Hey there, I'm Jonas Hagen

Hello! Check out what my life is like in Gainsville, Georgia. Or read about my past adventures in South Africa and eSwatini.

• More about my journey

CGA (Center for Global Action) - Volume 2

3/30/2025

Hello! I have been in Georgia for the past two months. I assumed I’d have more time and motivation to write more blogs than I did while on my race, but I was wrong. But I’m getting one out today!My life has been wonderful here in Georgia, very very wonderful.Our classes are informative and extremely deep. Speaking of classes let me give you the rundown on how my weeks normally look;Monday: We start the week with an all-staff worship, we then move into a time of activation of some sort. This will sometimes look like being encouraged to spend time in declaration or journalling, it’s always a fulfilling time that leads to loads of fun. After this it’s time for lunch, we cover our own food expenses, and then to the classroom. We have our little room that has couches and tables and coffee and it is very comfortable and safe. Our Monday ends with book discussions and hermeneutics (the study of scripture) time. After that, we do house dinner, in which one guy in our house of six makes dinner for everyone and plans something for us to do. So far I’ve combined with the girls' house and Joy, Anahbelle, and I made Asian protein bowls with teriyaki chicken. Bomb. I also made buffalo chicken wraps for a different week. And that’s our Mondays, our busiest day of the week.Tuesday-Thursday: We have class from 9-12, classes are very interactive and informative. Guest speakers are present often and deep conversations are a daily activity. We have gone through topics such as; The Father’s Heart, Kingdom vs. Empire, and are currently going through Soul Care. I also am working at the YMCA as a youth coach on Tuesday and Thursdays. Best job everFriday: Our class day of fellowship! We plan, as a class, what sounds fun and connective. This has looked like hiking a mountain, visiting a local farm, or playing pickleball. We try to keep it restful and fun. Besides that Fridays are super chill
Weekend: Rest. Rest. Rest. Rest is very needed and weekends come in clutch. Saturday’s are normally spent going on adventures or sleeping for many hours. And homework.Sundays I go to church. I started going to Gate City, which is wonderful and the teaching is very sound, but I didn’t have much community there besides who I was going with. Ellie, one of my classmates, invited me to go to this itty bitty church called Faith House of Prayer. Everyone is so nice and they are welcoming and love so well.Most of our class goes there now and we make up about 25% of the population. We also are the only young people, so that makes them love us even more. It is such a blessing to have found this church, they make my Sundays much better.And that’s my schedule!
I love it out here and have been digging deeper into myself than I thought I would. I’m learning about leadership, vulnerability, how to rest, how to healthily have fun, commitment, love, and about 800 trillion more things. I miss home sometimes, and I’m incredibly thankful for the support and prayers you all send, but I also know that I’m here for a reason, and that reason is good.
Reach out either through text or call! I’ll try my hardest to respond quick.Also, I’m almost fully fundraised!! Only $350 away!Love you all,
Jonas

eSwatini / Swaziland -
Week 6-10

11/19/2024

The green hills and beautiful Swazi people are beyond words. This country was so extremely wonderful and so full of kindness and hospitality. Our work there was more than rewarding, it truly felt impactful, not just to the community and kids we worked with, but to us as well. Adventures in Missions, the organisation I was working with, has 32 different care points around eSwatini, which isn’t a very big country (1.3 million people), that help feed and take care of the children who are left caring for themselves. One big problem with eSwatini right now is its king, yes it is a monarchy. He hasn’t been the greatest king over the last few years and it has led the country into further economic failure. The country also has been struggling with an HIV/Aids pandemic over the years and it has led to much of the older population being unable to raise the next generation. About 50% of eSwatini’s population is 18 years of age or younger.Our job was to go to the care points and simply help, whatever that may be. We mainly played with the kids, running and singing songs and all sorts of hilarious activities. They were the best kids ever, always smiling and wanting to be chased or play with my hair. Some of them had never seen white people before, which was both exhilarating and terrifying for them. My leg hair was a fan favourite, they were so confused as to why I had it, the younger ones would just rub my legs and the ones who spoke English would ask, “What is this?” Joy was constant and life was amazingly exhausting, yet so rewarding.Life in eSwatini was much tougher than South Africa. Half of us didn’t have hot water, and for those who did it would run out sometimes. It was either hot or rainy and cold. Bugs were in abundance, and we had chickens on our property who liked to wake us up. I loved the challenge of being out of my normal American lifestyle, yes I do love hot showers, but it was good to understand at least a small fraction of what it’s like living in a third-world country. Also, it’s much easier to rely on God when the products and privileges I have in the US are taken away from me. You begin to trust that he does protect and care for you, and He always will.eSwatini is a country I will never forget. It is so evidently clear that God’s presence is there, and that He is using Adventures in Missions to show the people His love. The care points are helpful beyond measure, and the children at them are treasures. It is a wonderful place that has wonderful people doing wonderful things all the time.

Nelspruit -
Week 5

10/27/2024

17-hour van ride. That’s how long it took to drive from Jeffrey’s Bay to Nelspruit, our next destination on this wild journey. It was surprisingly easy, due to our frequent stops and many naps, but I sure hope that’s my longest van ride for the rest of my life. We arrived at our hostel, run by Crazy Dave, at around 9 pm (I think, it was all such a blur that I don’t fully remember) and instantly slept. I love beds. The next morning we went to Kruger National Park! Kruger is an astounding safari park, and we were lucky enough to see the entirety of the big 5 (which are lions, leopards, water buffalo, elephants, and rhinos). It was so magical seeing African animals rooming about the park, it felt much more real than a zoo.The rest of Nelspruit was very restful and full of conversations. I enjoyed many scheduled one-on-ones with my leaders, debriefing is amazing. It’s so crazy how our bodies and minds receive so much better when we pause and think about the gifts we have been given, and acknowledge the hardship we have faced. The practice of reflecting is one that comes easier to me, once I start, it’s the starting part that is more difficult. I like seeing people and doing things, and having a time on our trip designed for taking a breath and looking back at the amazing things that have happened was so relieving. I love debriefing!

Jeffrey’s Bay -
Week 3 & 4

10/23/2024

The house we are staying in tends to get dirty quite fast, so, to fight against this we take turns staying home cleaning the mess we have all made. Two people stay home for two days, and then the next two people stay home for two days, and so on. I got to stay home with Caleb, and we had a lot of fun cleaning, even though there was an unnatural amount of hair in the girl's shower. There were also some birthdays, Vanessa turned 19 and Alexis turned 20. This was also our first normal week of ministry, all the Beats and Books kids were back in school. We got to help them with homework, and teach them some literacy, and also lead discipleship classes. It was pretty difficult getting the boys to open up, but the girls on my team connected super well with their girls. All in all, Beats and Books was a really good experience, and I wish I had had more time there to connect on a deeper level with the students. The founder of Beats and Books, Cornelius, is an amazing man of God and I’m so glad that I got to learn from him.My weekends in South Africa got better every week. Playing beach volleyball with Reagan and our new friends was always a blast, team America did end up winning, and the farmer’s market was always so cute and delicious. We also had a birthday dinner at Nina’s for Alexis and Vannesa. Best food of the whole trip. I ordered an Espetado, or a skewer, and was met with a marvellous, tall metal poll with tender meat and onions and peppers on it, with a side of fries and onion rings. Every bite was a new adventure into a tasty kingdom. I shall never forget Nina’s.We finished our ministry at Beats and Books and had our sad goodbyes, the kids seemed quite thankful that we had come. South Africa is a beautiful country, and the Indian Ocean is so exciting and wonderful. I am very glad I got to visit such a chill town, and it is amazing how evident God’s glory is when you are serving His people. I do not know if I’ll ever be back in Jeffrey’s Bay, but I wouldn’t be sad at all if I was.

Jeffrey’s Bay - Week 2

10/9/2024

My second week here in South Africa was quite different from my first.For starters, we had a different ministry because all the kids were on holiday so having an after-school program is useless if there isn’t school. We were given an extra day of rest, but after that, the back-breaking labor began. My group was placed under the watchful eyes of Ian, and the expectation of creating a parking lot for eighty cars in three days with shovels was set.We failed. Most things that could go wrong went wrong. Our machine for painting parking spaces broke, so we painted by hand, we had an excavator moving dirt for us, but we moved dirt to the wrong places many many times and would take a couple of hours to fix. All in all, it could have been an opportunity for horror, and at moments it was, but I still am thankful that we got to get dirty and work for others.We also spent one day street evangelizing in the surf village, which is where all the shops are.Reagan, Kate, and I came across a group of beach volleyball players and felt we should join them. It was so fulfilling and fun, these South Africans were believers who loved to have fun and experience the joy of God. They put Reagan and me into a volleyball group chat they have and we have played with them a couple times since, including that very weekend.The week as a whole was super exhausting and definitely tested me, but I survived, and God has been revealing to me the importance of the work we did.I’m praying for everyone reading this at home and I feel so loved and cared for by you all as well!

Jeffrey’s Bay - Week 1

10/2/2024

After training and travel, I've made it to Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa. Wild.We began our ministry instantly, which was crazy, but I’m glad the expectation of servant attitude was set early.My team of six, which includes the fine people Silas, Kate, Faith, Alexis, our leader Reagan, and I, were blessed with the job of volunteering at an after-school program named Beats and Books.Beats and Books is wonderful and is run by an amazing man of God named Cornelius, or Father Corny.They focus primarily on teaching music so the kids can learn how to worship and train others in worship, and they help kids with literacy so they can understand the Bible. They also will have whoever needs to get their homework done get it done before adding on new tasks.My team will stay with Beats and Books for the entirety of our stay in South Africa, and the connections we made have been so precious.Unfortunately, all the kids have been on a break from school so it’s been sort of strange work that we have been doing, but the kids coming in are so eager to learn. Through our not-expected work, I have seen the importance of letting go of all expectations and assumptions and attempting to let others run the show, even if I feel like their decisions don’t make total sense in my Americanized brain.My first weekend in Jbay was one to remember. I went bungee jumping. Not just bungee jumping, I did the world's tallest bungee jump. It was wildly calming. Free falling is a feeling that is indescribable except by one word, freedom. The air cutting through your hair and the silence of wind is beautiful. The view of this jump was incredible, mountains on one side, the beach on the other, and a stream underneath. A truly wonderful experience, and we got to go to a Elvis-themed 60’s diner afterward.All in all my first week was so fun. Completely exhausting yes, but I’m still so glad to be here.I miss everyone from home very much and wish you all could experience what is happening here.

Training Camp - Travel Day

9/22/2024

I’m all trained up! After two treacherously fantastic weeks of grueling hikes and workouts mixed with Holy Spirit-filled worship and sermons, I am finally on my way to South Africa.Originally I told everyone September 11th was my fly-out date, but things changed for reasons I do not know, but I’m sure glad they did because God has been moving in unimaginable ways. For instance, a teammate of mine preached the Gospel to a man in the Atlanta airport (he was saved!) and I was able to baptize him in the bathroom. That wouldn’t have happened if we had left a few days earlier.More on how I trained, it was a very unexpected experience, in ways both pleasant and unpleasant. Our first week was filled with many hours of worship, many many hours, which at some point made my legs feel like jelly but I’m so thankful for how much of an emphasis was put on praising God. Much of The World Race staff taught lessons that were all very powerful and entertaining for the most part, on the mornings in which I got four hours of interrupted sleep I didn’t fully pay attention.One message that was the most impactful was by a lady named Joy, who is crazy and wild and awesome, and she talked about forgiveness. A subject in which I’ve already heard a lot about, and had initially assumed it would be a lackluster night. I was the wrongest you can humanly possibly be. Actually I was more wrong than that. Joy helped change not only my intense love for Jesus but also helped me feel more joyful about my own life than ever before, and learned how to humbly and healthily love myself. It was wild.Our second week was a change of scenery as we were blessed with random scenarios that would help prepare us for different cultures. We got to partake in a local market where our leaders were beggars, pop-up shop owners, money changers, or completely drunk Americans trying to get me to party. Oh, also a few drug dealers were thrown in there as well. In that scenario I went the route of don’t talk to anyone, barter for everything, and get as much as I can get for the little amount of money they let me use. I felt so accomplished because I got the most food, didn’t get anything “stolen” from me, and never showed my passport to fake authorities. Our post-dinner session convicted me majorly. They talked about loving the beggars, not ignoring them, and making sure that we aren’t trying only to get the best deal, but to bless the workers. Very different from my approach.The rest of training camp was equally as amazing and so many memories were made. I love my squad! And Jesus!Travel day…
Flying for multiple days and spending about 20 hours in airports isn’t very fun. It actually isn’t fun in any way at all. Movies become dull and your life feels like it is going to waste one Canada Dry ginger ale at a time. We did make it all the way to Jeffrey’s Bay though! Our host house is beautiful and made all out of wood, so it is very loud and creaky. And the wind is incredible and shakes the entire house. It is such a fun time and I love being able to connect with everyone at such a deep level.Sorry for making this blog post so late, they will be coming more consistently from now on. And thank you everyone for all the love and support and prayer, it means so much.

Pre-Launch

8/30/2024

What an amazing summer this has been. I've been so blessed by everyone around me and can't believe how much love and support I've received. It is truly wonderful to know people who are thinking and praying for me daily.I'm about to leave for South Africa!!!!I'm so excited about this trip and believe it couldn't be happening at a better time. God has been so generous and patient with me (and so has everyone else around me). I still haven't fully processed how big of a thing I'm doing, but every day I start more and more realizing that I'm about to have some of the greatest times of my entire life.I'd like to thank everyone for being so good and kind to me and for helping me get to where I am at today.I love each and every one of you.Also, a quick recap on what I'm doing is: I'm flying to Georgia to do a week and a half of training with my team before we all fly off to South Africa on September 11th. We will be doing all sorts of amazing things: children's ministry, some street evangelism, and more cool things. We will also spend some time in Eswatini which will be wonderful and intense. I will be returning to America in mid-November (the exact dates aren't clear yet).So yeah, I'm about to go do a ton of amazing crazy things, and I will be blogging about all of it!!!

Why I'm going to South Africa and Eswatini

7/27/2024

Well, first and foremost this isn’t vacation. I feel that God has directly called me to go out and live a life like Jesus beyond the borders of Southern California.The World Race, the organization I’m going to South Africa and Eswatini with, has a long history of amazing mission trips that have transformed so many lives of both the missionaries and the people who are native to those parts.After partaking in many hours of prayer and research, I am super encouraged and excited to be going on this mission. I can’t wait to see how God moves through me and those around me.>> Learn more about The World Race