As you all know, one of my biggest prayer requests has been for financial support. But once again the Lord has been working in His own ways…

I am still way under my monthly goal - so I am not yet able to start receiving a paycheck and am still living off of savings. Yet the Lord is faithful…

Over a month ago I was able to move into the Barnes' basement. In return for helping do maintenance and help care for one of the daughters when the parents are overseas, Kim (my basement buddy) and I have a place to live while we continue to support raise!

Although I have learned how to get around without having my own vehicle, it really isn't all that enjoyable (my independence and pride have had enough of the begging). One of the World Racers that I met last year is leading a trip to Swaziland for the summer and has offered to let me use her car while she is over seas! All I have to do is pay for gas!

I know for some people these may seem like people just 'being nice'. But you have no idea what a blessing it is!!! These may not be the ways that I would have expected or even wanted the Lord to answer my prayers, but He is answering my prayers and continuing to be faithful.

Yet even as I give Him praise for what He is doing, you will notice that it is people that He is using. The Barnes and Tana both knew of my needs and found a way to help meet them. And let's face it I am still in need… I currently only have about 12% of my monthly support pledged, and only about a months worth of support in my AIM account. I ask that you would please pray about supporting me and then click on the contact me button and lets talk. Even if you can't support me financially at the moment shoot me an email or comment and let me put you on my support list to receive personal updates. I finally have a cell phone so can even give you a call and let you know what's happening … another one of God's ways of providing the little things : )

The street kids in Europe who sleep in the sewers to stay warm, the refugees in India, the people seeking a better life in Thailand… these are the people that we think are the ones who fall prey to the sex trafficking industry. If only it were just those ‘poor disillusioned' few. The reality is that the sex trafficking is right here in our own neighborhoods.

Last night I attended an event to help get the word out about child sex trafficking in Atlanta. Yes the event was in Atlanta, but I am talking about children … American children … who are being forced into prostitution here in Atlanta. Drop Dead Gorgeous is a group of fashion designers, models, photographers, and others who have come together to help make people aware of the fact that there are people out there who are offering modeling contracts that are really contracts into prostitution. It was amazing to see so many people from Atlanta come to support such an awesome cause.

I had no idea how strong the sex trafficking is here in Atlanta, the FBI rated Atlanta as the number one for child prostitution and exploitation in the nation. But again the reality is that it is not just here in Atlanta, it's happening all across the United States. I love that the word is spreading and that people are beginning to see that this is a problem in Thailand & Vietnam, but it's a global problem! We are part of that globe!

Some local websites to check out...

www.dropdeadgorgeousevent.org

www.meetjustice.org 

www.innocenceatlanta.org

www.thepassport.org

I always considered Grandma Joyce as my ‘glamorous grandma'. She always had her hair done and was wearing the nicest clothes. When I was little we would all go to her house for Christmas Eve. It was always exciting because Grandma would buy each of us grandkids a new set of pajamas for Christmas. These weren't the adult size t-shirts that mom and dad would have us wear… one year we even all got silk pajamas! You can imagine what a treat it was. All of us kids would get our picture taken on the stairs in our Christmas clothes and then again in our pjs. I remember eating ‘fancy' ice cream with Grandpa Don that Grandma Joyce would scoop into bowls for us to eat out on the patio.

Awhile back my grandparents moved from southern California to Texas, so that Grandma could be closer to here sister and mom. We went out to visit as a family a year or two after they moved, and I flew out one other time… so our visits have been few and far between. Having spent so much time overseas doing missions it's been even less than the rest of my family. I will never forget the first time I told my grandpa that I was going to New Zealand for missions, he said, ‘well that's ok. Just don't be going to China or Africa.' Of course that's where I went next, and in that order no less. My grandparents have always been encouraging in my ‘job' choice which is a huge blessing.

But last week, Friday, May 16, 2008, word spread through the family that Grandma Joyce has stage 4 live cancer. Seeing that much of the family is in other states we are all making arrangements to go and visit soon. My request for all of you is this… please pray. Pray for Joyce that she will feel loved, cherished, special & beautiful, that the doctors will do what they can to help her be pain free, that if the Lord chooses that He will even heal her completely, that she will be closer to the Lord and more at peace now than ever before. Pray for Don, her husband, it could never be easy to watch the woman that you love go through so much and have your children and grandchildren so far away. Pray for my mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins as we all struggle through this process together. They are heading to the doctors tomorrow, Friday May 23, to hear the prognosis. I am hoping to be able to take some time away from the office and go visit my grandparents, but the question of when is yet to be determined.

Like so much else in my life, I don't know what the Lord is trying to say or do right now… but I do know that He is moving, and for that I am grateful.

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Upate

Friday, May 23, 2008 - here is the prognosis - with chemotherapy Grandma Joyce will have 6 months to 2 years, without chemo she will have only 3 to 6 months. She has decided that she wants to go through chemo, but wants to wait three weeks so that she can go on a trip. (My grandparents used to drive around the USA quite a bit, and she wants to make sure she can go one more time.) In between her MRI and CT scan only a couple of weeks passed and another tumor had grown, giving it three more weeks there is a good chance that more will continue to grow. My Grandpa Don doesn't want her to go through chemo again, but would rather try more holistic and eastern medicine, but as Grandma said, ‘this is my life' : ) So she will go through chemo and look into other options as well. Please continue to pray for my grandparents and extended family. Pray that God would be glorified through this situation and that they would all turn to Christ with all of their thoughts, concerns, worries, and fears.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, words of encouragement, and support for me and my family,

Casey Wells

I recently read Red Letters, by author Tom Davis. Now I wouldn't give all the credit to Tom's book... the reality is that it started way before then, but perhaps Red Letters was the push I needed to get me going.

I hadn't even closed the book after reading the final pages when I just had to open up my computer; I had to get online…

I had this almost uncontrollable desire to do some research. It sounds strange, I know. But that's really what happened. You see when I was home in Washington I went to a class where they talked about leading a church mission trip, one of the things that was mentioned was that there aren't really any organizations working in Delhi, India. There are hundreds perhaps thousands of women and children who are forced into the sex trade in Delhi alone, yet there are few to no groups who's goal is to see them set free. This statement never got out of my head.

We are hoping to send some of our World Race teams to India. We've been in Thailand, and helped with several ministries that work with girls who have wanted to get out of the prostitution business. I was wondering… would it be possible for us to send a team and work with the women in India? There has to be women who want out of the business in India too. So I started doing some research…

*˜ in rural villages children are known to be sold by their parents to pimps for as little as $40

*˜ 25% of sex tourists in Asia are Americans

*˜ a typical prostitute can make as little as $2.50, while a virgin can make more than $500 in India

*˜ as many as 200,000 Nepali girls, many under 14 years old, have been sold into the sex industry in India.

From what I read, from multiple sources and multiple countries, the sex trade is quite large in India. Because lighter skin is preferred by many of the ‘customers', many refugees and people who come looking for jobs from nearby countries are sometimes forced or tricked into the sex trade. HIV/AIDS is quite widespread, and because customers are not required to use any form of ‘protection' many of the girls have contracted the disease.

I was able to find a small handful of organizations that are trying to help stop women and children from being forced into the sex trade. However each organization also had testimonies of having pimps and even community members try to stone them. There are stories of them being attacked because they are taking away the livelihood of the pimps, and these women are now considered the lowest of the low. (Remember India still has a cast system, and they take it seriously.)

Will the World Race be able to go and help the women and children in India? I don't know. Although I could sit here and mope and ask the Lord why it is that He has put this passion on my heart for the people in India involved in the sex trade, instead I am going to thank Him. I am going to continue to research and read… and maybe one day the Lord will tell me why it is that these people that I've never met are so burned onto my heart that the only prayers I can pray are tears. (Don't worry mom, I'm definitely not looking into plane tickets to India!)

My very first week in Georgia we held a Training Camp for the July 08 World Racers. We did a variety of different things throughout the week. The first half was all about everyone getting closer to the Lord and the last couple of days were more about them getting closer to each other. There were speakers, counselors, team building activities, camping, and lots of plain old fun. I could give you all the details, but I decided I would let the Racers speak for themselves. The following are excerpts from their blogs, click on their name for the full blog.

"I have to say it is Tuesday April 8^th and we have been here for almost four full days and I have not yet encountered God, however, something greater has taken place, GOD HAS ENCOUNTERED ME…

As I share this moment with my wife we are rejoicing because of the freedom that has been whispered into our marriage…

More has been done for my marriage in the past 3 days than almost the 4 years we have been married." ~ Josh Bruce

"It is better than all the transformation happening inside of my own heart, because I am watching the man I love become something he never really believed he could be. And, now God is lifting up his arms and I get to watch the magnificent artist paint this vivid image of LIFE ALIVE. Josh is released and free to LEAD!" ~ Tara Bruce

"Training camp, while only 4 days in, has wrecked me out and redefined something I thought was easy, understood and obvious.

Church is community. Church is a group of people gathering together, seeking God and learning as a unit. It is working together to accomplish tasks. It is entering into the Lord's presence. Being healed. Being set free. Walking away thinking. Changed. Speaking prayers over people. Participating. Hearing from God. Knowing He loves you.

Living in community, true community, even just a few days has changed the way I understand God's presence and what church should be to its members." ~ Jennifer Crane

All this time I thought I was a nice, humble Christian when actually I was too proud to admit my fear, step out on a limb and trust God that I wouldn't fall on my face. Humility isn't a passive, inactive state; rather its boldness cloaked in a gratitude to God for giving me His strength to persevere through obstacles such as fear and trepidation.

The unofficial theme of the week for the males at training camp was "Rise up, man of God!" ~ Josh Markland

tonight i saw to angels come to my rescue...

one of the world racers decided that it just wasn't going to work out and wanted to leave training camp early. i drove her to town from the aim base and got her checked into a hotel for the night. on my way back the weather got crazy! huge rain drops pelted down, the wind picked up and had the traffic lights swaying. i didn't really pay much attention, but said a quick little prayer anyways. after stopping to get a drink at the drug store i headed back to aim...

i turned onto the last little road before coming to the long aim driveway...

i almost swerved as i realized that a tree had fallen and was half way across the road, after slowing down i realized the next tree was totally across the road... so i got out of the car and started chucking huge branches onto the grass, but the tree was just to heavy for me to move....

enter angel # 1 -

J.P. and his wife live in the first house on the road. he came down to check it out and dragged the tree out of the way, just enough for me to squeeze past. he was going to go get the chainsaw so that no-one would hit it. as he was heading up to his garage for the saw, he told me that if we ever needed anything we could let him know.

so i barely creep down the road, now aware that there are several trees in the road. i have to stop every 20 feet or so to throw branches out of my way (i am driving an aim vehicale and don't want any damage!). once again there is one fully across the road. i get out and see what i can do... i am obviously not going to be able to move this one bymyself, it's just way to big!

enter angel #2 -

a car pulls up behind me and an older man gets out. he takes one look at the tree and bends it back just enough for me to squeeze my car past the down tree. i ask if he wants me to do the same for him and he says no, he'll make it just fine. - i didn't see his headlights behind me after that and forgot to ask his name...

so i now believe that angels are fat older men with southern accents! ~ thank you jesus for keeping me safe and allowing me to get to the aim base safely and let everyone else know to drive slow!

The night I flew out of Seattle for Georgia my cousin was being shipped overseas with the Army. He's only 18 and still Monty the monster with the Buddha belly in our eyes. Being the early bird that I am, I got to spend the day at the Atlanta airport. Now for most people this sounds pretty boring, especially after a redeye flight. But it wasn't so bad… the June World Racers were all coming in, so I got to be the point person for them to meet which is always fun. One of the coolest things though was that there are a ton of troops coming through Atlanta at the moment. The airport people have the troops all line up and make them walk the long way through the airport… it's at this point that half of the people in the airport stop what they are doing and applaud until the last soldier has walked by. Not only did this simple gesture make me proud to be an American, but it also brought a tear to my eye… I only hope that my little cousin was paid as much respect and honor as he left to serve this country, and that he will receive it when he returns home safely in six months. Lord be with Monty as he puts his life on the line for others, keep him and his whole company safe, watch over them, speak to them, make them more into the men and women that you want them to be, and most importantly bring them back home to us when their service is finished.

this is monty when he was still cute and little...

For most of my ‘Christian' life there has been the question of; ‘What is God's will for my life?', ‘Is this God's will?'. . .

Right after high school I joined YWAMPursuitsNZ, was that God's will? - Absolutely!

In 2006 I packed up my backpack and did The World Race for eleven months. Was that ‘God's will'? - No question!

Then I decided to move to Swaziland (a country I had never been to before to work with people I really had only heard about). Was I in God's will? - Of Course.

Something that I have been learning and am only now really starting to fully understand is that ‘God's will' isn't about where I am or even what I am doing. ‘God's will' is about who I am.

YWAMPursuitsNZ was part of God's will for me because of who I became while I was there. My ‘religion' became mine, I grew up in my faith and transitioned from being a youth to an adult. The same goes for The World Race and living in Swaziland… I continued to grow and change, becoming a better person and having a closer relationship with Christ.

After leaving Swazi suddenly in December the question came up all over again… ‘God what is your will for my life now?' … the options were limitless! I could do anything I wanted, and I really felt like that was what the Lord was saying to me… I could do anything, it was up to me. No matter where I decided to go or what I did, I would be in God's will.

So I've decided… I am moving to Gainesville, Georgia! I know, it surprised me, too. I will be working in the Adventures In Missions office for the World Race as the Assistant Project Coordinator. In English that means that I will basically be working on the setup stuff (logistics) for the teams from the states as well as working on all aspects of training for the teams before they leave, while they are overseas, and when they come back. I will be learning new skills and utilizing my experiences travelling and working with other organizations. Hopefully I will also be able to go out and meet the teams overseas to help encourage them and do some more training and debriefing with them.

While I am looking forward to helping with the World Race logistics… the real reason that I am excited about moving to Georgia is because some of my favorite people are working in the office right now! They have created a wonderful community. I think that ‘God's will' for me right now is for me to be me. Sure I will still be giving out, but I will have people around me who will be able to speak into my life, and most importantly I will also be able to have fun with them : ) I think it's time I relax and act my age (no I'm not 82 like some might think, I'm only 26).

Because the office is short staffed and well, they love me, they want me to come ASAP. I will be leaving Seattle April 3^rd! There is ‘training camp' in GA from April 4 - 11 and I want to help with it and experience it since is going to be part of my new job.

Even though I will be in the States I will still need to raise all of my own support. I will need $1,000 per month for housing, utilities, groceries, and of the other ‘necessities' of living in the States. I know that for some of you that sounds crazy, but they need my help and I really feel like it's the place that I should be right now. It would be so much easier if they had the funds to pay me, but they don't. Even though I will not be overseas, I will be training the missionaries that are going out and that's just as important as going myself.

If you're in a position to support me financially, donations can be made right here on my blog - on the left - ‘Support Me'. If you support me and your company has matching funds, please take the time to fill out the forms on my behalf (doubling your money is a huge blessing and a great way to be a good steward). If you're not in a position to be able to support me financially please consider supporting me spiritually, emotionally, or prayerfully. God has always been there to meet my needs and I know that He will again help me in this new adventure.

For those of you who have followed my adventures from the beginning, thank you for supporting me, praying for me, and for staying in touch by reading my blogs. Now that I'll be Stateside I will have a phone (I'll let you know the number as soon as I have it), access to good internet, and even snail mail. I'd love to hear from you and see what the Lord has been doing in your life!!

May the Lord continue to Bless you in all that you do as well,

Casey