27 Days Until Departure!

Greetings, loved ones! It is the twenty third day in December; two days until the grandest holiday of the year. Merry Christmas to you all! While we are on the topic of dates and timelines, I will be boarding an international flight to Australia in just 27 days. I received another update email from my church early today, informing me that I am just under $500 away from my fundraising goal. I also received a long awaited email from YWAM that has finally freed me up to apply for my Australian visa, which will be close to another $600. The Lord has blessed me greatly in allowing me to fund raise so successfully, but as I will have to purchase varied supplies once my team officially confirms what country our outreach will be in (supplies that I will have to buy on location, due to overweight luggage restrictions). Meaning - I am still quite tight on funds. Please pray that the Lord makes a way for me through this! The man who will be supervising and leading our team through our 5 months on missions just recently sent out a message to us all saying, in summary, that the Devil will be attempting to distress us, make our journey difficult, and, all in all, make this trip seem all but impossible in the upcoming month before we leave. I knew what he meant when he first advised us of this, and I am beginning to experience it first hand. While I am not inexperienced in fighting through the Devil's handiwork, it does not get any easier to wade through each time around. It is true that the Lord will be with us in times of trouble, but trouble still comes, and in those times we all too often forget to call out to Him. Thank you for your prayers in these matters! Your support means so much to me. Be blessed!

PS- As we prepare for our dinner guests tonight, an instrumental rendition of the song "Worthy is the Lamb" is weaving its way from our small stereo through our Christmas-cheer-filled home. It brings back memories of my childhood, living in upstate New York, when I would go on road trips with my brother and mother. You see, we would have to go on these "road trips" every time we wanted to get anywhere, including a grocery store, a clothing store, the dentist, etc.. My mother would play Christian music in the car as we traveled from our secluded town to anywhere of consequence, and "Worthy is the Lamb" was on a certain CD often set to replay. Wonderful memories, those! Click Here to Read More..

Plane Ticket Purchased!

Greetings, loved ones! I have just, in the last week, purchased my plane ticket for this wondrous mission! The Lord has made this possible through all of you, and so I thank you! I have not yet reached my set goal of $10,000, but I am confident the Lord will make a way for me. If you would like to donate, the information needed to do so can be found in a post below. I have been in contact with my team members--there are 10 of us!--and we are all beginning to get quite restless in anticipation of our trip. I look forward to seeing what Christ has in store for us all; I will be sure to keep you all updated! Random Fact of the Post: I was recently enlightened as to the fact that squirrels are nonexistent in Australia. Rather, they have fruit bats, also known as Flying Foxes, which are bats that have an average wingspan of up to...what was it? Three or four feet? Well. For those of you who know me well, I have a great passion for animals. The amount of wild critters we had in our home during my childhood is pretty unfathomable. When I was seven years old, I was in the Bahamas wearing fully grown Boa wrapped and coiled around my neck like a necklace! I am greatly looking forward to the native wildlife. Thank you again for your prayer and financial support! Click Here to Read More..

Answered Prayer!

Greetings, loved ones! I have an update for you as to the status of my fundraising. As I said in my support letter, my home church has graciously adopted me as one of their official short term missionaries-- (in short summary, they support me in numerous facets of my mission trip and all in all give me a foundation of spiritual, financial, and, quite honestly, emotional support through my endeavor to serve Christ). One of the ways they help me out is that they give me a personal fundraising account to route all my support into. In a recent update, I have been informed that I have raised over $5,000 - which means I am half way there! This is an incredible answer to prayer and I am so thankful to all of you who have chosen to support me this way. I am also given a constantly-updating list of all those who have donated any support; I will get in contact with you to give you my thanks personally, soon! I know that this blog isn't incredibly interesting as of yet as it is still just news concerning my fundraising and preparation to leave, but once my DTS commences, I promise it will get more interesting. Thank you again to all who have supported me, whether it be financially or spiritually.
Blessings in Him,
Anna Winters
Random Fact of the Post:
I have never before tried any kind of seafood-- no fish, shrimp, clams, crabs, calamari, nothing. I plan to hold off trying anything from under the sea until I reach Australia. The way I figure is, if I have to try it, why not try it in a country famous for its oceanic scenery and incredibly diverse sea life? I could have tried it when I visited missionaries in the Bahamian Isles a while back, but the most authentic seafood bar we graced while in the area happened to be serving live conch, ripped (with bare hands) directly from the shell, chopped while still squirming, and thrown onto a plate with some odd-looking sauce, possibly the tears of it's conch family. Not the most appealing dish to someone with an entirely unsophisticated pallet in the realm of seafood. I will be sure to update you all as to my first sea food experience AS SOON as it happens. (If it ever does. Fins crossed.) Click Here to Read More..

A Note To My Financial Supporters...

Hello, friends! If you have not received a support letter from me and would like to, (well, first of all, I'm sorry, I apologize for not sending you one!), please email me to request one; I'll be happy to send them!  If you would like to support me and plan on writing a check to do so, please make your checks out to West Shore Evangelical Free Church. Do not write anything in the memo section of your check, but do include the support card along with the check-- just to make it clear who and what your support is intended for. If you don't have a support card, you can see one pictured above; include that information along with your check and you will be good to go. Our church address is: West Shore Evangelical Free Church, 1345 Williams Grove Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055. Thank you so much for your support!  Click Here to Read More..

Welcome to my Missions Blog!

Lord willing, I will leave for Australia in January. Preceding that date, this blog will mostly consist of my updating all of beloved supporters on the status of my fundraising! After I leave, I will use the blog to keep in contact with you all and tell you, hopefully on a weekly basis, all that I've been up to on my mission. For all of you supporting me through prayers and/or finances, I thank you dearly for all the help you are lending me. Please return to this blog to keep in contact with me! If any of you have any questions or comments you wish to send to me directly, you can email me at Annawinters611@verizon.net. Thank you again and Lord bless!
  PS- Random fact of the post: the landscape pictured above is a scene from upstate New York. I worked as a waitress at a Christian family resort up there over the summer, and this is a photo from the beach. Beautiful, right?

Click Here to Read More..