Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends and Family,

I apologize for not updating this blog more often! If you look back on some of my other entries, you'll see that this is not the first time I've neglected my updates, but I am so grateful for your readership. This semester has been the busiest and most challenging few months of my Wesley career, but I am excited to be able to share a bit of what I've been up to so far as a director!

First of all, my primary responsibilities this year are overseeing our international student ministry and planning/managing our 12 Spring Break and summer mission trips. I also mentor six staff and student girls, coordinate the Wesley building's schedule (a job that has become more complicated now that there are two churches renting our facility out during the week), and keep track of all the keys to the building (of which there are hundreds and are often mislaid by one of the 70 odd staff members who need them for various events, etc).

 In many ways, my job has become more administrative than ever before, and I have to admit that I enjoy being the authority figure over the ministries I've loved and been a part of for these past three years. On the other hand, being the one in charge can also be a bit daunting! Please be in prayer for me as I lead my 4 ISM interns and coordinate the nearly 350 students/staff going on or leading a mission trip this year (and all the money that goes along with them!).

Speaking of mission trips, I'm pleased to announce our trip line up for this year! For Spring Break, we're going to -

Bethel School of Ministry (Redding, CA)

Cuba

Honduras 

Jamaica

LA

NY

IHOP (Kansas City, MI)

And our summer trips are to -

China

Ecuador

Montenegro

Mozambique

Scotland

The purpose of taking a mission trip through Wesley is to come beside long term missionaries for a short time, gaining insight into what they do and are called to, encouraging them in their work, allowing the Lord to cultivate a love for the people or country we visit, and building community with our brothers and sisters in Christ wherever we go. I am very proud to be apart of this process, and I am very excited about all the people with whom we will be working, all of whom are Wesley alumni or connected to a church in Athens. 

Please also keep the second weekend of January (the 10-11th) in your prayers. That weekend will be Wesley's Second Annual Missions Conference, and I am in charge of coordinating all of it! We have some excellent speakers coming in, and the teams will get a chance to spend time together, so it should be an awesome event. However, I'm still feeling overwhelmed! Please pray for guidance, especially during this holiday season when motivation for planning has waned dramatically.

Well, that about sums up my first semester as a director! If you have any questions, or would like to hear more, just email me back, or leave a comment on this post. I'd love to tell you more about my job!

I'll leave you with a few pictures from our last few Snack n Chats:

Thanksgiving dinner - we had nearly 250 people from nearly 20 countries!

Members of Athens First United Methodist volunteered to be table hosts

Me and my ISM interns in front of the tree the international students decorated at the Christmas Snack n Chat
(I'm the one on the far right!)

Wesley staff and international students sing Christmas carols in their native languages

To China and Back!

I'll be leaving this Sunday for two weeks to lead Wesley's trip to China! I'm very excited to be able to revisit a country I love so much, and my team is expecting the Lord to do great things, as He always does. I can't wait to share my adventures with you when I get back! I'll also be including some more information about my new position for next year, so stay tuned!

Updates

What's the best way to open a new post on a blog you haven't updated in two months? Start with good news, of course!

As some readers may already know, I am coming on as a director at the UGA Wesley Foundation in July. It's an exciting opportunity for me to grow as a leader in ministry, and it means three more years working in a place that has contributed to my walk with the Lord in more ways than I can count. I will serve as director of missions and our international student ministry, two areas that I love and know well. Although it was a difficult - three years in any one place still qualifies as a big decision for me - I feel confident in what I have chosen and in the purpose that I still have here in Athens.

My responsibilities and time obligations will change significantly once I begin work as a director. I will no longer be able to sustain an outside part time job, I will be required to raise more support than I have in the past, and I will be even more involved in the specifics of the ministry areas entrusted to me. The Lord has already been good enough to open doors for me when it comes to support raising and insurance needs, but I know that I still have a ways to go before I reach the financial goals our pastor has set for directors.

In preparing for this new role, your prayers and support are integral. Thank you so much for the ways that you have supported me in the past! I look forward to the new challenges and responsibilities that await me as I step into this new position.

Here are a few pictures from our last Snack n Chat! This one was a Valentine's  Dance, so our students are pictured learning a hip hop routine.

Thanks, and God bless!

Jessica

China, Take Two

Once again, it's been a while since I last updated my loyal readers on what's going on here at Wesley and in my life. Sorry about that! I guess I should stop opening my posts with an apology, especially when I have a feeling that I'll soon be a repeat offender.

So, updates, updates: Mission trip planning is going well, and our teams are coming together nicely. My co-leader Michael and I will be taking five students on the China trip, which is an increase from the three we took two years ago. In addition to China, Wesley will be leading trips to eight other countries on four other continents. It's exciting to be an integral part of the process this year! I've enjoyed working with our travel agent and trip finances, especially because I get the chance to be a part of the process administratively and practically.

The main objective of our trip is to encourage and partner with the work that the missionaries we're staying with are already doing in China. We will be working with children's homes, the homeless, and unreached people groups in their area. It is a real privilege to be able to visit our hosts again, as I believe that the work they are doing in their area is so obviously necessary, especially as their region has little Christian representation.

Unfortunately due to the smallness of our group - we are limited as to our group size because China is a closed country, meaning that missionaries and preaching the Gospel are illegal there - Michael and I will have to pay full price for our trip. Usually, intern leaders receive a discount of anywhere from 40 to 60% off the student price of their respective trips. The overall cost is $2500, and the timeline for my payments will be $1800 due on January 14th, and the rest, $700, due in April.

I completely trust God to provide for me and for each person on the trip. I know that God often provides through the generosity of others, and so I am asking for you, my readers, to consider whether or not you would be interested in helping me. I know that many who are reading this support me month to month, thus allowing me to continue doing the work in Athens that God has placed on my heart. However, if you do decide to further support me in this, know that all donations are tax deductible and should be made out to the Wesley Foundation with "Jessica Taylor - China" in the memo line (no online donation options are available as of now).

I'm praying that God would lay this trip on your hearts, not only for financial support, but for prayer support as well. Despite the fact that I have been there before, we are going into a closed country and interacting with an underground church that is very illegal. Please pray for our team members as well as the Chinese believers that we will be working with once there.

On a totally different note, I want to share about a new friend I've made. She and I share a common friend who recently moved out of state, and as my new friend is a Chinese international student, I was happy to make her acquaintance. She had only been in the country for a few months when she ran into some very confusing legal trouble. I firmly believe that God put me in her life when He did to allow me to be a resource and source of comfort for her through this time. Please pray that justice would be served and that my friend would not feel bitterness towards God or towards her accusers. She has shown a very marked interest in having a relationship with God and has allowed me to pray with her on several occasions. I'm hoping for her to come to know the Lord soon!

Here are some pictures from our most recent event. Enjoy!

Some of the people who turned out for our pumpkin carving event. We had over 100 people there from 19 different countries!

My pumpkin carving group!

All our pumpkins

Our group's pumpkin. See that "hat" on the top right? We were very proud of that :)


Til next time!
Jessica

Exciting Stuff

     It's official- I'm leading the China trip this year! I'm excited to go back to such a wonderful country and to reconnect with the missionaries we stayed with two years ago. The trip is going to have a different focus this year - less college-aged students, more work with children's homes and the homeless - but I know that no matter what is on our "agenda", God has a strong purpose for this short term trip. My last trip was marked by an incredible amount of learning, both from the students we encountered and the American family who invited us into their home. I have never seen such a thriving team of missionaries before and I know that I'll learn a lot from them during round two.

     So what happens next? The next practical thing that we need is for God to build our team, which will include no more than six students for ease of travel, visas, etc. As I am a part of the overarching Wesley mission trip team this year, I have been given the opportunity to help shape some of the trip financial policies for 2012-2013. On one hand, these policies will protect students by giving them hard and fast cost deadlines. On the other hand, that means that I will have to abide by the same rules, so I will need to raise support for this trip in a stricter and earlier fashion. Wesley generously gives trip leaders a 40-50% discount on the overall trip cost, but as my trip will be smaller than most, both myself and my co-leader will realistically receive 20-30% off. Two years ago, my cost ended up bring $2,500. Despite living on support, or more accurately, because I live on support, I know that God will provide just as He has countless times before. I have no means of doing this on my own, but He has all resoucres at His disposal.

End mission trip news. Begin Wesley updates.

This week's Wesley service was out of the norm because Louie Giglio came to speak to all the ministries on the UGA campus. His talk ended the month-long series that we and all other participating ministies have focused on, called Imprint. Imprint specifically challenged us as individuals to think of the "imprint" that we leave on campus and to step boldly into the call that Jesus gave us through the Great Commission. Oftentimes we think of the Commission as applying abroad only, but this month we focused on the Athens community specifically. When I heard that Louie Giglio was coming to finish the series, I was a little worried. Don't get me wrong, I've heard Louie speak multiple times and I clearly see that he is right where God wants him vocationally. My worry primarily stemmed from the possibility that the night would become some kind of hype event and completely miss the point of our gathering together.

Instead, the 3,500 plus students and ministry workers gathered on Legion Field heard the straight, unpolished truth. Louie came and preached the Holy Spirit. At one point, every single person on that field was on their hands and knees, bowing down to God and asking for His heart for Athens and for UGA. Something absolutely shifted that night, between the worship, Louie's words, and the prayers that we had prayed in the weeks before asking God to move. He really did, and I am continually amazed that God actually does all the things that He says He will! Doesn't the Bible quote Jesus as saying, "ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door will be opened"? Duh, Jessica!

Here are some pictures that I took on my phone that night. It was beautiful out under the stars, and the temperature was that wonderful mix of warm and cool, a harbringer of Fall.



Nightfall



Gathering - this blog didn't want me to put this picture first, so you get the opportunity to travel backwards through time!



Athens, Part Three

     Well, it's another year and another fresh start here in Athens and at Wesley! This year has been wonderful so far, and I look forward to the challenges that will be coming my way as I explore new parts of the internship over the next ten months.
     Unlike my previous time at Wesley, I will split my concentration between more than one ministry area. Although I will continue to help direct the International Student Ministry, I will also be taking on mission trips. This added responsibility includes making/solidifying contacts at the locations to which we will travel, booking flights/accommodations, negotiating prices, collecting money from the 400 odd people that travel with Wesley every year, and providing much needed support to the leaders of each trip. It's a lot of work, but I am very excited to be a part of such an important facet of this ministry. I am also blessed to disciple (i.e. mentor) eight girls, three of which are first year interns. At least I won't be bored!
     Being part of the trip team is helpful to me in multiple ways, as I will be leading another trip to China this summer! I will lead the trip with another intern who went on the trip two years ago as a student. Since both of us have experienced a bit of China in the past, I hope that we can brainstorm and pray for God to reveal how to improve and strengthen the trip. We want to be a blessing to the missionaries that we visit there and we want this trip to impact both us and the people we meet. If there is anything that I have learned from going on/leading short term trips, it's that intentionality is key!
     Below are a few pictures from our most recent Snack n Chat, a photo scavenger hunt. I don't have any pictures of the actual running around, but I can confirm that we made the groups work hard for their points - we made sure that we included places from all over downtown Athens on the list! Many of our students were stressed about important upcoming tests, so it was nice to hang out and enjoy ourselves.

Thanks for reading!

Awaiting instructions

The winning group!

ISM Fun, Farewell, and Future

Hello again! I know that it has been a long time since I updated this blog. Many things have happened since then, both personally and corporately at Wesley and within the International Student Ministry, the most significant of those being that I will be coming back to Wesley for a 3rd year and going back to school!

As a 3rd year intern, I will be over ISM, as well another internationally-minded ministry at Wesley, Athens to the Nations. I will also be working with the mission trips that our ministry takes every year. I am excited to take on this new role, not in the least because I will have greater responsibility in the ministry areas I mentioned and I will be a part of a team of three that will over see the more than 350 students and leaders who participate in Wesley mission trips both national and international each year.

I will also be going back to school with Asbury Seminary! I plan to pursue an M.A. in World Mission and Evangelism, a degree that I will begin earning as a part time student next year. The Lord has already blessed me beyond my expectations by granting me a full ride for next year, and I could not be more pleased to be able to embark on this new path in my education debt free!

Thank you for your prayers and support through this second year of interning. It has been an amazing year, not least of all because three of my international friends came to know the Lord last semester. I have been so blessed to be a small part of their journey and to witness all that God has worked through them since they came here. One of the girls who became a Christian this year is moving to another state to be with her husband as he continues his pursuit of a PhD. I was concerned for a few months because she would be leaving her community here, and because her husband was not a Christian. However, a few weeks ago, she informed me that he has recently become a believer, and that she and her husband will be baptized at his church when she moved to meet him! It's amazing to see how God provides and how He changes hearts. I am confident that He will protect her as she leaves this part of her journey behind for all the more wonderful things to come.

That about sums up all the most important developments from the past few months. Please enjoy these pictures of our last few ISM events, as well as our Intern Appreciation that Wesley celebrated at the end of April:

Crouching over puzzles for our competitive puzzling contest! I know that it doesn't sound like much, but it's a pretty big deal for ISM :)

Our farewell party for those who are going home or to a different school

Making up Easter baskets together...

Intern Appreciation at the Georgia Theatre!

Thanks again! Look for a post from me next month!

Jessica