ABWE - Association of Baptists for World Evangelism

Jennifer helps a student with her schoolwork

Although she didn’t actively pursue missions, Jennifer Thigpen now sees how God had prepared her path to become an ABWE missionary in the Czech Republic. “I remember the Lord tugging at my heart in high school and I knew then that I needed to give one hundred percent of myself to Him,” she says. “I knew that whatever I did in life would be based in ministry, although I didn’t think it would necessarily be missions.” As Jennifer finished high school and began working toward a teaching degree at Firelands College in Ohio, she was struck by the idea that God was growing in her a hunger to go wherever He called her. Jennifer’s grandfather had been a missionary in Chad, Africa, and she was also influenced by his love and passion for the people of that country. “He always said that he left his heart in Africa,” she says. “Seeing his love for the people of Chad really opened my eyes to other people groups.” After Jennifer received her teaching degree she found that there were many career paths she could pursue. “There were so many things I could do,” she says. “But I wanted to be comfortable and stay in the area if I could. I prayed, ‘If you want me to stretch myself, you’ll have to close all the doors around me’.” And for the next year and a half, He did. Jen applied for job after job, each time expanding her search. It was at this point she realized that God was confirming what she had already felt—she was to go into missions. Soon after this realization, Jennifer was put in touch with Ron, an ABWE missionary, who asked her to teach his children in the Czech Republic. “I didn’t even have to pray about it, because it was an answer to a year and a half of prayer,” she says. After serving in the Czech Republic for one year, Jennifer began to see how God was preparing her heart to stay long term. “I had complete peace about my trip even though it was completely out of my comfort zone. That’s how I knew it was the Lord.” Ron asked Jennifer to stay on a second year. “I didn’t think people would continue to support me, but they did. That year was crucial in opening my eyes to career missions because I really had the chance to develop relationships with the Czech people.” After completing her prefield ministry with ABWE, Jennifer plans to return to the Czech Republic to teach missionary kids, disciple young women, and reach unbelievers through English ministries. In missions, it is easy to be pulled in a lot of directions, Jen says. Yet, she has found a way to stay on His path. “I’ve learned to ask ‘Where is God working?’ and then work where He is.”

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