In 10 days, I will be boarding a plane and starting on this crazy adventure God has in store for me. I will be living in Puerto Barrios, Guatemala for the next three and a half months. So for all of you who don’t know my story, here’s how this all began.
Last summer I went on my very first mission trip. I spent ten days in Honduras and it changed my life forever. When I came home, I knew that was not the end of mission work for me. I loved the people I met and they still have a very special place in my heart. The culture was immensely different from ours and I loved learning all the differences, living with them, and worshiping God alongside them. I knew I wanted to go back, but I didn't know how to. After talking to my best friend about my heart to return to missions, she reminded me of the trip her sister went on. She went on a trip called the World Race with an organization called Adventures in Mission. I was really intrigued by this idea, so I started looking into all the trips that AIM offers. I looked at it for months and prayed and prayed about what God wanted me to do. Eventually, I decided that I needed to open some doors to see which ones God wanted to close.
So in January I applied (I had my application prepared for months…I just didn’t have the courage to hit “Submit” until then.) to what AIM calls a “Real Life” trip to Guatemala. Real Life trips are for young adults ages 18 to 22 and are quarter long trips. Two days later I had my phone interview and five days later I got a call saying that I had been accepted. I was beyond excited!....For the first day. Then the fear set in. How in the world would I pay for this? And there are TONS of extra expenses….And I won’t know anyone! And I’ll have to leave my mom and friends. And I don’t know the language….And I have to quit my job. No, I can’t do this. After you are accepted on a trip with AIM, they give you two weeks to “accept their acceptance.” I prayed and prayed….I was so confused. Thank God I have some amazing friends. I told my best friend Dan and as soon as I started to tell him that I wasn’t sure if I should go, he said, “NO…Jenn, you are going and you are going to work for the Lord.” I continued to pray and I felt God giving me more and more reassurance as the two weeks passed. I talked to my mom and what I thought she would be concerned about, she wasn’t at all. And the things she was worried about, I wasn’t worried about at all. That made me feel more comfortable about this situation. And I remembered that I will be turning 22 in September, so this is the last year I could possibly go on this trip. But the biggest confirmation came straight from God. While I was praying one day, He reminded me of how I ended up going on my trip to Honduras and how I was searching for something to do and then a friend directed me to that trip (Mind you, I’m terrified of flying), and then another friend directed me to this trip…I felt God tell me, “I’ve been working on this for a while. Remember; Stairsteps.” I couldn’t believe it. God was telling me that those were steps to this step….And this step is going to lead to an even bigger step. On the 14th day of my two weeks, I submitted my acceptance.
After this, everything fell into place. I sent out my support letter and within two weeks, I started getting support money. Let me tell you, this is an exciting and humbling process. I am humbled that God would choose me to do His work and humbled that all my friends and family have the faith in me as well that they would give their hard earned money to support me. I am so grateful and I still cannot believe I’m going. God also blessed me by having all of the money raised for my trip two full months early. I am fully funded and all I had to do was send out support letters. Wow! God is great.
I am enjoying every part of this process. From going backpack shopping with my bestie Hannah to writing my support letter and telling everyone about this grand journey to sharing my work for Jesus with my coworkers and customers at work…It has all been great. One of my favorite parts, though, is getting to know my teammates! Although we haven’t met in person yet, we have talked a lot on Facebook and are helping one another out with packing, planning, and praying for each other. We are from all over the states and I cannot wait to learn from them and work with them.
Not everything is a piece of cake though. I could definitely use some prayer as I am VERY scared about not having a job when I get back. I have to keep reminding myself that God wants me to go on this trip and He has provided the way, so He isn’t going to just say, “Thanks for the work. Later!” when I come home. He will continue to take care of me, but sometimes I have a hard time remembering that. I am also terrified about flying. And this will be the first time I fly alone. I leave here on August 31st, fly to Denver, change planes, and then fly to Georgia. Once I arrive in Georgia, I am going to spend 2 nights with some of my family whom I’ve never met (I’m very excited!), and then meet up with my team on September 2nd. We will stay in Georgia for four days of training camp and we are off to beautiful Guatemala! That’s a lot of air time. Please keep me in your prayers.
That’s my story. =D I plan on keeping you updated over the next four months, but I’m also not sure how much internet time we will have. I’m going to try to type up my blogs and then post them when I have the opportunity. So please keep checking back!
Thank you for all your prayer and support!
Love,
Jennifer
Here is a link to a video about Real Life. Please check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9zYSfs8A1A
