Peace

Message given August 5, 2018, at Crosspoint, North Crestview for Students at "Fresh Words from a New Generation" event. 

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When I was trying to write this message, I had no idea what to share. I was thinking through some of my favorite verses from scripture, some verses that have really spoken to me in the past, and I just wasn’t inspired to speak on any of them.

And then I had a ridiculous week. And I’m going to tell you about it, and tell you what God showed me through that week. This was very recent, and still very fresh on my mind, so I might get a little worked up about it, but here goes.

Go back in time with me. It’s Tuesday. After a long, serious conversation with my boyfriend, we realize it’s not going to work out, and that we need to break up. I’m pretty upset, but ultimately I realize it’s the right decision. The Holy Spirit was pretty clearly telling me that this guy was not who God has in mind for me, and I was finally ready to listen.

Fast forward. It’s Thursday. I’m still coping surprisingly well with the break up, but a whole slew of new problems enter in. I’m at work, hanging out with some interns, and I find out I’m being evicted because for a little extra income I’ve been listing my spare room on Airbnb, and apparently that’s “illegal” and “against the lease agreement” and blah blah blah. So I find out via an email from my apartment manager that I have 7 business days to vacate my apartment.

Now I’m not an easy-going person. Normally if big change is happening in my life, and I didn’t initiate it, I go a little crazy. I start freaking out, and my anxiety kicks in, and my heart starts racing, and I hyperventilate. So a break up and an eviction notice in the same week is a recipe for disaster for me.

Before I tell you sort of how this story ends, I want to share a verse from scripture with you. Philippians 4:7 says "Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” We hear this phrase a lot, right? A peace that passes understanding. I pray for this pretty often. I ask God to give me that peace.

In this moment, in this crazy week, with big change happening, and change that I did not initiate, I experienced this peace. As I was explaining my situation to people and asking them for help or advice, they would ask me how I was doing, and I would say “I’m just… abnormally calm.” And they’d say “yah! You are! What’s up with that?” But I was covered in a peace.

This verse says “His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” That phrase is really important here: “As you live in Christ Jesus.” I was living in Christ, right? I heard the Holy Spirit prompting me to break up with that boy, and I did it. I was following Jesus. I let him be Lord over my life. And I saw this verse come to fruition in such a tangible way. That peace that exceeds anything we can understand guarded my heart and mind, in the midst of an eviction notice, in the midst of a break up.

I’m not a Bible scholar. I’m not a theologian. I don’t know the ins and outs of scripture. But I know my own experience. And I know that there is tangible proof from my own life that this peace that passes understanding really exists, and it guarded my heart and mind right when I needed it most.

For most of my life I assumed this phrase “peace that passes understanding” came from the book of Proverbs or something like that. If you don’t know, the book of proverbs is a collection of, well, proverbs—of a bunch of truths like “be wise” and “follow the lord” and other just generally true statements.

But when I looked it up very recently I found out that it’s not a proverb; it’s in Philippians! Just a quick overview: Philippians is a letter written by a guy named Paul to the church of Philippi. This changes the context of this phrase so much! “Peace that passes understanding” is not just a general truth written in a book full of general truths. It’s not just something people say, like “Oh, it’s ok, God gives us a peace that passes understanding.” No, Paul had the Holy Spirit. Paul knew Jesus. Paul lived under the same covenant that we do. Paul telling us that a peace that passes understanding will guard our heart and mind is a huge promise!

So, as promised, here’s the outcome of that ridiculous week. I’m not getting evicted. I get to stay in my apartment because I have a great lawyer; I just have to sign a paper that says I won’t Airbnb the spare room anymore. And in all of the madness, I stayed at peace in the Holy Spirit. I didn’t freak out or spiral, I just kept trusting Jesus and keeping his peace. Now I was definitely scared. I worked pretty hard to find a back up plan. But ultimately I was just, like I said, abnormally calm. And I attribute that to the Holy Spirit, to God’s peace, that exceeds anything we can understand.

So my challenge to you tonight is this:

• Live in Christ Jesus.

• Let his peace guard your hearts and minds.

• Allow yourself to experience his peace.

Live in Christ Jesus. That means surrender to him. Follow him. Ask him what his will is for your life, and do it. Maybe that’s breaking up with your boyfriend, like it was for me, but maybe it’s not. Ask him what it is.

And then let his peace guard your hearts and minds. When you’re getting worked up or stressed about something, take 10 deep breaths, and ask the Holy Spirit for peace. He provides it every time, I promise.

Lastly, allow yourself to experience this peace. At least for me, it’s easy to ask God to give me peace. The hard part is to accept it. But God doesn’t want us worrying about everything. He wants to cover us in his peace! So I hope you’ll let him.

John 9

Written for and performed at Crosspoint in September 2016.

There was a man who was born blind, and this man was a beggar out in the streets of Jerusalem. I don’t know what it was like to be a blind beggar in first century Jerusalem, but I imagine there was a routine to it. The man probably woke each morning and went to the same place in the same town, where the same people passed him by and responded the same way each time. He heard people walking, smelled them as they passed, asked them for money, but he had never seen them and they never seemed to take notice of him.

One day the man heard a group of people walking past him, and they asked each other why this man was born blind, because of his parents’ sin or because of his own.

The man was used to hearing questions like this. It often sparked a debate or discussion about the cause of disease, the relation of sin and suffering. The next best thing to being noticed is being talked about, right? The question wasn’t new to him.

But this time was different. Among the men was a stranger, and this stranger took notice of the man. He didn’t reduce the blind man’s existence to one example in a theological debate; he saw the blind man as more than just a beggar in the streets. This stranger told the others, "It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins. This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”

The stranger didn’t blame the man born blind. He didn’t blame his parents. The stranger said, "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”

The blind man heard the group of men stop, and he heard a familiar sound; someone had spit. The blind man flinched. He knew this sound all too well. People spit on him often as they passed. He heard one of the men moving around, maybe bending down to the ground. He listened. He wondered what the man was doing. He felt a stranger’s hands rubbing something across his eyes, and the stranger told him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam.

The man born blind… What could he have been thinking? The stranger’s words were probably ringing in his ears, a concept he’d never heard before: "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” What could that mean? Who was that stranger, and what was he talking about?

The blind man left and went to the pool. Maybe he knew his way there, or maybe he had to ask for directions. Maybe he walked casually, or maybe he ran as fast as he could. Maybe he was confused and curious, or maybe he was eager and determined.

When he got to the pool, maybe he knelt down and cupped his hands in the water and splashed it on his face, or maybe he dunked his head straight in the water. But when he had washed, he could see! This man who had never seen anything could suddenly see! He could see the route he’d taken to the pool. He could see the men who passed him on the street everyday, the corner where he sat and begged, the sun he’d felt warm his face. He could see the clothes he wore, the ground beneath him. The blind man could see!

Performed by Amy at Crosspoint, Niceville. 

The Prodigal Blog Post

I’ll start by apologizing for missing a whole week of blogging. Usually I blog in the van on the way to our next stop, but I was carsick on our last van ride and then I just kept putting off the task -- but never fear! I’ll catch you up in this Prodigal Blog Post!

RECAP, PART 1: JOY OF LIVING

Last week we were counselors at Joy of Living Camp in Brinkhaven, Ohio. The camp is out in the middle of nowhere with pretty much zero cell service, but oddly enough they have wifi for staff pretty much everywhere. The camp services mostly inner city youth who can’t afford to come to camp. Donors send money that it purposed for scholarships so that kids can come and have a camp experience. The theme for the summer is “The Sweet Life,” which focuses on the fruit of the spirit. We got to work with other counselors at the camp to lead groups of 8-12 year old kids through activities like challenge course, horseback riding, baking, team building, water games, and more.

Since the camp only had jobs for 5 counselors, Kat and Cliff helped out with other jobs. Kat was on program staff, which helped the camp run logistically. Cliff, to whom we will now refer lovingly to as kitchen-boy-man-servant, worked in the kitchen helping Miss Dee prepare all of our meals.

We loved getting to know and invest in the kids there, especially through teaching lessons and leading devotions. We really enjoyed getting to meet the other staff there, too, so much so that we convinced a few of them to come and visit us in Marysville during our break on 4th of July.

PART 2: MARYSVILLE

We arrived Friday evening at our host home and were immediately blown away by their generosity and hospitality. Philip and Sarah took great care of us, let us invade their home (even to the point of having friends over), fed us well, and truly blessed us last weekend.

We spent our break on Saturday exploring downtown Marysville with our newfound friends from Joy of Living. We went to a frozen yogurt place for lunch and an ice cream place for dessert, and then wandered around the area. In the evening a few of us went to the high school to watch the Marysville fireworks show.

Marysville First United Methodist Church hosted a mission trip this week called Transformation Zone, an annual event where middle and high school kids from 10+ local churches come to do mission work for different ministries in the area. We lived in the church and went out to local ministries during the days to work. The kids were split up into 18 work crews of about 10 kids, and each of us (except Conner) was assigned to a work crew.

Christa was with team 14 who went to the Willow Brook nursing home in Delaware, OH. Most of the time, the team volunteered in the memory care unit where the residents with Alzheimers live. They took walks, played games and trivia, made crafts, painted pictures, read stories and talked with the residents. They also played uker and took walks with some of the residents in the assisted living unit. In the afternoons, the team washed wheelchairs.

Brandon was in a work crew that worked with puppets. He had a great group of kids who worked hard and got along well. They did a couple of VBS visits and nursing home visits, where they performed their puppet show. Brandon was surprised at how well received the puppet ministry was.

Micah went to Willowbrook Nursing Home in Dublin, OH, to visit with residents. They played Bingo and cards, set up a jewelry show for the ladies, and got to hear a lot of good stories from a lot of wise people. To the crew’s surprise, the residents at Willowbrook were just as interested in hearing the team’s stories as the team was to hear theirs.

[wpvideo BuAhTc6g]Ariane and Cliff went to the Furniture Bank of central Ohio. They painted and built different furniture pieces for individuals who were stable enough to begin to move into a home or apartment. The furniture bank never failed to have a job and enough for everyone to do. Ariane ended up really enjoying the work and Cliff got the satisfaction of working with power tools. It was a great experience making things that would really help families in need.

Kat went out to a barn in the middle of nowhere to build bed frames for Bed Brigade, a ministry that takes beds to kids who’ve never had one. The beds were made completely from one piece of plywood and delivered with a mattress, bedding, and a Bible. Kat’s work crew was full of awesome kids who worked really well together, growing closer as the week went on and truly showing Jesus’ love to each other throughout the week. On Friday their crew went to deliver some beds to homes, which was humbling and beautiful.

Conner was not assigned to a work group at Transformation Zone, so he took pictures or filled in with groups whenever a spot opened up. Tuesday he laid mulch, cleaned bathrooms, and played basketball with some kids. He usually lost. Wednesday he helped build kids' bikes, a strange experience since many of the bikes had parts missing or defective.

At the end of each day of work, everyone met back at the church for showers and downtime. We ate dinner together in the church, and our team led worship for the evening services. The middle and high school kids were very expressive in their worship, and every night was incredibly fueling for us as a team. Guest speakers came each night to share and teach on the theme for the week, being Christ’s ambassadors, and the church and a local radio station even hosted a concert on Wednesday! Overall we had a great week.

LOOKING AHEAD

Now we are headed to Collins, OH, to help with a VBS. Here are ways you can pray for us this week:

• Pray for endurance as we head into the home stretch of our tour. We only have two location left - Collins and Hollow Rock - before we head back to Asbury and disperse until school starts again. While it’s easy to feel the effects of our tiredness and start preparing to be done, we pray that we would push through and finish well, giving our all for the next two and a half weeks.
• Continue to pray that our ministry is received well by others and that we are effective ambassadors for Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:20

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Picture: The entire group gathers for a photo at Transformation Zone.

A Brief Journey Home

After a great week at Camp Indicoso, we headed back to Asbury for the weekend to help out at reunion. Here is a quick recap of the last 10 or so days: We hit the ground running, as seems to usually be the case at new locations. We arrived around 5pm and started immediately setting up our sound system to play for evening worship at 8:45. Since the boys were also counselors, they ended up needing to go meet up with their groups while the girls stuck around and finished setting up the sound system (we nailed it, by the way). As is also usually the case, we neglected to eat dinner until after our worship set, so it was a pretty long day.

We led worship twice a day at camp, once in the morning and once in the evening. The kids were middle schoolers who loves upbeat, fun songs with silly motions (we didn’t know many of those, so we added 4 new songs to our set list this week). In our off time the boys were counselors and the girls, well, jumped in wherever we could to get involved and hang out with the kids. There were plenty of dance parties, small group discussions, and games that Lended well to having a few extra college kids around. We fell in love with the kids -- and the counselors! It seems to be a recurring theme that we leave a place loving the people there... Maybe Jesus has something to do with that.

Dance Party Clips

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After a full week at Indicoso, we headed back to Asbury for the weekend, where we played background instrumental music for a few receptions and helped out with various kids camps here on campus for the Reunion Weekend (check out the big news at Asbury here).

Prayer Requests

Here are some ways you can pray for us in the coming week:

• Pray that we would be prepared to do whatever ministry is needed of us, and that we would serve to the best of our ability out of the outflow of Jesus’ love for us and for the people we are serving.
• Pray that any insecurities or false voices amongst our team would be silenced. Pray that we would all know and feel how pivotal we each are to the team, and that we would not let Satan get to us with the lies of unworthiness or misfittedness (that’s probably not a word, but pray against it anyways).
• Pray that the Lord would multiply our rest, and that we would feel rested and rejuvenated even though we are only getting the bare minimum in hours of sleep each night. Pray that we would not let Satan use our tiredness against us, individually or as a team. Pray that instead God would use our emptiness as an opportunity to pour out his love and his grace.

Thank you for your support and prayers. We are off to Joy of Living Ministries in Brinkhaven, OH, tomorrow afternoon.

Belmont to Indicoso

We are heading from flatland to flatland, leaving Ohio and entering Indiana to go to Camp Indicoso in Springville. To fill you in, here's a quick recap of our last week.

Recap

When we arrived Sunday, we ate dinner with the pastor and met with various church staff and leaders to talk about the week's plans. After dinner we all went to our respective host homes to get settled in. Ariane and Christa stayed with Jen, who is basically the queen of hospitality and invited the whole team over for snacks and Bop It every night. Micah and Cliff stayed with Johnnie and Barb, a couple whose newly-renovated attic is perfect for housing two college-age boys for a decade, let alone a week. Brandon and Conner stayed with Pastor Randy in the parsonage, about 6 steps from the church building. Kat stayed with Stephanie in the house she is still moving into -- literally unpacking boxes as we speak. Overall we were very well taken care of in our host homes, and we are incredibly grateful to our wonderful hosts.

Hometown Nazareth

We helped out at BUM (Belmont United Methodist) church this week with their VBS, Hometown Nazareth: Where Jesus was a Kid. We had about 50 kids each night, split into 8 crews. We were in charge of leading stations for the kids, and volunteers from the church congregation led their crews, divided by age group, from station to station.

Cliff led "Hometown Huddle," a station where the kids practiced their memory verses, talked about the bible stories they were learning in other stations, and worked hard to convince Clifford the Bug Purple Dog to let them play Duck Duck Goose.

Christa and Kat led the station "Mary's House," where the kids came to hear about Jesus' life as a kid in Nazareth. Christa played the role of Mary the mother of Jesus who told stories about Jesus as a child to the guests in her home. Mary's neighbor, Eunice (no, she's not in the Bible), stopped by every day to cause trouble and doubt Mary's stories, which caused much discontent with the kids, who truly believed that Kat actually didn't believe in Jesus. One of the girls came up to Kat (dressed as Eunice) the last day and, wide eyed and heartbroken, asked, "Eunice, why don't you believe in Jesus?" We all then proceeded to cry and assure her that the stories Mary had been telling about miracles and wonders were starting to persuade Eunice that Jesus was more than the boy next door.

Ariane and Brandon led the fun and games station, where they led the kids in games that sometimes related well to the Hometown Nazareth theme and that sometimes were just for the sake of getting the kids to run around and hopefully get tired. They also worked hard to help the kids memorize the Bible verses with motions and all. A few games to highlight: Gorilla, Man, Gun; what the kids called "the sheep game," and duck duck goose. Never have we seen kids love duck duck goose quite this much.

Micah and Brandon led music for the opening and closing celebrations each night, and may I just say that we are still amazed at just how well our boys lead children's songs. Seriously.

Speaking of music, I have great news: we have all successfully secured a spot in our heads for at least 2 full VBS soundtracks to be perpetually stuck. Cheesy kids songs are currently playing on repeat in our minds and I'm pretty positive they will never end.

Conner and Micah each led a craft one night; Micah played the role of Gabriel the Carpenter and Conner was Samuel the Shepherd. When they weren't leading crafts, they went around from station to station and helped out where needed. Conner also wandered around with a camera taking pictures of the kids, who proceeded to ask him if he was a stalker.

We really enjoyed getting to be with the kids (and volunteers)! As usual, we fell in love with the kids and found it really hard to say goodbye on Friday when the VBS came to a close.

The Weekend

Saturday was our Sabbath, the blessed day off so graciously planned into our schedule by the lovely people of Belmont. Cliff, Christa, and Kat detoured to the National Air Force Museum for the morning, then met up with the rest of the team for lunch at Taco Bell and a few hours of much-needed band practice.

We split up after practice for alone time/adventure time (Micah, Brandon, and Kat found a disc golf store and an army surplus worth exploring) and then met up for dinner with Johnnie and Barb at a killer Chinese buffet, complete with crab legs, sushi, and fantastic conversation. Dinner was followed by the tossing of frisbee and the playing of Heads Up at Jen's -- an overall relaxing Sabbath, if I do say so myself.

This morning we led worship for Belmont's combined service, including 2 songs from VBS complete with motions (and the kids' help singing and dancing). We had lunch with Pastor Randy at the church (the people of Belmont sure can cook!), then packed up and headed out.

Next Up

Like I mentioned above, we are on our way to Camp Indicoso, where we will be the worship leaders for the week. Here are ways you can pray for us this week:

• Thank God that we had a restful and low-key week at Belmont, and that we had some time each afternoon to recharge.
• Pray that we would have a supernatural grace for each other in every situation.
• Pray that we would influence the kids at Camp Indicoso for Christ.
• Pray that our team would have enough team time. We are still a little fuzzy about just how involved our roles will be this week, but we are ultimately up for anything -- we just pray that God would protect our hearts throughout the busyness and that he would keep us safe from stress.
• Pray for our sound system... Last time we used our system we had some technical difficulties, e.g. we're pretty sure the devil himself decided to reside in our sound board and cause everything that could possibly fail to fail. If this could never happen again, that would be awesome.

Thank you so much to everyone for your prayers and support! Knowing that we have people back home and on the road praying for us and our mission is so incredibly encouraging. As you pray for us this week, please take a moment to read Acts 20:22-25 (verse 24 is our team verse) -- this passage is what our team is all about! Thanks again!

Acts 20:22-27 (NIV)

22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.

Picture: Brandon and kids play Red Rover

Departing toward Dayton

Recap

We left Steubenville on Thursday about 2 hours later than we had planned (we always leave later than we plan) and stayed the night on campus before getting Cliff at his house in Wilmore and heading back to First Alliance in Louisville. We showed up Friday afternoon and set up our sound system for their youth group service, where we played a few songs and Micah shared his testimony, which was pretty well received by the room full of teenage boys.

Last week when we were at First Alliance we were invited to the Bar Mitzvah of one of the boys, so we attended as a team Saturday morning. The service was Messianic Jewish, and it was really beautiful. We really enjoyed the traditional Jewish music, the Hebrew liturgy and scripture readings, and the privilege of seeing into another culture. After attending, we all felt really honored that Isaiah had invited us and that he wanted to share that part of his life with us.

We spent most of Saturday evening practicing -- it's great to have Cliff back! -- and learning a couple of new songs for Sunday morning service. This morning we led worship and shared testimonies from Micah, Ariane, and Kat. The service overall went really well, and we especially enjoyed getting to talk with members of the congregation afterward.

Prayer Requests

Now we are on our way to Belmont Church in Dayton, OH, to help with their VBS this week. Here are ways you can pray for us:

• Pray for supernatural endurance for the team. We are all starting to feel the effects of this summer, so pray that we can keep pushing through and going strong.
• Pray that no matter what we are faced with, our team would have such deep unity and Christ-like love that the tasks wouldn't matter.
• Pray that we would be received well by the people of Belmont Church and that the Holy Spirit would speak through us.

Thanks for your support! 

Picture: Bardstown Road mural 

Au Revoir, Steubenville

After spending the week in Steubenville, OH, we're on our way back to Wilmore to get Cliff (finally!) and then we're heading back to First Alliance to lead worship Friday evening and Sunday morning. To follow the usual format, here's the recap of our last week and pray requests for the next venue.

Recap

We led worship for a youth revival at Finley. We stayed in host homes, hung out with the youth, and played 6 services throughout the week.

When we arrived in Steubenville after some difficulty (Brandon's GPS was right, ours were not. Let's not talk about it.), we hit the ground running. We met with Tom and Ryan, who helped us set up our instruments and their sound system in the church, and we started practicing for Sunday morning. After a long night of practicing, we headed out to our host homes to get some rest.

The guys stayed with Ms. Paula who constantly put our boys in a food coma and spoiled them mercilessly. The girls stayed with the Keyser family whose hospitality manifested in good food, amazing conversation, and taking a day off to make time to hang out with us.

We got to hang out with the church's youth group and do service projects Monday and Wednesday afternoons. On Monday we set up a grill and hotdog bar outside the church on the street and served lunch to people passing by. With the meals we handed out business cards for the church, and we got to have some pretty meaningful conversations with people who stopped to get food. On Wednesday we went to the Urban Mission food pantry to help out with some odd jobs. We had been told there was a lot to get done, but by the time the 15 of us got to work, we knocked out all the work and then some in about an hour. We enjoyed getting to serve the community and to work with Finley's youth group.

The evening services were up at Finley's ministry center, which is a church building that was given to Finley that they have converted into the world's coolest youth group building -- the pews were removed and replaced with a random assortment of couches, foosball and pool tables, and that basketball arcade thing you had in your basement when you were little. We played music for the services and then hung out with the kids afterward eating food, playing the world's worst game of volleyball, teaching foursquare on an awkwardly large court, and discussing the proper way to make s'mores (Gabe prefers his marshmallows burnt to a crisp while Brandon and Kat prefer a nice golden brown color).

Over the course of the week we had a few directional difficulties including but not limited to finding a giant giraffe on the side of the road (picture below). There was also a turtle killed in the making of our week, and a 40-minute moment of silence held in his honor.

We especially enjoyed getting to know the people at Finley like Tom, who organized our whole stay and took great care of us while we were there, and Gabe and Harper, the pastor's kids who just clicked really well with our group. We also got to meet a lot of people we'll get to see again at Hollow Rock like Rachel and Abby.

Speaking of Hollow Rock, we're discovering more and more that this whole SMT thing is an existing universe outside of Asbury. Joining this team was stepping into something so much bigger than just the 7 of us touring the country, and it's been really awesome diving deeper into that world.

Prayer Requests

As we go into this weekend, please pray for the following:

• Pray that Cliff transitions well from Malawi to our team, and that we make his transition as smooth as we possibly can. Also pray that musically we would get back into the swing of being a full band. Since the summer began we've been playing acoustic sets with Conner on cajon (the box drum), so it will be nice to have Cliff playing a full drum set and Conner back on his tertiary instrument of bass (his primary and secondary are guitar and vocals, so he's a little out of his comfort zone in general this summer). Our dynamic will be totally different when Cliff joins us, both socially and musically, and we're all really excited for the change.
• Pray that we would minister well to the youth at First Alliance on Friday night and to the congregation on Sunday morning, especially that the Holy Spirit would speak through us in all we do and that we wouldn't get in the way of what Jesus wants to do this weekend.

Thank you for your support!

Picture: The Giant Giraffe that signals "You've gone the wrong way."

Farewell Louisville (for now)

Recap

We spent the last week at First Alliance Church/International Christian Center on Bardstown Road in Louisville, KY, running a VBS for neighborhood kids. Here is an abbreviated recap of the week's events:

• Our first night and the next day were dedicated entirely to decorating. Our theme for the week was To the Edge: Encounter the God of the Universe, so we decked out the basement of the church in space-themed decor. When you walked in the door, you were in outer space. Brandon had the brilliant idea to cover the walls in black trash bags to give it a night sky effect, and we hung stars and styrofoam "planets" from the ceilings throughout the hallway. We worked without pause from breakfast Monday morning at 9am to 6pm when the kids arrived that evening putting up stars and planets and glow sticks and everything we could think of to make that basement feel like outer space.
• The kids were mostly from Nepal, with some from various countries in Africa, some from Latin America, and one or two white kids -- needless to say, we were the minority! We had about 25-40 kids each night and split them into 3 groups by age: Conner took the littles (4-6), Micah took the middles (7-9), and Brandon took the bigs (10-12). The groups started in a bigger room where Micah led music and Ariane led memory verses, and then we split up and rotated through our stations. Christa was in charge of teaching the story, which was taken from a different Bible passage each night. Ariane led the kids in games, which usually wore the leaders out more than the kids. Kat came up with a different craft each night and led the groups through each one. At the end of each night we met again for music and memory verses and then sent the kids home.

  

• Most of these kids are bi- and trilingual, and English is their second language. When there were kids who did't know English very well, the others were always very eager to help out. By the end of the week, we were all really attached to our kids, and we finally knew their names, no matter how unpronounceable they were to us.
• One of the guys who helped out with the VBS was Austin, who was about our age and had an amazing testimony. He really clicked with our team and stuck around for dinner and showings of Veggie Tales on VHS each night.
• We slept in classrooms in the church, so we were in that basement pretty much all the time. The funny thing about basements is that you lose all sense of space and time; we woke up at 11am feeling like it was 4 in the morning, we didn't eat lunch until 2:30 or 3, and dinner didn't even hit the stove until the kids left around 8:30 each night. Our internal clocks are completely messed up.
• The guys worked on some odd jobs around the church like trimming trees and fixing cabinets throughout the days while the girls prepared the curriculum/games/crafts for the evening and set out food for meals -- and may I just say that we are very proud of our guys for their successful use of a chainsaw!
• Since our boys were in dire need of haircuts, we dedicated all of Tuesday afternoon to clippers and sheers; our men are now neatly trimmed and presentable.
• We cooked all of our meals this week, which was a bonding experience in and of itself. Here's our week's dinner menu; parents, be proud.

• Monday: Spaghetti with meat sauce
• Tuesday: Chicken and rice with mushroom sauce and green beans
• Wednesday: Taco Salad
• Thursday: Chicken and Shrimp Fettuccine in Alfredo Sauce
• Friday: Chicken Parmesan (breaded and fried chicken breast over spaghetti noodles with marinara sauce and mozzarella and parmesan cheeses) and Broccoli

 We detoured through Lexington today to go to a wedding and got to catch up with some friends in the process. Be sure to check out the Circle of Hope Facebook page for updates on Cliff and his team in Malawi. They're doing awesome ministry there, and we're super excited for what Jesus is doing in and through them.

Prayer for the Upcoming Week

We're headed to Steubenville, OH, now to lead worship at a total of 6 services in the next 4 days for a youth revival. We are very excited, but also very nervous! Here's how you can pray for our team and our ministry in the upcoming week:

• Since we were leading a VBS all week, most of us haven't even touched our instruments since our training week back on campus... and we're leading 3 worship services tomorrow! Pray that we would quickly and easily get back into the groove of being a worship band.
• Continue to pray for Cliff and his team for their last few days in Malawi. The team comes home Tuesday and Cliff rejoins our team Friday. Pray for a smooth transition for everyone.
• Pray that we would reach people well for Christ this week, and that our team would be as effective as we possibly can in love and unity.

As always, thanks so much for your prayers and support!

Picture: The gang poses for a group photo on the last day of VBS.

Wilmore to Louisville

And So It Begins!

After a long week of a lot of training sessions, Sojourn is (finally) on the road! Here is a quick recap of the last week:

• Like I said, we went through a lot of training sessions this week, including van safety, finances, story telling, confidentiality, and many many more. Though our schedule was surprisingly full, we do feel better prepared for our summer after this last week.
• The pastor at our first church stop came to meet with us one day at lunch and told us all about the church and what to expect, which was really helpful.
• One of our training sessions was going to Asbury's Challenge Course and doing different group challenges. A few of us had been really dreading the trip to the course, but it ended up being super fun and really beneficial. We all learned a lot about each other, ourselves, and our team dynamic.
• The last session was a "talent show" where both teams did a mock service with skits, music, and testimony. It was great to show each other what we have been preparing for the summer and to encourage each other in our preparation.
• We met this morning at 7:30 to wish bon voyage to the other team, Ebenezer. After seeing them off, we went back to bed until it was time to pack up and get on the road.

As we head to our next stop, here are some prayer requests:

• This week we will be leading a vacation Bible school in the evenings for 25-40 international kids. Our theme is To the Edge and it focuses on the God of the universe in relation to us, his creation. Be praying that we would lead well, and especially that we would be able to share Jesus with kids who may not receive the message of the gospel any other way. Many of these children speak English as a second language and come from Muslim and Hindu homes.
• Continue to pray for Cliff and his team in Malawi, Africa. They will return stateside on June 9. Pray that they minister well to the people in Malawi and that Cliff has as smooth as possible of a transition when he comes home and joins our team.

Thank you for all of your prayer and support!

PA to KY

We are on our way back to Asbury after our ministry weekend at Rhodes Grove camp. We had such a great time this weekend! First things first: the food was phenomenal. We were compelled to kiss the cook after every meal. We have never been so impressed by camp food.

The camp was a family camp, which we had never heard of. Families came and stayed in cabins and came to chapel services twice a day where we led worship before the message. Through the weekend there were a ton of cool activities for the families like game tournaments, canoeing, swimming, ziplining, hiking, and so much more.

While worship was very much in our comfort zone, facilitating the game tournaments was a little more challenging. We split off into pairs and led tournaments for cornhole, carpet ball, fooseball, ping pong, horseshoes, and air hockey. By the second day we had gotten into the swing of things and realized we actually can do more than lead worship.

Overall it was a good start to our summer. The camp and the experience was very comfortable, and we felt welcome and appreciated.

Here are some things to pray for as we return to Asbury for the week:

• As we go into training week, pray that we would have supernatural unity as a team.
• We will be taking some form of a driving test with a 15-passenger van pulling a trailer. Please pray for safety for everyone involved.
• Pray that we as a band will be received well when we go to churches and camps.
• Pray for technology mercies as we get accustomed to our new  sound system, that we would know how to set up, use, and troubleshoot the equipment.
• Continue to pray for Cliff and his team as they minister to the people of Malawi, Africa. Also pray that his transition from that team to ours goes as smoothly as possible when he returns June 9.

Thank you for your prayer. We are all so grateful for God's provision so far and we are expectant that He will continue to provide.

Photo: Scenic overlook in Maryland

On the Road

Sojourn is on the road! Today we're headed on an 8-hour journey to Chambersburg, PA, to lead worship at a church retreat.  A few quick updates: we successfully crammed all of our stuff into the van this morning, we have decided we need a GoPro to document our trip, and we pulled over for a pit stop before even getting out of Lexington. Sojourn is off to a great start! 

Here are a few ways to pray for us today: 

• Pray for safe travels. We already had the tire pressure light come on, and although watching Micah and Brandon figure out how to fix it was entertaining (I'm pretty sure the owner's manual had "dance the Macarena" listed as a necessary step to reset the dashboard light), we'd prefer not to have any more dashboard lights come on, minor or otherwise.  
• Pray for team unity for us. This weekend will be great for us as a team to grow closer and figure out how to better work together. 
• Pray for Cliff and his team in Malawi as they minister there. While it's hard not having Cliff with us, we're thrilled for what he's doing in Africa in these next few weeks. He will rejoin our team June 12. 

We will lead worship at a church in Pennsylvania about 4 times, including a Sunday morning service and a 1-hour worship night, all acoustic since we don't have our drummer. We're very excited to get started!

Thank you for your prayers and support! We'll keep updating as often as we can. 

Picture: nap time in the van circa 10:30am, a mere hour and a half into the trip. 

Meet Sojourn

For those of you who haven't heard, we're going on a 10-week tour of the country to lead worship at different churches and camps repping Asbury University. We'll be blogging about the trip here, so first we wanted to introduce ourselves! Check back often for updates. We leave for Pennsylvania Friday morning, May 22. Be praying for safe travels and effective ministry!

Micah

Micah is from Louisville, KY. He leads, plays guitar, and sings in the band. Micah will graduate in December '15 with a degree in Worship Arts and Audio Production. If he could be a superhero, he would be Spiderman.

Ariane

Ariane is from Macon, GA. She is a vocalist and co-leader in the band. She will be a junior in the fall studying Worship Arts and Exercise Science. If it were realistic to have a puppy-sized slug without the slime, Ariane would want one.

Christa

Christa is from Fayetteville, West Virginia. She plays viola in the band. She will be a senior in the fall studying Education. Christa has visited 48 of the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Brandon

Brandon is from Berea, KY. He plays electric guitar in the band. He will be a senior in the fall studying Math Education. Brandon occasionally takes tea with his sugar.

Kat

Kat is from Evansville, IN. She plays keys and is the contact person for the band. She will be a senior in the fall studying Worship Arts and Multimedia Communication. Her spirit animal is, coincidentally, a black cat.

Conner

Conner is from Highpoint, NC. He plays bass and does sound for the band. He will be a junior in the fall studying Worship Arts. He takes the Hipster level of the band from 0 to 100 just by walking into a room.

Cliff

Cliff is from Nicholasville, KY. He plays drums for the band. He will be a senior in the fall studying Worship Arts. The first month of his summer vacation was spent in Malawi, Africa on a mission trip.

Welcome to Ireland, Kat.

Let's just talk about wifi for a minute. Wifi in Ireland is available pretty much everywhere. You can get wifi for free in restaurants, the airport, and even on buses! But do you know where you can't get wifi? Our hotel room, our tour bus, and the Cliffs of Moher. And do you know where I was when I needed wifi? Our tour bus and the Cliffs of Moher. You see, our American credit card is extremely helpful to have with us so we can pay for things... unless we can't pay by card. And then, well, the card isn't so helpful. So, you know, we needed to call home to get the pin for the card.

So there I am at the Cliffs of Moher, where the free wifi doesn't work, and the buses are coming and going. I logged onto wifi from some bus and spent probably 2 or 3 minutes filling in the log-in form just to connect. Once I was online, I pulled up Skype, dialed the number, and called. Just as John answered the phone, guess what happened. No, really, guess.

The bus drove away.

I finally get through on the phone and the bus is driving away.

Really??

So there I am at the Cliffs of Moher, chasing after a tour bus so that I don't lose my wifi connection, yelling into my phone, "John? John!? It's Kat! Hello!?" and then the connection was gone.

So there I am at the Cliffs of Moher, trying desperately to find another wifi source. I found another bus, logged on, and called again, this time actually getting through and getting the pin number! We went inside to the ATM and slid in the card, put in the pin, and selected a withdrawal... only to find that the pin was wrong.

Awesome.

So there I am at the Cliffs of Moher, once again stalking tour buses to find a good wifi connection, logging into servers only to have them drive away. Stupid mobile technology.

When I finally got through to John again, he gave me the pin number, and I literally jumped for joy. But then... wait for it... he asked me questions. And I answered them. And I forgot the pin.

I. forgot. the stupid. pin.

Seriously!?!?

So there I am at the Cliffs of Moher, wandering through the parking lot trying to find another bus with wifi, all while still not having the pin and not seeing the stupid freaking Cliffs of Moher! There I am at the Cliffs of Moher, and I haven't even seen the cliffs. And we can't get money off our card.

So many times the buses drove off, and so many times I was so close to getting what we needed, and I still. just. couldn't. And as I'm sitting on the sidewalk in defeat at the Cliffs of Moher, I declare, out loud, that I do not appreciate God's sense of humor. And I think I heard God laugh.

To wrap up a very long story about a very long day, we did get the pin, and we can get cash at ATM's. God came through in the end, as he always does.

Welcome to Ireland, Kat.

It's the Altitude.

During this trip, I've found that basically everything can be explained using the following words: it's the altitude. For instance, we were hiking on Monday and found ourselves surprisingly winded after only a few steps. "How could we possibly be this out of shape?" we thought aloud. It's the altitude.

On the van ride from Guatemala City to Panajachel, the breeze coming through the window grew increasingly colder. ¿Porque? It's the altitude.

True as the previous may be, other situations weren't quite as logical. In example, Hillary's guitar seemed to never be tuned. Why, might you ask? It's the altitude. True or not, that's the explanation we gave.

Every mañana for breakfast and every tarde with lunch, we had fresh fruit. Everything from mangos to bananas to coconut tastes better here. Why? It's the altitude.

Our room at the compound was a mysterious place. Often my phone would be unplugged from the wall unbeknownst to Alix or me. The temperature of the water in the shower refused to cooperate. A strange smell began to appear. And how did we explain all of this? It's the altitude.

The people are beautiful here. The scenery is gorgeous here. The weather is excellent here. Why? It's the altitude.

We are all sunburnt. It's not because of a lack of sunscreen however. It's the altitude.

I feel extremely close to God here. I've gotten to make new friends, reconnect with old friends, try new things, and even step out of my comfort zone. Why has this week been so awesome?

It's the altitude.

Cosas de Anoche

Here are some things that were said tonight during devotions: Even after making so much progress, sometimes we have to work backwards and take down what we've built before we can really accomplish what we're working towards. Just as we have been sanding bookcases and rounding corners, God sands us and rounds our corners so that we can better love others and serve him. What we're doing this week may not have immediate results. The seeds of hope that we are planting are going to take time to grow. A pair of $5 sunglasses that means nothing to us can mean the world to a little kid on a soccer field. God puts the perfect opportunities to serve into our lives, even when we're afraid we won't be able to make a difference.

I see God in...

I had this whole blog post planned out, but realized that that's notat all what I need to share tonight. At devotions tonight, Ben asked us where we saw God today. And that is what I need to share. I see God in the beautiful scenery that we get to see all the time. I see God in Hillary every time she picks up her guitar. I see God in Alix when she does cartwheels through the grass. I see God in the women who cook dinner for us here at the compound. I see God in the faces of all the little kids we see in the streets. I see God in the two little girls I met today who helped me figure out how to make a broken kazoo sound good. I see God in the group of people who played soccer today. I see God in Ben when he prays with us or preaches to us or shares a part of his day with us. That's all for tonight. Tomorrow I get to see God in all new ways.

Technology is Great...

Except when it isn't.For instance, a computer for check in for Continental is great. You can swipe your passport, confirm your identity, and check in for a flight very early in the morning, all without having to talk to any grumpy airport people.

However, when the name on your passport doesn't quite match the name on your boarding pass, technology is not so great. After completing (so we thought) the check in process once, Alix and I discovered that we had actually not checked in, and had to try again. Our second attempt involved one of those grumpy airport people I mentioned earlier. She had to swipe her badge and then confirm that "ALIXANDRAJ" is the same person as "ALIXANDRAJEAN."

Really?

So the grumpy airport person went on her way and we checked our bags and proceeded to join the rest of the team on the way to security... last. Again.

Anyone else seeing a trend here?

Everything is a Journey...

And this is how ours begins...At the last mission trip meeting, my mom had the suggestion of arriving at the church at 2:30 in the morning to handle packing and paperwork needs before heading on the road. Great idea, right? That way we would have plenty of time to get everything done before leaving the church parking lot. Excellent.

Alix spends the night, and we set alarms for 2:00 A.M. so that we can throw on some clothes and run out the door, bags already packed and in the Prius. 2:20, we should be out of the house and headed to the church. Everything's planned out. Right?

Wrong.

You see, there's a tired Brazilian currently living in my room who is rumored to have shut off the alarm when it was beeping at 2 in the morning. Which is fine, other than the fact that it didn't wake Alix or me. About an hour later - that's 3 o'clock, by the way - is when we were awakened by the landline ringing. "Who the heck would be calling at this time in the morning..." I thought as I walked to get the phone.

Caller ID? Benjamin Lovell. Our youth group leader. No doubt calling to say, "It's 3 A.M. Where are you?" Alix and I scrambled to get dressed, luckily with all garments facing forward and right side out. Alix called Ben or Ben called Alix or something... And I heard Alix saying something along the lines of, "I don't know when we can leave. We'll be there as soon as we can. I don't know."

On my way to my mom's room, I somehow acquired Alix's phone and was talking to Ben, and he said something about a gas station and a bus, to which I replied. I have no idea what I agreed to in my response, but I know I did reply.

My mom heard me at the door, welcomed me into her room (as welcoming as anyone can be at 3 in the morning), looked at the clock to find a time much later than 2:00, and then jumped out of bed and got ready to go.

Hearing something about gas station, we went to the gas station around the corner. We stood outside the car, bags sitting in the parking lot. We waited in the cold(ish). We began to say our goodbyes...

And then we drove back to the house?

Alix got another call saying that someone was at our house to pick us up and take us to the church.

Okay...

We went back to our house to find Ben knocking on the door and Jody (the pastor's wife) standing by her car in our driveway. At this point, it's about 3:20. Embarrassed greetings were exchanged from all parties, and luggage was transferred from one vehicle to another.

Another hug for my mom, and we were on the road. (I can't decide if I should include that Ben drove much faster than legal...) We arrived at the church at 3:30, and the rest (so far) is really very insignificant. We walked on the bus, took our seats, prayed, and headed on the road. Alix and I are about to burst from the anxiety of it all, but really, everything is a journey, and what's a journey without a little chaos?

Movie Premieres and Season Finales

I have this running joke with my family about how much money people spend on useless things when they could be saving kids in third-world countries. Did anyone watch the Biggest Loser finale last season and see all the confetti they dropped on stage? The money spent on the tons of confetti dropped could have been spent on meals for starving children. And how about radio contests on KLOVE? They gave away tickets to a movie premiere in London a few months back. Couldn't they have auctioned that off and used the money to actually make a difference? For a more recent example, look at the Super Bowl. Companies pay millions of dollars to advertise during the game. And sure, Pepsi Max commercials are funny. Yes, the guy licking the Dorito cheese off someone else's finger is hilarious. But paying millions of dollars? 1 million dollars is enough to feed more than 3,000 children 3 meals a day for a whole year. And we're spending that money on commercials to play during a football game?

Our country could be making a huge difference. I could be saving lives. You could be ending world hunger.

If you're lost, or don't know how to help, check out the Samaritan's Purse (or Samaritan's Pocket, if you're Miranda) or World Vision website. Pack an OCC box. Help out at an FMSC packing event. Donate your spare change. Helping is easy, and it's way past time for us all to start making a difference. Don't throw out that old, rickety chair; donate it to Goodwill. Don't buy that extra soda; give $0.50 to Samaritan's Purse and provide 2 meals to a child. The smallest efforts make the largest difference.

As the Father has sent me, so I send you.

For those of you who are interested in reading about our upcoming trip to Guatemala, you can go to the Blue Grass Student Ministries web page and read the updates that our youth group leader, Ben, sends out. He just posts study materials and reminders right now, but eventually the site will have updates on how our mission is going. All of the study materials referenced in this post can be found on the January 25th post on the Blue Grass Student Ministries web page.

We had our first study tonight, and it really got me thinking about the trip. Why am I going? Is it because I want to be witness to Christ in my life? Or because I want to serve others? Or because I just really enjoy manual labor? 

In Mark 5, a woman comes to Jesus looking to be healed. She only wants to touch Jesus, because she knows that is all it will take for him to heal her. When she does this, Jesus turns in the crowd and asks who touched him. He connects with the woman and forms a relationship with her. Jesus shows this woman love. Not only does he heal her physically, he heals her emotionally. He takes a broken woman who has been an outcast for years due to her sickness and heals her. He loves her.

Why am I going on this trip?

I am participating in this mission because God has given me the opportunity to learn to love the way Jesus loved. And wouldn't I be a fool to pass up such an opportunity?

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you." John 20:21