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Writing a Prayer & Support Letter

Support letters are extremely important and effective in informing family and friends of your upcoming trip. They allow you to share about Comfort for Africa and our summer mission, and they give others the opportunity to share your experience through praying for you and supporting you financially. For those who are paying their own way, we still recommend that you send letters out asking for prayer support. Here are some guidelines for writing your letter:

  • Be personal. Your family and friends are interested in YOU! In your first paragraph share briefly how you came to be a part of this team. Try to write as if you were having a personal conversation, use everyday language.
  • Be brief, but informative. In your second paragraph include details about the kind of ministry the team will be involved in. Tell as specifically as possible what your part will be.
  • Present your need. People are not able to help you if they don’t know your need. Share your need for both prayer support and financial support. Recognize that most people will want to know about what you’ll be doing and will help in whatever way that they can. Share these needs in a way that you feel comfortable, and trust God that He will raise up people and will provide all that you need.
  • Let people know how they can donate. Send them a self-addressed, stamped envelope so they can mail a check.  Team checks should be made payable to Bridge Community Church with “Summer Team 2024” in the memo section.
  • Tell people about our organization. Refer them to our website (www.ComfortForAfrica.org) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ComfortForAfrica) so that they can see what we are doing and so that they can follow along with the trip.
  • Be creative. Use your imagination in writing and designing this letter. Art, pictures (lots available from previous trips), quotes, borders, colored paper, clip art, etc., all help make your letter more creative. Your letter should be neat, attractive, and printed clearly. Your letter should say “READ ME” when it enters someone’s home.
  • Ask for help. If you feel stuck, and writing is not your passion, feel free to contact other members of the team to help you with ideas, thoughts, etc. for your letter. There are also sample letters available to help you get an idea of what you might write. On the next page are some excerpts from previous prayer and support letters.
  • If someone supports you, make sure you contact them to say, “Thank You.” A follow up letter or e-mail after the trip is also strongly encouraged.
Excerpts from past team members’ support letters

I never expected that I would be planning to go to Eswatini this summer—I had never even heard of the country before this year. But now I know that it has the highest rate of HIV infection in the world, over 80,000 children orphaned by AIDS, a life expectancy of 45 years, and an unemployment rate of 86%. How could I not go and help to distribute clothes and assist with mobile medical clinics?

I know that it will be a challenge to go to a new and different culture, communicate through a language barrier, and constantly serve others. Please pray for strength, safety, and a kind heart. I do want what we do in Eswatini to communicate the love of God to the Swazi people.

I would like to share a verse with you God is using in my life as I go to Eswatini [choose a verse that has special significance for you]

Each team member needs to raise $3,300.00 by [date of trip]. If you would like to help by supporting me financially, you can write out a check to “Bridge Community Church” with my name + “Swazi” in the memo and send it back to me in the enclosed envelope. All gifts are tax-deductible. If you would like to donate online, go to www.ComfortforAfrica.org and click on the Donate tab. You can fill out the information, making sure that you write my name in the designated box. If you do not designate your donation, it will go into the general fund.

Around this time every year I am asked the same question: “So, are you going back to Africa this summer?”  It’s not surprising.  Since 2007 I have been to Africa five times.  I have numerous relationships with people there, and I suppose it has become a defining part of my year.  For me, the “Eswatini Trip Switch” is set to the “Go” position, unless something prevents me (like that motorcycle accident I had in 2011).  And this year, unless I am prevented somehow, I plan to return again.  To that end, I ask you again for your prayers and support.

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