Katie's Journeys

2010-03-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Spring Break and Web Albums

2010-03-26T00:33:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

Spring is here! And with it comes lovely Spring breaks from school--of which I am currently enjoying!

Thank you for your prayers and support through these last couple of months especially. Satan has been greatly at work trying to discourage through many ways, but I am here to testify that I have a big God, and He loves me so much, and has showed me his tenderness and strength just when I needed it.

If you would, please pray for me as I will be going to Tokyo next week to spend part of my spring break there. I prayed about many places before I chose to go there. I believe God has something that He wants to do through this trip. Please pray I will go where He wants me to go and meet who He wants me to meet. Please pray He be glorified.

I wanted to let you all know that I have started experimenting with web-albums. The one posted now is a collection of pictures that I have taken since I first came here. I hope to do more date or even specific albums in the future. I have turned it into a slide show for this blog, but if you want to see it bigger with descriptions and captions, then click the colorful icon on the bottom right corner of the slide show and it will take you to the online album.

May God bless you my friends and supporters!

Katie

Brought to you by Youtube

2010-03-23T20:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I have had many requests to put my pre-field video that I showed in churches on Youtube, so I have finally done so! As you can see I have uploaded it here as well for those of you who have not yet seen it. Please enjoy.

Katie

Special thanks to Jason and Garry for making this post possible.

Pre-Field Video

2010-03-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Good News!!!

2010-02-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Good news and great happenings seem to be the theme of these last two weeks!

God is doing MIGHTY THINGS!!! He has answered so many prayers!

First: I finally got my Missionary Visa!!!! That means I won't have to leave the country every 90 days now! Hurray!

Second: I got a new car! Well--new to me that is. :-) It is perfect for where I live! It has 4WD and great snow tires and is great for driving in these mountains! I really didn't plan to get a car while I was in language school, but it was getting pretty tough on my bike and on foot to get things done in this weather. Everyone here kept telling me that I should get a car. Then a man I have know since I came on my survey trip suddenly offered to sell me his RAV4--and at a terrific price! He put so much work into it to make sure it was just perfect for me before he sold it. God truly knows what we need and delights to give it to us!

Third: (and most exciting to me) The couple I wrote about earlier that I had met at a Burger place JUST GOT SAVED!!! Praise the Lord!!! They are so happy to be Christians too! Our church is rather limited in size currently, and we are looking at a new church building project soon. This couple are the most excited about it because they want a place big enough to bring all of their friends!!! "We want to be able to bring our friends here." They said. "They need to know what life is really about too."

They asked how long I planned to stay in Japan, and I told them the rest of my life. They were SOOO happy! "Please, stay and help the churches here! Japan needs your help. Please help us!" They said. Even thinking of it now brings tears to my eyes. "I will!" I promised.

Last but not least, I finally found an easier way to post pictures to this blog!!! It has been such a trial to post pictures--but I found "Picasa" and it is much easier now. That is why the pictures below are labeled as an experiment--I wasn't sure if it would work! I hope you all don't mind the text and pictures being separate--it is just too hard for me to do the other way.

Again, thank you all for your faithful prayers and love for a girl in a faraway country. Please continue to pray for me and the other missionaries here. While God is greatly at work, so is Satan. Pray we be protected, wise as serpents, and innocent as doves. Much thanks and love.

Picture Experiment--hope this works!

2010-02-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

The One True God

2010-01-18T05:17:00.000-08:00

This was the very first time I witnessed an "idol burning" in Japan. This lady is my hair dresser who recently became a Christian. You can see her husband here who is helping her very willingly--even though he is not yet a Christian. He never liked her following the idols, and says now he believes she has found the one True God!

The Idols she burned were mostly images and scrolls of writing that she once worshipped. Along with that burned all the literature that instructed her in the cult she once followed. I felt very much as if I were witnessing an Old Testament scene where the heathen burned their gods and proclaimed publicly their following of the Creator God.

On a very different note (yet also good news)I received my Certificate of Eligibility!!! This is a document that is very difficult to get, but will enable me to get my missionary visa! I took it to the immigration office to get my visa already, but they had forgotten to tell us about one more item from the church that we needed to have with us as well--so I was not able to get it that day. However, it looks as if I will be able to get it soon--without having to leave Japan!!! I thought originally I would have to go back to the USA for this process, but it looks as if the Lord is opening the doors to finish the process here! Praise Him! Thanks to all of you for your prayers as well!

Quaking but not Quitting!

2009-12-21T04:10:00.000-08:00

Hello My Friends!

Much has been happening here in Japan! I am hardly sure where I should start! Well, first, my "thank yous" again to all of you who are making it possible for me to be here!

Language school takes up much of my time here. The United Nations considers Japanese to be the hardest language to learn in the world. Encouraging news eh? Despite all, I can actually say that I have enjoyed learning for the most part! My classmates (below) help to make it fun and have helped me a lot! They are doing a practice phone call to each other here. :-)

Did you know that there is "men's Japanese" and "ladies Japanese"? Some words only men will use and some words are more suited for women. Other words or OK for both sexes. "I learned a new word for delicious--Umae!" I recently reported to my friends. The ladies all gasped and clamped their hands over their mouth! "Don't say that! That is just men's language!" They all said--nearly in unison! It wasn't a bad word--but highly un-lady like for me to say it evidently! Much of my time is spent on language school--but God still gives me many opportunities to share Him with those who will understand! Everywhere I go there are people who wish to practice whatever English they know and most of them will ask why I am here. I just love open doors!

The lady on the far left I met at a cafe. Her English is wonderful as she had lived in the States previously. She came with me to the Thanksgiving service and brought her 5 year old son that I am holding. The the shorter lady in gray I met at a burger place with her husband and invited them to church. They have been coming faithfully ever since! This couple has been very responsive to the sermons. Please pray they will be saved soon!
These folks and others the Lord brings my way may not know English, but we communicate a different way. Those who see our friendship often ask them about their communication with me. It surprises me that they all seem to answer along the same lines, "We don't understand many of each others words, but our hearts speak, and they understand each other." I rejoice, because they know that I love them!!! My Uncle recently sent me a story I liked a lot of Adoniram Judson: the famous missionary to Burma. When Adoniram first arrived, he wanted to witness to someone so badly, but couldn't speak the language. So he went up to a man and gave him a big hug!!! The man then went home and reported that he had seen an angel!!! Love speaks for itself, and true love has no language barrier! Amen!!!

I have loved living in a place where it snows! True it is cold, but it is soooo beautiful here!

This is truly a different place to live. TRULY!!! Just Friday morning I experienced my very first (that I am sure of) EARTHQUAKE!!! I awoke 5:40 am to my bed shaking quite a bit and my windows rattling something fearsome!!! I lay there for about 15 seconds wondering if it was going to quit. My next thought was MY DISHES!!! I and I jumped out of bed and ran through my dark quaking house to pull my dishes of off a rather precarious shelf! Thankfully I had no damage and there were no after-shocks. I decided not to go back to sleep just in case there were! The quake originated about 10 miles from here and was a 5.2 on the Richter scale.

I traveled to Guam and had a nice tropical vacation for 3 days last month! I actually had to leave Japan in order to stay legal in my "visitor status". I have to leave every 90 day until my visa comes in. I had a wonderful time there and got to meet some great Christian folks that are now my friends. I actually got to be a substitute teacher at a Christian school while I was there and shared my ministry in the Chapel with the students. I loved meeting all the little Guamanian children! Snorkeling in the Pacific and exploring the jungle was also a plus for me!

I spent Thanksgiving in Yokosuka with another missionary friend of mine who works with the US military. I feasted on the American style Thanksgiving dinner at the the Naval base with about 20 other military families. It was nice to get to do a bit of sight-seeing there as well. I took the bullet train down to Tokyo and then hopped on a bunch of other lines to get to my destination. The sad empty faces of the people I saw everywhere broke my heart.

I will actually be leaving the country again for another purpose soon. Christmas with my family!!! My original intent for coming in at this time was because I had to do one more training with my board. The training time was moved, but I decided letting down my family after I promised to be in for Christmas was a little harsh. I will be flying in Christmas Eve and will be home a week and a half. True, it is not long, but I will have to get back to classes! If you could please, please pray that my missionary visa will get approved before I come back to Japan, that would make my re-entry a lot less scary of an endeavor! Thank you!!!

God bless all of you and have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Katie

In JAPAN!!!

2009-10-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

Hello My Dear Friends! Yes it is true! ( I have to keep telling myself that too) I really am in Japan! It is hard to believe I’ve already been here for a month!

Sincere apologies to my readers for not being faithful to post as of late—I do intend to break that bad habit! Honestly, I was in the middle of posting one big update for my blog 3 weeks ago when my computer totally crashed! I had it sent off and was without a computer for 2 weeks. I’m finally catching up with communicating this week!

I LOVE JAPAN! I love living here—not to say it is the easiest thing to do right now—but I have enjoyed the challenge thus far! God has also put some wonderful neighbors and other people in my life to make this transition easier.

Getting here this soon is truly a miracle of God—and I wish to give Him all of the credit. Raising my support in 1 year and 6 months is true evidence to me that God wanted me to get here quickly! That may not sound fast to you, but when one considers that I was told repeatedly that it would likely take me 5-6 years to raise support, then it really is fast!

Many have asked about the completion of my 50/50 vision—and as far as I know it is covered. Last I counted I still had a several left, but my pastor said he had individuals let him know that they wanted to be one of my 50 and that he was sure I had my 50. PRAISE THE LORD with me!!! He is faithful to lead us in green pastures!

I’m currently in my 3rd week of language school and it is going alright thus far. They are teaching us “survival Japanese” for the first 6 weeks. That means we memorize dialog that could be used say, at a bank, post office, grocery store, etc…then the next day our teacher actually takes us to those places to REALLY practice it!!! It is great to have the “hands on” learning right away! That does not excuse us from book work though—oh no!!! Yes, by the 2nd week we were already writing 1-2 page papers in Japanese!!! Yes, lets just say me and my English/Japanese dictionary are getting to know each other really well!!!

I love my little cabin here in the mountains of Karuizawa! I’ve had so much fun decorating it and making it my own! It is nestled in the woods surrounded by moss and fern—I almost feel like I’m living in a fairy land! It really is almost unreal this place! There are wild boar (HUGE pigs that come in my yard at night) and bear and wild monkeys about here! I’m 7 miles from the base of Mt. Asama—an active volcano which evidently erupts ever so often and sends rock and/or ash spewing about! School children are daily required to wear little yellow helmets to and from school in case of an eruption. Karuizawa is a huge tourist town and reminds me so much of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Adorable, quaint shops line the old fashioned streets with a great variety of goods. The area is so beautiful that everyone (practically) comes here to get married! They perform over 6000 weddings in this tiny town every year!!!

I am currently helping Pastor Richard Rich and his wife on the weekends with their church in Saku—the next city over. It is so exciting to see Buddhist—and other people who are not Christians truly enjoying learning about our God! Please pray God will open the hearts and minds of these people and that Satan will not be allowed ground in their life any longer! Most that come to the church are unsaved. I have so enjoyed making these new Japanese friends and pray sincerely that God will use me to bring them to Him!

I do thank you so much for your faithful prayers and giving! God has truly been my protector, provider, and my peace in what could have been some very rough days.

Please pray for:

1.Satan’s de-throning and God’s working in the hearts of my new Japanese friends and acquaintances. (Note: I will send specifics if you indicate you want them by commenting below or e-mailing)

2. Protection from Satan’s discouragement, confusion, snares, and sickness.

3. That I will learn the language quickly and efficiently. The school director said it is often easier for business people to get the language sooner than missionaries because of the strong spiritual warfare involved.

4. Growth of the church I help in Saku.

5. Relationships between those of us in ministry. –This is said to be one of the biggest reasons that missionaries return home. Satan hits hard here! He loves dividing believers!

Again I thank each of you! God bless you for your part in assisting Japan to know Christ!

Katie

50/50 Vision

2009-05-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Praise the Lord with me! I've seen 4 more souls saved since I last blogged! God is mighty and worthy to be praised!

I'm excited that I can see the end of my pre-field support raising in sight!

The Lord has given me a vision for raising this last part of my support! All I need to get to Japan is 50 supporters giving 50 per month!

I'm calling this the 50/50 Vision! The Lord gave me the verse "Where there is no vision the people perish." Prov. 29:18

PLEASE help me pray for these 50 to come in quickly! My goal is to be able to leave for Japan mid-August of this year! This would put me in Japan in time for the fall semester of my language school.

Thank you all for your continued faithful support and prayers!

If you would like more information concerning the 50/50 vision, you can request it by commenting at the end of this note. These comments will not be published unless you wish for it to be.

Thank you for you partnership for the sake of Christ in Japan!!!

Jesus Club!

2009-04-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!!!

God continues to do amazing things! The last several weeks 5 kids from my neighborhood have been saved!! (ages 7-13) They are so excited about witnessing to their friends and praying for them! The Lord put it in my head to start a "Jesus Club" to disciple them and to use as a tool to reach more kids. The kids have had super ideas about the club!

"We should have matching Bible's!" One suggested "We can collect money and give it to the homeless!" Another suggested. "Or we can give our extra clothes and toys to needy kids!"

And my favorite--"Can we pray for our friend's to be saved too in this club?" These kids are great evangelist! One seven year old was telling his 13 year old sister how to be saved and she accepted Christ!!!

Please pray the excitement will not be lost and that God will be honored and bring fruit! We meet every Monday at 7pm. Thanks!!!

Fishing for Men

2009-04-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hello My Friends! Much apologies for the delay in update! The good news is that the Lord has kept me hopping with travels, meetings, witnessing, and missions conferences! I have had many great meetings since I last wrote--up to three different churches in week! My support is now at 45%!!! It has really jumped in the last couple of months! Please continue to pray with me that it will continue to come in quickly!

Not only has the Lord been blessing financially but also with the treasure of new souls won for His Kingdom! By the great power and grace of God He has chosen to allow me to lead 12 new souls to know their Saviour since I last wrote you!

God really has challenged my heart in a brand new way lately on how to pray for souls to be saved. Prayer really is the key!!! It has completely changed my outlook on life. I am so grateful for a big God that cares about wee little men as we are so much as to love them.

I wish I could sit down and tell you each story of those who now bear Christs name, but I'll just relate a bit of my encounters with a few of them.

If you get my prayer letters you may remember I mentioned the man named James I met at the lake. James is a Vietnam veteran and an avid fisherman. As I walked by him I felt the Holy Spirit whispering that I needed to talk to him. Observing his baited poles I asked if he was catching anything. "NO. Do you fish?" He asked. "Not that kind of fishing." I replied.

"What kind of fishing do you do?" He asked.

"I fish for men." It sort of just popped out, and he replied with a hearty peel of laughter!

So then I had to explain myself. One thing led to another and he was asking the Lord to be his saviour within an hour! After he was saved I told him that I believed God wanted Him to be another kind of fisherman now too. He was excited to assume his new role as a fisher of men!

Since then James has been to church with me and called me every week just to let me know he is praying for me.

Mrs. Ann is another that really encouraged my heart! I met her in an assisted living facility. After she got saved she was so happy! She told me--"This is an answered prayer for me! Every night I have lain in my bed and prayed that God would show me how I could be forgiven and taken to heaven! Mrs. Ann is 80.

My little seven year old neighbor we have been praying to be saved for awhile. His parents are unsaved and divorced. Three days ago we got into a discussion about God and what sin was. He began telling me how awful a boy at his school was. "He lies, and steals and he doesn't even pray!"

"You know his sin looks just like this to God." I said grabbing up the handful of dirt. "Isn't that nasty? But don't you sin too?" I asked. He became sheepish.

"Sometimes." He admitted. "OK, maybe you don't sin as much. Perhaps your sin just looks like this." I grabbed a slightly smaller handful of dirt. "Does that look better to you?" He was silent. "Now which one of these would you like to eat?"

"Eeeww!!! Neither!!!" He replied!

"His sin is no worse to God then your sin. They are both dirty to Him." I explained. "Jesus is the only one that can come and clean your dirty sin away. To do that you have to ask Him to forgive you of your sin and come in your heart."

Suddenly his little eyes became very wide! "I'll be right back!" he said and ran away! "What is he doing?!?? I thought. "This is the most important part! He needs to get this!" When He returned I was a little frustrated and asked him what he was just doing. "I was asking Jesus to forgive me of all of my sins!" Came his reply! I was shocked!

"Did you just ask Jesus in your heart?" I asked.

"Yes." Was the simple answer. That's really what Jesus is to Salvation--the simple answer!

Public Schools, Pickle Jars, and Praises

2009-03-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

What a week! I had the privilege of speaking with an Awanas group Wednesday. I talked about what it meant for a missionary to be on deputation and the "three Ps" for how to pray for them. You can do it too! Just pray for:

People --to be saved
Protection--from evil
Power--of God

Thursday was amazing! I did a Gospel chalk talk in a public school for about 80-90 kids from K5--5th grade! I was so surprised when they presented me a pickle jar with my prayer card taped on it that they had been collecting money in for weeks! I wanted to cry as they presented it to me. Most of these children do not even go to church, but they were so excited to give to missions! It seems I have had many children coming up to me this week very excited to put money in my hand--even if it was just a few pennies and telling me that this was for missions! Children are such an inspiration and encouragement to me. If you have children I incite you to let them know they can be such an encouragement to missionaries right now!

Back to the chalk-talk--I spent a lot of time explaining and giving illustrations for the plan of Salvation. At the end there was an invitation. I got the names of at least 12 kids who said told me that that they received Christ right then!!! I suspect there may have been more than that but I wasn't able to talk to all of them. Several more of the children came up to me and said they still weren't sure that they were going to heaven and asked if how they could be sure. I was heart broken that I could not talk with them before they were ushered off to their next activity. I was able to get their names so the Good News Club workers that invited me could follow up with them. Please pray for Destiny, Bailey, Emily, Isis, Brittany, Caitlin, Taylor, Jason, Kaleb, Ethan, Eros, and Turich who told me about their new Salvation! Please also pray for Anniah, Kieth, Jemini, Tybee, and Tiara who said they were still not sure.

Then, to top off this good week, the Lord allowed me to lead my neighbor to know his Saviour! Much prayer has been answered--and it is truly a wonderful testimony of our Wonderful, All Powerful, Amazing, Loving, Merciful God!!!

One very special prayer request I would like very much for you to pray for this week. My 10 year old sister is having heart surgery Wednesday morning and we would covet your prayers very much. Thank you all of my dear prayer supporters for having your hand in what God is doing in my life.

www.missionarytalks.com

2009-02-18T10:32:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord! I just found out that another church in Germany has taken me on for support!

Yesterday was a real mile-marker for me. Febuary 17th made exactly One Year that I have been on full time deputation! I am currently at 1/3 of my support level so my prayer is that I can start double timing my support rate!

I think it is no accident that on this anniversiary that the Lord allowed me to do something I've never done before to record and sum up this first year of pre-field ministry. I had the privelege being interviewed on http://www.missionarytalks.com/ . My only prayer is that the Lord will be glorified through this!

Another praise is that my car is back in good working order again!--A special thanks to Doug Stevens for that!

Satan's Worst Nightmare

2009-02-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

This week has been especially busy for me! My home church's missions conference lasts the entire month of February and they asked me to present my ministry this last Sunday. The morning service they asked me to dress up in my Japanese dress and march in with others that represented nations across the globe.

Sunday night I presented a brand new chalk talk that I have never done before! Preparing a new chalk talk can be pretty difficult--especially when Satan is working over time to try to keep you from doing it! Coming up with a new drawing, an impacting black-light image, a uniting theme, and then the message that is timed perfectly with the drawing are just a few of the challenges that faced me on this project.

Ever see a chalk collection? Well, at least you have now!

I entitled my new chalk talk Satan's Worst Nightmare and spoke about the power of prayer. Let me tell you --Satan got MAD and tried all kinds of tricks to keep me from doing this! When I set out all my chalks to begin it immediately started raining, but I rebuked to Prince of the Power of the Air and asked God to please stop the rain--and He did!!! My God is more powerful than my enemy and He prevails! I know my part was so extremely minute in what happened Sunday night, but I praise the Lord for the feedback of how God touched peoples lives during the chalk talk.

Please pray for me as I will be doing an interview tommorow with a man who will be posting my testimony as a pod-cast on web. Thank you my partners!

Calling God

2009-02-08T17:27:00.001-08:00

GREAT NEWS!!! TWO more churches took me on last week! Both the church Georgia I spoke at Sunday and the church I went to in Tennessee this week voted to take me on right away! God is so good!

This is a picture of me next to my chalk drawing wearing a very lovely apron that the ladies of the church made for me.

As I was thinking recently of all of the churches that I’ve had the privilege of presenting in lately it suddenly struck me that every one of them had something unusual in common.
I had not called a single one of these pastors to ask for a meeting—they had all contacted me first! That really is amazing! I used to make a ton of phone calls but I have found it much more effective calling on God for support! He has kept my schedule hopping and I’m so grateful! Just the other day I was doing my quiet time and I had TWO phone calls within 10 minutes—both people asking me to come and present my ministry to their churches. Today I had two more request to present—again they approached me first. TRUE WONDERS HAPPEN WHEN PRAYER IS MADE AND GOD WORKS ON OUR BEHALF!!!

Life's Little Miracles

2009-01-31T20:09:00.000-08:00

God is good! My time in North Carolina ended well. I praise God for surrounding me with such loving generous people! On my way home I got to stop and see my sister Sally in South Carolina. We went to my favorite restaurant--Mimi's Cafe! While I was there I had a surprising phone call from a missionary I recently met in a conference. He said he just talked with a pastor who is having his missions conference next week and he's looking for a missionary going to Japan! "Really???" I don't find that often! Their church had supported a family in Japan but they had to come off of the field so he was looking for someone to "take their place" so to speak.

I talked with the pastor right away and am scheduled to be in Tennessee for his conference this Monday through Wednesday! God is truly awesome isn't He?

Sally at Mimi's.

I would very much appreciate your prayers for these upcoming meetings! I have one meeting here in Georgia this Sunday, then I have a chance to present my ministry twice in Tennessee Monday--Wednesday, then I'm actually going back to North Carolina Thursday--Saturday to go skiing with a group from my church!

I just recently received a letter that informed me that I have a new church here in Georgia supporting me! For me this one is a little miracle! You see, when I visited the church, the pastor and his wife kindly treated me to lunch after the service. It was a very enjoyable meal until I accidentally knocked my full cup of ice water over right onto the pastor's lap! Yikes! Talk about a major missionary faux pa! I told him I just wanted to make sure he remembered me! I have to admit my thoughts were something along the lines of "Well, there goes my support!" The pastor was very kind and gracious and evidently has truly forgiven me! Isn't forgiveness wonderful?!? (Note to any missionaries or future missionaries in pre-field ministry--This method of making a lasting impression is not recommended! ;-)

Very quickly, I have a special prayer request for a man I talked to several days ago. I was sitting in a Panera checking my e-mail when we struck up a conversation. I soon learned he was a doctor born into a Muslim home and later joined a Catholic church but states he is of no religion now. For about 30 minutes he asked me question after question about my beliefs and my work as a missionary. He did not say one critical word but carefully evaluated everything I said as I suspect a well trained doctor would do! He could not believe I would give my whole life to serve God in Japan. When I told him my testimony of how God very clearly used His Word to call me to be a missionary he said "Wow! That is amazing!!!"
"I have an amazing God!" I replied! When we parted he told me he just might take my word about the Truth of Christianity. I gave him "The Gift"--a CD my church produces that is kind of like a Gospel tract on CD. Please, I ask you to pray with me that this physician will soon come to know The Great Physician!!!

God speaks through text messages!!!

2009-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

This little note is purposed to praise my God who is with me!

Sunday I was scheduled to do my chalk talk here in North Carolina on the opening night of the missions conference here. As I was setting up my easel I felt just horrible. Honestly I felt like I had poison in my body. "God I can't do this." I prayed. I knew I needed some immediate prayer back up for this situation so I text messaged several friends and prayer partners to be praying for me. I was so blessed by the results! One friend sent me back a text saying that as she was praying for me God gave her Isaiah 41:13 for me. It said this:

For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

My friend reminded me it is my right hand that I draw with!

A little while after that text messeage came, another text came from another friend. While praying for me God gave this friend a verse for me as well. To my amazement the verse was very similar and the passage was Isaiah 41:10-- only 3 verses before the first verse that was sent to me! This one said:

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

I got so excited! I knew God was telling me very plainly that He was with me and that he was going to hold my right hand and help me with my drawing. I was NOT to fear anything!
I know these things in my head, but how good of God to remind me in a new and fresh way!

When it came time for me to do my presentation I felt GREAT! Not only that, but I don't think I have ever felt more ease or freedom of speaking during a chalk talk as I felt the Spirit leading.
Truly, when we are at our weakest, that is when God shows Himself the strongest!

Your Prayers in High Action!!!

2009-01-27T11:51:00.000-08:00

For all of you who pray for my protection--I thank you!!! Your prayers were certainly put to good use Saturday. As most of you know, I flew in from Germany Thursday night and had one day to re-pack and get ready to leave for North Carolina Saturday morning. My car is being repaired right now so I rented this sweet little ride to get me around for the week.

I love driving it but I suppose I'm used to my car going a lot further on a tank of gas. I was driving on a very busy I-85 just on the north perimeter of Charlotte talking with a friend when I suddenly realized my accelerator wasn't working! I realized the car was OFF and I looked at my speedometer and watched the needle plummeting quickly to ZERO! I threw my phone aside, hit my emergency flashers, and suddenly realized I needed to get through THREE lanes of speeding traffic before my speedometer hit zero!!! Somehow God allowed me to get to the side safely just before my steering wheel froze. Whew!!!

I had no idea what happened, but I suddenly realized I had done something I've NEVER done! I ran out of gas! I didn't even hear a warning bell to let me know it was low! I still can't believe I let that happen, but life is full of surprises I suppose!

I planned to simply walk to the next exit which I knew was about a mile away to get gas. I had tried a roadside assistance number that came with the rental car and they said they couldn't help me. I started off walking and called my Dad to let him know what I was doing. He made a very insistent plea that I get back in my vehicle and call 911! I would have rather walked, but I did wait for help. It took a dispatched roadside assistance vehicle 40 minutes to get there! All together I was stranded for over an hour. It was a nice man that referred to himself as "Superman" who pulled up and gave me enough gas to get a decent exit. I'm claiming Rom. 8:28 and trusting this "delay" as I talked about earlier was part of God's plan as well. I was grateful for "Superman" saving me but I thought maybe God planned this whole incident because "Superman" needs saving too. I gave him a track and I've been praying for him.

In conclusion I just want to say THANK YOU again for your prayers for my protection! God truly works every day through your prayers on my behalf, but this day especially I got to see them in Super High Action!!!

The Highlight of Europe

2009-01-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

The rest of my time in Europe was very blessed! I was excited to get to experience the town of Landstuhl --the birth city of my mother! I even got to see the hospital on the military base where she was born! It was incredible to walk about the places where my Grandparents had taken her as a child.

My meeting in Landstuhl went well. Once again kind, generous people surrounded me and treated me as if I were a visiting queen! The church's missions conference is coming up soon and the Bro. Woody asked me to pray that they could take me on for support! Please pray for these military churches! They truly have incredible ministries there! It was so touching that Wednesday night during prayer time to hear our soldiers pray. It came from a different perspective then most have. I am so grateful for our armed forces and what they do for us!

If I were to pick out a highlight of my time in Europe, there is much, that I could talk about that is thrilling, but I think my highlight of my entire time there came at the end of the mission's conference at Pastor Lancaster's church. Pastor Lancaster gave the invitation and 4 single ladies came forward to surrender themselves to the Lord for full time Christian service!!! I just cried when I saw them! How I praise God for these! I pray the Lord will lead them and guide them and that they will know that it is our Lord that makes us complete! He is sweeter then any other comforter and He never leaves us!

France!

2009-01-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

Wow! The days have been so packed in I really haven't had a chance to update at all! Even now I should probably be finishing the last of my packing since I am leaving for another city tomorrow but I'm going to put that off until I finish this!

Saturday I got to visit France! The incredibly generous lady I'm staying with, took me and another girl from the church here on a day trip to Strasbourg! We took a series of trains to get there and had a marvelous time! Everything was so very quaint and so very beautiful! Coming home we accidentally got off on the wrong stop which put us sadly behind schedule, but we were amazed that we still somehow made it to the international dinner that night on time! The good that came out of the delay however was that I got to speak to a German man involved in the Lutheran church. We had a good conversation and I left him with a good track. LET ME MAKE A CHALLENGE TO YOU! The next time God detours you--DON'T GET UPSET! After all we are promised that all things are working together for our good (see Romans 8:28 for conditions) so just stop and look for the good God is trying to bring through your "detour"! Maybe a track you hand out in that place will be the only Gospel anyone gets! Thank God for His "detours"!

Sunday I taught the children in children's church and told everyone at this church goodbye. I have been so blessed to meet and befriend some incredible people here and I praise God for it! I'm so glad we have the assurance of Heaven because sometimes it is truly hard to say goodbye to people!

I left that afternoon for a church about an hour and a half away from here to do another chalk talk for another U.S. military church. The people there were so kind. The pastor and his wife there are former missionaries in Okinawa and worked hard to start a church as well as a camp there. I believe they were there for around 20 years. We ate an Asian dish for supper that night and I was delighted to eat with chopsticks again!
I left my DVD presentation with them so that they can show it in their missions conference in a couple of weeks. He asked the church to pray about deciding to support me during this time. Please pray for these ministries! It is obvious God is doing such a great work here! I thank God for how He has blessed me through them!

Today I got a tour by car down the road following the Rhein River. I got to see more castles then I have ever seen in my life!!! It was an incredible trip for me because I have always had a great fascination for castles!!! Most of them I saw from a distance but I did get to get out and see one up close and personal! Many of the castles still stand strong, but many are turning into ruins now. Although still beautiful, their fortress walls are beginning to crumble. How grateful I am that my Fortress will never crumble! "A mighty fortress is our God; a bulwark never failing!!!"

Worms!

2009-01-19T14:50:00.000-08:00

Friday I had an great time touring Worms (pronounced Vorms) with Pastor Lancaster and Dr. Sisk. We went inside a beautiful cathedral there with a long nave lined with intricate stone carvings and an amazing ceiling! That very cathedral is where Martin Luther was tried before the Diet of Worms for hanging his 95 theses! I was suddenly very grateful for my Dad making me read Martin Luther's biography when I was young because it made me appreciate the significance of this place a lot more! Thanks Dad!

We then went to see the grand castle in Heidelberg! It is one of Germany's most famous castles nestled in the mountains in an absolutely beautiful picture perfect town. The only heart-breaking thing of the whole day was that I FORGOT TO BRING MY CAMERA!!! Ahhh! That was hard for me to see so much beauty and have no way to capture it other than my minds eye! My only comfort was that they had a nice tourist shop there where I could get plenty of postcards!

Surprise!

2009-01-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

I will be sharing my ministry with 3 different military churches while I'm here in Germany. I did my first presentation tonight at Pastor Tom Lancaster's church. I did my chalk talk and I suppose they liked it because they voted to take me on for support afterward! Praise the Lord! This will be my 7th supporting church, though I have a number of individuals and families that support me as well. The church I will be sharing my ministry with Sunday night was the result of a pastor that seeing my chalk talk today and inviting me to do one at his church as well. Nice Surprise! Then I will get to go see Bro. Woody-- a Military missionary from my own mission board next week! Bro. Woody was a great help and encouragement to me during my candidate training and I'm really looking forward to seeing him again!

Another highlight of my trip has been meeting Dr. Don Sisk! He started the largest church in Japan and then went on to become the president of BIMI (Baptist International Missions Incorporated). Someone was teasing him about my being taller then him when we took the picture so I decided to stoop a bit in this picture to help him out. He liked that!

I have several exciting trips coming up while I'm here as well as preparing for 4 more presentations (one for children's church, and 3 others for adult services) so I would REALLY appreciate your prayers for God's blessing and glory! Please pray for new monthly supporters! Commitments for regular monthly support is really what gets me to the field! I have almost 30% pledged and my goal is to leave this summer! I need your prayers now more then ever! Thank you for your faithfulness my friends!!! I love all of you so much. I couldn't do this without you!

Speyer

2009-01-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

I'm currently staying with an American woman here in Germany whose husband is a Marine deployed overseas. She works through the day so I am by myself usually for at least half of the day. Wednesday I decided to walk to a nearby city that I had heard nice things about. It is about 30 minutes from here on foot. It was so delightfully European! and I walked around for about 5 hours and then headed home as a steady snowfall gave us another several inches of a beautiful pristine blanket!

2009-01-14T16:48:00.001-08:00

Just the Beginning!

2009-01-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks for joining me on my journey! I'm starting of this blog in Germany, but as you probably already know my destination goal is Japan. I'm doing my pre-field ministry (a.k.a. deputation) right now and have been for 11 months now. That is why I'm here in Europe right now! I was graciously invited to share my ministry here for a missions conference. I have to admit I never thought about doing deputation in Europe until last week when I was invited! So far I LOVE Germany and have enjoyed meeting many new people here!

I'm new at this whole blogging thing so you may see this site go through a number of changes as I'm trying to figure out what I can do and what fits best. My hope and prayer is that this blog will glorify God and record Him at work in my journeys. I also hope this will be an easy way everyone can stay informed as well. If you have suggestions for me or things you would like to see more on my blog let me know! May each of our journeys bring us closer to the one and only true God!

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