Love and the outcome (part 2)

Wednesday 9/18

We started the day listening to a Francis Chan sermon!:) really good stuff!:)

The kids place we were at yesterday wanted us back for their oldest group coming in this afternoon so we planned for that and then planned for tomorrow mornings thing at the school again. 

At adventure Kidz we did some drama's fit for their age and testimonies. I stepped out and got to talk about one of our drama's called "me"! That was the first time I have had a translator speaking in front of a crowd! I've had one while praying for people. It's different. Takes me a bit to get used to. 

After dinner we went to the truck stop down the road to pray for the truckers and give out more HIV awareness packets with a box of condemns. We prayed hard for safety before going because this is the main place prostitution happens. Terrifies me, but I trust that God will protect me. Always with a guy from my group we blessed a lot of truckers. Then we went to a neighborhood where prostitution is strong. I thought it would be more obvious but it wasn't. When I say that I mean I didn't see a ton of girls standing outside of shops just waiting to sell their bodies. I'm really glad the base showed us the movie Nefarious, otherwise I wouldn't know what to expect in this area. My heart just ached the whole time we were in this neighborhood, although we only saw a few girls out... I could definitely feel the oppression in this place. It was thick! The whole time I prayed that God would bring these girls to Him to be free. I was really relieved when we left. If it was obvious I would have had a hard time but I know God would have given me the strength to walk it out. He always does. I feel like I'll be helping these girls one day in counseling. 

Thursday 9/19

First stop we went to a school where we did all our kid drama's and got to play with the kids. It's the best feeling in the world when dozens of kids come running up to you to give you a hug that you almost fall down. This makes my day and I know without a doubt it make theirs too. 

After lunch we went back to a kids church ministry where we just played with the kids and had fun! I saw three familiar faces from the time before and I met more. They loved seeing me!:) A group of us played games that I learned from youth or kids ministry and they taught me hand shakes. 

One of my favorite songs that all the little African kids sings is:

"Higher, lower"

Bring me Higher

Higher Higher

Higher Higher Higher

Lord Jesus Higher

Bring me Lower

Lower Lower

Lower lower lower

Lower lower

Lord Jesus Lower

They all sing it with so much passion! I love it:)

Wildatheart

Katie Jones

Love and the outcome (part 1)

Monday 9/16

Walking across the dirt roads with kids accumulating around me as we walk, such joy is flowing freely as we giggle, dance and love each other like what love is supposed to look like. 

So much excitement! 

These kids truly absorbed everything we had to offer for them as we did drama's and told testimonies. Then we split off into groups to do crafts! My group of 5 little girls and I had so much fun drawing pictures, me taking pictures of them with their pictures and then the excitement of getting to look at their pictures afterwards. I enjoyed telling them how beautiful they are. They found one of my weaknesses right off the bat which is the fact that I'm very ticklish all over, the overwhelming fingers and laughter as I got them back by tickling them. Their age ranged from 2-5 years old in my group! I loved this and soaked up every moment! 

After dinner we went to Avian park where a bunch of little kids and their families came for a service followed by dinner. We did drama's and testimonies for them, which they absolutely loved!:) the whole time I'm holding a little girl prolly under 2! She is sweet!:)

It's the sweet moments God blesses us with to melt our hearts a little bit more for Him. It's that vision of Him holding His children tightly in His arms and then Him opening my eyes to His love coming out of me to this precious little girl warmly snuggled in my arms. This is the Fathers heart for us, shown to me just thru one little girl. As I held her I felt like someone grabbed my heart and tore it in half as I looked at her bare feet and felt her shivering body against me. I thought it couldn't get worse till sweet little coughs came out of her. I stood their holding her against me tightly to try my best to get her warm. It was prolly in the 30's or 40's with very strong winds, not helping me much. I had my jacket and rain jacket on but I was holding her with my hands bare. I didn't think at all about my frozen fingers till we got in the car. It's these moments God breaks my heart for what breaks His but shows me how strong I really am. I almost lost it in an ocean of tears but God always shows me more joy within it than anything. After they ate, a grandma of her grandson went up to me and asked me to pray for him so I did with such joy, which then I prayed for her without a thought about it. Her husband passed away a year ago and she takes care of her grand kids. Bless her heart, I can't imagine losing someone that close. Her heart is so precious and I loved every moment as I got to pour into her.

Tuesday 9/17

By 7:15 am we were all on the road to go teach devotionals at a primary school here. Jodi and I had worked on a sermon about Joseph and his robe of many colors. Tim (assistant leader of Ruth) joined us, which was a huge blessing. We walked into a room of 4th graders to teach. We learned a little about them and then started speaking about Joseph's story, the subject was hope. Connecting Joseph's dream and their personal dreams on life and giving them hope to never give up on it. I got to share a little of my testimony sharing about how I was inspired by a youth leader to do missions when I was 12 and that since then I worked hard up to graduating High school a year early to do missions and here I am. I loved speaking hope into their hearts. 

All of our games we had planned fell thru so as I had observed the class as devotionals went along, a kid randomly started to dance in the middle of the aisle. It was really good! So I asked that somebody come up and show us their best dance move. They lined up for this immediately. Showing us the shuffle and a bunch of really cool moves.

Then we went back to avian park to do some more evangelism. Tim taxied us, little kids from the neighborhood crawled in and we let them. Their faces of excitement just to ride in a car was so cool and such a joy to all of us. Tim even let one sit on his lap to steer. 

This afternoon we helped at an after school program. We played a bunch of games, then we moved onto drama's and then crafts. 

These kids observed every part of me probably, as I am watching a game and I look down and a little girl is checking out my arm muscles as she mutters some African (said Africon) language. I just stood there and laughed. This group was well behaved and a lot of fun. It was fun meeting more brothers and sisters and getting to play/catch up on life.

  

Day 1 South Africa

We arrived at the Warcester YWAM base at 2 am Friday! We were all exhausted. We had been traveling since 3pm Wednesday. So we crashed knowing we had till 1 the next day off.  I slept in till 11:30 easy. I could have slept all day I was so tired. This base is really nice! We have very comfortable beds to sleep in. We were very thankful for this since we had been sleeping on our Matt's in London. We basically had the day off to just relax. I got wifi to contact my parents. Then spent an hour or so talking to my mom. 

I took a nap (I needed it)!:)

Saturday we hit the ground running. We went door to door in the nicest neighborhood here to spread awareness of HIV to the people, handing them info packets and condemns. Debra our translator made the experience all the more fun, with her bubbly personality. She has no filter therefore she asked questions straight up. Funny story: first home we went to there were two older boys and so she was asking them questions and then asked "have you heard of HIV?" They said "yes, we know too much about that!" And then she asked "have you had sex?" They said "no" and she turned to us and said " They haven't started yet which means they are virgins and are still available" (followed by a wink).  

People here are open to prayer and will let you into there house, no question about it. Their hearts are so full and fruitful. Jesus is definitely in this neighborhood. But I still feel as though their are some that don't have Jesus in their hearts. These are the type of people that have little to nothing but don't see what they don't have and are thankful for what they have. Living in Houses made of tin, cardboard or thin sheets of wood barely put together with spray painted number on the house, from the outside it looks bad but the inside is well kept and furnished with Ikea furniture along with a tv, refrigerator and lots of people. News paper or cardboard is plastered all over the walls on the inside, which keeps the place warm. Walking on the streets my heart is warmed by little hands and bright joyful faces jumping and running around me, playing with me as if they have never met a white person let alone American before. I was surrounded by 4 little kids that turned into 12 and then up to 20! We ventured off to the back of the neighborhood where it's just a field full of trash, along it we see goats, pigs, chickens, roosters and dogs running around. My heart aches for this place, these people and their hearts. The need here is tremendous. God is so good to place me in the path of Debra who works at the clinic as a counselor for these people.  Since I want to eventually be a counselor...God just loves placing people from that field in my path. She truly has a heart for them and I can't think of anyone more anointed by God than her, here in this place at this time. Here the children have a choice to be raised by their parents or grandparents. So the first house had a lot of kids running around because they chose to be raised by their grandmother. This grandma's heart and love for these kids was beyond what I could imagine or know. I hope and pray to be half as good as a mother and grandmother as this lady was, always open to take care of any child or grandchild that come thru. What a blessing she is. I have a true respect for these grandmothers! This is what I looked forward to all those years I imagined missions, the smiles, the laughter, the little hands, the need, the openness, the precious hearts that truly know love and give love. My heart is full and overflowing. 

After lunch we as a team hosted a teenage boys group, where we played games, did a few drama's and testimonies. It was a blast and I think the boys really loved it. I videoed the drama's I'm not in and the games we did to, hopefully I can figure out how to get those up from my camera. 

Tonight we went to a night of worship at a church near by. Shakinah glory come down! Lol most beloved song by all of us as we dance extravagantly in the back row. 

London, England Adventure

When we got to London, we had no idea where we were going to stay or any of our plans, but God blessed us with Emmanuel evangelical church who worked thru legal stuff to allow us to stay with them for as long as we were in London...they also got us food. With that God also blessed us with opportunities to serve in the church with their street healing ministry, homeless service and Mother's Day out as well as let us attend a conference speaking on pro-life with Scott Klusendorf. We also got to walk the Heart of London, England praying for people and the place.

God allowed me to speak into many that have gone thru what I have and so I poured in what has been poured into me! I believe lives were changed!

At the healing ministry I poured into a lady who is struggling with depression/anxiety, she shared her struggles as a mother of a 6 yr old, trying to get him back (I'm thinking that the parents are separated and the dad has him), how she feels so alone right now and how she is just trying to find true love. Because I have struggled with depression I got to pour into her what my counselor poured into me. It was such a gift to be able to give someone a seed of hope that will grow.

At the homeless service I talked to a lady named Lance that has been told by social services that she has mental issues. I spoke truth over her and told her a little of a family testimony and as I spoke words that she would be able to evangelize to people in social services or anything in that area. Doctors of any sort are not people we need to listen to cause God is the one who knows everything. Because I am so thankful to have an older sister who is special needs  and has been told that she couldn't do simple things like walk or talk (much more we were told) and God came thru for her by giving my awesome parents strength to do what it takes to allow her to walk, say a few words to sign language and much more....she is a living, breathing, walking blessing to my family and I. She is proof that doctors don't see all, let alone know all but that God knows. 

Saturday night we attended church at Hillsong. It was what we needed and it was such a blessing to attend and enjoy. People here are very reserved! We have all had a few experiences where we would go up to someone with such confidence to say "Hey, how are you?" And the other reply "No!" Or I even had someone just shake their head no.

I had a homeless lady ask me with such concern to see if I was feeling ok! It's not common for anyone to go up to a stranger and start talking to them here while in the states their a little more open to it. We have prophesied and pray that we can turn graveyards into gardens here and we believe that is what we have done and we will keep praying for the revival to come. This place is anointed with Him everywhere, now all they need to do is choose Him...choose a relationship with Him. That is my prayer for London. 

All to come down to my love for London Brag moment! 

London is beautiful! The tea is delicious and the people's hearts are so sweet once you get to know them.

The kids are beautiful with their nice outfits (always dressed nice) and landscape that is always picked up and fancy. I love London! I could move here, but that would be a bit expensive. 

Last night we wrote down a name and explanation of each person on a paper and went around praying over each person we have encountered here. Visions of chains being broken and gardens being mended together were displayed before us giving hope to this place.

Last night  we had a movie night, ate pizza and had magnum ice cream! Perfect way to end our experience in London, England.

Now toSouth Africa, Capetown we go!:) 

YWAM life

Blessings and so thankful

Wildatheart

Katie Jones

Costa Rica (part2)

Talamanca, suretka

Our Mission:

love on people, pray for people, help out and help build a church.

Tuesday:

We went into the jungle to haul wood out. This was interesting since we had to pass a river. First time thru I lost my shoe in the mud and had to fish it out. 

After that I realized I had a bunch of bumps on my legs! Remembering that a group of us got lost and went the wrong way in the jungle and a plant I walked by had a bad sting/cut to it. We all have to spray bug spray on us frequently because of the dangyay fever(not to sure I spelt that right) here. It can be deadly depending on which of the three ways it comes to you. Signs of it will appear 4-7 days after. I trust that God will protect us. He brought us here, surely He will.

After a hard day of working we went down the river and showered/went swimming in the river. It was nice to get clean after all that hard work and sweat! It's worth it! 

Wednesday

We finished hauling wood and then took all of it to the church. Most of the church is built just needs the foundation set. Most of the wood had bark so we had fun with the machete and wood blocks to help us chip it off. That took all morning. Then that afternoon we picked up trash around the village and prayed. 

It's always a treat to get to go down to the river after work to relax in the water and clean up if needed, so that is what we did.

Thursday

All except the boys, Tammy, Tim and Tabea went to the nursing home while the others helped work on a project for Alex and Julia at there home. Riding the bus there is always an adventure since there's only so much room in a bus and so many people who are on it. Most people are standing, while most women with babies or children sit. At the nursing home we did puppets and told testimonies. Afterwards we gave them their snack and then did crafts with them. One of the guys there had a shirt on that said "speed demon". Pretty funny! I got to massage two ladies hands with lotion. I have been told by God and many others that I am a healer, it wasn't till later I looked at the lotion bottle and it said healing lotion. I made one of the guys there a crown and a people set. He loved it. We then raked the yard for the nursing home. As we did this we found that the water here was not ok to drink....thankfully God is protecting us and we don't have to worry about this but we became cautious and didn't do it again. I never filled my water bottle up there so I was good. 

Friday 

We rode the bus to the school to paint. Dropping Tim, Chris and Ty at Alex and Julia's to finish there project, the rest of us went to paint. We painted 3 classrooms. One room we painted blue, one room we painted blue and pink, and the next was white. We finished before 1:15 to clean up and leave. We had the rest of the day off. So we wanted to bless the family we stayed with so after dinner we had juice and desert with them that our team bought. We heard their story and got to pray for them. 

I found out that night Benadryl makes me super tired and hysterical! I say strange things and I even laugh in my sleep (according to my YWAM siblings).lol

The next morning we packed it up and moved it out! On the way back to  San Jose we got to swim in the Caribbean in Porta Vieho (didn't spell that right but oh well). It was awesome! Then we changed, ate lunch and then it was on the road for the next five hours.  We arrived in San Jose at 7, to wait at the bus stop for a while and then to the base to eat dinner. It was nice to be back! The Schmidt family (YWAM family) got back as well, so it was all hugs, laughter and joy to see each other again. I love that family! 

It was nice to get a warm shower and feel clean afterwards! I'm thankful for the warm and clean part because its rare to get a warm shower at the San Jose base and to be clean after constantly smelling and sweating in Suretka was great.

One more full night of sleep in a twin sized bed and a restful day full of packing before we leave at 4 am for the airport!

London here I come (told you I would be back-I've only been to the airport)!:)

Katie Jones

Wildatheart

Costa Rica (part1)

Anabell was waiting with a sign that said "welcome YWAM Denver DTS" as we walked out of the airport.

Monday, we walked to the university where we prayed over people and the property

Tuesday, we got the chance to help at Salvation Army! 

My team cleaned up the back yard.

It still fascinates me how intricate Banana tree's are, with little bee's and vines that we all think look like alien arms! We transformed that back yard that day and got to be the blessing while blessing kids as we did puppet shows and kid drama's. I love this team! They jump into everything with perseverance and a heart full of compassion to do it 100% and more.

But the day wasn't done yet.

We all got to pray over people outside of the hospital waiting room.

Tabea, Meghan and I prayed over a guy throwing up blood. It was definitely a God thing since this didn't completely gross me out. Then after asking God to bring to me anyone else that needs prayer, I then prayed over a lady who's aunt was having surgery on her stomach, then a guy who's aunt has cancer and is in the hospital, and then Carlo's who had Chris and I pray over generations to come in his family. I got a powerful word for him that relieved his worry over those generations...cause God has it. 

Wednesday to Saturday,

we helped the base set up for a conference and then while the conference is happening we will be taking over the child care department. As well as doing meal preps and clean ups. 

Recent update

Today is the last day for the conference. 

Tonight we will be going to a young peoples church where my leader Ruth will be speaking and my YWAM sister Jodi will be telling her testimony as well as drama's afterwards. We will be doing "Facade" and "fix you", both I'm in.

I'm hoping to post a video of those soon (via Facebook).

Sunday is our day off and we will be going to a museum downtown.

Monday we leave for the village (more info to come).

The returning YWAM

8/2/13

Kingdom night tonight was phenomenal. God told me that I wouldn't have to search for people to talk to, so I just went with it and what happened was really cool.

Stephanie  (one of my leaders)word to me-Your heart is sensitive right now and will know who to go to!;) 

A few of us found a lady in her 60's homeless and desperate for someone to talk to! We all listened intently to her as she spoke about her country stealing from her and her family leaving her stranded. She believe's she doesn't need her family anymore and she prays that this government will get itself together one of these days. We got the opportunity to pray over her and I gave her a word saying "with great difficulty will come great Favor from The Lord and I want to declare that over your life!:)"

She was happy to hear this but she questioned my name and asked If I had any other names/identities! I don't know what this mean but I answered to what God calls me. Not sure if that's what she meant.

Next guy I talked to was not a Christian but he will be in my prayers! I am positive I planted a seed. His family is gangster (what he told me), his mom died of heroin and his dad died in the Vietnam war, his two brothers are distant and he was dropped off in Denver by his now ex-girlfriend left to be homeless. They fought a lot. He was a very nice guy! I felt like he was giving up on life in general with the extremity of what he talked about. My heart hurts for him. He asked me what I worked for and so I told him I am a missionary! He then continued to ask me what got me into all this religious stuff, so I was honest and told him that I was raised in a Christian family and continued to say that I am not here to change him but to love on him and whoever God put in my path. He was very understanding! I just know I wouldn't want a Muslim to go up to me only to be there to change me and not to listen to me. I wanted him to know I was there to listen to him and give encouragement and if he was interested in having a relationship with Jesus, the door was not closed. I did offer to pray for him but he refused and I'm fine with that. I told him he would be in m prayers.

Then storm and I left for Starbucks! After getting a drink we sat outside at a table. When storm looked to her right, she looked back at me with eye's that said "she is it, she is the one God wants me to talk to" and so I looked and said "yes, lets do it!" We walked over to a young lady at a table all by her self. We both introduced ourselves and sat down as if we were old friends. Storm started talking to her as if she had known her, her whole life. I just sat there very silent at first listening to storm ask her if she had anything we could pray for her and the young lady (Gaby) telling her she was very blessed and then continued to ask if she had anything she could pray for. This was a little shocking to us, this doesn't happen often. As I sat there I felt bad for staying silent but that was also the moment God gave me a word for Gaby. When we were done praying over her! I began telling her "Gaby, I feel like The Lord would want me to tell you that you are rooted and planted in His path, you don't look to the right or the left but to him and he likes this about you! He really likes you a lot! I feel like He has such a big plan for you. He is also telling me y'all are about to do some amazing stuff, y'all are going to have a lot of fun together!" It was almost as if He was putting words into my mouth as I got more comfortable speaking this over her. After I prayed for her, I looked at her and she was wiping tears from her face. 

Before we headed back we all exchanged numbers and emails, letting her know that we are here for her when she needs us. I told her we are now her prayer warriors.

I'm excited! I love pouring into people and loving on them. 

8/3/13

My small group surprised me by taking me to the zoo for a happy late birthday gift. Totally a blast! Love this group like none other! The peacocks were everywhere making their noises, that I think sound like the bird off of "UP". I think I embarrassed Logan a few times for mimicking some of the animals there or making sound effects to what animal I was looking at. The most fun I had was imitating a monkey's actions to what it is thinking at the moment. I am entertained by animals almost always.

It was fun but exhausting. I wanted to crash when I got back but it was like energy came back to me, so I 

Just hung out with everyone that was around.

8/4/13

I tried Bridge way today and let me just tell you! Worship rocked!!!!

Everything else, okay...but worship....WOW! 

The rest of the day I treated myself to a over half of my book left to read before tomorrow because its due then.lol I didn't succeed but I plan to finish early in the morning.

8/5/13

Woke up at 5:30 to go read at Starbucks. I finished!!! Woot woot! Always a celebration to finish a book on my account. It was a great book I must say. 

Troy Sherman is speaking this week on relationships! For two hours he spoke to us, giving no breaks and let me just say that I was ok with that. Because he is so entertaining. Blows my mind!:) 

His class went a little like this.... (my notes of what he said)
Love your neighbor as youself.
"Grace compelled me to change my behavior not law"
Gynecologists don't have to be Christians (this point is a little creepy to me)
A joke by Troy Sherman " I was meditating on the book of numbers and I realized I don't have yours." He is super funny and entertaining. It's going to be a great day.

The whole time we really dug into 1st Corinthians chapter 13.
"Being vulnerable makes us more like God and more powerful"
"what you did or what you do will never define you but what you do with that is what will define you."
Love- is desiring the highest good for the other individual.
"If Jesus has been telling you He loves you and you have been slapping it down, you have been quieting the lord."
The more clear God is with you the more reason you have to pee yourself.
Once you have something worth steeling the devil will attack.
Give Him your full heart and He will do infinity, hold back a little and He can only do His max.
Sometimes what seems the best will end up being the worst.
Sex was intended by God to be the overflow of intimacy.
I don't care about you having sex before marriage, its why you did it, I care about.
Less of us would sin if we had to pay for it.
It isn't a sin issue it is a love issue.
We confuse our attraction with our anointing.

really intense and interesting. (this isn't even all my notes....crazy...just summarized)
 

8/6/13

Troy Sherman talked about- Expressing different levels of understanding love.
"When I was a child I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways."
You will become like the thing you worship.
If your trying to love it's no longer love, its seduction.
Marriage doesn't fix you.
You cannot train a leader to love.
Lie's only have power, if you give them power.
We are the revival.
Love never fails
1st Corinthians 13:7-8 Love bears all things....
Have a good fight before you marry and then your ready.
1st Corinthians 13
He will not tell you but show you.

 

8/7/13

Troy Sherman

Notes...
Believe-
Ezekiel 16:49
Hope-A desire of some good, accompanied with all expectation of obtaining it or a belief that it is obtainable; an expectation of something which is thought to be desirable; confidence; pleasing expectancy.
Endure-To continue in the same state without perishing; to last; to remain.

 

I had drama practice today where I played the role of greed! Pretty fun and funny, I must say. I'm so happy to be here. 

8/8/13

Hard quiet time today, one of those mornings when you just leave the tissue box close by. 

Last day with Troy! So sad! He is really awesome and a talented speaker!
Notes
Dating and Marriage
Have a good fight before you marry.
Experience the good, bad and ugly.
1st Corinthians 13:4- Love is patient, love it kind....
Beauty is cursed in 2/3 of the world. Proof would be looking at the before and after pictures of anyone famous. Makeup is just making this world have a distorted view of beauty.
God called us to a ministry of obedience not success.
I would rather be drowning with Jesus than in the boat without Him.
Forgiveness-The blood of Jesus only covers what you uncover.
He loves you, let it go!
Identity- you can't relate to others unless you know you.
 

8/9/13

Today we had mid term evaluations on the leaders and directors. Hardest thing I have ever done! I don't know how to answer those type of things. Then we had small group where our group combined with Katie's group, who has Danny, Alley and storm. So all of us played taboo. 

Then we went to a really nice Brazilian restaurant, where we are a lot of food!:) really yummy stuff.
A lot of fun to just dress up and eat with some amazing people. The rest of the day consisted of resting and trying not to think about how full I was.  

8/10/12

For service Saturday we walked a 5k for Aids/HIV. When we arrived at the race, a family who lost their brother from Aids, was there ready to welcome. They were so excited to see us. They are such a sweet family and have a testimony of their brother. Breaks my heart that this is a problem in the world and not much is done for it. Not many survive. The families little kids were there, I got to play with them a little with a few other YWAM siblings of mine. Such a great day. The rest of the day was just restful.

8/11/12

I have decided I really love vineyard. I think it's because of the group that also likes going there but I also really like the worship leader. She has a really pretty voice.
After Church Meghan and I worked on our Thailand project for the cookout later. A family that is great friends with my leader Ruth has asked us to come for a cookout they are hosting for us. It was so sweet and so much fun. Getting so close to leaving for Costa Rica.

8/12-14/12

Donna is teaching us on spiritual warfare this week. It's so good.

 

 

Travel update

• We have not heard much from the London, England base so we are not sure what will happen there. So keep that in your prayers. Yes, doors have been open as to where we will stay but not stable just yet.
• We leave the Base at 8:30 pm Saturday and depart from the airport at 1:00am. From there we will land in South Carolina for a layover and then we go to Costa Rica.

8/15

least busiest Thursday I have ever had. So I got to facetime my sweet mom and sister. They got a sneak peak at one of the Drama's the compassion team was working on, that we also will be doing. Today we had a team meeting, these are always so good. We are learning how to communicate on outreach when we might not be in the best of moods. God has this, it's going to be good. I'm excited to be stretched and strengthened.

We had drama review today where we review all the drama's we will do on outreach. So much fun.:)

 

 

Pictures of my adventure

 

 

 

To kingdom night we go:)

I love the zoo

Zack and I in purple

The group at Brazilian steak house

Me and the beautiful Alyssa

Aids walk for service Saturday

Me and Cindy Lou hoo my puppet on outreach. We sing, we laungh and we dance!:)

Graduation!:)

Wildatheart

Katie- Daughter of the one true king

P.s. will update as soon as I can!:)

YWAM Update

YWAM Journal

7/21/13

Funny how I can get so excited about doing my hair because its short and really easy to do. It's even easier now due to the fact that its not as curly anymore. And it's not as curly as I thought it would be short.
 I went with a few other girls to Faith this morning. First time here! It reminds me a lot of Trinity, especially since I know some of the people on stage cause they play on the worship team on base as well. It was great! I think I will need to go again to make it feel more comfortable. I already feel that way with mile high vineyard. God is good!:)
I finished my book report paper today and sent it to my small group leader. So glad that's out of the way.
The book is really good!
So to celebrate a group of us ventured off to Starbucks and hung out. Some needed to do homework so I took that time to write the blog you saw last time.
Afterwards we went back to base for dinner and then did some more reading on my big purple blanket in the grass.
A few of us ended our day with some bliss frozen yogurt and then crashed.
I also forgot to mention that Friday Meghan's friend Becca arrived here at YWAM and is now staying on my top bunk!:) She is really neat and a joy to be around.



7/22/13

It's getting closer to my birthday and I'm getting even more excited! I'm ready to be 18 and have been for a very long time. This day will be good even if I do nothing for myself.
This week Eric from staff is speaking about bible study! He aims to make 3 senses apart of his speaking so today was taste I guess. We took something that is like tonic (spicy and boost's your metabolism and immune system), a cracker and then jelly beans that could taste anywhere from gross to yummy. I thankfully got strawberry jam instead of centipede (the two are the same color). He dug into our beliefs of  bible study by relating it to our own lives. I realize this now has a big significance to belief's in general and God pointed some stuff out to me. I can't wait to learn more.
After supper I had a date night with just me and Jesus.
I need a special time with Him sometimes that tastes sweet!lol I don't think He has much against Reece's and a iced white chocolate mocha. Lol He just wants time with me.
He is showing me that it's ok to stop and look around!
I have noticed today how much I have changed in just 4 weeks! I'm enjoying every bit of me that is stepping out to change. I'm never in a comfort zone here. If a comfort zone is with Jesus than that's what mine is and sometimes it's not the type of comfort I would like. Even though as I sit here, the coffee is gone and there is no more Reece's, my date is not over yet! I love Him so much! He makes me just want to sit in this moment forever and ponder on who He says I am.
Every time I say "Jesus" He always gives me chills! Being here at YWAM has given me this sweet feeling to say "Jesus"! I love it! "Jesus" here is a sweet sound to all here. I know it would be anywhere but I feel like this is the place it has hit me.



7/23/13

Last night I had a weird dream.
When I say "weird" I mean it.
During quiet time I dissected and was reminded of a lot of things and it all matched up really well. God is so good. The dream was about a dog fighting against the enemy and a bird would come over and give the dog a treat to keep it going. I think God is the bird and I was the dog, keeping the enemy in mind that we always are in a war. The enemy in my dream couldn't be seen, I just knew it was coming. My prophetic word says that I am sweet, that's what He likes about me, I am like candy wanting to give people what I have. The word prey came to mind as I was asking Jesus what this dream meant. Meaning that because of my sweetness the enemy will always be seeking me as prey to devour because I AM so precious to God.
This was a really cool thing to see happen and think thru.

 Class has been really good!
We had a chance to act out a part from the bible! My group did the "fall of man". I was the serpent in this one! At the beginning it says that the serpent was the most crafty of them all so I got some scissors, glue and paper and acted like I was being crafty. I had been joking about how God made child labor painful from the beginning when we were practicing so I got to do the sound effects to the child labor part! That was fun!
In class we are learning the different Narratives in the bible such as,

• historical narrative
• old testament law
• prophetic
• poetry
• wisdom
• gospel
• epistle
• eschatological

and the different genres of the bible. All very neat. I now have a different perspective of bible study.

The day ended with Meghan, her friend Becca and I going to Bliss to get frozen yogurt and then we took a drive towards the mountains. God is always reminding me to take in His beauty and not to take it for granted. I am always ok with this, as long as He is in me reminding me, I will take it all in and enjoy it all. I also learned how to play bonanza which was a lot of fun.

7/24/13

During quiet time I had a revelation of a song I have been wanting to get for a long time because it has just kept on playing in the background of my mind for prolly a month. Found it!:) so guess what? It's been playing every time I get a chance! It's called "He is with us" by love and the outcome (meredith andrews sings it)

Today in class we learned about- meditating on the word, giving 3 options of how you can do this:

• one thought method- read a portion of scripture, pick one verse and think about it, turn it into a prayer and then pray it back to God.
• Gospel meditation approach-Quiet yourself in God's presence, ask Him to take the words in scripture and lead you to an encounter with the Father, son and the holy spirit.(read John 15:1-7 outloud)
• Contemplative approach (also known as Lectio Divina)- a sacred reading method a way of listening to God through scripture.

I had my one on one with my small group leader Mary today at lunch! She is amazing and so very sweet! I can't wait till my parents meet her!:) She is the sweetest!:) She is the kind of person that if you tell her about something you need prayer over, you can have no doubt that she will be praying about it for you. I love her!:)

We had an outreach prep meeting/team meeting today, Erica Strickland (an amazing singer and speaker) taught us how to write a sermon and gave tips to do for our translator when we get one.

Today in work duties on grounds we raked the grass. They don't bag their grass because it fertilizes the grass but in a few days they take it up so that it doesn't suffocate the new grass coming in. Pretty neat I must say. Great biceps and ab workout, I mean I do get enough of this in a day due to laughter but I'm ok with more exercise. It was way better than picking pine cones up!:)

Afterwards Becca, Meghan and I hung out before Meghan went to life  group and I needed to do homework.

After homework I just hungout and eventually went to bed early due to God telling me I needed to wake up really early. Before I did I got to drop in on a skit that some of the group was learning/working on. When they all are done and perfected I will post some video's. They are all so great!:)

7/25/13

I woke up at 5:30am to get ready quickly and go see the sunrise.

Living in the mountains is different you don't see it as soon as it come up but you know it is up cause its light out. Plus, clouds got in the way but that was what God wanted I guess. It's funny cause the last two mornings God has told me to do this and my alarm was on low volume and I ended up not doing it but this morning it was 3x louder and much more awakening. And it didn't go off just once, I guess God wanted to keep reminding me even if I was already up! Lets just say it was Beautiful and God's timing was great.  I just sat there admiring it and listening to graham Cooke, Afterwards I went to Starbucks across the road and got me set up! My new favorite is iced white chocolate mocha. As i sat in Starbucks I looked out side and caught a glimpse of a rainbow coming from the clouds.:)

So the rest of my day was really nice. I was surprisingly wide eyed and bushy tailed!:) lol

Last day of class we dug into observing, interpreting, finding timeless truth's and application God's word. We did this by digging into Ephesians, taking a bit of it and going thru these steps.

After dinner Tabea and I went and did laundry! I needed it done for the weekend and she had no more clean clothes to wear. Then we went to bliss. Bliss is my favorite place to go after laundry or during if it works out. Then I walked around the park with Alyssa and we just talked, following an awesome quirky time with the photo booth, Tabea and I!:)

7/26/13

I love waking up and walking into the bathroom with my roommates cheerfully telling me "Happy Birthday!!!!!!"

I am 18 today!:) Woot Woot!:)

My small group leader Mary made me Mississippi mud cake (a Paula dean recipe) and they all wrote me words that they felt God was telling me/encouraging words! I love it! They all are so sweet!

I even got to play on the play ground by base with them a little. My youthfulness is what I aim to keep always. Lol

The group sang to me today! It was awesome! I feel so special.

Then some of my friends surprised me with a brownie cake with my name on it!:)

I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than to be here at YWAM with this new family!!!

When my parents arrived I ran to them. I immediately had happy tears. We ate on base, they were having taco's! We ate outside where we fought a bumble bee for the spot and I opened my gifts they brought. My mom did an amazing job on a picture book that included my graduation pictures, senior pictures, family pictures (Jones) and childhood pictures! I love it! Best part is its zebra. Zebra keeps growing in my stuff. Ha! It's funny.

We later had frozen yogurt at bliss with most of the group. This place was especially busy since they exempt kingdom night this Friday.

Then we just rode around in the mountains!

7/27/13

My mom texting me at 8:30 am was my alarm this morning. I got up, got ready and packed in 15 minutes.

As soon as I was ready and texted them they were on base before 9! We left to go eat at IHOP. Me and my dad ate the best red velvet pancakes ever there. Then we headed for Estes park. At Estes park it was cool but too busy for us so we went thru Rocky Mountain national park. It was simply beautiful.

We made our way thru Idaho springs, where my we got to get root beer floats and me some owl PJ's (needed new Pj's).

My mom found an awesome hotel in wheat ridge for all of us to stay. She can pick. Our joke!:) 

Paisley had a sleepover. We watched Disney channel and cuddle until 9 and then we crashed! I love this little girls cuddles. She is sweet, she has her moments but she is 3.

7/28/13

Woke up to a sweet voice asking me if I was up yet. I chose to be happy to be woken up by paisley. I love this girl.  Saying goodbye to my family was bitter/sweet! I feel bad for saying I really love it here at YWAM but I do. I wouldn't want to go back home for anything right now. I have so much more exploring to do in this world (literally!!!).

I really loved having them here. Having them meet everyone here and experience some hustle and bustle YWAM life. But saying goodbye to the little one about to burst into tears because she wants her K-T, breaks my heart. I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since I had left them and will be 15 more weeks (or less) till I see them again. Which will be for graduation.:)

I'm realizing that I'm a little pampered here as far as stress goes. I don't have family stress but due date stress. Which to me is nothing compared to family stress.

I wasn't planning on going to church as long as my family was here but they ended up dropping me off at base right before church started so I got to go. It all works out in the end. My Idea's:
popsicles with paper that have a verse on the topic of love, delivered to a near by college.
5 blank t-shirts with a love verse on the front and a cool picture of some sort (hand drawn) delivered to a near by college
My Heart:
My Heart goes out to the College student's of this generation. They deal with so much as fresh new adults. From payments, work school, and tempations always at their fingertips. My heart is to share the love of Jesus with them. I know I am loved and I have experienced His love and can't imagine a day without it. This love is like Candy, candy is sweet and tasty anybody who has tried it wants more of it because it's so good. God is like this, I want them to have this. If they have this love, this sweet love, that is so good, they will come back for more.
What really ended up happening:
 All these idea's meant nothing this week to God. He is funny. He had His own idea's for my love action this week. He did let me know that He would use these idea's soon. I ended up going to Hobby lobby on sunday thinking I would get my supplies, make what I wanted and go put it into action at a college. Nope! First of all, Hobby Lobby is closed on sundays, so that ruined my plans immediately. I ended up going somewhere for lunch, ate in my car while I did some other homework I needed done before monday. When I was done and left to go back to the base, this seemed like a bummer since my GPS sent me to the farthest Hobby Lobby (past down town denver- 30 minutes away). God started to talk to me as I drove telling me that this trip wasnt for nothing, It was to get me away from the base to be all to His self. Because He is a Jealous God, He deffinitely has to do this with me sometimes. I can do my own thing sometimes. He showed me the song called He is with us by Love and the outcome. When I asked Him what He wanted me to do, He told me "Katie, daughter of the feared Beloved, you are precious, you don's see this as an assignment but as an oppurtunity. I love this about you. I woud like you to Go to the Starbucks on Ward across from base and there will be a little girl reading (or doing something- He wasnt exactly specific on this part), in her life has been some lies and false truth's about love and religion, i am sending you there to speak life into her and let her know how much she is loved". So i agreed to what He was telling me and went. So as soon as i went in and got me a drink, i walked by a little girl on her lap top. As soon as I saw her I knew God wanted me to speak to her. Funny thing is I have seen her before. I sat down by what i assumed to be her father. I sat there and did my homework for a while and when I thought the time was right I talked to her dad. He was excited about me wanting to talk to his daughter and let me give her the note I had written. It said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son to make a way for us to know Him. John 3:16 (In my own words)
In purple because purple means royalty and you are His royal daughter."
Now I realize the verse isnt complete word for word but this was God's plan not mine and I'm perfectly Happy with that and I did write the note in purple. Total God thing.
The little girl's name is Andrea and she is 11, when she opened up to me she told me her parents were not christians but she was. She showed me what she was doing on her lap top and that was listening to the adventure's of oddysey (a bible story sound track for kids). Later I knew her dad had a "mask" on because of a confrontation with the word that was made based on his beliefs that was not relevant at all.
God showed me thru this experience that the broken are out there just waiting for us to come and help them, He is ready to use me, use us. This little girl is just one out of many. He also is driven to always remind me to remember how much one person can change the world, if i am one person and I change one. Think of how many can change others, If one is all it takes to change the world.
I do however hope to full fill a college ministry Love action soon, in God's timing.
This is my passion, my heart and my desire to reach out and speak out to people who need it most. This was a blessing to do and a blessing to talk about with you.

7/29/13

It's a rainy and cold Monday here at YWAM. I love it!

Starting the morning out with sweet Jesus time and worship is the best way I know to start the week.

Phil Gasely is speaking this week.He is pretty interesting and has a sense of humor. He is speaking on Justice and compassion, starting the week on true freedom.

" True freedom is to have sin removed from both soul and society and for God's character to be reflected in both." Phil Gasely

I have a feeling we will get along great. Work duties, got put off and instead of normal work duties they let us have quiet time. This is the best part of being on grounds! When it rains, no work duties. So a group of us went to Starbucks and just hung out! I listened to Graham Cooke and loaded his cd's to my computer.

We had night classes tonight from 7-9! Pretty good stuff, I am just glad I voice recorded it because I was too tired to understand most of it! So I used this time to practice my people drawing skills. Pretty good I must say. After such a late class a group of us ate some Mississippi mud cake. Too much cake for just me and way more fun to share with everyone. We did this last night too so it's all going somewhere now!

7/30/13

I had Mississippi mud cake for breakfast! Not a good idea. Seriously didn't feel good most of the morning. Only a night thing from now on. Almost fell asleep in class several times this morning. Ha!  I would think it would keep me awake and going but nope! Not how I work! Is this what being an adult feel's like?

Bekah, Meghan's friend left today!:( really sad she had to go but I'm so glad she got to visit! 

I have my second creative presentation today called "love action" we all have to do this the second time around. And the story about the little girl at Starbucks is what I got to tell. Almost like show and tell! I had fun! It was great. I'm pretty sure I forgot to mention some stuff but I feel like that's what God wanted any-who.

In work duties we raked the lawn again! Great arm exercise and time consuming so I'm fine with this. After dinner I got spiffed up for church at bridge way, they are doing a prophetic conference tonight and its going to be good. As I walked out in front of the pong I must have caught a wasp with my hand as it swung by my side and it stung me. I have never felt that much pain all at once in one moment. Forgetting that the doors Locke after 5:30 I'm trying to go back into the door I came out of to find it was locked. One of the leaders and Meghan my friend came running up to me asking me what was up! So I was took into the kitchen to get sting ointment but they didn't have any so I was given what they thought would work and a wet paper towel. I decided about over half way to bridge way that the devil was trying to get in the way of what was in store for tonight. And he continued to try to get in the way till half way into the service.

Prophetic word- they spoke a lot of the Father's love over me and how He really likes me. One lady healed my hand by massaging it while she spoke over me, she didn't even know I was hurt and didn't mention it but I told her afterwards that she healed me. One guy laid a fire ball on my head as he placed his and on top of my head and mentioned that it will increase. I could feel it go throughout my body and increase. It was so cool. The last guy I was to go to was the pastor and was really moved by me and mentioned my fire ball. afterwards his wife was telling him it was cold in the room and he told her that he was sweating from me "the fire ball". I did not let the enemy win today.

7/31/13

This morning I woke up extremely tired. But as usual in my quiet times, God seems to revive me of that. I love that. Worship was so good. It is always so powerful. I love worship with this group and intercession to follow. We prayed for the education in Libya and drew pictures, ate goldfish and animal crackers and blew bubbles. So much fun. I'm not going to lie class was pretty boring today but I made it thru them. We had a outreach prep meeting today which consisted of getting some cultural differences from some people on staff and my team. Pretty neat and nice to know! Something's shocked me and something's I could relate to.

In work duties Andi and I raked the grass while the others cleaned out the fish pond. Fun stuff! This girl is a lot of fun!:) excited to be traveling the world with her in 2 weeks!lol After dinner I had a rehearsal for the skit "forgiveness"! I play "greed" in this one. It's a really cool skit and will be really powerful. Afterwards Meghan and I went to do laundry. As we did this, we talked about life and marveled over the fact that we feel like sisters. God answered my biggest prayer here at YWAM and that would be to have a big family and here I have it! I love all 8 sisters and 3 brothers as I would my own family! 

We got back just in time for our curfew!

8/1/13 

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to go have my quiet time.:) I quickly packed a bag of things I needed and got ready! 

I drove to my point to watch the sunrise.

It was pretty! On the way back to Starbucks across from base and as I drove I saw at the corner of my eye, bunny rabbit dart across the road just as I passed! The worst feeling is looking in the mirror and seeing the floppy feet flopped over its body as it lay helplessly in the middle of the road. I was in tears going down the road! I quietly asked God why He intended that and He told me "Life is short and can be taken in a second, this is just a reminder to live life to it's fullest!" 

OK! Gotcha! I just wish it was shown differently but I guess this is ok. 

I won't ever look at a bunny the same again. 

I got coffee and have been working on this very blog post! 

Bible study was good with Rachel (my roommate) teaching on obeying God and relating it to our own lives and the story of Jonah and the whale. She is amazing and so sweet.

Class was much more interesting today, yet hard! 

Speaking on Sex trafficking, 

I got to eat lunch with Phil Gasley our speaker, it was great! Then afterwards I had a meeting with my team for outreach. We had some fun times doing some team building excercises.Then I had puppet rehearsal where I met my darling "Cindy Lou hoo", a red headed sweet heart and spunky personality. She had cataracts on her eyes when they pulled her out but we fixed it with a little sharpie. These puppets are not just puppets but dancing puppets! Yup!:) We worked on a song called "laughing" then "Jesus Loves you" by veggie tales and then a Spanish one with a great beat. It was a blast! My darling is the main character of "Jesus loves you".

After that much fun, ATW's had a dinner meeting where we cracked down to business on some travel info. I'm getting more excited as we are 2 weeks and 2 days away from leaving. 

I finally got a break after dinner for 30 minutes and then to community night I went! Worship was really good! God showed me my angel wings and kept putting a fire ball on my head! Every time I say "Jesus" during worship or any intimate time with Him, I get chills! It's great!:) Phil Gasley spoke a recap (for me and all the other students in class with him this week) for us!:) He is a great speaker!:) I love his passion for the world and what It hurts for. 

The we had cookies and lemonade. I got to get to know Melanie's sweet family (she will be traveling the world with me). 

Then had some great laughs by the pond with a lot of the team. Love them all and am so glad they love me for me, all the way. 

Bekah and Meghan saying goodbye!:(

Paisley and I sleep over:) love her! Melts my heart:)

Beautiful mountains with my family:)

Paisley's buddy Meghan:) she has great taste in friends:) 

Cool chick in Andi's shades before work duties.

Hand swollen from wasp sting below my thumb.

Libya drawing. Intercession fun:)

Sunrise (8/1/13)