I am Emily Jensen. I am a 2016 graduate of Calvin College, and I’m about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime– The World Race.
I became a Christian when I was just 7 years old. I didn’t really think much of it, but when I was entering middle school, a new youth pastor started at my church and she did her best to include me in everything the youth group did. She invested so much time in me and that helped me grow to love church and start taking my faith seriously. My parents and grandparents introduced me to the Church and Christ, and I am eternally grateful to them for that. My grandparents would take me to church and Wednesday night youth group when my parents couldn’t even though they lived 45 minutes away. Through my middle school years, I grew closer and closer to God and when I was in 8th grade, I was confirmed within my church. After that year, I went on my first mission trip and that sparked a love for missions that has only grown. My first mission trip was to Grand Rapids, Michigan, which ironically is where I went to college and where I stayed after graduation. I fell in love with helping people in the area through GRASP, Grand Rapids, Area Service Project, and every missions opportunity that has come my way, I have been a part of. My missions excursions have lead me to Honduras, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Switzerland, and Greece, and I’m about to add 10 more countries to that list. After the Europe trip, I started to look at and apply for colleges. I was introduced to Calvin College by my youth pastor and for my birthday, she gave me an all expenses paid trip to visit two schools of my choice. Because she went to Calvin, she knew a lot about it, and Hope College was another school I was considering, so we packed up and left for Michigan for the weekend. By the end of my visit, I knew that Calvin was the right school for me.
Calvin was the place that changed my life. Without Calvin, I would be a completely different person. I would not be as grounded in my faith, I would not have made the friends I have or met the professors and mentors I worked with, and I most likely would not have learned what I did, not only academically, but about myself at any other institution. I had an incredible opportunity to study under some brilliant minds who encouraged us to think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly as Christ’s agents of renewal. As an agent of renewal, we are to go out into the world and try to make a difference in a culturally sensitive, but socially ethical way, and Calvin taught me so much about what that means.
While I studied at Calvin, I attended a local church and got involved as a small group leader for middle school students and I fell in love with it. Those students have so much to offer, and they are so underestimated so it was a privilege working with them for the 5 years that I was there. I got to know so many students, and it was being a small group leader that affirmed my desire to be in missions. To be able to speak truth into the lives of my students, and pray for them and their future was an amazing joy and could not have imagined a more rich addition to my college experience than to be working with those students. I couldn’t imagine not doing that, and in the missions trips that I have been on, they have been the best weeks of my life.
I discovered some of my passions at Calvin and through my church, and I’m sure that I’ll discover more throughout my life, but those discoveries have to come through experiences. This trip is something that I have been thinking about for the last 3 years and I know it would be a once in a lifetime experience. I am at the perfect time in my life where I’m on this journey of self-discovery and through this trip, I’ll be able to hopefully uncover more of my passions, and my ultimate passion is being able to talk to others about Christ. My first summer at camp, a friend told me this: “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words.” That has never left my mind, and during this trip and the rest of my life, that’s my ultimate goal.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to sharing the adventures with you. Thank you for coming alongside me and supporting me financially and prayerfully. It means more than you could ever know.
Until next time, my friends.
