We get in the van as we leave the Rock. The Rock was a very hard place to leave, being there for two months. You get to know people, and be part of their lives and it is hard to leave.
John 17:22-23
“And the glory which you gave me I give to them: that they may be one, as we are one.”
Glory drove Jesus to the Cross, to glorify the Father. The group I find at The Rock are all seeking his Glory, and carry his glory. We take off for Duncannon, PA. It is 20 minutes outside of Harrisburg, PA. After being in the inner city, it’s good to see the countryside. Duncannon is a beautful town over looking a sun gleaming bank of water by train tracks on the Appilation trail. Philicia, our host and daughter of Jenn, who did the World Race in the same launch window as me met us. This was right in the heat of COVID-19. We stayed in tents and in there music room and wore masks inside, maintaining social distance. The days went by quick, we were there 10 days. We did lots of prayer, helped with church groups on zoom, loved neighbors doing odds and ends, evangelism, and group discipleship. Jenn was a spark for me, she was going to school for her masters in Business. She loves learning and so do I, it was encouraging. One word in greek for “Disciple” is a learner. Seeing Jenn seek all God has gifted her encourages me to do the same. We had incredible encounters doing evangelism and passed out a bible to mom seeking life and wanting to know more about Jesus! It was a strange time with COVID and we had hardships, struggle, and growth as a group and as individuals. We left Duncannon and headed to Ohio! A town called North Lawrence. It was a small town and by the meninite and omish community. We stayed in a lovely air bnb house which we did “ATL” at. “ATL” is when you wake up and ask the Lord what he has for the day. I recently discoverd the blue letter bible app, where you can find greek and hebrew translation for words. I spent a lot of time in the Word. We got to see meninite community and love them. We met an alumni that did the World Race named Jessi. She is a kindergarden teacher and loves kids. She is an inspiration to me, the ways she loves. She makes it simple and you feel loved and cared for just being around her. God was teaching me to walk in the ordinary this year. We were limited this year not having churches, gyms, coffee shops, restaurants, places closed, and just having to be. We did get to go for prayer walks and do evangelism. One of my favorite verses is,
John 8:37-38
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried, saying, if any man thrists, let him come and drink. He that believe on me, as scripture said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water.”
What are you believing?
Romans 6:6-8
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that we should not serve sin. He that is dead is free from sin. Now if we are dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”
This is the good news! Jesus died so we can live with him. We have to see how far off we are, this is the key,
Genesis 6:5
“And God saw that wickedness of man was great in the Earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
When you believe in Jesus you get the Spirit. The Spirit convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgement. You have to see how far off you were, I went 22 years dead in trespasses and sin. Whoever is born of the Spirit is Spirit and the flesh is flesh. Jesus died not to bring a better ethical way to live he died to bring the dead to life.
Matthew 10:38-39
“And he who that does not take up his cross daily, and follow me is not worthy of me. He that finds his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it.”
Life never made sense till I found Jesus. The evil you see in the world is because of the fall of man and sin nature. Jesus came to restore that nature and bring life. Does the evil in the world break my heart, absolutely. Is God good? Yes.
All that to say is I love sharing Jesus. I found the kingdom and Jesus was right, it is Joy! We saw healing, discipleship, and Gods Love at work. During hard times looking back North Lawrence brough lots of fruit. North Lawerence was a good time of learning and growth.
We left for Marysville, Ohio! We roll into town and we have time till we met our hosts. I see a “Discover Azerbijan” store and I have love for middle eastern culture. I meet a man named Faruk. He is from Turkey and we connect. I met him for lunch thr next day. He is new to America and I loved getting to know him. He invited me and my group to dinner, his house, and is one of my good friend today. People are searching for a deep down connection to other people. We get met by our host Brandon and Christine! They have two beautiful children, and we got to be part of their lives. We camped in there yard and stayed in there RV. We worked with a place called the Hope Center. It’s an old elementry school that now has two churchs and the building is used for the community. Gene, the head pastor made it feel like home. He was a former fire fighter. We worked like a normal job and did physical work around the building. Got to be apart of the church, small groups, and part of everyday life of the church. The church was called “Agape Church.” It was filled with Gods love and we were welcomed with open arms. We watched a documentary called the “American Gospel.” It was good to watch to identify progressive Christianity and prosperity gospels. We were in Marysville for 3 weeks, and loved the time spend in Ohio. Ohio was a beautiful and blessed time.
We got in the van and took off for West Virginia for our debrief!
Jacob
