My Upcoming Adventure

Family and Friends,

I'm so excited to share with you about my next adventure. I have recently been given an opportunity to travel to Zimbabwe for 6 months to work with Pastor Alan Graham.

I know that many of you received my follow-up letter after I returned from China last summer stating that my plans were to travel to India & Bangladesh in the summer of 2008, but plans have changed. God is on the move my friends and He has moved me in another direction.

Unfortunately, India and Bangladesh didn't work out, but Global Passion Ministries has given me a chance to lead a team into Uganda, Africa the first two weeks of July. When I return, I will be preparing to leave Napa and head to Zimbabwe, Africa for six months. I'm not sure what will happen after 6 months, but I know God has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11-13) and I am confident that He will continue to lead me down the right path. For now, I'm anxious to see what He has for me in Zimbabwe!

So now you are probably asking yourself how this happened? Well, Pastor Alan was at my home church (Hillside Christian Center) at the end of December 2007. He spent a few weeks in the office and spoke on a Sunday morning. During his message, God spoke to me about offering to serve Pastor Alan for a term of six months. After speaking with Pastor Alan the following week about that very possibility, God opened the door He asked me to knock on.

I will be leaving Napa and my position at Hillside to pursue long-term missions work in Zimbabwe starting in September of this year. I will be doing a lot of the work I did when I was there two years ago, but this time Pastor Alan has asked me to help him build an office for his growing staff. I will be collecting office supplies and computer programs to take with me. I am also looking forward to building relationships with the orphans and students in the schools we will be ministering in.

Through all of my travels, Africa has always been in my heart. The frist time I was there, Pastor Alan told us that we would always remember the sights, sounds, and smells of Africa. He was right. Every night I go to bed, I can still see the faces of the babies I held. I see the school children smiling as my team performed dramas and played soccer with them. I can hear the little girls laughing as we tickled them and gave them candy. I can still hear the children in each of the schools singing in their sweet African accents as they praised the Lord. I can hear the wood chimes they played for us as we started each assembly and I can still smell all the wonderful food we were able to eat.

However, I can still see the AIDS warning signs that each school hung around their campuses and I can hear the crys of the children in the hospital we visited. Crys from missing their parents or from the pain of the disease they were carrying. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is spreading so rapidly in Zimbabwe that the life expectancy is expected to lower to 25 years old for men and 15 years old for women in the next ten years. The country is also fighting a very corrupt government, a food shortage that has almost eliminated all basic necessities, and an economy that is so bad, the inflation rate is now over 100,000% with an 80% unemployment rate.

The overwhelming need of the Zimbabwean people grieves my heart. I am desperate to get there and share the hope that I carry. The hope of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands us to "...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you..." Will you help me go? Will you help me reach a lost and dying people with the Gospel of Jesus? Will you be God's Hand extended to the children and orphans of Zimbabwe?

Six months is a big committment. My largest need is prayer. If I didn't have prayer partners at home praying for me, then I might as well not go. Prayer and intercession for myself and the people of Zimbabwe is what is going to get me through good days, hard days, and challenging days. If you can, please be diligent in your prayers for me. God will bless you and me through those prayers. If you are wanting to make that committment, then please send an email to: ginaklug@gmail.com so I can keep you updated as I continue my journey to get there as well as while I am in Zimbabwe.

My second need is financial support. I am unsure of what my monthly budget will be, but whatever funds you feel God is placing on your heart to give, every amount will help. If you feel you would have an easier time spreading the support out, I would also like to give you the option of being a monthly supporter. If I can get 10 people to send $100/month or 20 people to send $50/month, then my needs would be more than met. However, it doesn't have to be either of these amounts if you would like to be a monthly supporter. Again, any amount will help.

To send support/donations, please write your check to Global Passion Ministries then send it to 100 Anderson Road; Napa, CA 94558. Please make sure my name does NOT appear on the check. Also, if you could include in the envelope a note letting Global Passion know if the amount is monthly support or a one time gift, I would appreciate it. That way I will know when I have met my goal.

Thank you so much for all the prayers I know you have already been sending my way. The Lord has blessed my life beyond anything I could have imagined. My family back east as well as my Napa family has been the best support system anyone could ask for. God has directed my steps even when I was unaware that He was. My desire is to now spend the rest of my life overseas winning people to the God in Heaven that has saved my life and given me abundant hope.

Living in His Will,
Gina Klug

P.S. I will continue to update this blog as my trip gets closer. I will also update it when I arrive in Zimbabwe and during the six months I will be living there. Please continue to check back!!