Hi Everyone-
If you have not heard, Starting in October i will leaving for Uganda for six months. I wanted a way of communicating with people back here in the US to share my stories and experiences and thought a blog would be the best way to do so. I will start with the preparations for leaving while i am here in San Diego, and then will be sharing what exactly i am doing over in Africa.
Below is the support letter i have sent out to my family and friends. I really appreciate the support of all of you whether that is through prayer or giving financially.
Keep checking my blog to receive updates on information and to hear how fundraising is going.
I love and appreciate you all!
Love- Haley
Dear Family and Friends,
Over the last four years, God has brought me through a lot - from the loss of my dad, Thomas Sipan to the amazing experience of joining Alpha Delta Chi, the Christian sorority at SDSU. I have learned a lot over the past few years about myself, and what I desire to do with the rest of my life. As graduation approached, that question was asked of me over and over again: “What are you doing to do once you are done?” I have been overwhelmingly blessed my whole life to live in the beautiful city of San Diego. But now with my new status of being graduated and not having anything tying me down, I know this is the best time for me experience life outside of San Diego. As you may know, for the last 2 summers my Mom has been traveling to Africa, volunteering in orphanages and doing AIDS-related trainings with church leaders. One orphanage in particular is operated by close family friends, Luke and Mandy Sydo. I have recently been in contact with Mandy, and in October will be starting a six-month volunteer program in Jinja, Uganda with Welcome Home Africa Ministries.
During my time in Uganda, I will be working with the children currently living in the orphanage from preemies to toddlers, helping with medical runs to the clinic, and participating in outreach to kids in villages, schools, hospitals and adults in prison, along with anything else that needs to be done around the orphanage.
I am sharing this information with you because there is a lot of planning and preparation that goes into making this trip possible. First I ask that you partner with me in prayer, that I would find guidance from the Lord leading up to and during this trip. It is a leap of faith for me to dedicate myself to spending this extended period of time in a country I have never been to before, and your prayers would be very much appreciated. I have also created a blog that I will be posting updates on about my time in Africa. The link is http://WelcomeHomeAfrica111.blogspot.com. I would love it if you would follow me during my time abroad. I will be posting on there different things that I am doing in Uganda, prayer requests, and possibly pictures. Another way that you can help is to support me financially. For this trip, I will need to raise around $6000 to pay for airfare, lodging and food. I have already saved a little over $3000. Please do not feel obligated to give, but any little amount will help tremendously! If you do decide to give please make any checks out to Haley Sipan and write “Africa Mission Trip” in the memo area.
Again thank you for the support you have given me over the last twenty-two years. I would not have been able to accomplish the goal of graduating from college without each of your invested interests in my life.
With Love,
Haley Sipan
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make tour paths straight.”
