Katie meet Katie!!

Praise The Lord!! On Saturday, He brought our staff the awesome intern Katie for the next 3 months! It has been such a joy to spend time with her and get to share with her all that God is doing in the world of TouchGlobal and show her around!

She has enjoyed getting to know the volunteers this week (who are amazing) and seeing their excitement for serving The Lord in New Orleans! This week she is shadowing me and getting a taste of what volunteer coordinating looks like so she can take on this role!

Katie has never been down here before but her church has and that's how she found us. In July she felt God leading her to apply for our internship program and began the application process. She was approved then moved on to the support raising phase where she grew in her trust and faith in God's timing and provision. Amen to that!

Please continue to pray for Katie as she transitions from PA to LA. Please pray she will not feel anxious but rest in The Lord as she is absorbing lots of information and taking in a whole new environment and culture. Please pray for me as I mentor her: that our friendship would grow, that we both would grow closer to The Lord and that God's spirit would lead me and guide me as I invest in Katie!

So yes we do have the same name...we are looking for suggestions on how best to differentiate our names so we don't always both look when someone says "Katie." Suggestions are welcomed!

So far we have:
Katie and Katie K
Old Katie and new Katie
Big k and Lil k (I'm big k)
Katie and Kepko (her last name)
Boss k and intern k

Thanks for your prayers and please pray the rain holds off this week so we can have a block party and share Gods love with the neighborhood!

In Christ,
Katie (Hooks)

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (Psalms 37:5, 6 NIV84)

Happy Happy Happy!

If you watch TV show Duck Dynasty (filmed in W Monroe Louisiana), you know that one of the famous sayings from the show is "Happy Happy Happy."

Well today I'm Happy Happy Happy for a number of reasons...
One - it was an absolutely gorgeous day outside and it was one of those days I felt like I could run forever.
Two - after being on vacation for a week I was able to get caught up on emails and voicemails! yippee!
Three - I got to have a valentines lunch date with my girl Laura and a dinner date with my roomy Mariko! Love these ladies!
Four - I was able to catch up on the phone with my fellow staffer Laura Jean and my fellow missionary Kacie who are both raising support to serve on various mission fields (let me know if you'd like to support them! they are great!)
Five - I got to have some sweet fellowship with the Lord today which is always needed and a blessing!
Six - my spring intern Katie left PA today and is on her way to Louisiana after visiting family in Florida! She'll be here Saturday for a three month internship!!
Seven - my amazing Valentine Mark gets out of the woods tomorrow! (if you don't know he works for a wilderness camp for troubled boys and literally lives in the woods with the boys 5 days out of the week so we talk the other 2 days)

New Orleans Team Update
We have two teams from IL arriving this weekend! Please pray for their safe arrival and their time serving with us.  Feb 25-27 is our semi-annual ministry planning meetings where all TouchGlobal staff meet up in New Orleans to discuss the ministry's mission and goals we want to see accomplished to fulfill the mission. Please pray for God's will to be done, safety for those traveling here, and for unity among the team.  P.S. WE NEED YOUR HELP IN MARCH!! We have 4 weeks straight of teams in March and could use help cooking, leading construction sites, volunteer management, and everything in between! Let me know if you can come!(katie.hooks@efca.org)

Thoughts on Valentine's Day
Yes today is Valentine's Day and a day to celebrate the ones we love but I also want to emphasize how God is love and We love because He FIRST loved us (1 John 4:19)!  He tangibly shows His love to us everyday and how He gave us His one and only Son that we may not perish but have eternal life!  God loves you!  Let us not forget to imitate His love to those around us.  If you have questions about God and this unconditional love, please feel free to contact me (katie.hooks@efca.org)

From the Bible: 1 John 4:7-21
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

The Calm between Two Storms

Well I'm sure most of you got a chance to watch the Super Bowl this past weekend that was played here in my city.  It was crazy to think that just outside my front door and less than a mile down the road the biggest game of the season was being held.  The city's weekend activities were in full swing leading up to the big game and yes now that the Super Bowl is passed, the city survived (minus a 34 min power outage).

The reason I say it's the calm between two storms is now that the Super Bowl fans are beginning to trickle out, the next wave of insanity is about to crash down onto the city.  That's right, Mardi Gras 2013 is exactly one week from tomorrow.  I'm pretty sure we could tie for the city that never sleeps this week.  Granted yes, Mardi Gras is crazy but it's also a chance to connect with friends as you watch parades from the family friendly parts of the routes.

Please continue to lift up the city in prayer as many people are coming to reach up their hands to the "Parade gods" for the best throws (material possessions) that can get their hands on.  Please pray that they realize how material goods cannot fill their hearts and pray they will begin to search for the One True God who can fill their hearts and give them hope and purpose.

As for me, I am in a bit of a calm week as I've thankfully recovered from the flu that sent me to bed for all of last week (thank you for your prayers!).  We have a returning team in this week from Wisconsin (love them!).  Thursday I head up to NC to celebrate my mom and bro's bdays along with seeing my boyfriend Mark!

The next storm for me is really an exciting storm if you want to call it that, my spring intern Katie has reached her budget and will be moving to Louisiana Feb 16th!!! Please lift Katie up in prayer as she travels down and for her heart to be open and prepared for all the Lord has in store for her these next three months!  Please pray for me as I get things ready for her arrival and we'd grow together in our walks with the Lord.

Praying for you and whatever season of life you are in, whether you are in the calm or in the storm...just know God is there! Love ya!

"My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare." Psalm 25:15

I Kick Myself...

So if you didn't know, I am a runner.  But something I have found out in the last 3 months is that sometimes I literally kick myself when I run.  It's not something super noticeable in my stride but when I wear long pants with a zipper at the ankle I find my ankle bleeding because during the run I have kicked my right ankle with my left foot causing the zipper to scrape my ankle.  The actual act of kicking myself seems funny to me because shouldn't my one foot know the other foot is right there and avoid hitting it...guess I'm not that coordinated after all.

Anyway I bring this up because sometimes I figuratively kick myself as well (like the saying goes).  I kick myself when I'm not more careful with the words that come out of my mouth.  I say things I shouldn't, I gossip, I say things without thinking, I say things when I should be silent, I say random things to be funny...or I say things to look holy so my motives are all wrong. Trust me, missionaries are still human and I praise God that His grace and forgiveness abounds.  In those moments when I do kick myself, I pray I would humbly seek the Lord's face for forgiveness and if my words have been charged against someone than I seek their forgiveness as well. 

In the last week God has brought to my attention numerous verses that deal with my words.  The verses speak to the fact that guess what...your words = your heart! (Luke 6:45, Matt 12:34, Matt 15:11) If your heart is filled up with the things of God then your words will follow.  The more I am intentional with the words I choose, the more I'm allowing the Holy Spirit to fill up my heart and choose the words He wants me to use.  I want my words to show that my heart is overflowing with the love of my Savior and my life is submitted to Him.  Our words are meant to build each other up, not tear down.  

I know I'll still kick myself literally and figuratively in the future...I just hope, in God's strength and leading, I am able to kick myself a little less with my word choice.

God be praised for how He uses His Word to mold and shape us today!

Highlights of 2012!

Well I have 30 minutes before I need to jump in a car to head to the Minneapolis/St Paul airport to catch my flight to New Orleans via St. Louis so I thought what better way to spend these next 30 minutes than praising God for 2012!!

HIGHLIGHTS of 2012!

1) God is still the same great and awesome God He was at the start of 2012 and at the end of it!
2) Jesus my Savior is Risen indeed!
3) His Spirit lives inside me and counsels me in the way I should live each day.
4) For my family - who continually supports this crazy girl in the adventure God has her on!
5) I traveled ALOT in 2012 and God protected me every step of the way!  From every flight to every car ride!
6) February 21, 2012 I reached full support as a long term missionary with the EFCA!!!! This milestone allowed me to return to NOLA by March 1st 2012 to continue the work God has for me.
7) God opened up the door for new mission fields in the wake of Hurricane Isaac and Hurricane Sandy!  More lives were open to the Gospel and were transformed by the love of Christ!
8) God called volunters, interns, and mentors to serve with us over the summer of 2012 in New Orleans and in Haiti!!
9) Ariealle fellow staff member also reached full support and was able to join us on the ground.
10) I saw how God is working in the country of Haiti and encouraged my fellow missionaries, Haitian brothers and sisters in Chirst!
11) The EFCA pulled together a committee to discuss internships and asked me to be a part of the discussions on how internships could be utilized and offered to this next generation to multiply leaders!
12) The EFCA's youth conference, aka Challenge, was hosted in New Orleans and many youth were impacted to draw closer to God and to serve those in need! They prayed for my city and worked alongside churches and church planters to further God's work!
13) God turned a 4 year friendship into a dating relationship in Sept 2012...very blessed :)
14) My mom came to visit me in NOLA over Thanksgiving!
15) God provided a home for me on the same street I'd been living on and one that the teams had worked on and prayed over!
16) Last but not least, I praise God for the work He has done in my heart over this last year.  I'm no where near perfect but recognize how much I need Him everyday and it's through Him that I live and move and have my being (Acts 17:28).  I praise Him for how He continues to remove my selfish pride and wants to give me a heart of flesh and not of stone (Ezekiel 36:26).  I praise Him for all the many lessons He has taught me over the last year and I pray He keeps reminding me of those lessons so I don't forget them.  Even today the reminder that my words are a result of my heart (Luke 6:45)...may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight Oh Lord! (psalm 19:14)

Thank you Jesus for 2012 and I'm looking forward to what 2013 has in store! :)

"From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the Name of the LORD is to be praised!"
 Psalm 113:3