Mission trip update July 2020
In another timeline, I would have returned today from Uganda, full of stories, and would probably have been sorting through my photos and videos tonight. I had planned to take tomorrow off work as a recovery day.
As we all know, that trip, to Raise The Roof Academy, didn’t happen in June and July 2020. But I wanted to make sure you know it will still happen, and for those of you who’ve supported the trip financially, every penny of your contribution will carry over to the trip, whenever it happens.
There is a possibility — depending on travel conditions — that RTRA might try to schedule a smaller trip at the end of the year for those who can make it. This year’s team members would have the option of either taking the end-of-the-year trip or else just waiting until next summer’s regularly-scheduled trip. But no specific plans have been made yet for that end-of-year trip, and my personal speculation is that we’ll just let things ride until next summer. In any case, the money already raised would roll over.
RTRA’s annual summer trip is tied in to a big celebration and Vacation Bible School. Even though Uganda has had been hit by COVID-19, and the lockdown has affected Uganda’s economy just as it is affecting the U.S. and Canadian economies, RTRA still hoped to have some sort of gathering this summer, and some of us who planned to be on this summer’s trip (or who had been on previous trips) made videos which were to be shown to the school children. Here, if you’re interested, is my video — stressing the importance of sanitizing water by boiling it. (Please don’t ever say that I don’t know how to boil water.) I shot the video outside, boiling the water on a camp stove, because many people in the developing world cook over fire, and might find that more relatable than shooting inside a typical American kitchen.
I haven’t been actively raising money during the pandemic, but I did want to give you an update on my finances. I have raised $2,823 towards the $3,500 trip cost that I must send RTRA. That leaves me with $677 remaining to send in.
Monetary gifts to Raise the Roof Academy, with a note asking that they be applied to my trip expenses, are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. You can make a gift on my behalf by mailing a check to Raise the Roof Academy, Mission Trip, P.O. Box 92216, Nashville, TN 37209. Please write my name in the memo section of your check.
You may also go to http://www.raisetheroofacademy.org/donate/ to donate with your credit or debit card, or checking account. Please choose “Mission Trip Support” from the drop-down menu and enter my name in the memo section.
If you give directly to RTRA, please do let me know that you’ve done so in order that I can thank you promptly. Sometimes, I don’t know people have given until I specifically ask RTRA for an update.
You can also hand a donation directly to me — but in order for your gift to be tax-deductible, the check must be made out to RTRA, and that’s where I’ll be sending it anyhow. At this point, if you make a check out to me, I’ll deposit it and write a check in that amount to RTRA. If you make the check out to RTRA to begin with, I can just put it in an envelope and send it to them.
If I am unable to participate in the trip for some reason, any monetary gifts raised toward supporting me will in turn be used to support the mission.
Thanks to all of you, whether you’ve given financially or not. I know these are challenging times. Please continue to hold me, my teammates, and the students and staff of RTRA in your prayers. For more information about RTRA, go to http://raisetheroofacademy.org.
