Friends and Family,
Hello everyone! Hope things are well back home or wherever you are. I know it’s been awhile since I’ve spoken with many of you so I wanted to send out a quick update. Loads of things have happened in such a short period of time, however it’s still hard to imagine this journey is really underway and that my team’s time in Europe has drawn to a close. As quickly as the time approached to launch, so has the march through Ukraine, Romania and Northern Ireland.
As a quick wrap up of what my team has done so far: we started in Ukraine working with a camp for missionaries kids, orphans, and an outreach to the village and town close to the camp. Of many stories I can tell about that place, the most important I think was the relationship and the impact four orphans who arrived at the camp unexpectedly had on my team and especially me. These kids were to me a face to some horrible statistics regarding the likelihood of success for orphans in Ukraine. To put it bluntly, the odds are stacked against them and the ministry we worked with has been doing some amazing things to at least start giving these kids a chance to transition out of the orphanage system.
In Romania we worked with an amazing pastor (Pastor Z!) in Targu Mures, Romania who had a wild passion and vision for the Romanian population. He was a cultural Hungarian and we were with the Hungarian population of Romania for the entire month. Many of you know I’ve been to Romania a few times now and I’ve always heard about the Hungarians in the Transylvania region but never really worked with any of them. It was an amazing time as we traveled throughout the Carpathian Mountains region, hitting the streets of different villages and cities, speaking with people and inviting them to a Christian concert in the city centers. There the pastor would usually give a message and some testimonies and we would pray over people afterwards. Our time there was incredible and we were able to see a young community church coming together and growing stronger alongside our team who was working to do the same.
In Northern Ireland we got our socks blessed off… go and read my blog about the amazing blessings the Lord had in store for us in Belfast. All we did was ask for what we needed (and even some things we just wanted) and thanked Him for provision in advance… four hours later it was done! We worked with a plethora of ministries around Northern Ireland like roaming the city center streets of Belfast looking for homeless people to give food and talk with. We worked with quite a few different churches, a youth drop in center for troubled teens in a very troubled small town, and our favorite the “SOS Bus” that parked in the city center on Friday and Saturday night as a place of safe refuge those in any kind of trouble while out on the town. I can’t quite describe to you how well the church there looked after us and blessed us in new ways, day after day. The last Sunday they basically did a commissioning ceremony for us as we left out for Africa, as if we had been a part of their church family for years.
The last week we have been back in Dublin, Ireland for the World Race’s squad gathering called The Awakening. All of the squads out on the field (5 squads) and the leaders descended on Dublin; almost 400 people in total. As I sit here in my tent typing this, we are on the cusp of leaving out for Kenya. Three of the squads were coming from Africa and we’ve been able to chat with them about what to expect, what is great and what is terrible. One of the only consistent things I have heard is Africa is tough, but it is worth it! I think my squad as a whole is in agreement and we are ready to plunge in. Please continue praying for us as the only assurance we have is that the Lord is with us and will be walking in a blanket of prayer from every side.
Quickly I also just want to encourage anyone who would like to support me in this journey from a financial standpoint, this is a fantastic time to do so. Currently I have less than $1500 left to raise for my expenses for the entire rest of the year! This is unbelievable to me and knowing that so many have sacrificed their precious resources to send me out on mission has been one of the greatest confirmations of this journey so far. So, thank you so much to those that have made this whole thing possible for me and for those that maybe thought about supporting me but didn’t please consider doing so now. There is a long journey ahead of me and many difficult places we will be living and working in. It would be such a blessing to step into those places with the freedom and knowledge that the provision I need has been fully provided and that I am walking with the full support of the Lord’s people!
Thanks to everyone who has been reading my blogs, commenting, leaving me messages and all of the other amazing ways I have felt loved and supported along this incredible journey. I realize just about every day that this whole thing is completely absurd! I ask: who on Earth gets to do something like this? Who gets this much teaching and experience and resources poured into them for almost a whole year while learning so much about ministry, discipleship, community, and the world we live in. I truly feel blessed beyond comparison and again thank everyone who has played any part in encouraging or getting me to this point in my life and on this race. Again, please pray for us as we will almost surely be up against some difficult situations in Kenya, Uganda, and where ever else we wind up in Africa. I’ll continue to try to update you all as frequently as possible on my blog as the sparse internet in Africa will allow.
Blessings,
-Jeremiah
