I am sitting here right now in Palenque, Mexico in an internet cafe. its doesnt seem real yet that i am on this 11 month journey all over the world. I know after a few weeks the newness of this trip will kick in and it will get hard. Leaving my family and friends was probably the hardest thing i have had to do. i knew it would be hard but not that hard. Its probably because i love them so much and i find comfort in knowing that they know me for who i am. i have to spend the next few months trying to get to know these 32 other people who come from all different backgrounds. There awesome though and im having a great time so far. My team (team JOY) seems to have a great balance of different personalities. I wasnt sure how it would work out because one of the guys on my team >(patrick) decided that it would be best for him to not go at this time. He was an important part of our team and will be missed. Our team is still great though and im excited what Gods going to do this next year though us and in us.
I know that this is where God wants me. Its really cool to see God´s hand over this whole trip first with the email in my junk folder. I wouldnt of even known about the race if it werent for that email. Then God showed up when i got accepted for the race. I prayed that if this is where God wanted me that i would be accepted and i did 1 month later. Than it was making the decsion to join the July squad and not the October squad. My brother really convinced me to follow my heart and freed me of responsiblity of being there when his babies born. And last it was me getting all the money for the race. I was in danger of not being about to even leave with the July squad and thanks to my amazing supporters and Quest Community church, the church i was involved in, i recieved all of my money. Quest had missionaries come back that they normally support and they came home in the last few weeks and they had enough money to pay for the rest of my trip. Praise God for that.
So far this trip had been mostly traveling and less ministry. I had nearly 3 days of traveling and NOT sleeping or showering. I think that smelling is going to be a typical thing with this trip. its ok though im ready for it.
Plane rides: 4 Columbus to chicago
Chicago to Miami
Miami to Mexico City
Mexico City to Cancun
Bus rides: 2 Cancun to bus station
bus station to palenque (12 plus hours)
Its good to be home or at least my home away from home now. A hard bed never seemed so great and i think i havent slept that great in a really long time. Its a great treat to wake up to cows in the middle of the night. They are right outside our room. Our room is really open and mosquitos are everywhere. I have been wearing bug spray though even at night so i wont get malaria. Palenque is a pretty awesome city, or at least i think so already. Its also bigger than i expected and prettier. There are moutians all around which is a real treat to an Ohio girl with complete flat land. Waking up to beautiful trees, mountians, and green land is sweet.
In the next few days we get to go into villages around here and do ministry. We get to work with pastors of churches around here. They are different here in what they believe truth is. People know who Jesus is but they dont know what a personal relationship with him means so its going to be hard to try and convey that.
So this is just the begining to a great journey even though it could be hard at times im excited to watch God show up and work his magic. Im also excited to be shaped and changed into what he wants me to be. Please be praying for my squad and team joy.
Love,
Jessie
PS. i will add pictures later, the computers are just slow and i didnt feel like doing them yet.
