Hey Internet. Since I'm doing the whole short term mission trip thing in a few weeks, I wrote a support letter. Mira Mira. I've been crazy busy the past couple weeks. Busier than the usual nonsense. And now I got the sickness. The throat is starting to hurt, I feel incredibly weak, and the sneezes are here. At least I'm getting it now and not 7 weeks in the jungle.

Now here is the letter.

Hello Friends and Family,

On June 28 through July 13, myself and 4 others from my church, Ecclesia, are traveling to the South East Asian countries of Thailand, Myanmar/Burma, Laos and Vietnam on a short term mission trip to help the persecuted ethnic and religious minorities. It'll be in conjunction with Christian freedom International(CFI), an organization which specializes in helping persecuted Christians around the world. This is the second trip to South East Asia through Ecclesia, the last one being three years ago.

We will be working some of the time there with the Karen Tribes, who were our allies in World War II while the rest of South East Asia sided with Japan. As a result of their involvement and because of their Christian faith, the Myanmar/Burmese government (a repressive dictatorship) has been killing them off through "ethnic cleansing." Many Karen (70,000+) have fled to overcrowded refugee camps in Thailand, while ten of thousands remain across the border, deep in the jungles of Burma , hiding from the Burmese Military who will shoot them on site.

CFI came to the Karen's aid in 1998 by providing food, housing, orphanages, schools, and "Freedom Hospitals." The organization also set up teams of "Backpack Medics" who trek into Burma with medical supplies and illegal Bibles on their backs – risking their lives to help the Karen refugees. CFI has also established self-help, educational, and training programs so that the Karen could learn how to help themselves. We'll be potentially be serving by: constructing buildings, helping out in the orphanages, assisting medics in the hospitals, visiting refugee camps and villages and simply letting the Karen know that their fellow Christians in the USA are praying for them.

More information on the Karen can be accessed through this CFI video linked here.

We will also be traveling to Laos and Vietnam, visiting with members of the underground church, supporting them monetarily, with prayer, encouragement and through the smuggling of Bibles across their borders.

Now there are two ways in which you can support this trip:

First and foremost, you can support us spiritually. We'll need all the prayer we can get for fundraising, team training, physical safety, good health, divine appointments with the people we will meeting and an insight to which we will be lead on this trip.

Second, you can support financially. Primarily to take monetary funds to support the people we meet and also to cover some of the costs of travel so as to minimize the cost to CFI. I want to let you know that any money you give would go to the ministry we are doing there and not to paper pushing in some ministry machine. Personally, I am covering my travel costs out of my own pocket and any money given through me, will go directly to the need set before us.

One of the ways that you can give is through personal check, payable to "Ecclecia Hollywood" with the memo written to "SEA trip 2008." These checks can be sent directly to me at

1311 N Catalina St
Burbank, Ca 91505

And the other way in which you could give is through this paypal link.

All donations are also tax deductible. And we are trying to collect all donations by June 15.

We will be documenting our trip though a blog located here. Through this site you can get to know my team and see pictures and maybe even video of what we will be doing and see what God is doing in South East Asia.

I hope that this letter finds you well and if you want to get in touch with me, and hear some more about the trip, you call me at 562-619-4818.

Best Regards,

Mike Sycz