Hey! My name is Jamie O'Shea. I'm currently 23 years of age, but like most of us, I am getting older! I will be 24 in November. First let me tell you about my family. I come from a VERY big family. I grew up in a home with 8 children, yes that's right, 8! Needless to say, it was always very exciting and we never had a quiet moment. I am the second oldest of the bunch. I was raised in a Christian home with Christ values. Much of who I am as a Christian can be attributed to my parents.

 

I have been a Christian since I was very young. I can say that for the most part of my life I haven't strayed to far from Christ. There has been moments, but God doesn't allow me to get very far without bringing so much trial into my life that I come running back to my Father! He is so gracious and forgiving! On Thanksgiving of 2006 I was in the hospital and was told that I wasn't going to survive. My youth pastor, Tom Hunt and I prayed to God asking Him to spare my life. I remember Tom asking me what I would do differently if I was to survive. I remember telling him that I wanted to serve God. I wanted to live my life for Him, in everthing that I do. That is when I knew that missions would be a big part of my life.

 

I have been involved with leading youth for some time now. It probably would be about... 5 years since I started. I am a work in progress and I know that God has blessed me in the area of leadership. My first missions trip was when I was 16 years of age. I was a part of a week long trip to Joliette, Quebec. I was a part of a team of about 15. We went there with the purpose to helping renovate an old bar, into a church! Isn't that great?! We also wanted to be an encouragement to the people of the church. My second missions trip was another week long trip. We went to the Dominican Republic. I went with my youth pastor and another youth leader. The purpose of this trip was to do research on the need down there for church plants and how our youth could get involved in a practical way. My third missions trip was very recent. I went with Adventures In Missions to Swaziland Africa. I was there for 3 months. My job there was to support the staff there in any way possible. God has gifted me with a servants heart and this position was a great fit! I had several jobs while I was there, some of them were to oversee building projects and make sure that the builders had the materials. Another job was to do food runs and drop off food and water to the 15 some odd care points. I did alot of driving while I was there and dropping off many different materials. I helped out with the FYM team members in any way that I could. Sometimes this was going to there internships and working with them, or just dropping them off in the morning. Sometimes it involved picking up materials for them to build things there. Other times it was just time spent in prayer. I LOVED my time there. Currently I am going to be leading an FYM (First Year Missionary) team down to Nicaragua. This trip will be 9 months. I'm so excited for Christ to use me and to grow me and stretch me into the leader and Man of God that He has planned for me to be!