Our backpacking school has just decided all the destinations for outreach and finalized the teams of leaders and students going to each location. The locations include: Thailand, Morocco, India, New Zealand, and Laos.
After much time of prayer personally, talking to my family, as well as prayer and deliberations among the school leaders I have chosen, and been selected for an outreach team that will not be staying in New Zealand!
For two months starting December 20 I will be backpacking in MOROCCO!
Woohoo!
I know this will come as a shock so let me explain.
In preparing for this YWAM adventure the information available concerning outreach phase was vague as to destinations. We are going in the backpacker ministry spirit of meeting backpackers in Morocco as well as figuring out where YWAM bases are located in Morocco and working with long term missionaries contacts already settled in the towns and cities. I decided at the beginning of the outreach location presentation from the leaders last week, that I would be open and told God that my heart would be sensitive to anything the spirit was telling me. So as they went through each country my heart was met with peace in considering the country of Morocco. Nothing came up against any of the other countries, but for Morocco I felt God saying "Hey, yea Kathryn.... Put that one down as your first choice and let me lead you on a faith adventure." So warily I prayed more and nothing but confirmation met me. Once my choice was turned in I spoke with my family and no opposition or unrest met them either. The Lord has this outreach totally in his hands and I am thrilled to be traveling to Africa in a matter of weeks!
Everyone on my team is actually from the US! There are three of us girls and three guys. . We will be meeting weekly as a team and we have already begun to pray about the Lord's vision for this team. We will have the flexibility to map out which towns and cities we want to travel to and how long we feel the Lord wants us to stay in each location. This will be quite the Holy Spirit led adventure!
I would love prayer for our team to begin to unite and connect with the Lord's vision for our outreach. We will begin learning a lot about the Moroccan culture, religion, food, climate etc. Thank you for all your prayers and support while I was planning to stay in New Zealand for the whole 5 months, and now I especially ask for your prayers as we prepare and venture to Morocco with the Gospel!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
All Blacks
Tonight is the Rugby World cup final game.
New Zealand vs. France.
DUN DUN DUN
Its going to be epic and you should watch it.
Go All Blacks!
And one of the best parts? Apart from them beating everyone and being World Champions? The Haka. A Maori traditional war dance done before battle to intimidate the enemy. It's legit. Woo
New Zealand vs. France.
DUN DUN DUN
Its going to be epic and you should watch it.
Go All Blacks!
And one of the best parts? Apart from them beating everyone and being World Champions? The Haka. A Maori traditional war dance done before battle to intimidate the enemy. It's legit. Woo
Monday, October 17, 2011
Calling and Destiny
There's a difference between God's plan and God's will. God's plan: its how He's gonna get you to His will - and you may change it. God's will: its where He's taking you and it won't ever change.
The call must have an eternal value - ministry is the vehical God uses to fulfill His calling. be driven by the call not the minstry.
This calling is an invitation from God.
Speak the Word of God, then you release Words of Life - the Life of God.
The anointing that comes from within you - you'll feel it even when you're alone - you carry it inside you always. Anointing can fall onn you but only in a public place for specific ministry to people.
Remember:
Strengthen you ability to hear God through prayer and fasting.
Gods main call is to people, not projects
Seperate personal dreams from vision God has gven you
There will be wilderness experiences (Gal 4;19)
Fight for your destiny
Cultivate a teachable spirit (Mt 18:1-4)
Life style of prayer and fating
Be faithful with small thing and you will be given more responsibility in time.
Femi Oni from England spoke this week on Calling and Destiny and those were some of the highlights of the notes from his lectures. He gave us so much good juice material that I know I'll continue to soak it in for weeks to come. So hopefully there will be more to come on this subject! He was is gifted in encouraging fellow believers and hearing from the Lord for specific prayer needs in a persons life. He was able to pray into my life and help me see clearly what had been holding me back in my past and how to step forward into freedom. Every morning I now pray " Lord show me who I am in you today!" He was so kind and fatherly and encouraged me to make a huge collage, collecting different pictures and words and scriptures that describe my personality and passions as the Lord reveals to me over the next few months. Its so exciting!! Thank you for your prayers - my spiritual life has already been turned upside down!
I was sick this past weekend so sorry for lagging behind on the blog posts! I'll try to be more diligent and next time post a fun, funny post :)
Mucho Love-o!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Good Morning New Zealand
Hello Hello!
I'm in NZ!
It was a good and fairly un eventful journey - but I did figure out that I will always fly New Zealand Air whenever I can. So I guess I'll be planning many trips back! haha. They have the most colorful, pretty flight attendant outfits ever. They are so welcoming and helpful and of course, they're accents...a-mazing.:)
I went in and out of being nervous. Whenever that would happen I would feel car sick and fidgety - but for the most part on the long 12 hr flight from LA, I was able to sleep, despite being in a middle seat. In order to get us on NZ time they gave us dinner at 10:30/11ish which was NOT what i wanted to be doing, I was ready to sleep. But i watched a movie, ate as much food as I could manage, prayed some and feel asleep for about 7 hours.
When we got to Auckland it was still dark outside and cold. My chaco covered feet were freezing as walked out of the terminal around 7:30 am after going through customs, and having my boots cleaned by the funny NZ customs man (who made me feel right at home!) I had to catch a bus to the domestic flight terminal and a very helpful air line worker immediately saw the look of confusion on my face, tried to carry by heavy bags for me and explained when and where my connecting flight would be! God was so good to provide so many nice people in my path! I accidentally ordered a shot of espresso at an airport restaurant, instead of a cup of coffee...and sorely over paid - c-est la vie! haha It was gross btw
I got very nervous on my flight to Christchurch, esp about if I would be able to find the YWAM staff picking me up. I walked by them at first and they didnt recognize me, so when I walked by them after getting my bag I finally got connected.
So the van we rode in, the driver drives on the right side and the sliding door is on the left side...i was trying to climb in the right side window haha. The two girls i sat between on the ride to the base both ended up being twins! it was crazy! one was identical and one had a brother. So we swapped twin stories. That was comforting and a good ice breaker. The Oxford Mountains were dead ahead of us and Beautiful! Snow capped and sky scraping. And we passed a few sheep farms. Those sheep and lambs are so CUTE and fluffy!!
I live in a house right down the rode from the main classroom and dining room...its just a short walk through the Anglican church parking lot. It has a beautiful painted mural on the side of its office building too...I might go there in the morning. It's either the Anglican church or the Baptist church, which is apparently very charismatic - so we'll see!
The people her on base, and my fellow students are so interesting and lively! I can't wait to here their stories! The few girls I've met in my house(which sleeps around 20) have all had wonderful stories of the Lord's provision and prodding for them to come to Oxford and do a DTS. There is also a Justice DTS going on so we are mingled in with those student for lecture phase. My two roommates are doing Justice DTS.
Well, I want to thank everyone for their fervent prayers for my safety! The Lord was gracious and safely got the plane across the Pacific ocean during the night. Oh! I hope you all had a good Thursday, because I never experienced September 29th. But Saturday has been great! Enjoy yourself!:)
It is chilly here, as they are transistioning into Summer. I wore my scarf and wool socks to bed because our rooms seem to hold to coolness and it is pants and coat weather for sure. I can't tell you exactly the tempature because it's all Celcius, and that makes no sense to me! haha
Alright, I am going to go get ready for bed. Last night I went to sleep at 9pm and slept until 11am this morning - oh what a glorious 14 hours that was! And, I have to say, from the bay window out our kitchen, it was a glorious thing to say "Good Morning New Zealand" and slowly let this reality sink in.
Love love love from New Zealand!
I'm in NZ!
It was a good and fairly un eventful journey - but I did figure out that I will always fly New Zealand Air whenever I can. So I guess I'll be planning many trips back! haha. They have the most colorful, pretty flight attendant outfits ever. They are so welcoming and helpful and of course, they're accents...a-mazing.:)
I went in and out of being nervous. Whenever that would happen I would feel car sick and fidgety - but for the most part on the long 12 hr flight from LA, I was able to sleep, despite being in a middle seat. In order to get us on NZ time they gave us dinner at 10:30/11ish which was NOT what i wanted to be doing, I was ready to sleep. But i watched a movie, ate as much food as I could manage, prayed some and feel asleep for about 7 hours.
When we got to Auckland it was still dark outside and cold. My chaco covered feet were freezing as walked out of the terminal around 7:30 am after going through customs, and having my boots cleaned by the funny NZ customs man (who made me feel right at home!) I had to catch a bus to the domestic flight terminal and a very helpful air line worker immediately saw the look of confusion on my face, tried to carry by heavy bags for me and explained when and where my connecting flight would be! God was so good to provide so many nice people in my path! I accidentally ordered a shot of espresso at an airport restaurant, instead of a cup of coffee...and sorely over paid - c-est la vie! haha It was gross btw
I got very nervous on my flight to Christchurch, esp about if I would be able to find the YWAM staff picking me up. I walked by them at first and they didnt recognize me, so when I walked by them after getting my bag I finally got connected.
So the van we rode in, the driver drives on the right side and the sliding door is on the left side...i was trying to climb in the right side window haha. The two girls i sat between on the ride to the base both ended up being twins! it was crazy! one was identical and one had a brother. So we swapped twin stories. That was comforting and a good ice breaker. The Oxford Mountains were dead ahead of us and Beautiful! Snow capped and sky scraping. And we passed a few sheep farms. Those sheep and lambs are so CUTE and fluffy!!
I live in a house right down the rode from the main classroom and dining room...its just a short walk through the Anglican church parking lot. It has a beautiful painted mural on the side of its office building too...I might go there in the morning. It's either the Anglican church or the Baptist church, which is apparently very charismatic - so we'll see!
The people her on base, and my fellow students are so interesting and lively! I can't wait to here their stories! The few girls I've met in my house(which sleeps around 20) have all had wonderful stories of the Lord's provision and prodding for them to come to Oxford and do a DTS. There is also a Justice DTS going on so we are mingled in with those student for lecture phase. My two roommates are doing Justice DTS.
Well, I want to thank everyone for their fervent prayers for my safety! The Lord was gracious and safely got the plane across the Pacific ocean during the night. Oh! I hope you all had a good Thursday, because I never experienced September 29th. But Saturday has been great! Enjoy yourself!:)
It is chilly here, as they are transistioning into Summer. I wore my scarf and wool socks to bed because our rooms seem to hold to coolness and it is pants and coat weather for sure. I can't tell you exactly the tempature because it's all Celcius, and that makes no sense to me! haha
Alright, I am going to go get ready for bed. Last night I went to sleep at 9pm and slept until 11am this morning - oh what a glorious 14 hours that was! And, I have to say, from the bay window out our kitchen, it was a glorious thing to say "Good Morning New Zealand" and slowly let this reality sink in.
Love love love from New Zealand!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Favorite Things in Boone Town, for now...
My favorite things to do in Boone:
Eat dinner at Coyote Kitchen.
Get a giant cinnamon roll at Macados
Drive up to the top of Howards Knob
Go get scared out of my mind at Twisted Falls
Window shop and meander the streets of down town Boone
Sit and talk at a coffee shop, engaging my friends in meaningful convos.
Browse TJMaxx...okay so you can do that in any big city - but Boone's tj maxx is pretty legit!
Go run at the greenway.
String up my hammock in the warmth of the mountain sunshine and swing and think
Get a soy chai latte from Higher Grounds
Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and pick an overlook to explore and enjoy the view.
Try to canoe around Price lake:) *cough, haha J and S
Go to the Wholly Worm festival with my twin.
Go to walmart late at night with Betty - just like old times.
Talk about hiking the Profile Trail up Gransfather mtn... one day that will happen!
Go to the dollar days at Grandfather Mtn in April
Find cool Friday/Saturday night live folk music to enjoy.
Chill at Earthfare from early morn to late evening.*ahem, again usually with J & S
Go to contra dances
Enjoy the interesting, "Boonie" people who live here.
Go to ASU foot ball games....expect I wont do that this year.
Go snowboarding!!!
Sledding anywhere.
Go leaf-looking.
Well, that about covers my activities in Boone. I hope to make new traditions and go on explores and adventures when I return to this lovely small mountain town.
Eat dinner at Coyote Kitchen.
Get a giant cinnamon roll at Macados
Drive up to the top of Howards Knob
Go get scared out of my mind at Twisted Falls
Window shop and meander the streets of down town Boone
Sit and talk at a coffee shop, engaging my friends in meaningful convos.
Browse TJMaxx...okay so you can do that in any big city - but Boone's tj maxx is pretty legit!
Go run at the greenway.
String up my hammock in the warmth of the mountain sunshine and swing and think
Get a soy chai latte from Higher Grounds
Drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway and pick an overlook to explore and enjoy the view.
Try to canoe around Price lake:) *cough, haha J and S
Go to the Wholly Worm festival with my twin.
Go to walmart late at night with Betty - just like old times.
Talk about hiking the Profile Trail up Gransfather mtn... one day that will happen!
Go to the dollar days at Grandfather Mtn in April
Find cool Friday/Saturday night live folk music to enjoy.
Chill at Earthfare from early morn to late evening.*ahem, again usually with J & S
Go to contra dances
Enjoy the interesting, "Boonie" people who live here.
Go to ASU foot ball games....expect I wont do that this year.
Go snowboarding!!!
Sledding anywhere.
Go leaf-looking.
Well, that about covers my activities in Boone. I hope to make new traditions and go on explores and adventures when I return to this lovely small mountain town.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Hello 5 days
Well folks, there are 5 full days in my life, in the states, for the remainder of this interesting year of 2011.
There are a lot of things running through my head. For instance, will I see everyone I want to see and spend time with those I really need to get together with? That one is easily remedied. Then there's the thought of leaving family and missing the Holidays with them. That one is sad. Also I think about my return and the events to unfold in 2012. I will let those things just come though because there's no to stress.
Thinking in terms of the YWAM experience though? Well, I'm not that nervous. I dont especially like flying alone... but c'est la vie! I'll just make friends and sleep. I'm not fretting about the finances either. I now have $1100 left to raise so I'm encouraged by that! The Lord provides to His children doing His will, thank you Jesus for that! I don't really know what to expect about the base in Oxford, or the leaders, or the lectures. I think it's better to go into it with a few expectations as possible.
These are my goals for this adventure!
-Defining my-self. Valuing myself my feelings, my likes and dislikes and coming into myself.
-Completely having my identity in Christ. My fulfillment, my purpose and my goals being eternally centered and my security in Jesus my savior.
-Healing. I need to complete the processing of the traumatic life situations of the past 7 years. I realize I need to sort through Mom's sickness, her death, my relationship with her then and now, as well as my current family situation and the events that occurred after December 26th, 2004.
One of my favorite quotes is
" The happiest people in the world are those who do the most for others."
Booker T. Washington
I hope to become someone who lives her life serving others in Jesus' name.
This morning I was encouraged by a word from Oswald Chamber:
"The goal of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be
useful or to win the lost. A missionary *is* useful and *does*
win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will
of his Lord."
My goal is to go and do the Lord's will and I believe deep down He wants me to achieve the
goals I wrote above and find myself IN HIM. wooooooo!!!!! I'm so EXCITED!!!!
Love love love!
There are a lot of things running through my head. For instance, will I see everyone I want to see and spend time with those I really need to get together with? That one is easily remedied. Then there's the thought of leaving family and missing the Holidays with them. That one is sad. Also I think about my return and the events to unfold in 2012. I will let those things just come though because there's no to stress.
Thinking in terms of the YWAM experience though? Well, I'm not that nervous. I dont especially like flying alone... but c'est la vie! I'll just make friends and sleep. I'm not fretting about the finances either. I now have $1100 left to raise so I'm encouraged by that! The Lord provides to His children doing His will, thank you Jesus for that! I don't really know what to expect about the base in Oxford, or the leaders, or the lectures. I think it's better to go into it with a few expectations as possible.
These are my goals for this adventure!
-Defining my-self. Valuing myself my feelings, my likes and dislikes and coming into myself.
-Completely having my identity in Christ. My fulfillment, my purpose and my goals being eternally centered and my security in Jesus my savior.
-Healing. I need to complete the processing of the traumatic life situations of the past 7 years. I realize I need to sort through Mom's sickness, her death, my relationship with her then and now, as well as my current family situation and the events that occurred after December 26th, 2004.
One of my favorite quotes is
" The happiest people in the world are those who do the most for others."
Booker T. Washington
I hope to become someone who lives her life serving others in Jesus' name.
This morning I was encouraged by a word from Oswald Chamber:
"The goal of the missionary is to do God's will, not to be
useful or to win the lost. A missionary *is* useful and *does*
win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will
of his Lord."
My goal is to go and do the Lord's will and I believe deep down He wants me to achieve the
goals I wrote above and find myself IN HIM. wooooooo!!!!! I'm so EXCITED!!!!
Love love love!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
From NC to NZ
So even though the space between C and Z in the alphabet is 24 letters, the space between North Carolina and New Zealand is much, much, MUCH greater.
On Wednesday, September 28th I will be flying from Charlotte to LA then LA to Auckland, then Auckland to Christchurch, then by car to the final destination of Oxford New Zealand!
Today the Lord brought to me a wonderful new friend who will be my Communications Coordinator while I'm in NZ. Tempest is an answer to prayer even though I didn't know I was praying for her help! Being detailed oriented, she is a life saver to my preparations because my strengths do not necessarily lie in organization and taking care of the nitty gritty details. SO I am very thankful!
I wish I could be in three places at once. Or maybe 5. I wish I could be with my Cherokee Cove family for the next two weeks because they are just that, my family.
I wish I could be in Johnson City with Lizzy, because she is my twin and there is few bonds much deeper than that of twins.
I wish I could be in Newport News, VA with Tanner and Beth babysitting Judson. They are so fun and funny and I loved sleeping on their couch last week - it's a super comfy couch:)
I wish I could be with my Aunt Libby all the time, and I also wish the flight to NZ went to Venice. Then I could travel again with my amazing Auntie and have a grand time. She is such a good friend.
I wish I could be in Boone with Jamie, Sarah, and a huge handful other wonderful friends and family.
This trip isn't going to last forever... but still I am a little emotional about this big adventure and the people I will leave, but happily return to in February.
I dreamt last night about taking a down pillow and rolling it into a tight cylinder of 1/2 inch diameter. Then everyday I would easily stuff it into my backpack and grab it at night and woosh! it would unroll and fluff back up beautifully. The translation: I am also wishing I could take my big special pillow with me:)
Thank you everyone who has donated to me already! I really truly appreciate your support!
Thank you for praying for me as well!
I am so thankful for my support team at my church and in Boone. You all bless me!
The count down begins!
I wish I could be in three places at once. Or maybe 5. I wish I could be with my Cherokee Cove family for the next two weeks because they are just that, my family.
I wish I could be in Johnson City with Lizzy, because she is my twin and there is few bonds much deeper than that of twins.
I wish I could be in Newport News, VA with Tanner and Beth babysitting Judson. They are so fun and funny and I loved sleeping on their couch last week - it's a super comfy couch:)
I wish I could be with my Aunt Libby all the time, and I also wish the flight to NZ went to Venice. Then I could travel again with my amazing Auntie and have a grand time. She is such a good friend.
I wish I could be in Boone with Jamie, Sarah, and a huge handful other wonderful friends and family.
This trip isn't going to last forever... but still I am a little emotional about this big adventure and the people I will leave, but happily return to in February.
I dreamt last night about taking a down pillow and rolling it into a tight cylinder of 1/2 inch diameter. Then everyday I would easily stuff it into my backpack and grab it at night and woosh! it would unroll and fluff back up beautifully. The translation: I am also wishing I could take my big special pillow with me:)
Thank you everyone who has donated to me already! I really truly appreciate your support!
Thank you for praying for me as well!
I am so thankful for my support team at my church and in Boone. You all bless me!
The count down begins!