Home Safe

Thank You everyone for praying for my team and I. God did some great things while in Canada. Now I have returned home and look forward to see how God will use me this summer.
Blessings,
Jenna

Final Days

These are my last few days before i return home. Please be praying that there would still be opportunities to share Christ with people and also that we would all have a safe trip home.
Blessings,
Jenna

Trip to the states

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to a retreat in New Hampshire with my teammates as well as people from the bible study group. It was kind of refreshing to cross the border and be bombarded with US flags in everyones front yards. haha. The trip took us about 3 hours, which was not bad at all. I had a fun time being in the car packed with all girls while we blared girly music and sang super loud. The scenery was gorgeous as we drove through Vermont and New Hampshire. Giant mountains with snow caps were like something from a dream. I've always seen pictures or movies with scenery like that, but to actually see it first hand, I almost couldn't believe it.
The retreat was at a place called Cody retreat center. And it was great. We got to have worship and listen to a speaker for the whole weekend. The first night (Friday) at the end of the evening the camp announced that there was going to be a bonfire. So, eventually we all made our way to this place. The bonfire sat on the beach that surrounded this giant lake. And I walked a little way down from the bonfire and laid down on the sand and looked at the stars. It was astounding! I have never seen so many stars in my life. God is so amazing!! How could I ever look at creation and not be convinced of a creator? I can't.

The next morning, i got up early and sat on a rock that overlooked the snowy lake while doing my devotional.  It was so relaxing to just enjoy God's creation. Later on, I went and laid on my jacket with my toes(still in socks) in the sand.( it wasnt warm enough). This was the first time, i had really felt the sun and so i was determined to soak some in. I put worship music on my Ipod, and closed my eyes and woke up 20 minutes later to my team laughing at me. Apparently they had ran to me and were making bird noises at me but i couldn't hear them through my headphones. haha. I told them i had been imagining i was laying on a beach in Florida.


This week and next week are the last days for the students in the university. We are trying to schedule free meals and events so that we can serve them. Please be praying that we would be put in situations to have good conversations with them and that God would be glorified.

Last Stretch

Interesting how as fast as this trip is going it still continues to speed up. This last 4 week here will be extremely busy but we are praying that God will use these weeks to really bring people to him.  We are taking some of the students to New Hampshire this weekend for a retreat and are praying that for some of them it will be complete life changes. We are also planning for trips that include bonfires and hikes. Please be praying for our team that as we draw to a close we use our time wisely. Also, exams for the university begin next week and so it will be harder to do campus ministry. Please pray that God would continue to give us opportunities to reach people and that we would be taken from our comfort zones and allow God to stretch us.

As I look at the calendar, I am discouraged at the fast approaching departure date. When I first came to this place, the days seemed so long, and the weeks never ending. And i don't mean that in a negative way, i enjoyed every minute of it. Now however, the days fly by, and the weeks go by even faster! I can't believe that i only have about 6 weeks left. I look back over the last couple months, and it's amazing the things that God has been doing. God has used me in ways i never would have imagined. He has taken me from my comfort zone many times and taught me many things. I have been blessed to learn more about prayer and see how God answers them.
These next 6 weeks will be intense and busy. I am praying that God will keep me from being lazy. I want to take advantage of every opportunity that Christ gives me. We have begun a bible study on Wednesday mornings, and although the first week the turnout was small, it was honestly encouraging to begin my day early and in the Word. Tomorrow will be the second week of the study, and I am praying that God will continue to work in hearts and wake up these college students so that they will come.
Also, on April 1, we are having an "All Night Sports Craze." This is an all night event for middle/high school students as well as college students. During the event the students play sports all night, and throughout the night there is a series of 3 small devotionals. Please be praying that God would prepare hearts so that during this time they would be open to the gospel and that some would decide to give their lives to Christ.

Updates

School has started back this week and so we have been able to get back onto the college campus.  We started off the week slow due to a blizzard. It was so bad, that we had to walk in the roads because everything else was snowed in. It have the term "playing in traffic" a whole new meaning.haha. 

We are starting a bible study on Wednesday mornings. It's called Mark 1:35. We are taking the verse of how Jesus gets up early and spends time with God, and turning it into how we should live. It's a struggle to get up early for most college students, and so we are asking them to make it a sacrifice once a week. I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do through this. It will be a great way to start the day, and a great way to learn more about God's word. 

Also, a lot of the Canadians seem to be sick this week, so please pray that our team stays healthy and able to keep telling people about God's word. It is sad to think i have less than 2 months left here, but it terrifies me to think that i could get lazy and miss out on sharing the gospel. I want to take full advantage of the opportunities God has placed here. 

Winter Break

So, today officially starts Bishop University's winter break. It's kinda like spring break, but its still winter here obviously. :) Students finished off their midterms last week and began to disappear then. This week is honestly a week for my team and I to rest up and relax. More importantly, we need to rest and then get into a mind set of giving God all we have for the next 2 months. I can't believe we are half way to being done.
God is doing some really awesome things, and i cannot wait to see what he will do with the final months left in the trip. He has been teaching me so so much. Today, He was teaching my on patience.
For prayer requests, please pray for direction for me. I am waiting on acceptance to nursing schools, and today i got declined from one. I'm praying God would show me where he would have me go to school or if not what he would have me do instead.

Matthew 24:14

I recently have been thinking about what it would look like in our lives if we actually followed Matthew 24:14. "The Good News about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come."
As i was thinking on this, the verse Acts 1:8 obviously came to mind. We are to made disciples of all nations.
That being said, I've been thinking about how we really don't get outside our comfort zones to reach the unreached. There are 6,426 unreached people groups in the world. And at the rate we are going, honestly, it's just gonna take way to long for Christ to come back and I don't want to wait that long. We live our lives like we will live forever and yet the truth is we aren't even guaranteed our next breath. Life is short and eternity is at stake!
I've been dwelling on the idea of what if each church each was accountable to reach at least one of these unreached groups. There are thousands of churches in just the United States alone. Let's be proactive! Lets do something, lets share the name of Christ (after all, who are we to keep it to ourselves anyway).Christ didn't die for us so that we could just sit on our couches in our comfort zones.
Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the Lord's voice, saying, 'Whom can I send? Who will go for us?' So I said, 'Here I am. Send me!'

Valentines Day

This Valentines Day was by far my favorite ever!! I had planned out a "Girls Night In". It was a girls night only, and we had a million cupcakes/brownies/cookies. We watched a chick flick and painted our nails. What made it even more amazing was two of our guy friends surprised us by leaving an anonymous vase of flowers with a note that said, "Hey Girls, Happy Valentines Day. There's a rose for everyone of you and plenty of strawberries and chocolate."

All the girls were giggling and grinning from ear to ear. It was such a sweet gesture. We really enjoyed our night and it was nice to be appreciated by our brothers in Christ.

Blessings

I was blessed with the opportunity to help with a Special Olympics Power lifting competition today. I've never really had the opportunity to really work with special needs people like that, but after today I can honestly say i have been missing out. They are some of the most loving people and have a heart of gold! Just watching them brought a grin to my face. I think about how some people blame God for making disabled people, as if they are a bother to society, but after being around them, i think God blessed us with these people. God blesses us in ways we cannot even begin to understand. He made these amazing people who are full of love and adoration, and i wonder if we are really loving them like Christ does. How often do we actually take the time to get to know a special needs person? I think sometimes we avoid them, not because of dislike but because we don't know how to respond to them. But do we really even take the time to learn how? I know I'm guilty of this. In the end though, the person who was really missing out was me.

Today has been an overall encouraging day to me. It started out a bit emotionally draining when i woke up to a nightmare to say the least. These come only every once in a while in my life but when they do come, they usually "hit home" so to speak. Although, they are frustrating or "frightening" the greatest comfort to me is knowing God is protecting me and will not let this take hold of me.
After this morning, my day has been pretty amazing. I got to adventure Canada with Ashlee as we took a bus to the mall. Had some girl time and went shopping, but mostly just got to spend time with her. God has blessed me beyond belief with such an amazing roommate.
Today, I also began to prepare for a sermon I will speak on Thursday night at down under (which is the college bible study). I am preparing to talk about the 4th chapter in the book radical which speaks on missions and getting out of our comfort zones and going and being bold about our faith in Christ. This is a subject I am very passionate about, and I am beyond thrilled to be able to share with others about this passion. I am praying that God will give me the words to speak, and that hearts would be opened to obedience in God's calling in our lives to go and share the gospel. This last week, I had the honor of sharing my testimony with down under, and also the church that i attend while I'm here.
For those who are continually praying for me, thank you. It is a spiritual battle here, and your prayers are being heard. Please keep praying for my team. Pray that God would use us in mighty ways.

It has started to become very snowy here! I walked to the university that we have been evangelizing at, and the snow was just heavily falling and it piling up quickly. It made for an interesting morning. My last week has been somewhat interesting. On Friday, i sat down with an Atheist and talked to him for a couple hours. Eventually he texted in backup, and another atheist joined in on the conversation. I left with them not really being any closer to accepting Christ, but I think what they took away from it was seeing what a genuine Christian looks like, and hopefully they were able to see what a Christian is not. Not saying I'm a perfect Christian, because i know better :) It was just a different experience for them because they wanted me to get upset and yell and I refused. Somehow, I think that is out of the normal for them. I'm praying God will continue to use me and other Christians that are here to share with them. I am also building relationships with other people I have met here, and that has been a slow but positive process.
Please pray for my team and that we will continue to be presented with opportunities to share the gospel with others. Also, pray that when these opportunities present themselves, that we would be obedient in responding.

Preach It!

Today was definitely a spiritual high for me. We had a man from the IMB come to video record the things God is doing here and what ministries are being used. He was able to come see one of the ministries called Down Under. Down Under is a place where there is a Bible study, but it's open and people can ask questions and discuss topics. It's also great because they can play games and eat snacks and socialize. For the Bible study, we are going through the book Radical by David Platt which calls us to live our Christian lives out radically for Christ. Here in Canada, what we have come to find is that the gospel is watered down. The emphasis is on how God loves us, and the whole part about us being sinners which is what separates us from God is not as much discussed. Tonight however, the speaker focused on the entirety of the Gospel. The part about Him being a God of Love and also a God of wrath, and that while He is both, He is completely just. I felt like for the first time since we've been here, God was powerfully moving in the room. It was so refreshing!
I am praying that God will continue to move in these Canadian's lives and show them the truth about who He is. In the upcoming weeks both Bill and I will teaching chapters from this book. Please be praying for us. Pray that God would move ahead of us and prepare hearts to hear the truth of God's Word. Also, pray that we would be obedient in teaching what He is calling us to teach.
In the last week, my team and I have all been suffering from the flu, but we are on the mend so praise God! Please pray that we would continue to be well so that we can better share Christ with the people here.
With love,
Jenna

Skiing Day!!

This is a picture after a tired day of skiing. It was a lot of fun and I took only 3 falls, although i should probably add they were 3 pretty spectacular falls. Haha. This was my first real time skiing since i was much younger, and i was brave enough to try and make a small jump(more of a hop...). Anyway, my Canadian friend Christine finally decided she would watch me, and so of coarse that was the time i messed up. I was about to take the little jump and one of my skis fell off. .  causing me to faceplant into the snow. I must admit that was a good laugh to be had.
I have only been in this place for two weeks, and yet i already love it so much. I know without a doubt this is the place I am supposed to be. I'm being able to build relationships with people here and that is the whole idea of what we are doing here. The Canadians are not looking for another "religion", and we are here to show them that Christ is not about rules but rather it's about a relationship with our savior. Making relationships with people here allows us to open up doors and show them what kind of people Christians really are and who God really is. We are tearing down the walls of misconception piece by piece. We have a long way to go, but i am positive God is going to do some amazing things here.
Please pray for me as i think i am starting to get sick. That is no good if i want to stay active and keep on keepin on :)
Love you all

Strength for Today

This post is more on my prayer needs than what's going on here in Canada. Please be praying for me and my team that we would be able to stand up for the Gospel. Pray that even when we are frustrated, we would have strength in God. Pray for the people here in Lennoxville. That God would go ahead of us and prepare people's hearts so that they would hear His Word. Pray that we would be brave and stand firm on God's Word even when others don't want to hear.
There is a giant battle over hearts for Christ here in Quebec. We need all of you prayer warriors to be in constant prayer for this place, my team, and the Christians here.

Bishop University

 Fun night in my apartment.

"Redneck" bowling night. My roommate Ashlee and I.

Gathering

Today was a very encouraging day for me. My team got up this morning to help come Christians bake for a bake sale that was later tonight. It was great to just have a relaxed yet fun morning. This evening Bill and I went to the Bishop University Basketball game. The people we helped bake for were at the event and happened to be just outside the door that everyone entered through. They were trying to raise money to support an orphaned girl in Niger, Africa. It was through World Changers, and it only cost about $420 to support this girl for an entire year. The girls were expecting to maybe get 100 dollars from this bake sale, but God had other plans for them. They were completely blown away to find out they raised $380. Now all they have left to raise is 40 dollars.
The basketball game was fun, and we decided that we would invite the Christians that we had met this week, along with other people, to come back to our apartment after the game to have a game night. We ended up having about 15 people crammed into our little living room, and it was a BLAST. We ended up not playing any games at all, but we were able to just relax and laugh ALOT. I am praying that this is just the start of being able to invite people to our apartment. I am in the hopes of one day leading bible studies here. God has so much at work here. I am very excited to be apart of His plans. I am praying that he will use my team to make an impact. I pray that we would be unselfish and giving. It's so easy to try and rationalize that we are doing "enough", but that's not what i want to say when it is time for me to leave here. I want to give of myself 110% for God while I am in this place. I want to lose sleep because I was able to have people stay late at my apartment and learn more about you. I want to be able to say that when i leave this place, that I am leaving with nothing left to give. This sounds tiring, and if I was doing it on my own account, it would be without a doubt. BUT, I am working for the Creator of the universe and He gives me strength. I am blessed.
Please pray for me that I would not become discouraged when things don't seem to be going in the way I think they should. Pray that I would stay focused, and that God would use me for big things.

Canadian Birthday

Today was my 20th Birthday. Mostly it' was a normal day, just like any other. As I prayed today, I prayed that I wouldn't be glorified today because it's "my" special day, but instead that He would be glorified. Being in this place is already such a learning experience.  It's a challenge to get out of my comfort zone and talk to people, but Im enjoying that challenge. It's growing me as a follower of Christ.
Please continue to pray for me that i would be obedient to the things God is calling me to do. It's not always easy, but in the end it pays off. His kingdom will be glorified in the end, whether i am apart of it or not. It's up to me to decide if i want to be apart of bringing glory to Him. Also, pray for my team and I, that we would not become homesick, so that we can focus on the task in front of us, and not be distracted.
Love you guys

Jan 10

The last few days have been mostly our team trying to learn about culture and understanding how things work here. It's been a positive experience. We went to Robert's church yesterday. It was spoken in French, so we couldn't understand, but the people are really great. It's not what American churches are like. They meet in a daycare building. We went early so that we could set up. Church consisted of about 20 people in fold out chairs facing the pastor in a semi-circle. The Christian Canadians that we have met so far are passionate about making a difference in their country. It's inspiring. I feel as if American churches really got on fire for God and had a passion maybe we would get outside our comfort zone and impact more people. I feel as if in America we have no consequences for being a Christian. Just about everywhere else in the world, Christians are persecuted. I think because America acts as such a melting pot of religions, that we've become passive of telling people of Christ. We are allowing them to believe what they want because it's not "affecting" us, but in the end we are condemning them to Hell.
I think maybe reading the book Radical has been showing me new viewpoints on how we live our faith. I just feel as if we aren't doing enough. This semester in Canada, I really feel as if God is calling me to be radical in my faith. To get out of my comfort zone. To share Christ.
There are many opportunities to serve here because there are so many unsaved people. Please pray for me, that I would serve in ways that would be most beneficial to the kingdom of God.
On a lighter note, we got to go sledding on Saturday. So it was a good time to act like a kid and play in the snow. :) Last night, we got together with a small group of Canadians and had a chick-flick movie night. Tonight, we might be playing laser tag. Although it sounds as if its all work and no fun; Rather, our objective is to build relationships and be able to disciple people.
Much Love,
Jenna

Its a bit choppy from the video and my voice. The next blogs will be better.

Cannot upload video on here. View Facebook Instead

Departure

Today marks my final day in the United States. God has completely blessed me with this trip. All of my financial support support was covered and I have a vast majority of people in prayer for me. I cannot wait to find out what God has in store for me starting tomorrow.
I will be flying out of Orlando to Detroit. I get to meet the rest of my team mates there and together we will fly to Montreal. Please be praying for safe travels for myself and my team.