Sister to Sister

I'm really excited to be a part of the Sister to Sister program at Central Detroit Christian Ministry this April and May. I will be driving to Detroit on Tuesday nights to teach drama and music for middle school kids who live in the city. The classes start April 1st! Keep me in your prayers! I'll keep ya updated on how things are going. This is a volunteer program that will also get my foot in the door for Urban Arts this summer. Exciting!

Why Direct?

It's been a while since i've last updated what I have been up to, but this is the first chance i've had to sit down and think clearly about what i've been doing myself!:) Upon arriving home (Michigan) safely from Thailand, I spent a couple of days doing laundry, repacking, and in meetings for Urban Arts before I hopped in my car to drive to Washington D.C. I got into D.C. pretty exhausted, jet lagged, and trying to figure out why I said yes to directing a play 3 days after I flew in from Thailand. But after some much needed sleep and a "first" rehearsal with the cast, I knew I had made the right decision!

I had 4 1/2 weeks to pull off a full production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a success! We had a lot of laughs during our practices and some pretty special moments. Enjoy the pictures and if you're interested in purchasing a DVD of the production let me know!

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.