Bonjour tout le monde!
I am SO honored and excited for you to join me on this journey of the next year of my life in Montpellier, France!! I hope that as you read, you feel like YOU are also experiencing this crazy adventure overseas!
It's taken me a while to write my first blog, as it is tres difficile for me to try to clearly communicate all that has happened since our team's official arrival in Monpellier France. Although we have only been here for 7 days, it feels like it has been MUCH longer.
Just to give you an idea, I have witnessed 3 protests in the past week, one which I was walking in, thinking it was a parade, I've opened a French bank account, I've grocery shopped multiples times, made some French friends, and began my French course, where I have become friends with a girl from Belgium and Nepal!!
(sidenote: I did not knowingly join a protest. This is not allowed, according to our STINT Handbook!) :) HA!
God has SWEETLY provided for us. Everyone on our team has found housing!! This is incredible as it usually takes around 3 weeks, and our team is the largest ever sent to Montpellier. We have 3 married couples, 4 others guys, and then myself and the 2 women I live with. One of the married couples has a 4 month old baby, Alex, who is the happiest and most adaptable baby I have ever seen.
There is also another American family, the Skurs. They have 4 energetic kids and live here long term and serve with the ministry. They are SUCH a blessing and are a wealth of knowledge and help for our team.
There is much more I could share! I will write soon to share more of what God has been teaching me, and I pray it would encourage you in some way. If you feel like praying, please pray for rest, strength, and the ability to learn the language quickly. You can pray this for our entire team. Also, that I would be in awe of God's love for me and begin to really see others more as He sees them.
It's time for French flash cards and sleep. Bon nuit! (good night). Until next time!
"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:8
Katy :)
p.s. I am COOKING for about 50 people at a conference in Sete, France this weekend. It's a french conference for student leaders in the Agape ministry, so it will be amazing! Pray for GOD TO MOVE and for me not to mess up feeding everyone! (someone will help me. :))
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Monday, June 30, 2008
back in Hillsboro, ND, USA
Hello all!! I am writing to you as an American (not that I ever wasn't one)...but I am once again living the life of an American, so I will attempt to write as one!
I have been safely back in the states for 4 days, in Hillsboro for 2. I will tell you a little bit about Paris at the end...but What is even more exciting is our last few days in Montpellier. We were able to spend lots of time with Sophia. It amazing every time I'm with her how much I see the Holy Spirit moving and working right before my eyes.
Sophia shared SO much with me about her life and her past, things she feels bad about and is searching to find ways to forgive herself. I continued to tell her about God's love and gift of forgiveness in Jesus. She so longs for this, and said that she hopes someday she will be able to experience this. She said it will be very hard to ever "concecrate her life to God", she said, "If I do this, I will totally trust God with all of my life, not just some, and that is a big thing." I am just so thankful and blessed that I got to meet her and be her friend and love her. She is so loving, and is already writing emails to keep in touch! She also met our friends who will be there next year for an entire year, and she is excited to continue to hang out with them! God is working! Please continue to pray!
God has also been teaching me so much! I am learning more and more that God doesn't want us to trust him with our lives so that we have to live a certain way or follow rules or not have fun....he does it because giving him our lives is where we will find JOY and FULLNESS OF LIFE! Jesus died to save us from our sins, but he also ROSE AGAIN...so that we can RISE with Him and live a new life. Not one where we are coninually having to seek joy...not a life where joy is something that I experience every once in a while, where its something rare. God wants us to find JOY IN THE LORD, everlasting JOY! I'm still learning how to experience this, but it is freeing just to know that THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US!
peace friends...and chow! :)
p.s. Paris was wonderful, although it was a strange transition, project was basically over, but we weren't quite home. It was still PARIS, though, so how can one complain? I didn't go crazy trying to see everything, but the first evening we took a nice boat ride, which was beautiful, and the next day I walked around a lot looking at different things. The most exciting was the Opera House, which is the same one where Phantom of the Opera comes from. I actually was able to get rush tickets and saw my first opera! This was wonderful. The next day I tourned the Orangerie, which has Monet's 360 degree paintings, Renvior's paintings, and many others. This is right by the Louvre, which I didn't have time to see. I saw the Luxembourg Gardens, which are beautiful, and of course the Eiffel Tower, great times!
I have been safely back in the states for 4 days, in Hillsboro for 2. I will tell you a little bit about Paris at the end...but What is even more exciting is our last few days in Montpellier. We were able to spend lots of time with Sophia. It amazing every time I'm with her how much I see the Holy Spirit moving and working right before my eyes.
Sophia shared SO much with me about her life and her past, things she feels bad about and is searching to find ways to forgive herself. I continued to tell her about God's love and gift of forgiveness in Jesus. She so longs for this, and said that she hopes someday she will be able to experience this. She said it will be very hard to ever "concecrate her life to God", she said, "If I do this, I will totally trust God with all of my life, not just some, and that is a big thing." I am just so thankful and blessed that I got to meet her and be her friend and love her. She is so loving, and is already writing emails to keep in touch! She also met our friends who will be there next year for an entire year, and she is excited to continue to hang out with them! God is working! Please continue to pray!
God has also been teaching me so much! I am learning more and more that God doesn't want us to trust him with our lives so that we have to live a certain way or follow rules or not have fun....he does it because giving him our lives is where we will find JOY and FULLNESS OF LIFE! Jesus died to save us from our sins, but he also ROSE AGAIN...so that we can RISE with Him and live a new life. Not one where we are coninually having to seek joy...not a life where joy is something that I experience every once in a while, where its something rare. God wants us to find JOY IN THE LORD, everlasting JOY! I'm still learning how to experience this, but it is freeing just to know that THIS IS WHAT GOD WANTS FOR US!
peace friends...and chow! :)
p.s. Paris was wonderful, although it was a strange transition, project was basically over, but we weren't quite home. It was still PARIS, though, so how can one complain? I didn't go crazy trying to see everything, but the first evening we took a nice boat ride, which was beautiful, and the next day I walked around a lot looking at different things. The most exciting was the Opera House, which is the same one where Phantom of the Opera comes from. I actually was able to get rush tickets and saw my first opera! This was wonderful. The next day I tourned the Orangerie, which has Monet's 360 degree paintings, Renvior's paintings, and many others. This is right by the Louvre, which I didn't have time to see. I saw the Luxembourg Gardens, which are beautiful, and of course the Eiffel Tower, great times!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
YES!
WE JUST HEARD FROM SOPHIA AND SHE WANTS TO MEET TOMMORROW EVENING! PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS TIME TOGETHER! She said she has been reading the bible and has LOTS of questions!
chow!
chow!
au revoir Montpellier!
I must say I am very excited for snicker bars and MY FAMILY, but leaving Montpellier will be much more difficult than I would have ever imagined. This will possibly be my last post, and I feel like a lot has gone on since I last updated.
Things are still going very well. I had a little bit of time to process today and just really reflect on the summer so far. It has been such a heart changing experience; I feel like its very difficult to put into words. I have been so amazed by the connections we have had with the French. Contrary to popular American belief, the French students I have met have been so friendly and welcoming. God has so clearly been moving in their hearts....I am still so shocked by their willingness to talk about God and to listen to what we believe...to hear about the message of Jesus. However, it is SO difficult to see their apathy, they just dont really care, which is common with American students in many ways too. They dont really think about God.
But its also incredible, then, to see how God clearly HAS prepared specific students to really be seeking and interested in God for their own life. Although this is very unusual, my friend Sophia, who I told you about, is seeking God very much in her heart. We have given her the New Testament in French and a book called More Than A Carpenter, which is a man who did not believe in Jesus, and as he studied, he found valid reason for why to believe that Jesus was more than a carpenter, that He was truly God. Sophia said she loves to read and these would be her new books to read before she goes to bed. WHAT A MIRACLE GOD IS DOING IN HER HEART. I pray so much for her, as her dad is very opposed to her seeing us at all. We have not heard from her in a while, but I know that whether we see her again or not, God is pursuing her and it is in His hands. At one point she was even crying and said "life without God is so hard...I hope someday I can believe."
God has continued to bless our trip, we had 15 students at our Agape meeting night on Thursday...we had prayed for 10 or more! God is continuing to teach me. He has especially showed me that I need to trust him...trust that he IS guiding me, and trust that when I pray for something in his will, he WILL answer it...and I should not doubt this. I am learning that as I have faith and trust God, I am seeing him do things that I otherwise might have missed.
I was sick for 4 days...so had a long weekend, ha, a French doctor actually came to my room and gave me an antibiotic for a virus...I feel like I have a whole new body now, so praise God for that!
THANKS so much for those of you who have been reading and praying....your prayers are being answered...God is moving in Montellier! I am excited to be in America...I need to prepare myself for the culture shock. I cannot wait to hear what been going on. Thanks again!
chow
Things are still going very well. I had a little bit of time to process today and just really reflect on the summer so far. It has been such a heart changing experience; I feel like its very difficult to put into words. I have been so amazed by the connections we have had with the French. Contrary to popular American belief, the French students I have met have been so friendly and welcoming. God has so clearly been moving in their hearts....I am still so shocked by their willingness to talk about God and to listen to what we believe...to hear about the message of Jesus. However, it is SO difficult to see their apathy, they just dont really care, which is common with American students in many ways too. They dont really think about God.
But its also incredible, then, to see how God clearly HAS prepared specific students to really be seeking and interested in God for their own life. Although this is very unusual, my friend Sophia, who I told you about, is seeking God very much in her heart. We have given her the New Testament in French and a book called More Than A Carpenter, which is a man who did not believe in Jesus, and as he studied, he found valid reason for why to believe that Jesus was more than a carpenter, that He was truly God. Sophia said she loves to read and these would be her new books to read before she goes to bed. WHAT A MIRACLE GOD IS DOING IN HER HEART. I pray so much for her, as her dad is very opposed to her seeing us at all. We have not heard from her in a while, but I know that whether we see her again or not, God is pursuing her and it is in His hands. At one point she was even crying and said "life without God is so hard...I hope someday I can believe."
God has continued to bless our trip, we had 15 students at our Agape meeting night on Thursday...we had prayed for 10 or more! God is continuing to teach me. He has especially showed me that I need to trust him...trust that he IS guiding me, and trust that when I pray for something in his will, he WILL answer it...and I should not doubt this. I am learning that as I have faith and trust God, I am seeing him do things that I otherwise might have missed.
I was sick for 4 days...so had a long weekend, ha, a French doctor actually came to my room and gave me an antibiotic for a virus...I feel like I have a whole new body now, so praise God for that!
THANKS so much for those of you who have been reading and praying....your prayers are being answered...God is moving in Montellier! I am excited to be in America...I need to prepare myself for the culture shock. I cannot wait to hear what been going on. Thanks again!
chow
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
ALLELUIA!
Praise the Lord my friends! woop woop! My friends Jenna and Ness just saw a girl, Julie, put her FAITH IN JESUS! God is great...the angels are having a party in the heavens today!!!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
peanut butter
no more nutella....although I may have purshased a 7 dollar small jar of skippy peanut butter (only 3.40 euro)....and yes, it was most certainly worth it. why they do not eat peanut butter here is beyond me....I found it in the specialty section.
I just want to thank all of you who read this and who have supported me and made it possible for me to be here....know that your prayers and support are the reason this team is in France and being used by God...your prayers are heard and answered...you are part of bringing the LOVE of JESUS CHRIST to this spiritually dark city! I thank you so much for letting God use you in such a powerful way...more powerful than you know.
so our 2 goals of the summer are:
1. to make French friends
2. to learn how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit
It has been so cool to see God teach us more about walking in His spirit, and I am AMAZED by the number of French friends the team has made.
God is doing some mighty awesome things. In just a few minutes my friend and I are meeting our newest French friend, Sophia, who I had asked for prayer for. Earlier she had said she couldnt meet until next Thursday, which was just a big bummer because we leave the Monday after that, but now just texted and said she wanted to get lunch this afternoon (at Mac Do)..frenchy name for MCDONALDS! This girl is searching SO much for meaning in her life...she is struggling internally with continuing to live the way the world lives, or giving over her life to something bigger!
God has really been teaching me a lot about trusting Him and trusting that he is guiding me. When we ask his spirit to fill and lead us, we can BE SURE by faith that he will do this! Our team has really been focusing on unity this week, and the importance of being united as one body this summer in order to God to use us. Everyone has so many different talents and gifts that the Lord has given them, and if we are all seperate, not united as one, the "system" will not be able to function effectively.
UPDATE: I JUST RETURNED FROM OUT MEETING WITH SOPHIA. We ate with her in the park and she said she had lots of things to tell us. She said she told her dad about when she met us, and he told her we are bad and that she shouldnt see us again. He said we are probably with a sect and if she does not do what we want we will want money or something from her. She knew inside that this was not true and she wanted to hang out with us more. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER AND HER FATHER and that God would protect her and help her to experience His love. Praz against any lies or things that would keep her from the love of Christ. She trusts us, praise God!
She is such a beautiful girl, and i so hope we can be friends beyond this trip. It was so good to talk about all of these things with her. She said she had never looked at a bible before, and likes to learn. We gave her the new testament in French and together we read almost 4 chapters of John. She would just ask questions if she had any. She wants to hang out more and read more and learn more. I am so overwhelemed by Gods goodness and hand in this whole thing. Never can I do anything to change Sophias life...but GOD CAN! Pray that she would continue to feel loved and cared for.
praying for you all! peace!
I just want to thank all of you who read this and who have supported me and made it possible for me to be here....know that your prayers and support are the reason this team is in France and being used by God...your prayers are heard and answered...you are part of bringing the LOVE of JESUS CHRIST to this spiritually dark city! I thank you so much for letting God use you in such a powerful way...more powerful than you know.
so our 2 goals of the summer are:
1. to make French friends
2. to learn how to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit
It has been so cool to see God teach us more about walking in His spirit, and I am AMAZED by the number of French friends the team has made.
God is doing some mighty awesome things. In just a few minutes my friend and I are meeting our newest French friend, Sophia, who I had asked for prayer for. Earlier she had said she couldnt meet until next Thursday, which was just a big bummer because we leave the Monday after that, but now just texted and said she wanted to get lunch this afternoon (at Mac Do)..frenchy name for MCDONALDS! This girl is searching SO much for meaning in her life...she is struggling internally with continuing to live the way the world lives, or giving over her life to something bigger!
God has really been teaching me a lot about trusting Him and trusting that he is guiding me. When we ask his spirit to fill and lead us, we can BE SURE by faith that he will do this! Our team has really been focusing on unity this week, and the importance of being united as one body this summer in order to God to use us. Everyone has so many different talents and gifts that the Lord has given them, and if we are all seperate, not united as one, the "system" will not be able to function effectively.
UPDATE: I JUST RETURNED FROM OUT MEETING WITH SOPHIA. We ate with her in the park and she said she had lots of things to tell us. She said she told her dad about when she met us, and he told her we are bad and that she shouldnt see us again. He said we are probably with a sect and if she does not do what we want we will want money or something from her. She knew inside that this was not true and she wanted to hang out with us more. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER AND HER FATHER and that God would protect her and help her to experience His love. Praz against any lies or things that would keep her from the love of Christ. She trusts us, praise God!
She is such a beautiful girl, and i so hope we can be friends beyond this trip. It was so good to talk about all of these things with her. She said she had never looked at a bible before, and likes to learn. We gave her the new testament in French and together we read almost 4 chapters of John. She would just ask questions if she had any. She wants to hang out more and read more and learn more. I am so overwhelemed by Gods goodness and hand in this whole thing. Never can I do anything to change Sophias life...but GOD CAN! Pray that she would continue to feel loved and cared for.
praying for you all! peace!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
yo
Things are going real well here in our little corner of France. Too much to give all the details right now, but just some really incredible things have been happening....God is moving big time. We hung out with our close French friends, Amandine and Emeline for an entire day this past week. Went shopping, found this spot where you can see the entire city ôf Montpellier...which they had never even seen, had lunch, and talked in the park for hours. We were able to share with them why we would come here to talk about God and what he has done in our lives and why we believe in him so much...and they opened us about their lives, which is just so amazing. Just getting to know who they really are and be trusted by them and just hang out is incredible...I can see no reason why they would want to be our friends so much after just two weeks....I can see that God is working in their lives...even if we dont see the results while we are here.
Also...today in the park my friend Hanni and I met two girls who are about to graduate from high school. It was the most intense spiritual conversation I think Ive ever been a part of. I will give details later...but please be praying for Sofia....I have never seen someone seeking at much as she is...God has been working in her heart and drawing her to Himself for quite a while...please pray that she would truly experience Him and find the answers to the questions she is asking about her life...what her purpose is...why she feels an internal battle with the way she is living....pray that she would experience Jesus...we will be hanging out with these girls again. Its just so great to joke and laugh and just hang out with them too....wow!
please pray that God would continue to restore and fill our team with life that only comes from Him and that everything we say and do would be completely covered with LOVE! and pray for sofia!...and everyone else we have connected with! Let me know how things are going for you.
au revoir!
Also...today in the park my friend Hanni and I met two girls who are about to graduate from high school. It was the most intense spiritual conversation I think Ive ever been a part of. I will give details later...but please be praying for Sofia....I have never seen someone seeking at much as she is...God has been working in her heart and drawing her to Himself for quite a while...please pray that she would truly experience Him and find the answers to the questions she is asking about her life...what her purpose is...why she feels an internal battle with the way she is living....pray that she would experience Jesus...we will be hanging out with these girls again. Its just so great to joke and laugh and just hang out with them too....wow!
please pray that God would continue to restore and fill our team with life that only comes from Him and that everything we say and do would be completely covered with LOVE! and pray for sofia!...and everyone else we have connected with! Let me know how things are going for you.
au revoir!
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