Faithbridge

Real Talk about Community

Posted January 8, 2013

Young Adult Ministry moves to 7pm this Sunday evening. This group of young adults is impacting the world for Jesus one individual at a time. Jenni Blaise has been an active member of Faithbridge Young Adult Ministry. She agreed to share her story to illustrate the way that Christian community has been a huge impact on her life. Here is her story:

2012 was sure a year for the books. The year started off on the wrong foot for me. My heart was still not fully healed from the sudden death of my father just 5 months before. And if that wasn't enough, my 5 years relationship with my boyfriend ended only 10 days into the year. My heart was now in pieces and I felt like there wasn't anything that could turn the year around for me. The last thing I expected was for God to turn things around. 

To back track about my dad -- in May 2011 my dad was in very bad car accident in Mexico, while on a business trip. He was in a coma for two weeks and when he woke he could barely talk or recognize any of us. After a month in Mexico, we emptied all of our savings accounts and got him life flighted back to the U.S.A. He was at Methodist Hospital for a month and then a few weeks at a rehab to re learn to walk. Life at this point was perfect! My dad was moving back to Houston closer to all of us and we were all finally stress free. The joy came to a halt a few weeks later when I got the terrible call. You know, the type you see in movies where you stand paralyzed in disbelief knowing your entire life was about to suddenly change? My dad had begun feeling sick so he went to a Walgreens to get some medicine and there, he had a pulmonary embolism. He didn't make it out of the ambulance alive. 

I was so angry with God. I didn't understand why he would do this to us! Have my dad fully recover and for what? For him to pass away in an ambulance?? The days after him passing were rough. I didn't eat much & had to take sleeping pills to catch a few hours of sleep. Still, as mad as I was with God..I continued praying for strength and comfort. It took 5 whole months for me to understand God's way.

After the break up with my boyfriend, my friends asked me to go to a new Young Adult's Bible Study she had found. I wasn't really into sharing my faith with others so I hesitated a bit but decided it would be good for my soul to hear some encouraging words. Walking into the house where the Bible Study was held was incredible. Although, I only knew my friend, I felt as if I knew these people for years. Instead of hand shakes I was given hugs. I mean "who hugs a stranger?" I thought to myself. We sat down in the living room and Mike Distefano began his sermon. It was on Jonah. Not super familiar with the Bible, I was intrigued with this particular story. He explained how Jonah was a pretty stubborn fella (kinda like me..) and how the Bible stated Jonah "ran away from the Lord" (kinda like me after my dad passed) God then sent a violent storm to make Jonah come to his senses & instead of drowning - God provided a whale to swallow Jonah and inside the whale. Jonah cried out to the Lord. 

I realized how much in common Jonah & I had. And as strange as it sounds, this Bible Study was like my "whale". It took a storm of 5 whole months of "storms" for me to get put in this "whale" to make me understand that God had the most amazing plan for my dad. My dad could've very easily passed away in Mexico where I was not able to see him. But yet, God brought him to Houston, actually Spring out of all places for him to spend the last month of his life with us. I got to hug and I got to kiss him everyday and for that I couldn't be more grateful!! After hearing this message, I not only immediately went to Mardel's to buy a new Bible... for a year straight I never stopped coming to Bible Study.

A few months later, I found myself in Honduras, with some fellow Faithbridgers with Hope for Honduras. There, God moved in my heart in an incredible way. I had told Mike that I wasn't comfortable praying in public. It was sort of a phobia for me. In Honduras, I was one of the only people that spoke Spanish, so they asked me to pray in the Women's Bible Study. I hesitated, but it was one of the most heartfelt things I had done in my life. God was speaking through me to these women!! There was this incredible rush coming through my body when praying for these hurting women! After that, my fear of praying slowly dwindled and I was finding myself praying more and more out loud because to me, I wasn't "praying" anymore - I was talking to my God.

That semester I somehow (Mike is VERY persuasive) became a small group leader. I was confused as to why he wanted ME to lead people when I was just learning myself. But someone once told me "to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment". I didn't have to pretend I knew Bible verses by memory or knew every story in the Bible. I was just as eager to learn as the people I was leading. But I learned from my small group just as much as they learned from me and that was an accomplishment in itself. 

If anyone ever doubted the Young Adults ministry or even remotely thought it wasn't going in a proper direction, I am a perfect example that these people have THE biggest hearts and want others to know how amazing having Jesus in your life can be!!! 2012 turned out to be such an amazing year for me and all the glory be to God! He has made me a stronger person, He has made me realize all I need is His love and He has made me "walk by faith, not by sight" I am blessed to know Mike and the rest of the YA people. To me they aren't even friends, they are family & I thank God every single day for placing them in my life when I needed them the most. 

If God did this in ONE year...I can't wait to see the plans he has for the rest of my life!! I'm ready for what you have for me God - bring it on!!!

Jenni Blaise

Find out more about Faithbridge Young Adult Ministry.