Tara Dunn, Becca Shields, Adam Joyave, Ben Hooper. Have emails from Tara and Becca
Dear Mr. Mike,
I received an email from Bob a couple days ago, and he explained to me where a large portion of my mission’s support was from… I am so humbled to receive such a generous gift. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help in sending me to St. Anns, Jamaica! I was originally very hesitant in deciding to go because of my family’s financial struggles, but the Lord gave me full assurance that He had called me to go and He Would provide. The gift through your Mission Fund was the exact final amount that I needed to be fully paid up! He is so faithful to provide in the midst of the call. My faith has been truly strengthened and streched this year.
While in Jamaica, I learned so much about not only the beautiful Jamaican people, but also about the Lord, Christian community, and myself. The Jamaicans taught me what true joy and freedom is by allowing Jesus to shine through and overcome their hopelessness and fear. I learned so much about humility and loving God’s people wholeheartedly. The Lord’s presence was also more real to me than ever before. I have a new desire and passion to become more intimate with Him and truly get to know His heart. I am overwhelmed that He would choose me to serve Him.
I really enjoyed serving in the churches and schools. I have a passion to invest in the lives of children, so I loved spending time with them! I also had a blast getting to know out team and hearing their hearts. The highlight of my trip though was probably getting to visit the infirmary, a place of disease and sadness where many elderly stay while they basically wait to die. I was originally terrified to minister to these people. I was scared to see such hopelessness, and I had no idea what to say. I knew though that the Lord wanted to use me to be His hands and feet that day. I was fully dependent on Him the entire time. His Holy Spirit filled me and used me like never before in my life. I got to minister to a very sick woman named Ms. Lucela. I had the priveledge of singing with her, praying with her, reading the Word with her, and rubbing lotion on her hands and feet. We sang Jesus Loves Me over and over because that was her favorite song. Despite her hopeless situation, she was clinging to the promise that she would see Jesus face to face when she died. Her joy was contagious and I will never forget her. Before we left, she grabbed my hands and began to pray for me. She was thanking God was bringing “His angels” to her: to touch her, to sing over her, and to pray for her. I heart was so moved by her gratitude and closeness to the Father. We went to the infirmary that day to bless others, but I have no doubt that our group left with the biggest blessings. – - This was just one of the experiences that changed my life on this trip. I just thought I would share with you a taste of what the Lord did last week. (I attached a few pictures also)
May God bless you for your willingness to serve Him. I am so grateful!
In Christ’s Love,
Becca Shields
–Psalm 103–
Hi Mike,
My name is Tara Dunn, and I was one of the mission trip scholarship recipients this year. I just wanted to say thank you so much for enabling me to help lead a trip of Freshman students to Jamaica this spring break. I know that I am not a usual candidate for this mission trip scholarship since I am 29 years old and an associate director at Wesley:). However, I cannot express enough how much I appreciated that you were willing to say yes and enable me to help lead this trip. Since I raise a good portion of my salary and my husband and I are in the midst of adopting our first child from Ethiopia, I knew it would only be possible for me to go on this trip if the Lord provided miraculously…which he did through you and Michael’s Ultimate Mission! Not only did I get to know students, but I was blessed to see their hearts completely changed as they left their comfort zones (many for the first time) and had their eyes opened to see God’s heart for the nations. Just one example was when the staff was ministering to the students on the last evening and I was able to pray for a student who had always dreamed of being a missionary. She had given up on that dream a year or so ago, but as we prayed, God resurrected her dream and I will never forget her tears of joy as she finally embraced her calling to be a missionary and allowed herself to dream again. I am so excited to continue to get to know these students and help them discover the role God is calling them to play in fulfilling the Great Commission. I hope you enjoy a few of these pictures. The first is of our team, the second is of me and a beautiful Jamaican girl and the third is of me with two freshmen whom I got to know well and am excited to continue to pour into. Again, thank you!!!
–
Tara Dunn
Director of Prayer
UGA Wesley Foundation
1196 South Lumpkin Street
Athens, GA 30605
706.353.1408