Restore! Mission to Kenya
Donation protected
I really am not good at this sort of stuff. I have never really written one of these letters before. In fact to be completely transparent, doing this makes me a little uncomfortable … uneasy.
You could call it my pride or my ingrained American independence of trying to do things myself, but if I am honest, it’s I just don’t like asking for help. And I am even worse off asking people I know for help.
This past year I was on a missions trip and when the subject of help came up, a good friend said to me, “Jon you just don’t like asking for help or receiving it, do you?” She was frustrated with me with my lack of wiliness to accept her offer to help carry a heavy load.
Later on as I told this story to friends, another good friend of mine said, “Jon, when someone offers to help you and you object, you are denying them a part of worship that is foundational to the Bible.” Whoa. That hit me like a ton of bricks—if I need help, ask for it. If someone is offering help out of sacrificial love that is shown through out scripture culminating in Jesus, I am denying them a part of their worship.
God saw their heart. They were willing to offer assistance. The Holy Spirit nudged them to offer assistance … and I denied it. I not only denied the work they were doing, but the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and theirs.
Most of you might be thinking what kind of Go Fund Me Page is this? I promise, I will get to the “fund me” part. But I needed to confess some things to you before continuing. My heart is to follow Jesus wherever he leads me, and I can’t do it alone—I need to ask for and accept assistance.
God has been leading me more and more into the mission field. I have been volunteering for and organization called Restore!. This organization supports an orphanage over in Kenya, Africa. This orphanage is ran by one women and houses many abandoned children as well as children rescued from the sex trafficking industry.
Restore! has been providing aid in food, education, and transportation for most of the orphanages needs. The stories that come out of the orphanage from the children are moving and powerful. The stories are powerful because they are about how the children have been redeemed, not abandoned, by their heavenly Father. The gospel is being preached and the children from those trafficked in slavery are finding their freedom in the gospel. It’s transforming them.
Then why go? I am specifically going to capture these stories on film to put together a mini-documentry that will be available through Restore!. I would be happpy to send it to you if you would like to see it. Some of the stories are quite transformational and can impact many lives who feel like they are lost or abandoned. On top of that, the film will be used with Restore! to raise awareness about the orphanage and what is going on in Kenya at the orphanage.
I wasn’t planning on writing this letter. I was trying to figure out a way to get there without asking for help. I was going to do it on my own. But then I was reminded that there are others who would love to partner with me on this to hear, see, and share the transformational stories from the orphanage.
So with that, I am asking for your assistance. I am asking that you give financially to this trip. I am asking you to be a part of something with me to see the life God provides in the faces of these children.
Would you be willing to donate $5, $10, $20? Would you be willing to donate $100 or $1000? Every contribution goes directly to the trip. No matter the monetary amount, every gift is huge blessing and furthers the gospel!
Thank you for your consideration and your gifts to this trip. Please be in prayer for me as I go November 8–November 18, 2016. Thank you for your sacrifice.
In it Together,
Jon Oney
You could call it my pride or my ingrained American independence of trying to do things myself, but if I am honest, it’s I just don’t like asking for help. And I am even worse off asking people I know for help.
This past year I was on a missions trip and when the subject of help came up, a good friend said to me, “Jon you just don’t like asking for help or receiving it, do you?” She was frustrated with me with my lack of wiliness to accept her offer to help carry a heavy load.
Later on as I told this story to friends, another good friend of mine said, “Jon, when someone offers to help you and you object, you are denying them a part of worship that is foundational to the Bible.” Whoa. That hit me like a ton of bricks—if I need help, ask for it. If someone is offering help out of sacrificial love that is shown through out scripture culminating in Jesus, I am denying them a part of their worship.
God saw their heart. They were willing to offer assistance. The Holy Spirit nudged them to offer assistance … and I denied it. I not only denied the work they were doing, but the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and theirs.
Most of you might be thinking what kind of Go Fund Me Page is this? I promise, I will get to the “fund me” part. But I needed to confess some things to you before continuing. My heart is to follow Jesus wherever he leads me, and I can’t do it alone—I need to ask for and accept assistance.
God has been leading me more and more into the mission field. I have been volunteering for and organization called Restore!. This organization supports an orphanage over in Kenya, Africa. This orphanage is ran by one women and houses many abandoned children as well as children rescued from the sex trafficking industry.
Restore! has been providing aid in food, education, and transportation for most of the orphanages needs. The stories that come out of the orphanage from the children are moving and powerful. The stories are powerful because they are about how the children have been redeemed, not abandoned, by their heavenly Father. The gospel is being preached and the children from those trafficked in slavery are finding their freedom in the gospel. It’s transforming them.
Then why go? I am specifically going to capture these stories on film to put together a mini-documentry that will be available through Restore!. I would be happpy to send it to you if you would like to see it. Some of the stories are quite transformational and can impact many lives who feel like they are lost or abandoned. On top of that, the film will be used with Restore! to raise awareness about the orphanage and what is going on in Kenya at the orphanage.
I wasn’t planning on writing this letter. I was trying to figure out a way to get there without asking for help. I was going to do it on my own. But then I was reminded that there are others who would love to partner with me on this to hear, see, and share the transformational stories from the orphanage.
So with that, I am asking for your assistance. I am asking that you give financially to this trip. I am asking you to be a part of something with me to see the life God provides in the faces of these children.
Would you be willing to donate $5, $10, $20? Would you be willing to donate $100 or $1000? Every contribution goes directly to the trip. No matter the monetary amount, every gift is huge blessing and furthers the gospel!
Thank you for your consideration and your gifts to this trip. Please be in prayer for me as I go November 8–November 18, 2016. Thank you for your sacrifice.
In it Together,
Jon Oney
Organizer
Jon Oney
Organizer
St. Paul, MN