My story...

I was born and raised in The Bronx of New York City in 1985 with petite-mal epilepsy, which I had for the first 11 years of my life. Living with this disease felt like sleep-walking through life. I went to school and had friends but it didn't really feel like everything was real. As a child, I also had rheumatoid arthritis. From the combination of this pain and the multiple medications a day, I was not very social or even aware of others.

My dad and I in the Bronx Zoo

Despite the fact that I grew up in a church that taught the Bible, at age 11 I still didn't fully understand what it meant to have a personal relationship with Christ. It wasn't until some friends from the teen’s group were getting baptized that I even questioned my parents about my relationship with Christ. My dad was a student of the Bible and biblical history, so I knew from a young age that I could trust his search for God. When I asked, my parents explained that the reasons these people were getting baptized was to publicly announce their love for Christ and dedication to live for Him. So I asked them why I couldn't get baptized and they told me because I had never prayed to receive Christ as my personal savior! "WHAT?!" By this time, I was slowly weaned off of the medication and beginning to really understand what was happening around me. I couldn't believe that all this time I grew up in church and had NO idea that I wasn't actually going to be in heaven with God always.

After my parents explained what it meant to receive Christ as Savior and accept Him as Lord, they asked if I would like to pray with them. I rejected their offer because I was so angry (prideful) for not already knowing. Even in that decision alone, I recognized how sinful I was and how my sin simply kept me separate from God. Later that evening I asked God to forgive me for my stubborn self-will and rejection of Him. I prayed that He would forgive me of ALL my sin and restore my relationship with Himself through the sacrificing replacement of His Son. The next day I reported to my parents that I prayed to receive Christ and I was then baptized at the Christian camp with several others. Later that day, the pastor preached about so many making the decision to follow Christ but not following through. I decided that would NOT be me! There was NO way I was going to pray to receive Christ and punk out. I was taught to properly represent my earthly father as a sign of respect and humility and I vowed to do the same when it came to representing Christ. This was, in retrospect, more of a prideful decision than a humble one but a decision it was. Until this point in my childhood, I didn't even realize that a relationship with Christ was essential to salvation. I thought instead that as long as I obeyed mom and dad, went to church, read my Bible, and prayed then I would be fine. Unbeknown to me, I was working to influence God’s love for me and not accepting it as a free gift.

Jen & I (as a student) in 2005

My freshman year in college, I met a woman who lived out what she believed even if it made her feel uncomfortable. She lived life before me like no one I had ever met before. My parents were and still are practicing Christians, but there is something about meeting someone single and young who loves the Lord & lives like it. I know she said we believed in the same things but I had not really met anyone who was as vulnerable with his/her mistakes and honest in their growth. After all, all my religion required of me was humble joyous obedience. She, however, had some sort of passionate excitement and personal connection with our God. She called Him Abba and meant it. She called Him master and displayed it. Still prideful, I thought I knew all that she would try to teach me but I actually never knew how to apply these things to my life and let it change me into who God wants me to be.

Throughout the course of the next four years, I studied her as she lived this life before me. She taught me a few essentials to living the Christian life as an out pour of one’s love for the Creator. Not only did I learn who God truly was, but now I understood why I was who He created me to be. I learned apply the scriptures to my life and to love others as God loved me on a richer deeper level where it was no longer an obligation or rule.

Back in America

Jenn Lee, student leader from Montclair State University, is.... back in America!

Here is her story!

I am completely blown away as I sit here and reflect on how powerfully and amazingly God has worked in Botswana within the one month I was there! He is so AWESOME! Coming back to the United States has helped me realize how blessed I am and how I take certain things for granted. It helped me appreciate cars stopping in the middle of the road for me, nice hot showers, nice comfy beds and etc.

God has definitely opened my eyes more to the Great Commission: (Matthew 28:18-20) So amazing to see how God wants us to GO and be His ambassadors to make disciples. What an honor we have! :)

(Just a quick summary of what happened during the month at Botswana)

The first two weeks we were at a Feeding Station where around 40-50 children without parents or parents who are unable to feed their children comes to be fed. The cool part about this is that it is operated by a nearby church so most of the children who come to the feeding station attend church service on Sundays! Before eating, we shared a time of praise and a short sermons on the various armors of God. After eating, we got to talk with them, play with them and even dance with them! The children were a complete JOY and they constantly wanted to be played with, held and just loved. It really broke my heart to see most of the older girls (10-12 or even older) always have an infant on their backs. Most of them also wore the same clothing the whole time we were there. But, when they prayed to God and praise Him…their hearts were so pure. Their hearts were so precious!

And of course, there was a lot of spiritual battles. But one of them was the Islamic influence in Botswana. This past year, they build is Islam mosque right by the feeding station and they have been trying to lure the children with food. It was so hard to see some of the children leave to run to them for during the praise and worship even after they were fed really great meals. (Please continue to pray for them).

The rest of the trip we worked on the campus of University of Botswana. It was so amazing to see how receptive people were to the gospel message. I don’t think we had people refusing to hear what we had to say. There were people that I spoke with that were super excited and really wanted to how to receive Christ even before I shared with them! So cool how God prepares their hearts even before we spoke!  A lot of them had questions about the Old testament and the Ten Commandments. It was so cool how I was able to use the things I learned from doing Quiet times that week to answer the questions that they had. Totally the Holy Spirit. There were actually good number of Christians on the campus that fully understood the gospel message so it was really assuring. (There was a huge mosque that was right across from the campus so we’re hoping people aren’t influence by it.) We had over 1000 spiritual conversations and around 50-60 receive Christ within the two weeks we were on campus!

I even had the opportunity to share with the women who were working at the Lodge we were staying at and two of them made the decision to receive Christ into their lives.

Overall, this trip really helped me realize the importance of making the gospel known. We as Christians should always be on “GOSPEL-MODE”…ready and prepared to share the Gospel anywhere and everywhere.

Thanks for all the support through finances and prayer! God bless you all!

Ke a le boga ta ta! Modimo ga orata! (Thank you very much and God loves you!)

Sala Sentle (stay well )

Student Summer Missions!

Jenn Lee (pictured below) is a student of mine from Montclair State University (MSU). She appears in a few pictures to the right but has also appeared in quite a few of my Prayer Letter Updates. As an intern with Campus Crusade for Christ, I was able to disciple Jenn her freshman year. This year she will be a senior at MSU, so this summer is Jenn's last opportunity as a student to go on a Student Summer Project. For this summer, Jenn has decided to share the gospel with students overseas as she simultaneously works with orphans in need!
Here is a piece of her first blog from Botswana!

Today was our first day when we went out to the feeding station and saw the children at the orphanage. It was definitely an eye opening experience. As soon as we pulled into the orphanage in our cars, the kids were running to greet us! They were just full of energy and joy that I had a really hard keeping up with them! They welcomed us by teaching us several games (one seemed like duck, duck goose)! The kids were also extremely friendly and full of so much love. Everytime I got dirt on my skirt…they were brushing it off to make sure it was clean. And, everytime a piece of my hair was in my face…they would move it back for me. It just really broke my heart to see the condition they were living in and how most of the children were really thin. But yet, they praised and worshipped AND even said the Lord Prayer in English before their meal. I was able to learn a lot from them today and I am really greatful for the experience.