Boy, it has been a real long time since I’ve last blogged. I have been terrible at keeping people up to date via this blog, so I apologize that I haven’t kept it up as much as I should. Since that last blog I’ve posted, I’ve been in 7 different countries on four different continents in a span of seven months. Of course, I finished my world race in July and returned home to Wisconsin on August 1st. Since then I’ve certainly stayed busy: I attended Project Searchlight in August; spent the month of September volunteering on an organic vegetable farm in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; worked on a dairy farm milking cows and feeding calves in October; and have been harvesting mink on a fur farm since early November. In a nutshell, you’re now caught up to what I’ve been up to since returning from the race!
So, what is it that I plan on doing now? Even though I haven’t blogged about it (yet – I plan to very soon), my time in my eleventh month of the World Race, in South Africa, was amazing for me. I loved the ministry, our contacts, the church which we partnered with, the people, and the beauty of the country itself. It was the country on my race that I felt a very strong connection with – the place I didn’t want to leave and have since always wanted to return to. Towards the end of the month, I talked to our main contact, Tricia, about getting into a yearlong program which our host church offered to young adults which was to start in January. Since that talk, my plan was to go back this January for the program. However, in late August I attended Project Searchlight, a week long conference that Adventures in Missions puts on for racers who’ve just returned from the race to help them with adjusting to life back in America and taking our next step in our walk with God. There, we were encouraged to pray about what our next step may be, and I did so, telling God that I wanted to return to South Africa, but if He has something different in mind, I’ll be obedient. At the end of the week, God asked me to pursue leading passport trips (I’ll get into what that is in a second). So I continued to pray about it, and when I still felt God telling me to pursue it, I applied for leading in January, and was accepted.
Passport trips are international mission trips, through Adventures in Missions, for young adults aged 18-22. They are shorter than the World Race, ranging from one to a few month longs. I will be going as a leader of the trip, helping and mentoring the participants. This mission trip is three months long, leaving January 26th and returning in late April. And the best part is – we’re going to NICARAGUA! I’m really excited about having the opportunity to continue serving Christ abroad and being able to help others do the same. I gained some very influential mentors on the Race who helped me grow exponentially in my relationship with God, and realized the importance of having that person who can help disciple me. I’m hoping and praying that I can, through Christ, help to pay “pay it forward” and be able to do the same for others.
Now this is where you come in: I need prayer. Prayer for preparation: for me, for my co-leaders, for the participants, for our contacts, for those we will meet while in Nicaragua. For our time abroad: For safety, for spiritual development, that God will come to us and we will pursue Him! Pray that we will have boldness, confidence, and love that comes through Christ!
I also ask that you prayer about supporting me financially. To lead this trip, I need to raise $1800 total to cover all costs of the trip BEFORE I get to Atlanta on January 18th for training in less than three weeks. I currently have raised $500 (Praise God!), so that leaves $1300 left to raise before leaving. Donating works the same as the World Race, you can click “Support Me!” on the left of this page to make a donation via credit card. All donations would be GREATLY appreciated and go towards expanding the kingdom of God. Thank you very much for your support, and God bless!
Much love and happy new year,
Jake
