In the previous post, Alex mentioned a "series of events" that occurred in February and led to our decision to go to Thailand. He said I (Jess) would elaborate in a later post. This is said post, but it's really not a long story or a significant series of events. Here we go.
Like Alex mentioned before, we were invited by Buddy to go to Thailand about two years ago but we weren't "ready." Rephrase - I wasn't ready. Alex was ready to go two years ago and has been chomping at the bit ever since. I, on the other hand, wanted to enjoy a taste of comfortable domestic wedded bliss. I wanted to make a cutesy home for ourselves and be known as "the Sartores" and not "Alex and his wife," or "Jess and her husband." Alex wanted to go, but I wanted to stay. I want to host people and make things in my crock pot and spend ridiculous amounts of time and resources on Pinterest projects... yup. So that's what we did. Alex started working at the company he had interned for, and I studied for my NCLEX and looked for nursing jobs. We began to build our life in Greensboro, NC and put Thailand on the back burner.
Fast-forward to February 2013. I was drinking Starbucks and baking cookies with my friend Nicole from our "marrieds" small group at her house. She announced that though she was pregnant, she and her husband Stephen decided their time was up in Greensboro and they were going to be moving within the next few months. They didn't have a specific job completely lined up, but they felt God moving them in a new direction and wanted to obey that calling. I was super excited for them and their leap of faith. Nicole asked if I thought Alex and I would be in Greensboro forever. I told her that we'd like to go back to Japan someday, and I also mentioned the opportunity we had in Thailand. When I mentioned Thailand I saw her eyes light up and she asked what we were waiting for.
Over the next half hour or so, I listed all these reasons excuses for why it wasn't the right time. "Well, you know, we need to save more money," or "We're in a really good place right now with our jobs," and "It would probably be better to go when we're more 'established'" (whatever that means), etc... The more I heard myself speaking, the more I felt God saying, "Jess, you know the reason real reason you're not ready for Thailand is because you trust in your circumstances, comfort, and financial security more than you trust in Me." BLOW TO THE HEART! I knew it was true and I finally had to face up to it. For years I had claimed to trust in the Lord and I had professed God's faithfulness to those who love Him, but I realized I doubted that faithfulness in my heart because I had never trusted Him enough with anything to allow Him to prove Himself faithful. I was faced with a decision: either grow up and start living the life of faith God calls us to, or live as a white-washed tomb preaching God's faithfulness but living a life that preaches otherwise.
I left Nicole's house (with some delicious chocolate peanut butter cookies), got in my car and called Alex. "Hello?" "Hey, it's me. I'm ready to go to Thailand." "Really? Okay! Let's go!"
Again, he'd been ready for two years. Over the next few days/weeks, we prayed about it a bit more. We both wanted to be sure this wasn't just something we thought would be awesome, but something we actually felt called to and would bless God. We had a few Skype dates with Buddy, and prayed some more and asked others to pray for us as well. The more time went on, the more I felt the strings tying me to Greensboro begin to loosen, and I became more and more excited about Thailand and passionate about the work being done there.
So, here we are. One week exactly from our move-out day and 17 days until we fly out of the U.S. on a one-way trip to Asia. There is still a TON of work to be done. We still have to move everything out of our apartment, finish our Visa paperwork, say "see you later" to everyone we love so dearly in the U.S., and peace out. I am beyond thrilled for this next chapter. People all over the world are being treated as property and exploited in so many horrifying ways. I am humbled and honored to join the fight and do something about this most terrible injustice.
I've had many friends and family over the last few days/weeks ask if there is anything they can do to help. There most definitely is! If you believe in this cause and want to support us in this endeavor, please, please, please pray for us. I know that we will not be able to do ANY lasting good unless the Lord goes before us and directs our steps. We will be witness to unspeakable darkness and suffering, but God promises that we have not a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power and love. Please pray that God would give us wisdom, hearts that break like His for His people, and strength to do His work. Please pray that God would continue to strengthen our marriage, as I know the enemy would love to debilitate us by driving a wedge in our relationship. Above all else, please pray that we would honor God and seek every day to love Him and love His people.
If you feel led to support us financially, that would definitely be awesome too! Cost of living in Thailand is fairly inexpensive compared to the U.S., and our goal is to raise about $2,000 USD/month. That would cover both of our living and travel expenses, health insurance, and just about whatever we may need. If monthly support (or one-time support) is something you're interested in, you can go to this link: https://stopslavery.cloverdonations.com/stop-slavery-donation-form/
and choose "Sartore Personal Support," and follow the steps outlined. I know many people may prefer to use the "credit card" option over the "bank account transfer" option and that's totally fine. However, if you don't have a preference, it would be super if you selected "bank account transfer" because the "credit card" option charges 2.5% of the donation in processing fees. But again, if you prefer the credit card option, that is more than okay.
I know in the beginning of this post I said this would be a short story but in classic Jess fashion, this post is way long. My apologies. As Alex wrote in the previous post, I, too, will try to become a better blogger (read: more concise posts) to spare you all from hours of staring at computer screens. If you made it all the way to this part, thanks so much for sticking around. Feel free to leave any comments or share the link to this blog with anyone you think may be interested. Also, feel free to contact us personally for anything if you'd like. Our contact information can be found in the "About Us" section at the top right corner of this page.
Stay tuned!
Jess
Like Alex mentioned before, we were invited by Buddy to go to Thailand about two years ago but we weren't "ready." Rephrase - I wasn't ready. Alex was ready to go two years ago and has been chomping at the bit ever since. I, on the other hand, wanted to enjoy a taste of comfortable domestic wedded bliss. I wanted to make a cutesy home for ourselves and be known as "the Sartores" and not "Alex and his wife," or "Jess and her husband." Alex wanted to go, but I wanted to stay. I want to host people and make things in my crock pot and spend ridiculous amounts of time and resources on Pinterest projects... yup. So that's what we did. Alex started working at the company he had interned for, and I studied for my NCLEX and looked for nursing jobs. We began to build our life in Greensboro, NC and put Thailand on the back burner.
Fast-forward to February 2013. I was drinking Starbucks and baking cookies with my friend Nicole from our "marrieds" small group at her house. She announced that though she was pregnant, she and her husband Stephen decided their time was up in Greensboro and they were going to be moving within the next few months. They didn't have a specific job completely lined up, but they felt God moving them in a new direction and wanted to obey that calling. I was super excited for them and their leap of faith. Nicole asked if I thought Alex and I would be in Greensboro forever. I told her that we'd like to go back to Japan someday, and I also mentioned the opportunity we had in Thailand. When I mentioned Thailand I saw her eyes light up and she asked what we were waiting for.
Over the next half hour or so, I listed all these reasons excuses for why it wasn't the right time. "Well, you know, we need to save more money," or "We're in a really good place right now with our jobs," and "It would probably be better to go when we're more 'established'" (whatever that means), etc... The more I heard myself speaking, the more I felt God saying, "Jess, you know the reason real reason you're not ready for Thailand is because you trust in your circumstances, comfort, and financial security more than you trust in Me." BLOW TO THE HEART! I knew it was true and I finally had to face up to it. For years I had claimed to trust in the Lord and I had professed God's faithfulness to those who love Him, but I realized I doubted that faithfulness in my heart because I had never trusted Him enough with anything to allow Him to prove Himself faithful. I was faced with a decision: either grow up and start living the life of faith God calls us to, or live as a white-washed tomb preaching God's faithfulness but living a life that preaches otherwise.
I left Nicole's house (with some delicious chocolate peanut butter cookies), got in my car and called Alex. "Hello?" "Hey, it's me. I'm ready to go to Thailand." "Really? Okay! Let's go!"
Again, he'd been ready for two years. Over the next few days/weeks, we prayed about it a bit more. We both wanted to be sure this wasn't just something we thought would be awesome, but something we actually felt called to and would bless God. We had a few Skype dates with Buddy, and prayed some more and asked others to pray for us as well. The more time went on, the more I felt the strings tying me to Greensboro begin to loosen, and I became more and more excited about Thailand and passionate about the work being done there.
So, here we are. One week exactly from our move-out day and 17 days until we fly out of the U.S. on a one-way trip to Asia. There is still a TON of work to be done. We still have to move everything out of our apartment, finish our Visa paperwork, say "see you later" to everyone we love so dearly in the U.S., and peace out. I am beyond thrilled for this next chapter. People all over the world are being treated as property and exploited in so many horrifying ways. I am humbled and honored to join the fight and do something about this most terrible injustice.
I've had many friends and family over the last few days/weeks ask if there is anything they can do to help. There most definitely is! If you believe in this cause and want to support us in this endeavor, please, please, please pray for us. I know that we will not be able to do ANY lasting good unless the Lord goes before us and directs our steps. We will be witness to unspeakable darkness and suffering, but God promises that we have not a spirit of fear, but a Spirit of power and love. Please pray that God would give us wisdom, hearts that break like His for His people, and strength to do His work. Please pray that God would continue to strengthen our marriage, as I know the enemy would love to debilitate us by driving a wedge in our relationship. Above all else, please pray that we would honor God and seek every day to love Him and love His people.
If you feel led to support us financially, that would definitely be awesome too! Cost of living in Thailand is fairly inexpensive compared to the U.S., and our goal is to raise about $2,000 USD/month. That would cover both of our living and travel expenses, health insurance, and just about whatever we may need. If monthly support (or one-time support) is something you're interested in, you can go to this link: https://stopslavery.cloverdonations.com/stop-slavery-donation-form/
and choose "Sartore Personal Support," and follow the steps outlined. I know many people may prefer to use the "credit card" option over the "bank account transfer" option and that's totally fine. However, if you don't have a preference, it would be super if you selected "bank account transfer" because the "credit card" option charges 2.5% of the donation in processing fees. But again, if you prefer the credit card option, that is more than okay.
I know in the beginning of this post I said this would be a short story but in classic Jess fashion, this post is way long. My apologies. As Alex wrote in the previous post, I, too, will try to become a better blogger (read: more concise posts) to spare you all from hours of staring at computer screens. If you made it all the way to this part, thanks so much for sticking around. Feel free to leave any comments or share the link to this blog with anyone you think may be interested. Also, feel free to contact us personally for anything if you'd like. Our contact information can be found in the "About Us" section at the top right corner of this page.
Stay tuned!
Jess