Testimony: “I have started to see and understand why it’s so important to read God’s Word”
Got this email from one of the girls in our congregation:
“I have always had a hard time reading the Bible and just letting things soak in and allowing God’s Word to transform me. However…I remembered you talking about Psalm 119 and how it can help us to have a love for God’s Word that we didn’t have before. So I figured I would try it out. I started the Psalm 119- 119 days challenge. I have been reading now for almost a month and I have started to see things in God’s Word that I have been struggling with…I have started to see and understand why it’s so important to read God’s word and let it soak in….I mean just reading Psalm 119 I have seen how I can get through it and that’s by living according to God’s Word. I thought that was amazing because I had been praying about so much regarding situations that I feel so weak in. I have even started praying a lot more than I normally do. It’s like every time I open Psalm 119 I see something that I didn’t see the day before. It’s so refreshing! I want to complete the entire 119 days of reading Psalm 119 so I can understand even more. I just wanted to tell you about it and how excited I am about reading God’s Word”
Hopefully that encourages all of us to dig into God’s Word daily!
Q&A with Rachael Jankowsky
Q: Where are you going and what will you be doing?
A: I’m moving to Petit Goave, Haiti in August! I’ll be living there for at least one year and serving as a volunteer through a Christian relief and development group called World Hope International (WHI). I’ll work with the local church there to discover the best next steps as earthquake recovery continues. This includes working with mobile medical clinics, assisting the church in growing and developing the child sponsorship program into a more dynamic community effort, and helping everyone partner in transitioning from relief efforts back to a development focus.
Q: What were the key milestones in the process of deciding to move?
A: I’ve been passionate about building cultural bridges between the U.S. church and the church abroad for years now. While attending AU I got involved with The Gathering and that’s how this whole Haiti thing started! I first visited Haiti in ’08 with a team of students and volunteers. Before that, I had never really heard anything about the country – it was totally off my radar.
I ended up spending that summer in Petit Goave with one of my good friends, Sarah. We lived on our own, learned Creole, and focused on building relationships in a specific neighborhood – Percin. Much of the time was spent teaching English, art, and jewelry-making classes for people in Percin. While we were there getting to know people, God really attached my heart to that community and gave me the desire to go back for a longer stay. One of the biggest milestones was when we did a mural project with the kids in Percin. Sarah and I got an amazing glimpse of how God can reconcile & restore communities – that story will be up on my blog in a couple days…
Since then I’ve been waiting. When graduating college, I wanted to go right away! But the Lord had other plans and asked me to wait. That’s hard – to be fired up about doing something and have the answer to your prayers about it be “No, not right now.” So these past few years have been an exercise in patience and faithfulness while waiting on the Lord.
Q: What is one thing that you’ve learned in the process?
A: One thing…okay, the biggest theme that’s been going on with this whole process is willingness. Isaiah just …jumped at the chance to be sent out as the Lord’s servant. And I think, ‘how often do I react that way to the requests of the Lord?’ In Isaiah 6:8 the Lord asks, Isaiah responds with a willing heart, and BAM! Right away he is chosen and assigned the work! And so, God is looking for His people to have hearts that are willing to do what He asks of us (“Here am I! Send me!”). So, now a question that I ask myself all the time is “am I willing?” Am I willing to move? Am I willing to wait 3 years to go? Am I willing to lean on His wisdom & provision instead of my own? Am I willing to wake up earlier to spend more time with Him? These are important, uncomfortable questions to be asking. But whenever the answer is ‘no,’ then I discover where my heart is not yet submitted to the Lord and can ask Him to do work there.
Q: How can we pray for you as you prepare to leave?
A: Peace and rest as I’m wrapping up everything here in the U.S. – it’s a lot of work! Also, before my departure I’m trying to transition mentally and emotionally in order to arrive ready. Please be praying for that, as I’m not used to a lot of emotions – they’re exhausting. Finally, please pray for spiritual health and focus; to make time every day to draw near to the Lord in prayer & through the Word. My hope is that in these next few weeks I would become more deeply rooted in Christ as I prepare to go.
To contact Rachael:
Email: rachael.jankowsky@gmail.com
Twitter: rjankowsky
Q&A with Alezandra Russell
Q: Where are you going, for how long, and what will you be doing?
A: I’m heading back to Chiang Mai, Thailand where I will be once again working with boys who are victims of sex-trafficking and child prostitution. Through the Urban Light Youth Center located in Chiang Mai’s Red Light District, I am able to reach a population of youth who have been entirely overlooked by their immediate community. This includes educational programming, hot meals, case management, vocational training, love and care.
Q: How did you get involved with this?
A: About a year ago while traveling to Thailand to learn more about human trafficking and the various types of exploitation, I experienced a moment that will forever be imprinted in my mind and heart. It was while in the boy bars of Chiang Mai’s Red Light District that I observed the most insidious type of exploitation. I remember standing in agony as I witnessed men leaving with teen boys whose eyes never met mine because they were shamefully looking at the ground as they walked passed me. It was a that moment that I called on God to give me the strength and vision to do something about this red-colored-cluster of bars where so many boys had their innocence stolen.
Q: What has God been teaching you about Himself through this work over the last 2 years?
A: Through various parables and versus within the Bible I have been on a journey of better understanding my faith and the life of Christ. Throughout Jesus’ life are stories and examples that I strive to replicate in my daily actions: love, patience, compassion, understanding. During a Frontline service given by Mike Kelsey, we were taught about the true character of Christ when he dined with tax-collectors, thieves and prostitutes–this truly demonstrated the love that Christ had for his brothers and sisters despite many vices the community placed upon them. Jesus was able to look beyond the ‘bad’, the ‘tainted’ and the ‘sinful’–he was able to forgive and refrain from judgement–something I want to mimic.
Q: What has God been teaching you about yourself over the last 2 years?
A: I try to be the Samaritan of the great parable in Luke 10: 25-37. Before realizing the needs of so many, I lived a life very much with me at the center. It was a daily focus on my needs, my wants and my desires. Metaphorically, I was beginning to pass more and more people on the street in need when I suddenly realized if I didn’t stop and help who would. I decided to take responsibility to love my neighbor, as Christ told us to. The greatest gift God would give me was when he broke my heart for the boys of Thailand. I would leave my job & my husband for 6 months out of the year to travel to a place where I did not speak the language, know the culture, or know a soul. It has been God’s work in me that has made me better understand myself and my Faith.
Q: How can the Frontline Silver Spring community pray for and encourage you over these next 3 months while you’re gone?
A: I ask that the Frontline community pray for my clarity, my strength, and my safety. I ask that you pray my heart always breaks for each of these boys and that they see how deeply and honestly God & I love them. With each trial and challenge that comes before me, I ask that you pray for my ability to see the good and know that to endure is to know God in a more personal way. Please pray that the Urban Light boys feel the strength of our prayers and realize how many people are thinking of & praying for them. I ask that you pray that waves of angels fall upon them and protect them from the harms of streetlife and that they find refuge in the Youth Center.
To contact Alezandra:
Email: alezandra@urban-light.org
Facebook: UrbanLight
Twitter: BethelightUL
Video: Leayne & Lowell’s Baptism
Frontline Silver Spring Baptisms – April 3, 2011 from Frontline on Vimeo.
Great Story of a Frontliner Stepping Out of “The Bubble”
I got this email from a friend at Frontline Silver Spring this morning. It’s always encouraging to see people applying the message…but obviously my sermon needed a little more practical guidance…
Mike,
Thought I’d share this with ya.
Monday morning as I walked into the Starbucks the words of your sermon were ringing in my ears. Do I live in that Christian bubble? Do the non-believers I know respect what I would have to say about my faith?
As I stepped up to the counter a familiar face looked at me and said “That will be $2.72 sir.”.
I come in this Starbucks all the time, so now was my moment. My response:
“You know what man? I see you almost on a daily basis and I don’t even know your name. I’m Paul.”
I reached across and shook his hand and he said “John, really nice to meet you.”
Feeling really good about myself as I headed over to wait for my drink and thinking about the sermon again and the Great Commission and Jesus “at table” with the tax collectors and sinners I hear a voice behind me softly say “Hey Paul”.
I slowly turned back. Here it is, here it comes. I’m fully expecting John to open up and tell me how much it meant that I introduced myself to him, maybe even he would open up and we would forge a friendship right then and there.
“Yes John.”
“Hey, ummm, well. See, it was really nice meeting you and all, but, ummm, you forgot to pay…”
I’m an idiot.
LOL! Can’t win ‘em all.
(The sermon on Sunday night was about stepping out of the “Christian Bubble” and rearranging our lives to have a greater spiritual impact on those around us. Click here to listen.)