Saving Lives......Literally.

On Thursdays I have the privilege of teach Swim Class.

Funny right?

I know......I laughed too!

But I love it! I teach it to the first year students. I do an hour with the girls and an hour with boys. Not only do we learn how to swim, but it is a time to close the books and spend some quality time with each other. We play games and do all kinds of fun exercises. They think we are just killing time, but they don't realize that they are learning teamwork, leadership abilities, and pool skills! It is so much fun. Well I started running out of ideas fast and then I heard that one of the Missionaries here in El Salvador(Stephanie Stewart) is credentialed in giving CPR lessons. (insert light bulb) I called her and we set up some times for her to bring her dummies(ya know like the dolls...not like real people) and we are learning to save lives not only spiritually here at King's Castle. The students always allow for a good time when learning mouth to mouth recusitation! 

This is Priscilla

She is from Ecuador.

This is Mariela from El Salvador

This is Karen from El Salvador.

Julia from the good ole US of A

CHALLENGE: I challenge you to learn CPR. Nothing deep today, but may come in handy throughout your journey in life. I hope to never have to use is, but, if I need to I will!

WORD OF THE DAY: RESPIRAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO BREATHE
HOW I SEE IT: BREATHE IN......BREATHE OUT

Social Network

No.
I'm not talking about the movie.
No.
I'm not talking about facebook.
Or Twitter.
Or MySpace.
Or Skype.
Or all those other things we use to communicate and make friends.
Don't get me wrong.
PLEASE don't get me wrong. I love all those things. It is a great day to be a missionary. I am so thankful to be able see how my family and friends are doing via facebook. I think it is totally cool to follow famous people, see the news headlines from Memphis, and keep up with sports via Twitter, and I totally love seeing my house, my dog and my family via Skype. Very thankful.
But, as part of my responsibility here in El Salvador, it is very important for me to network and build relationships. It is not an easy thing for me to do. Believe it or not, I am shy. At first. I don't like to be the first person to initiate conversations and if I don't really know you I will be very quiet around you. Why? Who knows? Throw in a little Spanish language barrier and a different culture it is even tougher.
    As you may already know one of my main jobs is to call National Pastors and Evangelists to set up services for the students in Master's Commission that aren't from El Salvador. We have students from Nicaragua, the USA, Ecuador, and Guatemala. It is difficult when I don't know the Pastors that I am calling and they have no idea who I am and probably can't even understand me. So I try hard to meet new people. Which is a stretch for me.
   The other day I had an opportunity to drive to Santa Ana to be a part of an Evangelist Meeting. We had dinner and devotions. It was nice to meet them and try and get to know them. We had a great time of prayer with them. They were all going to stay the night in the church we were at and I thought, "You know what.......they can come pile in my house." (the girls!) So we piled all 11 of us up and headed to my casa! (house) It was super late, and I was super tired and had a long weekend coming up, but, I knew it was important. We stayed up till around 2 talking and hanging out. We ate kiwi and bananas....(slim pickings in my house!) We got up the next morning and cooked a heaping mountain of pancakes and all headed out around 7. Totally worth it to put a face with the names. They are awesome young people doing the Lord's work.
   Don't get caught up in all the technology. Sometimes it is good to actually have some real time with people.

CHALLENGE: I challenge you this week to go meet some new people...make a new friend or two.

WORD OF  THE DAY: GRITAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO SHOUT
HOW I SEE IT: STRESS RELIEVER

Recharge.

You know sometimes when you feel:
empty
  tired
   weak
    dry
     etc.
 
   In these times there is nothing that I love more than to sit and worship and just be in His presence. The other day we (we being Master's Commission) had a time of worship. It was super chill. Just loving on the Lord.

  I encourage you to take some time out of your busy schedule, it doesn't have to be long. It doesn't have to be fancy, and it doesn't have to sound good. Light some candles grab a guitar, or a piano, or an ipod, or cassette player(ha) whatever. Just turn on some music and sing. Sing to the Lord. Worship Him. But be careful. Realize what you are saying to Him. Do you mean it? Is that really how you feel? Do you really understand when you are saying that His love is like the ocean? Do you really mean it when you say He is ALL you need? I think sometimes we lie and don't even know it.
So....take some time so that you can be:

FULL
 ALERT
  STRONG
   ON FIRE
     ETC.

WORD OF THE DAY: ADORAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO WORSHIP
HOW I SEE IT: LOSING YOURSELF IN HIS PRESENCE

Winds of Change

    The winds are blowing here.....and I mean blowing. No friends....that is not sunburn...it is windburn! I love it! Because when the winds of change happen here, it means NO MORE RAIN! We are leaving the rainy season behind and heading into a time of sunshine....wind....and cool temperatures. I miss fall and the changing of leaves and college football and all those sorts of things but I love me some sunshine. I moved "office" outside today. Been making phone calls and preparing for classes in the sunshine today. So much more refreshing then sitting in that dingy office!


    But.....that's not the only change. I'm getting ready to have a birthday. I don't know why this one feels so weird or why I really don't want to have a birthday. Maybe it's because I'm getting OLD. 24. Wow. I remember growing up thinking, "ahh...I'm going to be married to Prince Charming by 22 and have my first kid by 24....a little boy of course, to protect my little princess that will come at 26." I'm a little late! Can't say that I always enjoy the single life out here in El Salvador, but I do trust God and I am learning more and more every day just exactly what that means. Maybe it is weird because I'm not at home with the fam and friends. Hmm...o well....the day will come...the day will go.
    Well.....I never really know what to say in these things, and I will use that as my excuse as to why I never blog! So if you are interested in me writing about something or have any ideas please tell me. I would really like to blog more. So help a sister out.

WORD OF THE DAY: calabaza
LITERAL MEANING: pumpkin
HOW I SEE IT: I wanna carve one....eat one....and smash one.

Expecting...

     Tomorrow I will get on a bus and head to the airport for the trillionth time this summer. Each time I go I am either picking up a team or dropping off a team...picking up an intern or dropping off an intern. I like going to the airport. It is fun to see the team for the first time and wonder what kind of funny jokes will be made....the memories that will be made....the lives that will be touched....the bonds that will be held together for years. They always come in with a big smile and a million questions. I love it. My prayer for the teams is that they would come EXPECTING. 

      So tomorrow I will go pick up my last team for the summer. They come from Maryland. This team will be different from the others. They are an evangelism team and we will be doing huge crusades at night with our brand new massive stage. So big that it has to be pulled by a semi!Complete with the biggest, baddest, loudest sound system you have ever heard. It will be our first time taking it out and I am stoked. 

This is the DYD of South Dakota presenting us the stage. 

Thank you Speed the Light, South Dakota

So this week I am EXPECTING. EXPECTING many to come, many to hear, and many to respond. EXPECTING to lay our hands on the sick and for God to heal them. EXPECTING to put our arms around the unlovable and for God to show His love.  EXPECTING children to be baptized in the Spirit. EXPECTING to bring the hope. Man, I am pumped. It is like 2 am and I can't sleep because I'm so excited. God is going to do something big this week. So would you pray? Pray for the team. Pray for the people. Pray for the sick. Pray for the hungry. Pray for the gang members. Pray for the kids. Pray for the prostitutes. Pray for the depressed. Pray for  the abused. Pray for the abandoned. Pray for El Salvador. And pray....with an EXPECTANCY.

We will encounter all of these people this week.  

We EXPECT change. 

Answered Prayers

Well...you all know that I'm no Jimmy Hendrix(not sure if that's how you spell it) when it comes to the guitar...however I am left handed and do play a right handed guitar upside down...anyways...anyways..back to the story. So I'm not the best, but boy do I love to play. So I have an incredibly cool, awesome, perfect story to tell you about how my God answered my prayers. So on July 26th I was riding around town trying to get my El Salvador License and was accompanied by one of my new best friends, Susanna Lacy. Susanna is a MAPS Worker and is here in El Salvador working with King's Castle for a year. 

So we are pulling in a parking garage and she looks at me and says....(I'm going to color code this so you can understand)

Susanna-BLUE

Katie-PURPLE

Here we go folks....try to keep up!

"I think God wants me to give you my guitar."

"Wait...what?"

"I think God wants me to give you my guitar."

"Huh?"

At this point I am feeling a little shock, and kind of like..."is this a joke?" See what Susanna didn't know was that everyday I prayed for a guitar. What she didn't know was that every time I had the chance I was looking at any store I could find in this country to buy one. 

"I can't accept that."

"Yes you can, it isn't my guitar, it is the Lord's guitar and He wants you to have it."

SILENCE......By this time we are walking around the grocery store and like all I can do is smile. From ear to ear because I cannot believe this is real. I prayed so hard and for so long for a guitar, not ever expecting that one would be given to me, but that maybe God would let me find a decent one and I would have to drop some money on it. Another factor that played into this whole thing was I am moving to a new house at the end of the month. I just found out that I need to purchase a lot of appliances and things because it is not fully furnished. As soon as I found this out the first thing that came to my mind was, "Great, now I will have no money to buy a guitar." But God. 

Back to the story. 

When I finally settled down, had a little cry in the bathroom of the supermarket, but still grinning ear to ear(my face was sore) Susanna told me the story. 

"Once upon a time there was this guy named Tolu. Tolu loves the Lord so much and is part of the worship team at IHOP(International House of Prayer....not the restaurant!) So, Tolu had this guitar and felt like the Lord was telling him to give the guitar to his friend Felicia. (Felicia just so happens to be the best friend of Susanna.) So, Felicia(who had been praying for a guitar for 3 months) has this nice awesome guitar. Well, the night before I left to come to El Salvador, I being Susanna, remember I'm telling this story, so....back to the night before I left.....I received a gift in the trunk of my car. What is the gift you may ask? A guitar. From Felicia, my best friend. I was excited but didn't really know how to play the guitar but I totally felt like God wanted me to bring it to El Salvador to give it away to someone. So the guitar and I arrive to El Salvador in January and I began to pray about who to give it to."

Susanna and I have known each other for a little over 2 months. Several times she has heard me mention me wanting a guitar but never felt like the Lord wanted to have it....YET! Until this glorious day. The day of July 26, which just so happens to be exactly 3 months of me praying for a guitar. God is so good. I seriously like can't comprehend His love. The song "O How He Loves Us" is constantly playing in my head. Every time I pick up that guitar or see it sitting in its beautiful case I am reminded of His love. I am also so very thankful for people that listen to God. I mean look at the chain of people this guitar went through. I am the fourth person to receive this blessing. I have promised Susanna and the Lord that I will not leave this country with that guitar. Someone else will receive the blessing. So, like this may not seem like a big thing to you but playing the guitar is like my favorite thing to do, while Im not the best by any means I love to sit and play and sing to God. My best quiet times have been with a guitar just worshipping Him. I dare you to just sit in His presence and worship. Maybe you don't play an instrument but that isn't important. Take some time and just chill with Him and tell Him how much you love Him. Because He definitely loves you more than you know. Ahhh I'm like on cloud 9 right now. It's amazing. Don't stop praying.

"So...Susanna....um....like.....what kind of guitar is it?"

"Uhh....I don't know...I don't even know if you are going to like it."

I open the case and this is what I saw.....

A FENDER!!!!!!!!!!

(p.s. like a very amazing guitar.)

Thank you Jesus for caring about all things.

I'm so stoked right now!

                                      

Man God is too good to me.....I can't even explain.

WORD OF THE DAY: BENDITO

LITERAL MEANING: BLESSED

Isaiah 61

So...this is where I am at today.
I'm sure you are familiar with this passage, but this is the Message Translation. Check it out.

Isaiah 61

Announce Freedom to All Captives

 ^1-7 The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me.
He sent me to preach good news to the poor,
   heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives,
   pardon all prisoners.
God sent me to announce the year of his grace—
   a celebration of God's destruction of our enemies—
   and to comfort all who mourn,
To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion,
   give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes,
Messages of joy instead of news of doom,
   a praising heart instead of a languid spirit.
Rename them "Oaks of Righteousness"
   planted by God to display his glory.
They'll rebuild the old ruins,
   raise a new city out of the wreckage.
They'll start over on the ruined cities,
   take the rubble left behind and make it new.
You'll hire outsiders to herd your flocks
   and foreigners to work your fields,
But you'll have the title "Priests of God,"
   honored as ministers of our God.
You'll feast on the bounty of nations,
   you'll bask in their glory.
Because you got a double dose of trouble
   and more than your share of contempt,
Your inheritance in the land will be doubled
   and your joy go on forever. ^8-9"Because I, God, love fair dealing
   and hate thievery and crime,
I'll pay your wages on time and in full,
   and establish my eternal covenant with you.
Your descendants will become well-known all over.
   Your children in foreign countries
Will be recognized at once
   as the people I have blessed."
 ^10-11I will sing for joy in God,
   explode in praise from deep in my soul!
He dressed me up in a suit of salvation,
   he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo
   and a bride a jeweled tiara.
For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers,
   and as a garden cascades with blossoms,
So the Master, God, brings righteousness into full bloom
   and puts praise on display before the nations.

"I was hungry....I was thirsty....I was naked...."

  Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me."

A little over a week ago Tropical Storm Agatha swept through much of Central America, hitting us here in El Salvador pretty hard. We had several days of non-stop torrential down pour. Deluge if you will. Many places were flooded and numerous homes were not built to withstand this kind of rain. There is fear of mudslides. But thank the Lord that King's Castle has the resources to respond to disaster. Brother Don Triplett received a phone call from the AG Superintendent here to see if we could help some of the AG churches that are way out in the boonies. There were 8 churches a couple hours outside of town close to the Guatemalan border that needed clothes and food. We spent some of the day on Thursday packing rice and beans and pasta and canned food and the rest of the bag contained 4 outfits. 400 bags later we loaded up on Friday early and headed out. Here are some pictures of the day.

Some of the Master Commission Students and I packing pasta.

                                     

                                                 

My attempt at carrying things like the Salvadoran women do= FAIL

                                     

This is how it is done....feeding the baby..walking...carrying a 15lb bag on her head.

                                                

                                 

We not only handed out clothes and food we also took the opportunity to share Jesus with the kids and adults that were there. Somewhere around 40 people accepted Christ that day.

                                       

They were so happy to be able to receive something.

                                      

WORD OF THE DAY: Cochino

LITERAL MEANING: Pig

HOW I SEE IT: You're stank nasty!

SHOUT-OUT : The photos seen here were taken by MA Lisa Sears. This is her ministry and she does an incredible job at what she does. Please check out some of her work @  http://www.recklessfaith.org

SUPER AGUA FIN DE SEMANA!/Super Water Weekend!

Whew! I am water logged. (Not real sure if that is really a word or not, but my mom says it all the time when she has been in the water for too long!) Anyways, man I get side-tracked really fast, ok, um...so this weekend was a blast. I was asked to work with the youth pastors, Jacob & Amanda Noel (MA's from Louisiana) to help with their youth camp. So on Friday evening I loaded up Big Red (that is my 4runner...pics to come soon) with 9 yes 9 students to head out to the camp.

This is how we "roll" in E.S. 

10 people in a 5 passenger vehicle!

Thank you Lord for your protection.

So we had like 30 people ready to learn about the refreshing waters from the Lord. We had a flag competition complete with a team name and of course a mighty chant! This whole weekend the teams would rack up points to win.........cookies! (It's the small things in life!)

The Making of the Flags

We then had our Friday night service where Josh Sears brought the word. The 3 messages this weekend were #1. Knocking on the door of righteousness. #2. Knocking on the door of bitterness. #3. Knocking on the door of someone else's heart. So the service went great and the youth slept good. This morning we woke up early and had breakfast and small groups with our teams. We used follow up questions from the service last night. After small groups we loaded up again and headed to a water-park! We had a blast. Check out some pics!

Las Chicas!

Refreshing

All this for $3

Los Guapos

We had an excellent time here at the water-park. After many wonderful hours we returned home and had a scavenger hunt.....in the rain...and thunder....and with thunder comes.......yep......lightning! I was so thrilled to be out there! We then had an incredible service. The Spirit really moved and many burdens were lifted off these youth. It was awesome. 

 

Family

The winners!

It was a great weekend and we have one more day left. Thank you for your prayers and support, lives are being changed.

WORD OF THE DAY: CANSADA(TIRED)

HOW I SEE IT(today): WATERLOGGED

A long time coming......

WHEW!  I know it has been forever since I have been on here, but, when you don't have good internet and time......well.....some things get pushed to the side. I hope to try and be more consistent now that I am somewhat settled! Well.....let me tell you a little about what has been going on. I live at the camp that we have here. It sits on a lake...and a volcano! I have hit the ground running here and I am loving it. I am still trying to learn about the ministry and to get to know everyone here and try to connect with the people. I have some awesome opportunities coming up so keep me in prayer. Last week we had several children's pastors from all over the states come in to do a Children's Workers Conference/Workshop. It was great. We had around 500 attendants from several countries here. I also had the opportunity to speak in the youth group. Yea so here is what I'm feeling now.....I have so much to say to catch up on that it is overwhelming. So...I think I will just start over.....maybe tomorrow.


WORD OF THE DAY: Quizas (key-sas) MAYBE
HOW I SEE IT: Yea...probably not going to happen!

Legacy

On April 9th around 10:30a.m. my beautiful MiMi stepped into eternity. She lived an incredible life, touching many with her kind, hospitable nature. I was able to fly home for the Home-going Celebration as many of you know. It was indeed an incredible opportunity. The funeral was just a reminder to all of us of just how big and impact my grandmother had. There were somewhere around 500 people that came through those doors. I was so blessed to be a part of her family.

She was so beautiful.

The grandkids (Me, Michael, and Cassie) were blessed to be able to play a song in her honor. Michael and I played the acoustic guitar and Cassie played to piano. I felt so blessed to stand up their KNOWING where she was and seeing all those people out there that were impacted by her life. She has definitely left her mark. I hope I make her proud. I wanted to share the lyrics of the song we did.

I STILL MISS YOU

There she was, 5'3 a picture of my mother's mother
She showed me love, and all the ways of God
Her final days were spent in bed where she passed away
I won't forget her smiling face when she left us that night

But I still miss you
All the times we spent together
To hear you talk about the weather
I always prayed you'd get well soon
I wish my prayers came true
I know Jesus has the answer
And He's way bigger than the cancer in you
But I still miss you

If dreams came true, just one more chance to talk to you
And thank you for the time you spent teaching me the truth
A boy back then, I've grown up, now I'm a man
I can finally understand the things you said to me

But I still miss you
All the times we spent together
To hear you talk about the weather
I always prayed you'd get well soon
I wish my prayers came true
I know Jesus has the answer
And He's way bigger than the cancer in you
But I still miss you

I need some help to carry on
I need some strength to keep me strong... 

You were so loved Mimi. See you soon.

WORD OF THE DAY: Legado (Legacy)

Day 2 With The Madre

4:00 am came bright and early once again for us. We loaded a van with another family from my school (The Schnieders) and headed to the beach in Manuel Antonio. The trip was long and hot but well worth it! We arrived at our awesome hotel around 8:30am so we had the whole day to enjoy the beautiful beach.

We stopped at the Crocodile Bridge 

Looking kinda rough at 5am

This is our hotel room in MIMOS

It was beautiful and big....and it had a flatscreen!

This was ONE of our pools! This hotel was gorgeous!

Mom and I at Manuel Antonio Beach

The water was perfect! Mom kept saying it looked like someone poured blue gatorade in it! Way better than that nasty gulf she is used to!

So we were chilling in the hotel right, and all of a sudden mom starts screaming bloody murder, I thought surely we were being robbed but looked up to find this friendly little guy on our balcony! She just isn't used to em!

Yet!

We used our time wisely and played some cards at the restaurant waiting for our meal!

Mom's first Tico Meal! Arroz con camerones. (Rice and Shrimp...and other unmentionables!!)

She LOVED it!

We had an excellent time at the beach!

WORD OF THE DAY: Vale la pena

ACTUAL MEANING: worthwhile

HOW I SEE IT: it's going to be worth it