Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I hope that each and everyone of you have had a wonderful Christmas season.  The fact that it is over already makes my head spin.  Time is flying!  2011 is coming to a rapid end and we are speedily approaching 2012.

Thank you to all of you who sent me or my family Christmas cards.  Reading those and looking at the pictures of families I know and love was especially fun for me this year.  It became an exciting part of the season!

I got to come "home for the holidays" for the first time ever.  Up to this point, I have always just been here.  Getting to travel was exciting and made this whole time with my family special.  We had an amazing Christmas, we celebrated with our West Virginian family last weekend and celebrated here at home last night and all day today.  I was excited to get to spend the day also with family friends (really just an extension of my family).  We had such a delicious dinner.  I love the food that I got the blessing of eating all day!  More good news: my family did such a great job with my presents! (I love how well they know me).  

My prayer for you was that you too had a great time celebrating, what ever that may have looked like for you, I hope it was very special!  Here is a quick little video I made for ya'll before we did our celebrating today.  Happy Birthday Jesus!

One Semester Down

I am so happy to be writing this post from my living room.  I am Home for Christmas, and am so proud to have successfully completed my first semester of college.  Due to Dual Enrollment credit however, this was a semester of my Sophomore year.

I have learned so much over the last 5 months.  I have grown as a person and am operating in a whole new level of independence.  I have so many new friends that I never could have imagined when I left for Lee University 5 months ago.  It is crazy how fast this semester has gone by.  I look back amazed at how many assignments I completed in this short time and am thankful at how successful I was in doing those.

I have an amazing church in Cleveland that I am so honored to be a part of and I am so excited about what God is doing in my city.  It is incredible to be able to surround myself with like-minded people, who have similar goals and dreams.  This community atmosphere alone has been a great cause of growth in me.

I am so thankful for the support I have received from home throughout this time.  It is definitely hard to be away from home at times, but I can see great benefits in it.  I know Cleveland, and Lee University is where I am supposed to be and so excited to have the opportunity to be there.  I am looking forward to next semester and all of the adventures it will hold.

For now, I am relaxing at home.  It is so amazing to be at home, in my bed, in my house, eating real food and being able to make my own schedule, and not have to plot time to write papers, outline or go to class.  I am so glad to have Facebook and other methods of keeping in touch with all of my friends I've met this semester, because we have become such a family that I miss them already.

Thanks for keeping posted on my life this semester!  I look forward to continuing to update you, as I Learn to Lean!

Support Letter

Hey Guys!

I have been busy working on writing this support letter and getting it sent out for the last couple of days.  I thought maybe uploading it to here would be a good way to get it out to a large scale audience.  I've been learning to lean on Him for provision, which is sometimes a stretch of faith.  I was reminded of the verse that says we have not because we ask not, so I thought it would be wise to let everyone know of this need that I have.  I have removed my address because this blog is open to the public to view.  If you are interested in sowing in to the trip, you can send the donation to my family's church (address listed) or contact me for my address!
Thank you guys so much!

Dear Friend,

                I do not even know where to begin.  My life has so dramatically changed since I have last had the opportunity of corresponding with you.  I have finished my first semester at Lee University and am blown away by all that God is doing here in Cleveland, Tennessee.  I know that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.  It is so great to be surrounded by so many like minded people, whether friends on campus or friends at my church here.  God has brought new, amazing, anointed friends that I never could have dreamed of before coming to Cleveland.  There is so much to share, even just about this first semester, that time fails me to share it all.

                I wanted to share some news with you that I am absolutely thrilled about.  I thought that this was going to be a year that I would stay here in America, working to adjust to college; but Jesus has different plans!  He has opened up a door through Lee University for me to go, along with 15 other students, to Haiti!  This is a nation I have wanted to go to for years and has been on my heart for some time.  Having the chance to go to Haiti excites me so much!  While we are in Haiti, we are going to be working with kids!  The ministry in Haiti has taken the children we will be working with out of the sex slave trade.   We will be working with these kids to teach them computer skills so that they can create a future for themselves and get a job so that they do not go back to the lifestyle they have been forced into in the past.  I am so excited to be able to teach these kids the skills they need while being able to show them the love of Jesus at the same time!

                The news continues with the announcement of my return to India!  I am incredibly excited to be going to India for my Spring Break.  My contacts there have invited me to come and be a speaker at their Bible College graduation.  Having already accepted the offer to go to Haiti, agreeing to this second trip has been a stretch of faith, but I believe it is a door Jesus has opened, and believe I am supposed to be there.  I am so humbled to have a personal invitation to return to India and be a part of sending these amazing men and women out to reach India for Jesus!  The ministry is following the Biblical model: bringing people in, raising them up and equipping them, and sending them out.  It is my joy to partner with them in this process.

                Awesome opportunities like these are quite financially demanding.  Due to the fact that I am coordinating the trip to India on my own, without a group’s help, the total cost is uncertain.  I know that Haiti alone is $3562.  With the costs that have already been incurred for the India trip, it is safe to say that I will easily need $6000.  The deadline for the Haiti finances is February 15, 2012.  As I will be leaving March 3, 2012 for India, India money is also needed as soon as possible, as I need to book plane tickets in early January.  I am sorry for such short notice, but I had to apply for an India Visa, which was not guaranteed.  If I was not granted the Visa, I would not have been able to go on that trip, and did not want to announce it to you until it was certainly going to happen.  I know that $6000 is a huge amount, but I serve a huge God!  I know that I am supposed to go on each of these trips, I have prayed extensively about each one and spiritual leaders in my life have agreed.  I believe each trip is going to be influential to my life and I cannot wait to see the impact that it has on all those I will come into contact with in each country.

                Will you please pray about supporting me?  I again remind you that you are connected with every life touched through these trips when you sow into them.  God has promised in His word that whatever you give will be given back to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38).  There are multiple ways for you to give.  If you are interested in getting a form for tax purposes, you can send your donation to my family’s church:

Daystar Worship Center

PO Box 344

Gordonsville, VA 22942

Put my name on the memo line of the check and the awesome lady who does our books will make sure I get the money. 

If you would like to send your donation directly to me, you can send it to my home address:

(contact me for this address)

                I am seriously so thankful to have you in my life.  Your previous support means more to me than you know.  I consider it a great honor that you trust me enough to support my trips and visions.  You guys are on my mind often and I honestly pray for you, and celebrate you with thanksgiving!  I want to be able to keep in contact with you!  I have an email that I check often (im4hispraz@gmail.com), a Facebook account, and a blog (www.jeremyvestal.blogspot.com) [obviously you have the blog address--since you're reading this post :) ].  All of these are tools I use to try and keep anyone who is interested updated about what is going on in my life.  I will also continue to send you, my partners in extending the Gospel, letters keeping you posted on the status of each trip.

Thank you for sowing into what God is doing!

You mean so much to me and I am praying for you,

Jeremy