Here's my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above.

Hey Everybody,

I wanted to give you an update about something God has really been laying on my heart recently and I want to ask for your prayer about it. So hang with me as I give you the spiel. Here it goes...

My time in Poland so far has been unreal and it is really hard to believe it has been almost a month since I arrived here. Crazy right! Since that time I have begun to develop some awesome relationships with some of the Polish girls in Bielsko and God has been moving in my heart. I already knew that I was in love with Poland and the people here but I guess this last month has really affirmed that and I have just really deepened my heart for the lost here in Poland.

So here is the big news: I have been offered an unbelievable opportunity; and that is to extend my internship with Josiah Venture here in Poland to the end of November. What would that look like? Well basically it would be me deepening the relationships and connections I already have with the youth here. I would love to get the chance to disciple some of the girls in the youth group and just have the opportunity to continue sharing Christ's love to the youth here even when camp is over, especially when camp is over. Why the heck would I stay longer? Along with an extra three months here in ministry I am also praying that the Holy Spirit would begin to make it clear if he wants to be a part of full time ministry, specifically here in Poland. Multiple missionaries here in Poland have approached me about the possibility of me being part of long term missions here.  I am not 100 percent sure what that would look like yet but what I do know is that I am at a point in my life where I feel like God is calling me to something greater than what I am currently doing with my life and I am praying for his guidance into what that looks like whether it be full time ministry in Canada or here in Poland. What can you do right now? Please PRAY. Pray that God would make it clear if He wants me to extend this summer internship. Please pray that God would provide the funds necessary if an extended internship is what he is calling me to. And please pray that God would also reveal to me if he wants me to be in long term missions in the future here in Poland. I really feel like the Spirit will confirm whether I should stay or not through all of you, the people surrounding me and praying for me as I am here.
Please contact me if you have any questions for me or if you just want to discuss this with me further, I would love to! As for support, I will be making my decision in the next 2 weeks and when I do I will definitely update all of you either way. If you feel called to donate to my extended internship I will let you know the details when I know for sure if that is what God wants me to do.

I want to thank you all for you prayer and your support from home. It means a lot to me that you read my little updates and pray along with me as I am here. I can't thank you enough and I will definitely keep you updated as things become clear to me. So bear with me and all I can ask for is your prayer. You guys mean so much.

God Bless,

Kat

News from Bielsko

Hey Everybody! Here is my latest update from Poland! Just a bit of info for you. Enjoy!

Ps- My face is cut out of some shots but I didn't want to re shoot it so I hope you don't mind.

- Kat

New friends and new places!

The last few days the other interns in my group and I took a little trip to the town of Olkusz to help promote the English camp that they are putting on this summer. It was quite the little adventure.... I count it as quite an accomplishment that the three of us managed to take two trains all by ourselves to Olkusz when our Polish is pretty minimal. Three hours later we arrived safe and sound. I was very excited to see a friend and to meet some new ones.

The best part of my trip to Olkusz was seeing 6 young men and women following God's call in their lives, these leaders are planning an English camp in Olkusz for the first time and they are going to be a part of a church plant in this town. It is clear that they have a passion for God and a passion for the youth in Poland and watching them really encouraged my heart. Whether it was them speaking in the local church or watching them tell students about their camp this summer, it was obvious that God is moving in their lives and I am excited to hear about the great things that God will be doing at their camp in a few weeks.
I was reminded of the passage in Acts 2 of the early church,

 "And all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved." ~ Acts 3:44-47

I am greatly encouraged watching the work that God is doing here in Poland and I am reminded that each day matters and in everything I do, whether in Poland or not, it should be done to share the love of Christ with everyone I meet.

I pray that these leaders would grow together as a community and that this summer and through the next year as they minister to the youth and the community around them that God would do unbelievable things in Olkusz.

Please keep my friends Lena, Damian, Michał, Ola, Krystian, and Agata in your prayers.

-Kat

Greetings from Bielsko

Yesterday was the first time our whole Poland team split up and it was a little sad but it was also really exciting to finally meet the Carlsons (my summer family)! We got the opportunity to meet the youth group in Bielsko and to go to a concert in Skoczow. It was a lot of fun! It was sweet seeing Poles from all over coming to worship the Lord. The band that played is called TGD and it was unreal just experiencing God in another language in another country worshiping God as children of Christ .. regardless of our nationality.

-Kat

The 99

Hey friends!!

I think it is about time for another little update. I thought I would share what God has been putting on my heart throughout this training week. There is so much being packed into the 5 days here in Czech. It is so amazing the time being spent studying the Word. I am just soaking up information like a sponge!

The first night we all arrived Dave Patty, the president of Josiah Venture told us the story of how it all began. It is an incredible story and I am so blessed that God has sent me to be a part of it. I knew that I was embarking on a journey with an organization that God is using to reach Europe in unbelievable ways. The thing that stuck out most in what Dave said revolved around the story of the lost sheep in Luke 15. In case you need a refresher the story is about a shepherd who has 100 sheep and when one gets lost he drops everything and leaves the 99 other sheep to search for his one lost sheep. What really struck me  was when Dave said what if it is the reverse? In central and eastern Europe there is only 1% of the population who believes in Jesus. So what do we do when there are 99 lost sheep? 
The answer is clear. We are called to drop everything and go search for the 99. And this is Josiah Venture's vision for the coming year, seeking out the 99%. That is why we come as interns, that is why so many choose to serve here in these 12 countries full time, it is because we will not stop seeking after the 99.

I could go on for ages about what God is teaching me here in training but what I would ask all of you at home is to be in prayer for the 99. Pray for those who desperately need Jesus. Please pray that God would be with the interns, the full time missionaries and most importantly, the nationals. My prayer is that God would raise up leaders in Poland to share the gospel and to equip the other nationals. I have this image in my mind that just like at Pentecost the holy spirit would come down upon the youth all across Poland and that there would be a love for Jesus in Poland that would spread like wild fire.

I am so excited for Wednesday to come, to start my summer in Poland. I get the privilege to be on a team with 9 other amazing people who love Jesus and have so many different gifts to bring to the table. I could not ask for a better group of people to serve along side with.  Pray for us, pray for Poland.


- Kat

Blame it on the jet lag....

Well folks here I am officially in Malenovice Czech and I have survived the amazing race! (Well our three day version of it.) It has been a wild and crazy last few days... probably the most things and places I have packed into three days ever... maybe. My feet are hating me right now and so it is awesome being able to sit on my comfy bed gazing out at the gorgeous view of the Czech mountains. I am about to tell the tale of the Amazing Race 2012... if you are not interested you can skip the next large chunk.

So I will take off where I last left off..... after Munich I arrived with my team mate Jordyn in Krakow Poland at 4:15 pm on Tuesday. I did not have my luggage sadly but I was welcomed by the always cheerful face of my missionary friend Laura. After this about 10-15 of us latecomers were taken by train to the mall in Krakow. I met up with the other members of my team who were not late and we were required to put on a fashion show in front of the mall for all of the public to ridicule us. Especially the guys in dresses and heels. Quite the interesting way to get to know your team I must say.  From there we ran around Krakow to many places including the mall and the main square doing different tasks. We had to find a statue of Copernicus that apparently know one in Krakow knew about .. an hour or so later we found him and had to build an accurate model of the solar system  using fruit. (More difficult then it sounds.) Finally in the dark we completed and ran back through Krakow to stay at our hostel coming in 11th place out of 15 that particular evening.... not the best. 

Day 2 (As in Thursday) Wake up call was 7 and the teams all departed at staggered times over an hour from 8-9 am based on our arrival. We began the morning by chugging hot hot tea (as a common European experience) we then had to go to a park in Krakow and transfer a large bowl of m&ms to another using only a straw.. not so easy. We then raced to the other side of the main square to the house where Pope John Paul 2 stayed and we had to memorize part of a speech he gave. Other Krakow events included having a Polish childrens book read to us by a local, building a lego thingy in Wawel castle, putting on a puppet show about the local legend of the Dragon, counting items on 52 crests in the old Krakow market and finding the Schindler factory. In the afternoon when we got to the old Schindler factory we had time to tour it. It is now a museum about Krakow under the control of the Nazis  from 1939-1945. It was an amazing experience. From there we took the bus to Skoczw Poland and eventually after another road block walked on foot about 7 km to H2O camp which is owned by Josiah Venture in Poland. We arrived around 9:30 pm but that was not the end. We then had to eat blood sausage and sauerkraut. After wolfing down my portion when 2 other teams showed up I then at 3 or 4 teammates portions of sauerkraut (yay for my german background) ...ya that didn't sit so well. We ended day two in 6th place! Woohoo!

Day 3 we once again began our race at 8am at staggered times. We taste tested tea to find the flavour from the previous morning and we participated in the H20 Olympics. The events included shotput with balloons, and interesting relay, diving for Euros and kayaking for lego pieces. When we finished we booked it out of the camp and ended up hitchhiking back in Skoczw where we took a bus to Cieszyn Poland where we ran across the border to Cesky Tesin Czech and had to learn a traditional Czech folk dance. When we did it correctly we went on to the train to |Frydlant nad Ostravici Czech and after doing a word search we had our last txi ride to the finish line at the Malenovice Hotel owned by Josiah venture. At 1:30 pm in 9th place.  

So here I am .. there has been lots of running, lots of walking and lots of language barriers but I made it and I am so blessed for my team of 8  other interns and our Polish team leader. Team Polska is by far the best and I am so glad to have made 9 new good friends in 3 days! I praise God for our unity and for the amazing creativity of the Josiah Venture leadership. It has already been a blast and we have only just begun. So here we are at intern training for the next 5 days.. I am so pumped to be hanging out with 102 other awesome people! 

Well that's all for now... I'm ready for dinner

Do Widzenia

Kat