Number 4 project down...well, almost!

Sorry that I havent done a very good job keeping you all updated on this weeks project. Everything has run very smoothly here in Lubbock. We have been truly blessed by the people here and the amount of the city sponsors this project. Can I just tell you that the crews have done an amazing job sharing the love of Christ with the community. According to lastnight's numbers, there have been 230 presentations of the gospel, 7 recommitments and 28 salvations. Now if that isnt something to praise the Lord about, I dont know what is.
We have a crew cheif here this week named, Jimmy Red. He is from Mississippi and has a true compassion for those that dont know the truth of Christ. His crew alone led 11 people to Christ on Monday. He spoke with me a little on Sunday and he was a huge encouragement to me. He told me stories about how God has really emphasized the importance of not missing a opportunity to share Christ. He told me that tele-marketers are one of his most favorite groups of people. He never even lets them get started because he jumps right in sharing the gospel. It was so cool to hear him talk about that. In many cases, I know that we dispise getting those phone calls, but he doesnt. I was convicted by the spirit because I know in many circumstances, I miss opportunities because I dont have confidence that the Spirit can speak through me to others. ...just thought yall would like this and perhaps it convicts your hearts too.
Some of you may know this already, but others may not....I got sick yesterday and it was horrible. There is some sort of bug floating around the school and I caught it yesterday. Luckily I was able to sleep it away for the most part yesterday. Many of you would now know this but the beginning and end of the project is when my work load is heavy and I was very scared that it would not work out very well. But God healed my body quickly and I am much better today.
Well, that is an update on my life this past week. The crews have done a great job working this week and have been very successful. God is so good!!

Prayer request: pray for Daniel as he travels this weekend to see me for a couple of days in San Antonio. Also, pray for our youth as they head for Virginia today. Pray that the Lord will work in a mighty way this next week.

Love you all! See yas real soon!

Ive arrived in Lubbock, TX

Well, Im here..back in the great state of Texas. Yesterday we were in Fort Worth and were reunited with our first PC, Shawn Edwards. I cannot tell you how good is was to see him and his family and reunite. I was reminded yet again, why I am doing what I am doing. I was reminded of that passion I had at the beginning of the summer before I had trouble in Cinci. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and concerns. The team and I appreciate them.
Yesterday we went with Shawn to the JFK museum and to a very famous mexican restuarnt. It was delicious!! And the museum was very interesting too. And we revisited the grassy knoll once again for old times sake.
But now we are in Lubbock in a hotel and we head off to our lodging, a school, to get to work tomorrow. The coordinators here in Lubbock are having a cook-out for us tomorrow evening...so we look forward to that. Home-cooked meals...yummy!! (Im expecting some from all of you when I come home) haha!!
I have to end this, but before I do....I want you to know...on our drive today, I drove for 3 and a half hours straight and you wanna know what I saw. I saw a very straight and flat road for miles and thousands of windmills. What an entertaining car ride, huh? Yeah, that is was I thought too.
Love you all...take care. (And by the way, give Daniel a hug for me whenever you see him.)

We leave tomorrow

Well, tonight is the last full day in Cincinnati. I must say, I am glad to be headed back to TExas. The only thing is, Im not really looking forward to the long drive back. But Im sure we will have lots of good times on the road.
By the way, tanks to the WIN group for their very sweet card. I just got it today and it meade my heart very happy. :) So far, we have have had 6 salvations this week and many seeds planted. There are still come crews out working as I write this so I dont know the final numbers. The offering this week was 1193 dollars. Not as good as Dallas but still good.
Oh, I wanted to tell you all....we do have a blog for the team. It is more of an update for the participants parents to follow up with the project but we post pictures and thing son there. If you go to world-changers.net and then find the project, you will see the blog. So feel free to look on there. The next project that I have will be in a week in Lubbock TX. We are all very excited to get there and get a fresh start.
I dont want you all to think taht we didnt enjoy Cincinnati, but the Lord definitley tested our team. We concored the devil this week and you have no idea how hapopy that makes my heart.
Well pray for us as we travel this week and for the churches that will be traveling back home tomorrow. I will keep you updated with the great days we have ahead of us this next week.
Love you all and miss yas!

Quick update

We are chuggin along. The past two days have been crazy busy for all of us. Normally once a project get started and the participants are off to work, it is not that busy. But for some odd reason, yesterday was one of my busiest days ever. But I made it through. Now I am just extremely tired. Hopefully I will have time for a nap today.
The situation with our project coordinator has gotten a little better. This is partly to do with the fact that all fo the really difficult things are done and now we only have to be sure that the work is getting done. Thank you for your prayers. The whole team appreviates them.
As for the students this week. Tehy are great. Many of them have never been to world changers before and so it is cool to hear about the simple things taht they enjoy.
We did have a girl get hit in the face with the claw of a hammer. And this was 30 minutes after they got to the worksite. So if you couldnt guess this already that is part of the reason why I was so busy yesterday.
Please pray for me cause I have been struggling the past couple days with leadership and others being submissive. I honestly believe that part of the reason for this is the fact that we are all so stressed. If you would like further details about that, please ask Daniela nd then pray for me.
Love yas!

Hello from Cincinnati, Ohio

Hello family! Im at the school now getting things together for the Cincinnati project. Well, I can't say that everything is running smoothly. We have had more bumps in the road than I can name. It is very different here in Ohio. The school, neighborhood, and mainly the coordinators. One is better than the last project but others are not so much. I know that may sound a little strange for me to say something like that. And to be honest, I probably shouldn't compare the projects, but things are not running so smoothly. Infact, I am, in many ways serving as the Team Leader, Office Manager and the Project Coordinator. And to be honest, that is not alright with me. I am making many decisions that the PC should be making, thus I am getting very stressed about it. I am not saying that things are not getting done well, because my team is doing a great job, but things are a little more difficult.
I am not so sure that I should be being this honest with all of you, but I really need some prayers sent up to heaven for me and the team. Plus, how are you suppose to know what to pray about if I don't let you know. We are all getting stressed about the situation and have been praying alot about it. But, I am sure that a few more prayers would be appreciated.
As for the Cincinnati life, well, let's just say that it is very different from the Missouri life or even the Texas life. Brother Bunch, I had some Skyline chili yesterday...and YUCK! Well I guess I shouldn't say yuck, but it is definitely different. I dont know if everyone knows about this, but they put chocolate in the chili here. It is more sweet than anything else. Let's just say, I wouldn't choose to go there.
Well, that is really all that I have to update you on. Please continue to pray for Jordan, Matt and Vickie as we all work together. They are all doing a great job and I dont want to put my stress on them. But I guess, I need to remember, not my strength but God's.
Love you all!

Tomorrow starts a new adventure

The Texas Team is now in Cincinnati, Ohio. And no, Brother Bunch, I have not eaten chili yet, BUT tomorrow, we are going to go eat some with one of our coordinators. Im excited! It just better be as good as you said it is. haha!
Well so far we have had a good time. We left Texas on Saturday morning. We stopped in Texarkana, TX, Memphis, and Nashville and ended up here in Cin. In Memphis we stopped at the Peabody hotel and saw a little duck march....which was real cute. Then in Nashville we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe and went to Oprey Mills mall. Then since we have been here, we went the the Creattion Museum yesterday (which was amazing, might I add. Everyone needs to go through that. Definitely worth it). And today we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. I enjoyed the zoo but it is not as good as the St Louis Zoo. Twas expensive (3 dollars for a bottle of watter) and nto as well organized. But we did spend all day there. And can I just tell you, my feet still hurt. I think that part of the reason is because I didnt really wear the best pair of shoes but still.....painful!!
Tomorrow we are moving in the a school called, Rockwell Academy. This school is located close to the bad part of Cin, so please pray for our safety. We drove past there today, it looked ok during the day,but Im gonna be scared at night. So please, dont forget to pray for me and the team and the participants as they travel this weekend.
This next project is what World Changers callas an express project. The students will be coming in on Monday and leaving Saturday morning. It is called an express because it is shorter than the nrmal project.

Prayer requests: Please pray for Matt's and Jordan's parents. They are all traveling for their homes to come and visit us this weekend. Also, pray for the project. We have already run into some trouble and we havent even moved intot he lodging yet. But I have confidence that God has gone before me and the team and has something grand in store for us all.

Well that is pretty much all I have to share with yall for now. And like Ive said before, dont make yourself a stranger to me. I wanna hear from yall.
Love yas!

One last night then off to Ohio

Well, we are just about finished here in Dallas. Just one last dinner, one last workship and then we get to pack pack pack tonight and get on the road again. This project has gone pretty smoothly. Like I said before, just a few cuts and scraps and not much else. The student love it when Vickie and I make our rounds at night time, (well you know, for the girls). We read bedtime stories to the girls before they go to bed. They adore it. Last week we made up songs for the girls and they thoguht it was funny too.

Tomorrow morning we are headed to Texarkana for the night...that is after we stop at my national staff's house in Whiley, Texas for lunch. Im pretty excited to get a home cooked meal. So, the next five days I will be traveling to Ohio. Some days we are driving more than others but it should be a pretty easy drive the whole way.

This week, we have recorded 6 salvations so far and almost $2000 in offering. That is a huge amoutn for the about of students that we have. Im pretty excited to hear those number and be able to report them back to NAMB>

Shawn Edwards, my PC told me yesterday that we were one of the best Summer Staff teams he has ever had. And to me, that is a big deal. Shawn has been doing this for over 10 years and has worked with many teams. So, I am glad to get such a great report from him. He and the rest of the coordinators have been such a huge encouragement to me and the rest of the team. We really will miss them.

Well, it is almost dinner time so I better get going. Love yall!

p.s. By the way, I do accept cards. ;)

Thank goodness I get some free time!

Well all of the kiddos are headed off to spend some time in Dallas. And what are we staffers doing? Need you even guess.......SLEEPING!..then dinner, of course. haha!
This week has gone really well thus far. I mean, other than a few minor things. Hammer in a toe, 4 stiches, was just about as exciting as it has gotten thus far. Oh and a broken window in a room where there are Do Not Enter signs. And to think that the majority of people in that room were adults makes alot of sense, huh? But other than that, everything has run real smoothly. I feel much less stressed than I did last week during the launch project. We have 2 recorded salvations thus far this week. And the offering was collected lastnight. There was a total of 1660.25 dollars collected and we are still working on getting more. I think we might do something more extra special if we reach 2500 dollars. We shall see.
I hate to make this so short but Ive gotta get these kiddos out of here. They were suppose to be gone 30 minutes ago.
Love you all!

God is so good!

God has been reminding me over and over again that I cant do things with my own strength. There have been so many mishaps that have happened these past couple of weeks. Not just at the project, but with me spiritually lately. I have found it so hard to find a balance between work for God and God time. At worship lastnight the speaker, Randy Beggs shared his testimony. So often I try to have pity on myself for the times in my life when I have had troubles, but after hearing his testimony, God revealed to me how I was called out of the darkness and no matter what I do He still loves me. I mean, afterall, that is what grace is all about, right? God is so good to constantly bring conviction to my life and how I fail. I use to believe that conviction is a dreadful thing. But now that I am older, not just physically but also spiritually, I now know that conviction is a blessing. This may be a strange thing to ask for prayer about, but I want to ask you all to pray that God brings conviction to my heart and through that brings me closer to Him.

As for the project, everything is going well. It is so interesting to see the whole vibe that one group of students bring to the whole project. There is one group that make the whole project so different. Please pray for the crews as they go and work this week. Pray for safety on the sites as well as evangelism oppurtunities. I know as a young person I was very terrified about evangelism but there was always that one person that encouraged me. Pray for there to be that one person on every crew to be the encourager to the students.

I want you all to know how amazing the people that I have been working with this past week have been such a blessing. Not only have the projects gone smoothly but the relationships that I am building with the coordinators are great. It is such a cool thing to see that there are amazing godly people outside of the box that I get caught up in in Springfield. I wish that you all could meet all of these people. But maybe someday. Who knows. If not here then definitely in heaven. :)

Well, I need to get to work and then Im gonna go visit some job sites. Love you all!

p.s. If you want to hear a funny story about what happened to me last week, ask Daniel. Just ask him to tell you the story about the alarm. He will know what you are talking about.

Launch craziness

Well, this Launch project, although it has had many mishappenings, has run very smoothly.
On Monday after we unloaded the trailer we went to lunch with our project coordiniator, Shawn Edwards. He asked us at lunch what we were nervous about and I told him that I was nervous that my comp would crash. And guess what. When I was setting up the office and started working on my office manager things, I turned on my comp....and my comp didnt work. Doesnt God has a sense of humor? haha! So, I was devistated. However, somehow, Matt got onto the computer and got my files off so I could work on his personal computer. But let me tell you something, NAMB sent me a new computer but it didnt get here til 3 hours before registration on Wednesday. So had Matt not fixed my problem, I would have been a mess. But I guess when God causes chaos in our lives, He always provides a way out of the chaos at the same time.
Then yesterday was suppose to be the crews first of two days that they would be working at World Changers. When we went to bed on Wed night, it was raining but the storms were suppose to pass over night. However, when I woke in the morning, the rain was coming down and coming down hard. And this rain continued for many hours. Infact, we had to have a mini worship on the fly and we sent them off. But when we did, the weather got worse. After everyone coming back, I bought 40 pizzas...which was amazing. We ordered them from CiCi's at 11:00am and they had them ready at 12:15. Praise the Lord. Then we had anothe worship after lunch. After all of this chaos, we sent them back out.
Although there was so much chaos and confusion, we did get a report that we had one person surrounding a work site accept Christ as there Savior. Praise God!

So yes, if you are wondering, I am exhausted. Wed night I got less than 3 hours of sleep and lastnight I got about 5 hours of sleep. Please pray for me cause the resting situation isnt going to get any better for more than a week.

I hope and pray that everything is going well at home. Miss you all! Love you too!

Im in Texas

I just want to say that Texas is AMAZING.....amazingly HOT!! But I love it....thus far. Yesterday the team and I went to Six Flags Over Texas and spent the day there. It was about 90 degrees or so but lots of fun. Although the weather was hot, it wasnt too humid. We spent the whole day there and God did a miracle. He kept me from getting sunburnt. All of you know how incredibley pail I am. But with the use of mch sunscreen, I didnt get burnt. Praise the Lord. Yesterday was a great bonding time for the four of us. About 10 roller coasters later and a huge headache, we went and had dinner with our Project Coordinator for both the Dallas projects, Shawn Edwards at this amazing Mexican restaruant. I would tell you the name of it, but I dont know how to spell it. hahaha!

Today we went to douwntown Fort Worth. We were going to watch the longhorn herding but because traffic was so bad, we missed it by 10 minutes. So we walked around downtown and the other three bought cowboy hats, and belt buckles. Im not going to lie, I thought about getting things to, but since I wont wear those things when I come back to Missouri, I figured it was a bad choice. For dinner we went to a steakhouse called, Trail Dust. It was so yummy. And they had a live country band and a dance floor. Dont worry, I didnt dance, but I watch lots of lovely old people get their grooves on. :)

All the times that I begin to question what God was thinking, He proves to me again and again that He always knows what He is doing. There are times when I question whether or not I am capable of doing what He is calling me to do. And you want to know something? I am not capable of doing anything. But God is!
I am really trying to be a faithful servant and make it all about Him, but it is hard. So often I get distracted by my selfishness and my own wellbeing that I forget the reason why I am away from the people that I love the most. Please pray for my heart and that I am the servant that God desires to use. Pray that I will make this about God and the participants. God is going to do great things, I dont doubt that, but pray that I will believe that whole-heartedly.

Almost there

Well today is the day when we get to Texas. We are about an hour outside of Texas but still have abotu 4 hours til we get to Dallas. Today has been quite the day. This morning, we got up, had our team devotion, (which was really encouraging to me) and then hit the road.

I have been doing some praying about the need for the team to share our testimonies with one another. I knew that it was something that was necessary for all of us as a team. At first I wanted to have everyone share during training, but realized that there is an importance for all of us to know one another on a more personal level before sharing what God has truly done in our lives. So, lastnight I shared my testimony with the team. Then today, both Vickie and Jordan shared theirs. It is so cool to me to see how God has taken all of us from various backgrounds and many different experiences and given us all the same kinds of passions. God is so cool! But I defintiely feel as if the sharing of testimonies has brought us closer as a team.

Of course, we have had some laughs...one being lastnight when we went to dinner at Olive Garden, the waiter thought we were on a double date. (I dont think Daniel would have been too happy about that) We all laughed for quite some time about that.

So we have driven through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and are headed through Louisianna right now. We stopped at a Log Cabin, something or other, restaraunt for lunch......talk about yummines! It was goooooood!

For the next four days we will be staying just outside of Dallas in a place called Mesquite, Texas. We are gonna take advantage of the time there. Tomorrow, if the weather permits, we are going to go to Six Flags and do various other things.....and REST!

Please continue to pray for the health of the team and for the other teams as we all travel across the US. I am so thankful that God has kept everyone safe thus far. We did see a huge accident in Monroe, Louisianna. I believe it was a 7 car pile-up. Thank God for our safe travels.

Love you all! And I am praying for yall at GBC. Miss yas!

On the road!!! HORRAY!!

Well, we are on the road!! Training is officially over! Praise the Lord! Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts.

Yesterday we finished our mock setup. My national staff, David Scott stopped by yesterday afternnon for our evaluation. And to be honest, I felt as if I was going to pee my pants. I was so nervous. Last year, I never had a mock setup because I left right away for Puerto Rico. But this summer, since I am a team leader and had never had a mock setup, I was definitely feeling the pressure. But when David came, I receive nothing but praises. That made me feel good. Infact, he commented on my leadership skills. God reaffirmed my calling to me through David yesterday. The whole time David was there, I could hear God telling me that I did a good job. Sometimes I worry too much for my good but I feel as if all of my worries we worth something yesterday.

Today we are headed to Jackson, Mississippi. We are stopping mid-way through Alabama to have lunch with one of our coordinator for our project in Lubbock.

Please pray for safe travels and lots of sleep.
Love you all! Miss your smiling faces and hugs!

Training is almost over

Well, this week has been pretty tough. We had long days filled with hours upon hours of sitting at a desk in a small room surrounded by many people, driving school (for those of you that dont know, I am driving a Ford Expedition and pulling a trailer all summer long...alot different my little bug, Betty), packing inventory for every project at the wonderul World Changers warehouse, packing all the medical and office supplies, and various other activities. So yes, I am TIRED! Currently, my team and I are in Douglasville, GA (which is just outside of Atlanta), preparing for our national staff, David Scott to come and evaluate our work. Yesterday afternnon, after our commissioning service and lunch, my team headed here to have our mock setup. And man-o-man, did we work hard. We worked from about 4 til 2AM. We had to unload the trailer; coolers, sound system, office supplies, inventory, etc... It was lots of work, but my team did great!
Please pray for us as we prepare to be evaluated at anytime today and as we start our traveling to Texas tomorrow. We will be driving to Jackson, Mississippi tomorrow and then will be on the road Thursday as well.
Thanks to all of you who have been asking about me and for all the many prayers thay yall have sent up for me. My whole team appreciates them.

oh...by the way, my team is great. We have really enjoyed one another's company and I know that Lord is in this, for sure!

Special thanks to the Gartens for coming and visiting me in GA. I loved seeing you all and your hugs!! :)

I miss you all....love you much!

Tomorrow is the day....

Tomorrow is the day that I head out to Georgia to get the work underway. Well, actually, tomorrow is the day that I fly out to Georgia and start training on Monday afternoon. Ill be meeting all the other Team Leaders on Monday and then will officially meet the rest of the TX team on Tuesday. YEAH! Im so excited!

This week, God has reassured me that this is His call for my life...or at least for now. World Changers has a very special place in my heart and I honestly couldn't imagine staying at home, working all summer long. That just doesn't seem like much fun to me. But I see it as an honor for God to have called me to travel across the US and spread the good news away from home.

Pray for me and the rest of the staff as we travel over the next couple of days. Pray that God will prepare our hearts and minds for the great things He has laid out ahead of us.

I love you all and will dearly miss you.

Preparing for another summer....IN TEXAS

Im sure all of you know this already but this summer Im headed for Texas, (and Ohio). But for now, I am going to take the next week and a half to relax. I just finished with school yesterday and now planning and packing for the summer. But I guess I should introduce my team to you.

First, there is me, Jessica Tucker. I am the Team Leader/ Office Manager.

Next there is Vickie Tarleton. Vickie is from Georgia originally, but now lives in Kentucky. She is the Missions Communication Specialist or MCS.

Next we have Jordan Hooker. He is our Music Leader. Jordan is from Memphis, TN. And from what I hear, he's gonna be a great ML this summer.

And last but not least, there is Matt Burke. Matt is the nerd of the team. He is the Audio/ Visual Tech. or AV. He is from PA.

(I will go into more detail, as I learn things from them after we meet.)

I cannot tell you how excited I am about the mighty things that God is going to do through me, the Texas Team, all of the other summer staffers and the amazing participants that we will have at all of the projects. God is reassuring me that He has gone ahead of all of us. I know without a doubt that I can have confidence in my God. After all, He is the one that created everything and as God emphasized to me on Sunday, God had a plan from the beginning. Everything in this world always goes back to God. He is the root in everything.

The only thing that I want to ask of you all back home is that you pray for all of us. As I learned last summer, this summer is sure to be tiring and lots of work. But as long as God's kingdom grows this summer, all of the late nights and hard work will be well worth it.

(Picture provided by Matt Burke)