Please visit my Facebook page on my India trip for more Info and updates!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_147391475311692#!/pages/Stefanies-India-Trip-2011/174997352524540

Stefanie's India Trip 2011.

Dear Reader,

Hi! It’s me, Stefanie Anne Vinsel. As most of you know, I am a senior at Anderson University in Anderson, IN for Communications with a focus in Audio/Video/Film Production. I am currently involved in the East Side Church of God children’s ministry, serving every Sunday morning and Wednesday night.  I love caring for wonderful kids each week. Serving kids is one of my passions along with photography. I hope to use my love and skill in photography one day as way to help and inspire people.

The main reason I am writing to you is to inform you about an amazing opportunity I have decided to take advantage of at Anderson University. There are a number of mission trips provided at AU each year at pretty affordable prices for students. The organization that supplies the students with the opportunities is called Tri-S.  This upcoming May of 2011, Tri-S is taking students to Kolkata, India for a little over 10 days. I have felt called to be a part of this journey and know that it will be a life changing experience. We will be working with the Mother Teresa Sisterhood Missionaries of Charity Organization in the heart of Kolkata.

This will be my first mission trip ever internationally and it has proven in previous years to be the most challenging one of all Tri-s trips. It’s a 10 day journey and we will be spending time with many men, women and children who have physical and emotional disabilities. We will be working with the sisters and brothers of the organization by assisting in physical therapy, cleaning, washing clothes, and much more. Most importantly we will be spending time and praying with these individuals to show them Jesus’ unyielding grace and never ending love.

Coming to Anderson University was the best but also hardest decision I have ever made and thank God every day that He challenged me to take a huge step into His arms.  Last fall I was reading a book called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne and stumbled across a chapter about his experience in Kolkata, India with the Mother Teresa Sisterhood. This put a fire in my heart for India and opened my eyes to the opportunity to serve there.

I'm asking if you would help support me during this process as I make my way towards the deadline. There are still financial costs that I need to meet in order for me to go. The trip all together with the exception of my passport and medical shots is $1,650. The deadline for financing my trip is in early February 2011.  Any amount is graciously accepted and if money is not something you can offer me then I hope you know that you’re prayers are just as important, if not more. I will need much prayer support as I prepare for the challenges ahead of me: serving in a new and different culture, communicating through a language barrier, and constantly giving of myself in service. Please pray that I will have enough strength and that my life will show the personal relationship I have with Christ. I will be sure to update you on my journey before and during my trip to let you know what God is preparing to do in India. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter and for considering to be apart of God’s work! It means so much to me.

Have a wonderful day and God bless :)

Stefanie Vinsel

Please send money to:                                

Stefanie  Vinsel 

1100 East Fifth Street   

Anderson, Indiana 46012

“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.”

-Mother Teresa