As citizens of God's kingdom, we are called to love, worship, and obey our Lord, to love and serve His body, the Church, and to love all peoples everywhere, which includes presenting the whole Gospel for the whole person throughout the whole world."

Thank you in advance for your support with this. God bless you,

Sophie ❤️