[This was the first letter we sent out to everyone, asking for prayers and stuff.]

Necessity often reminds us of the most important things.  Thirst reminds us of water.  Hunger reminds us of food.  In our case, the thought of doing cross-cultural mission work in Cambodia reminds us of our desperate need for prayer!  (And money, but that’s a topic for another letter that may be coming your direction soon.)

So, the purpose of this letter?  To engage at least 200 friends who will commit to pray for us and the children of Cambodia.  We’re looking for teammates who will go to bat for us, so to speak, and hold us up in prayer.  We’re going to call these teammates our Praying Friends Forever (PFFs).  J  (Elizabeth wants you to know that the “PFF” acronym was his idea.)

You all know I (Jonathan) talk incessantly about living all for ONE.  Turns out it’s easier to say it than do it!  So now, after much prayer and a lot of hard thought, we feel led to pursue God’s heart in service to the people of Cambodia.  Specifically, we feel drawn to the needs and hurts of the children of Cambodia.  This is how God is asking us to give all for ONE.  We anticipate leaving the U.S. in January 2012.

Our home church (the Red Bridge Church of Christ) will serve as our sending church, providing spiritual accountability and direction, as well as plain old encouragement.  We are also blessed to serve with Team Expansion.  Team Expansion is a mission organization that partners with local churches (in our case, Red Bridge) to “send and sustain” missionaries with the vision of planting indigenous churches among the least-reached people groups of the world.  More info about Team Expansion, who they are, how they operate, etc., may be found on their website at http://www.teamexpansion.org.

We’ve been praying that God would light us up for His name and His glory.  Like a candle is consumed, we’re asking God to consume us with a passion for Him and a passion for people.  And like a candle, we feel that we must not stay in the bright places, but go to the darkness.  And though the darkness may never understand, we must burn still, consumed for the King.

So, will you be a PFF (Praying Friend Forever)?  A friend who prays for God to move and save the people of Cambodia?  A friend who prays for our family and the children of Cambodia? If so, please fill out the attached card and return it to us.  If it’s easier, feel free to just drop us an e-mail at trotters41@gmail.com.

We look forward to keeping in touch with you as we all strive to live…

                                                                                                All for ONE,

                                                                                               Jonathan & Elizabeth Trotter