Update on support

Hello friends,

As this week begins, I wanted to reflect back on last week and update you all with praise reports and prayer requests.

Praise Reports:
-The Lord allowed me to make 100 phone calls for the first time ever last week!! Praise Him!
-The Lord brought in $125-135 in monthly pledges!
-The Lord brought in $275 in one-time gifts!

Prayer Requests:
-Pray with me that all those who pledged to give monthly might be able to start their giving within the next 2 weeks ($900 to go!).
-Pray for my teammate Laureen that God may finish her support on time as well.
-Pray that I may seek the Lord's face and trust in John 14:13-14 ( I have also been praying through Ps. 37 and Ps. 141:1-2, 8).
-Pray with me that my visa may come on time.
-Pray for traveling mercies as I head home to Fort Wayne, IN tomorrow (Tues) to celebrate Christmas with my family.
-Pray with me that God may put me and the mission trip on the hearts and minds of potential supporters and that they may act on His call to give.

Thank you so much for the prayers. God is so faithful to His children and I believe He wont leave us alone as we trust in Him. Have a merry Christmas as we reflect on Jesus' humility to identify Himself with fallen humanity when He came into the world to save the world!

Thanks and God bless

Prayer Request

Hey friends,

I need you all to be praying with me for the next 3 weeks for the following:

$1,000 more in monthly support by Jan 9, 2010
$700 more in one-time gifts by Jan 9, 2010
A smooth Visa application process

Our flights are set to leave Jan 9, 2010 so I will be trying to give an update for each week on how everything is going. I know God has something in store and planned, He just hasn't revealed it yet. Thank you so much for your prayers and partnership!

Grace and peace

November Newsletter: Eager to preach the Good News

“Kids, what do you want Jerrah to bring us back from his mission trip?” Miss Anika often asks her children different questions concerning me or my mission trip, but their answer to this particular question really made me think about what the driving force behind this mission trip should be while I’m there: “Some pictures of you with new believers.” I was blown away at the fact that out of everything I could possibly bring back, the things of greatest value and of highest praise are the remembrance of the new souls that God has granted into his kingdom through Jesus Christ! The bible vividly shows us that this is one of the greatest things that heaven rejoices over in Luke 15.

In this month, more than in previous months, the gospel message has taken a more important place in my life after studying Romans 1:16-17. I learned that “the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, BECAUSE, it is God giving to us what He demands from us, which is His righteousness, as a gift.” I honestly know that I have grown closer to the Lord this month as I felt the weight of what this message means to me and also the need for not only South Africans to know, but the entire world! Furthermore, I also began to understand that God has taken these 6 months to prepare me for what lies ahead, in my own life, as well as in the lives of the students in South Africa.

Your prayers and financial support are really appreciated, and I know that Jesus has called you in some way to touch the lives of others for His name’s sake, and one of the ways you are doing it is happening through me by your investments. People can search the world for things to give their time and resources to, but if the hope of salvation and redemption from sin isn’t behind it, it becomes futile. So, as I step out on faith to get ready to head to South Africa in a little over a month, I can’t help but the think of all of you who have been and will be behind me as I go to fulfill the Great Commission of Mathew 28:19.

October Newsletter

“Why do you call me Lord, if you won’t do the things I tell you to do? Trust Me.”One morning during my quiet time with the Lord, I found myself not being able to leave His presence until an answer was given on why I am raising support. After a long period of time the answer became clear and the opening quote pretty much sums it all up. It took a while for me to grasp the idea that the key to a missionary’s work is the realization that Jesus has all the power and that its not about what’s ahead of me, but Who’s behind me. Once the Lord made sure that I understood that, my reply to Him was a simple “Yes, Lord.” I know that I must constantly be like a child in His presence, because He knows what is best for me in order to grow closer to Him.

“Kids look for anything to glorify their father.” It has been a true blessing living with the Neal family for these past three months, and I have really been encouraged by their children (Aria 6,Nadia 4, & Caleb 2), being that they have shown me so many examples of how my relationship with God should be. Children can’t help but be dependant upon their parents! Sometimes I ask, “why do they call for mom or dad so much, even though they may not even really want anything?” Then, I realized that maybe they just want to know that they hear them when they call or that they are still around. Another example is when Caleb is holding mom or dad’s hand as he crosses the street or through a parking lot. He always seems to be so care-free as he crosses and I realized that it’s because he’s holding the hand of his father or mother who guides him, and as long as he continues to trust the hand that he’s holding, he has no worries. This is how God wants us to be, and trust is definitely an area in my walk with Him that I’ve been growing in this month, and I thank Him for His faithfulness.

All God asks for is our obedience, and during this process of raising support my dependence must be completely on Him and not myself; being poor in spirit, having nothing to bring to the table but myself and my willingness to serve Him overseas in South Africa. I can’t wait to get there!!

Ahh, what a relief it is to be in Jesus...

“If you’re on God’s side, you’re on the winning side.” As I reflect on the words of a 106 year-old preacher/evangelist’s sermon that I was able to attend earlier this month, my mind begins to dwell on the first week of this month and how the Lord raised more than what was brought in for the entire month of August. This month has truly been a blessing and waking up early in the morning to go run and then spending some quiet time with the Lord afterwards has really helped me in seeking Him and realizing more and more why I need Him. God has definitely been setting up some divine appointments with people this month, and at the end of each one, He teaches me that it was not anything in my power that moved the person, but His Spirit who shines through me as I tell them my vision and mission for going to South Africa.
“These students are craaaazy hungry for Jesus.” With these enthusiastic words from my teammate, Tammi, who’s already in South Africa, I can’t help but to think about getting there. I think about it so much that the Lord had to show me that He still has things to teach me while I’m here in the States. Personally, He has shown me that if I don’t truly know Him, how can I expect to tell someone else about Him? He has shown me that I can be as good as I want at sharing my faith with someone but still be missing what the message that I’m sharing truly means. The Lord has taught me that my obligation to do His will does not start when I get over to South Africa, but that it starts right here and right now. I say this because, during a support appointment, I found myself sharing the gospel message with a potential supporter! This was odd because I usually don't do that during appointments but for some reason I brought my bible with the feeling that I might have to share the gospel with him.
This made me come to the understanding that, if my mentality isn’t mission driven all the time, then I’m just going over to South Africa to do some good works and then come back to regular life. Now, I must make it clear that I’m going to South Africa to share the gospel with lost students, and build them and other’s who are already believers, in their faith. Then, send them out to share with and build other’s up. I’m not going to build houses and feed people, that’s good in the right context because it is necessary, but my desire is to teach young people about Christ crucified. The Lord calls us to be ready at all times to preach the gospel, not just a set apart year dedicated to doing His will, but a life driven by one ultimate purpose: Glorifying God! Let’s do it, together!

Newsletter Aug09

“We need you here, Jerrah.” These are the encouraging words of Leon Best. He is our team leader who is already in Cape Town, along with his family and two of my other teammates. The journey of raising support to get to South Africa began back in June, but this is the first of my monthly newsletters that I will be sending out to keep you updated on how support is going and what the current prayer concerns are.

I just stepped off the plane returning from Summit County (Copper Mountain), Colorado where we were at 9,700 feet elevation (as seen in the picture below)! Campus Crusade for Christ hosted a Global STINT (Short-Term International) send-off there and I am trying to get back adjusted to Eastern time. Basically, this 6-day meeting in the sky was composed of encouraging speakers who addressed four topics: Loving the Lord, Loving Your Team, Lauching Movements, and Learning a New World. In addtion, the special seminars helped me connect with God better through the book of Psalms and learn creative and fun ways to communicate the Gospel. This conference was a great way for God to show me His big picture in spreading the Gospel, and that I have a part to play in it! (Praise God!) Now, back from the conference, getting to South Africa is the main thing I’m looking forward to.

Points of Prayer

· My goal, as far as financial support, is to have 85%-100% of my needed support by October 1, 2009. I am currently at 15%, and so, my first and most important prayer concern is that the Lord will grant my petition I have placed before Him (Ps. 20).

· Though I am set to leave in January, I would actually like to leave by the end of October.

· Also, pray that my teammate Laureen (on left in picture above) may raise the rest of her financial support by October as well so that we both can depart at the same time.

· Pray for boldness as I step out on faith to speak with potential partners.

· Pray that the Lord will protect me as I travel up and down the highway for support appointments to Fort Wayne, Indiana from Indianapolis.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership in spreading the Gospel!

the First

this is my first posting out to the world on this blog to keep people in the know of how support is going and whats been going on. First of all, after talkin to my friend Chris aka Chris T., I decided that I'd do a blog and post it here and on facebook to keep friends, family, and whoever else in the know (thanks a bunch Chris, I'm trying what you said to see how it works). I plan not to put a whole bunch in my postings but to put enough info in them so that people may know "what's been up with Jerrah lately?" Second of all, give me a break here people, because I was really hesitant on doing this just because I'm not a "blogger" and so I don't really like the idea of doing this kind of thing on a regular basis, but I believe it will turn out alright in the end because I think it helps me get things out of my head and to stay connected with the world. Finally, I plan on having videos posted up as well (for when I don't feel like typing). Thats it for now. (note to self, think of better ways to end my postings other than "thats it for now.")