Hello,
I hope this letter finds you well! As you may already know, I am currently raising funds for a discipleship training school (DTS) known as YWAM (youth with a Mission) which is based in Lakeside Montana. Funding is currently going great, and I'm almost at my goal and still have a little over 5 months until I begin schooling! The point of this DTS is to know God and Make Him Known. Through this, I will be learning about the word of God, learning how to lead worship, and how to spread the word of God to nations around the world. You may be wondering, why are you going to a school like this? What's the point? How are you going to do this? These are all questions I have been getting left and right from family, friends, and more during this time. The point of this email is to show you what my goal is, and what my next steps are after school, and I hope to possibly partner with you which I will get to further in this.
My desire to be a missionary began this summer while working at a Christian camp called Skyview Ranch. I had always thought about it but never believed I could pursue it seriously. One evening, during camper testimonies, a conversation about missionary work sparked something in me. Later, a camper asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” When I told them I wanted to be a missionary, their excitement encouraged me. That moment and many others made me realize God is calling me to this path, and I am ready to follow!
God has been so great recently in providing me with guidance on what the next phase of my life will bring. Through lots of prayer and many MANY conversations, I believe that the Lord is calling me into full-time ministry with missions. My goal after YWAM DTS in Montana is to join full-time at a YWAM base or in another full-time missionary area. This job will entail working with mainly young adults on how to spread the word of God, Leading mission trips around the world, and doing work around the campus I would be at. Currently, my goal is to be full-time at the campus in lakeside Montana.
Why am I starting to build a ministry support team so early? After reading a book called, “The God Ask” I have learned that it is better to sooner than later build your support network, so when I commit to full-time missionary work, I have people ready to send me to the nations. While some people think “Why are people just giving you money” or “This seems like charity work” I promise you that it is not like that. As this is a calling from God, I know and trust that He has a plan in my life. As I will explain, I don't want you to view this as I'm just going to give money to this cause, I want you to know what your support truly means. So many people across the world will get to hear the Gospel because of YOU and your help and your prayers, encouragement, and so much more! Isn't that so great, that even if you are not the one overseas spreading the gospel, you are still part of a mission to spread the gospel to the nations and to help those in need.
Now to explain what partnering with me means. Since missionaries are funded by supporters like yourself, there are many things that go into my monthly goal to be able to do this work full time! From housing, flights, and more, all these things contribute to being able to spread the gospel around the world :)
Monthly support: https://www.equipnet.org/missionaries/jsmith_01
I encourage you to pray for your decision, and if you have any questions, I would love to talk to you! Just email me back and we can set up a time to talk in person, you can email me your questions and I'll get back to you, or anything else I can do to help you better understand my mission and how you can join my ministry support team!
I encourage you to share this to people you know, family, work friends, and more and to have them reach out to me at jvkesmission@gmail.com if they have any interests whatsoever! Also, starting in September, I will be posting blogs to supporters, people who are interested, and I would love to have you follow along and pray for me along the way! Here is the link to my blog website to start getting updates around the summertime before I head out for my DTS. I would love to have you along for the journey in any way.
I would also love to have you follow along my journey!! My Blog will have constant updates once I get started and the link below has access to all my social media and donating websites!
Thank you for making it to the end of this letter, I know it was a lot. Please send prayers during this season of my life as I embark on this new journey of mine! I would love to meet with you to make a decision if you would like to hear more. If you are planning or interested in committing to join my full time ministry support team, please let me know by emailing me at jvkesmission@gmail.com.
If something happens along the way of this journey and I can no longer pursue this due to things out of my control, you will for sure be updated every step of the way. Thank you so much and God bless.
For His Kingdom,
Jake Smith