Hello Everyone,
This month has probably been my most challenging month on the Race so far. I’m not going to lie I am ready to go. However even in the midst of challenges the Lord has been so faithful and provided me with strength and grace to get through it.
Ministry
Ministry this month was very different. Our team quickly got another lesson in expectations and how they can and will be completely demolished on the Race.
This month our ministry was very varied. Myself and team mate Amy worked to read, edit, and rewrite dialogue for our contacts nonprofit website that is in the process of being created and I learned that in spite of my dyslexia I’m actually a pretty good editor. We also spent our time with with a German family on their farm. We picked corn, stacked hey, weeded, and gathered hundreds of walnuts. Some of us were also able to help with English classes.
Lessons, Challenges, Goals
As mentioned above this month was probably the most challenging month on the Race. I feel like I blogged a lot about those challenges but a quick recap. I had some struggles with a girl on my team and her tendency to explode on me and others, our ministry contact has some interesting beliefs (conspiracy theories mixed with end times), and there was a spiritually oppressive atmosphere in the house we were living in.
I learned a lot this month. I learned how to rest when there was unrest around you and how to lean on the Father to literally supply my physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional strength. I learn how to put my emotions aside to be able to discern the spiritual and to let love and grace rule my actions and my decisions.
Follow this next month my goals are to be able to bring that same culture of love and grace into my new team. I also want to continue to walk through some of the things that God had me begin to walk through with my last team
India
After months of anticipation, countless difficulties with the consulate, and one emergency passport later I am finally here!!!! I am so excited for this month. I am excited about all the delicious food we will get to eat, all the chai tea we will get to drink, and fully immersing myself in this culture.
My team will be working with India Christian Ministries (ICM) this month. ICM has several different ministry operations all of the state of Andrah Pradesh. My team will specifically be working with Covenant Worship. Their primary focus is to “train and equip a new generation of worship leaders and worshippers in India” Visit their website to read more about all they do and to see how the Lord is moving in mighty ways through their ministry.
I am so excited to be apart of this ministry this month. As you may have read in my blog, A Heart of Worship , God placed worship heavy on my back in Albania (month 2). Since then I have been exploring different ways to worship and experience the prescience of the Lord. I am excited to see how the Lord is going to use my heart for worship and the talents He has given me this month. I am also excited to learn from the amazingly creative worship team and students that we will be encountering this month.
Prayer
Please cover me, my team, and my squad with a TON of prayer this month. India is a spiritually heavy and dark place with lots of strongholds. Please pray for the unity of teams, that God would fill us with His spirit and that it would flow out of us everywhere we go. Pray that the presence of God in us would completely change the atmosphere of all the places we go. Please pray for spiritual protection over our hearts and our minds. Pray that we would utilize every moment to pray for and encourage one another. Pray for discernment and wisdom and that we would see and hear things not only in the physical but also in the spiritual. Pray that we would speak the truth of God boldly and lovingly.
Please pray for specifically for my health and the health of my squad. We are now entering places where the disease and sickness are rampant, sanitation is not the best, and we have to be extremely careful about the things we eat and drink. After a lot of prayer at our last debrief in Bucharest I have officially decided I am not going to take malaria medication. I am trusting the Lord for my protection. Please join me in praying for my health. Not only that I would not get malaria but that I would not contract any other sickness or bugs that I may get exposed to during my time in India.
Thank you so much for all your prayer it is so important to me and means so much that you are consistently praying for me. I know how powerful prayer is and I know your prayers are doing powerful things for the Kingdom.
Fundraising
As of now I have $12.650 in my support account. In order to finish my Race I will need to have $16.300 in my account by January 1, 2015. I still need $3.650 to meet that goal. There are several ways that you can help to reach my goal of being fully funded by January 1st.
1. On November 11th I will be doing another 11/11 fundraiser. On November 11, 2014 you can go to my blog (jessicaravinjohnson.theworldrace.org) and make an online donation of $11 by clicking the “support me” tab. $11 for 11n11 on 11/11. Pretty simple. I would love for everyone to participate in this.
2. I still have a lot of boxes left in my fundraising game to be chosen. Simply pick a number and make a donation online or by mailing in a check to Adventures in Mission.
3. You can simply make a donation of any amount by mailing a Check to Adventures in Missions. Make sure to write JESSICAJOHNSONRAVIN in the memo line so that the check get to my account or you can make an online donation through my blog (jessicaravinjohnson.theworldrace.org) by clicking the support me tab and flow the prompts.
Thank you so much to all of you have donated to my World Race Trip. I have been continually humbled and encouraged by your investment in me and by your incredible generosity. Your contributions allow me to continue to serve the Lord in the way that He has called me to for this season of life. I will never be able to thank you enough. I pray that God blesses you for all your generosity. Thank you for taking the time to read all of my posts, updates, and blogs and for taking to time to continually cover me in prayer. Each of you are a enormous blessing to my life and I am so thankful for each of your hearts.
