Dear Friends and Family,

Jambo! This summer, I have the opportunity to join a team of educators from my church to train and inspire a team of educators in Tanzania, and I need your help!  As many of you know, my daughter Lucy and I visited Paraguay last year and worked to enrich the homeschooling programs of missionaries working there.  I feel God's calling to use my skills and knowledge to help equip others to be the best they can be.  I am thankful for the many strong mentors who have invested in me, and it has always been my belief that in order to create community you need to take whatever you know, whether small or large, and share it with those around you.  I feel this is true about skills I've studied and about my faith in Christ.  I would like to take what I know about teaching and about God, whether small or large, and share it with my new community in Tanzania.

The fundraising goal of $3,700 I have been given by my church seems daunting, but I know that God shows up most obviously when there is a God-sized problem!  I would like you to prayerfully consider giving whatever you can to help send me on this trip to bless and encourage others.  Please know that as a supporter you are my partner in this mission.  Whether you share my vision for the gospel or you share my passion for education, I cannot fulfill this calling without help from you. 

Perimeter, my sending church, has had a relationship with this school in Tanzania for many years.  They send educators over at least once a year to provide training and support for the Tanzanian teachers.  Throughout this partnership, the Perimeter educators and the Tanzanian educators have formed real friendships.  They pray for each other and invest in each other’s lives.  It is exciting to join an effort that has already been a blessing to both the Tanzanians and to the teachers from Perimeter.

Before we leave, I will be meeting with my team of educators from Perimeter to analyze the needs expressed by the Tanzanian school and develop presentations and workshops that will give them new tools, strategies and resources for literacy and math.  During the first week of our trip, my teammates and I will take turns leading these presentations and workshops.  Then, we will spend a second week in the classroom with the Tanzanian teachers where we will work as coaches and mentors to help them implement everything they just learned.

On a personal note, this missions trip means a lot to me because of the location.  My husband grew up in the neighboring country of Kenya and his father grew up in Tanzania.  I have never been to Africa, but in many ways feel as if I married into an African family.  I feel I would gain so much insight into my own family by traveling halfway across the world.   If any of the many reasons I’ve listed means something to you too, I hope you will be my partner and send me to Africa!  Please pray that I will be a blessing to others as I share my knowledge and pray that God would provide for my financial needs!

Asante Sana!

Kristin Beverly