Thank you all SO VERY VERY much for coming out to hear about my trip. I was overwhelmed by the support and the feedback so THANK YOU! I have had a few requests for me to post the videos and stories that I spoke about. If you want to hear more about any of the ministries, please contact me!
SOOOO I finally have a date set to do a presentation on my trip! The fellowship hall at Chapelwood United Methodist Church in Lake Jackson is reserved on Sunday November 8th at 9:30 AM (during the Sunday School hour) and also 5 PM for people who do not attend church at Chapelwood. Anyone is welcome to come to either or both of the presentations. I will be showing a few videos, pictures, and speaking about my time in Central America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.
ALSO....if you want me to come speak at your church, sunday school class, bible study, book club, or just want to to chat with me on on one about my trip, I would LOVE to! Just call or email me and we'll set something up. Also, if there is one thing you would like me to focus on, i.e. sex trade in Thailand or orphans in Africa, I would be more than happy to do that as well!
Recap: Presentation on my International Mission Trip
When: November 8th, 9:30 AM & 5 PM
Where: Chapelwood United Methodist Church, Fellowship Hall
People keep asking "What's it like being home?" "How are you doing?" "Is it weird being home?" All normal questions for someone who just traveled to 11+ countries, saw unimaginable heartbreak, and has gone through 3 months of "American culture shock." Overall, things are great and I have loved being home in the states. As much as I loved being gone, I also equally love being in the states. I realized that I like routines, and I like to know where I will be sleeping and if I will have a shower in the next week or not...ha.
But being home has also brought on many challenges that I didn't have prior to leaving. How does my role in the Kingdom fit in here state-side, what's my next step, how can I help all of the individuals I have met "over there" while still being here??? SO many questions....not very many answers. But that's OKAY! I know I'm not suppose to have it all figured out yet and the Lord will show me in time the answers to those questions.
My teammate Josh Markland (http://joshuamarkland.wordpress.com/) or "Red Flame" as some of us like to call him, wrote this blog and I think it sums up a lot of what myself and my other teammates have gone through. He's a much better writer than me, so I think he sums it up pretty well.
P.S. I'm not going through a REAL midlife crisis, it's just a good metaphor for what God does when he shakes you up a bit...
I've decided to have my mid-life crisis early. After all, I've got some free time and I don't like to procrastinate.
As I continue to blow through my 20s like Joey Chesnut at a hot-dog
buffet, two things have become more and more apparent to me. First, my
life post-college has looked about 3% like I thought it would while I
was still in college. Second, the twentysomething stage of life for a
follower of Jesus Christ is WAY more difficult than that of the average
Joe College grad. Allow me to explain.
Life after college was supposed to be like life during college, only
with money. Yeah, having to show up at work everyday would be a drag,
but $50k+ per year with hardly any expenses and only a shred of
responsibility would be amazing. It would be just as fun and free as
college, only you wouldn't live in a disgusting apartment and survive
off of ramen noodles and Hungry Man dinners. Hello nice dinners,
goodbye high cholesterol.
Reality has been a series of identity crises mixed with having no
money and living an extremely adventurous life. That sentence doesn't
seem to make sense. How can those things all mix together at once? Because I've devoted my life to Christ, I've gone through the
sometimes painful process of relinquishing 'me', my plans, my wants, my
grip on life. I've begun to learn what it means to live with an open
palm, to allow God to give and take as he sees fit, grasping onto Him
and not onto the things. Notice that I say I've begun to learn; I've
in no way become proficient at this yet, thus the painfulness of the
process. But the process has forced me to deal with major things like
life calling, identity, etc.
I suppose God's graciously allowing me (and the rest of a generation
of believers my age) to go through that process now. No, post-college
life hasn't been the 'college continued, only with money' experience
like I thought it would be. Now, don't get me wrong, I've traveled the world and had more
adventure and excitement than I ever thought I would by age 26. I guess the same holds true
whether you're 46 or 26. Just ask Solomon.
Today I received my first blog update from my brother, Callan, who left yesterday to travel to Ireland to begin his world race journey. I know what you're thinking..."Ireland?? Well that's not very 3rd world!" But don't worry, there is PLENTY to be done there and it's not like they are living it up in some posh hotel. They're in their tents for the first month(check out the "tent village" they got going in Irealnd). I think this is a GREAT first month location and set up! They are still roughing it in their tents, but in a somewhat nice environment to get be able to focus on getting to know one another and transisiton from the states.
When people have asked me what advice I had given him before I left, I said..."well, nothing really." Because this is HIS journey and even though I can explain the emotions and feeling I went through each month,they will be COMPLETELY different than what he will experience. He will have his own pain, struggles, and triumphs.
I have REALLY enjoyed getting to spend time with Callan and my other younger brother, Benjamin this summer. We have all been home for an "extended" period of time for the first time in over 7 years (since I left for college). I am EXTREMELY proud of both of them. Callan just graduated from Texas A&M(WHOOP!) with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He was accepted to UT law but is deferring for a year to go on this crazy journey we call the World Race. Ben leaves next week to head to Nashville where he will attend Vanderbilt. Lots of changes going on right now but they are all VERY exciting. I cant wait to see how the Lord will mold and change them this next year as they both embark on a new phase in their lives.
To keep up with Callan's journey over the next year, click here to go to his webpage. On the left hand side, click on "Update Alerts." If you put in your email address, you will receive an email when ever Callan posts a blog or video.
So this past week I have started the job hunt which is inevitably a bit tedious and stressful. BUT then I received this update from Pastor Gift from Swaziland and it kind of put things into perspective for me. He is one of the MOST amazing men of God I have ever met. He grew up in Swaziland and is now a missionary( lives off of support) in Nsoko, Swaziland where my team spent about 2 months. He recently posted this on his blog. It once again reminded me of how small my worries and problems are compared to what people in Africa and other countries face on a daily basis. (To read more about pastor Gift, click on his blog here: http://pastorgift.myadventures.org)
The Nsoko community once again is facing a challenge within a
challenge. Most people in this area depend on Government food grants to
survive. What I do not understand is why it takes so long for Goverment
to replenish the food supply to these people?
Yesterday I was sitting in my house doing administrative work when
I heard a timid knock at the door. At first I thought it was my puppy
now becoming big dog Max. I heard the gentle but desperate knock on the
accompanied by murmuring sounds. I reluctantly stood up and went to
check this unusual knock out. Guess what I found out there? God. Yes, I
saw God. But this time it is not as I expected to see God. He was
represented by this old lady. This lady was so frail and skiny you
could have thought she was dead. I enquired, "how can I help you gogo".
She shyly gave a response, "I am hungry my son, help I am dying." I
immediately thought of what we had at the kitchen. I wish Isabel was
writing this blog as a third person because it is difficult to say
this. We had no food too except some bread that I was serving for my
daughter when she comes from school.
The Spirit within me said I you going to spare food for your
daughter and not give God right at your door. Joy came upon my spirit
right then and I went to the kitchen and began to make juice and took
all the slices of bread put it on a tray and went to give the old lady
outside. Her eyes immediatetly brightened at the sight of food. I
watched her eat as if she had not eaten in days. When she was done I
cannot remember how many times she said "God bless you my son", "Thank
you so much" with that shaking timid voice. I watched her as she stoop
up to leave her body telling a story of shame as she moved. As she
disappeared she left me with a picture of a miserable face that does
not remember any joy. Here is someone that has lived a life of shame
most of her life.
She is just one out of so many. Scott Borg has been to Nsoko this
month with an Adult Team that happened to have teenagers too. On
Tuesday and Thursday we visited homes for ministry. This team had
bought basic food parcels to give out to the homes we visited. I went
with a team to a home that I know is a youth headed family. Father and
mother are dead only the children survive them. The World Racers would
remember Mfan'thini. This is his family. They have absolutely no means.
This young girl, hard as it is to admit, has to sometimes prostitute
herself to feed the to young sisters, younger brother and her own small
child. On the secong visit we went to this gogo's home.She is
trying her best to raise her grandchildren that were left behind by her
dead children. The only surviving daughter destroyed her house and left
never to come back.
I must say, the people of Nsoko are still full of hope. They hope
in life, they hope in hope, and above all they have hope in God.How
people survive hear sometimes I do not know. But the fact is they do
survive. They hope against hope. As I write in my car there is an
envelope full if HIV results. The Luke Commission worker tells me that
almost all of the people who got tested, they tested positive. She
mentioned a special case of a fifteen year old who is in a critical
position because her CD4 count is very low. HIV and poverty somehow do
assist one another. They are cousins. These people are poor and they
are also the most infected. In Swaziland the infection rate is at 42%.
Nsoko has a 49% infection rate. People are dying and in numbers.
Businesses are being affected.
The other day I was called upon to rescue a young man of about 22
years. He was from hospital to collect his ARV's. He had just enough
money for transport and nothing for food. He fell next to the gate
because he could not walk any longer. We have hope though. We hope
against hope. The Real Life team is rounding up its ministry in Nsoko.
Having these vibrant young people minister to their counterparts does
give a ray of hope. It makes me think: God does care about Nsoko.
My teammate Lindsay Stahl made this video about these past 11 months. I am still working on my own, but she did a great job of capturing what we saw and experienced over this year.
While in Ukraine, we had the opportunity to share some of the stories and videos from this past year with the English classes. It's not that I have forgotten the people I have met along the way, but this video that Natalie Montgomery made, reminded me of just how blessed I am once again. My teammates Natalie, Alison, Melanie, Sara, and Amy spent their month of ministry working in the slums and at "Rubbish Mountain," the trash dump in Phnom Penh. The girls did everything from teaching about basic hygiene to bathing and cleaning the "healthy" and sick children. I have watched this video countless times, and each time I am in awe of how these people live and what they do to survive.
Recently I received a post on my public comments page from a man about a blog I wrote while I was in Thailand about prostitution. My blog was about the feelings of disgust I felt while seeing the older men with the young Thai prostitutes, but also the compassion I had for them because I knew they were empty and without Jesus. This man gave me a different perspective on sex tourism, and while I disagree with what he says, I respect his vulnerability and openness with me. I am looking for YOU, the readers of my blog, to give a GRACE filled, biblical and respectful answer or perspective on what he is saying. I do not have this man's contact information, so I hope that he will see your posts on my comment section. I have asked my coach, Seth Barnes, how I should respond and he suggested I post this to receive other people's perspective.
Here is the blog I wrote and below it is the comment I received from him.
True Story: Prostitution in Thailand
Posted in Thailand by Jessica Edquist on 11/11/2008
I have been searching for the words since I arrived here on
how to describe this place. Dirty, oppressive, perverted, and just flat
out evil have all come to mind. Pattaya, Thailand, a beautiful coastal
city, is completely infiltrated with sex tourists. Never heard of this
phrase before? Ya, me neither...until coming to Asia. Simply put, this
city thrives on foreign men coming here to seek pleasure from young
Thai women.
It's EVERYWHERE. Walking down the street is one of the hardest
things I have ever done. There is a constant urge inside of me to grab
hold of each one of these men, holding the hand of a young prostitute,
and just SHAKE them. I want to ask them WHY? WHY take the LIFE out of
these girls? WHY are you not home with your wife and children? WHY pay
to use some one else's body?
Seeing these girls selling their bodies to men twice their
age has evoked a feeling inside me that I have NEVER felt
before...complete and utter DISGUST. Being here just makes you
nauseous. There is no escape from it in this place. We walk out of our
hotel room to see "Lady boys" with their clients. Even sitting here at
Starbucks right now, a usual safe haven, I am surrounded by beautiful
Thai women and their MUCH older "clients."
After being here for a few days, I still feel disgusted no
doubt, but a feeling of pity has crept in as well. I PITY these men and
what they are searching for. Don't get me wrong, MANY of these guys are
here to seek quick pleasure, but there is also a population here that
is LONELY and searching for companionship. They are turned down by
women in their own country, so they travel thousands of miles to
Pattaya, where for a small price, they can feel loved and wanted, if
only for a short while.
To put it simply, these men are empty. There is Jesus shaped
hole in their heart and they fill it up with women they pay for. My
heart breaks not only for these women who think this is the only way to
survive, but also for the men who need much MORE than a prostitute can
ever fulfill.
The comment:
Your article shows a quick progression from
disgust to sympathy and I applaud you for that. I would like to offer
some further thoughts, if you have an open mind, for I have journeyed
through that part of the world and fallen for the charms of the
beautiful young ladies. I will be brutal for the sake of the truth.
Quite simply, the women are beautiful, both physically and in their
nature - soft, easy going, gentle, relaxed. These things are so often
missing in western, stressed, uptight women who men feel pressure them
all the time for status reasons - blam our materialistic society.
Second, sex. Men are biologically programmed to need it, regularly.
Frequently, theu don't get it at home because of the vaues and
attitudes of their wives (programmed by society) and because of the
stressed life we all lead. Finally, age - what does it matter? Why is a
50 year old man with a 25 year old woman disgusting? Is it because she
is also a prostitute, or are men of that age not supposed to like sex?
And if they do still want sex but are not attracted to their 50 year
old wives, or the wife has basically turned off the sex channel, what
is he supposed to do? Because I can tell you, without sex many men
would become emotionally unstable. And supppose they were in love -
what would be a reasonable/unacceptable age difference? 5 years, 10
years ... what does it really matter. Yes we are lonely, yes we are
physically driven by sex..... help.
This past year has been INCREDIBLE, LIFE CHANGING, and CHALLENGING. I have been PUSHED more physically and spiritually than I have ever been in my entire life. I would not change my experience these past months for anything. There are MANY more adjectives to describe this past year, BUT GLAMOROUS is definitely NOT one of them! To give you a peek into these past 11 months, I made a list of things that I've experienced and done that I NEVER in my lifetime thought that I would do. I also wanted to post these to prepare my brother, Callan, for the World Race. He will be leaving this August with a group of 90 people for 11 months as well. Most of these I can look back and laugh about now, but all of them were certainly not funny at the time! :)
-I have slept in over 50 different places in 11 months
-I basically have a "masters" degree in community living with an
emphasis on healthy confrontation (when you live with 31 people ALL the
time, this is bound to happen)
-In Africa, I lived in a tent for 3 months
-For 6 out of the 11 months, I have slept on the floor on a 2 inch think pad
-I had Ali cut my hair with a swiss army pocket knife to save money...TWICE
-I wore the same outfit anywhere from 3-7 days in a row (okay...sometimes a LITTLE longer)
-I have hand washed my clothes in rivers, lakes, bathtubs, and buckets. Sometimes we found it easier to just get in the shower with your dirty clothes on and wash them while still on your back.
-I lived above a prostitution ring in Vietnam for a month
-I have eaten dog (unknowingly!), caterpillar, spiders, and crickets.
-Fish oil, rice, and mystery meat were staple food items in Asia
-I traveled in a small van for over 60 hours straight through South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Malawi.
-For the past 6 months, I have used a piece of cloth from Thailand as a towel
-I went for 9 months "styling" my hair with only a travel size brush...blow dryers and straighteners were non-existent
-Trying to buy food for 2 weeks with no refrigerator for over 25 people from small market stands in African villages is DIFFICULT
-I learned that electricity is a luxury, not a necessity
-I took "bucket showers" with freezing cold water for showers on numerous occasions
-I walked 2 hours roundtrip in Mozambique to take a shower from a well and get clean drinking water every day for 2 weeks
-I had dengue fever in Cambodia for 10 days....WORST I have EVERRRR felt....EVERR
-In Mozambique, we cooked over an open fire with canned food for dinner, lived off of bread we made ourselves with peanut butter for breakfast and lunch, and had NOOO bathroom facility
-I have lived with A/C for approximately 6 days (maybe) out of 11 months
-I wore a tube of chapstick on my wrist because it was more convenient
-I had met many of the animals before they would become my dinner
-I have slept on COUNTLESS vans, buses, and airport floors
-Riding with 22 people, chickens, and other farm animals in a 10 passenger van is the norm
-On the way to Malawi, thee of my teammates had ALL of their packs stolen along with a guitar. We were in such a primitive area that they relied on us for clothing, tents, sleeping bags, etc.
-Headlamps are an ESSENTIAL fashion accessory for ALL countries. Even if you have electricity, you NEVER know when it will cut out.
-I have taken more showers from spickets, buckets, or hoses than I have from a regular shower
-For exercise, I have ran through the deserts of Africa, the mud and muck of primitive villages, dodged motos in the busiest city in the world (Ho Chi Minh), and run on the occasional eroded concrete "track"
-On many occasions, I wore a skirt with tennis shoes because it was just more comfortable (MAJOR fashion faux paux!)
-I have lived out of a backpack for a year
-Tools to clear two acres of land consisted of 3 ancient machetes, 4 hoes, an ax and a couple of rakes
-I don't turn around anymore when people scream at me in foreign languages
-The words "manual labor" take on a WHOLE new meaning in the middle of the African bush in 105 degree weather
-2-3 times a month, I travel from country to country with two backpacks strapped to me that cumulatively weigh over 75 pounds
-Waking up to a rooster crowing and chickens pecking outside your tent about 5:30 AM was just expected
-I have used over 14 different currencies
-I have rotated between seven shirts, three pairs of pants, and two pairs of shoes for 11 months
I am SURE I could come up with PLENTY of other examples, but I bet you get the idea by now! I will be home next week and I look forward to seeing everyone and sharing stories from this past year. Thank you again for supporting me on this CRAZY journey!
Wrapping up my last few days of ministry is somewhat surreal. I started this trip almost 11 months ago and to think that I only have a mere few days left is hard to comprehend. I came into this month exhausted and with the mentality that I just had to "get through" it in order to finish. To my surprise, ministry this month has probably been my most favorite out of ALL of them. Myself along with five other girls are working alongside Forrest & Darcy Ferdon and their two adopted Ukranian children. They are a missionary family from the states who have been here for the last 3 years. I have to give them props for choosing Lugansk out of all of the places in Ukraine, because it is a HARD city to live in.
(The Ferdons kids)
Lugansk is the capital of mail order brides for Ukraine. Everywhere you walk in the city, NO ONE smiles and getting yelled at while walking down the streets is not uncommon. People drink beer and liquor at all hours of the day and it is not odd to see men and women walk to work in the morning with a bottle of brewsky in their hand. ALL of the women dress to the nines, and if you are not in 3 inch heels, tight pants, and perfect make up, then you are going to be out of place. The people of Lugansk seem to be obsessed with image and booze. If you want to talk about an unreached people group, Lugansk Ukraine would be at the top of my list.
As much as I do not like the culture of the city, the ministry here that the Ferdons have is extremely fruitful. They are doing a lot of work at the MANY orphanages in the area and building relationships with the orphans. Currently, we are also attending an English school every day for about 6-8 hours and helping the students and teachers. Most of the students are high school and university aged and they are an absolute blast. We help with everything from grammar to American history (NOT exactly my strongest subject!). The teachers always allow students time to ask us questions about America, politics(those convos can get REAL interesting), religion, and anything else that they are interested about. Because of the freedom that we have in these classes, we have each had opportunities to talk about Jesus and preach the gospel. These conversations have not been forced, but encouraged by the teachers and students. Outside of class, many of us have interacted with the students to build relationships with them, whether it be being invited to their home for a Shichliek(BBQ) or inviting them over to hang out with us.
Every Friday night we have a "Coffee Night" at our flat and invite all of the students to come over to speak English and watch movies. This past Friday we had over 40 students crammed into our apartment. The night consisted of teaching them how to make smores(over a gas stove), listening to different people play the guitar or violin, and getting to know each other. Many of the people here in Ukraine have a skewed view of what a "Christian" is. They think that Christianity is only for their grandparents or that you have to change who you are as a person to be a Christian. It has been great to show them that we as Christians are JUST like them. We are WRECKING their view of Christianity and it is AWESOME.
(Me with some of the high school aged students at our coffee night)
(one of the students playing the guitar for us) (showing them how to make smores...NOT exactly practicing fire safety!)
(The Ferdons kids) 
