Five years and counting

It's now been more than five years since I began working with Praying Pelican Missions full time....

Since going on my first trip in 2005 to a little village that many of us have grown fond of over the years- Bermudian Landing, God laid missions on my heart and made clear to me that I'd always be involved in missions and serving the world's less fortunate. In Bermudian Landing's church in 2005 I preached my first sermon and probably led a group or congregation in worship for the first time in my life. I reflect on the story Jason Swartz shared at our 2013 staff leadership conference about how his team in 2005 serving at Bermudian Landing got to church and there was no one at the church, so the team gathered to worship, and eventually wound up attending another church. Although my version of the story is slightly different, the facts are the same. I remember at one point the bus running out of road and turning back the other direction! I was indeed a participant on that trip and yes, I think I had Jason Swartz, Jason Pfingsten, and Matt Pfingsten leading my trip. That experience began shaping life into a life of ministry and I was invited back to Belize the following summer to serve on staff. I was blessed to be able to serve with PPM through college, traveling to and from Belize and even attending a conference or two with the full time staff, which at the time consisted of 3-4 people! 

Many of us have heard that Pastor Lloyd Stanford once said that the history of the church in Belize cannot be discussed without the mention of PPM. Today as I reflect, I can proudly say that I can't share my life story and can't reflect on my life and my faith journey without the mention of PPM. Rob Graham shared at our 2013 staff conference about unity in our ministry, which I believe so strongly in. How true is it, for ALL of us, that we really are PPM. It's not "I'm Jon Nelson and I work with Praying Pelican Missions". Rather, it's "I'm Jon Nelson, and I'm a Pelican, I am PPM." I can't think of something that's shaped my life in a more impactful way than my involvement with PPM. 

• 2003ish- Pat Pfingsten shows my mom and myself some pictures from their recent trip to Belize
• 2004ish- I hear that my cousins, Pat's son's, are beginning to do more work in Belize, attempting to establish something greater than simply their family traveling to the country alone
• 2005- I'm invited as a college student by my brother to be a chaperone on his youth group's trip to Belize in 2005. That summer I want to say PPM hosted about 4-5 teams, all led by the Pfingsten's and Jason Swartz. 
• 2006-2007- I serve as an intern in Belize, joining a staff that consisted of long time Pelicans Kevin Meyer, Jason Swartz, Matt Pfingsten, Laura Yoch (Winslow), Emily Porter (NELSON), Jennie Osterholt, and Christopher Fry, among others...
• May, 2008- I left college the moment I finished finals to move to Minnesota, where my future wife and future career in ministry was waiting for me

As I reflect on the 10+ year journey of PPM and my 8+ year involvement in our organization and our ministry, I'm thankful for a variety of reasons. I'm thankful for the impact that PPM has on communities, and for the partnerships we have with local churches. I'm thankful for the life changing experiences that PPM is blessed to facilitate for youth and adults from the States. I'm thankful for the direction God pointed my life in because of my involvement with PPM. I'm thankful for Jamaica and my relationships there, but just as thankful for Belize. I'll never forget serving at Faber's Road Baptist Church in Belize and being told by my PPM trip leader that I may be leading trips myself very soon. I'll never forget meeting my wife in Belize and falling in love with her and her passion for missions and health ministry. I'll never forget preaching as an 18 year old at Bermudian Landing Baptist Church and then two years later, leading one of my first trips, locking our team out of our of our lodging facility in Bermudian Landing and bathing in the river where pastor Bood does baptisms... I won't forget the first trips I led and how bad I thought they went only to discover that God was working through me despite my insecurity and lack of confidence. 

There are many things that have shaped my life greatly, including growing up without a father after he passed away in an accident three weeks before I was born, having a single mother raise me and my siblings, changing high schools three times, going to Bible college, etc. As I reflect, I'm confident that two things have shaped my growth from a young adult into manhood in phenomenal ways- getting married to my awesome wife and growing through my experience in leadership with PPM.

One of my professors in Bible College shared some shocking statistic about how 60% of Bible school graduates are out of ministry within two years of graduation. I'm weak- but God is strong. And I believe there's strength in unity and in family. God's blessed me beyond what I imagined when I drove my Oldsmobile to Missouri in 2005 to attend Bible college with $100 in my pocket, with no cell phone, no debit card, and no friends or family with me. I can't believe how God works, I really can't. I assistant lead on the first trip in Jamaica in 2007 with Edinbrook Church. My wife was a freshman in college at the time and was less than a year removed from Edinbrook's youth ministry program. Had she been on that trip, we never would have dated as I was a leader and she would have been a student. Some of the 'students' on that trip are now my closest friends in Minnesota, and I'm blessed to be a part of the Edinbrook family. There are many more stories and so many examples of how God has shaped my life over the course of my involvement with PPM. It's crazy that it's now been five years.

Below: Photo from 2007 staff conference.
Look at all the hair I had!


Below: Photo from recent Jamaican staff conference