My Boss, Jesus
On the field here we get to work directly for God in what we do. You can do this in other occupations, but out here you set aside everything else to concentrate on what wants you to do. The work day starts around six a.m. for the three construction groups and eight a.m. for the one house work group. With a full day of hard manual labor, from lifting 80 lb bags of concrete to watching over the toddlers, it’s hard to see how you’re impacting the kingdom of God. But in your mind what keeps you going is knowing God’s kingdom will be brought to Earth somehow. Working 6-12 with a lunch break then 12:30-2 can be physically and mentally tiring especially working in the muddy, swampy backyard. But you rest well in the afternoon knowing you’ve done good work. What our project is now is helping Gracie construct four new dorm rooms for future teams out of concrete bricks, so teams can help out with ministry; which is what we thought we’d be doing. But I’m glad God has us here doing this so we’re prepared to work hard at any point on this trip o we can be most useful to the people and meet their needs. I’m glad Jesus is my boss because He is someone worth working for. He shows us what to do. And He loves his employees. And plus there’s good retirement benefits.
Random thought of the week: Whole-chicken-man-bro-night is something great to look forward to. (See the picture in ‘Browse Photos’.)
We’re all thinking of you….and it’s great that, at age 18, you’re already thinking ahead and preparing for retirement….love Dad.
Hey Jamie
Cpep just isn’t the same with out you. Missing you very much. I read your post and was in awe of Grace and her boldness for Jesus as I have struggled with fear for such a long time. Anyway I was wondering about the three boys you mentions who have been abandoned by their mum’s. Mike I would be willing to consider adopting them if that is something that Grace would like to consider. Not trying to upset anyone if they should stay in Honduras,just a thought. Missing you. Kim
Gosh Jamie,
Another awesome post from an awesome man…
I hope you are managing to get the guitar out now and then to praise Jesus. He listens out for your voice and loves it when you sing.
Keep it up!
You get up WHEN in the morning???!!!
Love you buddy
Mumsie X
By the way
As you work manually you are also putting in to the Kingdom – our sermon this week was huge on making disciples – which you do by coming alongside brothers and sisters and living out Jesus.
You should listen to it – it’s amazing.
You are doing that with your buddies if you are encouraging and discussing and praying and digging deeper into His word… so obey the great commission and make disciples….
I’m totally rejoicing right now. Seeing God at work in you and through you is a great reminder of how great our God is.
Game on! Go hard!
Respectfully,
Dayelle
This is awfully long, but I just had to post it to you – Seth Barnes (founder of Adventures in Missions) was a high school wrestler ! not sure what weight he wrestled…
Here’s his blog post
You never know the impact you make
Posted in Spiritual Coaching by Seth Barnes on 9/12/2013
In 1974, I was a punk high school kid. For all the things wrong with my life at the time, one of the things that I could do OK was wrestle.
Gil Waterman was an all-American Wheaton College wrestler who I met at Honey Rock Camp in Wisconsin one summer. Subsequently, Gil used to write letters encouraging me. It was a hard time in my life and I needed the encouragement.
Eventually I decided to go to Wheaton College and to wrestle for their team. And it was in large part because of Gil. He was a big shot and I was a nobody trying to figure out life in a small Midwestern town. He helped me believe that that wouldn’t always be the case.
Years passed and I completely forgot about Gil. My life turned around and I started to better understand who God had made me to be and where I should be going. My time at Wheaton had been formative.
Then a few months ago, I was leading a trip to Thailand with a couple on it named Doug and Nancy Waterman. Their daughter Julia was a racer. Something about the name Waterman seemed vaguely familiar – and then I remembered Gil. Turns out, Doug is his brother.
Think about Gil’s influence in my life. He took an interest in me and made the time to reach out to me. Because of his encouragement, I went to Wheaton. Events cascaded out from that one decision – had I not gone there, who knows whether I ever would have started Adventures.
There are more than 100,000 people who have had their lives impacted through our ministry and many hundreds of thousands have given their lives to Christ as the result of Gil’s investment in my life. And every day I seek to invest in people who are at their own crossroads in lives.
Moral of the story: We little realize the impact that we may make in the lives of others through our small investments of time. It didn’t take Gil a whole lot of time to reach out to me, but it’s made a world of difference.
Your influence on others may be similar. You may never see it, but the ripple effects may be far greater than you ever imagined. Who has invested in your life at a pivotal time? Who do you know that may need your encouragement and influence?
Why not reach out to them and encourage them today?
hey J-mi!
grand posts. I keep thinking of the time that we were trying to write a poem about being a mere cat for your school thing, and I’ve been wondering when they are coming into play for your blog… 🙂 but seriously, it sounds great what you are doing over there. I wish I could see the kids and peeps myself, but I guess I will have to satisfy myself with hearing from you for now… keep up the posts. they are grand, and seeing as the internet is sketchy for calls, I really miss hearing from you on a more… often-y regular basis. back here at home, we all miss you, and I am thinking of starting a survey on all the people you knew and asking them how much they laugh now, in comparison to how much they laughed when you were here… Just kidding. but it is a good thought… 🙂 well, cant wait to hear from you next time. praise God for all the work He is doing in you and through your team!
Reenie
I’m really happy for you Jamie, reading about you’re mission work is inspiring, stay safe, praying for you man.
Josiah
Go Jamie! Go Covent Eagles Wrestling!