Dear Friends, Family & Potential Supporters,

I hope that this letter finds you and those you love, blessed
and cared for in every area of life. While some of you may
know me personally and others only through an acquaintance
or perhaps you’re just hearing my story, I want to thank you
for taking just a few moments to read. I am writing because
this summer, I have been given an opportunity to travel back to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

During my nearly month long stay there, in the daylight hours I will be serving in some
of the poorest slums in the world and strategizing with other Christian leaders and non-
profit organizations to begin creating ways to help eradicate the rampant destitution of a
community called Korah (Kore). Korah is a community that consists of 80,000 societal
outcasts. There are lepers, HIV/AIDS victims, orphans, widows, prostitutes and many
more who have been shunned or more pointedly, thrown away, by those more wealthy
and powerful than them. Stating the matter more sharply, in Ethiopia’s capital city,
Addis Abeba, a city of 6 million people, there is a city dump and it boxes Korah in
against a filth-ridden and polluted river bed. Every single day, the children of Korah
wake up with hungry bellies and rush to the garbage dump to scavenge for food to eat.
Imagine the horror on my face when I saw young children jumping the fence to dig for
food in the landfill; it was gut wrenching! Thankfully, my son Silas, whom my wife and
I adopted from Ethiopia in 2009, will never have to endure such hardships!

In the evenings, I will be teaching in the capital city’s Evangelical Theological College.
In particular, I will get to teach and share the Gospel of Mark with Ethiopian ministers
and laypersons. In turn, these ministers will return to their villages and/or congregations
to educate and disciple their members. I cannot explain how great of both a ministerial
and academic opportunity this is for me, most certainly, it will have lasting effects on the
rest of my life.

All this being said, here comes the good part, your part. ☺ In order to make this trip
possible, I am asking for help in two ways, 1) By encouraging and praying for me
throughout the duration of the preparation and traveling process. Prayers for God’s
presence in all of this are coveted. Since I am doing this trip alone and spending a month
away from my family, I cannot express how much this really means to me. 2) In order
for me to make this possible I will need to raise $2200.00. This amount includes travel
expenses, food, lodging, supplies and equipment that I will need on this mission trip.

I would appreciate your thoughtful and prayerful consideration of giving financially to

meet this need. My deadline for monies raised is June 1st. If you would like a tax
deduction, please make your checks out to Embrace Church and in the memo you can
write “Suggested Donation for Michael Halcomb”. Or if you would like, you can make a
personal check out to Michael Halcomb. I have enclosed a separate sheet for the
processing of donations, which also contains the mailing and contact information.

I know that there are many opportunities each year to support these types of outreaches,
so if you have already financially contributed, please do not feel any obligation to do this.
But please pray for this trip as well as my safety and perhaps most importantly, the
people of Ethiopia.
Grace and peace,

Michael W. Halcomb