By Jaycee Jensen

    RIGA, Latvia – Have you ever been blindfolded and spun around then told to find your way? Even if you haven’t, I am sure you can imagine how it would feel.  Well, I can tell you that my walk with the Lord in the past six months has felt quite like that, yet with a huge exception.

    Just as you start to walk around blindfolded, someone grabs your hand and says,  “Here I will show you where to go.” It still requires all your trust in that person leading you, yet there is an overwhelming comfort knowing you don’t have to do it alone! That is exactly my experience with my Jesus so far on this new journey. He has clearly given me a blindfold and said, “Go here”…not knowing quite where ‘here’ is, He grabs my hand and says, “I will take you there, but you have to wait for Me to lead you and you have to fully trust Me.”

    To tell you the truth, most days I get ahead of Him and feel like we are walking too slow or maybe in the wrong direction and it takes a lot of patience on His part to remind me that I am the one who can’t see and I need to follow and trust Him! Oh, and during the times I have found the faith to trust Him and let Him lead, you wont believe what He does and where He takes me!

    Here are a few stories of this journey this past few months…

Another apartment in the works

    I arrived back in Latvia in the middle of November from a quick trip to the states to share the new work God has put on my heart (New Hope – a program to help orphan teens transition from institutionalized living into independent living in a Christ-centered environment). It was not long before the Lord showed me where he was moving.

I rented another apartment in Riga quite close to my current apartment thinking it would be good to get ready for helping more teens. The apartment needs some work, and lots of furniture, but it is close to livable.

You need furniture?  OK!

    On Thanksgiving Day we had a big get-together here in Riga with a few missionary families and my girls and some close Latvian friends. While there, one of the missionaries came up to me and told me that they were leaving Latvia. This was devastating because I loved this couple and they were a great support here in Latvia, but he also said that he wanted to donate his furniture to New Hope! What!? This is crazy! And a HUGE blessing! He gave a much-needed couch, bed, wardrobe, dryer, shelves, lamps, bedding, a reading chair, and some smaller house items!!! Amazing!  Now the apartment just needs some handiwork and it is ready to go!!!

Making memories

    I dedicated the month of December to making memories for the girls who live with me. I might have gone a bit overboard, but I figured even if they took one of those memories and had it in their heart to share with their own kids when they have them, it was worth it! We spent the month going through a daily Advent calendar doing special things as a “family.” Everything from hunting and cutting our own Christmas tree, to decorating the tree, inside the apartment, and even outside the apartment (which is rare here in Latvia). We decorated stockings, made memory ornaments, baked cookies, had movie nights, helped at some charity events, made their very first gingerbread house, went to a Christmas concert, and on Christmas Day I took them to a Latvian hockey game (their favorite!). And each Sunday we took time to light the Advent Candle and reflect on Jesus and His gift to us. It was a great time for our “family.”

Bridge Builders International

    I have a great new family and team I am connected to here in Latvia. Bridge Builders International is a phenomenal organization doing unbelievable amounts of ministry all around Latvia. We have 6 missionaries here and a group of nationals that are just fantastic! I urge you to check out BBI’s webpage to read about ALL the beautiful work God is doing through this organization and group of people. This weekend we have our annual Mission Days conference. Please pray that the Lord works through this conference to encourage and equip people here to catch the mission heart.

Now it is January 2010   

    As I said at the beginning of this update, I am on a journey with the Lord in this and as my prayer warriors and personal supporters you are too! It is exciting to be lead by him and used by him. There are many things that are looking very exciting for the future of New Hope in Latvia. Please pray with me that He will continue to guide me and I will be patient and wait on Him and not do this on my own. Also that I will find ALL my strength, love and wisdom from Him and in Him and not of my own will. I cannot, and do not want to do this without him!

    My life passage right now is Hebrews 11: 8-10. What an amazing Faith of Abraham. This is what I want to be said of me someday…Read it; it is powerful. (But here is my personal paraphrase of it)

    “By Faith, she was called by God to hold his hand as he guides her to a place of great hope for his children, even though she did not know where she was going. By faith she made her home among the orphans in a foreign land. Waiting daily on the Lord, for she was looking forward for the city whose foundation is hope and whose architect and builder is god.”

    Thank you for taking the time to read. Thank you for all your prayers and support personally and financially. Please feel free to pass this letter on to anyone you want.

    Also if you have any questions, concerns, encouraging words, or advice, please feel free to contact me any time.

      Email me!