Patagonia

As many of you may know, I am going on a missions trip to Peru, Argentina, and Chile in exactly one week. Things are crazy crazy right now as we are trying to wrap-up loose ends and raise support. This is the link to our website, although we haven't had the chance to update it since I've joined the trip.

http://www.calebdurham.com/argentina/

(My friend Andrew Hamilton will unfortunately not be able to join us on this trip.)

Hopefully I will have time to write more before I leave, we will also be keeping a journal/blog of our trip while we are down there so be sure to check back later for information. Below is a copy of my support letter, it has all the great details of our journey. If you would like to hear more about it personally, I would love to talk to you in person.


Dear Friends, 


I hope this letter finds you well. As many of you know, I’m studying Design at NC State University. Now that the chaos of school is winding down, I have some exciting news that I’d like to share with you. This June I will be going with a small team to Argentina, Chile, and Peru on a mission trip. I am writing to ask for your financial support in this opportunity.

My good friend Caleb recently graduated from NCSU, where we became good friends. He, along with several other friends including my girlfriend Emily, have been very involved in missions in Lima, Peru; then in 2010 he had an internship with a campus ministry in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This trip is sort of a culmination of each of those opportunities. When Sam Brown, a good friend of ours, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, we were all devastated. During that time, though, his relationship with Jesus grew very close. Less than 6 months later, he was officially cancer-free, and really wanted to celebrate his health by giving back in service. An avid hiker, he had always dreamed of seeing the Patagonia region of Argentina, and asked Caleb if he could organize a mission trip there. We formed a team of four guys (Sam Brown, Paul Dennis, Caleb Durham, and myself), Caleb began emailing his contacts in Buenos Aires, and the opportunity that has developed is so much more exciting than I initially expected. We are partnering with a pastor in La Plata, Argentina to build a new church in a rural area in the south called Pila. This pastor, Ruben Lucas, was a carpenter before he felt called into ministry and has built his current church, as well as several homes there in Argentina. He has been praying for the opportunity to complete this project for many years. He needs both financial resources and manpower to finish the building process. We plan to spend a week and a half helping him, then 4 days traveling across Argentina. From there, we will fly to Peru to meet a team from Caleb and Paul’s church there in Lima. We will serve the church there in Lima for 5 days and then go with the Peruvian believers to be a part of the church’s first evangelistic outreach into an area of northern Peru called Laguna Pomacoches.

This is a really exciting opportunity, but is one that we can’t do alone. I need to raise $3,000 for the trip (which includes all of my finances for travel, visas/entrance fees, food and lodging, and local transportation in each country). Beyond that, the costs of building in Argentina are pretty reasonable. The pastor received a large donation a while ago, and was able to build three walls and a good foundation. We hope to finish the building and be able to furnish the church. We estimate that $2000 to $3000 will be sufficient to finish the building project. We are asking businesses to sponsor the building of this church.    Would you consider partnering with me prayerfully and financially to send me on this trip?

This will be my first mission trip and my first time leaving the United States. I’m excited to go and see how the Lord works through us to bless the People of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, and also how He works in my own life and in the lives of the guys on my team. If you are interested in finding out more about the trip, call or email me! Please consider partnering with me in this. I would love to schedule a meeting to tell you more about this opportunity and hear your thoughts about making it happen.

In Christ,
Sam Patterson