Exciting news! Life Update! Questions Answered!
Okay, OKAY.. I know I said in my last blog post that I would no longer be updating you all through this blog.
Weeeeelllll, I was wrong.
As most of you know, I ended the Race in December of 2018 and had plans to move to Indonesia in March of this year to work at a school for refugees. After months and months of trying to sort out getting a visa that will allow me to remain in Cisarua, The Lord told me to go ahead and return to Indonesia for a month and a half but to get a return ticket to Texas. He gave me a lot of peace at the thought of living in The States and returning to Indonesia in His perfect timing. I went to Indonesia and stayed with my dear friends while building deeper connections with the refugee communities in Jakarta and Cisarua from March to the end of April and have been living in Texas since. Here, I am transitioning back into life in The States while staying with Tim and Cyndi Bird (My AMAZING squad coaches from The World Race), resting, building community, working, and simply following God’s lead, each step of the way.
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Indonesia since I’ve been back in The States and I would love to answer them on this post, in case you’re reading this and asking some of the same ones:
Did God ask me to temporarily lay my dream of living in Indonesia down? Yes.
Does this mean that this dream won’t be picked back up? Not at all! I’m still trusting that the Lord will provide the visas that I need to live there if He wills and in HIS perfect timing.
Why Texas? When I was on the Race, The Lord made it SO clear that I was supposed to come here. When I came for a month to visit, attend a wedding, and photograph another- He kept telling me to return and build community. I’ve heard so many similar stories of the Lord sending people to this area and they don’t know why- God is doing something huge here!
Have you ever been given a surprise and the person(s) giving it to you had you close your eyes or blindfold you before you found out what it was? That’s where I’m at right now. It’s as though the Lord has placed a blindfold on me and is guiding me to something new, exciting, and worth it. As I take His hand with excitement, He’s saying, “Just wait! It’s getting good! You’re going to love it once you see it!” One of the greatest things I took back from my Race was how to listen to the Lord’s voice and follow Him, wholeheartedly- even when that blindfold is covering my eyes and I don’t fully know the “how’s” or “why’s”. So though I may not have all of the “why’s” yet, I do know that The Lord has sent me here and that He’s going to take care of my lovely friends in Indonesia, whether I’m there long-term or not. I will return in HIS perfect timing and until then, I’m going to continue to live a missional lifestyle in the every day. Being obedient by giving Him my “yes” to Texas was a decision that I am so glad that I made. When people ask me, “Why are you in Texas?”, the only answer that I can give is simply, “I don’t have the answer- but I know this is where God wants me.” He’s made it so obvious and I am more than excited to see the fruit of it all. I am so aware of the craziness that my life has been in the past two years and that is okay! Why? Because I know that this is exactly what the Lord had planned from the start. What a beautiful thing it is to follow God on new adventures!
Here’s what’s to come:
A few weeks ago, I was looking at plane tickets to return to Indonesia in August and I had just talked with my bosses about leaving for a month to teach at HLC again. Then, the Lord asked me, “What if I’m asking you to do something different? Are you willing to set Indonesia down?” I’m not going to lie when I say I struggled a bit as I prayed a hard prayer of ‘not my will, but Yours be done.’ The next day, I was asked by one of my former leaders at AIM to pray into leading a World Race Semesters trip this Summer. They were looking for leaders last minute and a few different people said that the Lord had laid them on my heart. My stomach sank and starting knotting in the way that it always does when the Lord is calling me back onto the mission field in an unexpected way. It was something I couldn’t shake until I gave them my “yes”. World Race Semesters was formerly Passport- the trip that I went on to Costa Rica in 2017 and ultimately led me to The World Race. I learned and grew so much and I wouldn’t be the person that I am today if I weren’t for it.
I’m excited to announce that in July, I’ll be returning to Peru to lead a group of college students who are giving up their summer’s to follow God’s lead and serve the nations.
I have a huge heart for this age group and I am so ecstatic about this opportunity to lead them through discipleship, empowering them in their walk of faith, serving alongside of them, and watching them grow and be transformed by The Lord. I’m believing that lives will be changed, callings will be revealed, and that hearts will come to know who Jesus is because they said ‘yes’ to this month-long journey.
In order to go, I need to raise $2,000 by the end of June! If I raised $500 each week, I’d be fully funded by the time I’m in Georgia and ready for launch! If you’d like to partner with me and what God’s going to do through my team and I in Peru, you can go to my fundraising bar at jordanharrington.theworldrace.org and hit the “Donate!” button. This is tax-deductible and the funds will go directly to my AIM account! Thanks for all of the support you guys have shown me over the years. I’m excited to share with you all what the Lord will do through this new team! Love you guys!
