Meet the Friendly Faces of Fall :)

My roomies Vero & Giovi at Dordt College!

One of the many joys of my calling includes visiting college campuses to get to know students, share with them how God is working in TouchGlobal, and share ways for them to get involved! I love sitting down with students and hearing what God has given them a passion for and encouraging them to pray about how they can live out that passion on the mission field! 

This fall I have been able to visit:
Dordt College, IA
Northwestern College, IA
Southwest Baptist University, MO

Haiti 2012 Intern Chelsey with potential Haiti 2013 Intern Courtney

John Brown University, AR
College of the Ozarks, MO
[TG staff Ariealle and Carrie visited Greenville College IL]

Read through the captions and take time to pray for these students!

Dordt student Cam with TG Staff Shelby! Cam is praying about coming next summer to NOLA!

Catching up with Haiti 2011 Intern Brandon - praying about coming back in the summer!

Haiti 2012 Intern Mentor Jane - she shared with me at Crosspoint's youth group!

SBU student Ashley helping me recruit! Ashley served as a volunteer last spring break and praying about next summer!

Meet SBU students who have come down to serve in NOLA for their spring break + TG staff Chelsea!!

NOLA 2011 Interns Chelsea and Dustin at SBU - they are getting married May 25, 2013!! so happy for them!

College of the Ozarks grad Jenna who served as a volunteer in NOLA in 2011. She has become a very dear friend of mine!

CofO student Emilee served in NOLA as volunteer in 2012! What a blessing to see her again!

I can't wait to see who God calls to join us to further His Kingdom purposes in the mission field that follows crisis!  It's my job to share, but only God makes it grow!  Please continue to pray and ask God to raise up this next generation, to provide courage for these students to step out in faith in their daily lives and to join the mission field with TG!

From House to Home!! Its worth it!

December 2011(back wall/kitchen)

Today's blog post comes from my room in Ms. Val's home in NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA!!!! One thing I've been focusing on this week is having a heart of gratitude and being settled in this home just releases huge shouts of praise and thankfulness! Why?? because this time last year this home sat empty, vacant, deserted, in need of repair, without hope, and without light...it was another statistic in the "what did Katrina destroy" list.

and Today...it's furnished, painted, full of laughter, joy, love, and women who LOVE JESUS!!! who have a desire to be the light of Christ and share His hope with our neighbors!!! This once empty house has been completely transformed into a warm welcoming home for whoever enters its doors. We are forever grateful to the hundreds (literally hundreds) of volunteers who obeyed God's call to go and serve those in need!

Not only were thousands of sweat drops poured over this house but thousands of hours of prayer...sometimes I'm standing in the kitchen and I feel the prayers of those who came to show Christ's love to this home and its homeowner Ms. Valerie.  Ms. Valerie is tremendously grateful for every single volunteer who came down, who gave up comforts of home, who took vacation time, who stepped outside their comfort zone in central city New Orleans, who showed love to our neighbors, who treated her home like their home.

August 2012 (the back wall/kitchen is behind our heads)

and tomorrow...we will continue to pour out the love of Christ you showed to this home to our neighbors and encourage them to know the everlasting love of our Father in Heaven!  We have a desire to be intentional with truly LOVING OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES because Christ first loved us!  Please join us in prayer for S. Derbigny St and Central City New Orleans.  God has me here for a purpose and I want to fulfill that purpose to bring God glory!! Pray we wouldn't miss an opportunity to share our faith and reflect the image of Christ to our neighbors that they see Him in us and want to know Him!  Pray for wisdom as we seek to build authentic vulnerable relationships with our neighbors in a way that demonstrates the love of Christ and draws them into a closer walk with Him.


So it's worth it...if you haven't come down yet or it's been a while to serve those who need the transforming work of the Gospel and who need houses transformed to homes, ...we need you! It's worth it :)

Because He first loved us...

O how I love Jesus
O how I love Jesus
O how I love Jesus
Because He first loved me...
This hymn was played at the Christian Community Development Association's (CCDA) National conference this past week.  This song caught my attention and my heart.  The verses in the hymn draw out how much our Father in heaven loves us and how His love for us sent us His Son, His one and only Son, to die for us that we may live a new life in Him.  God loves us, His love sent our Savior, His love propels us to love Him and everyone...This theme reappeared 250 miles away 2 days later at Dordt college during their worship time called GIFT (growing in faith together).  Okay God I think you are trying to tell me something. haha
I love how God continues to show His love to us which is not only meant to fill our hearts but allow us to pass His love onto others.  If we love God, we will obey His commands - one of which being love your neighbor as yourself...and to love my neighbor means I get to express the Gospel, the greatest love ever.  When I put others wants and needs above my own, when I humble myself and seek forgiveness for wrongs I've committed, when I feed the hungry, when I show kindness and compassion towards anyone, when I choose to love my enemies, when I give without expecting anything in return, when I pray with those who are hurting, when I share with others the hope that I have through my Lord and Savior...all of which I must rely on the Lord for because none of these can be expressed without my utter dependence on Him...when I submit my life to Him, His love shines through!
God FIRST loved us! AMEN! So will I choose to express that love to Him and to the people He puts in my life today?  In Christ I hope so!

Chasing after the Wind...

The verse that sparked the title of this blog is found in Ecclesiastes 4:6 which reads:

Better one handful of tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

The word "wind" has taken on a new memory for me as I sheltered in place during hurricane Isaac. (thank you for your prayers as we were kept safe and with power!) After the storm rolled through, seeing the effects of wind on fallen trees, ripped off roofs, driving water on land...it's quite the invisible force of power and motion.

The verse implies you can't really "catch" wind...chasing it gets you no where. It's better to have one handful of rest and one handful of toil than double the toil. For me this is a blessing as in the world of TouchGlobal we do in a way "chase" after wind. We see a mission field created in the wake of crisis and recognize that the first physical wind can open doors for the more powerful wind, the Holy Spirit, to move in the hearts of those it sweeps across.

Another connection to the word "wind" was given by my boss at KRA's. TouchGlobal serves our ministry partners such as churches, church planters, etc as the wind in their sails.  We don't want the spotlight, we want to be the stage where they are the key players and create a platform of ministry opportunities that are made available through crisis.  We want the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit to guide us so we're not just chasing physical wind but chasing the Holy Spirit with God's purposes in mind.

So the verse...better one handful of tranquility...how this speaks to me is that I need to rest in the midst of toiling to focus on the greater Wind and make sure my toiling is in line with God's Kingdom purposes!  Otherwise I'm toiling for nothing...just like trying to "catch" wind.

I pray that you can find tranquility time daily to seek God's Spirit and see where He is leading and guiding you with His power and motion!

Happy Chasing :)

Thank You Lord for what You'll Do!

Of course I was all ready to title this blog "here we go..." but before I could type a single word, I received a call from a friend of mine who I met on a team back in 2009.  This just isn't any friend but someone who came to New Orleans on a team, served for a week, and on his ride home with the team accepted Christ as His Lord and Savior! PRAISE THE LORD!!

He told me how he's been meaning to call me and update me on his life and how since his trip to NOLA, his wife has accepted Christ (PRAISE THE LORD!!) and they both were baptized at the Easter service last year!  Praise God their names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and it doesn't stop there!  He went on to tell me how since his trip, he has started his own type of local ministry!  He is partnering with the schools in his community to provide backpacks full of food and school supplies for students whose parents cannot afford them.  He says he knows how meeting the physical needs of others provides an opportunity to spread the Gospel. He says his heart for his local community came from our team in NOLA encouraging the teams to not let their "mission trip" stop in NOLA but to take it home.

This is just one of the many stories of lives that have been transformed from a storm that hit the coast seven years ago tomorrow, yes Aug 29th, 2005.  Even for myself, Hurricane Katrina changed my life.  So with Isaac approaching, headed towards New Orleans, who's to say that this storm cannot transform someone's life?? In fact, I am praising God already for how God WILL use this storm to transform lives and I am praising God for how He will USE the Body of Christ to meet the needs of others for the sake of the Gospel!

I will ask for prayer requests as that is how God can use the Body of Christ during this time:

1) pray for the people of southern Louisiana who are now being reminded of Katrina because of the anniversary and for the many many homes that are still uninhabited by Katrina.  Please pray for their emotional well being and for God's peace to rest on them during this time.

2) pray for my church body Castle Rock who has decided to shelter in place.  They are also sticking it out and they are calling for lots of rain and potential flooding.  Please pray for safety and protection for them!

3) pray that Isaac rolls in and rolls out quickly!  We get street flooding on a good thunderstorm so please pray that it moves quickly over New Orleans so flooding is at a minimum.

4) pray for our TouchGlobal staff as we prepare for the storm and prepare to assess damage after Isaac rolls through.  Please pray for wisdom and guidance for our team as we seek God's will for what a response could look like.  We recognize that in the wake of crisis God creates a mission field so we want to be prayed up for being in line with God's will.

5) pray for our safety and protection as we ride out the storm.  pray that power is maintained during the storm and if not that we are able to run off the generators with the fuel we bought yesterday and that power would be restored before we run out of fuel.

Thank you for your prayers! We praise God for you and your partnership in the Gospel with us!

We'll keep you posted as we meet Isaac!
God bless yall!
Katie :)

Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago...
You have been a refuge for the poor,
    a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm  

Isaiah 25:1,4