Dear Ones, I have some terrible news that I feel God wants me to share with you so that you might join me in prayer. This has been an absolutely horrific week for me personally, and for my host family. On Monday of this past week, we tragically discovered that my host-dad has fallen into a deep sin trap and has been having an affair. He confessed to the family, and is no longer living at home. As you might guess, this was an absolute shock to everyone involved, and we are all still struggling to even accept it as reality. I won't go into all the details because this is a very embarassing and shameful situation for my family here, but I will ask you to please, PLEASE join me as warriors in prayer against this situation. Please pray, first and foremost, that my host-dad Ruben would cease running away, and turn back to the one who loves him unconditionally - the Lord. That he would ask for forgiveness and turn from this terrible, destructive life and return to seek forgiveness from his beautiful wife and broken children. It would be so easy to pray that he would just stay away and that his family would be able to rebuild their lives without him - that is what our human justice desires. However, when we are walking in the grace and truth of our Savior, we will pray for the things on HIS heart, and that is that Ruben would return to his family, seek their forgiveness, and that the incredible grace of God would overflow into this family and they would be restored. Please pray that this will happen. Truly ask the Lord in FAITH that Ruben would not remain in hiding because of his guilt, but that he would turn back around and face the loving, graceful, merciful God that created him and would accept the forgiveness and grace that is offered to him through the death of Jesus on the cross.
While you are praying for this, please also pray specifically for the three lives that have been so completely destroyed this week. Please pray for my host-mom Inez - that she would truly rest in the strength and perfect love of Jesus - that she would know she doesn't have to be strong for the kids, but that it is okay to cry and let God begin to heal her - and that the feelings of inadequacy and failure that the enemy will try to force upon her would be crushed by the grace and strength of God.
Please pray for wisdom and strength for my host-sister Yamila as she begins to process all of this. Pray against the feelings of deception and bitterness that she may feel towards her Father for the pain that his choices have caused - that she would be filled with God's unfathomable grace for her Dad and truly be able to forgive him.
One of my most important requests is for prayer for my host-brother Marcelo. Out of everyone, he has, by far, taken it the hardest. He has not spoken in over a week, and only by God’s grace did he answer his phone last night when I called. We talked for a very long time, and after much prayer, he finally opened up. Marcelo is broken. His entire life has been destroyed, and his best friend is gone. Please pray for understanding and forgiveness. Most of all, pray that Marce will embrace the truth that God is his true Father who loves him unconditionally and will NEVER let him down or disappoint him. That he would truly be able to rest in that truth and feel the loving arms of his true Daddy.
I know that this is a very heavy update, but I made the decision to share this information with you all because I know you will support me and my family here during this time of total brokenness. We need your prayers desperately, and have faith that God will truly work a miracle. Thank you SO much for joining in this fight with me, and I will absolutely let you know anything new.
Katie
'Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
Jeremiah 33:6
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Splendid news!!
After MUCH prayer and seeking the Lord, we have finalized our outreach locations and teams. God spoke to me numerous times during this process about these places, and confirmed His word this week as well. So….I will be spending the first month of my outreach on the Atlantic coast of Argentina with my team of 10. We don’t have all the details of our specific cities just yet, but I can tell you that we’ll be doing a lot of “beach ministry.” During the summer months of January and February, they say that the coast of Argentina becomes the new Capital of the country. Masses of people move out to the coastal cities and spend the summer there – thus, our time of ministry will be very much focused on the people who are on holiday…youth on the beach (sports, surfing, etc.), as well as building relationships during the numerous festivals and concerts that take place. It will be an incredible and exciting time, and I have faith that God will reach many through us.
Following our month on the coast, our team will pack up and head to…. Peru!! and spend the next month there. It is so exciting to be going to this beautiful country because the Lord laid it on my heart in the very beginning of our school before we ever knew it was an option for outreach! He is SO faithful in speaking and sharing his heart with us! We still don’t have all the details on cities or specific ministries yet, but when we start to finalize those things, I will definitely send out an update!
The other two outreach teams are very exciting as well. One group will be working in northern Argentina for a month, and then in Bolivia. The third team is traveling the farthest – spending a few weeks in the gorgeous South of Argentina, then a month in Australia, and finishing up in JAPAN! It is so cool to see the very different places God called each of us to, and I am so excited to see all that He does through each of our three teams.
If you could please keep us in your prayers this week, and the coming month, as we begin to prepare for our ‘crusada’ and plan all of the details. Pray for wisdom for our leaders (who, by the way, are all in their early 20s – some even younger – so by no means will we have veteran adults accompanying us). Pray for unity of our group as a whole, as well as each of the three outreach teams. Pray for financial provision as we trust in the Lord to provide us all that we need to travel to these nations and serve them in the love of Christ.
Thank you SO much, and we will talk soon!
Love from Ituzaingó.
After MUCH prayer and seeking the Lord, we have finalized our outreach locations and teams. God spoke to me numerous times during this process about these places, and confirmed His word this week as well. So….I will be spending the first month of my outreach on the Atlantic coast of Argentina with my team of 10. We don’t have all the details of our specific cities just yet, but I can tell you that we’ll be doing a lot of “beach ministry.” During the summer months of January and February, they say that the coast of Argentina becomes the new Capital of the country. Masses of people move out to the coastal cities and spend the summer there – thus, our time of ministry will be very much focused on the people who are on holiday…youth on the beach (sports, surfing, etc.), as well as building relationships during the numerous festivals and concerts that take place. It will be an incredible and exciting time, and I have faith that God will reach many through us.
Following our month on the coast, our team will pack up and head to…. Peru!! and spend the next month there. It is so exciting to be going to this beautiful country because the Lord laid it on my heart in the very beginning of our school before we ever knew it was an option for outreach! He is SO faithful in speaking and sharing his heart with us! We still don’t have all the details on cities or specific ministries yet, but when we start to finalize those things, I will definitely send out an update!
The other two outreach teams are very exciting as well. One group will be working in northern Argentina for a month, and then in Bolivia. The third team is traveling the farthest – spending a few weeks in the gorgeous South of Argentina, then a month in Australia, and finishing up in JAPAN! It is so cool to see the very different places God called each of us to, and I am so excited to see all that He does through each of our three teams.
If you could please keep us in your prayers this week, and the coming month, as we begin to prepare for our ‘crusada’ and plan all of the details. Pray for wisdom for our leaders (who, by the way, are all in their early 20s – some even younger – so by no means will we have veteran adults accompanying us). Pray for unity of our group as a whole, as well as each of the three outreach teams. Pray for financial provision as we trust in the Lord to provide us all that we need to travel to these nations and serve them in the love of Christ.
Thank you SO much, and we will talk soon!
Love from Ituzaingó.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Buen Dia, Querridos!
I pray everyone is healthy and splendid!
I wanted to tell you a bit about this last week. I just arrived back at the base this morning from a 7-day Missions Conference in Mendoza, Argentina, and could not be more thrilled with how things went! The Lord blessed our 14-hour bus ride home and brought us back safely…and dirty! Though the conference was held at the YWAM base in Mendoza, there was not nearly enough room to house the more than 500 Jucumeros (YWAMers), so we spent 7 days in a city of tents - camping and NOT showering!! Thus, my first shower in a week was AMAZING! God has definitely been teaching me to appreciate the little things…like water and soap!
But let me tell you, this conference was incredible! Every YWAM base in Argentina showed up – staff, DTS students, workers, everyone! It was so great to spend time with the students from the other bases and hear how God is moving in their schools! I also got to know a lot of the staff from Mendoza and other bases, and was so blessed by the new relationships God allowed me to build during my time in that gorgeous place. Mendoza is truly one of the most beautiful locations I have ever been to – towering mountains, Eucaliptis (sp?) trees, incredible stargazing, and acres and acres of vineyards!
Aside from the view, though, God did fabulous things in the hearts of nearly every person from our base. People were hearing words about their futures, new ministries, specific countries, and SO much more! It’s SO awesome to witness more than 500 YWAMers joining together for a week to seek the Lord, and truly hearing His voice! Praise God for His faithfulness!!
Things are going great at our base as well. The students are bonding – especially after this trip – and the whole team is working together beautifully. No major health issues either. I was sick with a cold for the majority of our time in Mendoza, but as always, God gave me the supernatural strength to fight it and still fully enjoy the conference!
My Spanish has been improving like crazy – Gloria a Dios! I was actually mistaken for an Argentine at the conference – apparently my accent fits in well. I have also been having many more opportunities to translate – my favorite being a conversation between a Bolivian and a woman from Africa who spoke English. The two desperately wanted to have a conversation, but Rosa, the Bolivian, didn’t speak a word of English, and Bongi (the African woman) didn’t know any Spanish, so I sat between then and translated their entire conversation! It was splendid. Such a blessing that the Lord is giving me success in acquiring this beautiful language! I love it SO much!
So, we are now back to reality. Lots of classes and work, but it will be great to get back into the swing of things! If you would please continue to pray for our decisions about the Outreach phase – we should be finalizing things by the end of this week or so. I will let you all know as soon as I know where I’m headed in January! Thank you for continuing to be such an important part of this journey!
Todo mi Amor,
Katie
p.s. I am still working on getting pictures sent out. Our internet connection rarely lasts long enough for me to get an album put together, but you can expect some photos very soon!
I pray everyone is healthy and splendid!
I wanted to tell you a bit about this last week. I just arrived back at the base this morning from a 7-day Missions Conference in Mendoza, Argentina, and could not be more thrilled with how things went! The Lord blessed our 14-hour bus ride home and brought us back safely…and dirty! Though the conference was held at the YWAM base in Mendoza, there was not nearly enough room to house the more than 500 Jucumeros (YWAMers), so we spent 7 days in a city of tents - camping and NOT showering!! Thus, my first shower in a week was AMAZING! God has definitely been teaching me to appreciate the little things…like water and soap!
But let me tell you, this conference was incredible! Every YWAM base in Argentina showed up – staff, DTS students, workers, everyone! It was so great to spend time with the students from the other bases and hear how God is moving in their schools! I also got to know a lot of the staff from Mendoza and other bases, and was so blessed by the new relationships God allowed me to build during my time in that gorgeous place. Mendoza is truly one of the most beautiful locations I have ever been to – towering mountains, Eucaliptis (sp?) trees, incredible stargazing, and acres and acres of vineyards!
Aside from the view, though, God did fabulous things in the hearts of nearly every person from our base. People were hearing words about their futures, new ministries, specific countries, and SO much more! It’s SO awesome to witness more than 500 YWAMers joining together for a week to seek the Lord, and truly hearing His voice! Praise God for His faithfulness!!
Things are going great at our base as well. The students are bonding – especially after this trip – and the whole team is working together beautifully. No major health issues either. I was sick with a cold for the majority of our time in Mendoza, but as always, God gave me the supernatural strength to fight it and still fully enjoy the conference!
My Spanish has been improving like crazy – Gloria a Dios! I was actually mistaken for an Argentine at the conference – apparently my accent fits in well. I have also been having many more opportunities to translate – my favorite being a conversation between a Bolivian and a woman from Africa who spoke English. The two desperately wanted to have a conversation, but Rosa, the Bolivian, didn’t speak a word of English, and Bongi (the African woman) didn’t know any Spanish, so I sat between then and translated their entire conversation! It was splendid. Such a blessing that the Lord is giving me success in acquiring this beautiful language! I love it SO much!
So, we are now back to reality. Lots of classes and work, but it will be great to get back into the swing of things! If you would please continue to pray for our decisions about the Outreach phase – we should be finalizing things by the end of this week or so. I will let you all know as soon as I know where I’m headed in January! Thank you for continuing to be such an important part of this journey!
Todo mi Amor,
Katie
p.s. I am still working on getting pictures sent out. Our internet connection rarely lasts long enough for me to get an album put together, but you can expect some photos very soon!
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