Part II of February Update

Okay.. like I said.. this was too long when I wrote it the first time…

Having share enough taco photos with you, I’m excited to now tell you more about what I’m up to and some of the ways I’d love for you to be WITH me in this…

So here we are now, mid February, over a quarter of the way through my first year in this role. I was recently told that when you’re starting something new you can expect two things. You’ll over estimate what you can do in your first year, and underestimate what you’ll do in your first 5 years. More and more I’m seeing how this will likely be true.

The year is flying by, and I feel like I’m just getting started.

I’m super excited to continue to dig into all that there is for me in this new role. I count it such an amazing honour to be able to serve the local church and youth pastors and ministry leaders in this way. Essentially, I’m trying to meet and connect with as many people as possible and invite them to invite me into their lives and ministries in whatever ways they feel makes sense. As much as a large part of my role is to be mobilizing young people towards mission, and specifically Mission Adventures in Tijuana, Mexico. My heart for all of this is seeing young people discover that Jesus truly is who He actually says He is. My heart is to see youth pastors and leaders encouraged and inspired to be disciplining young people! My whole adult life has been focused on walking with young people and seeing Jesus radically impact their lives. That’s my heartbeat. And now, rather than working at one church with one group of students, the opportunity before me is to hopefully journey with many churches and many groups of students and see Jesus use the passion and skills He’s given me to have an even wider reach.

I’ve written too much already. But I want to say how grateful I am that there are people in my life that may want to read the two pages above! Thank you so much for being a part of my story.

As I step more fully into this new season, I want to be even more intentional about the ways that we can be in this journey together. One of the ways I’ve been talking about this is by looking to intentionally invite as many people as I know to join with me in this journey through FRIENDSHIP, through PRAYER and through FINANCES.

Friendship

I know I have lots of friends, but I also realize that this role I’m in is somewhat isolating. As much as it’s literally my job to connect with people, those people are from all over the place. And the team that I work most closely with is in another country and 3 times zones away. So for sure, there is a propensity for this role to generate certain levels of loneliness. So I want you to know, I value your friendship and I want to grow it! I mean that. As much as this is written in a “mass message” format. I sincerely mean that I want to grown in friendship with those who may read it. So, please, lets be friends. Along with this friendship piece, I recognize that I only know so many people. And that you, those reading this, know so many more people! So in this friendship piece, I want to invite you to introduce me to your friends! If you know youth pastors or those working with young people that perhaps I could encourage or equip, please, introduce me! If you know a young adult that may want some information on YWAM or a gap year program of sorts, please, introduce me. If you know a family or some others from your church that may want to do a family trip of sorts similar to the House Build trip I did last year, pleas, introduce me. I think you get the point! Friendship is so import to me always, but it feels keenly essential in this season.

Prayer

I believe deeply in the power of prayer. I don’t always understand it or pretend to know how it “works.” But I believe deeply in hearing from Jesus and bringing our thoughts and concerns and fears and needs to Jesus through intimate, real, conversation. Again, I don’t necessarily claim to know how it “works,” but I am deeply convinced that I cannot even begin to do what I long to do in this role outside of the powerful, miraculous work of Jesus in and through and around me! So yes, in this too, I absolutely invite you to join me. Please pray for me! I have a few ways that you can be reminded of the things in my life to be praying for. You can join my prayer email list or you can even subscribe to a PRAY FOR JUD calendar that will put little reminders on the calendar you use on your phone or computer. Don’t worry, I won’t spam you. Just simple little reminders.

Finances

Finally, how I’m inviting people to join me in this is by joining my financial support team. This whole support raising thing could be “weird,” but I don’t think it has to be. Please know, I’m never going to ask any of you for money. That’s not how this works. I will, however, invite you to consider joining my financial support team. The role I have with YWAM is not a paid role. YWAM does not pay me in any way. In order for this to be a financially viable option where I can still support my family, it requires the community around me to believe in this vision with me and seek to get behind me with finances. I know this piece is not for everyone and that’s super okay! Friendship and prayer are GREAT. But for those who would want to support financially, with a little each month or a lot, I’m super grateful. Like I said, I’m not going to ask you for money. If you want to be a part of this team, you can give through YWAM Canada Project Funding. This way, I have all sorts of accountability and am following Canadian tax rules, and you can also receive a receipt for making a charitable donation. All the details for how to do that are available on the JOIN ME tab of my website.

Even with two parts, this update is too long. I guess that’s why I should do these more often!

If you’ve gotten this far and read both of these updates. GOLD STAR and thank you! If you got this far, maybe let me know! Fire me a text or reply to this email or something! If you got this far, you’re for sure already on the FRIENDSHIP team, so be a good friend and give me a literal or virtual HIGH FIVE!

I look forward to connecting more and more in the season to come.

With much love,

JUD