Dear Supporters,
I know it’s been a while since I updated all of you, but I’ve finally got some time to sit down and write an update email. My goal with this email is to provide a general update on the last month and all that has happened. Sorry for the long email, but there’s a lot to share with this update!
So my journey has begun…I left Colorado and I am currently at the YWAM base in Lakeside, Montana which is a converted old air force base. I live in a dorm with a few other roommates. I’m on the EDTS (Endurance Discipleship Training School) team which consists of 12 students who are passionate about the outdoors and making God known. The food is surprisingly good for those that are wondering. Our weekdays are jam-packed with our work duty of preparing breakfast for the whole base, lectures, small group, workouts, fun activities, and other preparation time.
The first few weeks of June were filled with last-minute preparation before my departure. After a final weekend getaway with family, I came back home with around a week left to wrap everything up. I was frantically trying to get last-minute equipment, get everything in place for my businesses, and pack everything up. If I’m being honest, this last week was so stressful that I experienced a mini-panic attack of sorts. It wasn’t until I came to the realization that I wouldn’t be able to finish everything that I had peace about where I was leaving things.
With that, we left home on June 16th to make our way to Lakeside, Montana. From there, my family dropped me off and the adventure began. The first week was full of orientation activities, getting to know one another, and lectures about the character and nature of God. My big takeaway for the week was that God’s love for us is truly incomprehensible and we are called to love others like Jesus loves us.
The following week we were gone on a front-country camping trip in Glacier National Park. It was an amazing week with almost perfect weather, surprisingly good sleep, great food, fun activities, amazing teachings, and spectacular views. We got to learn about a lot of outdoor survival skills like treating water, navigating with maps and compass, and starting fires with flint and steel. We did a pretty hard 10 mile hike and got to go paddle boarding and kayaking on Lake MacDonald. Our lecture topic for the week was hearing God’s voice which was perfect considering we were out in God’s beautiful creation.
This last week wasn’t my favorite in terms of the lecture speaker or topic, however I did some really fun activities. The topic of the week was secularism, but I felt like the speaker jumped all over the place. I was really struggling to follow along until I was challenged to ask what the Lord wants me to hear during the lectures, whether or not I’m personally enjoying it. In addition to that revelation, this was a fun week with 4th of July festivities including a big firework show on the lake and my first ever rodeo!
One cool God story was that on our hike we ran into a father and son duo. We started talking with them and found out that they were Christians. Before we left, one of our group members asked if we could pray for them for anything. They said yes and asked us to pray for a muscle disease they had called RYR-1 which meant that their muscles were pretty much permanently relaxed when they shouldn’t be. We prayed, and nothing happened at that moment, so we went on our way. However, right when we turned the corner we ran into snow which meant that we had to turn around (our permit for our group didn’t allow us to hike on snow). The father and son duo were able to keep hiking because they weren’t under permit requirements. So if we would have taken one more break or if the father and son had taken one fewer breaks, we would have missed them entirely. Who knows how that prayer impacted them, but it was a divine appointment set by God judging by the fact that we barely ran into them.
During one of the first weeks, we had our outreach location officially revealed. I was in incredible anticipation for this day, but was relieved to hear that we would in fact be going to the Himalayas. After having my original calling and all of my planning be focused on going to the Himalayas, I was super happy to hear we were actually going.
For those who are wondering why I’m spending the summer in Montana and not in the Himalayas, it’s because we are currently training for all aspects of our trip. We’re preparing spiritually by better understanding God, studying the word, and learning more about how to share the Gospel. We’re preparing emotionally by doing team-building exercises, depriving ourselves of certain luxuries ahead of time, and learning about what’s to come. Finally, we’re preparing physically by doing many group workouts, equipping ourselves with the proper gear, and learning vital survival skills.
Another quick note about the frequency of these emails: Originally I had been planning on sending out weekly updates, but I’ve quickly realized that is not feasible or sustainable with my schedule. We’re much busier than I thought we would be on the weekdays and I spend most of my weekends just trying to catch up on messages, assignments, and talking with family. From now on, my goal will be to send an email update once a month, but I may do more or less than that based on my schedule.
Thank you all for your continued support both with prayer and finances. I’m forever grateful for how each of you played a role in getting me to where I am today. None of this would have been possible without you all.
Until next time,
Jacob Frenzen
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