Well, another Wednesday is here, which means your weekly dose of Jess’s ramblings has landed in your inbox or on your Instagram feed. On the last Wednesday of the month, I thought I’d give you a little update on the support I’ve received over the past few weeks.

There are now 30 wonderful people in my prayer group – which is just amazing. I absolutely love that there’s a growing network of people lifting me up in prayer. If you’d like to join, you’d be so welcome – you can click here to sign up.

This month, I’ve been incredibly blessed by six people who’ve supported me financially – either through one-off gifts or monthly sponsorship. Honestly, thank you. If that’s something you’d like to explore, you can find all the info here.

And a little blog milestone – 20 people have subscribed to these updates! If you’re reading along and want to make sure you never miss a post (because who wouldn’t want more ramblings in their life), you can subscribe here.

I really hope these blogs have been painting more of a picture of what’s happening and why it means so much to me. And yes, once again we’ve circled back to the dreaded word – “journey” – but let’s just embrace it at this point. It’s happening.

This week’s blog is going to be a bit more wordy and less camera roll-y, but I wanted to share why I chose the name ‘At The Well’. Firstly, a little disclaimer – this isn’t a new charity or organisation. It’s just a way for me to express what I believe God is calling me to do, with The King’s Village at the core.

‘The Well’ is a picture of what I hope these next few years will look like – creating a space where people can come, be known, be filled, and be sent. A place of encounter, refreshment, teaching, and joy. When I prayed about what this next season should be called, I felt God lead me clearly to ‘At The Well’. And let’s be honest, it has a nicer ring to it than some of the other contenders…

Shout out to Tony, Celie, and Saffron for helping me wrap my head around this whole being-a-blogger thing and for creating a beautiful logo. Couldn’t do any of this without you. So, I’ll stop rambling (for now) and actually get into what we’re here to talk about.

‘At The Well’ started before I even set foot in Ghana. Celie and I were wandering around the Christmas Market in Nottingham – two things I’ll definitely miss while I’m away: Christmas and Celie (in no particular order). As we often do, we were praying, seeking God, and encouraging each other. I had a picture of us standing at a well. I shared it with Celie, and she immediately felt it was connected to my ministry and mission. Ten points to Celie.

Let’s pause for a moment. (More Jess rambles incoming). I just want to celebrate my people – my cheerleaders, my ride-or-dies, and the ones I literally couldn’t do this without. You know who you are. From my longest-standing besties to the friends who’ve entered my life in the past few years and become family – I’m so grateful for each of you. I’m excited (slightly stressed) to see what friendship looks like from across the world. But I know this for sure: my friends are for life (cue me getting annoyed at the WiFi during every single FaceTime).

Fast forward to September 2024 – I was at a Warehouse Worship evening with some friends (Tony and Celie were there – honestly, you guys really do feature in my life a lot). They sang their song El Roi (I even linked the song – I’m sorry, she’s 100% a blogger). I’d never heard it before. And to be totally real with you, I hadn’t even heard of El Roi at all (minus 10 points for Jess).

If you know me, you’ll know what happened next… I went straight into a full-blown theological deep dive. And guess what? It involves a well. Obviously.

So for anyone else in the minus 10 points club, here’s a whistle-stop tour (and theologians – go easy on me).

Hagar was an Egyptian servant to Sarai (who later becomes Sarah). Sarai couldn’t have children, so she gives Hagar to Abram (Abraham) to have a baby on her behalf. When Hagar gets pregnant, things get messy. There’s jealousy and tension and hurt, and Hagar ends up running away into the desert. I can’t imagine how alone and forgotten she must’ve felt.

Then God meets her.

“The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, ‘Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’
‘I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,’ she answered.
Then the angel of the Lord told her, ‘Go back to your mistress and submit to her.’ The angel added, ‘I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.’”
– Genesis 16:7–10 (NIV)

Then, this moment happens:

“She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’ That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi.”
– Genesis 16:13–14 (NIV)

Beer Lahai Roi means “the well of the Living One who sees me.”

This wasn’t just a place on the map. It was a moment. A moment where a woman who felt invisible realised she was fully seen. Fully known. Fully loved.

And the wild thing is – Hagar wasn’t even “supposed” to be part of the story. She wasn’t in the covenant. She wasn’t in the right position. But God saw her. He sought her out. He spoke to her directly. He gave her hope and dignity.

It’s not just about a place. It’s about people. People in the middle of nowhere – rural Ghana, yes – but also people in cities, in churches, in deserts of their own, feeling forgotten and unseen. My heart is that they’ll get to meet the same God Hagar met. The One who sees.

So yeah – At The Well it is.

Someone pass me the remote – we’re fast-forwarding again. This next bit felt like one of those little “God smiles”, you know? One of those unexpected moments where everything just clicks. James and I were hanging out at Ann and Terry’s house in Ghana (Ann is definitely going to become a recurring character in these blogs, let’s be honest). Pastor Lazarus popped by to say hello, and we got chatting – catching up on what I’d been doing, what’s been on my heart lately.

I told him how much I’ve loved spending time with the community in Yogu, and that I think maybe that’s where God wants us to keep investing our time and energy. And then, so casually, he said: “You are going to be a well there.”

That one sentence stopped me in my tracks. It immediately took me back to that day at the Christmas Market with Celie – a moment I hadn’t actually thought about in a while. Pastor Lazarus went on to explain that Yogu has struggled with access to clean water (they literally need a well – not sure I’ve got the practical skills for that, but hey, I’ll roll up my sleeves and try). But then he said something that hit deeper. He said he believed I was going to be a spiritual well for the people there – a place of love, safety, kindness… somewhere people can come and encounter God.

So yeah – At The Well it is.

I felt like I finally had the clarity I’d been praying for, so I went for it (spoiler alert: I launched it – and here you are, reading it). That same week, I went along to a prayer and worship evening at Derby City Church.

The evening began with a woman standing up and saying, “Tonight, we’re going to look at digging wells.” I literally laughed under my breath – of course we are. She went on to read this passage:

“He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarrelled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, ‘Now the Lord has made room for us, and we will flourish in the land.’
From there he went up to Beersheba. That night the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.’ Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.”
– Genesis 26:22–25 (ESV)

Isaac had been digging wells left, right, and centre – and facing resistance every time. But then came Rehoboth. No more quarrelling. Just space. Space that God had made. A moment of peace and promise, where flourishing could finally begin.

And honestly, that word hit deep. That’s exactly what this season feels like. God making space – for growth, for calling, for people.

So yeah – At The Well it is.

Right then, let’s not even get into ‘The Woman at The Well’, it’s already 10pm, I will be here all night. But…

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
– John 4:13–14 (NIV)

So yeah – At The Well it is.

Naawuni ni pahi gom,
Jess