24 Years and 24 Days

Dear Friends and Fellow Missionaries,

I write this to you with mixed emotions. There are several reasons for this:

1) Life flies!!

2) The call is bigger

3) Africa is who I am today...

For the past 2 years I’ve worked, learned, and grown alongside Orphan Relief and Rescue. It’s been a great experience, and during my time with ORR the Lord confirmed to me that Africa is still very much a part of my future. For the past few months, I have been in a place of constant prayer and discernment about the next step. Seeking, looking, hoping and resting. Life Flies!!

I knew God still wanted me in Africa, so I began seek where He called. I traveled to Uganda, where I began to understand what it means to be “called.” When I returned to the U.S., I was tempted to run the race of a good “normal” life: to get a full-time job, live in the States, settle down. But... The call is bigger.

Through discernment, prayer, faith and sheer craziness, I have chosen to travel again to Uganda, seeking to follow this call. When I was there, what I felt in my heart was absolutely unbelievable and indescribable. I knew this place was a calling. "Calling" is an interesting word; one I've personally struggled with for quite some time. I have always felt a deep burden for Africa and feel very much at home there. Os Guinness writes it this way, “...the main way to discover calling is along the line of what we are each created and gifted to be. Instead of, 'You are what you do,' calling says, 'Do what you are.'" Africa is in my heart and this is where I am today.

It would be wrong for me not to listen.

I am asking you to pray for me and to pray about supporting me in this next big step! It is a joyous time and I’m excited to see God work. I am partnering with an organization called Show Mercy International. I will be working for 70 days starting October 1st and will work in “Hope Children's Home.” This is a home to more than 100 children. I will also help to build the “Field of Dreams,” which is a 25 acre plot of land designated for ministry (a school, a clinic and a church).

My goal is to return to my family for Christmas, then choose to make a longer-term commitment in Uganda after the new year.

I still have approximately $2000 to raise, and would love your help in any way.

Here is a link where donations can be made towards Uganda. You can use the drop down box to find my name.

http://www.showmercy.org/donate/index.php?productID=421

You can also mail checks with a note including my name (not written on the check) designating it for my trip with SMI.

I Leave in 24 days!!

With Joy,

Davy Desmond