Friends and Family,
I hope this letter finds you well...and warm!
For those of you who have not yet heard, I will be embarking on a new adventure in Guadalajara, Mexico from February-May 2015 with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission). Before I tell you more about this service opportunity, I want to share with you a bit of my journey up to this point, which will hopefully answer your question, “Why won’t this girl stay put?”
After two years teaching in La Paz, Bolivia, I came back home in July 2013 with uncertainty and a heavy heart. I knew intuitively I was supposed to be back in Chicagoland but didn’t know why, so my resolution became this: To mesh these two cultures, these different realities and my affinity for each. Over the course of the last year and a half, I’ve been blown away by how my worlds have meshed.
My experience in Bolivia prompted me to seek out other ESL (English as a Second Language) opportunities and work with older students. In His faithfulness, God provided great workplaces and ministries for me to be a part of. I developed a love and appreciation for awkward middle schoolers and hyped-up high schoolers, studied at a local college to obtain an ESL endorsement for my teaching license, joined a Latino church plant, and formed friendships and relationships that have been incredibly influential in my journey.
My time and work here in Chicagoland has transformed my heart and vision in amazing ways. In the last year and a half, I’ve begun to see more clearly how the passions of my heart, the gifts and talents God has given me, and the areas of growing need are intersecting.
Which leads me to Mexico.
I hope this letter finds you well...and warm!
For those of you who have not yet heard, I will be embarking on a new adventure in Guadalajara, Mexico from February-May 2015 with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission). Before I tell you more about this service opportunity, I want to share with you a bit of my journey up to this point, which will hopefully answer your question, “Why won’t this girl stay put?”
After two years teaching in La Paz, Bolivia, I came back home in July 2013 with uncertainty and a heavy heart. I knew intuitively I was supposed to be back in Chicagoland but didn’t know why, so my resolution became this: To mesh these two cultures, these different realities and my affinity for each. Over the course of the last year and a half, I’ve been blown away by how my worlds have meshed.
My experience in Bolivia prompted me to seek out other ESL (English as a Second Language) opportunities and work with older students. In His faithfulness, God provided great workplaces and ministries for me to be a part of. I developed a love and appreciation for awkward middle schoolers and hyped-up high schoolers, studied at a local college to obtain an ESL endorsement for my teaching license, joined a Latino church plant, and formed friendships and relationships that have been incredibly influential in my journey.
My time and work here in Chicagoland has transformed my heart and vision in amazing ways. In the last year and a half, I’ve begun to see more clearly how the passions of my heart, the gifts and talents God has given me, and the areas of growing need are intersecting.
Which leads me to Mexico.
Through the combination of all of these influences in my life, I’m beginning to see an intersecting piece--to serve locally through teaching the growing immigrant and refugee population in the United States, specifically the very large number of Mexican immigrants. My desire is reconciliation in a world full of division, poverty, and injustice. Meeting the needs of immigrants is a way for me to say to them, “Hey, I see you, and I love you as my brothers and sisters, and I am for you and will walk alongside you. I want to empower you in the way I have been empowered through love and opportunities and education.”
I believe that in order for me to
serve this population the most effectively, I need to see where they’re coming
from. I desire to know the Mexican culture, to become fluent in the Spanish
language, and once again have my perspectives challenged.
During the four months I’m in Guadalajara, I will be living with a Mexican family, teaching English at a cultural center and an orphanage, as well as working with missionaries and other interns to share Jesus’ love and grace through coffee dates, community gatherings, Bible studies, and various events.
During the four months I’m in Guadalajara, I will be living with a Mexican family, teaching English at a cultural center and an orphanage, as well as working with missionaries and other interns to share Jesus’ love and grace through coffee dates, community gatherings, Bible studies, and various events.
I want to ask if you would consider supporting me prayerfully
and financially in this endeavor. I need to raise $3,938 by December 21st
to cover the total cost of my airfare and living expenses for the four months I
will be in Guadalajara. If you would like to partner with me, please go to https://team.org/give,
click on “Give Now” and search for my name, or follow this link to get there
directly: https://secure2.convio.net/team/site/SPageServer?pagename=donatenow&did=4343.
You may also send a check to TEAM with my name in the memo line:
TEAM
PO Box 969
Wheaton, IL
60187-0969
As well, the orphanage that I will be teaching at, Rios en el
Desierto, needs your help.
I
will partner with other missionaries on a number of necessary, immediate
projects for which the orphanage does not have funds. If you are interested in
giving to this orphanage, follow this link:
https://secure2.convio.net/team/site/SPageServer?pagename=donatenow&did=4201, or send a check to
TEAM (address above) and indicate that the contribution is for the "Guadalajara Orphanage Fund.”
Thank you so much for your love and support of me in this
journey.
Grace and peace,
Julie Hogan
630-991-8637
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