-------- Original message --------
Dear Family and Friends,
I would like to share with you a challenging Ministry opportunity that God has presented for me. From January 27th to February 10th I have the opportunity to go to Repalle India with missionaries from India Rural Evangelical Fellowship. On this missions trip I will be reaching out and spreading the gospel by word and deed to a people that are in great need.
IREF is an interdenominational independent Evangelistic Ministry. IREF operates in and around Repalle, Andhra, Pradesh, South India with teams of 600+ national evangelists. These evangelists and support staff manage for orphanages, three primary schools, a junior college, a nursing Institute, a degree College, a teacher's college and a school of evangelism. IREF annually holds Evangelistic and medical crusades - I will be attending and sharing in some capacity to thousands and thousands of people. IREF missionaries have dedicated their lives to reach the unreached with the gospel message of our Lord Jesus Christ. The dream of IREF is to bring rural India to Christ by bringing Christ to rural people. I, along with my team, will work and speak in the orphanages schools streets and Crusade.
Five years ago God broke me with a diagnosis of cancer and unfortunately a divorce. This led to me changing my 10 year business of Massage by Ann to The REACH Institute in Destin. The primary purpose of the REACH Institute is to provide hope for anyone going through a quality of life change. After my diagnosis of cancer I was led to become educated and certified in oncology massage, cardiac, stroke and orthopedic rehabilitation. Also, geriatric and compassionate touch massage. This business allowed me to help individuals who needed not only soft tissue healing... but a license to lay my hands and pray with them and not send them away with a prescription but rather words of peace, joy and hope. Little did I know this business would turn into such a needed local ministry not only for others but for myself.
As the REACH Institute grew and my relationship with Christ grew from my recovery of cancer and divorce, a deep draw and desire to spread His name and share His love has filled my heart. Not only do I minister in our local jail up in Crestview every Friday morning, but this past summer I was blessed with the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic and led a small business seminar and prayed over refugees and underprivileged children in an orphanage. I witnessed firsthand the power of prayer and healing by sharing His name and would like nothing more now, but to share and speak His name to a population who have never heard about Jesus.
India has the fourth largest Muslim population in the world. Buddhism and Jainism is around one percent... whereas Hinduism makes up more than 86% of the population. I can't tell you the number of individuals who will walk miles to come hear for the first time ever ~ the name of Jesus Christ!
I will be able to share my gifts of medical and business knowledge with the orphanage and schools but more importantly my compassion and desire to share the word of the Gospel by confessing and declaring His name, sharing the story of his love to all who will hear through testimony.
God has miraculously filled in a lot of the doubt gaps that would have deterred me from making this trip. My office will be taken care of and my daughter has a grandmother, two aunts, and uncle, and older brother and two nieces that are already fighting over her. But before I leave on this mission trip, there are three things I have to do. First I must memorize an Evangelistic tool (Connecting with God) to help prepare me spiritually and mentally for this amazing experience. Second, I need people who will be my Prayer Partners during this training and the actual trip. By praying for me as I prepare to leave they will have a direct impact on my Ministry. Prayer is vital to everything in life and this trip is no exception. Third, I need to raise financial support. The cost of this trip is over $3,000. I intend to contribute as much as I can personally, however, I can't do it alone. Closing my business for 2 weeks is something I have never done in 15 years of business. Doing this will require me to raise another 3,000. to cover expenses, which I plan to do on my own... I know GOD has this.
Would you partner with me by being a prayer and /or financial supporter. I know God has powerful plans for me and will use my hands and feet to carry out His will.
I am looking forward to seeing how God will work in and through me to fulfill His purpose. Your support and prayer would mean a lot to me. Thank you for anyway you feel God leading you to help. You will be with me as I travel to influence the lives of many underprivileged children and families who have not heard about their own Creator yet. I will be sure to tell you of my experiences when I return.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.
Your sister in Christ,
Ann Birdsong
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
