day twenty-two
You Are
"I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and fromt he power of satan to God." Acts 26:17,18
Yesterday I met with Jenn Discher, a beautiful young woman who is new to the Austin Stone. She has sought out the prayer team after joining the church with her husband, and I wanted to hear more of her story.
Jenn gave her heart to Jesus in high school after being a part of a citywide youth movement in the Woodlands. She was at Matt Carter's church in the Woodlands when he was the youth pastor there, and the first time she sang worship songs to Jesus it was with Chris Tomlin leading worship. She said it's interesting now, considering she never planned to be in Austin, never planned to be at the Austin Stone. Her biggest dream when she gave her life to Christ was to be a missionary overseas. "One of the things that struck me about the Austin Stone is how much we talk about living missionally. I haven't heard any other church use that phrase so much."
I asked her how God birthed a heart for prayer in her and she told me how her parents are not believers - what else could she do but pray? She is still praying. The church they came from in Houston also has a strong prayer ministry, WoodsEdge Community Church, and the elders and prayer team mentored her in prayer. Earlier, Jenn met her husband in school at Miami. Why Miami? That's where God told her to go. This is a woman who hears from God and obeys.
God made it clear to Jenn and her husband about a year ago it was time to leave Houston. They prayed with their elders about moving overseas to do missions, or to come to Austin. Jenn did not want to come to Austin. They visited Austin, drove around and prayed. And prayed some more. And God made it clear they were to come to Austin.
This is the part of the story where I started smiling. Because it sounds like so many other stories of the people who have been called to Austin. Didn't want to come, didn't want to be here, and God changed their mind. God has used many many years of intercession in Austin, crying out for this city. He has used it to birth so so much. And now Jenn and her husband are part of that plan. Hungry for revival in the city of Austin.
Jenn teaches 9th grade at Sidney Lanier High School, home of the Vikings. Which happens to be where I went to high school. When I went there, it was the school in Austin with the largest population of kickers, the kids in FFA. If you were a cowboy, Lanier was your school. In 1982, my North Austin neighborhood bussed in to Lanier, as there was no high school in the area at the time.
Now, Lanier is considered inner city, the high school that the kids in the St. John's neighborhood attend. This is the neighborhood the Austin Stone is building our church home in. Lanier is now also the largest internationally populated school in Texas. There is an international high school here in Austin, but Lanier's international student mix is more diverse than that.
What is God doing?
Jenn spends her days teaching World Geography as an ESL class in a portable. There are several other Christian teachers on campus and they have begun a chapter of FCA, but they can go days without seeing one another. They are the only Christian organization at the school and have only a few students attending.
Her days are isolated and she says it has given her a taste of overseas missions. She is living missionally in what is now one of the darkest, most oppressive atmospheres Austin has for a high school. She and I are planning on prayerwalking the campus over spring break. It's going to be good.
Pray for Jenn, pray for breakthrough and for favor to be a part of what God is doing in the neighborhood, and in the lives of these high school students. Please pray for Jenn to be strong and have the joy of the Lord as her strength.
"I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and fromt he power of satan to God." Acts 26:17,18
Yesterday I met with Jenn Discher, a beautiful young woman who is new to the Austin Stone. She has sought out the prayer team after joining the church with her husband, and I wanted to hear more of her story.
Jenn gave her heart to Jesus in high school after being a part of a citywide youth movement in the Woodlands. She was at Matt Carter's church in the Woodlands when he was the youth pastor there, and the first time she sang worship songs to Jesus it was with Chris Tomlin leading worship. She said it's interesting now, considering she never planned to be in Austin, never planned to be at the Austin Stone. Her biggest dream when she gave her life to Christ was to be a missionary overseas. "One of the things that struck me about the Austin Stone is how much we talk about living missionally. I haven't heard any other church use that phrase so much."
I asked her how God birthed a heart for prayer in her and she told me how her parents are not believers - what else could she do but pray? She is still praying. The church they came from in Houston also has a strong prayer ministry, WoodsEdge Community Church, and the elders and prayer team mentored her in prayer. Earlier, Jenn met her husband in school at Miami. Why Miami? That's where God told her to go. This is a woman who hears from God and obeys.
God made it clear to Jenn and her husband about a year ago it was time to leave Houston. They prayed with their elders about moving overseas to do missions, or to come to Austin. Jenn did not want to come to Austin. They visited Austin, drove around and prayed. And prayed some more. And God made it clear they were to come to Austin.
This is the part of the story where I started smiling. Because it sounds like so many other stories of the people who have been called to Austin. Didn't want to come, didn't want to be here, and God changed their mind. God has used many many years of intercession in Austin, crying out for this city. He has used it to birth so so much. And now Jenn and her husband are part of that plan. Hungry for revival in the city of Austin.
Jenn teaches 9th grade at Sidney Lanier High School, home of the Vikings. Which happens to be where I went to high school. When I went there, it was the school in Austin with the largest population of kickers, the kids in FFA. If you were a cowboy, Lanier was your school. In 1982, my North Austin neighborhood bussed in to Lanier, as there was no high school in the area at the time.
Now, Lanier is considered inner city, the high school that the kids in the St. John's neighborhood attend. This is the neighborhood the Austin Stone is building our church home in. Lanier is now also the largest internationally populated school in Texas. There is an international high school here in Austin, but Lanier's international student mix is more diverse than that.
What is God doing?
Jenn spends her days teaching World Geography as an ESL class in a portable. There are several other Christian teachers on campus and they have begun a chapter of FCA, but they can go days without seeing one another. They are the only Christian organization at the school and have only a few students attending.
Her days are isolated and she says it has given her a taste of overseas missions. She is living missionally in what is now one of the darkest, most oppressive atmospheres Austin has for a high school. She and I are planning on prayerwalking the campus over spring break. It's going to be good.
Pray for Jenn, pray for breakthrough and for favor to be a part of what God is doing in the neighborhood, and in the lives of these high school students. Please pray for Jenn to be strong and have the joy of the Lord as her strength.