Jessica O'Brien
Why I'm Doing Mission Year
Hey! So, if you’re visiting my blog you pry know my name is Jessie O’Brien, I’m 21 and am leaving my home of Jackson, Michigan to go to a city I am yet to know the location of for one year. I graduated from Spring Arbor University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and in youth ministry. For the last year I’ve been helping lead a youth group at my Hispanic church: “Comunidad Agua Viva” which is Community of Living Water in English. Through college I have developed a real passion to work with inner-city kids and to live in the inner-city as a missionary for the rest of my life. My two callings and passions are to serve in urban areas of the U.S. and to serve in Africa, helpling people in need, spiritually, emotionally, and physcially. I went to Zambia a year ago, and want to go back to Africa someday. I am going to get my MSW at University of Michigan when I finish my year with Mission Year. That’s the simple stuff about me. I’m also an only child and I am really excited to be serving on a Mission Year Team.. I’m also a spaz and I freak out a lot, so I’m pretty nervous right now, but God always amazes me on how much He’s in control and I never had a need to worry. I’m doing Mission Year for a million and one reasons, but I can get wordy, so I’ll restrain myself and keep it simple. Basically, the reason I am doing Mission Year is because I know this is the best way I can really love God and love people in this time of my life.
About Mission Year
Mission Year is a year long urban ministry program focused on Christian service and discipleship. We take teams of young people, place them in an area of need, and help them to serve people and create community. We are committed to the command of Jesus to “love God and love people,” by placing the needs of our neighbors first and developing committed disciples of Christ with a heart for the poor. Learn more about our first year program…
Jessica O'Brien's Blog
Paint fumes here I come! / Jul 17, 09:14 AM
Hey everybody! Yeah, I know it’s been a while. (Thanks Sara, for reminding me to keep blogging!!) I have missed writing blogs, but I think part of me has avoided it because every time I go to blog, it leads my thoughts back to the reality of leaving. And I just don’t want to face it at times.
This summer has been one of peace. This statement means more to me than you may know. At the end of the school year, teens I am close to, neighbors I had gotten to know, said they were worried that the rivals gangs would fight in Little Village worse than ever. In response to what we had heard from all of them, my roommates and I went on a prayer walk. We walked around the neighborhood, around the parks, around the graffiti, and prayed. I asked that God would be glorified this summer, that all violent anticipations people had for this summer would be radically not fulfilled. That this would be a summer of peace. Half way through the summer, this is what I have seen. I pray that this will continue as we live Little Village, and Mission Year in 2 weeks.
Today, as I sit in the Social Justice High School office of Ana, the social worker and friend, I have worked with this year, Yvette came in. Yvette will be a senior at SoJo this fall, and is geeked about college. I cherish the moments, these kids, young adults I should say, seek me out to share how they are, and what their hopes are. I was warmed as she asked if we could hang out before we go. I smiled even more when she asked if I could help her with her college application stuff when we hang out. Yvette, I will miss you, your laughs, and your self-less love for others. I have been blessed by knowing her, and she inspires me to continue serving God in public schools, and through social work.
Today after school I will helping Joanna paint the playground near our house. On our prayer walk a few months ago, as we prayed against the gang tension in our community, we came across the jungle gym kindergarten through 4th graders use. It was covered with every type of graffiti, from obscenities to infinite amounts of gang symbols. Since then, Joanna was motivated to contact the school for permission, and buy paint to paint over the playground. Today, I am blessed to be able to take part in washing away and covering symbols that have hurt and discouraged our community for too long. Especially before we leave, it’s a blessing to get to leave this behind for our community, for our home. May it renew hope in our neighborhood that God is bigger than gangs, bigger than our struggles, and He will never leave us in them.
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Miss Thomas and toasters / Jun 5, 09:35 AM
You will not believe all the crazy stuff that’s been happening here in the past 24 hours. But you’ve just got to believe me! Let me tell you the story…..
So last night, my roommate Anna and me were talking about this book we’re reading for curriculum. It’s called “Freedom of Simplicity” by Richard Foster. It’s an awesome book so far, and has totally jarred my way of thinking in little ways. Well, anyway, we’re talking, having this deep discussion about simplicity in America, as Anna leans up against the counter. As I’m looking at her, I saw a big shadow scurry behind her, on our kitchen countertop. I screamed a blood curdling scream, which made Anna do the same thing. We jumped back from our counter, and looked, because suddenly, the black shadow was gone.
Where’d it go? Then suddenly, a little mouse popped it’s head out from behind our toaster, and took it upon himself to crawl inside.
In a panic, we took the toaster outside. We stood outside for 20 minutes, waiting for the mouse to come out on its own. 20 minutes went by. No mouse. Plan B was for Anna to shake the toaster upside down, while I beat the side of it with a flashlight, hoping it would scare the mouse into jumping out. No mouse came out. I was getting convinced that the mouse had entered the toaster, and exited into the Chronicles of Mouse Narnia, but it was no where to be seen, and I definitely hadn’t seen it leave the toaster. Well, Anna raced back upstairs, got a screwdriver, and in a determined stance, attacked the toaster like a heart surgeon does a bypass. As she came back downstairs, she slammed the door.
“Anna?” I said.
“Yeah?”
“Do you have keys?”
“Oh, uh.. no”
Now, it was 9:30 at night, right outside of our house, and we were locked out, no other roommates home, locked outside with my roommate and a mouse in a toaster. Not exactly how I spend my typical Tuesday nights. As I got our amazing landlord, Rafy, she helped us get back in to our apartment, but wouldn’t let us release the toaster mouse, til she was safe back in her apartment. Rafy hates mice, it was a selfless act for her to just walk past the toaster for us.
As we went back upstairs, after releasing the toaster mouse into the wild of the concrete jungle, we found out later that night, that this little guy was one of many. I went to bed that night, hearing various squeaking sounds from the kitchen that left me feeling abnormally possessive of our food….
Thus leads me to our sixth roommate (other than Bernie Clause that is); Miss Thomas. Pastor Victor from our church, was gracious enough to let us borrow his cat for a couple weeks, so she can uh… how do I say this gently….decrease our mice population. We brought home Miss Thomas tonight, and let me tell you, she was pretty salty. I love having a cat here though, it makes me feel like I’m back at home with my 5 cats. :-) yes, I’m the old cat lady incarnate. I’m excited for my parents to visit in a couple days with all this added excitement going on. I’m already starting to get attached to Miss Thomas. I don’t want to give her back, and it’s only been an 1 hour since we’ve had her… my team captain, Joanna, keeps reminding me she’s leaving after the mice are gone… sigh It’s good while it last!…
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Esperanza is the theme of my year..... / May 28, 09:24 AM
Esperanza. This is one of the most beautiful sounding words I think I could roll of my tongue. It is Spanish for Hope, which has been the biggest thing God has been teaching me and showing me in Little Village this year. The people I work with, my roommates, the beloved students at Social Justice High School that give me hugs everyday, my church, the list could go on and on. These are the people that encapsulate what hope really means. Going through hard situations, losing people you love to shootings or deportations, and still loving people and God without holding anything back. That is hope. Where I have been taught hope from the most, as of lately, has been the students at SoJo High I see everyday. I love them as if they were my own brothers and sisters, and I want to show you just a glimpse into these amazing kids. There more real and genuine than any inner-city kid stereotype you know of. Forget about Freedom Writers, Dangerous Minds, and Hardball. This is what these kids are really like;
First, there’s Greg. Here I am blogging in the In School Suspension Room, and Greg comes in with a pass from his teacher. He didn’t get in trouble, but he just wanted to come, to do his work. I was so confused on WHY someone would choose to come here, and he sweetly, but sincerely replies, “I get off task sometimes in class, and just want to talk to people, so I know when I get in those moods, it’s better for me to come here, I’ll be more focused and actually get my work done.” My heart warmed because I know he totally means every word of it. Whenever I see Greg, he asks me about how I got a Psychology degree. Greg really wants to help people, be a counselor, and would be awesome at it. First look at him, people might stereotype him as a great basketball or football player because of his athlete build, but he’s also sensitive, caring, and genuinely wants to make the world around him a better place. For someone who’s a total athlete, he breaks all those stereotypes by being incredibly philosophical.
Then there’s Jazmin. She’s short, with waist long brown hair, with bright blond streaks, that have earned her the nickname Banana. She makes up for her physical smallness, with her huge smile, that just makes her stand a head above the rest. Jazmin oozes with sincere friendliness and a warmth, where no matter how hard a person is, they can have no guard around her. She’s one of the girls I have been training in a class to be a mentor next year. She loves soccer, and never gossips about anybody. Lots of other girls look up to her, because she is not only pretty, but has a beautiful personality of maturity and realness. As I said hi to her during passing periods, she came up to me and gave me a huge hug I didn’t expect at all, then told me what she did for Memorial Day. It was my best surprise all day.
These kids are indestructible to me. No matter who might get shot, who might get into a fight, who might get involved with gangs around them, these students keep going, keep loving me, and others around them. God is totally present here, and shows me His Hope in their excited eyes, everyday. They live life to the fullest, and don’t let any loss keep them from living. God has given me a blessing to be here, and I am having the hardest time coming to terms with leaving in 2 months. Whew. Will I be able to do it? …… To be continued:-)
P.S.- Read Psalm 49. It’s awesome, and has been totally encouraging me to praise God in the hard times here, when I hear about violence or SoJo kids dealing with the aftermath of the violence around them. God is bigger than all we’re worried about, and the safest place we can be, is close to God. Wherever that leads us. Wherever.
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I'm so good at Spanish I can speak it in my sleep....no really...:-) / Apr 17, 12:11 PM
So I slept like a rock last night. I’m not kidding, I felt like an actual rock. Usually, when I wake up my roommates love me enough to know and respect 2 things about me: 1) I am not and never will be a morning person and 2) It is close to physically impossible for me verbally communicate within the first hour I am awake. With these 2 facts known very well, Anna, one of my beloved roommates ventured out and spoke to me, sharing with me a surprising incident.
“Last night at like 1 a.m. you were talking in your sleep Jessie, and it scared me so bad. You were talking in Spanish!” Anna explained.
I didn’t believe her at first. Who speaks in a different language in their sleep, especially one they aren’t completely fluent in?? Crazy. Then Justina, whose my bunkmate said the same thing! This is the first recorded time I have ever talked in Spanish IN MY SLEEP! And I want you all to know. Emily said it’s a sign of being borderline fluent when you dream in another language..maybe means the same for sleeptalking? Hmm…maybe I’m fluent and I don’t even know it!
Well, other than this interesting adventure, things have been rather eventful around her. I went to the doctor and found out my broken hand will be A-ok! I just need a wrap cast for a little while longer.
I say and think here a lot “there’s never a dull moment in Little Village” and I truly stand by that. God really reminds me in the everyday experiences here, that He is not a God of canned routine, go through the motions, and never try anything new. God is a God of unpredictability, answering prayers in what we see as the most unexpected moments. He is a God of adventure, where even the most ordinary moments of Sunday grocery shopping can be a time to have an amazing conversation with a roommate. He is a God that desires us to not be so focused on our own plan, our own mission and expectations in life that we walk right passed Him everyday and don’t even know it. My question I leave you with is the question God has been whispering into me lately. If you were on your way to work today, in the car, focused on not being late, and God whispered to you, He desired you to speak to someone specific during the day, or do something different than what you have planned, would you hear it? Would you follow it? Or would you be too distracted to even know He’s whispering? Lately I’ve been distracted too much by my own plans… and I’m so grateful that God has the patience to bring me back to His Attention. He is truly, truly good to all of us.
Doors and casts= the introduction to 3rd trimester!!! / Apr 7, 09:42 AM
So, it’s been like almost a month since I blogged last. :-) Lots been going on here, and at home as all of you must know. The day before I took a train home, to be with my Mom with her medical tests and to begin my Mission Year Spring Break, I slammed my hand in a giant door at our church. For the last month, I have been complaining about a slight soreness and wierd bump that has appeared on my hand. To my ultimate surprise this Friday, I found out, on a too-long awaited trip to the Lawndale Health Center, that my hand is indeed broken!
So moral of the story is: When you slam your hand it a door and it looks and feels funny afterwards, going to the doctor asap! I cannot believe I’ve had a broken hand for the last month…. if only I would’ve known…:) Well, if I end up getting a cast, I trust all yous in close proximity to come and sign it with a beautiful word of wisdom. It could become a great item to scrapbook later:)
Spring Break was a great time to spend with my Mom and Dad. It’s funny, but I think God uses the hard times in our lives, when we’re sick, others are sick that we love, or in other serious situations, to still us. In American culture, we get so caught up in being busy, active, productive, that we end up spending less time than we’d like with those we love, including most of all, God Himself. Because my Mom was sick, I spent a lot more time with her than I usually would have, and it was amazing. We played Horse monopoly and had some really honest, open conversations, that encouraged me a lot, and pry wouldn’t had happened, had not God stilled me, and still her.
As I am now back into the swing of Chicago, and already done with 2 full of weeks of our final trimester, I am realizing my own need to be stilled again. I am amazed everyday at how God has gifted me with His Loving Presence through so many around me, including my roommates, neighbors, and co-workers, not to mention my family and friends back home. But God’s reminding me that the gifts He gives me, of the people around me, do NOT replace Him Himself. Us serving God for God, does not replace intimacy with God either.
When you are close to your best friend, it is not because you are constantly doing things for her, it’s because of time you have spent with her, just appreciating each other’s company. God is reminding me to just be still with Him, and enjoy His Company. As I get ready for Sabbath tomorrow, there’s nothing I would want to do more….:-)
