The tree @ home

Back in Kentucky

So... I am back in good ole Kentucky once more. I am sitting on our comfy couch, listening to the rain, marveling at the Christmas tree. It is wonderful to be with family after a couple of months away and I look foward to this blessed time together during the holidays. I have been talking with them about the many things that I learned at orientation. But more than anything I continue to share about the believers that I met and how they sharpened me and how they did life with me for two months. Another example of how the Lord has put amazing Godly people in my life. I continually missed friends and family but the Lord provided.

Prior to orientation my family and I struggled in coping with me being gone for two years. My entire family lives really close and we spend lots of time with one another. There was an overwhelming sadness for us at times. The one thing that sustained my was the Lord and knowing that my obedience to go and fulfill his call was above any of the wishes of my family and my own doubts.

Recently the Lord again proved faithful when my grandfather met a young woman who had served in Peru through the same program as me. She was able to share with him and put some of his fears at ease. He was able to share with other family members. The Lord has not only revealed his call to me but he continued to reveal it to my family while I was away.

Great is his faithfulness!

Blessings to all

Much Love

"I will sing about the LORD's faithful love forever; with my mouth I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations." -Psalm 89:1

How cool is this? The largest floating christmas tree... it's in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We finally got some snow here in Virginia. It didn't last to long but our spirits were joyful when we looked outside and saw a winter wonderland.

This weekend consisted of more security training on Saturday, dinner out, and movie night. On Sunday we had small group time. I committed to spending the majority of my day resting and reflecting on my time here that is quickly coming to an end. It was really tough this weekend because I talked to my mom on the phone and we broke down crying because we are beginning to realize how very close it is to saying goodbye. I know the Lord is faithful and he will comfort us, and all the other many families sending out loved ones, in the this situation and teach us how to deal with saying goodbye. I talked with some friends and prayed over our time at home during the holidays as well as our farewells with family.

Last night a bunch of us decided to go ALL OUT for dinner and head to Cheesecake Factory. It's hard to believe that there is one so close and I hadn't been already. It is probably one of my family's most favorite places to go. I had an amazing appetizer of Thai Lettuce Wraps and then, of course, finished it off with a big honkin piece of white chocolate macadamia nut cheesecake. DELICIOUS... and an excellent time of fellowship. The people I have met here have been such a blessing, it's heavy to think about leaving here in a little over a week.

Mad love to all

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." -Romans 8:28

Hey!

I am about to head to bed for the night... and it's only 9:00! This will be the earliest for me in a while. I am going through security training right now and it's pretty heavy stuff. There are lots of things that we need to be prepared for in the area of security because we never know exactly what we may face on the field.

Please pray for all of the missionaries here as we are in the home stetch of training. It has been an awesome process and we are all eager to begin our work on the field! I will be praying and thinking of you all during the holiday season. Blessings to all!

DC

So in the last week or so I have had the opportunity to go up to Washington, DC twice. My first trip was this past Saturday to visit a dear friend of mine who is now working there. I got into the city and parked at her house and then took the metro down to the Smithsonian where she had just finished a walk for the homeless. It was a wonderful meeting when we finally sited one another as we had both been on our cell phones directing each other on the phone about our location! We walked to the grand re-opening of the American History Museum and it was packed but we walked around. Some of the cool things I got to see were Dorothy's shoes from the originial "Wizard of Oz", three or four Stradavarius violins, Apollo Anton Ohno's speed skates from the olympics, a photo moment with R2D2 from "Star Wars", and a nostalgic moment when we listened to some live bluegrass music. We took a walk through Chinatown and then ate some delicious food at an Irish Pub and watched some soccer and rugby. We spent some more time walking around and got hot white chocolate before heading back to her house. I was so blessed to have been able to spend some time with her and catch up and encourage one another. Please be in prayer for her as she works with the homeless of DC.

My second trip was yesterday. The entire orientation group headed up in tour buses on a mission to explore DC, meet some people from the country where we will serve, pray, and spread love. When we first arrived my group for the day decided to take part with some other groups in going to a large catholic church there. We went and walked around in the church and it was a gorgeous church with ornate architecture and detailed murals and mosaics throughout. But it almost gave me a sick feeling at my stomach because there were people praying to saints and there were mostly statues of Mary and praise to here rather than to God and to Christ. While there we sat and began to pray for the people who were part of this idle/saint worship and also the misinterpretaion of Mary within the catholic church. After we left the church we journeyed across town to go to a Peruvian restaurant called "El Pollo Rico" or "The Rich Chicken". We had a delicious meal of chicken and steak fries! I had expected it to be a sit-down type restaurant but it was more like a fast-food place with a really small menu, but it was very tasty so we all enjoyed ourselves. The afternoon was spent seeing some of the monuments and a rushed return to Union Station so we wouldn't miss the 5pm departure time.

Please pray for the people of DC. There are tons of different people groups represented in that city and so much lostness. But we definitely saw evidence of the Lord working there! I have a little over two weeks of training left and am looking foward to a strong finish here before heading back home for the holidays!

My first marathon

So this weekend one of my good friends here at training competed in a marathon. It was my first marathon experience. I loaded up a crew in momma's van and we all headed down to cheer him on. We had planned to meet him around mile 17 to yell and encourage but we didn't have a map of the race or any idea how to get there. We decided to disperse ourselves along the last leg of the race. Some of the girls cheered him on around mile 22 others around mile 24 and then another friend and I stuck around the finish line so that we could cheer him at the finish and get some pictures of his elation when he was finally done!

It was a blast... I stayed on the lookout for him after we had been warned that he was getting close. When I saw him coming down the hill on the final stretch I ran to my friend so that he could snap the photos. The environment down at the finish line was so cool because there was a constant roar of people cheering on everyone crossing the finish line. My friend was hurting for most of the afternoon but there was no doubt that he was so thankful that he had finish and with an awesome time!

Another friend of mine who came the marathon was celebrating her birthday and so after the race it was only appropriate to go and celebrate at Red Robin. I had never been, but the burgers were delicious! I had to order this particular burger because it had an egg on it and once in Argentina I had a burger like it! Let's just say... I inhaled both!

Things to remember:

Marathons are fun

Egg on a burger= amazing

Mad love,

Jess

Phil. 1:3

And so it begins...

So... this is all so very exciting. I finally have a blog. I am looking foward to sharing lots of stories and joys and stuggles with y'all as my journey begins. I am currently in Richmond, VA at orientation. Each day involves seminars on various topics which have included spiritual warfare, doctrine, anthropology, and church planting movements. It has been such a huge blessing to be poured into each and every day. We have been going through the book of Acts and learning about how the church began and how the apostles worked and moved around to spread the gospel and Paul's coming onto the scene. I have found, however, that some of the days are long and sometimes leave me overwhelmed.

There are so many amazing people here that are also going on the field and I have made many deep relationships in only a short time. There is an instant connection between all the people I meet because of our hearts for the nations. The Lord is strengthening and encouraging me through those people, through you, and through his word and constant prayer.

I am so thankful for each of you who are reading this and I carry you with me as I go. I would ask that you pray for me as I continue in orientation... that I will have endurance and a teachable heart. I also ask that you begin praying for my work on the field and especially for the indigenous groups of South America. I love you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you. Please let me know if there are ways I can pray for you.

Mad love,

Jess/Jojo

P.S. I found this verse and am so encouraged and excited at the idea of being able to live this out in only a few short weeks!

"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!"
-Isaiah 52:7