Sweet Busyness

June.

June has been a big month. 

It started with me missing the last week of school because of my training in Colorado.  The training I went to was called Cross Cultural Orientation, specifically for Young Life International staff going ALL OVER the world.  Literally there are people going to Germany, Belgium, France, Scotland, England, Singapore, Malawi, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Nicaragua.  It was such a sweet week to get to meet people with the same heart for different nations and to see how the Lord is preparing each of them for His mission.  

The couple in PR has already been there for about 10 months and the girl starting Young Life in the Bahamas will be leaving in TWO DAYS!  I can't even imagine what that is like but I can't wait to get to that point.  Hearing everyone's story of how they said yes to the Lord's calling was so sweet and encouraging.  I remember when I was on the plane to Nicaragua in February and how encouraged I was then just knowing that people had a heart for missions in Nicaragua but to meet people who have a heart for every nation just fills me with amazing joy.  That's the Lord's heart, for all the nations, and we get to be a part of it!  I am thankful that people are choosing to follow Him to Singapore and Malawi because before that week, I didn't really know where they were on a map but now I do and will be praying for them!  

By the end of the week, all the information of what to expect when moving cross culturally to do ministry left me encouraged and energized!  God just keeps confirming this in my life and I couldn't be more satisfied. 

The amazing people I met at CCO going all over the world with Young Life! 

One of my newest teammates ELLA!  She's trying to make it to Costa Rica by September too so pray for her too! 

After returning from CCO and a friend's bachelorette weekend in the mountains, I had two teacher work days to pack up life at DMS and say my goodbyes.  I was thankful for those days to start the closure in life.  DMS was a sweet time for me and will always be remembered as the place where I started my teaching career.  Go Blue Jackets! 

From Raleigh I made my way back to Asheville for a few short days to have a few appointments with former teachers, friends and even doctors!   The highlight of my week though was getting to spend a day with the Nicaragua team and students who were visiting Windy Gap (a camp 30 minutes north of my parent's house)!  I got to zipline and go down the waterslide numerous times!  I felt like I was at camp for the week with them, it just felt so natural.  I even went to dinner and club!  I know that ministry will not always be easy and rewards may be few and far between but just the taste of what it could be like in Nica was good for my soul.  I think it's going to be great to know a few faces when I get down there and have memories to reminisce on!  Four of the students in the picture made the decision to follow Christ at camp (Praise the Lord!) and three others renewed theirs, what an amazing week it was, so glad I got to see a glimpse! 

Nicaraguans don't like to smile in picture, he's really have the time of his life, trust me. 

 Right after I got back from Asheville, the next day I left for camp with Wyld Life from Raleigh!  We drove a suburban to North Bay - a camp in Maryland that Young Life rents out for a month in the summer to host Wyld Life and Capernium camps.  It was an amazing 5 days with a small crew.  I know I've said this a lot but this too was good for my soul.  I know the kids had the times of their lives and I won't be surprised if Raleigh takes a whole bus next year!  The program and speaker were some of my favorites I have ever seen in Young Life and the camp was beautiful.  I can't wait to see how the Lord moves through conversations at camp and the seeds that were planted. 

PJ dinner on the last night! 

It's time to kick fundraising into HIGH GEAR!  I seemed to have been stuck around 40% for a while and I am still praying for September 1st!  I know the Lord can move in great ways and His glory will be shown in all that happens.  I am thankful for the summer because fundraising is my primary concern now without having to teach or lead Wyld Life.  I think of this time as a sweet gift after working so hard all year, that I get a chance to focus on this part on my ministry.  

If you or anyone you know would like more information about how to start a monthly gift to send me to Nicaragua this fall please contact me at jaboulos5@gmail.com 

Fear not for I am with you.  I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  I will help you.  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

Isaiah 41:10 

Praises

It's about time I post about a few praises in my life.  I feel like I have let the hardships of fundraising weigh me down lately because it seems like such a daunting tasking but I have to keep reminding myself that the Lord is faithful, even to me.  He has a plan for me and I know this is where he wants me right now so I need to quit waiting for something to change and find his glory in where I stand today.

My Wyld Life Campaigners girls are definitely a sweet blessing in my life.  We went to dinner tonight and they gave me the sweetest cards with such encouraging words that just melted my heart.  They even gave me $200 that they had been saving up to add to my fundraising!! Talk about the sweetest 8th grade girls alive!  I mean come on, I'm supposed to be the leader yet the whole year I felt like I was learning so much more from them than they may ever know.  I will truly miss them but I am so thankful that they will feed into such a strong Young Life crowd in high school and they are already talking about saving their money to come visit in Nicaragua!  Come on down girls!!

My students are also a blessing - sometimes not always the sweetest but they definitely keep me on my toes.  I know middle school is not for the faint of heart but having the amazing opportunity to teach and lead WL at the same school have been such a gift.  I have gotten to know these students pretty well this year and I hope they will always know that even if I have to yell at them for talking too much, it's always out of love!  Keep in touch!

My friends are so good to me.  I really wouldn't be here without them.  I could write about all of the lessons they have taught me about love, grace, mercy, joy, sorrow, strength, endurance, faith and so on forever and still have more to say.  The friends the Lord has surrounded me with all of my life but especially in college has truly shaped me into who I am today.  I know that even if we are separated by a few borders, we will remain true friends because our friendship is based on the love of the Lord.  I am expecting visitors, get your passports!

My family.  They are a crazy crew but they have supported this endeavor for so long already and although they don't always understand this love of Nicaragua and why I have to go so far, they have never tried to convince me otherwise.  Didn't we talk about Thanksgiving in Nicaragua 2013? MOM - GET YOUR PASSPORT!

Pretty much, if you are reading this blog, it's probably because you have had some kind of impact in helping me get to this place of taking a great leap of faith to follow the Lord to Nicaragua and I just want to say thank you!  The Lord is doing great things and I couldn't do it without a support team like you, no matter what role you think you play!

Fundraising is still hard but the Lord is always good.

Upcoming big deals:

Cross Cultural Orientation starts on Sunday in Colorado Springs, CO.  I will get to meet a group of other people who are going all over the world with Young Life on the same mission.  I love meeting people with the same heart so I am so excited for a week in Colorado!

Last day of teaching: FRIDAY!  I'm going to be sad to leave my students and the staff at DMS but I am so excited for what's to come!

Registering for language school is really happening so here's to the leap of faith that September is it!  :)

3 Months from Friday

I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.  I will sing your praises among the nations. 

Psalm 57:9

Trust.

So I have been reading a book recommended by friends last summer that I just now got into and have discovered this book could be about me.  It's called Hinds Feet on High Places. Here's a quick synopsis because I couldn't really do it justice ( check it out ).  For the purpose of the blog I'll tell you it's about a girl named Much Afraid who is trying to get to the high places with the help of the Chief Shepherd and the companions he has given her, Sorrow and Suffering.  She has to travel through many valleys, deserts and plateaus to get to the glorified high places where Love lives.  Just like fundraising, her journey is a refining process that she has to go through and trust that the Chief Shepherd is taking her on the exact path that makes the most sense for her.  She comes from the Fearing family so, along with the companions who are helping her she has to endure comments from Pride, Bitterness, Self-Pitty, Resentment and Craven Fear (her cousins who are trying to make her turn around and go home).

Where I am right now in the book, she is on a plateau, walking through dense fog and is questioning whether she is going the right way. . . kinda like me and my fundraising.  I know this is the right way but I find myself wondering if my goal of September is really the end goal (for the sake of this part of my journey) and questioning whether I should be doing something else, something more, instead of just fully trusting that my Chief Shepherd, my Lord, is with me as He has promised me from the very beginning.

I found sweet encouragement in this paragraph tonight that I wanted to share:

" 'Much-Afraid," said [the Shepherd] very gently in answer to that look, "don't you know by now that I never think of you as you are now but as you will be when I have brought you to the Kingdom of Love and washed you from all the stains and defilements of the journey? If I come along behind you and notice that you are finding the way especially difficult, and are suffering from slips and falls, it only makes me think of what you will be like when you are with me, leaping and skipping on the High Places.' " 


It's been interesting to be reading this book as I'm on my own kind of journey these days.  On some days I am so excited to read about another girl who is on a similar journey yet on other days I can't seem to handle someone else's struggle.

This week will be my last week (4 days only!) with students because the next week I will be at a training in Colorado Springs with other people with a similar heart for the nations.  This week could end up being somewhat bittersweet for me for a couple of reasons.

#1Sweet: I won't have to wake up with the sun! (I am not a morning person by nature so this will be a great gift!) #2Sweet: This training is another sign of IT'S REALLY HAPPENING! :) Oh the joy that fills my heart! #1Bitter: I've really grown to love my students.  They are difficult sometimes but my mom tells me I can't hold it against them when they act like middle schoolers... #2Bitter: I'm going to miss the family I've built with the DMS staff.  I will see them for a couple brief teacher work days after my training but it's always a challenge when chapters of life come to a close.  

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like Hinds' Feet and he will make me to walk upon mine High Places. 

Habakkuk 3:19 

Trust. 

It's been a while . . .

First, let me apologize for the lapse of time since my last post.  Life got crazy and I got a little overwhelmed but I promise from here on out to do much better with the updates, at least monthly if not more. 


Ok so the happenings and the updates.  


I finally let my 8th grade Wyld Life campaigners girls in on my little secret which was a great relief.  It was great because I still haven't told any of my students yet so they are the first to know.  I think they like being the first and having this secret to keep but we'll see if it lasts another two weeks before I tell the rest of the school.  My campaigners girls have taught me so much this year and I truly adore each and every one of them.  They have such a strong bond together but even bigger than that is their faith.  We were able to have some mature conversations about faith and what it looks like on the day to day.  Even their questions about high school were about to perserve the greatness that they already have when so many other girls their age are looking to everyone else to figure out who to be.  It has been a true honor to help start up Wyld Life here in Raleigh.  I know the Lord is going to do great things in this ministry and I have loved being a part of it even just for a year.  


Teaching has also taught me a lot but I'm not sure I'll be sad to leave it.  I am thankful that the Lord has a different plan for me because I don't think I could last 30 years!  I love kids and I can't wait to see how the Lord works in that but I'm not sure I can love kids well as a teacher.  I am going to miss my students but my heart isn't in this profession.  Maybe, one day, I'll be back, but as far as I can see it's Nicaragua for me! 


That leads me to my next confession: I am worried - due to slow progress in fundraising - about meeting my goal to leave in September.  I have had days of feeling discouraged because I have to register for language school by mid-June but in order to do that, I have to be confident that I'm leaving in September. I know the Lord's timing is perfect and He is already working and I want to rest in that but sometimes I fear I'm not doing enough so I'm getting in my own way.  Good thing my God is bigger than the things I think I can control.  Please, pray for me to find rest and peace in this because mid-June is about a month away!  If I don't leave in September I have to come up with another plan (until the next semester of language school starts - it's not a now-or-never thing, thankfully) and this is kind of my big plan right now...I don't have much else on the table.  


I broke down my budget again for the money I still need to raise:

8-10 ppl @$100 monthly

plus

15-20 ppl @$50 monthly

plus

10-20 ppl @ $25 monthly 

If you think you could fit into any of those categories OR MORE, please please please contact me!  As the school year dies down (17 more school days for me!) I will have extra time on my hands and would love to fill it up with appointments.  

Let me leave you with a verse that I have held near to my heart the last few weeks: 

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon.

Deuteronomy 31:8

4 months till Costa Rica 

September 1, 2012

Developing Global Leaders

Tonight at Raleigh YL Leadership we took some sweet time in praying for the nations.  International Young Life is in about 90 countries world wide (which is A-MA-ZING).

One thing that is going on in International Young Life around the world is a program called Developing Global Leaders.  I don't really know if I can explain it well enough so here's the link for you to check out:

YL Global Leaders

Basically, it's a program through Young Life that helps support leaders around the world to give them opportunities they may not have otherwise like going to college or getting their Masters.  Young Life wants to build up national leaders "to become transformational leaders in the communities and countries."

Like I said, I can't really do it justice so I encourage you to check out the program.  I know this blog is about my fundraising and the process it is taking for me to get to Nicaragua but I also know this is just as important.  It is key for people to see others just like them succeeding and thriving because of what the Lord can do and this program does just that.

Please, if nothing else, check out the page and find someone to commit to pray for.  Some of the Nicaraguans on the page are leaders that I actually got to spend time with like Elsa and Jessy during my trip.  But of course, you don't have to pray for Nicaragua, there are about 40 countries total with this program so if your heart is set to love another country, the least you can do is pray for someone by name.

The Labyrinth

So tomorrow marks the 1 year start of this whole endeavor.  March 11, 2011 is when I boarded a plane in a hurry to make it to the International Information Weekend at Sharp Top Cove, a YL camp in Georgia.  This time last year I had no idea where this journey was going to take me but I was more than willing to take the steps.

While visiting the camp in Nicaragua a few weeks ago I got a chance to walk through the labyrinth.  A labyrinth is like a maze but there's no wrong way.  This particular one is made out of bushes about 8 feet high planted in a circle with a cross at the middle.  The labyrinth is just one of the many things that really impressed me with the camp.  I had never gone through a labyrinth before but I was assured there was no wrong way and it would take under 10 minutes to go through.  It was one of the first times on my journey that weekend that I really got to enjoy the silence and hear the Lord.

It was a really sweet time for me.  I just started praying as soon I walked in.  Up until this point, I had gone to bed the night before doubting that I could ever have a place in Nicaragua because the ministry seemed to be doing so well and my teammates are already so amazing at what they're doing - where could I fit in?  What did I have to offer that they didn't already have? I was doubting my Spanish skills and even my knowledge of the Lord.  So many doubts and concerns had been rushing through my head that I needed this 10 minutes with the Lord more than I realized.  (I had also been running on little sleep the day before so the shock was a little more overwhelming.)

I don't remember my specific prayers but I'm sure they were filled with these concerns.  The next thing I know, I hear the Lord telling me, "There is no wrong way Jen.  Just take the steps. Just take the steps."  What an amazingly gracious God who sweeps in with such simple instructions and promises greatness.  He will be with me, all I have to do is be willing to take the steps.  He is the one who gets to call people to Himself and I get to be a tool in this process.  Sure, the ministry is thriving and it will be an honor to be a part of that but He has called me to this place for a reason.  I do have things to offer that they team may not even realize we need yet and the Lord's glory will be shown through it all.  There is no wrong way to get to a place where I am glorifying the Lord and a calling to boldness. 


I have to admit, after walking in circles for a few minutes I was wondering when I get to see the cross because you can only look at 8 foot tall bushes for so long.

But isn't that similar to our daily lives?  We feel like we're seeing the same things every day:  talking to the same people, having the same schedule, eating the same food, etc - when do we get to see what He's doing?!  The Lord is faithful to His promises and one of the biggest ones to me these days is that He promises to be with me on this journey.  He also promises to go BEFORE me and prepare a place for me.  How could I not go if He is preparing a place for me?  How could I stay in NC if I know He wants me in Nicaragua?  It only makes sense to me to go.

I know this journey is going to be long.  I know the circles are going to seem endless.  I know there will be points where I just need a break, I just need to sit down for a minute and trust in the Lord's promises and that's ok.  I also learned from my short time in Nicaragua that it's not going to be easy and I may never see the fruits that will come of it and I have to be ok with that too. It's not about me and what I get to do, it's about what the Lord is doing and that I get to be a part of it.

There's no wrong way.

Just take the steps. 

And I will be with you. 

6 Months

Today marks 6 months from when language school will start, with or without me.

September 4, 2012. 

Here's a link to the school Check it out

I have never thought September was close to any month other than August and October but now that it's my goal, it may as well be TOMORROW!  I am grateful and excited for the next 6 months to get to love on my friends, family and students/Wyld Life kids but I'm also nervous.  I have a lot to do in those 6 months.  I have to finish up the school year (last day June 7th), attend Cross Cultural Orientation (June 3rd-8th), (hopefully) take kids to camp (North Bay June 16th-20th) and FUNDRAISE (now).

Fundraising has proved to be way better than I could have ever imagined.  I have been so blessed by the friends I have already met with; being able to reconnect with people I haven't seen in so long as well as involve so many great people in this ministry with me.  I have been so encouraged by all of the excitement that has been shared over this mission that the Lord has for me.  YL International has really set me up for success by providing a fundraising coach who continues to encourage me.  Every two weeks we talk on the phone and he shows me stories of people in the Bible living off of support - even Jesus lived off of support!  There is something so comforting in finding people who lived 2000 years ago trusting in the same God to provide for them and to see His provision in more ways that ever expected.  How faithful He is.

Six months doesn't seem like a lot of time to get the other 70% pledged but I know that if the Lord will have me in Costa Rica 6 months from today, then it's the perfect amount of time.  I know the Lord is using this time as a refining process, really teaching me to rely on him because at this point I have no idea where this money will come from and that's ok.  I don't have to know right now.

1Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I ask for your continued prayer through this refining process.  I'm not expecting this to get easier over the next few months, in fact I expect it to get harder.  I have spoken to the majority of my closest friends  and family at this point and know my comfort zone will have to be left behind to really accomplish these goals.  Life isn't meant to be comfortable and refining isn't easy but think of the jewels that come out of it!

I want to be one of the jewels from the refining process of the Lord.  I want this fundraising to be a time that I get to glorify the Lord by inviting everyone I know to be a part of this ministry but even more to invite them to be a part of His kingdom.

6 months. 

GO.