Youth With a Mission: My Meager Attempt at Fund Raising

A few months ago I received a letter in the mail from my cousin, Christiana.  Rather than boring you with my lame attempt to capture the authenticity of her story, I wanted you to hear from her heart directly, and hear the details of what God is about to do in her young life.  After reading her initial letter, I was so blown away by her passion, excitement and commitment to this opportunity, that I decided to help her in any possible way that I could.  After talking with her a couple of times, I realized two things: 1. My finances literally stink right now.  2.  Most everyone's finances stink right now.  Those two sobering revelations shed some light on the one particular area that she needs help with the most:  Getting the word of this opportunity out to as many people as possible.  Let's face it.  The economy is tough right now.  There aren't many of us individually that are able to make much of a dent in her financial obligations, but perhaps if we work together, we can make a real impact!  Since there are so many of you out there that faithfully read my blog, which I appreciate more than you can possibly know, I asked Christiana to write a similar letter to you directly.  

I'll admit, very few opportunities come along in the missions area that I truly believe in 100%.  Most of you know that I can be somewhat of a cynical minister.  This however, is a ministry opportunity that I not only believe in, but clearly see the Spirit of God as the vehicle moving this forward.  All that I ask of you is to read the words of this faithful follower of Christ.  Hear the passion that God has placed in her heart.  Meditate on what He is about to do in her life, and in the lives of those that He will impact through her ministry, and then just pray.  Just simply ask God what He wants you to do.  And together, let's ask ourselves what He can do through us in building this ministry, and what we can do to impact His Kingdom in the most powerful and radical way possible.  Will you join me?               

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

My name is Christiana Falbo I am writing to share with you all a rather exciting adventure I am about to embark on. I have been accepted to a program called YWAM, or Youth With a Mission. It is a Christian missionary program that allows people like me to learn and experience God and His works in a surrounding I wouldn’t otherwise be able to. I will be part of a 21 week lecture phase, otherwise known as Discipleship Training School (DTS) where I’ll learn more about missions and what it really means to be a missionary, while living with a group of about twenty people doing the same. After I complete my DTS, we will leave on what is called an Outreach, where we travel to another country (or countries) and put into practice what we have learned. My specific DTS is partnered with a campaign called “Not for Sale” which solely focuses on ending sex slavery and human trafficking around the world. This means that wherever I go for my outreach (I won’t know where until i start my DTS) I will be working heavily with the issue of sex slavery and will actually get the opportunity to see the trafficking first hand and be given the chance to do something about it. The entire program will last five months, which means I will be gone from January to June. I will spend the first three months doing my DTS in Townsville, Australia, and the final two months wherever God decides to take us, but it will most likely be somewhere in Thailand or Southeast Asia.

Learning to trust God’s plan for me in making this decision has been a trial to say the least. I moved to Colorado from Texas about eight years ago. Since then I have become extremely involved in West Bowles Community Church and its youth group. I started singing in the youth praise band when I was a freshman and became one of the leaders as a sophomore. When I was a junior I started helping out with the Junior High group as a leader and just became a leader of the high school group as well. Even though my role as a leader has been to help lead and guide the youth I work with, I have found that I have gotten so much more in return than anything i would ever be able to give to these kids. I signed on to be a leader, but ended up in some of the most amazing friendships with the people I have the honor of leading with as well as the kid’s I’m leading. All of this has made my decision to do YWAM that much harder. While I am beyond ecstatic for the opportunity at hand and the experiences I will be gaining, I am both nervous and heartbroken to be leaving behind what I have called home and the people I have called family for so long. I have really learned how to trust what God is doing in my life and put His plan into action.

I write to ask for your support. In this time, I need all the prayers I can get. However, along with emotional support, I also ask for financial support, as this is a rather expensive endeavor. I know God provides, but I also know that I have to be willing to work. Reaching out for help has been both a hard and humbling process for me, as I have accepted that I can in no way do this alone. I have truly learned the value of a dollar, so asking for support has been no easy task.  I am more than aware of these economic times, as my own family lost our home to foreclosure in 2010. So if you are unable to give financially, just keeping this ministry in your thoughts and prayers is more than enough.  

If you want to learn more about YWAM and my journey, you can go to ywamrto.org , e-mail me at christiana.falbo@gmail.com, or facebook me! 

Much Love, 

                                                                                                                                                       Christiana Falbo