The Harvest is Plentiful...

Because Thanksgiving is upon us, I'd love to share what ReachGlobal Crisis Response is thankful for...from my perspective :)

We are thankful to God for providing opportunities for us to show the love of Jesus to those in need and to share the good news of Jesus Christ to those in need!

These are the God-given opportunities here in the states:
1) New Orleans LA - yes 8.5 years later we continues to serve families impacted by Katrina
2) New Jersey and New York - we are receiving teams in both locations due to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
3) Estes Park, Colorado - This is our newest domestic location for volunteer teams to serve in the wake of the flooding that occurred this past September

Internationally, we partner with ReachGlobal in Haiti to come alongside Haitians who have a vision for disciple-making and church planting within walking distance of every Haitian.  Volunteers are still serving in Haiti, GlobalFingerprints has started a child sponsorship program in Haiti, and there has been a consortium of churches gathered to further long term ministry in Haiti.

Most recently, God has opened up a door for us in the Philippines through the typhoon devestation.  I wanted to share this video link with you from Pastor Sam who speaks of his experience with the storm and the hope he has for the Gospel to spread in the wake of this crisis.

Pastor Sam's Interview from Philippines

We thank God that He has given us the vision that the "harvest is plentiful."  We see what He sees in Matthew 9:35-38 and we have hearts of compassion.
We thank you for joining with us as a worker in the mission field created in the wake of crisis.  The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few.
We thank you for praying and asking the Lord of the harvest to raise up more workers and we pray that you'll be one of those workers in the future!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Katie :)

The Workers Are Few

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

(Click here if you'd like more info on how to become one of the workers we pray for!)

Pray for the Filipino People!

ReachGlobal's crisis response team and Asia division partners are currently assessing the situation in the Philippines after an enormous typhoon -- one of the largest recorded storms in history -- ravaged the city of Taclaban. Officials are estimating death tolls to approach 10,000 over the next several days.

As of now, we know that money and prayers are needed. Tens of thousands of people are without food and covering, waiting for relief. The Christian response will be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus to the Filipino people.

Give now >> http://myef.ca/typhoon-haiyan

Click here to give now!

Be with Jesus!

I praise the Lord for showing me last week to keep my heart and mind on things above.  It kept me from only thinking about myself and the wedding and kept my thoughts on God and His purposes.  It allowed me to share life with the volunteers who came all the way from Northern Wisconsin.  Shout out to Ms. Jeri for bringing a team from her church!

The team was challenged to take their mission experience home with them.  They do not live in a city like New Orleans but they recognize that there are people around them who need the love of Christ expressed to them.  It just takes asking the Lord to provide opportunities to share Christ's love with those in need then being on the lookout for them.

My challenge to them was found in Acts 4:13 where the Jewish leaders realized that Peter and John spoke with courage yet they were unschooled, ordinary men who had BEEN WITH JESUS! Being with Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, gives us courage to live boldly for Him!  Our courage doesn't come from graduating seminary, or how many years we've been a believer, or how many mission trips we've been on...being with Jesus changes everything and gives us courage to live radically for Him anywhere we are.

So my focus this week is simple: BE WITH JESUS! I want to be in His Word daily, praying continuously, listening for the Spirit's leading and obeying, and singing praise songs to Him.   Being with Jesus will change me and give me courage to live boldly for Him.  Being with Jesus will make me more like Him who continuously put others before Himself and kept his heart and mind on things above.

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13

Did you catch that?

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:1-2

The scripture above was my reading this morning and of course the Lord, in His loving goodness and kindness, politely tapped me on the shoulder and said "did you catch that? Where has your heart and mind been lately Katie??"

I'll be honest, I've been staying up late trying to figure out the color scheme for the wedding (and if you know me at all, that is very odd!  I don't do details.) Or thinking about where and when we'll get married?  How many people will come? Where should we have a reception? Will people have a good time? These are only a few of the thoughts that continue to rattle my mind at any point in the day.  I think I missed the fact that I just GOT ENGAGED!!! It's okay not to know these things now AND what is the goal of the big day?

I praise God for putting Godly people in my life who can speak truth in love to me.  One friend and mentor reminded me just this morning to "Keep it simple. In this culture, chaotic and complicated are natural. Simplicity must be purposeful or it won't happen. You want the marriage of your dreams more than the wedding of your dreams."  With a sigh of relief, I've asked the Lord to forgive me and help me keep my heart and mind on things above.  I know He can help me!

I have been raised with Christ! I no longer live according to the world and my old ways, but it says I have "put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:10)

My prayer for this week is to keep my heart and mind on things above, on Christ and His character.  To glorify Him in the relationships and the work He's called me to.

So my question to you is: What is your heart and mind set on?

WE'RE ENGAGED!!

Reenactment the day after :)

In it's simpliest form...Mark proposed to me on my front porch coming back from dinner on Saturday Oct 5th, 2013...and I said YES!!!

THE WHOLE STORY:
When did he ask my dad? Mark asked my dad for permission to propose the first week in September when we were at the beach with my family.  Mom and I had left to get our nails done and that's when Mark asked him.

Where did he get the ring? This same week of vacation, my mom gave Mark the ring that I wanted him to use to propose, its a family heirloom which was planned to be passed down to me.  I loved the diamond but wasn't crazy about the band so Mark was given their blessing to change the band.

The gorgeous ring with a family heirloom diamond and crafted by my MN dad!

Who reset the ring you ask? This is one of my favorite parts about the ring, other than the diamond being in my family for years, it was reset by somebody I know!! Over the last 5 years I've met tons of people on volunteer teams and one team from MN has adopted me as their daughter so yes one of my Minnesota dads who is a jeweler by profession made my engagement ring!! He gave me a card a long time ago to give to Mark if he ever decided to propose.  I passed it on to Mark and said hey if you wanna call him go for it.  So sure enough, Mark sent the ring and new band off to my MN dad and he reset it and sent it all back to Mark without me finding it!  How cool!! Who would've thought that my MN dads would play a part in my proposal! Thank you Lord for all the people you've put in my life!

So what happened on Saturday Oct 5th, 2013...the detailed version!

We started off the day with coffee and devos! I am so blessed to have such a Godly man in my life who loves the Lord, loves reading the Word, and makes amazing coffee!! (and yes I'm biased!) Then we went for a run around the city, again praising God for a man who loves to be healthy and active! After running, we started our Precept Acts study...I mean honestly, how did I get so lucky? Mark and I are doing the same Bible Study in Acts through a church in Georgia. I asked Mark what we were doing for our dinner date and he says I got it planned out so don't worry.  I should've known maybe something was up but instead my response was "sweet!" Mark then headed off to work at our friend Josh's house that is undergoing renovations to their kitchen, again he loves to serve!  In the meantime, I worked on some intern stuff and took a friend to get a TV from another friend of ours.  When we met back up, we spent some time watching TV shows..haha yes Duck Dynasty may have been one of them!

Now when Mark leaves to go shower at the place where he's staying in the city, that's only what I thought. Turns out, he was trying to find a place to buy roses (for later) only to get lost in the french quarter! So I'm back at home getting ready for our dinner date not knowing he's lost around the city. Thankfully he finds the roses and his way back to his place to shower and tells me he got caught up talking to Matt (the guy he stays with in the city)...can't believe he lied to me ;)

When Mark does come to get me, he helps my roommate Mariko carry in some furniture (again what a servant!) she had just purchased.  While outside, she asked him where we were going for dinner.  He replies "Jacques-imo" and Mariko's reaction is "Are you proposing?" haha she knew! But Mark told her to keep it together until we left since I had no idea.

So off we went to dinner, where we had a 45 min wait but again I didn't mind, I had no idea what was going on.  Mark was a little more jittering than usual but I didn't think about it.  After dinner, we strolled along Oak St (one of my fav's in the city) then headed home.  I asked Mark if he wanted to get something sweet like ice cream and he said No!! Again I should've known then, this boy LOVES ice cream and he was turning it down. haha unbelievable.

THE PROPOSAL

Once we're home, I get out of the car carrying all my stuff (remember that) and walk up the steps to my front porch with Mark behind me.  I notice there are roses (yes those same roses) in my mailbox! As I reached for them, again carrying now all my stuff + roses, Mark gets down on one knee and says "Katie..will you marry me?" and is showing me the ring! In all my shock and excitement I can only think to say..."I'm carrying too much stuff!" So Mark in his kindness, gets up and helps me put things down then starts again, which of course I reply a happy happy happy "YES I'LL MARRY YOU!!"  He put the ring on my finger and it fit perfectly! We hugged and in shocking situations I laugh a lot and if you know my laugh, its quite funny.

We then go inside my house where Mariko my roommate is waiting at her bedroom door for us to come in!  Mark says let me introduce you to my fiance!!  She heard me laughing for 10 min and didn't know why we hadn't come inside...she didn't realize it wasn't til we got on the porch that Mark proposed.  She said she was glad she hadn't made that "Congratulations" sign like she thought about!  One of the reasons Mark picked my house was because I had wanted a private proposal and not in front of a bunch of people and this is a house we've both worked on through the ministry.  It's a sign of our love for the LORD who by His grace called us into a personal relationship with Him and out of that love, we have dedicated our lives to showing Christ's love to those in need!

As I type this and stare at my left ring finger which is a little more shinier than normal, I want to give all the glory and honor and praise to my God who gave me the ultimate gift of eternal life by grace through faith in His Son Jesus Christ!  We are nothing without Him.  May this stage of Mark and I's relationship only continue to grow our love for God and our love for one another.

Please keep us in your prayers over the wedding details.  We don't know the date or location yet so please be patient with us as the LORD leads us.  We are trusting Him to guide us as always!  Please pray for our pre-marital counseling as we begin to invest time and energy into preparing for marriage!

Oh and in case you're curious who put the flowers in the mailbox...it was Matt, the friend Mark stays with who just moved down here to New Orleans after serving as a volunteer with Crisis Response this past winter break! God is so good!  Who knew that when I met Matt back in January as a team leader he'd be an accomplice on my engagement day! Only God knows stuff like that! :)