Luckily, I'm off again! This time, no foreign countries, living in bug infested sleeping bags, no mountains, feet of snow, coffee farms, lack of cell reception or community living. Nope, this time, I'm going to the windy city of Chicago!
Let me tell you a little story about Jenny Goins...
I grew up in the middle of a cornfield.I showed sheep and chickens at the county fair. I spent my friday nights outside catching lightning bugs, cleaning the barn and brushing my miniature pony. The first time I drove on our 2 lane interstate, I thought I would die, and my first time driving to wal-mart...the same wal-mart i've been going to for 13 years, I got lost.
this is an average road where i'm from....
this my friends.....
literally makes me laugh out loud.
No really, I'm extremely excited about the next step. I'm just going to draft someone to teach me the ropes on the crazy roads of Chicago(:
What's next for me:
Internship at Awana headquarters.
How did this come about:
I love Awana. SO much. I started in kindergarten and went all the way through high school. I didn't always want to, but my mom made me, I'm the only one of my friends who stuck with it, but I'm so thankful I did now(: In May of last year I achieved the Citation award, which is the highest achievement through Awana. About a month after I got it, I got an email from Awana headquarters about going and spending a few days in Chicago with others who had achieved the award and see what Awana is all about. Pretty much it rocked my world. I knew YWAM was my next step at that point, but after that all I knew was Haiti, I didn't know how that would come about. I met Kevin White and Brian Rhodes while at headquarters. Kevin and I started emailing a couple of weeks before the trip to Chicago about Haiti. The way that conversation came about was all God! Anyway, Kevin found out I have a heart for Haiti. Kevin talked about internships while I was in Chicago, I definitely didn't consider it, because I knew I wanted to go to Haiti and didn't have time for an internship. A few weeks later, I was praying, and started considering an internship with Awana. Didn't say much about it, until I was in YWAM ( for like a whole week) and was praying about what to do with my life and every time the internship came up. So to make this already super long story as short as possible, I prayed, felt like I was supposed to add Kevin to my prayer letter list, asked him more about the internship, prayed more and left it up to God. When I was in Colombia Brannon Marshall contacted me with more information on the internship, and told me that he had been following my trip (thanks Kevin!) Want to hear something awesome? About 3 days before I heard from Brannon, I told God that if I didn't get a game plan figured I was going to find something else, and not do the internship (because of course, what I do with my life is all up to me ;]...I don't understand why He loves me so much). So hearing from Brannon, which I wasn't expecting at all, definitely confirmed that God wanted me at Awana. God's provided every step of the way since then, blessed me with a great job, that is allowing me to take the time off for the internship. Blessed me with a car, that's going to get me to Chicago...alive. And has given me an amazing supportive family, and a peace in my heart that this is what I'm supposed to do!
What am I going to be doing:
I will be in Chicago for 2 months, May 31-July 31. Working with Awana staff and seeing all of the parts of Awana, and what Awana is all about. I'm excited to see where God takes me with this, whether He wants me to do something with Awana, full time, which I'm really thinking is a possibility, because of all of the ways He has put me in touch with different people at Awana, or if He wants me to see how an international organization works, I don't know. I'm just incredibly excited!
Thank you so much for all of your prayers, and I'm sure there will be a letter or two during my time in Chicago.
As of right now, I just ask that you pray for my car. Which is currently having some transmission problems...a week before I drive to Chicago. I'm kind of freaking out, but trying to remind myself that God's got all of this under control.
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy purpose" -Jeremiah 1:5
Thanks again for the prayers, I can't wait until I'm in Haiti and writing you letters!
In Christ alone,
Jenny
ps: If you are curious about Awana...check it out! www.awana.org
Awana helps churches and parents work together to develop spiritually strong children and youth who faithfully follow Jesus Christ. Our programs offer a proven approach for evangelizing and discipling kids in the church and community.
As a ministry leader for nearly 60 years, Awana is making an impact. A recent national survey found Awana to be as important to our alumni's spiritual foundation as all other church activities combined. Among alumni who participated in our programs for at least six years, 92.7 percent still attend church at least weekly as adults!
Each week, more than one million kids ages 2 to 18 participate in Awana. Over 12,000 churches in the U.S. and 7,600 internationally run Awana programs that change young lives through biblical truth.
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