So for all of you that don't get to keep up with me on a regular basis (which is most of you :) I'm going to try to compact the last year into one blog entry. To sum up the last year of my life, I would have to say it was composed of countless "grace-filled blessings" as the Lord provided time and time again in ways I could have never imagined...
School-
I'll be a junior this August at The University of Texas-Austin, majoring in Political Communications and in the Bridging Disciplines Program for Social Inequality, Health, and Policy. The BDP is a bridge for students who want to study in an area that is not an offered major at UT, and also for students who want to gain undergraduate research experience to prepare them for grad school. I'm not sure if I'll do grad school yet, I've started to look into studying for the LSAT for law school next spring, but I really love the program. I was a member of Delta Delta Delta from my freshman year up until this last December when I made the hard decision to leave after I really felt my calling (and my finances!) was elsewhere. As much as I miss all the girls, I'm even closer to some of them now. Not to mention, the Lord used that experience to literally allow my story to be shared with the whole chapter after I left, I could not have asked for a better way to share the gospel with 200 girls. I've always enjoyed the academic side of college, and as I get more in depth in my studies, I really feel like I'm studying what I'm passionate about.A Whole lot of Jesus-
Last summer, the Lord blessed me with a group of friends in Fort Worth that I was able to live out the gospel with all summer. I won't explain all of that story, if you read my old blogs from last summer you'll get all the good stuff :) When I came back to Austin last fall, I knew my heart was burdened to see the gospel lived out daily in my life and others. I have a huge heart for the poor and oppressed, and the Lord burdened me to fight for them here in Austin, to live with them, and experience Him in some of the darkest areas of the city. I'd been going to The Austin Stone Community Church (http://www.austinstone.org/) since my freshman year, and when I came back from doing house church in Ft. Worth all summer, I wasn't sure if a big congregation was really where God was calling me. But he was, and through some unbelievable circumstances, I was able to share my heart for missional community and living in East Austin with various members of the staff. Not only did they listen, but they took my passion to heart, and began equipping me for ministry. In the fall, I was mentored by a few people who were able to speak a lot of truth into my life, as well as wind in my sails. I was introduced to our community pastor Stew and his wife Kimberly in October and began to form an incredible relationship with them over the course of the fall and spring (more on that in a bit). When I came back from winter break, I wanted to see us but a college team in the St. John's neighborhood here (the poorest neighborhood in Austin, and my new home:) for Spring Break. What I had envisioned to be a small college urban-emersion trip, turned into being asked to put on a Spring Break Day Camp for over 100 Hispanic kids in the neighborhood. Having never even been to a VBS that I can remember, planning one in 2 months on top of being a full-time student and working an internship was quite the learning process. But once again, God provided and the week was the most amazing part of my semester. To read some of the stories from volunteers at the camp go to http://friendsofstjohns.blogspot.com/. After spring break, I came on staff at Austin Stone as the Local Missions College Intern. I literllay got to write my job description and have given an opportunity to do what I love, and get paid for it. Half of my duties rest in local missions outreach for our church, particularly here in St. John's, while the other half rest with the college ministry. As much as I was nervous about coming on staff (you hear a lot about people getting burned and turned off my church when they actually work for one) I could not be more overwhelmed with joy and gratitude for my position.My Austin Family-
I mentioned Kimberly and Stew earlier, and this past spring I was part of their community group where we went through the world missions course called Perspectives. I honestly can't talk enough about these people, they have been one of the biggest blessings to ever walk into my life and I have never seen the gospel lived so clearly in a couple's life. Kimberly has become my "spritual momma" of sorts and has gone through a lot with me this past year. I just recently moved in with their family (Wesley Grant 3 1/2 and Sally 2) as we await the arrival of their 3rd child, Karis Elizabeth, anytime now! It's been sooo much fun to wake up to little legs and giggles running around in the morning. Sally loves all things girly, including my shoes and jewelry....
Stew and Kimberly also live in the St. John's neighborhood so it has given me the opportunity to live here sooner than I thought I would be able to. After this summer is up, I will move into another place close-by with my room mate Christel was was also in our community group and lives with the Stewart's this summer too.
Through our community group, I met Jonathan and Lauren Ramirez who I'll be going to Sudan with this summer. Jonathan and Lauren part of what I call my "Austin Family," along with the rest of our community group. It's like having one of my sisters here in Austin with Lauren and having an older brother for the first time with Jonathan. About half of our community group will be going on this trip, which is nothing short of incredible. We're a little "traveling church" as we like to call it. While I was given the opportunity for Sudan early in the year, I was also given the opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Rwanda for an internship there. After a lot of prayer, I decided it was not my time for Rwanda yet, and I took the Austin Stone position and confirmed my heart to go to Sudan. What I love about this trip is that it is completely based on vision. We don't have a huge game-plan and we're going in to "fix" anything. We are the ones who are learning, and while the Didnga people may have nothing in terms of our American mindset, they have much more to give us than we ever could. I'm beyond excited to see how God will stir things in my heart during this time, everyone on this trip has a heart to go back long term and I really hope I get the chance to when I graduate in May 2010. The future blog entires I make will mostly be focused on the Sudan trip.
The Markovich Fam-
For those of you who don't know, my dad took a job with a small family-owned agriculture company in Lancaster, PA last May. We finally sold the Keller house in December and my mom moved there in January. They are in the heart of Amish country these days, but the town is absolutely beautiful. I got to visit them after school got out in May for a few days and fell in love with the area. While it's far from all of us girls, it's only about 90 minutes from Baltimore and D.C., and 3 hours from New York City.
Me and Mom at Rockefeller Center in NYC
Jen, Me, and Katie in August
That's about it! In a nutshell! I missed out a lot of stuff, but those are the good parts. I can't thank you all enough for your support and prayers for my trip. I've never raised support for anything before and it's been beautiful to see how God confirms your call through that as the support indeed comes in. If you would still like to contribute to our trip or join the prayer team, email me at jrmarkovich@mail.utexas.edu. I love all of you sooo very much!
"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour." -Luke 1:47
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