Hello everyone! All you who have subscribed to my blogs and you who stumble upon this blog, I just wanted/needed to post a blog regarding fundraising, as my last financial dealine is coming up in about a month and a half. First, I'd really like to simply thank you. It's been over a year now that I applied for the World Race and began to fundraise and since then, I've spoken to countless people about this trip and my financial need.
The last year has seen the raw goodness of God in sending people to donate and its been such a blessing. Difficult at times, but He saw me through. For the most part, my deadlines were not met until just days before they were supposed to be met. God really tested my faith on those and I found out just good of a God He was :) I knew that God would provide that money, but just seeing that 3500 had actually been raised was so amazing. Meeting my next deadline was even more amazing as I saw 6500 in my account. In Romania, I saw the 11,000 deadline met and once again, I stared at my account in amazement! How was this money being raised???!!! God had sent so many people and opened so many doors to fundraising and it just shocked me. People I had never met before giving me hundreds of dollars. How do I even describe how good it is? Impossible.
I love the goodness of God. I love how faithful He is to provide! I love the people that he's put in my life to encourage me in this area; people that have supported me from the very start; people that have poured so much into this from the very beginning.
The hardest part of this has been actually asking for money. Its absolutely necessary to ask for it, but I hate it. I would love the money to just be in my account; to just be there one day, but I dont think God wants that for me. I believe that so many things can be used as a test of our faith and this most certainly is one of those times. How is it testing my faith if the money just showed up on day one of my fundraising?
So, as I come to my last fundraising obstacle, I would like to ask that you ask God if you should donate. I would like you to please pray about helping me to meet this deadline. I need about $3500 before June 30th or kaput! This trip is over for me. I would love love love to meet this deadline and theres no doubt in my mind that I will, but again, I have to do my part and fundraise.
Thats about all I have so I just want to thank you so much again for your amazing generosity and thank you in advance for whats to come :)
If you ask me a question about who I am or what I believe, what I’ll tell you is what I’ve been told. I’ll give you the rundown of why I believe what I believe and who I really am inside, but it’s all a lie. None of it is the truth because none of it was believed independently. None of it has been believed because of what I concluded, studied, or prayed to God about.
For years, I’ve been basing who God is off of others worship to Him; off of the knowledge of others; off of personal experience-God bringing me through countless hardships. I was told and so I believed. It must be true if my parents told me. It must be true if the pastor in church said so. And that means that I’m living in the shadows of others; afraid or unwilling to take a step on my own and ask God if this or that is true or false. “What about this, God? What about that?”
In recent blogs, I’ve briefly talked about how intentional my teammates were in discussing with me my beliefs; in discussing with me…me. It was frustrating to me to be the topic of discussion because I honestly didn’t want to question my beliefs. I didn’t want to question who I was and why I am the way I am. But slowly, God began showing me the heart of my team and how loved I am by them. He began showing me how big they are to Him and how useful they are to Him in bringing me back to the beginning of life! And with that, I began to understand how great I am to God Himself. I began to understand that life is not always what it seems. I began to understand that despite my skepticism, God really does have something for me. Something great!
The past few days at debrief in the capital of Moldova have seen two additional and individual discussions with two of my (beautiful, amazing, loving, special, spirit filled, genuine, funny, incredible) teammates in which they unknowingly, brought up the same topic: What does God mean to me? Who is He and why do I believe in Him and love Him? I believe God is a great God. I believe that His patience is perfect: for 25 years, I’ve been back and forth and up and down with Him and He still sees me as worthwhile and He is with me. I feel Him in music. I feel Him in scripture. I feel Him in my teammates who speak life into me. I believe God is a graceful God. I believe Him to be so loving and so mighty. I’ve seen Him move in the past and present and although I don’t know Him as I should, I know Him enough to know that where people failed, He didn’t. Where a comfort was needed and wasn’t found, it was found in Him. When I needed a shoulder or encouragement, He sent it in droves.
And so I ask You God: who do I think You are?! I think You are All. I want You more. I want You for real; for life-not for two weeks. I want to know You, God. I want to know you and love You for who You are to me and not who You are to everyone else. This is my walk with you as I live in Zimbabwe. It is my walk that will declare who You are to me. My walk to a new life in you, Lord.
I really just wanted to sum up how the Race has gone for each of us in Team Monarch; who we've been able to minister to and how that has happened; what people have stepped into our lives in each country and what they have meant to us. Hopefully, we've been able to show you that through the pictures and videos we've taken and this is just a recap of the crazy and amazing journey God has sent us on, starting way back at training camp and leading into our launch in Florida which saw us travel to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Romania and Moldova so far. WARNING: THIS MOVIE IS LOOOOONG. 7 MINUTES. DONT BEGIN WATCHING IT UNLESS YOU HAVE 7 MINUTES OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy :)
Our Month in Moldova/Transnistria has seen sporadic ministry. Its seen us visiting Dima, who was hit by a car that left him in a wheelchair. He lives in a 12x10 ft. apt. all by himself and loved having us over! This month has seen us hauling a couch to the garbage that a babushka was sleeping on every night. We took the blanket off the couch and cockroaches scattered everywhere. We then emptied out her 8x10 ft. apt. and sanded the walls to be painted. Our month in Moldova has seen us digging a chest-deep hole in the ground, moving limestone blocks from point A to point B and it’s seen us sitting before 16-year old Luida as she cried and told us how difficult life had been, but how God had helped her to love the people who had hurt her. It’s also seen us begin a children’s program in front of the church at 3 p.m. almost everyday.
We had no idea how to begin the program. There aren’t many children that go to the church we are at for the month. It would take a few weeks to be able to obtain permission to visit the local orphanages and schools and invite the children there. We were essentially at a standstill. Then Luida stepped in and said that she would print out flyers and info cards and walk around the neighborhood and simply hand them out to however many children we came across.
The first day we only had 2 children. Regardless, we counted our blessings and played games with them for about an hour or so. They came for several days and then we had a swarm of children come the next day. We went from only having 2 children to having around 30 children come to our program. Very much a blessing. Now, we have an average of 10-20 kids come when we have the program and we play games and act out a story from the Bible. I believe that each of us has fallen in love with one particular boy or girl and we love seeing them when we open that door at 3 p.m.!
And because I dont know how to add text below the movie, I have to do it here: I have seen God do some amazing things regarding fundraising. He's brought me almost $12,000 down the road and a numerous amount of supporters-from one time supporters, to monthly commintments, to supporters who would like to match other amounts donated to me. Its awesome! Its great! Its God! With all that, July 1st, I need to have an additional $3690 raised, which will leave me fully funded! I would love love love to reach that amount and you can bet I've been praying about it! So I ask that you please consider a donation of any amount. Something to help me reach that deadline that needs to be met. And if I dont reach that amount? No, the World Race does not cover that amount for me. I'm expected to raise the necessary funds myself. What happens if I dont raise that amount is that my trip is over. Here's my blog and the link for donations is over on the left. Muchas Gracias, Multzumesk, Spaceba, and thank you! Enjoy the movie!!!!
Who knows to what degree God will change a person until He actually does it? Who knows until He actually reaches deep inside you and grabs ahold of what shouldn’t be there? Who knows what God will do until He puts His hand on your shoulder and tells you, “its going to be ok. It will be uncomfortable, but just let me do what I do and you’ll see how good it will be in the end.”
I didn’t know. I didn’t know how difficult it would be. I didn’t grasp what change was needed in me. I didn’t know how He would change me or what people He would use to do so. I just didn’t know.
Some people feel closest to God in the Bible. For some, it’s prayer. They love to pray and make conversation with God. For others, its conversations concerning the Bible. I feel closest to God when I’m listening to music. Hillsong; Kim Walker; Selah, etc… If I could have a permanent set of headphones built into my ears playing my top Christian music all the time, I would. I don’t have the best voice; nor can I play any song on any instrument other than “Mary had a little lamb” on the piano, but I would listen to music all day if I could. This is my way of feeling close to God. This is how I hear Him and when my prayers are the fullest-the most sincere. This is how I see what needs to be changed in myself; when God speaks to me and lets me know that I can get through anything; that I have the strength to move forward another day. This is how I make it through any chiseling of my soul that needs to be done.
This month in Moldova, my team has done quite a bit of discussing about what we believe and why we believe it. We’ve spent time discussing who we are, how we became that person, and who we need to be; who God wants us to be.
Who am I really?
Four months ago, I was a young man, eager to please; afraid to offend; turning opinion into truth in my mind. I thought myself unequal to others and I was filled with hate for myself.
Today is what matters though. Today and the future-not the past. Not who I used to be. Today, I’m a young man learning about myself; learning why I do what I do; learning why I love the way I love; why I believe what I believe; a young man with a voice equal to all others. I’m a young man learning to replace the hate for myself with love.
Christy Nockels has a song you might know: Healing Is In Your Hands. She sings it beautifully. When I listen to it, I see how powerful God is. I see how much He loves and cares about me. I see that healing isn’t just for others, but is extended to me as well. I see that only by Him do I live-and because of that, I want more life! She sings, “our past is in your hands.” One thing that has held me back is my past. Where I came from; where I’ve been and what I’m now known as, to some. Its something I’m burdened down by but its also something I’ve just gotta let Him do what He’s been asking me to do-let Him take it and get rid of it. Let Him take that burden from me and replace it with something inexplicable. I don’t know what it is. Love? Grace? It’s some form of comfort. It’s something that I alone am not capable of producing. Not without Him.
How great is our God?
How great is our God that He loves us enough to want to make us better people! How great is He that He remains patient with us and continues to work with us! Its amazing and mind-blowing at the same time. How many times do we stumble? How many times we give in to sin? Its crazy how God can’t look on sin, but if we think about it-how many times do we give in to our own desires and the whole time, He’s right there waiting for us to take His hand so we can stand again.
I know that I stumble all the time and I feel like this trip has been nothing but stumbling and falling. I also know that I carry God inside and I want the change and when I fall down I get back up and I’m ready for more. I know that I want God to mold me into the person that HE wants me to be and not the person that I want to be. The person I see somewhere down the road may not be the person God wants me to be.
This is what this trip is about for me. This is what this blog is about. This is what my life is about: forgetting who I used to be and allowing God to change me into who He wants me to be. Not only me, but you as well. Allowing God to change us. Putting down our weapons of defense and knowing that the change God has for us is good and right and true and wanting it; wanting to be uncomfortable before Him because when we’re comfortable with God, something isn’t right. Change can’t happen if we’re comfortable with God. It can’t happen if our lives are easy and we’re content to live every day the way we want to live. It has to be difficult and uncomfortable, otherwise, there is no growth. And that’s what I want for all of you. And that’s all there is to say about that!
C Squad is here in Brasov, Romania for a mini-debrief and team changes and then heading to Moldova for our 4th month on the World Race.
Team changes are not something I was looking forward to. I feel like I have no family, and team Monarch has become that. I've gotten close with everyone and over the past few months, they have become my family. I love everyone of them, through thick and thin.
During a feedback session, I told them how i was struggling with team changes and how I felt like I was going to lose my family again. I told them how I was trying to be ok with it and I know God has a plan. We often dont see the purpose in His plan until after it's already happened and even then, sometimes it doesnt make sense to us.
During the last few days, I've been processing quite a bit, but I have finally come to the point of being ok with team changes. I wasn't happy about it, but I was willing to go with it. Wherever God takes me, God takes me and thats where I'll find my growth in Him.
To just come out with it, this morning we had team changes and Team Monarch was the only team to remain the same :)
I dont know what to say to show how happy I am about this. I dont know why the squad leaders chose us to remain the same. Frankly, I dont care. I just know I still have my family. I know that I've gotten to a level of comfort with them that will allow me to be more open with them; will allow for continued growth in my walk with God.
So, Team Monarch is the same and I love it and I love them and I love God and I'm happy right now :)
For those of you who have subscribed to my blogs, and those of you who end up randomly reading this blog, let me tell you why this is the best year I've had for as long as I can remember, and I'm only 2.5 months in!
I feel like these last months have opened so many doors; doors leading to many different types of houses. God has opened doors that lead to one-story homes; to two-story homes; to mansions! So many doors have been opened to me that give way to life-long relationships with good and founded people that truly follow God and seek after more of Him. Doors leading to future missionary work. Doors leading to new ways to make a difference in the lives of so many people I've met on this trip; stepping into a new place in Christ. I could go on and on, but the point is this: These last two months have been life-changing and I want more of it. I want to come into everything Christ has for me.
When I signed up for this trip and through all the preparation, I could only speculate about the 11 months that I would be gone. I could only guess at what would happen, but to be here now-to do the things I've done-it's astounding. I never thought life could be this amazing. I never thought God would bless me so much in working with honest, sincere people every day for the very real benefit of others. I love it. I love life! I truly and finally love life and I never thought I'd be saying that. All my thanks to God and the many many people that made it possible to even be sitting here in the mission house in Draganesti, Romania where so many other World Racers must have sat and thought the same things I'm thinking.
I say all this to hopefully stress how much I believe that God has so much more for me in the next 8 months. How excited I am to have this great and amazing opportunity to serve the many people from Moldova to the Philippines. To be able to continue on this trip, I need to raise $915 by April 1st and $4500 after that. Time and time again, I've seen God come through and provide that money before the deadline. and I know this time is no different. It's no exception and that extends to my faith being present as well. My faith is there. I know God will provide it. I've seen it and I've seen how faithful HE is, so I can do my part. However, That means have faith AND fundraise. So please throw a prayer in for me, subscribe to my blog to stay updated, and make a donation of any amount BEFORE April 1st. Thank you. You guys are awesome :D
Our first week here in Romania, we've had the chance to do so many things and serve these people in so many ways. Teaching English, translating emails, after-school programs, shopping for widows and doing housework for them, etc....the list goes on. Here's a video I put together :) side note but just as important: I'm still raising funds and I need just under $1000 before April 1st or this trip is over for me. Please pray and make a donation of any amount to help me stay on this trip!! Thank you :)
I’m writing to update you on my 11-month, 11-country mission trip! I’m currently sitting in the airport in Port au Prince, the capital city of Haiti, waiting for a delayed flight to NYC. From there I will be heading to Bucharest, Romania to begin my third month on the field.
The World Race is all about change and stepping into all that God has for you. For me personally, it means looking beyond myself and seeing the great need of the Dominicans; the Haitians; the Romanians, etc...; realizing that these countries need help. Lord, help me help just one person! If I can forget my own selfish wants and look to the needs of those we visit then I’ll be able to fully realize what abandonment truly means.
We spent the month in the Dominican Republic traveling to numerous villages deep in the mountains; villages where white people were uncommon and disease was not, where children begged for water and all we had was enough for cooking. I’ll never forget the translator we were blessed with and his infinite heart - how great his personal need to bring the Dominicans to life! With him we visited the locals; paying special attention to their needs, chatting with them about life, struggles, deep pain, and how to heal that pain. It was an honor to end the visits praying for each person individually.
Our second country was Haiti. I’ll never forget the drive from Port au Prince to our ministry location, Grand Goave. It was a ride spent in silence as we drove through poverty unlike anything I’ve ever imagined. Haiti was already a broken and empty country and in 2010 it was struck with a deadly earthquake that left it in pieces. The rank smell of waste permeated the air and lingered in the nostrils. Shacks and tents plagued the city, and markets had unending masses of people fighting for the cheapest and best they can find.
We spent the month in Haiti constructing an orphanage to house and provide for 66 boys and girls. Between that and laying concrete for a school/church, we were kept busy. In the States my work ethic was far from satisfactory. Here in Haiti, I’m working for a greater purpose and my drive to complete these projects is completely different.
For me, growth comes from experience and I’m getting all the eye-opening experience I could ever want. I’m learning so much about myself and the needs of others that I am become a different person daily. No longer can I be the selfish person that left America in January. The last two months have been outstanding for me and I pray the next nine will be just as great.
I’ve received so much support from everyone but my greatest need right now is to be able to stay on this trip. I absolutely feel called to missions and this is just the start of that journey. Through donations and fundraisers I’ve raised $9,200 of the $15,500 I needed for this trip. By April 1st I must reach $11,000 and by July 1st I must be fully funded otherwise I will have to return to the States. Before each deadline I’ve wound up on my knees praying to God that those donations would come in. Each time I have seen the faithfulness of God and those deadlines have been met, and then some.
Please consider making a donation to help me meet my next deadline so I can continue on this journey. Thanks for everything you all have to done to get me this far! I will continue to share the experiences you support on my blog: jessemorris.theworldrace.org.
I sat in the bus seat staring as the landscape passed quickly before me. My initial reaction was silence. Somber eyes and a grim frown. I was passing Tent City where row upon row upon row of tents swept past in a blur of dirty white, gray, and blue with ’Samaritan’s Purse’ stamped across the side.
The streets were crowded. The capitol of the DR, Santo Domingo, was crowded, but Port au Prince, the capitol of Haiti was chaos. There were no defined lanes as every imaginable vehicle drove madly past each other in both the same direction and opposite directions. Tap taps, buses, cars, trucks, motos, semis, U.N. vehicles, National Police, city police….the list can go on. I would guess that there were at least 7 lanes of traffic at all times on a road made for four.
In both Haiti and the DR, the normal thing to do when driving up on a smaller vehicle is to blast your horn repeatedly and for long periods of time to signal that a larger vehicle is going to pass you. On a 7-lane road jammed packed with multiple-sized vehicles, the larger vehicles had the insatiable desire to force the smaller aside.
I have never seen so many people in one place at one time. It seemed that Port Au Prince was nothing but one big market operating 24/7. Thousands swarmed the streets to hunt for the cheapest food; the freshest vegetables; the best clothing. Others sat around in groups mingling. And others did nothing but stare at the passing vehicles. At the busload of Americans staring wide-eyed out the windows.
We’d been told that what we carried on our backs; what we’d dressed in; what we walked in, might be worth more than these people would make in a year; in two years; in five years. Our big hiking backpacks; our Northface backpacks; our bright clothing. My second reaction was to make sure I had my back to a wall at all times with eyes constantly roving for any suspicious characters.
This was all the first day. It seems that the normal thing that will happen when I arrive in each country is to stay silent for two or three days and simply take it all in. Allow my mind to accept what I’m seeing instead of rushing in and trying to save the country. It’s almost defeating when I look at the big picture and remember the masses I saw in Port Au Prince. It’s almost defeating when replay in my mind the bus ride and staring out at the thousands of tents. And then I think about how its defeating to think of defeat so quickly instead of taking one step at a time. Smaller steps are required to be able to make bigger steps to be able to make leaps and bounds. It may seem that at times progress is at a standstill, but as long as I remember that every day I work here in Haiti means the train is still moving. It doesn’t matter what type of work I do. It doesn’t matter where I work or how long I work, because I know that the work I’m doing will give way to the big picture. One day, Haiti will be able to stand on it’s own feet again and that’s all that matters and as long as I'm working toward that, I know progress is being made.
