**SHAMELESS PLUG WARNING ** It's an unbelievably FANTASTIC read for those who are preparing for a missions trip or looking more into the reality of the poverty surrounds us all. Seriously. Go buy it. Or. You can borrow mine. Just. Read. It.
As it turns out, my group traveling to South Africa also happens to think that this book is pretty neat. We will be reading it as we prepare to travel overseas and support the mission work that is already taking place in the community of Red Hill. Together we will be delving into what it means to be involved in a short term mission project and how to best support the missionaries and the community without being a burden to the cause. I'm so excited to reread this and have new things stand out to me. I'm sure there will be a post or two throughout my reading :)
I'm NOT okay. You're NOT okay. BUT JESUS can fix us both. I feel like this statement is one of those sentences that our teachers in high school made us emphasize different words while reading through the sentences repetitively and each time you read it something new strikes you about the statement. To me, reading this brings a message of humility as a follower of Jesus Christ and a constant reminder that I am nothing without His hand guiding me in every move that I make. It embraces the "one-ness" across humanity in that we all NEED to be fixed by the only one who can do the fixing. We are all on an even playing field in the eyes of Jesus; our race, our wealth, our zip code, our family does NOT define us. What a humbling and sobering reminder that I am so small in the eyes of my creator and yet I was created to do great things in His name, and so are my brothers and sisters in South Africa. The Gospel is open to the broken and for that I will be forever grateful. God is alive and God is moving in this community outside of Cape Town and I can't wait to see how He is exalted.
It was so great to be back in Nashville this weekend to meet with my team members and share our excitement and our vision for this trip. I could hardly contain my excitement throughout our meeting yesterday.
**SHAMELESS PLUG #2**
Thank you SO much to everyone who has come alongside this trip and supported it both prayerfully and financially. I am right on time for my deposits thus far and have a $1000.00 towards the trip. That being said, I am slightly nervous about the next financial deadline which is January 4th. I will need to have an additional $1000.00 towards my trip by that time so we can purchase our plane tickets. Please think about a donation as ANY (and I mean ANY) gift is so helpful, and hey, who needs a great tax deduction before the end of the year?! ;) As a reminder, I've included how you can best give a donation at the bottom of this page.
THANK YOU for making it to the end of blog post #2! I am not much of a writer, but want to keep you all updated on the work we are doing preparing for March 4th.
To make a donation to Jenn Vander Veen's South Africa Mission Trip:
1. Go to www.justiceandmercy.org/donate and select "Support A Missionary or Pay for a Mission Trip." You will be prompted to log into a Pay Pal Account. There you can plug in your credit card information and you can note that this donation is for "Jenn Vander Veen, South Africa Trip, March 2015"
2. You can mail a donation to me! I love mail. Be sure to make a check out to JMI (Justice and Mercy International) and write South Africa 2015 in the memo line.
My new address is:
Jenn Vander Veen
5700 108th St, Apt #3A
Chicago Ridge, IL 60415
Well, that's all folks! Until next time!
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