I didn’t think I would miss the cold showers, or the eerie silence in my room at night, or the rice and beans, or even the dirt that covered my feet by the end of the night. But I do.
For the past couple years, I have felt God’s calling on my life to do missions overseas, specifically in Africa. I wasn’t sure why or even what I was supposed to do when I got there, I just knew that I was meant to go. So I went.
This past summer, I traveled to Kampala, Uganda, Africa for a month where I lived at a children’s home called Rafiki Africa Ministries. While there, I did whatever needed to be done, whether it was helping the kids with school, playing with the kids, or grocery shopping. Throughout the week we even did various outreaches and were able to minister to others in the community. Everything about my trip was nothing short of spectacular. Even the things that I thought I wouldn’t miss taught me something and mean so much to me. The cold showers at night, although sometimes refreshing, made me appreciate the feeling of a warm shower even more. That eerie silence in my room at night, although sometimes frightening, made it easy to hear God and take in all the sounds of Kampala. The rice and beans, a food I loathed at first, came to be one of my favorite meals and one that I quite enjoyed. The dirt that covered my feet had night meant that I had gone about my day properly. I had played, I had loved, and I had had fun with 20 kids who each left a handprint on my heart. This trip had such a profound impact on my life that as soon as I returned home I knew I had to return as soon as possible. Therefore, this summer, I will be returning to Rafiki to continue to build the relationships I began last year. However, this time, I will accompanied by two very close friends, Lydia Rector and Elizabeth Snipes.
I am very excited to return and see the smiley faces I left behind. God is doing a good work at Rafiki, and I want to be a part of it. Therefore, as we prepare for the trip, we need your prayers for safety and God to work in and through us, and we want to humbly ask you to consider supporting us financially. We will be in Uganda from May 7-31, and the cost of the trip is roughly $2,700 individually. Any amount would be great, but if you would be willing to contribute $20, $50, $100 or more, it would really help me to reach my goal!
Please consider how you would be willing to support Lydia, Elizabeth, and I during this trip—either through prayer, financial support, or both. If you would like to donate, please message me and I will give you my info! As of now, we need roughly $1,400 each in the next week to secure our flights. Thank you for partnering with me and supporting me as I prepare for this adventure! I look forward to letting you know how the trip impacted my life when I return! Blessings, Jaden Lester
I have almost completed my first year of college. This has been a huge year of change as I begin establishing the foundation of my career in nursing. It’s been on my heart for a long time to go on an international missions trip and the opportunity has presented itself. A huge influencer in my decision to pursue nursing is the compassion that I have for people, and this same compassion that is compelling me to love people on a deeper level. In May of 2019, I will be accompanying my friends, Jaden Lester and Elizabeth Snipes, on a three week trip to Uganda, Africa.
More specifically, we will be living at an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda called Rafiki Christian Ministries. While preparing for this short-term mission trip, I’d love for you to be a financial and prayer partner in this mission with us. My main goal of this trip is to love. Simply love. Jesus calls us to be servants, and there is no better way to do that than to humble ourselves and serve. I’ve been on numerous domestic mission trips, and have loved being able to pour into other’s lives. As much as I loved and adored those trips, I feel that God is calling me to something deeper and I must be obedient. This is a new step that God is asking me to make, and I am excited for all that I will learn in the months leading up to the trip, during the trip, and after I return home. I believe God is going to “do a good work in me” as a result of this incredible opportunity. At Rafiki Christian Ministries, the children’s home in which we will be staying, was created to build a home for “orphaned, destitute, and vulnerable children” in Africa. Due to the poverty, war, disease, and malnourishment witnessed throughout Uganda, the ministry was designed to aid the some three million orphaned children in Uganda. The ministry not only wants to provide a loving home for the children, but also transform their lives. In the future, they hope to have plots of land, schools, and clinics for the children. Jaden made this same trip last year. I was so inspired not only by the impact that Jaden made in the children’s lives, but by the impact the children made in Jaden’s life. I greatly desire to experience this same life changing journey.
While in Uganda, I will be doing whatever needs to be done. For example, cleaning, helping with chores, playing with the kids, doing crafts, Bible lessons, grocery shopping, prepare food, and most importantly, pour into the lives of the children that we will be staying with. In addition, there will be outreach days where we will go into the community to minister to others. I am very excited to be a part of this team! As we prepare for the trip, we need your prayers for safety and God to work in and through us, and we want to humbly ask you to consider supporting us financially. We will be in Uganda from May 7-31, and the cost of the trip is roughly $2,700 individually. Any amount would be great, but if you would be willing to contribute $20, $50, $100 or more, it would really help me to reach my goal!
Please consider how you would be willing to support Jaden, Elizabeth and I during this trip—either through prayer, financial support, or both. If you would like the donate please text me at (765) 341-1000 or email me at lgrector@iu.edu as of now we need roughly $1400 within the next week to secure our flights. Thank you for partnering with me and supporting me as I prepare for this adventure! I look forward to letting you know how the trip impacted my life when I return!
Happy new year!! As many of you know. A new year means new beginnings and even more importantly, many new doors opening! As 2018 came to a close and this year began I felt as if God was putting something on my heart. I felt as if I should be reaching out more, making new connections, and stepping out of my comfort zone. Lately I had been feeling like I was made for something more than how I was choosing to live, as if I should be doing more, loving more and letting God shine through me more. I would pray to have an open heart and to let others see the love of him through me, but was not making much of an effort to show it! While I was feeling all of this I had a good friend reach out to me and tell me that it was on her heart to invite me to join her on a mission trip! I have decided to take this leap of faith and join Jaden Lester and Lydia Rector on a mission trip to Uganda, Africa. Even though I have never been on a mission trip before, I truly feel like is where I should spend the month of May this year! Some of you may have always wanted to contribute to a ministry but do not always have the time, life is very busy but here is a way for you to be involved and send a piece of love to the children of Uganda through us 3 girls! As I begin this journey I would like to ask mainly for your love, support, and prayers that God will work through all of us! I would also like to humbly ask for your financial support. We will be serving from May 7th to May 31st by going to Kampala, Uganda and staying at an orphanage called Rafiki Christian ministries. This place was created to build a home for “orphaned, destitute, and vulnerable” children in Africa. Due to the poverty, war, disease and malnourishment witnessed through Uganda, the ministry was designed to aid some of the 3 million orphaned children in Uganda. While here I will be volunteering and helping with things such as cleaning, playing with the children, crafts, bible lessons, grocery shopping, preparing food, helping with chores and most of all loving these kids!! Matthew 9:37-38 says “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few, ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest fields.” I have chosen to go on this trip to show love, to build connections, and to spread the word! The total cost of our trip will be roughly $2,700 individually. Today we found out that our flight can only be held for 7 days, with this being the case we each need to make $1,400 in just one week! We will be taking donations and also selling t shirts and bracelets! (More information on those to come) Please consider how you would be willing to support Lydia, Jaden and I during this trip— either through prayer, financial support, or both. If you would like to donate please text me ( Elizabeth Snipes) at 765-318-8165, Facebook message me, or email me at elizabethsnipes88@gmail.com.
Once again, the purpose of this trip will be for me to show love in every way that I can. Jesus calls us to be servants and there is no better way to do so than to humble ourselves and serve! I have been called to do so and have decided to go on this journey with two great friends!
Thank you so much for partnering with me and all of your support as I prepare for this adventure!! I cannot wait to grow leading up to this trip, during and after! I truly feel that this will impact my life for ever and am blessed to have such an amazing opportunity! I look forward to sharing my experiences with you and letting you know how much this trip has impacted my life when I return! Thank you for all of your love and support.
