22 Jul

Divine Inheritance

posted by Kaylan Christopher

A pure an undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans… James 1:27

Originally from Tennessee, Jennifer has traveled a long, winding road during her 27 years of life, full of joyous moments and some unexpected bumps. Only she can fully explain the miracle of how she got to where she is now and how she came to work for Divine Inheritance.

Raised in a Christian home, Jennifer knew she was called to serve internationally at a young age. After high school, she left for the University of California in Davis to pursue a degree in International Relations and Economics focusing in Asia and began working for a ministry that had several contacts in China.

In college, she married a Christian man. But after only three years, their personal brokenness eroded their young marriage. At age 24, Jennifer found herself alone, emotionally devastated, and in the most desperate place she’d ever been.

“I had no plan for my life that didn’t include the man I married,” she said. “I was accustomed to succeeding at whatever I tried to do—yet I was unable to save my marriage. In a way that only He can do, God used these difficult circumstances to bring wholeness and healing into my life. I had never been so broken, and yet I had never been so willing to be rebuilt.”

This process wasn’t complete overnight. A year after her marriage ended, Jennifer moved to China to begin her international career. She landed a good job in Beijing and, a year and a half later, was offered a promotion, but declined knowing she needed to go in a different direction.

Without a clear idea of what to do or where to go next, she set out to backpack throughout Southeast Asia. She said, “Along the way, I kept asking God, ‘Why am I here on the earth? You’ve taken me through so much. You’ve made me strong. Now I’m ready to run with you—but where am I to go?’”

Forty days into her journey, Jennifer met Marcus Young, president of Divine Inheritance, a 120-year-old ministry serving the people of Southeast Asia—specifically rescuing and caring for at-risk children (orphans, child soldiers, and more). During their first encounter, Jennifer met his staff and learned the ministry is based in her hometown and many of the board members attend her home church.

Their circles obviously overlapped and both knew God had purposed their meeting, so Marcus offered her a job with the ministry. She initially hesitated to accept the opportunity, and instead traveled with Marcus and his team to meet the children of Southeast Asia that Divine Inheritance works with.

But, Jennifer recalled, “The Lord spoke clearly to my heart. He said, ‘I’m going to lay track under you through working with this ministry that you can run on for the rest of your life. I want you to get deep in your spirit that I use the weak and the small things of the world to confound the wise. You will go to graduate school, but not just not yet.’”

Trusting God in obedience, Jennifer accepted the position and moved back to Franklin, Tennessee where she began serving with Divine Inheritance in August 2007.

Through her work at Divine Inheritance, God has opened the door for Jennifer to attend graduate school at John Hopkins University. This month, she’ll move to Washington D.C. where she’ll begin studying and researching in a program that specializes in Southeast Asia and child at-risk issues, and she’ll continue to work there as an advocate for Divine Inheritance.

“In some countries where we work, orphaned children become property of the government,” she said. “In many parts of the world, children—especially orphans—are considered to have little or no value.”

Today, there are more than 100,000 child soldiers living in Southeast Asia, which includes boys and girls as young as six years old. Instead of going to school and living normal lives, they’re forced into training to serve military commanders, drug lords, or local resistance armies. Others are trafficked into sexual slavery or are forced to become domestic laborers.

“In these war-torn places, adults become calloused through the traumatic events they experience. Yet, there is something about children, even children growing up in stressful situations, that make them vibrant, trusting, and willing to hope for the best. By pouring into the next generation, we have a chance to impact whole societies.”

Of her search for God’s purpose, she says, “I found the answers I was looking for when I stopped asking [the other] questions and started asking Him, ‘Who are you? How can I get closer to You? How do I let you transform me?’ Every day, as I become more like Him, I discover more of who I was made to be. If I stay in His presence, I stay revived. It’s the simplest and most transformational truth I’ve discovered on this journey.”

Find out more about Divine Inheritance or support the ministry by going to www.divineinheritance.com.

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