3/30/13 Jennifer’s first fundraising for a missions trip….
Jennifer’s first fundraising for a missions trip. (Your chance to support a young “sprouting” missionary. )
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.“ – 1 John 3:16-18
Dear Friend,
As some of you have heard, I am preparing to be a part of a program this summer called the Montreal Urban Partnership through IVCF Canada. It’s been an incredible year of growth and blessing for me. God has answered so many prayers and taught me so much about himself through my first year here at McGill, and I could not think of a better way to finish this year off than by dedicating my first month of summer to learning from and serving him.
To give some background about the program, Inter-Varsity Canada is an organization that works to inspire, assist, and equip students and young Christians across Canadian campuses to serve God in his work where they are and around the world. While these might sound like vague verbs, the impact that IVCF has had on McGill’s campus and campuses like it across Canada is anything but. IVCF staff workers serve two Christian fellowships here at McGill: McGill Christian Fellowship (of which I am a part of) and International Student Ministries. I’m so thankful for the work that these groups have been doing on my campus, and for the people I’ve gotten to know through both of them.
This Urban Partnership is a month-long (May 1st to June 2nd) intensive missions program in which fifteen students from Quebec province have a chance to live together for one month, learning about Christ’s servantship through daily bible study while serving around the city as volunteers full-time. The program starts immediately after exams and will run through the beginning of June. The first week, we will be heading to New Brunswick to take part in Inter-Varsity’s annual Mark East conference with the larger Inter-Varsity community in order to study Mark’s gospel in-depth for one week, and then we will return to the city and start our work here.
That’s the concrete stuff, but why I am so excited to be a part of this program is that it is focused on learning the heart behind Jesus’s ministry to the poor, and what Christians should do in the face of issues of social justice and inequality. Much like other cities and urban areas, poverty and social inequality in Montreal is a huge problem. On top of this, the province of Quebec remains the most unreached people group in North America, with only 0.5 % of the population professing the Christian faith.
There can be no service without God’s word, and God’s word demands us to practice what we see Jesus doing—his sacrifice and servantship out of love for others. God’s word and its practice are both essential elements of the gospel we Christians profess. Until servantship and giving can come from sharing Jesus’ suffering and compassion rather than from a sense of superiority or of social obligation, then I will not be accurately representing the gospel. I also won’t be able to fully understand God’s love for myself and for others. Through bible study, living in close community, and getting to know and serving those whom I don’t have regular day-to-day contact with on campus, I am praying that my heart can be changed to become someone who can love and serve out of compassion and deep knowledge of God’s word.
I ask that you pray for myself and for our team as we prepare for this program in the coming months. Pray that we would be open to learn and to act in accordance with Jesus’ heart, and that God would provide all necessary provisions. This is the largest group of students that MUP has accepted, so logistics will be quite complicated. I’ve seen prayer work miracles this year, so all prayer would be greatly appreciated.
Additionally, I ask you to consider donating financially to this endeavor. Each student pays $2,000 to cover living and transport expenses, emergencies, as well as monetary donations to the organizations where we will be serving. If you have the means and want to get involved in the work God wants to do through our team in this city, I’d encourage you to donate. And any money that I raise over this goal will go towards other students’ fundraising efforts.
You can do this in two ways:
1. https://www.ivcf.ca/sslpage.aspx?pid=605.
2. Mail a check to Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship.
Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship
1 International Boulevard
Toronto, ONM9W 6H3.
Put MUP and my name in the memo so they know it’s for me!
Please don’t worry or stress if you can’t give money, but please keep us in your prayers. I will try and be updating my blog at least a couple of times during the program to keep you updated on our activities and what we’ve been learning. If you’re interested in following along, visit jennjesmer.wordpress.com.
Just to clarify, if you wish to make an online donation, search for “Montreal UP – Jennifer Jesmer” in the box that says “Fund Description” in order to credit the donation to my account. Thank you so much for your time, and God bless!
Thank you so much for your time, and God bless!
Jenn Jesmer
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