An Update From Jessica at Wheaton…

Towards the end of last year, we took on the challenge of helping out a very special person stay in school through the rest of the year… you can read the post here: “Do Something For Someone Today, With The KNOWING That There Is No Possible Way For Them To Repay You”

Here is an update from Jessica, made my day! I hope you enjoy it:)

Hi Jay,

I just wanted to take the time, now that there is a small pause in my hectic schedule, to thank you once again for everything you did for me a few months ago. It was just amazing how you got so many people to pitch in and help me out with the continuation of my education…it was truly one of the hugest if not the hugest blessing I have ever received! I am so grateful for the time I got this semester furthering my studies here at Wheaton College, and interestingly enough, along the way I have gotten facebook messages and emails from random strangers asking me if I was a real person and if you really helped me, and if I had anything good to say about CarbonCopyPRO. And boy did I ever! I told them that the company is chock-full of people who really have a heart for helping others. It was amazing to see the people who gave donations as low as $10, especially when my mum told me that she knew personally that a few of them just didn’t have a cent more to give. That really touched me, as people I have never met felt led to give me what they couldn’t even provide for themselves..what a wonderful, amazing feeling!

I wanted to let you know, Jay, that I believe all your work and effort to get me back to school is paying off. I am as busy as ever before, and loving it. I have come to value my education so much more, and the experience of having been given a free education has just made me want to do the same for others in worse situations than I was. I am currently taking a class called Economic Development and Growth, and though it may sound like a bore it has really opened my eyes to the evils of this world and the many different ways in which people suffer from absolute poverty, exploitation, and disease, and how trapped they are in their circumstances. I am so eager to learn more about topics such as these so I can figure out effective ways of helping these people. Strangely enough, my Spanish Conversation class deals with issues very similar to my Development class, so I am constantly thinking of what we can all do to help – bilingually haha.

I am also working part time at an on-campus cafe, and recently got promoted to be a student manager there. It’s a fun job, but working 12 hours a week with a full course load can be trying sometimes, especially when your boss keeps making long lists of new things to do each week that completely contradict tasks of prior weeks…oh the joys of working minimum wage at a college lol!

Outside of academics and work, I am the leader of a small Bible study group with a few of my friends on campus. We just get together and talk about issues we have been dealing with on a weekly basis, and we try to be there for each other and work on our accountability and encourage the growth of each other’s spirituality. It’s really interesting because it was started last year by one of my girlfriends, but as she graduated last year I decided to step up and lead. The interesting part is that I am now the only girl in the group with a bunch of guys, so sometimes I feel like we meet so I can give them girl advice hahaha!

With finals and a ton of projects, research papers and presentations coming up around the corner, I wanted to be sure to remind you of how grateful I am to you and all the people who gave me the chance to be so stressed out (before I wasn’t sure how I grateful I really was anymore – haha). This summer I plan on taking a Sales and Marketing course for my major and doing a type of work-study program, but I am currently trying to see if credits will transfer and whether I can get a work permit. For the fall, I am praying to God that He will once again put it on someone’s heart to help me as He has 4 times in a row now. I know that my testimony is huge and there is so much in store for my life and I can’t wait to see what it all is, but I am so grateful that I have had opportunities along the way such as this gift you have given me that have helped to mold me and remind me that I am loved, I am significant, but I am definitely not in control.

I hope this message finds you well, Jay, and I give you permission to post it on your website if you want, so that each donor may receive his/her thanks and hear what their kindness has done in my life.

God bless you always,

Jessica Phillibert