“I love my dog, Winston,” Jake said. That’s still true, from the first time I met Jake until now, but many other things about Jake have profoundly changed since he started following God.
{Photo: Winston, cute as ever!}
When I first met Jake at Training Camp last October, I wasn‘t sure how to relate to him or if he really was a Christian, even though he grew up in the Catholic Church. But then I thought, “Well, God knows what He’s doing.”
When Jake shared his wild background with us, I knew God had already been working miraculously in his life. Deep into hard drugs and alcohol, one day he realized that he had to quit or he would die. He traded hard drugs for lighter drugs, lighter drugs for smoking, smoking for coffee, and in this manner slowly weaned off of his addictions without going through a program. Then there was the car accident that killed him, briefly. He still has the scars on his thigh and torso. God saved his life, and Jake knew it. His sister’s friend told him about the World Race and he signed up.
{Photo: Jake at Training Camp}
At our Training Camp, I’m pretty sure Jake thought we were crazy—lifting our hands to worship God, belting out our hearts and voices. He thought about leaving—What am I doing here??—but God was at work. “How I felt after Training Camp was something I’d never felt before, and I didn’t know what it was.”
Our January Launch came around, and Jake thought, “What am I doing? I don’t want to leave!” But he got on the flight to Japan, anyway. There, in our coffee shop in Japan, our Squad Leader J.D. explained the Gospel to Jake. It was the first time in his life that Jake understood the significance of Jesus taking our place on the cross, and he believed. His dad always told him, “Son, do everything 100%.” Jake really lives that. He thought about Christ and set his mind and heart to follow Him with all his strength, 100%, and he is still doing it!
{Photo: J.D. with Jake on Elephant Mountain in Taipei, Taiwan.}
In Taiwan, Jake got baptized. When our pastor there let us lead a church service, Jake was adamant: “Guys, we HAVE to share the Gospel. If they don’t understand the cross, they don’t understand anything.” We all supported him, and he preached the Gospel.
{Photo: J.D. baptizing Jake in Taiwan.}
In China, we saw Jake’s heart for all people, for an entire nation. He still wants to go back and learn the language. We had one night in a hostel where we ladies felt uncomfortable surrounded by so many men who were drunk, smoking, lifting their shirts up and staring at us… but Jake urgently reminded us that they need Jesus’s love.
In Mongolia, one morning he was studying the laws of the Old Testament. He told me how he used to like starting fights. He mulled it over: “So, God hates it when I fight, and wants me to seek peace and restoration, instead.” He spent some time confessing and repenting for his past and coming into agreement with God’s Word. Later that day, we met a woman whose husband beat her for the past 15 years. Later debriefing with our team, Jake wept for her and said, “If a man treated my sister that way, I’d beat him up.” He stopped and thought for a minute, then quietly amended his statement: “But, no, I wouldn’t, because God loves him. I’d pray for him.” Jake’s compassion for both the woman and the man prepared our hearts: In walked the woman with her husband, and we prayed for him and showed him love.
{Photo: Our Mongolian translator, Silo, and her precious family!}
{Photo: Jake carries Silo’s sweet daughter on his shoulders. He’s going to make a great dad some day!}
In Kazakhstan, we were walking by a man who was passed out drunk in the middle of a street–hat here, shoes there. Jake didn’t hesitate: he went immediately to him to check on him. We all helped Jake move the man to a safe spot out of the street and put his hat and shoes back on him.
{Photo: Jake tends to a woman’s cut finger at the archaeological dig in Kazakhstan.}
In Uzbekistan, when our team arrived in Tashkent for just one day, we were exceedingly tired from our train ride through the night in straight-backed chairs, yet Jake prioritized meeting with his friend and brother in Christ as soon as he could.
{Photo: During our long travel days.}
In Azerbaijan, he told me he sent letters to each person in his past whom he had wronged, confessing and asking forgiveness, to clean up his past.
{Photo: With squad mates on our ferry across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan.}
Jake has made an incredible impact on all of us and on those we’ve met along our journey. I still see him every morning, studying God’s Word and highlighting verses with his blue marker, then living it out. God got him good, and he is such an encouragement to our squad and to others; watching him grow in Christ and grow in serving others has been a significant boost to our faith. I know this is life-altering for him and others.
*Jake is still fundraising. Please consider being a part of sending this man seeking after God’s own heart with us into the Middle East.*
https://jacobkane.theworldrace.org/
{Photo: Jake geared up for the journey.}
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)
“You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.” (Deuteronomy 13:4)
