Hello Friends,
Well I hope you can forgive me because this blog post has been long overdue. Because of that I have a lot to say, so maybe pour yourself a cup of coffee because you may be here for awhile!
As many of you know my Grandpa Ray passed away in April. God provided a very cheap flight and I was able to go home for a week and spend time with him in his last days. I miss him dearly but I know he is with Jesus and who could ask to be in a better place. I know he was always proud of our family and how we loved God and others, but I think he would be even more impressed with us now as I feel the loss of him has brought us even closer together. It's funny how when someone passes you realize the true fragility of life. You understand that God is complete and utter control and as hard as we may try to fight the fact that our days are numbered, they are. I have been encouraged through all of this that I should give God thanks for every single day and make the most out of them. I know this sounds cliche, but truly every day is a gift. I hope that everyday I push myself more and more to be brave, share Christ's love, love those around me with reckless abandonment, and live a life with full of integrity and character that is pleasing to my Father.
On May 16 Tyler and I departed to Los Angeles to meet our first Project Sixty-One overseas outreach team. We only had a day of orientation and then jetted off to Haiti to get started. Our team of six was eager to jump into ministry and we did just that the following day. We spent our first week in Port-au-Prince, which is the capitol city and the location of the earthquake. The YWAM base there is just getting off the ground so they are renting out a building on an orphanage property. Many of the children at this orphanage are mentally or physically handicapped and often do not get adopted because of this. We enjoyed spending our free time playing basketball, soccer, and drawing with sidewalk chalk with the kids.
In Port-au-Prince we were able to help tear down a fallen church building, distribute buckets of food to tent/refugee cities, be a part of a huge worship service in a tent city of 11,000 people, and bless the base staff by helping clean, wash base vehicles, etc.
Our second week in Haiti we moved 60 miles north to a city called St. Marc, which is where Tyler, Will, and I stayed when we went to Haiti in January. This base has been running for over 20 years and has a huge presence in St. Marc and the surrounding cities. God has given them a ton of favor and responsibility since the earthquake hit and it is always a joy to see them taking huge leaps of faith and trusting God to move in this broken and hurting land.
In St. Marc we were able to bless the base by picking up trash and raking around the compound, spending an afternoon building relationships and loving on some of the local Haitian prostitutes, teaching short health seminars (hand washing, teeth brushing, food cleaning, etc.), teaching English, and helping a DTS team finish a house build.
Although Tyler and I were very excited to be back in Haiti doing ministry and catching up with the friends we made the last time, we were also very eager to see the things that God had in store for the team. Our whole vision of this Project Sixty-One ministry is that God would transform the lives of the team members; impacting their hearts for the Nations long-term and exposing more of His heart and love for them as individuals in the process. The most joyful part of the whole outreach was to see Him do just that. After it was all said and done we had one individual show interest in joining the long-term staff of YWAM Haiti and others who walked away feeling that God had spoke more to them about their futures and dreams. Overall it was a very eye opening experience for everyone, including Tyler and I, as it always is to be overseas and completely out of everything comfortable.
Although this first overseas outreach was no where near perfect, we learned more than we ever would have been able to than if it had been. I feel like God shed light to me in many ways that I can improve in areas of leadership. I feel like I have a better understanding of the grace, patience, compassion, servant leadership, and firmness that it often takes to make a good leader. I feel there will be always room to grow in all these areas.
As for the remainder of 2010, we have hit a few bumps in the road regarding some of the outreaches we had planned. We had to cancel our Thailand and September Haiti outreaches due to a lack of people signed up to go. We are bummed about not being able to go but know that God is in control. We are however still leading a local church to Haiti in November to build a house for a family in need which we are very excited about!
In other Project Sixty-One news, we have gained a third staff member. Paulina Gudmundsson, who is from Sweden. She did her DTS along with me in 2008 and joined staff at the same time as well. She has staffed two DTS schools and felt like God was calling her to join Tyler and I with Project Sixty-One. We are really excited to have her on board!
I wanted to share with you about an exciting school that I get to be a part of in October! YWAM has a ministry called RescueNet which is a disaster relief ministry. They are recognized by the United Nations and are often able to get into a country faster than the Red Cross in a disaster situation. RescueNet offers schools to YWAMer's to get training in their program so that if a disaster hits we have 24 hours to pray about whether we feel God is calling us to go and help and then another 24 hours to get to the country. Therefore, YWAMer's from all over the world will fly into that country and form a disaster relief team that will stay and help for a week or two. This school will equip me in search and rescue, emergency medicine, trauma counseling, fire suppression, and refugee reception. Tyler and I both felt the need to have more training after experiencing the disaster in Haiti. This school is only for two weeks and is part one of several parts to officially be certified under RescueNet. The dates of the school are October 10-23 and will be held in San Francisco.
Being certified under RescueNet will not replace anything we are doing with Project Sixty-One. We will continue to run that ministry full time and continue to lead teams overseas. If a disaster hits, this will be something Tyler and I choose to do as individuals with the RescueNet team. Both of us have always had huge hearts to help those who are in their greatest need, we have found that when people are the most vulnerable they are also the most open to hear and believe that Jesus loves them deeply and wants a relationship with them. We are excited to see where God takes us with this schooling!
The school costs $625 for books, fees, supplies, room & board, and transportation that I need to raise. If you would be willing to donate financially to help me cover this cost I would really appreciate it! You can donate online through PayPal or by mail. Please email me at Jacque17lyn@aol.com for directions as to how to donate.
In other financial news I am still struggling with raising my monthly support. I currently have $1620.00 per month and am needing to raise it to $2819.25 per month to meet all of my monthly expenses and be able to put some money into savings for car repairs, medical, and outreach costs. If you could be praying with me that God would bring people to mind that I could ask to partner with me monthly and that God would continue to provide for this need I would really appreciate it!
I believe that is about all that is new here on my end! I hope you are doing well. If you have any prayer requests or thoughts please feel free to email me!
God Bless,
Jacque
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