How flipping cute are we.. anyway let’s crack on with why we are actually here. (The photo does have some context – not just included it to show you how cute I was).

OH HEY! So good to see you back here – love the dedication. Why not let me know you’re along for the ride by giving this a like, comment, or subscribe (she’s giving full blogger-influencer energy now). Also, can we just appreciate this weather? It’s giving pure Ghana vibes – absolutely loving it, although the sunburn is very real right now. Right then, what’s happened is…I wrote this two days ago and now Autumn has decided to make an appearance apparently. Can’t really complain, in Ghana, I will be praying for cooler days.

I know there’s a whole mix of people reading – some of you have known me since I was in nappies, some for just a season, and maybe a few of you stumbled across this and don’t really know me yet. So I thought, why not get everyone on the same page (literally) and share a little timeline of life so far? You’ve probably heard me hint at different things God has spoken over the years that have led me in this direction. And I totally get it – it’s not a small thing for me to ask you to stand with me. Whether that’s reading these blogs (still can’t believe I’m actually keeping up with weekly posts – who even am I), praying for me, or supporting me financially. So I figured I’d give you a little CV moment – why you might want to invest in me and sow into the work I’m stepping into.

Jessica Autumn Raper – born 30th October 1994. (Ok, referring to myself in third person feels weird, let’s scrap that.) And don’t panic, I’m not about to walk you through every single day of my life.

“They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.” — Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)

I can see how God has been planting, growing, and shaping me all along – even when it didn’t look like I expected. Trusting God in those moments, when it’s not looking like you had hoped or planned is really hard, but I believe in His timing and following His guide in the different seasons of life.

So let’s go back to the beginning. Growing up, we moved a lot. I think I’m on about 20 house moves so far, I was once on track for an average of one move per year, but thankfully we have settled, I will get onto that in a little bit. My parents dedicated their lives to working for a Christian drug and alcohol rehab centre. Moving around wasn’t always easy – I mean, I’ve perfected the art of packing and decorating houses (to be fair that is more because of how incredible my mum is at making a house a home) – but honestly, it’s shaped so much of who I am today. Watching my parents do incredible, sacrificial work stirred up a huge passion in me to see people meet Jesus – especially people who feel broken or like they’re not “good enough”.

During a Summer Youth Camp, a word was given to me about my life being like a tree – my branches spreading wide to bring nurture and care to others. Fast forward about six years, we were at a youth leaders retreat, and we spent time encouraging and praying over each other. One of the other leaders had a picture of a tree come to mind when they prayed for me. They said they believed my roots were going to grow deep in Nottingham, and that my branches would then spread wide to other places. At the time, the thought of having roots somewhere was an unknown concept. Having moved around so much, I would still call ‘up north’ home, even though we left there when I was five.

So let’s chat about roots for a minute, shall we? When I was given that word, I had a very naive perspective of what ‘roots’ actually were. I thought maybe the roots would include a husband by approximately the age of 23, kids, mortgage, maybe the picture-perfect home with a cute front door. But flip me, was I wrong – and honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. (That’s not to say it was easy – it wasn’t. I was nicknamed ‘the wife factory’ for a while because every person I lived with left to get married. If you had asked me during these years I definitely would have said that I would have wanted life to look very different.)

My roots actually looked like building an unbreakable friendship with my sisters, having my first ever close friend (shout out Beth Burrows), building my community, building a home with one of my other close friends (shout out Lucy), getting the privilege of working with two of my friends (shout out Celie and Beth), becoming an Aunty and a Godmother, being a bridesmaid, gaining brother-in-laws, helping friends and family move house (Saffron being the latest), friends’ families becoming my second family, doing decor for countless weddings, getting to work with my entire family, helping friends grow businesses, serving and working at Church, falling more in love with Jesus every day – I could go on. They seem like pretty good roots to me. Roots I know will remain strong as my branches spread wide in this next season. (We are doing well – I don’t think I’ve used the J word yet.)

My roots in picture form (could have inserted my entire camera roll – minus the embarrassing selfies from 2010).

Let’s skip past the nightmare of college, but alongside that I was serving, growing in faith, discovering more of who I was in Christ. I ended up doing an internship at the Christian Centre. Not going to lie, it was a tough year – but through it all, God was present, blessed me, and revealed more about my calling. This led to me becoming a key volunteer and helping run Heart Nottingham, the social action charity in Nottingham. I think this is where ‘go’ really hit home for me. That is our ultimate calling – to go and make disciples. I knew that in order to have the privilege of being sent to another part of the world, I had to first go right here in Nottingham.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” – Matthew 28:19 (NIV)

This verse became a foundation for how I approached life and ministry. ‘Going’ didn’t have to start overseas – it started right where I was.

I went to university to study social work. Although I knew I wouldn’t end up working as a social worker, the degree provided me with an environment to learn skills and work in settings that challenged me. It basically gave me a bunch of tools that I knew I’d be able to use in different settings God calls me to. Graduating from university is something that I never thought I would be able to do – part of the reason college was a nightmare. I left not thinking I was clever enough to go to university. Look at her now with a 2:1.

Probably my favourite part of my degree was writing my dissertation (most people’s worst nightmare). That’s because it was inspired by the Fearns. For those of you who don’t know them, they are a wonderful family. Helen is a Therapeutic Parenting Coach and Trauma-informed Trainer & Consultant and her husband Neil runs a charity called Hope Hut in St Ann, seeking to help people find hope and connection through communal activities. As well as all of the above, they are foster carers and have adopted two of their four incredible children. I could write a whole blog about the impact the Fearn family has had on my life. I’ll try to keep it short. They are possibly the family that inspires me the most, and they do so on so many levels. It’s where my love for helping children encounter the presence of God really started. I learned to understand that not everyone sees the world in the same way you do, and that everyone should be given the opportunity to hear the Gospel in a way that is accessible for them. When I think about the last 10 years of my life, they feature a lot. Getting to do life with the Fearns and being a ‘safe person’ for their kids is one of the best things that I have done over the past 10 years.

Employment – we are really getting into the CV vibe now. Although I am not going to give you dates, I’ve not got time to work out when I started and left jobs.

After university I worked for a charity called Street Pastors. Street Pastors are volunteers from different churches who care about the safety and wellbeing of their community, they are known for being a peaceful and practical help on the night time streets and a caring, listening and helpful presence in our communities. I helped the running of the charity and regularly went on shifts on a Friday and Saturday night. This job provided me with the opportunity to learn a lot of administrative skills (I am a Churchsuite pro – actually that’s a lie. I’m still probably their helpline’s most frequent caller). More importantly I got to help people at their most vulnerable and be the hands and feet of Jesus, not by using words and preaching, but through actions and kindness. Which is right up my street considering I’m an Acts of Service girl.

Heart Church. Basically done every job going at Heart Church but landed exactly where God wanted me. Another story that demonstrated God’s timing and how it doesn’t always look as we thought it would – Kids Pastor at Heart Church. I can’t go into everything that this job has given me, but I think top of the list is the impact it has had on my faith. Yes I plan weekly sessions, manage a team of 80 people, and oversee the care of over 100 kids on a Sunday. But the thing that I will always carry with me is learning what it means to have a childlike faith, to never lose the wonder. This hasn’t just been a job, it’s been an outworking of my calling. Creating spaces for children to encounter the presence of God. It doesn’t get better than that.

When I look back, the theme of ‘roots and branches’ has been woven through so many moments. The funny thing is, I never really noticed it in real-time – but hindsight is great like that, isn’t it? Whether it was investing in friendships, serving faithfully, or learning to stay planted when life felt uncertain, God was quietly building something steady beneath the surface and I just had to put my confidence in Him.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8

Life hasn’t always been a smooth ride – when is it ever? But God’s been faithful. Staying planted (with the occasional complaint and freakout of course) – even when it didn’t look how I thought it would – has allowed God to grow those roots deeper and prepare me for this next season. (I think ‘season’ also needs to be banned at this point).

So, as I step into this new season (see, I seriously need to increase my vocabulary) – spreading branches a little further than Nottingham, all the way to Ghana – I carry those roots with me. The friendships, the family, the lessons, the unexpected blessings… they’ve all been part of God preparing the soil. And I know this next chapter isn’t about me uprooting, it’s about the branches stretching, making space for others to encounter Jesus, just like I have. I don’t know exactly how it’ll all unfold (let’s be honest, I rarely do), but just like the rest of my story, God has a plan.

Side note: sorry for any mistakes. My proof reader (Tony) needed a break. This every week blog situation is a lot for all of us.

Tony here: I did end up proof-reading and yes, it is a lot :’)

Naawuni ni pahi gom,
Jess