Bittersweet

As some of you might know, I am back in the United States.I am so excited to be back for the holidays. Along with the excitement I am also very worried. I had to come back about a month early because the elderly lady I live with, Mrs. Francis Arch, was having bad problems with her pacemaker, when ever she walks to much or exerts herself to much her pacemaker stops working and she passes out. Mrs. Francis has been a Church of God missionary to Roatan for the last 55 years. She has helped start five churches since she has been there. As I said I am so happy to be back to visit but I am also very worried about Mrs. Francis. So please keep her in you prayers. She has dedicated so much of her life to doing the work of the Lord. I would love to talk to everyone and tell you guys all about me trip, so feel free to call my cell phone whenever you want (I have the same number) and i will be at church this Sunday. This first trip was a huge success and i am so excited to see what God has for me for the next time around.

Here We Go Again

It has been a busy month. It started with getting the Vessels of Mercy Community Hospital ready for the clinic the following week. We spent most of that week cleaning up and doing stuff around there. The next week we had two doctor and two nurses that came from the US for the clinic where we saw over 500 people in 4 days. We were also able to lead 15 people to the Lord. I work in the Lab in the clinic helping take blood pressures and blood sugar. It was so much fun and we were able to help so many people. I was sad when the clinic was over. The next week i had big plans but they were all changed when the people of the island decided they were going to riot because of the big increases in the power bills. This forced us to stay in our homes for the entire week and we lost power for most of that time, at one point we were without power for 48 hours. But with that resolved I am getting ready for the next week, i have enrolled in Certificate In Ministerial Studies class (CIMS). These are a number of courses that you take and at the conclusion you are awarded a Certificate in Ministry by the Church of God.I will be attending this class everyday next week. Then the week of the 23rd i will be helping the owner of the local christian bookstore. While she is out of town for the week i will be managing it. These past two months have been amazing and i have been able to grow in the Lord so much. Please keep me in your prayers.

Vessels of Mercy

I am SO excited about the next two weeks. I am going back to were it all started for me here on the island, back to the Vessels of Mercy Community Hospital. The hospital that i worked to help build for almost two months is finally opening its doors for its first clinic. This is a very excited time but also a very sad one. As some of you may know Bob Philips, the man behind this project passed away several week ago, So as you can see it is great to open it but sad because he is not here to see his hard work finished. As i have spent the last few days putting the finishing touches on the building i have been thinking about how much Brother Bob taught me and how much he taught everyone he came in contact with. Everyone who knew Brother Bob that enters the building and walks through it has a little story to tell about him. Mine is a little different than most, Brother Bob taught me how to be a hard working missionary (i haven't mastered it yet like him but i am working on it) and he also taught me that no matter how many buildings we build it all means nothing if we don't serve the Lord and lead the unsaved to him. That is the entire message behind the Vessels of Mercy Community Hospital, bring the sick people in and help them with there physical need then help them with there spiritual needs. Brother Bob never pushed his own agenda or the church on people, He just wanted them to know Jesus. So as the next two week progress i hope that we are able to have the clinic and meet the physical need of everyone that walks through the door but more than that i hope we can do what Brother Bob wanted us to do and meet every spiritual need that walks through the door.

The First Month is Over

Well it’s been a month, and it’s been great, rough at some times but all around great. As I look back at my “first month” as a missionary, I try to think of the most important thing that I have learned while being here, so here we go. I read the other day in my little devotional something that really hit home for me. It said “God has graciously allowed some of my fears to come true so I would discover I would not disintegrate.” I think that this phrase was one of the biggest revelations that I have discovered while I was here.
My mom bought me this devotional that i am speaking of before I left; we both have one so that way we can read the exact same thing every day. I read it when I wake up and then I read the same page again before I go to bed. When I first read this particular entry in the devotional I immediately equated the word fear with something scary, like someone hurting me, or something bad happening to me physically, so at first I dismissed the phrase and devotion all together. As I sat down that night and read it I look at it more in-depth. The second time I read it I was thinking of fear in a different way. The fear of being alone. Now I realize that I have many people praying for me and keeping in contact with me, but when I say alone I mean being physically alone, by myself in another country, where I don’t know many people.
In that moment a light bulb turned on in my head. I started thinking about how God was showing me a fear of mine that I never really realized I had. Then in the same moment he made me realize that that fear would not break me at all, that it could not destroy or disintegrate me. As I sit back and think about all of things God has blessed me with over this past month I just sit here at my computer in utter amazement. He has kept me heathly, safe, full of food, and kept a roof over my head. All I can do is praise him for his mighty power and works. Now I once again ask anyone who reads this to continue praying daily for this island, the people of this island and myself. More to come

God Bless
Ross Jeffords

The First of Many Lessons

Over the past few days since I have arrived here in Roatan I have been struggling with loneliness. I have never had a problem with this until now. The most difficult part of the little time I have spent here is the time where I am alone in my house. I have always liked having people around me but I was also fine being by myself. But I have never been this alone. I am not writing this to make you feel bad for me, I am writing this to tell you all the first thing that I have learned since I have been on this life changing journey. On Monday afternoon I was at my lowest point that I have been since I arrived here. I was on the brink of packing my bags and coming home I called home to talk to my parents, I was crying my eyes out and praying to God for help then I opened my bible and started reading. I turned to John 14:18 which says “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” Then I realized something that had been taught to me since I was a little kid. God is always with me. I had always believed it, but up until this point I guess I have never been so lonely that I have had to completely fall into the arms of God for companionship. Now don’t get me wrong I still get sad and miss home a lot but whenever it get really sad I just lean harder into my God’s Arms because he is always with me and he will never leave me comfortless.



God Bless

Ross

Leaving in the Morning

Well it's time to leave.  Since I was 15 years old I have longed to work on the missions field and it is finally here.  At 9:45 A.M. in will be boarding a plane and heading down to Roatan Honduras.  So before I leave, I want to thank everyone who has helped me through this process, people like my parents, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, nana, friends and former pastor and mentor John Clobaugh.  I also want to thank the pastor staff at Lawrenceville Church of God for all there help and guidance.  There have been so many people who have helped me and it is very much appreciated.  I am sure that i have forgot to mention someone, and if i did i am so sorry. Also before I leave I would like to ask one more thing from everyone who reads this, pray for me everyday.  Pray that I am always in God's will and that I can hear His voice everyday, pray that I will touch the lives of the people on the island, and that my ministry would be very successful and would accomplish the will of God. I know that God has called me to the place where I am right now and he will protect me through my journey. 

God Bless

Ross Jeffords

Hitting the Streets...Again

Several weeks ago my home church, Lawrenceville Church of God, had a week long revival hosted by Tommie Zito Ministries. This revival was different than most that I have attended through all my years in church. The main differences were that it lasted the entire week, most revivals only last two or three days during the week but no this one, the second thing that was different about it was the fact they had services during the day and during the night. The night services were regular church services, but the day services were very different they consisted of coming to the church, taking a class about how to witness to people and then going out to the streets of the town of Lawrenceville and witnessing to the people. So as the revival dates approached i committed to God that i would go to every service day and night, so i requested off work and my very generous boss gave me the week off, and i was so excited. We had the Sunday night service and it was incredible and the spirit of the Lord was in the church that night and the same thing happened on Monday night, Then came Tuesday morning.  Different story I was so nervous about witnessing to people on the streets. We got to church, went through the class and learned the do's and do not's of street ministering, then we were on our way. I was so nervous until i approached the first person at the Gwinnett Place Mall and they were very receptive and actually let me lead them in the salvation prayer. I went back every day for the rest of the week and was able to lead many people to Christ. Then the week was over and we did not have any radical, on-fire men and women of God pushing me to talk to everyone about the Lord, I began to question myself and wonder if i would ever do it again.

That was until about a week and a half ago. After me and several of my friends got out of a prayer meeting, we were walking to our cars, a homeless woman came up to us and told us she was very hungry and wanted some money for food. We told her we would walk with her to a restaurant and by her some lunch. We got to the restaurant, got her a meal and before she left she asked me to pray for her. As i prayed i felt the Lord telling me to lead her in the prayer of salvation that moment I stopped praying and looked at her and said "If you dies today, do you know that you would go to heaven" she looked at me and said she would not go to heaven and i proceeded to lead her to salvation. I left the restaurant and went back to my car and just thought about the entire day and how amazing it was that God used me again to lead someone to the Lord. It made me realize once again how incredible my God is and how much he loves each and everyone of us. So much that he plans our day that we can come in contact with the right people. My prayer for everyone who reads this is that next time you feel that "itch" to witness to someone, do it, you never know how bad they really need it.

God Bless

Ross Jeffords

Congratulations to Rescu Student Ministries

My youth group, Rescu Student Ministries had several groups competing in the Teen Talent in San Antonio, Texas this week and i am proud to say that the large vocal ensemble came home with the 1st place trophy. Thank you guys for doing such a great job representing our church. We are all so proud of you! 

Here I Go

Well its almost time for me to leave.  On August 30th I will be jumping on a plane and flying down to Roatan Honduras to embark on the next chapter of my life. I just wanted to start by saying thank you to everyone who has partnered with me, with out you guys this whole thing would not be possible. I am so very excited about this opportunity to go to the country of Honduras and try to make and impact for the Lord. As I prepare to go I pray a prayer every morning that was prayed by my mentor. 

Dear God,

Help me to see what you see, and feel what you feel when I see people.

(What I see will affect what I feel and what I feel will affect what I do!)

This is my prayer, that I will be able to make friends with the people of the island so that I will be able to impact there lives and lead them to the Lord. I will miss all you guys and cant wait to see yall down in Roatan when you visit me. Never stop praying.

God Bless

Ross

My First Post

Missionary Ross Jeffords