Last weekend I flew back to Ohio for a time of sharing in a "Coffee House" format. I was a bit nervous going home, as I always am. Home can be a great place at times and then there are the times that you just want to leave shortly after you arrived. There are also all the expectations that are placed on you to visit people making sure that everyone gets quality time with you. It can be overwhelming at times and someone is always left out. Well, my time in Ohio was probably the best I have had yet.

It was hard to go home because of the agenda that I had to stick to, as I wanted to make my final push to get all of my support raised. What I did not expect, was how the Lord was going to use this time at home to restore me. I walked away from this time feeling truly blessed. The Lord took care of all my needs for example: I had an ear infection when I arrived in Ohio and my doctor treated me for no cost; then I was out of contact lenses and my Aunt gave me a six months supply. I even felt like my relationship with my dad was better than it has been in a longtime. I tried to make time for him as opposed to keeping myself busy and avoiding him. The thing that continues to blow me away when I think about it is that before I left Georgia, the Lord was showing me that he wanted to restore my relationship with my dad. Then to fly back to Ohio and actually see that starting to happen just floored me.

The "Coffee House" at my church went way better than what I expected. I had about 75-80 people attend it. We had a powerful time of worship and the Lord was definitely present. I poured out my heart in front of everyone. My best friend, Casey, then closed out the night by having everyone come forward to lay hands on me and pray. It was such a powerful time of prayer I did not want it to end. For the next two days, I met with several people and I now have $315 a month pledged (nearly half of that was given Sunday night). I am shooting for $400 a month, so this leaves me $85 short. However, I am confident that the Lord will rise up people to partner with me for the remaining amount. Please continue to pray for this and to pray for God's providence over my student loans because I still really believe that the Lord is going to take those from me.

Thank you so much for all of the Love and the Support that you give me. It makes it so much easier for me knowing there are so many people who stand behind me. You have blessed me so much that I can't help but share that blessing with others. I love you all and appreciate you more than my words can even convey.

You are invited:

I am having a time of sharing that is open to everyone. It will include coffee and desserts. I want to use this time to thank the many people who stand behind me, making all of this possible, and to give an update of what the Lord is doing in me and through me.

The Coffee House will be held at Pleasant-View Missionary Church
5231 Gettysburg-Pitsburg Road Greenville, OH 45331 on Sunday, May 4, 2008. It will be held from 7 p.m. to whenever.  I would love for all of you to be there if it is at all possible. If you have any questions or you know for sure that you are coming then please r.s.v.p. me so that I can plan accordingly. Please email me at driver.jason@gmail.com or call my cell 574-210-1856.  Thank you so much for being a part of my life.  I can't wait to see all of you.

            I have so much going on in my life right now that I don't even know where to begin.  This past week I have been preparing our facilities for training camp season.  There was a ton of things to do such as, clean and fill huge water tanks (maybe 2000 gallons), have driveway and parking lot graveled, set up our huge meeting tent (think circus tent), and basically fix anything that we need that may have broken since last time we had training camp.  While all of this is going on, I also had to attend a leadership training to prepare me to lead my trip to the Amazon Jungles of Peru.  I have been busy, but I do want to try and take the time to catch all of you up on what the Lord is doing in my life.

            On March 30, I went to the Atlanta Airport to pick up Scott Nelson (my boss).  His flight didn't get in until after 10 p.m.  I was running low on gas in my car when I left my apartment, but I am stubborn and was determined to find a cheaper price for gas.  So I end driving an hour and have to get off the interstate one exit before the airport to purchase gas for at least ten cents more per gallon (lesson learned).  Anyways, while I was pumping gas a homeless guy came up to me and tried to get money from me.  I told him I didn't have any cash on me (which was true)but, I told him that I would love to buy him some food inside since I had to pay with my debit card.  I asked him what kind of sandwich he wanted to which he responded, "Ham and cheese."  Then I asked him what his favorite drink was to which responded, "a Yoo-hoo(brand of chocolate milk)."  I then said, "man, I would love to buy you a Yoo-hoo." 

            I went inside and bought him two ham and cheese sandwiches and a Yoo-hoo.  I brought them out and gave them to him.  When He took them from me I saw the shame in his eyes as he lowered his head and turned to walk away.  I immediately called him back.  I asked him to stay to talk to me until I finished pumping gas.  I learned that his name is Willie Hill.  He is thirty-nine was just recently released from prison, and is currently sleeping in the local cemetery.  I looked at him and I told him the following:  Your life matters to me, you have worth, your life does have meaning and purpose even if you don't know what that is right now, I don't look at you any different and I certainly don't think that I am better then you.  I believe that the Lord has a plan for your life and I pray that right now someone would take a chance on you and give you a job because I know that you are worth it.  I know that I said a whole bunch more of these things because the Lord was just breaking my heart for Willie Hill.  I told him how much Jesus Christ loves him and how much he has a plan for Willie's life.  I ended our time by giving him a giant hug and told him that I loved him and that he has witnessed the Love of Christ today.  Willie just stared at me with sorrow filled eyes and I can see how the words and the love of Christ were cutting to the core of his very existence.  I have no idea what has happened to Willie Hill or what the Lord will do with that, but I do know this, he encountered Jesus that night and he is forever changed because of that. 

            So what has the Lord been teaching me through these times?  He has been teaching me that he doesn't need my words.  Matter of fact, he has grown rather tired of my words and me talking about my faith.  It is time for action, me telling them about the love of Christ means nothing, unless I'm willing to take the time and the vulnerability to truly show them.  I know that I showed Willie Hill the Love of Jesus Christ and I am so pleased that the Lord gave me the opportunity.

I wanted to start by telling you all how deeply I appreciated your prayers for our trip to New York. We had a long sixteen hour drive with seven adults slammed into a Dodge Caravan (minivan). I was really concerned with the unity of my team especially with the long uncomfortable travel. However, they made the most of it and had a great time laughing about how little room there was. We had a great time in The Bronx, partnering with Harve and Robyn Bowman. Honestly, I was a little concerned taking my team there because they can be pretty negative at times and I didn't want to burden Harve and Robyn with that. My team genuinely blew me away. They served every chance they got, and they really took care of one another. I had the privilege and joy of watching the Lord use each of these students in ways that they never expected.

Highlights from Ministry in the Bronx:

*Watching my team tutor k-5^th graders at an after school program

*Attending "Holy Hood," youth church in the Bronx

*Watching Caleb give a heartfelt testimony and seeing the power of the Lord in his words. (I was in tears the whole time)

*Preparing and serving a meal at The Living Room (homeless shelter) and then sitting down and eating the meal with them. (I think some of them thought that I was actually homeless)

*Catching up with dear friends that I have not seen for a really long time

The rest of our time in New York was spent touring the city and just being together in our little community. It was good for our team to laugh and play together, this was an area that we have been lacking. So thanks again so much for all of your prayers they were definitely needed and felt.

Left to right: Seth, Ashley Hall, Em, Ashley King, Becca, Me, and Caleb; we are standing in front of the graffiti that is painted on the walls of the "Holy Hood" youth church.

This is our group in front of the house that we stayed in along with Harve and Robyn and some others

Hey my beloved friends and family, I just wanted to give you some updates on my life. Tomorrow morning, at 5 a.m., I am taking the interns to The Bronx, for five days. Please, pray for our time as we will be partaking in some really intense street ministry. Also, there is a possibility that we will be able to gain access to an AIDS treatment center. Please pray that the doors would open into this place for us. There has never been a team allowed in the AIDS center yet. We quite possibly could be paving the way for future teams to partner with them and who knows what the Lord will do with this, but we need your prayers.

In May, I might be going to Kenya with my boss, Scott, for eight days to check and see if it is safe enough to start sending teams in again. Kenya has been in complete turmoil since the beginning of the year when there were questions of the legitimacy of their presidential election. So far, I have heard that there have been about 600,000 people displaced from all of the strife. Adventures In Missions has been working to try and send money to Pastors for relief, if you are interested in hearing more about our involvement please check out this link, http://kenya.myadventures.org/

June 14, I am leading a trip to Peru, into the Amazon Jungle for one month. After that, I don't know what's next. In fact, when I return from Peru, I will no longer have a place to live in Gainesville. I am praying what to do about this because I really don't want to move back to Ohio for two months. Then in September, I have two options on my plate for what's next. Option one, I can go help lead a really intense 3 month training session in Nicaragua. It is called "The Awakening," it is a 3 month training and discipleship program where students are torn down and rebuilt with a firm foundation on Christ. I feel like this would be great training and experience for me and I would most likely return to Kenya in January if I took part in the "Awakening." Then there is the second option, where I would return to Kenya and lead a 3 month trip there, and then most likely just stay there. I am more than willing to do either one of these options. However, the deciding factor is how many students sign up for each program. Whatever program has the greatest need, will probably be the one I end up leading, so please pray for this.

One last thing, my transmission went out on my car and I am just updating you that I tore it out last weekend and replaced it with a used transmission out in the parking lot of the AIM office. Now, it is better than ever, thanks so much for all of your prayers

Hey all, just wanted to give you a brief update/ prayer requests about what's been going on in my life.

Present:

I have interviewed and will hopefully know in the next couple of days if I will be hired at CMF metal fabricators for a part-time job.

Huge Praise !!! I currently have 75% of my support raised and am waiting to hear back from a church to find out if they are going to support me for the remaining 25%.

My transmission is going out on my car, which means that I will have to replace it in the next couple of weeks. (Still works but sounds like there is a bunch of gravel in it)

Future:

I am leading a one month trip to the Amazon Jungle from June to July.

March 13-18 The interns and I are traveling to New York to visit a church and possibly partner with a ministry in the Bronx.

I am trying to figure out when to return to Kenya, however, the country is facing a lot of civil unrest currently and if this does not die down then I will be delayed from returning. As of now, I am looking at returning in late summer or in the fall.

I have had people asking for my mailing address so I thought I would just post it for all to see.

Jason Driver
2419 Old Thompson Bridge Rd.
Apartment K-2
Gainesville, GA 30501

            As I continue to pour out my life through these blogs I can't help but continue to realize that I am on a journey.  I don't know if I can ever say or realize it enough, but the Lord absolutely has me on a journey.  The real beauty lies in the fact that often times I don't always know what's next.  I know that my journey will always take me towards Christ, but I may not always be able to see the route it will take.   However, it is through these experiences that the Lord has taught me that whatever the call, whatever the sacrifice, that it is always worth it, and that wherever he leads me; he will absolutely take care of my needs.  So why tell you about all of this, well, my hope is that as I am figuring things out, maybe the Lord will use my experiences to help others figure things out as well.  Please understand that I am by no means always right, or have all of the answers.  I'm just saying here is my life, and these are the things that I got right, this is where I fell short, and this is what I am still learning. 

            Many of you know I have been facing this seemingly impossible mountain standing in my way; that mountain is my almost $70,000 in student loan debt.  I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it has been to try and tackle it.  I have been told by several people that I cannot do Missions or full-time ministry with the amount of debt that I have.  I have been told how foolish and irresponsible I am.  I've even been accused of not being a good steward of the resources that God has given me.  Yet here I am, a full-time missionary, I stand unwavering with a faith that God will provide for me because he has called me.  I also understand that it is my responsibility to pay back my loans.  I'm actively pursuing side jobs as I also try to find a part-time job so that I can pay down my student loans as much as possible.  I know that I am absolutely doing what the Lord has asked me to do.  How do I know that I am being obedient to the Lord?  How am I so confident despite what other people may think or say about me?  The Lord takes care of me and provides for my every need.  I went back to Ohio for Christmas break and was completely overwhelmed with people who were sacrificing their time and their finances to enable me to chase after the Lord's call on my life.  There is a lady in my church who pulled me aside and gave me a $12,000 check to pay down my student loans.  How incredible is that?  I didn't even know how to respond to her generosity.  She blessed me far more than my words can even convey.  The Lord chose to use her to meet my needs, what a beautiful picture of the body of Christ being the body of Christ.  It is my belief that as followers of Christ, we are to depend on one another to meet each others' needs whatever they might be.  I have sacrificed what feels like literally everything to follow the Lord.  I have given up comfort, plush living, a nice vehicle, and have given myself freely to invest in and bless others.  I want to live my life in such a way that I have to make sacrifices daily in order that those around me might catch a glimpse of Christ.    

            When I returned from Mexico I found that I had a nice little welcome home surprise waiting for me.  When I left for Mexico I had left my car parked at the AIM office since I had rented a van to drive down to Mexico.  We didn't get home from Mexico until some where around midnight Friday night.  Sop Saturday morning I was driving back to the office to get my car when I received a phone call from a guy telling me that he had hit my car.  No big deal right?  Well, then he told me that he had hit it with a semi.  He was apparently trying to turn around in the parking lot in the middle of the night and he didn't see my car.  He caught the passenger side rear corner of car with the trailer and dragged my car about ten feet sideways.  Then he caught the back of AIM's truck and dragged it completely sideways before realizing what a mess he had on his hands. 

            I found myself wanting to be angry and wanting to be upset about it, but I just couldn't.  As luck would have it, I actually know the guy and he has done some trips with AIM and he is currently driving a semi to pay off his debt so he can return to the mission field.  So I'm left trying to figure out how to respond.  I admire him for trying to get debt free before going to the mission field, but at the same time he just wiped out two vehicles.  As I'm trying to sort through this mess the Lord keeps bringing to mind all of the times where I have broke something or hit something and people have given me grace and let me off the hook.  I can remember having to go wake up my best friend's dad to tell him that I backed a trailer into his car door and put a nice crease in it.  I apologized to him and feared the worse, but was even more surprised by his response.  He forgave me and didn't ask for anything in return.  I have all of these past memories of my "screw-ups" in my head as I try to process things.  Then the Lord brings to mind Matthew 18:21-35.  This is the parable of the unmerciful servant.  Essentially the story is about a servant who owes his Master a ton of money and would have been thrown in prison, but he fell to his knees and begged his Master to cut him some slack.  The Master took pity on him and canceled all of his debt.  After this the servant went out and found other servants who owed him money and demanded that they pay it back and would not forgive them of their debts.  The Master gets word of it and has the servant thrown in Jail to be tortured until he can pay back all that he owed.

            After considering all of this I chose to show this guy grace.  I told him that I would fix the damage myself and that we could settle it outside the insurance company that way it would not go on his record.  It was the strangest thing because I found myself saying, "Man, I'm glad he hit my car instead of someone else's." I have a complete peace about it because I know that I can get used parts for really cheap and I know that it will all work out.  I'm also not bothered by the inconvenience of having to repair it myself.  I guess all that to say, "Welcome back from Mexico."

           Have you ever tried to plan something out both on paper and in your mind; everything works out perfect as things fall seamlessly into place?  Well, that basically describes how I thought our trip to Mexico would be.  I thought I had everything figured out, which is very unusual for me.  On paper, it all sounded great, a week in Mexico, two days in New Orleans, and a road trip.   However, this was not necessarily how it really played out. 

            Originally we were supposed to leave Thursday morning at 5 a.m., but do to our impulsiveness and zeal we ended up leaving at midnight the night before.  I drove through the night and made it to the bottom of Alabama before pulling into a parking lot to catch up on some sleep.  Two hours later, we were back on the road driving to Louisiana.  I made it maybe fifty miles inside of Louisiana before I became desperate for sleep again.  Oh, did I mention that I was also the only one who could drive the rental van.  Anyways, I pulled into a gas station to sleep, in the middle of the afternoon.  I couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep in the van because I couldn't stretch out.  So, this led me to improvise.  I took my pillow, flung it up on the roof of the van and then made my way on top of the van for a quick power nap.  After a thirty minute nap on the roof of our van, we got back on the road and made our way to our campsite for the night.  The next evening we arrived in Mexico after a "no-frills" second leg of our journey.

            Our time in Mexico was great.  I was able to rekindle some old friendships and encourage the team that was already in Mexico.  It was also very encouraging to me to be able to sit back and witness the Lord using the interns to encourage and minister to the Mexico team.  The team had a little bit of division in it and my team was able to come alongside of them and serve as a buffer.  The trip as a whole was good but I did overlook part of the set-up of this trip that made things a little awkward.  When I set-up the trip I had the interns shadowing the participants of the Mexico team on all of their ministries.  This looked great on paper, but when acted out created some problems.  The biggest thing being that the interns struggled to find purpose in their visits and it was very difficult to take any sort of ownership in what they were doing when it was someone else who had built the relationship.  I guess it would be kind of like asking your friend to have one of their friends become one of your friends.  They do all the work and you have a hard time connecting with the person because you haven't had the time to build the relationship. 

            The only other difficulty that our team encountered was that some of us had gotten sick either with colds or what I started calling the Sudden Taco Disease, (which involves going to the bathroom more often then not).  Unfortunately, because of the condition of our team, I decided to for go the stop over in New Orleans.  Instead, I drove as far as I could then stopped for a restful night in a hotel, let everyone sleep in, then drove the rest of the way home the next day.  We made it home safely and we have all for the most part gotten over our sicknesses. 

            As a whole this trip reminded me of the importance of not letting our expectations rule us or even ruin us.  That we literally die to our own needs daily and choose to serve those around us even when it isn't always comfortable or convenient.  I also have seen how important it is to seek the Lord every step of the way no matter how miniscule the decision may seem.  He wants to be a part of our lives and he is just itching for an invitation.  I guess I could some everything up by saying that I had unrealistic expectations for this trip and had I not realized this early on; then I would have felt like a failure. Instead, I spent the much needed time in prayer and said, "Lord I set myself up for failure.  How can I make this work?"  I turned everything over to him and some how he made things work out for us.