Ministry Day

Grace International School offers a neat ending to their spiritual emphasis week. The 7th through 12th graders are involved in what is called Ministry Day. Each class prepares to do ministry somewhere in Chaing Mai or a surrounding village. The 8th grade actually went on a 3 day 2 night ministry weekend. I chose to tag with the Seniors. We rode in Songtows(phonetically spelled:) and there were about 10 of us in the vehicle. They chose to serve at a village (Mooban) school about 45 minutes outside of Chaing Mai. I still have no idea how to pronounce the village or school name. (If you read Thai, have at it!) The children greeted us with a traditional Buddhist dance for boys and girls when we first arrived. This was a traditional Buddist school for preschool through 5th grade. We played games, made art, taught Christian songs and loved on the kids. This was only the second time a "white" Christian group was allowed to come into the community to do this kind of service. We observed their culture by following the leaders of the village on a walking tour of the Mooban and Wat(temple). When we returned from the walking tour we played with the children a little while longer. We were suppose to help clean up the area and do some physical work but it was very wet and rainy therefore the weather didn't allow us to do that. At the end of our time there, one of the students from GIS asked if we could pray for the school and students. The principal allowed several of the students to pray for everyone. What a break through!

Wrapping it up

The last few days in Thailand showed me that the Lord really used our ministry and I was suppose to go. I now look back and laugh at the fear I had of traveling to Thailand. I really laugh at the comment I made a few months ago that I would rather go to Nigeria than Thailand. I'm pretty sure the fear I was facing was spiritual.

So the last day that I spoke was on Thursday afternoon. I taught the kids about another lie Satan throws our way called the Blame Game. After recapping the previous lessons and ending the Blame Game talk, I was pretty sad it was over. I felt like I could have spent another few sessions delving in even deeper. That evening, the students had a bonfire on the grounds. Unfortunately, it started raining, but that didn't make a difference to these kids! It was one of the neatest worship times I have been involved in. The students were so passionate and real about their faith. After singing several songs, students came up to the open mic and began giving testimonies about how God spoke to them this week. It was so encouraging to me to hear how the Lord used my words and spoke into individuals.

Spiritual Revival and a Scooter

I feel like the Lord is moving on kids hearts. Last night we had more people show up to the evening session. The worship band consists of students and is completely student run. They have such a heart for worshiping the Lord. I had the privilege of playing the violin with them. Mike Wood, the spiritual life director, found an 11th grader who was willing to part with her instrument for a few days and let me play it. I had a lot of fun and I think they were happy with it too. After the teaching, my dad called the band back up and as we were playing I could really feel the presence of the Lord. The kids didn't want to stop singing. They were down front just worshiping. It was lovely.

This morning I spoke once again in the middle and high school chapel. I entitled my teaching "the approval addict". It dealt with the fear of rejection and where we find our approval. I took the kids through the practical side with some biblical integration and my dad came up and closed the time with a scriptural challenge.

On a side note, yesterday I went on a motorcycle/scooter for the very first time. It was different. A bike is the most common mode of transportation here. I have actually scene women on the back of the bike sitting "side saddle", putting on make up. I've also seen drivers on their cell phone. I was doing good just to stay centered on the bike! I think if I had been driving it would have been a different story though:)

SEW

Spiritual Emphasis Week, SEW, is going well so far. We are in day 2 of 5. Yesterday my dad spoke in high school chapel introducing the theme for the week. Then in the evening we had about 100 teens and adults come out for a continuation of the teaching. Our theme is Making it Count. So last night was Making it Count: Forgiveness. My dad did the majority of the teaching and I facilitated the small group discussion time as well as giving an illustration and closing out the night.

This morning I spoke to the high school for an hour on "The Performance Trap"-not letting our significance be based on our success in life. I know that some of them really understood it and it made an impact, but I hope that those who sit there without any expression will be broken and come into a greater relationship with the Lord. Tonight we are talking about Perseverance. I'm doing a skit with some of the kids and am excited to see how it turns out. (If you remember about the broken glass door, hopefully we won't have any accidents this time:)!

Farang in Chaing Mai

I am called a Farang, or foreigner, here in Thailand. It's not a bad thing to call a foreigner that, but I find it fun to say:) This weekend I was able to build my vocabulary (phonetically only) in Thai. I know how to say "yes, no, hello, thank you, my name is, my mom, my dad," and that's about it so far. It is a tonal language so it has been interesting to hear how "hello" is said to a man vs. a woman.

On Friday morning my dad spoke to the high school for chapel. We spent the rest of the day preparing for this week and revamping the lectures. It was really good for me to see and get a feel for the school and students before this week of speaking started. On Friday night we went with a group of students to Agape House, a home for HIV positive children. Each student from Grace International School who went had "adopted" a child at Agape House. When we pulled in, the kids at Agape ran up to their "adopted big brother or sister" and pulled them right to the play ground or somewhere they wanted to play. I had a little girl named Bow approach me and immediately go for my video camera. She looked somewhat responsible, so I showed her how to work it and she videoed the rest of the time we were there. She loved it! I don't know how much English she spoke or understood, but that piece of technology brought us pretty close and it was so neat.

Saturday was our "tourist" day since the rest of the week is pretty well filled with working and ministry. It's kind of weird to me, because I don't normally do "tourist" day with my parents when we are on a trip. That is something we take our teams to experience. But, the people here were adamant that we were to experience the Thai culture. So, we went to an elephant camp. I didn't really know what to expect. It was absolutely amazing! First we went to ride the elephants. My elephant was 32 years old. It was quite bumpy, but not uncomfortable. I videoed the whole ride, but it sure doesn't give the full feel for the experience. After the 30 min. ride, we walked to the baby elephant nursery. They were so cute! One of the care takers brought out an over sized soccer ball and I was able to kick it back and forth with the baby elephant. We walked over to the restaurant and had a bite to eat. (on a side note, I really have enjoyed the food here) I had chicken and pineapple fried rice. Tasty:) After lunch we attended the elephant show. I was absolutely amazed at the variety of things that elephants can do. They actually had them painting pretty flower pictures with their trunks. Crazy, I know! I bought one that looks like a flag. I'm planning on using it for the Urban Arts ministry this summer and the up coming years. I think when I show the kids the video of an elephant painting a picture and then show them the actual picture, they will get a kick out of it. I also enjoyed a coconut and it's water during the show. It was pretty rich and the meat of the coconut was different than what I have had in the states. It was very flabby. But it still tasted like traditional coconut. We ended the day at a family's home for dinner. It was nice spending time with a few missionary families, finding out what they do here and how God is using them.

Sunday we attended Chaing Mai Christian Fellowship. My dad preached and we had a great time of worship. In the afternoon the Bolands, our hosts, took us to get a traditional Thai massage. It was absolutely amazing! The crazy part is that it was 150 Baht for 1 hour. That is about a $5.00 massage! I was in shock! Sunday evening one of the teachers my age called and asked if I wanted to go to the night market. I guess it is only on Sunday nights and is open until midnight. It was one of the most crowded places I have every been. The shopping is so unbelievably inexpensive. They barter, but I felt bad even bartering because it would be pennies that I would end up paying for an item. I found my one item I look for in every country, a traditional musical instrument. I purchased a teak wood, Thai mandolin. The man was so cute who sold it to me. He wanted to play every song he knew to show me that it had a good quality sound. I just wanted to purchase the thing, but he was set on playing every song he knew. I think the neatest thing was being able to climb the old Chaing Mai fortress wall and taking pictures of the evening. By the time I got home, it was late and I hit the hay for our early morning.

Made it to Thailand

I made it! I'm in Chaing Mai, Thailand. In the 28 hours since I've been here, I can say that I love it so far! So let me back up and finish the story of how I finally got here.

I finally flew out of Los Angeles at 1 am on Tuesday morning. It ended up that so many people were frustrated they had to be delayed so long, they booked another flight. We had about 50 people on our huge aircraft! Each person had a row to themselves. We arrived in Bangkok at 12:30 pm and had an airline attendant meet us at the gate. She took us to a holding area to check our tickets and give us vouchers for food since our flight was delayed to Chaing Mai. The airport was very clean and modern. (much nicer the LAX) Our flight to Chaing Mai finally departed at 3:35pm. As we were boarding the plane, an attendant who took our tickets said that we needed a different ticket. I was thinking, you've got to be kidding me. I guess the ticket they issued in LA wasn't the correct type of ticket and they weren't going to let us board. Finally a supervisor said we could board but that she would contact us in Chaing Mai for the correct boarding pass. I almost laughed outloud. How in the world would she contact us, and where in the world would we get the "correct ticket number". I figured that, hey, we got on the plane so that's all that matters.

We arrived in Chaing Mai and our luggage also made it! I was relieved! The Bolands, a couple who teach at Grace International School, picked us up at the airport. We arrived at their home, which is absolutely gorgeous! After we freshened up, 3 teachers from the school took us out to dinner at an amazing restaurant. It was all open with waterfalls and flowers. It was a traditional Thai restaurant. I ordered a soft tofu with sweet and sour sauce. It was interesting because you would think that a tofu dish would be vegetarian. But it came with chicken and a lot of veggies. I loved it! We got back to the Bolands home around 9:30pm and I went straight to bed. I got up at 6:30am and we left for the school at 7:15am. My mom spoke in elementary chapel this morning, we got a tour of the school, and in the evening we met with the student council leaders and chapel leaders. They are a great bunch of kids! They really shared their hearts with us tonight. Tomorrow we do high school chapel and the list goes on.:)

Delayed

I should be on an airplane right now somewhere near Chaing Mai, Thailand, but I'm not. Here's the low down....Arrive at LAX 6:45 pm. Takes 45 minutes to check in. Go eat dinner before we get on the 19 hr. plane ride. Go through security. Find LAX Bradley terminal to be dirty, under construction and very third world. I think I actually had culture shock in the bathrooms. Crazy, I know, but true. I went to look for the duty free shops--alcohol, cigarettes and magazines...that's it! So, that wasn't very entertaining.

We were to board at 8:50 pm. 9:30 departure. 9:30pm rolls around and an announcement is made that the entertainment center isn't working and there will be a 10 minute delay. 10 min. goes by, another announcement-30 more minutes. They bring out sodas and pretzels to ease those in the crowd who are getting axious. 30 minutes go by--another announcement--new departure time at 11:00pm. 10:50 pm comes about and new announcement--flight is cancelled. CANCELLED! Then continues the saga....we ECONOMY class get in one line and give our name. We then sit around for our name to be called to get our hotel voucher. I put headphones in and listed to music. About 30 minutes later, before I knew it, everyone was standing up and leaving. No announcement, nothing! Gathering my things together, shutting down my computer, I hurried to the back of the pack with my parents. We went back through security, outside and waited for the bus to take us to the hotel. Now, here's the funny thing. Our buses were delayed! Since I was in the back of the pack, I was on the fourth bus. When I got to the hotel(which was the Renaissance Hotel..very classy!) I waited in yet another line to check in. All in all..I put my head on the pillow at 2 AM.

Now here's the reason i'm happy all of that happened-I opened up my computer this morning and freaked out. It was acting really weird and nothing I did was working. This computer is the one I'm using for all of my teaching in Thailand. AHHHHHH!!! So since my new flight time is not until 6 pm tonight, I went to the front desk and found an Apple store 6 miles away. I walked in, explained my situation, almost got on my knees since they didn't have any more openings to look at my computer, and the nice apple techie showed mercy. He typed a few things, held a few buttons down and whalah...macbook healed! Thank you Jesus:) Now, i'm sitting outside of the store using their free wifi trying to pass the few hours left before I have to sit in the nasty airport again. If all turns out the way it's replanned, I should arrive in Thailand a day late.

Rest and Recoup in LA

My day is almost over in Los Angeles. My flight arrived at 11pm last night from Nicaragua. It took over 2 hours to get our bags in customs. I'm just glad all the bags arrived! By the time I got to the hotel it was nearly 2am pacific time so my body was telling me it was 4am! Today I was able to do some laundry at the hotel, review my talks for Thailand and sleep a little. I was spoiled too because I'm able to watch the Greenbay/Giants game right now:) I'm headed to the lobby to print out the boarding passes where I will spend over 19 hours in the air to get to Thailand. Praise God for planes I guess! Keep me in your prayers!

Day of Rest

Today has been a nice day to recoup from the week of ministry in Bluefields. We are staying at a Best Western hotel across from the airport in Managua. They have nice rooms, a good place to eat and a pool. It's pretty hot here, so it feels really good to swim! In just a few hours we will walk over to the airport and hop on a plane to L.A. via El Salvador.

Made it to Managua

I'm at the end of the first leg of my trip. I flew into Managua, Nicaragua this morning with our team. We had a great week! I'll do a brief recap from where I left off since the last note.

On Wednesday we continued working on the musical with the kids at the church. It was a full day, but exciting to see them on the stage. I didn't know if they would ever be quiet though. My favorite phrase was "silencio!" After lunch with the kids, we let them decorate picture frames, then get dressed up in their costume and get a polaroid picture taken that they could take home. The kids absolutely loved it! Straight after camp, another girl, Darcy, and I took a taxi to another church, Verbo, where my mom was holding the widow's conference. There I filmed the conference, helped set up the meals and tables, handed out gifts and ministered to the ladies. We had 52 widows and abandoned women attend from 4 different churches. It was very special.

Thursday morning we got up bright and early. We got to the church and started in right away with the kids on practicing the music. We were only going to have them through lunch since the performance was that night. Thursday evening came and it was amazing! We had nearly 80 kids on stage. I know that it was only the Lord who got us through that!:) Especially since I didn't always have a translator and was using my broken Spanish to try and communicate with the kids. The church was full with family and people from the community. One pastor said this was the first time something like this had ever been done. It was definitely a success!

Now i'm back at our hotel in Managua enjoying a room with good cold air and wireless connection. Tomorrow we(my parents and I) will walk across the street to the airport and catch our evening flight to LA. We'll be in LA for a day and then get on the plane for a LONG time to fly over to Thailand.

ode to a spanish keyboard

ok..so i´m not writing an ode, but i sure am typing on a spanish keyboard and it´s really messing me up.
enough of that! I am have safely arrived in Bluefields, Nicaragua. I flew in to Managua and got into my hotel at 2 am on Sunday morning. My next flight left at 6 am so i had to be at the local aiport at 4:45 am. There they weigh you and your carry on to make sure the plane won´t crash. I´ll post pictures of the plane later and you´ll understand. 3 of the other team members luggage had not arrived but we couldn´t sit around for it so we prayed and hoped it would get to us on the other side of the country. When we landed in Bluefields NONE of our luggage arrived! Later that night though, we were so happy to see it.

Sunday night we went to church. Actually our team split up and went to 2 different churches. I went with my parents where my dad preached and we had a 2 1-2 hour service. It was very good.

On Monday morning we were up at 6:30 to walk to breakfast at the church and then invite the kids to our program. We had over 50 kids show up the first day. It went really well. We served the kids lunch and then worked more on the musical and crafts after lunch time. At 3pm they went home and we cleaned up the church.

The weather is very humid right now, pretty hot too. I´m basically soaked by the end of the work day..along with everyone else. But none of us care because we all smell the same.

Well, my time is up on this paid computer in the clean, but very humid open air lobby of our hotel. hope to catch you up again shortly!

Starting the Journey

I'm sitting in the Ft. Lauderdale airport waiting for zone 1 to be called. I flew in today at 9:35 am and my connecting flight leaves at 11:00 pm. What a day. The sun was enjoyable(we didn't stay in the airport all day). I can feel the heat and humidity difference though because I've had a dull headache all day. Although, that may be from a lack of sleep as well. The flight to Managua is suppose to be 2 1/2 hours. We will arrive 12:30am, central time zone, and have to leave for our next flight to Bluefields at 6:00am. I'm trying to get some shut eye anywhere I can. I kind of feel like i'm on the amazing race:)...just no prize money at the end. Well, it looks like the airline attendant is ready to board us. Hopefully I can get some sleep and be rested for tomorrow. We have church and a meeting with the sunday school teachers. We will also be planning and preparing for the camp. Gotta run....

And the whirlwind has begun....

To catch you up on the last few weeks (since I was determined to be a more consistant blogger in 2008):) I will write the abridged version, so not to bore you, and then look ahead to the future.

My bringing in of the new year was lovely. I was able to spend it with my family and friends. I then focused my attention for one day on the sales. The sales, mind you, were not to benefit my wardrobe, but the play I am directing in D.C. in March. I love to look for set items, props and costumes and what better time than during the sales!

Shortly thereafter, I flew to Maryland for auditions. I'm directing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. When I wasn't listening to kids sing the Oompa Loompa song(which I now have memorized) I was working on the ministry podcast for Prayer Stations (which will hopefully be out sometime late summer). I flew back 5 days later and you are now up to date with the first few weeks of my new year.

Tomorrow I will be running around like crazy, packing, writing, working and getting things squared away because I'll be gone for about 3 weeks. I leave on Saturday for Nicaragua. I'll be co-leading a trip to Bluefields where we will direct a children's musical in Spanish. Now, I know the next question that popped into your mind was, "Does Katie speak Spanish?" No. Well, a little. Enough to get around and understand people...somewhat...but not enough to teach the musical. That's what our brilliant translators are for!:)

After a week in Nicaragua, I'll fly to LA, rest for part of a day, and get on a plane for Chaing Mai, Thailand. My parents and I are going to speak at Grace International School for the spiritual emphasis week. We are there for about 2 weeks doing ministry.

As always, I'll try to get online when I get out of the country, but that proves to be difficult most of the time, so i'll journal and then update when I get back.

Reason to Live

I came across this video and think it's a great example of the struggles teenagers are going through today. Praise God that we have a Christ to save us from everything our sinful nature chooses to do.

I'm one step on the road!

I had a great meeting with a family friend tonight. He took all of the ideas about Urban Arts that were swirling around in my head and created a packet of information that will inspire others to catch the vision. I gave Craig the information a few months ago and he nailed it! I'm so excited to show people. This packet helps paint the picture of the ministry in such a way that I don't have to say much. (Although, we all know that won't happen:)

I am also in contact with an acquaintance from college who works in graphics. He is starting to brainstorm with me and work on a logo design for Urban Arts.

This is such a long road to walk on, but I am so excited to finally see the pavement!

Summer Plans in Detroit

I've been working hard this last month. Obviously neglecting my blogging, but I now have something worth blogging about:) I have been working with a friend of mine on developing a ministry called Urban Arts. Working with at-risk children in the inner city of Detroit through various mediums of art. I have met with 3 different ministries who listened, encouraged and showed interest in partnering with Urban Arts this summer. There is one ministry that I am very impressed with and will hopefully be doing more work with on a regular basis.

This Friday I meet with a lawyer about all of the legalities and paperwork to get a non-profit going. It's necessary, but not something I'm looking forward to. He has agreed to meet with us at no cost as well. What an answer to prayer!

I will be spending the weekend in a prayer and planning retreat with my friend, Renee as we look ahead at the summer and beyond. Lot's to do!

Denver-days 2,3,4

So much has happened the past few days I haven't been able to get onto the computer! Yesterday was a pretty neat day. We drove to Orchard Road Church which is where Marylin Hickey's ministry is located. The church use to be an indoor mall and the inside has been transformed into a beautiful church. We walked in and began filming without any problems. The only problem that I was running into was the quality of sound. (That's always an issue!) We realized that we needed a boom mic. Now, where in the world would we find one?

SIDE NOTE: I actually looked online for a while before we came out here to try and find one we could borrow or rent and came up with nothing! Several contact didn't come through, so we decided we would go without.

Obviously, we needed one. Especially when we began to tape outside. Half of the the day was gone, but my dad and I got on our phones and began calling through the yellow pages. My dad was referred to a company in Denver that rents the type of equipment we needed. When we got to the warehouse, I realized that is was a very reputable business. They had serviced people in the movie and television industry. And here we come, little peons, asking to rent a boom mic and the instructions. As we were filling out paperwork, we realized we may have a problem. Our flight out of Colorado is on Sunday. They aren't open on Saturday and Sunday. It was Thursday afternoon that we were getting the equipment. The owner, Dean, said, "That's ok, I'll give you my cell and home number and you can call me and I'll meet you somewhere on Sunday." Plus, we also found out that the other guy who was helping us is a Christian.

God sure does work in neat ways, just when we need them!

We then went back to the church and taped outside and inside with the new mic.

Today, we drove to the hotel where another part of the documentary was to be filmed. We walked into the lobby and began filming. There were a lot of business conferences going on, but everyone was very pleasant. As soon as my mom finished her last take, we heard a lady shout, "Hallelujah!" from a nearby room. My mom, dad and I all looked at one another with wide eyes. This lady had been listening to my mom through her different takes and said that she was just so filled up with the Lord! I'm just amazed at how God uses different situations and people to encourage one another!

Denver-Day 1

I'm in Denver, CO right now. I'm filming for a future documentary for Widow's Might Ministry Int'l. Yesterday we went to the World Prayer Center and Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. Yesterday evening I met with a pastor and his wife for dinner. We talked about all of the ministries my family is involved with and I was able to share my vision of the Urban Arts Center. They seemed interested in it! Exciting.

Make Up Counter Meeting

My mom and I went to Nordstrom's today for me to exchange some make up. You know how they always have people standing in the aisles wanting to do your face? Well, I typically try to avoid eye contact so as to avoid being swayed into a makeup chair. On our way out, it didn't work. I made eye contact. I smiled. I said "sure". I sat in a chair. I felt make up going on my face. Now, after all of that, I am a girl and do love new stuff:) Sooo, it wasn't as bad as i'm making it sound. But here is the point of my story. No, I didn't by anything. BUT, as I was talking with the 20-something, make up girl, she asked what I did. I went on to explain my purpose and passion in life. Including the vision of the inner city arts program I am starting. She just lit up like a Christmas tree. She is an industrial designer and loves to create sets, work with kids, and grew up in Detroit. What a 'God meeting'. So, I have a phone number and interested future volunteer for our camps this summer!

Podcasting

I spent another long weekend in Indiana taping Ruth Shinness for our podcast. I'm actually getting pretty excited about what I now see for the final product. It was 4 long days of standing, recording, re-recording, etc. But I know that there is some really good content that will come out of the tapes.

I'm so thankful for a great friend who is letting me use her REALLY nice Sony minidv camera for all of this filming. It's been such a huge blessing! We actually have several more interviews set up over the next few weeks that will continue to give us content for our podcast. I have some editing to do, but I'm looking forward to that. I love the "production" side of ministry.

Silly momemts on a mission trip.

Well, you see me at my finest moments. That is, if you go on a mission trip with me:) This was our last day in Ireland. I'd been there a total of a month with a few weeks in between back in the States. It was quite a trip!

One Year Older

My birthday has come and gone since I last made an entry. I'm one year closer to 30 and don't feel any different:) I guess that's a good thing. Although, sometimes I get annoyed that people think I'm younger than I am. When I was little, it was the opposite. That annoyed me too. I just have to get over it. Ok, i've decided i'm over it:)

Well, things have been pretty busy over the past couple of weeks. I spent the last week in Ohio and Indiana. Not at the same time of course. I was in Colerain, Ohio at Real Life church
where they hosted a banquet to raise money for the brick machine for Widow's Might Ministries. I don't know if I've mentioned the brick machine yet. It is a cool invention that uses dirt, cement and water to create interlocking bricks to create a building without the use of mortar. The company is based in South Africa, so it's on the same continent that we need it to be on. Therefore, shipping will be less expensive! The goal is to purchase this machine to build the Widow's Center. It can put out 1600 bricks a day, I believe. The cost is $20,000. We are now on our way to having almost 10% of the cost. So anyway, after the banquet on Friday night, I filmed my mom and the pastor's wife, Joyce. They both went to Belarus together a few years ago to work with widows. Hopefully that will be some footage I can use to put together the next DVD for Widow's Might. On Sunday, the Widow's Might DVD was shown in church, my mom presented the ministry and I played my violin. It was a good day.

After Ohio, my mom and I drove to Anderson, Indiana. We met with Ruth Shinness. She is a lady who wrote a prayer book called Prayer Strategies. We took two days to film her teaching on different topics regarding prayer. Our intent is to use it for a podcast.

It was sure a full week! But worthwhile for the Kingdom:)

Trips!!

Here are some updates--I'm going to Nicaragua in January! I'm going with my parents and 5 other people. We are going to be working with the children in Bluefields. My mom will also hold a widow's conference there. My dad will be working with the pastors. I'm very excited!

Then from Nicaragua, my parents and I break off from that team and fly to Thailand via Los Angeles. We are the speakers for a missionary school's spiritual emphasis week. It will be very different for me since I've never experienced the East.

Live a Life Worthy of the Calling

I have been studying the relationship of Paul and Barnabas lately. What an intriguing friendship. I've also had the opportunity to listen to a few speakers and pastors in the past few months speak on these men in the Bible. These men are examples to me of what it means to live a missional lifestyle.

I ask myself the question on numerous occasions, How to we 'recruit' missionaries? or How do I get people on board? How can we create passion for Christ and spreading the message? I think that if we look at the lives of Paul and Barnabas we find our answer. Paul was a 'developer of people'. He took Barnabas and helped rekindle, refine, and refocus him to be a better missionary.
In Turn:
1. Barnabas listened to Paul's story to become a better missionary. I need to listen to this generation's story to gain perspective.
2. Barnabas looked beyond Paul's past to see the future. I need to look beyond, not ignore, but to see the potential of individuals.
3. Barnabas linked with Paul to serve with others. Just look at them in Antioch. I need to look for individuals who have a passion for the ministry that I serve in. Link with them. Train them up. Learn from them.
Live a life worthy of the calling. Rekindle. Refine. Refocus. On Jesus.

Building a South African Playground

Last summer('06) I was part of a team that worked in a township outside of Cape Town, South Africa. We accomplished what we thought was going to be impossible. We built a playground for the local, township pre-school. The plan was to build a balance beam, a monkey bar set, and a swing set. We also built a fence to go around the playground area. I came across some short clips that may give you an idea of the work we did.

After we had just cleared the ground of trash, rocks and other unnecessary things, we measured out the playground area. After we had done that, we started digging holes for the posts. Once the holes were dug, we began getting the supplies together to make the playground pieces.

This clip is an example of how we had to drill ever hole to attach our pipes and other pieces of wood together.

In this clip we are trying to get the metal poles to stay in the holes we have drilled for the monkey bars. It's not as easy as 1,2,3.

The next clip is after we got the monkey bars up. I am sawing off the metal pieces to make it safe for the kids. Rachael is taking a piece of lumbar to get drilled.

We had to mix our own concrete to fill the holes. The clip below shows a few township boys who showed up to help us work. This is a great thing! Typically the teenage township boys are into so much trouble or are very lazy. These two boys decided to help us and it made a big difference in the community, as they acted as examples to the other kids.

Our completed swing looked like this-(we actually used tires for the seats):
Here are the famous monkey bars:

We also built the balance beam and the fence, put a brick walk way in, and built a roof on a store.
The time that wasn't used for labor was used for love. We ran kid's camps and loved on the kids in two different townships.

Local Newspaper recognizes Widow's Might Ministries

A local Michigan newspaper wrote a great article on the ministry that I work with, Widow's Might Ministries, Int'l. The focus was on the ministry and the Garden Walk Fundraiser. You can read the article online by clicking here.

Garden Walk Fundraiser

The effort of many men and women over the past few months has paid off! The "Bring a Friend Garden Walk" Fundraiser for Widow's Might Ministries, Int'l. was held on Wednesday, August 15th. Over 300 people came through the garden and listened to the presentation of the ministry. I was in charge of getting the promo packets together, creating the posters, making sure the video/tech stuff was set up and worked, and then of course playing the violin for a bit. We raised about $5000 to put toward the W3 Project. The goal of the W3 Project is to raise enough money for the Watertower, Well, and Wall for the Nigerian Skills Acquisition Center for widows and their children. This was our third fundraiser this year and we now have enough money to fund the W3 Project! Praise God. Here are some pictures from the event.

Get your hands dirty!

I had a pretty neat dinner meeting a few nights ago with a couple who went on their first mission trip ever last January. I led a group to Nicaragua with START Ministries. I haven't done a great job of staying in touch with them over the past few months, but out of the blue, I got an email from them saying that they felt God was calling them back to Nicaragua this upcoming January to serve. They wanted to get together to gather information, advice and insight on how to go about everything.

Their vision is to produce a childrens musical production at the end of a week. Of course, it would be in Spanish and there would have to be translators and a lot of work, but wow! what a vision! As I sat in their living room discussing the logistics and details of what would need to happen to make this work, the thought kept fleeting through my head, 'wow, isn't it amazing that because of one mission trip, this couple is now on fire for God in a totally different way!' I love it!

You can't really get it through people's heads how missions work affects individuals until they experience it on their own. I know that some are called to go, some are called to pray and some are called to support. But consider stepping out on a limb one day, getting out of your comfort zone and getting your hands dirty for Jesus. Just look what one week in January to Nicaragua did to this couple.

Perspectives

As I was browsing through some pictures that other team members had taken on the last Ireland mission trip, I was amazed at how much I didn't see when I was there. Maybe it wasn't that I didn't see it but that it wasn't 'new' to me or I consider it to be a worthy picture. It is interesting how we all have different perspectives in life and how that carries through into the smallest details of something like taking pictures. I'm so glad God made us to see things differently; to appreciate different things. Looking through those pictures added a whole new dimension to my appreciation and love for Ireland.

Office Rat

If you wonder what I do when i'm not traveling...let me give you a little taste of what I look like at the end of a long day (11:30pm) in the office.....ok, so let me explain:) I am working on creating a packet for Widow's Might Ministry (you can check out that blog at widowsmightministry.blogspot.com) and had run into some difficulty with the printer. How hard is it to print an envelope? Well, according to the HP Photosmart 7260 printer and my Dell computer it is very difficult. Plus it doesn't like 'invitation' size envelopes. HINT: Use a pair of tweezers when small pieces of paper are stuck. (Ok, so maybe it's me)...but no worries! Mission accomplished! 400 envelopes printed(after some bribing to the printer and computer)

And yes, that is a typical day at the office:0

...and back again!

Did I ever mention that I love Ireland and the people of Ireland? Well, it should be obvious now, because I went back this summer. A little over a week after I returned from leading my 7 amazing "kids", the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to go back and work with my parents' team as well as finish the painting on Fran's house. My first thought was..that's crazy! I should have just stayed in Ireland! But as I continued to pray and think about it, I started getting serious and realized that the only set back was that I had no money! This is where it get's good though-as I was praying, I felt the Lord keep saying, just trust Me. Six days before my parents' team was to fly out I checked my support account and I had all but $200 to cover the second trip. Unbelievable! That was my first though, because stuff like this never happens to me. I am barely able to cover the full amount of trips that I go on. Then again, the Lord is so faithful and he has ALWAYS provided! So 6 days before the second team flew out I booked my ticket and started repacking for Ireland..again!
This time I was there for 2 weeks. I was able to spend the first week with 2 other servants who helped finish painting Fran's house. The second week I was more involved with the team helping with kids' camp, street evangelism and drama in the city. I am so glad I was able to go back and be a part of God's kingdom in Ireland this summer!

My heart's in Ireland

Grace Brethren Christian School & Alumni Mission Trip
June 20-30, 2007
Athenry and Galway, Ireland

After leading a group of extrodinary teenage and college aged students overseas for a mission trip to Ireland, I am completely amazed, once again, how the Lord brings his people together to work on various projects. We went over to paint a house, work on a garden(yard), run a kid's camp and serve in the church. That could have been done anywhere. We really didn't need to get on a plane and fly over 3000 miles to do that. BUT, in the scheme of things, God's Kingdom is in need of being advanced. Where we do that doesn't matter. God called our team to Ireland and he used us there. Once again, my eyes were opened to a straight-forward Christianity. Love Jesus, love others, serve sacrificially, live unconditionally. That theme is the life blood for the Irish church. Why don't I see it here? God, open our eyes. Maybe I should move to Ireland?:)....i'm actually somewhat serious.....
Here are some of our ministry pictures...
Painting the house, painting the wood that became a fence...
Loading our arms and our cars with books to hand out door to door. Jonathan Edwards(unique:) is an Irish man who overcame drug and alcohol addictions with the Lord's help. He wrote a book about it and we passed out 3000!!

South Africa 2004

Here is a link to a video from my missions trip to South Africa in 2004.
My friend, another leader on the trip, created the video. I hope you are educated and your eyes are opened to the need of Jesus in South Africa.

Black Man: White Man-A Tale of Two Friends

This is a link to a summary of a book that tells the story of two men who come from completely different backgrounds, but end up as best friends. A Gangster and an Undercover Cop! I have read the book and it's an amazing story! (plus guess which guy is my dad?)



read more | digg story

6 Mac versus PC parodies

Collection of 6 Christ-follower versus Christian spoofs of the PC vs Mac ads.



read more | digg story

Seven Reasons Why You Should Never Go On a Short Term Mission Trip!(READ CAREFULLY)

I know you may think...what in the world, isn't Katie Beth a leader and promoter of short term missions trips? Yes! I am..so read the following carefully:

7. It will distort your perception of the world! Seeing it through the plastic lenses of our society is sufficient. They may be distorted, but you are used to them! Do needlessly mess yourself up.
6. You could get sick or robbed! It's dangerous out there! Some places have a crime rate almost as high as our inner cities.
5. It will make you harder to live with! The way you view life and even your likes and dislikes are liable to change. Your friends and family probably won't understand or appreciate your sudden changes.
4. Afterwards you will feel awkward at some of the jokes and comments you currently enjoy. They will not seem as funny when you have seen life from the other side.
3. You will experience sadness you haven't felt before. After you see real suffering, you won't pay much attention to your complaining about how hard you've got it. You are even liable to feel guilty and uncomfortable about the nice things in your house and the food on your table. Stay home and stay comfortable!
2. You might lead someone to the Lord. I know that is a laudable goal, but it tends to cause excitement and further interest in Christian Service.
1. You could feel a pull towards going overseas again-for the adventure, of course. The problem is that you could slowly, subtly get sucked into thinking about being a missionary!

Hopefully you got the drift.:) Get out of your bubble, take a risk and do something to share the gospel!

The facetious information came from David Armstrong who served as a missionary and short term mission coordinator at OC International and is now the Director of Agency Services at Mission Data International.

National Day of Prayer

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. Each year it seems like we need this day more and more to serve as a reminder that our country still needs prayer! Please remember to pray for each level of our government, our citizens and those who still need Christ in our towns.

START Ministries has developed a Prayer Resource Booklet that helps guide you through a full day of prayer. If you are interested in downloading this book, it is free. Just go to www.startministries.com and you will find it on the home page.

Let me know what you think of the book and how God used you on this day.

Gettin' it done!

I'm in Maryland right now anxiously awaiting the opening of this weekends play, Charlotte's Web. Why you ask? Well, because I was brought in 2 weeks before the opening to get it done! The original director was pregnant and delivered a healthy baby 12 days ago which obviously hindered her ability to be at the rehearsals. Things were a little chaotic, but are beginning to settle down and everyone is looking forward to a great show! After leaving Maryland this summer to work in Michigan I had mixed feelings about not being able to be a part of a production. God answered my prayers, in an unusual way, (which I like about Him) and gave me the opportunity to come back to the D.C. area to direct and produce the show. I see this as ministry that God has given me. Sure, I go overseas to third world countries and work, but I'm ministering to kids in the States right now and that is just as important. They need to know Jesus, develop a Christ-like character, and be loved. And that's what I'm up to!

Siberia, February 16-25, 2007

My first trip to Tyumen, Siberia was quite an adventure! The purpose of this trip was to lead worship at our host church, train and encourage Siberian pastors, and host conferences for widows. I was also planning on filming the trip to use for upcoming videos. Our team was made up of 7 people. My parents, a drummer, a worship leader/guitarist, 2 vocalists/pianists, and a violinist(me!).
We flew out of Detroit on Friday, Feb. 16. Our flight was delayed 2 hours so we missed our connecting flight in New York. We had a pretty rough time getting our tickets reissued, but 2 hours later we were given tickets for the next night to Moscow. We arrived a day late in Moscow. We went to pick up the luggage and only 4 of our 10 bags had arrived. Four gift bags for widows, my personal suitcase and one other personal suitcase were lost. I stood in line for 2 hours to report the problem. Our team then took a bus through Moscow to the domestic airport. We had several hours to pass before our evening flight left. We sat at a little cafe and shared with one another.
We arrived in Tyumen, Siberia at 1:30 am and were greeted by several of the pastors from the Christian church. They drove us about 30 minutes into the city and we moved in to our hotel. The hotel rooms were narrow, single rooms with a small European bathroom. Very clean, but very cold!

On Monday we drove to the church to set up for a 10am worship service. The service lasted about 2 hours. It was great! We played several praise and worship songs, shared testimonies and my dad preached. The rest of the week we held the 10am services. As the week passed, the numbers grew. By the end of the week, we even had a Russian bass player!
The services took up our mornings, but we had the late afternoons and evening to do ministry as well. Following the morning service we ate a homemade lunch at the church. The lunches consisted of rice and chicken, homemade noodle soup, beet soup, perogies, fruit and chi(hot tea). We did not want for food! My dad and the two men on the team would stay and minister to a small group of pastors through teaching, prayer and answering questions. My mom, the two other ladies and I would prepare for the widows conferences.

We had 7 widows conferences in that week. A few of them were out in the villages. A typical widows conference includes teaching, a meal, prayer, giving gifts and some music. I was able to play my violin at most of the meetings. It was so sweet because as soon as I finished playing my first song, Amazing Grace, the ladies would start requesting hymns and then start singing as I played. One group of ladies even took out their Russian hymnals to follow along. One particular evening we were holding a conference at the Baptist church and our translator was running late. Well, none of the ladies spoke English so we were trying to communicate with our hands and smiles. I decided to get out my violin and play for them. That is when they took out the hymnals and began to sing. I love how God made music a universal language! At the end of the worship time, one of the younger widows raised her hand and asked to speak. (Our translator had arrived) She said that recently she had been dealing with doubt and insecurity, but when she heard the music she felt the Lord comforting her. That was such a blessing to me!

Day 7 arrived and I still did not have my luggage. The communication between the Moscow airport and ourselves was not very clear, but God answered our prayers and that night I got my bag. Unfortunately, no other bags arrived. We were still missing 5 bags! The excuse that customs gave to us was that we had "tools for measuring and drilling oil and gasoline". Now, that's a joke! Fortunately, we were able to pick up our bags in Moscow on the way home.

Even though I did not have my bag for seven days, the Lord extended the battery life on my video camera so that I was able to capture some great footage. That was another answer to prayer!

The trip was another reminder to me that I have Christian brothers and sisters all over the world. We believe the same things and in the same Lord! We worship together and don't let the language barrier stand between us. Praise the Lord! I can't wait to go back!

Nicaragua, January 13-20, 2007

I led my first official START Ministries trip a week ago. It was awesome! I had been planning for months and coresponding with the missionaries in Nicaragua just as long. Finally the day arrived for me to step on the plane in Detroit and step off into a different culture to proclaim God's good news.
5 team members flew out of Detroit and we were meeting up with the other 4 in Houston. Once the team was complete, I felt like we gelled very quickly!
The plan was to fly into Managua, Nicaragua, spend the night and leave early the next morning to catch an "in-country" flight to Bluefields. Our ministry was to take place in Bluefields.
If you are not familiar with Nicaragua, it is compareable to the size of New York with about 5 million+ people living in the country. Managua is on the west coast and Bluefields is on the east coast. Bluefields is known as a "black water city". The city received it's nickname due to the allowance of outhouses and bathrooms being placed directly over the water. You can only imagine the pollution and smell. As I sat on the balcony porch of our motel the first night and looked out at the water it made me so sad. What could have been an absolutely breathtaking view of the ocean was the view of a disgusting, murky, brown ocean. As I continued to reflect on this, the thought occured to me that this is how our hearts are before we know Jesus. Even if we are incapeable of changing the water in the city, we are not incapeable of sharing the love of Christ. Each murky heart can be cleansed with the blood of Christ. That gave me hope for the week!
The plan of action was kid's camp. We had three days of supplies and lessons prepared. We held two camps a day in two different locations. The morning camp was held at Verbo Church and the afternoon camp was held at Verbo school. The school was next to the dump so the kids were more underpriveleged who came. The camp consisted of singing songs in Spanish, acting out a Bible story, teaching a Bible verse, making a craft, eating a snack and playing games. The first day we had a total of about 100 kids. That was really good, but we were praying that God would double our numbers. So don't be surprised when I tell you that on Tuesday we had 200 kids! And then of course our prayers continued to be answered when on Wednesday we had over 400 kids!
On Thursday we purchased food for 15 families who lived in the dump. There is a young lady in the Verbo church who is ministering to these families on a consistent basis. Our team wanted to support her ministry and be an encouragement to her. We provided flour, salt, sugar, beans, rice, milk, 2 boxes of matches and oatmeal for each family. When the women of the families came to receive the food one of our team members presented the gospel to them.
Several of the children who were listening to the gospel message gave their lives to Christ that day! Praise the Lord!
I found out later that day that our team was the first group to support this young girls ministry. When I spoke with her after the food was distributed and she was given extra supplies for the upcoming weeks, she was in tears. She couldn't believe that someone would care so much about such a small ministry. I told her that no ministry is small in God's eyes. I continue to pray that God will supply her needs as well as the needs of her new ministry.

Urbana Missions Conference

START Ministries made its first appearance at the historic Urbana Missions Conference on Dec. 28, 2006. We had a team of 5 working at our booth. There was never a dull moment with 22,000 attendees roaming around! We spoke with hundreds of high school, college, and young adult aged people who shared our vision in proclaiming the gospel. There were over 200 people who signed up showing their interest in being part of a short term missions trip.
The widow's ministry was also blessed! We had several ladies who were very interested in learning more about how they can get involved in the ministry.
We had several serious invitations to come work with other ministries. One was to India and the other to Nepal! I love how God networks people!
I do have to share a little about my "booth neighbors". You can see a bit of their booth called, Synergy, in the picture above. The ministry is based in New Jersey and let me just say, I love them!! They are computer geniuses and business professionals who volunteer their time for organizations like ours as well as to third world countries to help enhance and advance technology.
As a result of Urbana, new ministry friends were made, potential short term trips were formed and we at the START booth were blessed by the teaching seminars and encouraged by the others who share our similar vision. I am so glad God provided the way for me to go!