8 Months and Counting

8 months!!! Really?? Many people have asked me recently, "So, when are you planning to move to Guatemala?" I often hesitantly say, "July of 2012, if all goes as planned." But what I should be saying is "JULY of 2012!!!" with confidence in my voice. The New Life School will begin a new school year in January of 2012. I wish that I could be there to begin this new year with them, but I know that God is still preparing me in many ways before I go down there. I know that God has called me to Guatemala, and if he has done so, he will provide me with the funds to do so. I have been so humbled and honored by the amount of people who have asked how they can help. God continues to amaze me in how he is working to touch people's hearts to give to HIS effort through me! I know that none of this can be done on my own, although sometimes my thoughts and actions say otherwise. I ask for your continued prayers for increased faith that God "who began this good work will bring it to completion."

Where I will be 8 months from now!!!

If you are at all interested in keeping up with me through this journey or in donating to this effort, please sign up for my newsletter at the top of this blog. I truly appreciate all your prayers, concern, and love that you have shown me throughout this process. I pray that God will use all of you mightily in his kingdom to spread his love throughout the world!

Fundraising 101

In order to work with the New Life School, it will be necessary to raise a full salary for at least the 2.5 years that I have committed to work there. Before I even decided to work in Guatemala, one of the volunteers at the school, Amy, recommended a book to me called Funding your Ministry. It not only gives practical ideas on how to fundraise effectively, it also provides a Biblical rationale to fundraising along with an extensive Bible study that shows how people throughout Scripture were funded for specific ministries. It has opened my eyes to how God looks at fundraising and giving. Fundraising is not just about you asking people for money, but it is about Christians giving to God and missionaries receiving those gifts from God. This has given me a new perspective on raising the money I need for this ministry that God has called me. I have been praying for God to show me the people whom he wants to use to join me in this ministry, and it has been amazing so far to see how he has worked. I continue to pray that God guide me to the people whom he has called in this effort. I am currently speaking to several churches and am also seeking the support of individuals.
If you are interested in joining me in any way on this journey, this is what I ask of you:
 
1.First and most importantly, I ask that you join me in prayer to petition God for his guidance, protection, and provision in my life 
2.If you know of churches or individuals who would be willing to meet with me, please email me at jenngiese82@gmail.com 
3.If God has put on your heart to support me in any way, please provide your information above to be added to the newsletter

Thank you so much!!! 

Blessings, Jennifer

New Life Graduates

The New Life School's school year runs from January to October unlike the American school year. So, the school just celebrated another class of amazing students graduating from the 6th grade this week! I just wanted to share the post by Judy on her website so you can see and congratulate all these students. Without this school, many of these children would never have dreamed of graduating from the 6th grade! Not only that, they have gained a Christian education that will help them to be lights to a very dark world around them. Here is a link to the website: http://www.newlifeguatemala.com/. If you would like to send a note of congratulations to these students, feel free to post a comment, and I will send them on to Judy and the graduates! Thanks!

Coffee for Sale

Just wanted to let you know that I am selling Guatemalan coffee as a part of my fundraising efforts.

To all my brothers and sisters at Harpeth Hills, I am going to have order forms available on Sunday mornings at church until October 30. Please feel free to stop by the Single Focus room or find me in 3rd service to make an order. Orders must be paid in full before the coffee can be delivered. Here are the details about the coffee itself:
Regular Coffee (La Armonia Hermosa): $12/12 oz bag

La Armonia Hermosa is a select coffee from Santa Maria de Jesus, high above the Antigua valley in Guatemala. It is a fruitful partnership of small coffee producers, committed roasters and passionate coffee drinkers. www.laarmoniahermosa.com

Decaffeinated Coffee (fairtrade, organic Peruvian blend): $11/12 oz bag (NO chemicals used)

Options: whole bean or ground

Please make checks payable to Jennifer Giesemann.

If you live in the Nashville or Atlanta area, please let me know if you are interested in purchasing coffee by commenting on this blog or sending me a facebook message. 

The Daily Grind

I just wanted to share a quote I stole off a friend's facebook wall. It was so pertinent to what I have been feeling and going through in my preparations for Guatemala. It helped me to remember that change is an emotional and sometimes stressful journey. The emotions that we face through change do not necessarily mean that we are not on the right track. It is just a part of change. I have to remember that God is with me throughout every step of this journey, and that he uses these stressful periods of change to make us stronger and yet more dependent upon him. Our emotions can be up and down, but we have a constant in our lives who keeps us on a steady path. Here is the quote:

"When we make a change, it's so easy to interpret our unsettledness as unhappiness, and our unhappiness as a result of having made the wrong decision. Our mental and emotional states fluctuate madly when we make big changes in our lives, and somedays we could tight-rope across Manhatten, and other days we are too weary to clean our teeth. This is normal. This is natural. This is change."

-Jeanette Winterson

The title of this post also leads me to tell you that I have started a fundraiser, selling Guatemalan coffee to raise $ for my mission fund. I am posting the flyer containing the info about the fundraiser. I am not able to ship it currently. But if you live in the Nashville or Atlanta area, let me know if you are interested! The coffee can be whole bean or ground. I am still working on some of the details, so I may have a way for you to purchase it on my blog soon. Check back in soon for updates!! 

In the Waiting Period

Waiting. It's a process that I'm all too familiar with, and most of the time, it's never very fun! But, this time, it's kind of an exciting time mixed with all kinds of emotions. To catch you up, if you haven't spoken to me in the last year or so, I have made 2 survey trips to Guatemala this year to learn more about the New Life School in Santa Maria de Jesus. Both trips were very successful and wonderful!!

The New Life School is a non-profit Christian school for children who cannot be educated in the Guatemalan public school system because of any form of disability. It is located on the side of Volcano Agua, which is approximately 15 minutes from Antigua. Santa Maria de Jesus is a Mayan village that is 98% Mayan and also has the highest rate of poverty and illiteracy in the department of Sacatepequez. It was founded by an American nurse in 2000 and now has 87 students on roll.

I found this school after searching online for Christian mission organizations that work with special needs children. They currently do not have a speech therapist at the school and have many children who could benefit from speech therapy. During my time there, I fell in love with the children at "Nueva Vida" and the mission of this organization. They not only provide the opportunity for education to children who would otherwise not, they also have had a major spiritual impact on the town of Santa Maria. Judy, the founder of this organization, and Amy, their occupational therapist, have been involved with the school for at least 10 years. They are amazing Christian ladies who have a heart for these children and this town. I am so excited to work alongside them and learn from them.

After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to move to Guatemala in the summer of 2012 to begin working with the New Life School. And so begins the waiting period. I am now beginning my preparations to fundraise as I will have to raise all my living expenses for this effort. Although it can seem a little overwhelming, I have so much support and people praying for me that I am at peace about it. So, I ask for you to join me in prayer during this waiting period. I know that God will supply my needs and lead me to where I need to be, although it is difficult to always remember that! Please look for updates as things progress throughout this year! God bless!

A First of Many Firsts

Well, as the title says, this blog is a first for me. If you'd asked me six months ago if I wanted to start a blog, the answer would be "NO." I don't really follow many blogs, and I've never really thought of myself as a "blogger." Whatever that means! So, I will not be offended if you don't follow mine.
So why start a blog? Well, for those of you who I haven't seen or talked to in awhile, I have been on a major journey lately. Actually, this journey began when I was born to missionary parents. They are all to blame if you ask me! But really, God has been working on me throughout my life to bring me to where I am today. My latest journey began a few years ago when I went to Nigeria to work with the Susana Homes orphanage. I have known the director, Chi, for most of my life, and she asked if I would be able to work with some of the children there who had special needs. She also wanted me to train some of the teachers to work with these children. This trip was a life changing experience for me! I came to realize how children with special needs are treated in other countries and how so many of them do not receive any education or help. I also realized how much I love being on the mission field! So.. God started working on my heart and planting thoughts in my head about doing missions long term. Of course, I pushed them away at first. I am a single young woman who just started a career. Why would I move away from my family and friends and my chances of a potential future husband? (Let's be honest!) But, this past summer, after returning from a mission trip to Peru, I realized that God was still pushing me in that direction.

It all began when I was talking to my sister on the phone, and she said, "Jennifer, it's funny! You are glowing in every one of your pictures from Peru and Nigeria. Have you ever thought of doing long term missions?" Well, I said "actually, yes. I have not even really told anybody about it, but I've been thinking about it for awhile. So, after that conversation, my desire for mission work was confirmed in many amazing ways. I started searching online to find places around the world that worked with special needs children. I stumbled across a school in Guatemala that was created for special needs children. It is a Christian organization that was started by an American lady who saw the need for educating special needs children in Guatemala. I contacted her, and she said, "We don't currently have a speech therapist here and really need one!" I then was referred to a couple who are moving to a nearby town in Guatemala to start a church plant. I went to visit them recently, and they are eager for me to join them in Guatemala.
So, if this wasn't a big enough confirmation from God, I recently was in my Wednesday night Bible study at church. We were talking about how to discern God's will for your life. The teacher, who is the preacher and a long time friend of my family, asked us to share how we have had to discern God's will in our own lives. I told my story of how God had been pushing me towards missions to Guatemala. The next Wednesday night, I couldn't make it to class. So, I received a message from one of our class leaders saying, "We raised $11,000 for your Guatemala mission tonight." My jaw dropped, and I almost fell over!!!! My first thought was, "Aww, dangit, now I really have to go to Guatemala!" But seriously, what a confirmation from the Lord.
Well, after much planning and praying, I am making a survey trip this March to Guatemala to figure out what this mission might look like. I am very excited and, of course, a little apprehensive, about this possibility!!

I apologize for the length of this post, and I understand if I lost you halfway through. I hopefully will be writing periodical updates about how things are going and just insights that I am learning. I ask for your prayers as I continue this amazing journey!!