Day 1 of Fashion Week Outreach

The day began with Emma and I waking up and venturing to New York City to meet the others at the American Bible Society. I thought that today I would be trained to dress the models and that I would begin working backstage at the shows tomorrow. I was quite wrong.

The other girls came into ABS and informed me that they needed more dressers at a show that was about to begin, so my training happened through doing. After prayer and Starbucks we headed over to Lincoln Center to work the show. I was ready for God to move.

My first miracle was the fact that the girl I was dressing with happened to be sweet, and SO gracious to teach me everything I needed to know. She even let me talk to her about the Lord and pray with her before we began.

Then an older, well-dressed couple came over and began swooning over the clothes we were about to adorn the models with. The woman was probably in her 60's but looked much younger. She was so elegant. When I told her she looked beautiful she opened up about how nervous she was to be there. She was married to the chairman of the company that was putting on the fashion show. We are from the same city so we talked quite awhile about life & I was a real encouragement to her. She was excited I was a missionary and actually thrilled that my purpose at Fashion Week was to reach out to the models. Her husband came over and he was loving it too.

I connected with several models and was able to love on them extra. They are so young and vulnerable, and though they appeared uninterested at first, they were deeply receptive of love. They even asked me after how I thought they did and one girl came back to kiss my cheek and thank me for praying for her. I shared my testimony of being healed of an eating disorder to one of them and she listened to all of it, clearly comforted to hear of God's power.

There was another dresser from Ireland that was terribly stressed because the gown she was working with was a nightmare. Pieces were falling off and it had to be sown onto the model. She also had many people directing her, all saying completely different things and insisting she do it that way. Throughout the experience I was able to help her and invite her to come spend time with us at ABS. I am hoping to see her again.

As I left the show I connected with a make-up artist who was also incredibly encouraged by God's love and thankful that I would talk with her.

Finally, my FAVORITE STORY- I had seen this gorgeous Malaysian model that I recognized from when I was here in February. Back in February I had snuck backstage a few times in an effort to speak with the models, and she was one that I encountered! During the brief interaction with her I had told her I would be praying for her and that I was a missionary, having just returned from Thailand. She was a sweetheart but our time together was so short, today when I saw her again I felt pretty confident she would not remember me. But as I asked her this afternoon where she was from she said, "You are Jessica, the one who was praying for me right?" Ahhh!! She remembered me! Then after her show I found out she went over to the American Bible Society and connected with Leah, the leader of Models For Christ NYC!

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." -1 Corinthians 15:19

I am connecting beautifully with the other people here to minister. They are so faithful, their love for God is overwhelming. It reminds me how important it is that I waste my life for Christ. Nothing else matters. Not my appearance, not money, not success, not my size, not my reputation... it's meaningless... the only thing that is truly worth living for is the one who counted me worthy of dying for. That is what I am doing here, I am wasting my life. I didn't go to college. I got married too young. I don't have a big house. I don't get paid. There is not a lot the world can look at me and say is successful (by the world's definition of "success"), I would be a good example of someone who is wasting her young years. Especially if I died and foud out Jesus was not real to begin with. Then I would be a real waste!

But that is how I want it. I want to get to the end of my life and have wasted it in completely on Jesus, wasting all I am on Him, and others, and you. And ultimately in all of that.. I trust that in losing my life for His sake, I will find it.