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Dear Friends,
As you may know I began attending Crossroads Community
Church 2008. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me, and I
have had the opportunity to grow and learn in many ways. I was baptized in May
of 2010 and began serving in Kid’s Club shortly thereafter. I did some
international tutoring via Skype with children in South Africa for a few months,
participated in several Bible study groups, successfully completed Dave
Ramsey’s 13-week Financial Peace University Course, read the whole Bible and
much more.
Through all of this the main thing I learned is just how
blessed I am. My heart overflows with gratitude and love for the friends and
family I have in my life, for my job that I love, for the amazing experiences
and opportunities that I’ve had. Looking at all this I can only say I am
humbled by all that I have and do not deserve! There is no rational reason that
I should be so blessed. It is not through any of my own doing, but truly
through the goodness of others and the grace of God. And through this
realization I feel I must respond, first by saying “Thank you!” to all of you
who have a played a part in my undeserved blessings and then by finding ways in
which I can bless others with the gifts I have been given.
From July 28th to August 5th, 2012 I
will be traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana with about 300 people from
Crossroads. It’s been almost seven years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the
city, and a great need persists. Members of our group will be working on
various projects including building homes with Habitat for Humanity, creating
new free portraits for families who lost photos during the hurricane, helping
to clean and prepare public schools for opening in the fall, and my team will
be working with kids at the Vacation Bible School program at the Franklin
Avenue Baptist Church – a church located in one of the hardest-hit areas of the
city. Along with all this we will be praying with and loving on people who
probably have a very hard time remembering how blessed and loved they really
are.
This trip provides an opportunity to help meet the physical
and spiritual needs of a community that is still desperately in need. During
the 2005 flood that followed Hurricane Katrina approximately 75,000 homes were
lost just in the New Orleans metropolitan area. As of 2011 only 10,000 have
been rebuilt! Many people have relocated to other areas of the country, but
there are still around 38,000 families that still don’t have a place to call
home. We don’t hear about this on the news. Most people have forgotten about
the disaster, and I imagine that’s exactly how a lot of people in New Orleans feel…
forgotten. I know there are lots of people in need, some that live here in
Cincinnati. I can’t help them all, but I can go on this trip. I can’t rebuild
their homes, I can’t replace all that they’ve lost, but maybe I can help one
child, despite everything she’s been through, realize she is blessed, she is
loved, and she is not forgotten!
More than anything, I
would ask for your prayers for our team and those whose lives will be touched
through us. I believe God answers prayers, and I’m asking you to pray for our
safety, good health, smooth travel, and success. Just knowing you will be
praying will give me peace and hope as I head out on this trip.
Those of us going on the trip have been encouraged to ask
for financial support for this mission whether we need it or not. In doing so
it is hoped we will not only give others a chance to hear about how God is
working in our lives, but also to give others an opportunity to share in a
great work if they feel called to do so. Our group needs to raise just over
$300,000 to cover the total cost of the trip. I personally need $875 for my
part. I would greatly appreciate any level of support you are able to offer.
Please do not feel obligated or pressured to give anything at all, but please
do pray for me and for those I will serve.
If you would like to donate to my mission trip please visit the following link. https://www.crossroads.net/GOTripGive/731
With gratitude,
Jenifer Dittelberger
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