Three Days and Counting!

Dear Friends,

We are "three days and counting" to lift off to Thailand. Tickets are purchased. Seats are reserved. Rooms in Chiang Mai are reserved. All of the homework we were to complete is completed. We are in contact with very special friends in Chiang Mai whom we will be able to see and visit with on the weekends when not in class. In other words, "all systems are GO!"

Here are some things we are anticipating in this journey:

• We will be meeting brand new friends who are also involved in the telling of the Gospel Story to unreached people groups.
• We will be meeting "global" Christians- others from around the planet who will also be in Chiang Mai for THE JONATHAN TRAINING.
• As mentioned above we will be visiting with some very special friends we have come to love and appreciate over the years.
• We will be meeting people who serve those who are preparing to tell the Gospel Story to unreached people groups.
• In some of the free time we have (and we do not have very much "free time,") we will be meeting people who live in Thailand and who have been called there to serve the Lord in some way.

As you can see all of the bullet points above refer to "relationships." We are discovering over and again that "relationships" are so critical to the shared responsibility of telling the story of Jesus Christ. If I know somebody and I know that you and that "somebody" are involved in similar ministries, I can mention that. The two of you then get together on the basis of your shared knowledge of "relationship" with me. I have discovered that this has happened over and over again these past years, but especially in this past year. It is amazing to me how the Kingdom of God expands- person by person, village by village, city by city, people group by people group!

This is a significant week for Judy and me. One year ago this week we were saying "good bye" to all of the wonderful people at Eastside Christian Church! By God's Grace the baton of leadership for Eastside was handed over to Pastor Gene Appel. God is using him and the church in amazing ways to impact North Orange County for the heart of God! We are so blessed as we continue to hear the reports of the "fresh wind" blowing over Eastside in this season. Our lives are filled with many good things and one of them is the answer to the prayer of the Eastside Elders as we transitioned from the leadership of Eastside into this new role with STADIA INTERNATIONAL-JONATHAN PROJECT! Simply stated, the Elders prayed that this chapter of our lives would transcend anything we had done or had been involved in, in our prior years of ministry. We believe firmly that God indeed is answering that prayer as we are so deeply involved with STADIA INTERNATIONAL in the training and sending of Global JONATHANS into the very difficult unreached people groups of the world! It truly is an amazing story!

With prayers of thanksgiving,

Graydon and Judy Jessup

714.488.7922

gjessup@stadia.cc

graydonandjudy.blogspot.com