share in the journey!

Summer 2009

Dear friends and family,

I hope and pray that this letter finds you well! As I write you tonight, having just graduated from Notre Dame, I find myself looking back with gratitude on the experiences and opportunities I’ve been given to grow in intellect, spirituality, and concern for the world and those I share it with during my four years here. Because of the deep faith and commitment to social justice I have developed in my time here, after months of discernment, I, along with four of my classmates, have committed the spending the next 27 months living and working at The Farm of the Child children’s home in Honduras. I’m writing today to share this good news with you and ask for your support as I begin this beautiful, challenging journey!

The Farm of the Child is a small, Catholic orphanage which seeks to respond to the poverty and underdevelopment of Honduras by providing loving, family-style homes for children left orphaned, abused, or abandoned. Volunteers such as myself join with Franciscan Sisters and members of the Honduran community to serve as teachers, social workers, community organizers, and in a variety of other positions. You may recall that I spent two months at the Farm during the summer of 2007 through the generosity of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns. My experiences as a summer volunteer were incredibly transformational, and after continued prayer and discernment, I now feel God is calling me to live out my gratitude for all I have been given through a long-term volunteer commitment to the Farm and its children. I am incredibly excited for this opportunity, but I know that I cannot fulfill the Farm’s mission alone, and I ask that you might consider supporting my work in one or more of the following ways:

First, I invite you to find out more about the Farm and its mission by visiting our website at http://www.farmofthechild.org/. The “Mission Statement” (under the “Our Mission” link) and “Video Footage” (under the “scrapbook” link) are two good places to start! You can also continue to visit this blog, where I’ll attempt to post updates during my time at the Farm.

Secondly, I ask that you might hold the work of the Farm, my fellow volunteers and myself in your prayers over the next two and a half years. The commitment we undertake is challenging, but grace abounds, and the prayers of those we love from home allow our mission to become something larger than just ourselves.

Lastly, but significantly - as part of my volunteer commitment, I have agreed to raise just over $11,000 to pay for my expenses during my 27 month term of service to the Farm of the Child. By fundraising to cover my costs while living at the Farm, I will be able to provide services that the children desperately need without putting further strain on the already struggling local economy. If you are in a position to make a financial contribution, either one-time or periodic, the donation form posted below explains how to do so. Even a dollar or two for each month of my volunteer commitment is significant – every bit helps! The Farm is a U.S. 501 (c) 3 non-profit and all donations are tax-deductible. I have also posted a budget (below) explaining how the funds I raise will be used.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he writes of the church as one body with many members, with each member belonging to the others and each given different gifts for the sake of the good of the whole (Romans 12:5). It is in the spirit of this metaphor that I humbly ask for your support as I begin the journey to give love away at the Farm for the next two and a half years. I so very much believe that we are all Workers for the same Kingdom, given different gifts for the good of the whole, and that each of us works in his or her own way to complete the work of the others. I am so grateful for the opportunity to share the Farm’s mission with you, and eager to share with you the good work being done (and yet to be done!) there. I welcome your thoughts and questions as I begin my journey! Please be in touch!

In peace and gratitude,

Erin Ramsey
erin.ramsey.1@gmail.com