Twenty-year-old Jordynn Garrison leaves in August for a long-term mission trip where she and teams of other young people will serve women, babies, children, youth, and communities in and around Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jordynn, who resides in Iowa, attends Bethany Global University in Bloomington, Minn. She will serve with an organization associated with her school, Impact Africa, and focus on four ministry areas during her 10-month stay. One involves “a baby rescue program,” she said, similar to Safe Haven Baby Boxes in the United States. Jordynn said there is a strong need for this service in and around Johannesburg.
“Roughly three babies daily are abandoned,” she said. “They don’t have a lot of resources in these areas, and so abandonment is usually what happens.”
“We’ll be ministering to them, telling them about the hope they have in Jesus but also the hope they can have if they feel there is no other option for their child,” said Jordynn. “They can place their babies safely for adoption [via baby boxes] with no judgement.”
The ministry is called Impact Baby Rescue, and through “Promise Homes," the children are placed in foster care or for adoption, Jordynn explained.
“The babies are going into a home instead of sitting in a hospital or something,” she said. “Some of the homes have three kids, some have five, it just depends on the amount of care they can provide. They just got eight new people [approved] to run Promise Homes, so that’s exciting! It’s a growing ministry.”
In addition to child abandonment, Jordynn told Pregnancy Help News that Johannesburg has a high incidence of rape. According to an online government report, South Africa has “consistently higher per capita rape and assault rates among children.” Therefore, the women and youth she and her team will be interacting with likely will have endured trauma.
“I really would like to be a light to them, to let them know they are not judged, that they are loved,” she said.
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Other areas of impact
Three other programs are part of her mission work: serving and teaching at preschools established by Impact Africa, working with and mentoring middle school and high school students, and conducting outreach to communities in and around the city.
During the time spent with young children, the college students will “teach them about Jesus and teach them their ABCs,” Jordynn said. While interacting with the youth, the focus will be upon the ramifications of “drugs, alcohol and sex,” she said.
“It’s just as big of an issue there as it is in the United States,” she said.
The Americans will also share about Jesus “and give our testimonies,” Jordynn said.
The fourth aspect of this mission trip is “an outreach where we’ll go out into the communities,” offering prayers for individuals, families, and the community.
“We want to let them know God loves them and that we actually care about them,” Jordynn said.
Tweet This: A young Iowa woman will serve in pregnancy help and other ministries with women and children on a mission trip to in South Africa.
She will travel and work with 13 other students from the Minnesota university, most of whom she knows from the campus dorms. They will “rotate” through the four ministries. Jordynn, who is pursuing a degree in education, said she expects to work primarily with the children and youth ministries.
“But I’m also able to take an area where I have an extra interest, like the baby rescue,” Jordynn said.
She and the others will go through training for each ministry after they arrive in Johannesburg where Impact Africa has a base. She and the other Americans will stay in dorm-like facilities there.
Finding her path
Born in Wyoming, Jordynn moved with her family to Iowa when she was two years old. One of six children, she is a young Christian on fire for God and His plan for her life.
“I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 18 years old, and I have a heart for missions,” Jordynn said. “I felt the call to be a fulltime missionary when I was 19-ish. I want to bring the Gospel to those who don’t have it. I want to serve God and love people, and I believe this is where He has called me.”
Her freshman year at Bethany was spent learning more about evangelism, discipling people, and “educating kids and how to reach them easiest,” she said.
“Through that, I just really started seeing more and more of how much I wanted to be a fulltime missionary,” she said. “I wanted to take this information and grow relationships somewhere.”
The university will go totally virtual this academic year. Therefore, taking this season for long-term missionary work won’t impact her educational endeavors.
“The school going online opened up the opportunity for me to go on a missions trip a year sooner than I would have because typically I would go my junior year,” she said. “Through prayer, I decided this is what I want to spend my next year doing. I just want to go and love on people and serve God. My biggest motivation is … going where I’m called, like, ‘Here I am, God, send me – I will go where you want me to go.’”
She said she feels excited but also a bit anxious.
“I’ll be traveling for two whole days, so there’s a bit of nervousness about going, about getting there,” she said. “But I feel a lot of peace about the ministry itself, being in Africa. It will give me experience being a long-term missionary, so that’s been a big motivation as well.”
A future view
After this experience, Jordynn plans to finish her degree, go on “short mission trips,” and think about where she might want to serve long-term. Two places she’s considering are Kenya and Morocco, and an area she may explore is working as an English as a second language educator.
“Many countries value that,” Jordynn said.
For now, she is focusing on her time in Johannesburg. She won’t know her first assignment until she arrives and spends a week in orientation. However, she believes each component of her work will challenge her and help her grow.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing how God grows me and uses me and also just working with the middle schoolers and high schoolers,” Jordynn said. “But I’m excited for it all.”
