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Jake Rodriguez

Logistics Life



 
 

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

 

I recently talked with a father or an October 08 Racer. We discussed my position with the Race and he commented to me,


ÒI was very thankful for you while my daughter was away.  I had a better peace knowing that someone was going before her to make sure she was safe.Ó  


In an uncertain and dangerous world we obviously canÕt guarantee 100% safety, but it has been a personal joy of mine to go ahead of so many people and prepare the way.  My job description is to scour the globe and search for impactful ministries to connect with our energetic, God-chasers also known as World Racers. 



The work that we do is dynamic.  My department is responsible for managing squad budgets, coordinating team placements, transportation and living arrangements, establish Race routes and build our ever-growing list of ministry contacts around the globe. 


Just as the father that I spoke about above was concerned about his daughterÕs safety, we too have several resources that we use that give us a heads up on anything that would be life-threatening.  My team stays quite busy as we work to get around 250+ people around the world.  That number will quickly grow to about 600 young adults as we continue to launch teams throughout the year.


We are busy, thankful that God is alive and that he really does direct us and blessed to be part of the Great Commission.


Thank you for your continued prayers. 









 
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Kiev, Ukraine - Intro to E.Europe



 
 

Saturday, March 28, 2009

 

This is a quick update to share the latest.  As I had mentioned previously, as a co-leader to the Oct 2008 World Race squad I have the chance to visit them throughout there year to check in and help with their periodic debrief times.  Well the squad has come up on their mid-point of their 11 month journey.  They are just finishing up their time in India and will be arriving in Kiev, Ukraine over the weekend. 

    As part of my responsibilities, I get to travel ahead and meet them here.  Have I mentioned that I love what I do?  Gosh, God is good!

    I am here following up on several of the logistical details that have been coordinated and arranged for the next three months of ministry.  It also gives me a chance to check in on how the squad is doing and do some of the logistics for them over this next week and a half so that the team can take a bit of a rest time.

    They have been ministering for just over 5 months now and are about to get introduced to yet another culture and environment.  This is a first for me and the World Race.  This is the first time we have actually sent teams in to Eastern Europe.  We are excited to see what the Lord is doing and how we get to partner in those great things. 

    I have been here for literally two days and am surprised to see how two worlds literally converge in a place such as this.  On one side their is what seems to be a first world environment growing with all the material fashions we are used to in the states and yet turn your head and you can still see the struggles many people face in this post communistic society.  The struggles seem to be far from over as a world of two very different ideologies converge.  A younger generation seeks out independence an freedom of expression (clearly seen in the fashion forwardness of the younger population) and the older generation cling to years of structured instructions on how to live.  Both have their goods and bads.  Yet both seem to be operating at the same time struggling to become the dominant thought of the day.


    I look forward to learning more even if my time here is short.  Please join me in prayer for the people of Ukraine and that regardless of political and social paradigms, the Truth of our God will make itself known amongst the nations of Eastern Europe.  Please pray for the teams as they make this transition.


Blessings

Jake




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Where oh Where..?



 
 

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

 

Where oh where in the world is Jake these days?


Last time I broadcasted I was in the Philippines...  Was somewhere else with limited to no internet access... Where oh where?!!


Rumor had it that I was in China, possibly Hong Kong.  Some had a thought that I was somewhere in Africa.  Kenya one would suggest.  Others even thought that I was even in South America.  Well no more guessing...


I am back in the goodÕol USA.  After 3.5 months of being out on the field with the  most amazing group of World Racers, the Oct 08 squad, I have found myself in Port Huron, Michigan.  It really is a God thing.  The rumors were true.  Over the past several months, I have been blessed to see more parts of the world and the need for God.  We started in Manilla, proceeded to China, and then East Africa.  Having spent two months crossing the landscape of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, there are several stories I am looking forward to sharing.











I have now been invited to be a part of the World Race leadership team.  More specifically, I am partnering with an amazing team of World Race alumni coordinating the Setup and Logistics for the entire program. Talk about an amazing opportunity and crazy responsibility.  God help me and the team.


Under the leadership of Michael Hindes, this team is working to meet the underlying question by many young adults of, Òis this really all there is to living a Christian life?Ó  I have had the amazing opportunity to see what a generation of young adults looks like as they go through a process of abandonment and surrender in an effort to find their true identity in the Kingdom of God.  In such we have organized a team of alumni here in Port Huron, Michigan to lead this through the next coming years of growth.


It really is a nice change considering I have spent the greater part of the last two years in so many different places.  At this point and for this season, I actually have a bedroom and bed to call my own.  Talk about a stark change from living on the field and in so many different places.  The nations will continue to call and I will have the great chance to serve as I get to serve the teams of WRÕers.


I thank you for hanging on to the sporadic blogs that have been posted.  One of the luxuries that I currently have is pretty consistent access to the internet.  Throughout all these travels, the miracles, the stories, the adventures, and just amazing stories of God showing himself true have all bottled up.  I hope that you will continue to walk with me over the next several blogs as I finally take a moment to recount and remember them as I write them in blog format.


Thank you again for all your prayers and continued support.  None of this would be possible without your willingness to partner with me in this God adventure.  May the Lord bless you.


Blessings

Jake




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The World Race - Michigan Office

 
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The Dumps of Manila



 
 

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

 

I am a believer that Jesus lives in the dumps.  This is my second time to visit a community that calls the city dump home.  And each time I have to believe that I have seen more Jesus in people than I do in most anywhere else.  Let me share with you a brief story from my most recent visit.


We have setup two teams to work and serve with the Philippine Christian Foundation while here in Manila, Philippines.  I had the privilege of visiting the dumps in which some 5,000 people call home.  It challenges my senses and stretches my very sense of conscience when I see how people can have so little and literally have so much.


On the day I visited I was being toured around with two local Philippino musicians and their staff.  They live in the greater Manila area and were being introduced to the dumps and the conditions therein for the first time.  I tagged along trying to understand the conversations that were mostly in the local tongue of Tagala.  


As we were walking around one young woman, from the artistsÕ staff, asked why I was there and what the World Race teams would be doing there.  I replied with the typical, ÒWe are here to serve, build, create relationships, evangelize, and...Ó When all of a sudden she stopped me mid-sentence.  ÒJake,Ó she interjected, ÒI believe in Jesus and God.  But how do you evangelize and talk about Jesus in a place like this?  The Jesus and God I know is a God that wants his people to be prosperous, fruitful, and he wants people to have a fulfilling life.  Look around. How do you share that in a place like this?


Immediately, I felt like I knew where she

was coming from with her question.  I

have grown up in a community and

church that painted Jesus and God in just

that manner.  ItÕs not entirely wrong, by

any means, but it is an attitude that puts

God in such a small box.  There is so

much more.


I responded, ÒItÕs actually so much easier to share the Gospel in a place like this than it is even just across the street to someone who has so much more.Ó  I continued, ÒThis is a place where Jesus would come to bring hope to the hopeless and tell each man, woman, and child that they are loved.  That while the world around them is continuously telling them that they are the lowest of the low.  We have the opportunity to visit, and tell them that they are special, we like God love them, and that Jesus would have died for them too if they were the only person on the world.Ó  They are THAT special in the eyes of Jesus.  We have been given the  opportunity to say that we have come literally from the other side of the world just to visit them and spend time with them.  They are again, that special.










I had this young kid, named Jessica in hand.  She had no shoes, a cute dirt stained  orange outfit on, one tooth, and the biggest smile of all the little kids around as we walked and talked.  I looked up at this young woman, with whom I was sharing,  and noticed she had tears welling in her eyes and soon tear tracks running down her cheek. 


She said thanks, as she admitted that she had been ministered to with such simple words.  ÒYouÕre right, Jake,Ó she commented from behind her tears.  Jesus is bigger than she had initially thought, and I believe He had just busted out of the box in her own life.  I was touched at how Jesus once again had made himself known from within the midst of one of the dirtiest places on earth I have ever visited.


I pray that this story touches your heart just as much as it did mine.  LetÕs remember that our Lord loved us first!



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Equipping the One...To Serve the Many



 
 

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

 

Greetings to each of you my friends and supporters.  I must admit that I have struggled to write this blog.  It has taken me a bit to actually understand why, and after a bit of time trying to figure it out, I have come to the conclusion that there remains a horrible trait within me that I thought I had dealt with.  PRIDE.  DAMN this thing we call PRIDE.  ahhhhhhh.  While I do believe I have grown significantly when it comes to this, it isnÕt until it comes to writing this blog that I realize it has a nasty habit of poking itÕs nasty head again.  Let me explain.


I have shared with you in the past that while I was traveling last year I learned that my calling is truly for the field workers.  While many are called to serve the poor, the orphaned, and the widows, I have truly come to realize that my calling is to serve those who serve the poor, orphaned, and widowed.  In other words, I feel my calling at this point is to ÒEquip the One... To Serve the Many.Ó


Over this past year, I have been able to serve the World Race missionaries as they have served in Bolivia and India.  My primary role has been to assist with various logistical needs as the teams transition from country to country.


Locally, I have had the pleasure of helping a local youth group and youth pastor in Michigan.  I have also been able to work with SDG in installing AV equipment in two brand new churches.


Each of these experiences has been based on the calling to live this year entirely on faith.  Each day has been taken care of by faith.  As I have mentioned before I have never been without.  The Lord really has afforded me with all this opportunities by His provision.










So as I am here this evening, I now have the joy of sharing with you my most recent opportunity to serve the field workers.  Outreach Outfitters and I have been asked to help the October 2008 World Race team as they start their travels at the end of this month.  If you recall I spent the last part of my travels last year doing setup and logistics for our squad as we traveled through SE Asia and China.  Well as one would have it, that is exactly where this team is going to start.  So I have been asked to assist this squad with their setup and logistics needs through the end of the year.  This is a great opportunity for me to serve the field workers and indirectly the people of the Philippines, China, and then Kenya.


This will mean I will travel along side the squad for the first three months of their trip with three main responsibilities.  First to assist them in working with local contacts in coordinating various setup and logistical needs.  The second, is to work with the squad leader, Allison Johnston, in developing future leaders.  Third, but far from least, I will be working to expand the network of contacts throughout each of this countries for future teams to partner with.


So bring in the part about pride.  Because this opportunity is still founded in the field of international missions, it means that the need for financial supporters still exists.  In creeps the nasty thing called pride.  It is difficult for me sometimes to say ÔHELP!Ó  I would love to say I could do it by myself, but that would be a lie.  Instead, I have to embrace the idea that international missions is a community project.  A community that includes you and me.  I donÕt know why it is so hard for me to ask, but here I am putting myself out there. 


So here it is.  To heck with the pesky thing I call pride in my life.  I NEED YOUR HELP!  I need your help to serve those who are serving the poor, orphaned, widowed, hopeless, and those in need of people who reflect GodÕs love.  I need to raise $6,500 in order to help offset the costs required to travel to Philippines, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Kenya.


I am asking you to pray and partner with me as we will continue to serve those in need.  If you feel compelled to partner with me please follow the link provided. It will take you to the WORLD RACE support page so you can process an online contribution.  Regardless of the amount, I promise you that every bit helps.  Please remember that it is a tax deductible donation.  You have the option of being a regular monthly supporter please reply via the comment link so I can get you the automatic debit forms.


Long story short.  I have been given an opportunity to serve 53 outstanding world racers for the remaining part of the year, and I need your help to make that happen.  By being either a fiscal supporter or a dedicated prayer partner the assistance you provide is so greatly appreciated.  Thank you in advance and I look forward to sharing the testimonies with you as they unfold.


Thanks again and blessings to you and your entire family.







 
Click here to make a contribution. https://www.adventures.org/give/donate.asp?giveto=worldrace&desc=For%20Jake%20Rodriguez
 
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Introducing my post race blog



2008 has been a wonderful year thus far.  I know that I have been less than faithful in making regular postings on my blog.

Well there is good news.  I have started a new blog and would like to invite you to follow me to this new site.  Click the following link and please add jacob.rodriguez@outreachoutfitters.com to your contact list so that future update notices will make it through your email filters.

The link:

http://www.outreachoutfitters.com/Jakes_Place/My_Blog_Board.html

I have appreciated your emails, prayers, and support so much.  I hope that you will continue to follow the adventure of "Living solely by Faith!"

Blessings to you and to your entire family.
Jake


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A video review of 2007 Ministry



The World Race:



2007 Promo



Nicaragua:



Costa Rica - Story of Jose



Peru - The Harvest



Peru - The Gold Mine



Mozambique:



Mozambique Outreach:





Swaziland & G42




Thailand - MAN-istry:

<embed src='http://us.i1.yimg.com/cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/player/media/swf/FLVVideoSolo.swf' flashvars='id=3799639&emailUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Futil%2Fmail%3Fei%3DUTF-8%26vid%3D1005440&imUrl=http%253A%252F%252Fvideo.yahoo.com%252Fvideo%252Fplay%253Fei%253DUTF-8%2526vid%253D1005440&imTitle=MEN-istry%2BPart%2B1&searchUrl=http://video.yahoo.com/search/video?p=&profileUrl=http://video.yahoo.com/video/profile?yid=&creatorValue=bG92ZV9ib2JiZXI%3D&vid=1005440' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' width='425' height='350'></embed>

Beautiful World:


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Homeless, Unemployed, and nearly Broke!



Yuppers!
Homeless, Unemployed, and nearly Broke.

And my first thoughts are,

"There is no better place to be!"

I am once again at a very similar place as I was exactly a year ago. Well kinda. Getting ready to step back out into what many will call "just crazy." Again, I will respond, in some sorts that you are probably right, but I also know this is exactly where I am suppose to be and where I am suppose to be going.

I am currently in Houston visiting some friends and fighting the urge to lured by the things of last year.

It is great to see friends but I stand all the more sure that this is not where I am suppose to come back to.


Last week I was in Atlanta meeting with the AIM and World Race team brainstorming and planning out how the next year's team will run. Both the hospitality, insight, fellowship, and fathering that was shared was so refreshing.

But something deep down continued to stir. (And it wasnt like one of those stomach rumbling that Ive had re-adjusting to western food)

Once again I felt the Lord calling me to "go for it." Unfortunately, the calling wasnt to what I thought was a perfect fit. Many of you have read about how I was planning on coming on staff with AIM this next year. Well... I feel that the Lord has taken the opportunity to wreck my plans once again. For that I am again amazed and thankful.

The World Race and AIM have a great thing going, and I am excited to see where it is going in the future. However, at this point in time, I feel the leading to take another blind step in faith. The Lord has burdened my heart for the front line field workers (missionaries & pastors) around the world. I believe that the Lord has a partnership (unknown to me at the present, with whom) in the near future that will reach out to supporting this particular group of people. With that much of a leading, I have elected to abandon and surrender all again and follow that call. With the blessings and support of AIM I am going to follow the Lord with EVERYTHING.

I ask that you join me in prayer as I step out in faith that the Lord brings this partnership/relationship to be across my path and that I will be able to recognize it as quickly as possible. I am trusting the Lord for a place to lay my head each night, the $'s to support my research in how to serve the field workers and to live day to day. Yes, dad that includes the one bill I have - my student loan.

I have already seen the Lord begin to move in such a path within the first 3 days since leaving Atlanta and the WR opportunity. First, two unexpected checks have been deposited into my personal account that will support me over the next couple of weeks. Amen. Secondly, a very unexpected invitation to travel to the greater London area leaving on December 24th through the 8th of January. Third, another invitation to meet a couple ministry related contacts while in the London area. I believe this is all the Lord.



I ask myself, Im homeless, unemployed, and nearly broke, and yet here I go again traveling overseas at the Lord's leading; is this really me? Can it be? Is this what living completely surrendered and abandoned to God's will for my life?

My simple response:

Here I am Lord, Send Me!

Thanks again for following me along this path. It is continuing to prove itself to be one heck of a ride. I promise to keep each of you informed. Thanks again for all your prayers.

I am going to list a couple other prayer requests that I ask you to join me in:

1. The continued leading from the Lord as I step out in faith to follow Him.
2. Wisdom to make the right decisions at the right place and at the right time.
3. The humility to serve others and not expect to be served.
4. Divine appointments with the people that I am suppose to partner and serve with.
5. Spiritual, Financial, Emotional, and Physical provision as I take this walk in faith.

May the Lord bless you and forever shine His face upon you!
Until next time...
Amen

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At His Feet



Wanted to take a moment to check in with each of you.  The last post had me in an anxious point of being overwhelmed.  Well good news is that I am still alive and in fact doing really well.  It was a great welcome home but a continued high that had me running mentally.

There are still several little things that continue to surprise me as I venture out and about.  I was blessed with a visit from some family for the Thanksgiving holiday.


One of the things that I have enjoyed most is a degree of solitude and quiet.  Just sitting in my room not being rushed to anything but being in prayer and silence.  I have been in a state of asking myself, what am I doing here, and where am I really suppose to be going from here?  The answers aren't quick but they are rolling in with a certain degree of peace and calm.

On a given morning I was reading Deut. 4 and felt the words speak right to me.

"5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."

and

9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."

The instructions were the same.  "Jake, you have just traveled the world to see and learn my ways, my decrees, my voice, and who I am as Lord and Father.  Now from here, go out and walk the path I have set before you and let what you have learned shine out to the nations.  Do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Share your experiences to your generation and the generations to come."

So I've spent the last couple days relaxing and listening to the words of God as we plan our next steps.  I reflect on the many lessons learned and the challenging experiences I went through to see God's hand in each of them. 

There is an indescribable peace and comfort that comes from sitting at His feet.  I dont have all the answers yet, but I sit and press in asking the Lord for guidance and direction.

As we enter into the Holiday season I would love to recommend that we each take some time in true silence and reverence to ask the  Lord on what the new year has for each of us.  Let us each join in prayer seeking the Lord's will and peace.

I thank you for lifting me up and covering me in prayer over the past couple of days since my return.  It is evident that you have been praying as the Lord has been faithful in sharing with me.  I will continue to press in until it comes in to stepping orders.

Until the next posting.  Have a great and wonderful day.
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Home... I think?



Yuppers. It's true.  I am finally back states side.  Wooohooo.  That idea alone makes me pretty excited.  But I will share  and admit  to each of you that I feel more like a  foreigner now than I have in the past eleven months. Things are great and it was so wonderful to see my brother and sister-in-law at the airport.  But, I feel rather out of place. 

I am told that it is normal, but oh my gosh, I didnt think it was really going to be like this.  I have been back all of 24 hours and I have felt more culture shock than expected. Let me just name a few.

1. I asked that we go to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and next thing you know there are several options being presented to me.  Wow, options I am really not use to have such a plethora of choices.  This can be okay.

2. Driving around with my brother in his car just running around town doing everyday type of errands.  Its was odd for me to not think about where we (the team, friends, and I) were all going today and what was our plan for the day.

3. $$$$ I went to the store to buy some new shampoo and stuff and nearly rolled over in shock at the prices.  My brother chuckled and reassured me that I wasnt going nuts.  I miss cheap prices.

4. Everything.  The roof tops, the traffic, the flushing of TP down the toilet instead of putting it in the waste bin, the fact that family is going to be together for Thanksgiving; its all a bit overwhelming.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Cant I just go back to the craziness I now call normal?

I wanted to retreat back to what I was used to.  That place we were all so excited to see come to an end, was now seen as a comfortable place.  How crazy is that.  Yet as I opted to spend time with the Lord this morning in prayer, He was quick to remind me not to covet the the experience of my recent run around the world.  To pull back into my memories of friends and places, would separate me from what God is doing in the now.  The idea He gave me was that the sum of all the days past will never equal the grander of what He has for me today.  Old wine in this case, would be like a bitter juice.  It is better to see the things the Lord has for us today than hide in the memories of yesterday.

I know that the message is true, but I am still tired, adjusting to the time change, and going through a bit of culture shock in a place I call home.  Who would have ever thought?

So I ask you to pray for me and each of my friends as they reach home and am sure are experiencing the same.  Everything is going to be okay and it IS great to be home.

Thanks for everything.  To my supporters, thanks for being a part of this life changing experience. To family and friends, thanks for your continued prayers and messages.  I am likely to be sharing some more thoughts now that I have a bit more time and an incredible connection to the internet (wooohooo).

Blessings to you in Jesus name.
Jake
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