Troy & Erica Lee - On a mission to Kenya, Africa

Dear Family Member & Friend,

By God’s grace, Troy and I have been offered an amazing ministry opportunity to journey to Africa on a mission trip to Mfangano Island, Kenya on July 7, 2011. We will be there for 15 days. We’ll be traveling with others from Calvary Church in Charlotte, NC to minister to the youth at Gethsemane Garden Christian Centre. GGCC is a boarding school located on an island surrounded by Lake Victoria. The students who attend this school are orphans, mostly due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

As you may know, I am the Executive Director of Ministry Development with Youth Commission International, a Christian non-profit agency in Charlotte that helps middle & high school students start and maintain Christian clubs on their school campuses. By God’s grace, a board member of the GGCC was able to introduce YCI to the school and shortly after a group of students started their own YCI club. Our vision is to Reach the World for Christ through Youth and on this trip my goal is to strengthen the GGCC students involved in the YCI club so that they can reach their surrounding communities for Christ and ultimately expand the movement throughout Kenya and potentially to other countries in Africa. I am thrilled that Troy is planning to come with me on this trip, as the culture in Africa is more favorable towards male leaders. Troy and I will also help wash children’s feet in a Samaritan’s Feet ceremony and help build new huts for needy families on Mfangano Island.



We ask for your prayers as we prepare for this ministry opportunity and as we travel to and from Africa July 7th – July 22nd. We look forward to sharing with you how God’s cause was advanced through the students and families of Mfangano Island, Kenya.

Each member of our team must raise $3,500 to cover airfare, lodging, meals, and local transportation. Will you prayerfully consider sponsoring us financially on this trip? No contribution amount is too small or too great when it comes to investing in God’s work. If you know of any other people who might feel led to give toward this effort, please let me know so I can share our vision with them. All contributions are tax deductible and checks should be made payable to Calvary Church. On the “for” line of the check, please write Go Kenya 2011. Please do not write our names on the check, but include a note along with your support indicating that your contribution is on our behalf. Thank you in advance for sending a donation to:
Calvary Church
ATTENTION: Sue Rimer
5801 Pineville-Matthews Road
Charlotte, NC 28226

I will continue to blog about this experience as we prepare for this trip and give you a report on how it went when we return.

Blessings,



Troy & Erica Lee

Finally ran my 1st-ever 5K!!

I DID IT!!! I'll blame excitement for my delay in writing about this incredible achievement in my life: having ran my 1st-ever 5K race! I'm still kind of on cloud 9 about the experience! It took me 33.50 mins to finish the 3 mile run on Saturday, August 21st. That wasn't fast enough for me to win anything, but I was so excited to have completed the race! I'm still running and I'm even about to start training for a Half Marathon! I'm going to give myself at least four months to prepare. Throughout my short running experience I've found that I do better when I'm training for something rather than just running every morning. So, stay tuned to read about my quest to run 13.1 miles! :)

I've finally ran 3 miles!!!

WOW! I'm finally at the point in my training where I can run 3 miles!! I did it for the first time Thursday morning, I actually ran close to 3.5 miles that day!!! It took me 40 mins (I know that's a bad time), but I was so proud of myself. I keep track of my time/miles with an Ap on my cell phone. I didn't even realize I had ran over 3 miles until I got to the end. It used to be that I would constantly check my status on the phone.

This morning I ran a different route than the one I did on Thursday. This one had steeper hills and actually finished with a better time than I did on Thursday!! YAY!!!!! :D Man, I can remember how I was running on the treadmill in the beginning of my training, pushing my hardest to run for 90 straight seconds. Now, I'm running at least 35 mins straight and I feel as though I could go longer! I'm so excited about this and am eager to keep it going.

The best lesson I've learned from running is how important it is to have a positive-self-talk. In other words, you have to really concentrate to combat the negative thoughts that come into your head about how you can't do it and immediately speak encouraging words to yourself. The power of life and death lies in the tongue!

5K countdown & life ;)

17 days. In 17 days I will line up with dozens of other people in Charlotte to run in my first ever 5K! Wow, who'd of thunk it? Me, running in a 5K race. I'm so excited! I still have some training to do. I talked to my father, who has ran in a half-marathon, and he gave me some pretty good advice. He said, "For this first race, just run to finish it and don't worry about the time because the speed will come with time." That was comforting. I've been beating myself up so much for not being as fast as I feel I should be that I've almost missed the joy of just running and knowing that I'm taking care of myself!

So, I'm still training, but I'm working hard not to hear a ticking clock in my head as I run. On Saturday, August 21st at 8:00 a.m., I will start this race and I know I will finish it and I'm going to be so proud of this accomplishment in my life! :D

What's going on?

It's been a while since my last post; I've really been dragging this pass week! I don't what it is, but I've been so tired and just listless. I didn't even run much this week (big no,no!). I'm hoping I'll able to jump back into my routine next week. Perhaps my body is just tired and is demanding some rest!

My husband and I don't really have much planned for this coming weekend; we're both looking forward to the opportunity to just rest and relax! He's been working so much lately. My husband's such a hard worker! I'm so proud of his tenacity! :]

Oh, and by the way, I got my hair cut and I'm loving it! I feel so free! LOL!

Umm... Correction (to the running entry)

OK, this is kind of sad to admit, but I did NOT run 2.5 miles in 25 mins. As a matter of fact, I only did 2.19 miles!! Why the mix up, you ask. Well, at the time that I did that aforementioned 25 minute run, I couldn't use my trusty JogStats Ap on my phone because my phone was busted [you can start the violins now]. So while I ran 25 minutes, I assumed that I must have hit the 2.5 mile mark. In my shame, I got my replacement phone in the mail and when I got the chance to run with my Ap I found out that I only run 2.19 miles in that time frame!! UGH!!!

Now, I'm concentrating on building up my endurance so that I can run at a decent speed continuously. The good news in all of this is that I am getting closer to my goal of completing 3 miles! :) Yipee!!! It's only up from here! LOL!

Family vacation update

Ok, family, you asked for rates for trips on dates not during school months so I got proposals for cruises and a land package trip to Jamaica during the first two weeks of August 2011. Check out the numbers and email me your vote. I hope to let the travel agent know our decision by the end of July.

Carnival’s Destiny

Sailing August 13-18, 2011 - Five Night Cruise

Port of Call: Miami, FL.
Visting: Ocho Rios, Jamaica & Grand Cayman Islands
Inside Cabin: $529
Ocean View Cabin: $709
Balcony Cabin: $929
3rd/4th Passenger Raters, sharing cabin with two )2) full-fare passengers
Inside Cabin: $345
Ocean View Cabin: $435
Balcony Cabin: $485

Carnival’s Liberty

Sailing August 13-20, 2011 - Seven Night Cruise

Port of Call: Miami, FL
Visiting: Cozumel, Mexico
Grand Cayman Islands
Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Inside Cabin: $729
Ocean View: $829
Balcony:$969
3rd/4th Passenger rates, sharing cabin with two (2) full fare passengers:
Inside Cabin: $469
Ocean View: $499
Balcony: $549

Jamaica Package is 4 nights and we can go anytime during first two weeks of Aug. 2011
Ocean View Rooms: $739 per person based on double occupancy
$709 per person based on triple occupancy
$1,099 per person based on single occupancy
$389 per child ages 2-12 sharing with parents

Ocean Front Rooms: $799 per person based on double occupancy
$759 per person based on single occupancy
$1,149 per person based on single occupancy
$419 per child ages 2-12 sharing with parents