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For many years of my life I have been a drummer. For most of the time I have been a drummer, I have been a drummer at my church. When I began drumming at my church, I was 12 years old. I had no concept of how to drive a car and, thus, no means of getting to church on my own. We practiced at 7:00 or 7:30 AM before church and that meant I would normally get picked up around 6:45 or 7:00 depending on when practice was. Just recently we changed this awful setup and now I am required to be behind my drumset at 10:00 in the morning rather than 7:00. For almost 7 years my drumming at church has led me to the sanctuary where we worship at 7 o clock in the morning but now, it is leading me elsewhere.
I will admit, I am nervous. I will admit I really have no concept of what I am doing. However, I am trusting that I will be kept safe as I travel to this far off land that I have never been to.
The place I am going is a place of constant turmoil. Spiritual and sometimes physical turmoil (though not as much as it was in the 40’s). It is a place that has seen many great changes in the last 20 years and a place that has seen little change as well.
And now for something completely different.
Something I despise is peer pressure. Well, not necessarily peer pressure but pressure in general. Pressure to do something or be someone. This is exactly why it half pains me to write this letter. I feel like right now, as you read this, you are being pressured by me to do something you don’t necessarily want to do. As you noticed by the envelope enclosed, I am, indeed, asking for your financial support (aka MONEY!!!) in this endeavor I am embarking upon. However, it is not just your money I seek. As a matter of fact it is not your money I wish to remove from your wallet. I merely wish to take from you something that is never ending. Something that every individual is granted and something that every one of us has an endless supply of if we choose to use it. I wish to garner your support in my trip to former East Germany.
By “support” I mean prayer. We need it. If there is ever a free moment where you think of me, please pray for my mission because it is literally my life and it is what I am choosing to do on my break from school this spring (also known as “Spring Break”).
And now for something completely different.
I love to tell stories. I love to tell anecdotes and parables. I love being up in front of people and having them devour my every word and laugh with me and cry with me and then at the end of it all, really think with me. Think about their life and think about their relation to what I am saying and what they can take from it because in the end, everything I say doesn’t come from me. It comes from God. In taking on this trip, I am hoping to tell stories that will inspire many, and I hope to come home with stories that will inspire many. I wish to add to my arsenal a story that will move at least one person in my crowd. Whether that movement be an inspired action after they leave my presence or if it be them leaving my presence because they don’t like what I am saying because it hurts them to hear, I want to move someone.
So I guess it really all come down to this in the end. Will you help me? In any way possible, will you help me? There are things beyond things that I need that I do not have. I need warm clothes for my trip, I need drumsticks and drumming gloves (it is 25 degrees in Berlin), and I need prayer. It is true that I am asking for financial support but to be honest, spiritual support means so much more to me than a Ben Franklin ever could (that’s a 100 dollar bill). So, in closing, after this random letter that really makes no sense until the end, I would like to thank you for even taking the time to read this and I would like to thank you for any support you can offer me in my trip(s) to Germany and my many other adventures (most of which stay closer to home).
Sincerely,
Zachary Cowherd | 
