How The Journey Began!

Here is a brief outline about who I, Jama Mason, is, and what I feel is possibly relevant to my story:


(1) Born and raised in a small town called Gaston, Indiana.
(2) Was always super shy, and very insecure.
(3) Grew up being raised by mother, who married several times. Do not have a close relationship with my father.
(4) Got pregnant at the age of 17. Finished high school (1994), in spite of tumultuous circumstances, went onto college, received my Bachelor's Degree in Legal Assistance Studies (1999), with a minor in Sociology.
(5) Got married to my child's father in 1999.
(6) Began working as a Legal Assistant in 1999.
(7) Divorced in 2005. {long story}
(8) Went through a mid-life crisis, so to speak, from 2005-2007-ish.
(9) Began my weight loss / healthy lifestyle journey in 2005.
(10) Gave my life to Christ, after a series of events, in 2007. Began attending a small Baptist church.
(11) Started a Teen Girls Mentoring Program in 2008, through 2013.
(12) God led me to a new church, in approximately 2010-ish.
(13) Became certified to teach group exercise classes in December 2012.
(14) Met missionary Linda Botkin of Jesus for Jamaica ministries in December 2012.
(15) Went on my first mission trip, to Whitehouse, Jamaica, in January 2013.
(16) Went on a mission trip to Belize in May 2013.
(17) Met Jennifer Everetts of Journey Home Jamaica ministries in early summer 2013.
(18) Led a small team to Whitehouse, Jamaica in September 2013.
(19) Completed a 2-week internship in Whitehouse, Jamaica in February 2014.
(20) Helped lead a youth mission team to Negril, Jamaica in June 2014.
(21) Began Faith & Fitness Boot Camp Ministry in September 2014.
(22) Began teaching Philippians 4:13 Boot Camp classes at the YMCA in January 2015.
(23) Offered position of Coordinator of Missions & Outreach at my church.
(24) To return to Whitehouse, Jamaica for a solo, exploratory mission trip in March 2015.
(25) To help lead teams to Negril, Jamaica in summer of 2015.


My story (missions journey) starts, as far as I know, back in 2012. I had this crazy idea - "I want to go on a mission trip, at least once in my lifetime!" Little did I know that that idea was not of my own, but was a seed planted by God, that would later permeate into a calling that has been placed on my life! Even before I surrendered my life to Christ, in 2007, I always enjoyed volunteering my time and helping people!


In 2012, the idea to go on a mission trip just kind of "randomly" popped into my mind after seeing an email in my inbox from a Christian Book Store, who was promoting mission trips. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link, which then took me to a page about mission trips. I printed some information about trips, briefly looked at it, and set it aside, thinking I would read it more thoroughly later.


THEN, I'm guessing approximately a few weeks later, I received a phone call from my Pastor, asking me to be on a Scholarship Committee. Right as we were about to hang up from our brief conversation, I just kind of blurted out, without even thinking about it, "hey, will our church ever do mission trips?" I had only been at Destiny Christian Center for approximately two years, and had never heard anything about international missions mentioned before. My Pastor indicated that our church had not yet engaged in missions, BUT, it was something that he wanted to explore more, as he himself had been on several trips.


THEN, within another few weeks, I was volunteering at a local men's homeless shelter, with other members from our church, and we were there primarily to serve the food that day. My job, of all things, was to stand in the assembly line in which the men passed through, and to unwrap cheese slices and hand it to them for their sandwiches. Really? Pass out cheese slices? Was this my calling, Lord? Is this it? Is THIS making an impact in anyone's life? You see, I've always had big dreams, big goals, big aspirations! I have ALWAYS felt that I was called to more than just being a secretary (I have been a legal assistant for 15 years), but I just wasn't sure "what"! As I was passing out the cheese slices, I told a more seasoned lady who was in charge that I just didn't feel like passing out cheese slices was enough to help people, that I felt it to be somewhat insignificant, and that it just wasn't enough for me. We then got onto the topic of missions! She too had been interested in mission trips. And, I think it was on that day that my wheels started reeling!


I then went back to the materials that I had earlier printed off about mission trips! How to prepare...what to expect...how to raise funds, etc, etc, etc. Now, what next? Do I contact this organization about going on a trip with complete strangers? I had no idea where I wanted to go!


TO BE CONTINUED.....