Hello! My name is Jessica. I love Jesus and I am so excited to go on the World Race! Here’s a little bit about me:
I am 23 years old. I live in Southport, NC. I graduated from UNC Wilmington two years ago and currently teach first grade. Spending 8 hours a day with 18 six year olds is exhausting, hilarious, humbling, and beautiful. My students have taught me so much about how much love and joy the Father has for His children.
I grew up in Fayetteville, NC. My parents are Mike and Ruth, and they are a great picture of how the Lord designed marriage and parents to be. My Dad is kind, generous, and full of honor. He has always worked hard to provide for our family and he waves at you in the driveway until your car is out of sight. His love is such a good example of how the Father loves us. My mom is smart, kind, and has a huge heart for the church. She is wise, patient, and creative.
I have one brother named Joshua. He is 20 years old and is studying finance at NC State. He is one of the funniest people that I know and I can’t wait to see the plan that the Lord has for his life.
I accepted Christ when I was 7, but I really started to walk with the Lord in college. I worked at Camp Rockfish throughout college, which was a game changer for my relationship with the Lord. I worked with other people my age who had such a deep, vibrant relationship with the Lord. Playing worship, doing service projects, and leading campers over these summers was such a sweet time to focus on loving the Lord and serving His people. I am so thankful for the friendships that the Lord put in my life through camp!
The Lord gave me some great mission opportunities in college. I got to go abroad to Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, and Kenya. I learned so much about the Lord and his love for His people on these trips. He is the restorer, the provider, the giver of life, healing, and joy. He freely gives to his children. All over the world. All the time.
One of the things I am mostly grateful for is the Lord’s gift of community! I love to spend time with friends, especially when brunch is involved. I love to drink coffee. I love to sing, play guitar, and play mandolin. I would really like to do some sort of worship ministry in the future! I love to spend time with my students, and I have really enjoyed working in the student ministry at my church. I live on the beach in North Carolina, so I love to go to the beach and kayak.
My spiritual gifts are faith, giving, and leadership. My Myers Briggs letters are ESFP. I am find it easy to relate to others and I love to dream about new ideas and projects. I am not detail oriented and I am a few minutes late to almost everything. I easily fall into pleasing other people and struggle with worrying and fear. But, the Lord freely gives grace! And, over the last year, He has taught me to find my identity, my freedom, and my fulfillment in Him and Him alone.
I am so excited to go on the World Race! I can’t wait to pursue Jesus with my team and spend the year loving and serving God’s people. I so want others to know of the deep love that Jesus has for them, and I am so excited to be part of God’s plan! I can’t wait to see all God is doing in His global church. One of the things I am most looking forward to is that on the race, your college degrees don’t matter, your car, the size of your house, how much money you make, or where you love doesn’t matter. My identity is solely in being a redeemed child of the King and my mission is to make the King famous! I can’t wait!
As I get closer to the race, please pray for the Lord to keep working out the details- the details of my loan repayment, current job, and my fundraising efforts! Please pray for wisdom, peace, and a deepening relationship with Jesus as the Race gets closer. Please pray for my World Race team and that the Lord would continue to prepare each of our hearts for a year of ministry. Please pray that each of us would be connected to the Spirit, safe, healthy, and funded! Also, please pray for the people we will meet on the Race. Pray that they would know the Lord and experience the life, healing, and joy that He gives. Stay tuned!
