Dear Friends and Family,

It is with great excitement that I am writing to inform you that Riley and I will be participating in a mission trip with Riley’s youth group (The Worship Center Leesburg, VA) this summer. This will be Riley’s first mission trip and my first trip since 2020. After 5 long years I am so excited for my return to the mission field and even more excited that Riley and I will be serving together in an area that I hold dear to my heart, Appalachia.

July 6-11 we will be traveling to Western North Carolina and/or Eastern Tennessee to help with rebuilding after the devastating hurricane and subsequent floods. The situation in these areas remains dire. We will be partnering with Experience Mission. Experience Mission is a boots on the ground organization that develops relationships with local community leaders to establish what the needs are and then partners with other ministries to provide funding and volunteers to help meet those needs. More information about this organization and their mission can be found at www.experiencemission.org.

We do not yet know exactly what projects we will be helping with, only that we will be helping with rebuilding. The needs change constantly with weather still affecting the region and other volunteer teams coming in and out. We have been assured that any funding above the cost of our trip will also go directly to families to aid in rebuilding.

Please join us in praying and preparing ahead of this trip. I have listed some prayer points below.

• Pray for the Experience Mission staff who are on the ground forming relationships with those in need.

• Pray for the people who have experienced loss, that they will know they are loved and rebuilding will happen.

• Pray for the most pressing needs to be identified and met

• Pray for more teams to be sent to help

• Pray for funding to help meet the needs

• Pray for safety of the teams traveling and while there helping with the work

• Pray that this experience will open the eyes of the youth and all those who go to help, that their lives may be forever changed.

• Pray that when people look at us, that they see Jesus.

• Ask God how you can help.

The cost for Riley and I to participate in this mission trip is $670/each ($1340 total). This covers our room and board for the week as well as whatever projects we will work on while we are there. I recognize we are in difficult and uncertain economic times. My ask is that you keep us and this mission covered in prayer. If you are able and feel led to contribute financially, any amount helps and will go directly to support this mission. Any amount raised over the cost of the trip will go directly to local families to aid in rebuilding.