A Letter From Kellen

15/2/13

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m writing to you because I’m going on a missions trip this summer to the Dominican Republic. I’m not usually a person who likes to ask for things. So, typing out this fundraising letter, whose purpose is to ask numerous people for money feels incredibly odd. Like, really odd. It would, I admit, be much easier to just send out some generic letter, using all the latest Christian buzzwords. In fact,  I was given such a letter to use. I didn’t like it. At all. It just wasn’t me. It seemed really cheesy, and not at all like something that I would want to send to someone I thought liked me well enough to give me money.

Now, more than likely, I’m not the person you think of, when you think of some guy feeding the hungry, helping the poor, and going out to some remote village in a jungle, just because he want to show the people there what God can do. That’s because I’m not. And besides, my family has a farm to run, I’ve got school to do, and various life-y things going on.

Do I have the time to go to the Dominican for a week? Of course I don’t. Do people really ever? No, not really. There are tons of reasons why I shouldn’t go, or why I can’t go, and why I’m not really the person who should be doing this at all. But despite all that, I’m going. From June 22nd, to June 29th, I’ll be in Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic. Choosing to go really wasn’t a hard decision at all.1 Corinthians 12:6-7 says why extremely well, “And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:”   Wow. I think that’s pretty cool. “For the profit of all.”  All of us. Everyone. Makes me want to do something, how about you? And sure, praying for people is great. Prayer is amazing. It gets stuff done. But physically seeing what people are going through, that’s harder. It motivates. And I’m really excited to go, because we could all use a little prod off our, comfy first-world couches, right?

As I said, I’m excited. But of course, you can’t buy a plane ticket on feelings alone. You have to have some money. Most of you don’t know, but recently my siblings and I saved up and bought a $350 Wii U for our family. The feeling of accomplishment when we finally held that controller in our hands, it was the best feeling in the world. I can’t even describe it. I’d love to be able to do the same thing with this trip, but sadly, dollars are hard to come by. And 2100 of them are even harder. So instead of selling my Wii U 7 times, I’m coming to you, and asking you to help me pay for it. Because I can’t do it by myself, it’s just too much, too fast. If you decide I’m worth giving money, I don’t care how much you give me, a ton, five bucks, whatever. You can even send me a check for one cent, I don’t care. Actually, if you did, I’d probably hug you for it. Also, if you want to hire me to do something, I’ll do anything you want. Even manual labor.

That’s all I’ve got guys. Thanks for reading this weird letter from a guy you barely know. But before you stop reading, and throw this on your desk, I want to say one or two more things. You know that cheesy letter I was talking about? And while It talked about a bunch of stuff stuff I’m not, it also talked about prayer. I do agree with that prayer, as stated before gets stuff done. So please pray for me. I appreciate it. Also, if what I’ve told you here isn’t enough, message me on Facebook, E-mail me (kapplehead@gmail.com,) or you can write me back. I’ll tell you what you want to know, best I can. Lastly, I’ve put a form in here too, that you can fill out if you want a rigid system for giving me money.

Again thanks,



Kellen Appleton

Dear Newsong Church & SCORE International:

Please put the following moneys on account for Kellen Appleton, who is traveling to the Dominican Republic on June 22-29, 2013, with Newsong Church Mission Team.

Yours truly,

(Name)________________________________(Address)_______________________________
(City)__________________________ (State)__________ (Zip code)____________
Gift Enclosed: $100_____$50_____$25_____Other________________________

Please make checks payable to: Newsong Church (please put Kellen Appleton in the memo line)
Mail to: Newsong Church, P.O Box 459, Barboursville WV 25504