Hey everyone!!! It has been way too long since I last updated y’all, and so many things have happened. At the moment, I am currently typing this in a hospital. I guess it took a hospital visit for me to stop being to busy to write anything out. I would like to say that God is good, though. These past few months have been both agonizing and joyful, but through every valley and mountain top that I have gone through, God has been consistently good and consistently teaching me!
This letter is probably going to be long. I hope y’all don’t mind, though. It is helping me from dwelling negatively on my present situation.
Health:
Since y’all are most likely wondering what is wrong with me, I will cover that first. I went to the ER today for coughing up a lot of blood this morning and this afternoon. After taking a CAT scan, they found pockets or legions in both my lungs that look infected. I am now being tested for TB for the next few days or however long it takes. Lord willing, they will find out soon and start treating it. Tomorrow morning, I will be knocked out for a bronchoscopy. Please keep me in your prayers that God will place a healing hand on me. Also, please pray for me to have the courage to share the Gospel with the staff around me. I was able to make a new friend tonight who goes to a Church in Lumpkin County, but I am praying that if any of my providers are lost, that they would have seeds planted from my visit and be saved.
Personal Evangelism:
Speaking of seeds planted, please pray for a Muslim family I met last month. I met them while picking kids up for the Church bus. They initially rejected me, but I was able to establish a relationship with them by asking them about their culture and for them to help me practice my Arabic. Two weeks ago, I was able to give one of the teens a copy of John with answers to common Muslim objections for Jesus and the Bible. He didn’t want to take it, but it opened the door for me to share the Gospel with him and have a dialogue between what we both believed. He eventually took it, but he said he was going to give it away. He also asked me to never come back. However, I told him I would never come back if he read it and then decided he wanted nothing to do with it. So I would come back one more time to see if he read it, and if he hadn’t read it, then I will keep on coming back. He said ok and went back inside. My plan is to give them a month or two, and then come back with a gift after the custom of their homeland. Hopefully, my Arabic will also be better by then as well. Please pray that he actually reads it and develops questions that he can’t escape from. Please pray that the whole family gets saved.
Engagement:
This past December, I became engaged to the love of my life, Tiffany Hailey!!!! We are currently planning on getting married on March 16th of 2024! I will be gone for 6 months of our engagement due to my upcoming internship. Please pray for our relationship to continue to prosper and grow during that time of separation. Please pray for all of our wedding preparations to come together. Please pray for us to be able to quickly settle into the married life and make a smooth transition into full-time deputation.
6 Month Over Seas Internship:
I will be finished with my classes this may. Afterwards, I will hopefully be off for my internship. I am still talking to my school leadership on where I can go, though. Right now we are looking at Columbia or Argentina and South America in general. Once I have the place set in stone, I will start working on raising the funds to be able to set off.
Jacob, thanks for the update. We are praying that all the tests go well and you are soon back to full health. May God comfort, strengthen, and use you while hospitalized.