Was up?!? My name is Jonathan Melo, but friends call me Jon or Jon Melo! I’m 18, just graduated high school, and want to be a surgeon missionary! I love theatre, rock-climbing, rappelling, water-skiing, running, playing golf (although I’m not that great at it!), playing guitar, just hanging out with friends, but none of that compares to my love and passion for my Savior, Jesus Christ!!! I love spending time with Jesus, and giving Him all that I am in worship!
I was born in Wisconsin, have 3 brothers, and have the most amazing parents ever! When I was 9 I moved to the Dominican Republic. There, my father ran a missions clinic, and we lived as a missionaries for 6 and a half years. That’s where God gave me the heart for missions, but I’ll talk about that more in my post, “How I Was Called to the Mission Field.”
We moved back to the U.S. in July of 2006, to Albemarle North Carolina, and for the last 3 years God has truly done His work in and through me! I’ve had the privilege of serving as a student leader in my youth group, leading others into worship alongside our youth group and church bands, preaching various times in the youth group and once on a Sunday morning during a 3 part sermon, and serve on various missions trips throughout the past 2 years.
Last year God called me to Ecuador on missions trip with my church. While there, we finished a building that is being used for discipleship, set up a miniature clinic and saw hundreds of patients, and got to go into schools and talk about the US and then share our faith! God worked in amazing ways, but the thing that impacted me the most was playing and singing the song “Open The Eyes Of My Heart” for a blind man that came into the clinic. He started weeping and praising God, and after about a minute everyone in our group at the clinic was crying! One of the guys in our group then washed his feet, which made me picture Jesus washing His disciples feet, and a lady from our group gave Him her shoes. After he was all done and had his medicine, all the youth in the group took oil and prayed over him, and as we were praying God told me that, “before the blind man died his eyes would be opened! But, I needed to know that even if I was not there to see that happen, I could be confident that he had seen Jesus that day!”
This summer I had the opportunity to go to the Dream Center in Los Angeles. We served on Skid Ro, took food to families, played with kids, and went to West Hollywood to reach the gay community through free hugs and prayer! God showed me His AWESOME LOVE for ALL PEOPLE on that trip, and He taught me that only His love can change a person.
I had planned to start college this year, since my dream is to become a surgeon, but God had something else in mind. So, I prayed about it and felt that He wanted me to do some missions, apart from my family, before I went to pursue my dreams! I decided to look into the FYM program and felt like this was God’s direction for me over the next year, so I applied with the support and prayer of my family and friends!
My desire is to go to Swaziland! I did some prayed about where He wanted me to go despite my will, and God told me, “Swaziland, Philippines, and England.” I love spending time with people and pouring into to the out of what God has given me! I also love to encourage and strengthen kids my age, and just be there for them!
That’s me in a nut shell! I try to live by my favorite verse, 1 Corinthians 9:24, which says, “Don’t you know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to win.” My life is a race in Christ, and I want to leave it all on the track no matter where I am in life! I’ve had rough moments, but God has gotten me trough them, and taught me a few things along the way. I’m just waiting for the next step of faith in my life, the next learning process, and that’s why I’m ready for the Novas Project!
Peace out,
Jon
I planned to start college this year as well, so this was quite the suprise for my entire family. God has an interesting way of changing our plans. Awesome fake cut.
Hey Jon, I’m so encouraged to hear the awesome ways that God is working in your life and using you! Such a moving story about the blind man – beautiful. Your vision to be a surgeon missionary is so exciting, especially in light of your having been an m.k. for 6 1/2 yrs.
Wow, pretty cool life story! Can’t wait to meet you Jon!
Jon, what an encouragement to hear how you set your plans for college aside to surrender to God’s will! God has also called me to Swaziland, so I look forward to meeting you at training camp this week and getting to know you better. (and share in our mutual passion for theatre, yay thespians!!!) God bless!
-Kathleen