Following God took Jake Libbey from a small town in North Carolina to the other side of the world. And it all started with a trip to West Virginia.
Key Takeaways:
- Discomfort doesn’t mean you’re going the wrong way. Every new step Jake took felt uncomfortable at first. But leaning into that discomfort instead of away from it is what kept opening new doors.
- You get more out of serving than you put in. On his first trip, Jake was thinking he was there to help, but he came back feeling like the kids he served taught him so much.
- You don’t have to have it all together to go. Jake was young, had barely traveled, and barely knew anyone on the team. He went anyway and figured it out as he went.
- The courage comes after you say yes, not before. He didn’t wait until he felt ready. Jake prayed, said yes, and held onto that when things got hard.
- You don’t have to go overseas to do this. Serving others happens right where you are — in Mebane, across North Carolina, or on the other side of the world. It’s wherever your feet are.
Have you ever tried something so far outside your comfort zone that you were unbelievably excited about it but so scared at the same time?
That’s how Jake Libbey felt the first time he went on an overseas service trip. Jake’s a pretty normal 22-year-old trying to figure his life out. He’s just graduated from college, and the whole world is his to explore. This summer, he’s making the most of the opportunities in front of him. With two international trips planned, his comfort zone is growing just a little bit wider with each one.
His First Step Outside His Comfort Zone
When he was growing up in Mebane, Jake’s parents had instilled service in him from the earliest age, and when he started attending First Baptist Church-Mebane in eighth grade, he decided to follow Jesus and hasn’t looked back.
“I’ve always been a guy who wanted to help people and wanted to be able to go and do things to serve others,” he says. “I think that’s just the way I was brought up.”
Jake’s first step into outreach to others was on the annual West Virginia trip FBC-Mebane has taken for many years. When he first became a believer, Jake wanted to go all in with God. “I started finding ways to go out and serve Him in any capacity,” he says. “So, being pretty involved in First Baptist, I heard about the West Virginia Vacation Bible School (VBS) trip. And that’s the first mission trip I ever went on.”
That trip changed Jake’s life. “The first time I went to West Virginia, I fell in love with just seeing God’s heart in others, and being able to bring that to them,” Jake says. “So, in that mission trip, I got the chance to serve with the third and fourth grade kids, and I felt like I went to serve, but I got more out of it. They taught me so much about God. God also showed me that anyone can do this, and we’re all called to it.”
He’s continued walking through doors that God has opened since that time and has gone to West Virginia every year, even during his summer breaks from college.
Following God Beyond Borders
When he got to college at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Florida, the rest of the world opened to Jake. “I’d heard about mission trips and international mission trips,” he says. “And I’d never been out of the country. The first time I took a flight was when I was 16 years old. I’d never traveled.”
The resident assistant (RA) in his freshman dorm was leading an international outreach and invited Jake to expand his comfort zone and join the team. “I prayed about it,” he says. “And it was one of those things where God was telling me, ‘Hey, you’ve got to do this,’ and I just couldn’t get it off my mind.”
He ended up interviewing and got on the trip, and that turned out to be the first of several international mission trips for the young man from Mebane. “It started from this love of being able to serve others, and then the Lord just kept growing me and growing me throughout that trip,” he says. “He was growing my heart for missions, growing my heart for serving people.”
What It Means To Grow Your Comfort Zone
From the beginning, growing our comfort zones can be pretty uncomfortable. And Jake was not immune to the fear that comes with trying something new that’s bold and takes a lot of faith.
“The only person I knew on the team was my RA,” he says. “And everyone else was older than me. They had done this before. I was this young new guy that didn’t really know what traveling overseas would look like or anything like that, so I was pretty uncomfortable from the get-go.”
But he also knew he was supposed to be there, and that’s what allowed him to trust in the Lord and His plan. “I just knew I had to go on this trip, and it was so clear to me,” he says. “So, anytime I was uncomfortable, I think I held on to that.”
Jake had never really talked with people who didn’t speak English as their first language or shared Jesus with people in a context like that. But his response in the new context was similar to his approach on that first West Virginia trip back in eighth grade.
“I’m here and how can I make the best of this and make an impact?” he says. “How does the Lord want to use me in this place that I am right now? That’s what I had to keep telling myself, and that’s what the Lord showed me to do in that situation.”
Following God Means Surrendering Control
He goes on to share how living in surrender to Christ in our daily lives is the most powerful thing. “It’s where my life has changed the most by missions,” he says. “It’s not only seeing these people and being able to serve them and help them and hear their stories, but on a personal level being able to understand true surrender to God. That was such a huge change in my life. He’s worthy of everything. He’s worthy of our credit. He’s worthy of all the things we do in our personal lives.”
As far as what contributed to the courage to keep going when everything was uncomfortable and challenging, surrender is the key. “I would definitely just give that all to God,” Jake says. “He definitely led me on each trip, and it’s all because of Him.”
“The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes His steps.” This verse in Proverbs 16:9 is a verse Jake has lived out, one uncomfortable step at a time.
Jake believes wholeheartedly in God’s plans for him. “His plan is way greater than anything I could have planned for my life,” he says. “So, I gained courage just realizing I don’t want to ignore His plan for my life. I just want to live in His plan for me. Reading about Paul’s missionary journeys in Acts, and everything he went through for the gospel, helped me gain a lot of courage, too.”
Anyone Can Expand Their Comfort Zone
For someone who has never considered a life of service before, whether they attend church or not, serving others can happen even in small ways every day.
“Missions is in our daily lives,” Jake says. “Missions is being able to sacrifice time for people, sacrifice our discomfort, go out of our own way for others, and that’s something all of us are called to do. It opens the door for others to see God’s love physically from another person and think, ‘How much more does God love me?’”
Some may not understand a lot about going out of the country to serve others. “A lot of people are afraid of others not being open to someone coming and helping them or serving them,” Jake says. “But I would just say that people are really waiting, and they’re really hoping for someone to reach out. They’re not looking for anything in particular, or not just wanting help, but they need something deeper. I would say, ‘Don’t be afraid of stepping out. People are in need, and they need others to come through for them.’”
If fear is holding you back, Jake’s advice is simple. “Dive deep into prayer and scripture, and ask for support from people,” Jake says. “Know you’re not going at it alone. You have people around you, and it’s not necessarily for you or even the people you’re serving. It’s for God.”
“We can do missions anywhere,” he says. “I’m, of course, a big advocate for overseas missions, but missions is in Mebane. It’s in all North Carolina. It’s states away. It’s anywhere our feet are and something we’re all called to.”
Wherever you are right now, whether you’ve followed Jesus for years or you’re just curious what that could mean for you, the door is open.
If you want to know more about following where God leads, Jake would love to talk. Reach out today.
