In the Month of May

This May, I have had sunshine but now I'm experiencing snow! From Arkansas to Colorado we experienced every weather condition. Cool and calm in Arkansas at 5am, 92 and super windy in Kansas, and as we crossed into Colorado, rain that worked its way into being snow.  I woke up to this beautiful view out the window:

I have never seen snow like it halfway through May before and it is still snowing! I'm so excited to spend this time with my wonderful boyfriend Max, in his home town. Especially since he leaves for Spain in two weeks and will be there for 30 days for work. It does make me think about how much I will miss him and how much I want these next two weeks to be memorable and relaxing. 

You see, this man continually teaches me about love. About giving AND receiving love when neither person deserves it for whatever reason. How to just relax and enjoy the love we have for each other, and hopefully that will help other people see what unconditional love is. We have the perfect example in Christ to mold our relationship after and I want us to be able to encourage others by the way that we treat each other. No, we definitely aren't perfect at it and yes, we have a lot to learn. But we will never have a perfect relationship and always be the most loving. However, we can try and continue to love unconditionally because we are unconditionally loved by our Father.

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014

It might seem a bit late to be writing on welcoming in the new year, but I have reason for this.
On Christmas Eve my beautiful mother had two aneurysms rupture and was life-flighted to a hospital 2 1/2 hours away from my brother's house. Myself, three of my siblings, my boyfriend, sister-in-law and my mother had all gathered in Georgia to celebrate the holidays together, for the first time. It wasn't quite the event we had bargained for. My mom had surgery Christmas day to fix the ruptured aneurysms, but they noticed that she had a third that had yet ruptured and would need to be clipped before it burst. Doing that would require another surgery two weeks after the Christmas Day surgery, and would consist of actually cutting into her head and going that route. Far more invasive than the first operation.
Our eldest sister flew in from England (where my mother and both sisters live) two days after mom's first surgery. The days following this ordeal were spent camped out in the Neuro ICU waiting room and watching as my mom battled on.

This amazing woman has been in the hospital for 23 days and has two weeks more to go. Following her second surgery she had what is called a Vasospasm. Blood vessels in her brain constricted and stopped the flow of blood, resulting in a set back that meant intensive monitoring and a longer stay in the hospital. This happened the day she was meant to be released. I'm thankful that she hadn't left when this happened, but I worry about her being in the hospital longer.
However, through these events she was able to have all five of her children in the same room. Something that hasn't happened in at least four years. We can take rest and reassurance, that even in the hard times, God loves us so much He blesses us with things that wouldn't have been possible under normal circumstances.
So, no, 'break' wasn't easy or relaxing but I got to see my family pull together and their strengths shined through. I saw God help my mother defy the odds multiple times and provision for various journeys made.

I look forward to 2014 with peace knowing that God is in control. I might not understand the way things are done and sometimes question Him, but I trust the One who holds my life in His hands.

Fall is Here!!

For me, Fall/Autumn is the best season of the year. I love the changing of the leaves and observing the magnificent power that God has through His creation. 

I have a lot to update on since I haven't written in a while. This past summer was incredibly busy, but such a blessing. I was able to travel home to England to visit my mom and sister and relax with them and talk about what has been going on in our lives. The journey back to America was anything but simple. Problems with my passport and missing my flight meant spending 24 hours in London and re-booking my flight. Thankfully God softened the heart of the man scheduling my flight because he waived the charges and upgraded me with a better seat as well. It made me feel so much more relaxed about the mishap and I realized that God sees the little moments and edits the details because He loves me!


Next was a visit to my boyfriend's family's house in Colorado. His mom is so supportive of the work that we do through YWAM and of us. It was great to have a mini-vacation and see her. I have a lot of family from Colorado, and never having been there before, I really enjoyed being able to experience life in their state. It's such a beautiful place as well. Then it was back to training and working. We drove from Colorado to Madison, Wisconsin (totally 18 hours in a row driving time) to join staff from other USA bases and learn how to best be staff to the students. Connecting with the other staff and forming friendships with them was a lot of fun! It was such an informative week as well. I'll definitely be returning to the next seminar in 2014. 

Since being back at base and having the Discipleship training school start, the months have flown by. I have worked on setting up for the 10th anniversary, driving the base vehicles for grocery shopping trips and camping trips (being recently added to the base driving list), and helping in various domains to keep the place running. I now prepare lunch for 30+ people, am the main person who does the grocery shopping and run the communication section of the office. As well as grading book reports and trying to find more ways for us to save money as an organization, I am kept busy watching children for the families here too. I love doing all of it. Having a variety of things to accomplish keeps me incredibly happy and doing all these things for God? So great!

I've been blessed with gaining more financial supporters but am always excited about more partners in ministry! This would enable me to receive more training and start saving  up for global outreach in the future. If you would like to get involved please donate via www.ywamozarks.org/donate and indicate that it is for Katie Williams. Thanks so much!

This picture to the right is from the most recent camping trip that I went on. Our base joined with the Madison base for a week of teaching on Spiritual Warfare. Such a powerful time for the students especially! Our big group then traveled to Northwestern Arkansas for the GO Conference! We listened to Rob Morris of Love146, David Hamilton and Brian Hogan share the work they have done in multiple countries and get us focusing on going to the nations!

One Week to Go

Apache, Oklahoma VBS

My best friend for the week!

Storm Damage

Tomorrow marks the last week of internship. We have quite the grand way to finish it off also, with a canoe trip! It is work as well though, since we are scouting out the area for the Fall DTS. it's also nice that we get this time to just hang out and enjoy the beautiful outdoors of Arkansas. God has given us an awesome landscape to enjoy and the opportunity to learn new skills and sharpen already known ones.

I'll let you in on what we have been doing for the past month:
Apache Oklahoma!!!! We traveled four hours West to a small Indian town to help with yard work and run a VBS for the local children. The journey was rocky at first due to our vehicle needing new tires but God provided a mechanic that had the availability almost immediately and we were able to make it in time for dinner.


Our mornings consisted of visiting individuals in the Apache/Anadarko area and doing yard work. In Apache we clipped trees, mowed lawns, planted flowers, and organised rooms. It was exhausting but very fun work. We definitely brought our senses of humour to the job site! Half an hour away in Anadarko we cleared roughly a ton of shingles from the yard of a family whose house had been severely affected by a storm. It was so..cool to bless them! Their children were adorable.

In the evenings we ventured even further west of Apache and ran a Vacation Bible School in a quaint little church for 15-26 children. The theme was Courageous Kids and featured people from the Old Testament who did courageous acts as young people. I loved seeing the faces of the children every day and how much they enjoyed doing the activities (like putting the eyes on the furniture/walls for the lion's eyes for Daniel in the Lions' den). By the end of the week we were all sad to say 'goodbye' to these beautiful children of God who had, in such a short time, touched our hearts.

Last week was research project time! I spent the first half of the week making a 'video' via PowerPoint to illustrate the book Tortured For Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. The latter half was researching Russia and writing a paper on it and why Russia needs missionaries. I found so many interesting facts and it furthered my desire to go there and work. That's not something I see in the near future, but it is in the future at some point.

And now...this last week is slightly bittersweet. But, that is how things are when something ends...and something new begins!

Thanks for reading ;)

Leadership

I've been thinking a lot lately about leadership and what it means. I'm an intern right now, so the next step 'up the corporate ladder' would be staff...which would involve leading the DTS students in the Fall. But what exactly is leadership and how does one become a good leader? It can't possibly be just about power and telling people what to do, because that would make it a dictatorship. It can't be doing what the people under you say, because that would be unfair and biased. 
I set out to discover what this meant and to learn how to be an understanding and effective leader. My tool was a book called "Understanding Leadership" by Mr Tom Marshall. He writes his book from the perspective of the New Testament found in the Holy Bible (That Christians follow). 
When considering the leadership in America he states that America does have really good managers, but leadership and management is not the same. Managers govern resources but leaders guide people. Therefore, if you are not a people person and cannot be patient, then leadership is probably not your calling. It's important to remember though, that within a setting, such as an office or a church, a leader is not more important then say the janitor, but their roles are different. 
Leading a group is tricky but not impossible. You always have to consider the group, yes you are in charge of them, but you do not rule over them. You guide. Setting goals and keeping your group motivated is a must. These goals should include immediate ones where the result is noted and ones that are more long term so there is something to strive for. Do not let the goals become your focus and lose considering the people. 
You will know what captivates your people if you get to know them. You cannot get to know them unless they know you and trust you. This all involves a level of openness and vulnerability, but be careful not to be too open or else they will not see you fit to be a leader. It is all a balance and a balance that can be achieved by focusing on the perfect leader whom we have in Heaven. 
If you are curious about leadership and how best to be one, then I encourage you to read this book and take notes. I have plenty of them on post its and a scrap piece of paper. 
A few points to remember are:

• Lead with patience and love
• Don't be afraid to address criticism but do so without judgement on the person
• Remember that God always sets the limits to what happens to us

On Top of a Mountain....

Blogs were mentioned today during a meeting and I realised that I had not written in my blog in two months!! That's so bad and I'm sorry I haven't kept up with it. I will now! There's so many amazing things to share.

I'm settled in at the base in Arkansas now. Click: Where I work to see the base and the schools we offer.

You may be wondering: what does an intern for YWAM Ozarks spend their time doing?
Answer: Being an intern is a mix between being a student and a staff member, so we have class sessions with the Discipleship Training School students on occasion and our own separate classes as well. The classes are on a variety of topics and there is a time of application from what we learn at the end of the week. For instance, we had a week of 'spiritual gifts and callings' and the end of the week we learned to rock climb and delve into God's creation. It was really eye opening seeing different aspects of leadership and encouragement come out of the individuals involved in the event. 

The second half of our days involve working on base. So far we have maintained the grounds by removing fallen tree limbs etc, cleaned and organised many of the common area rooms, and re-placed floor tiles! It's so important that the base is well maintained, especially since in September there will be new students here to disciple and you really respect the property around you so much more when you care for it.

The next few weeks will be book report projects and preparing for Wakarusa Outreach Ministry at the end of May. It's going to be so exciting!!

Future Plans

So I´m sure you are just as excited as I am about my next step! Here it is:

Leadership Practicum in Ozark, Arkansas

2013 schedule: Dates: Feb 25 - June 28th. The first 2 weeks will be boot camp + prep for a Mission Exposure Week. March 11 - 15 Mission Exposure - high school group from Joplin, MO March 18 - 22 Spring Break outreach for high schoolers March 25 - April 19   Four weeks to go home for a break.  This is built in to the schedule because all the interns will have gone directly from Outreach to the Internship.  This gives time at home to share about the outreach and do any support raising. April 22 through June 28 - We will have a combination of outreaches, Mission Exposure groups, and teaching/practical application weeks.  Outreaches will be domestic (in our region of Ark/Oklahoma).  An international outreach may be offered for after the Internship.  We have gone to China in past summers. Some Content Includes: Research project on your subject of interest - cultural studies, apologetics, worldviews, church history etc etc Prepare a teaching Creatively present a book report Support raising training Outdoor skills refined Evangelism & apologetics teaching Practical service on campus & in Ozark community Exploring your giftings Muslim ministry training Prayer hike to Wakarusa Outreach site

That is copied directly from an email I received from their base. It´s going to be so exciting. I feel like after I´ve completed this I will be staying in YWAM and staffing at a base. I`m not sure what base exactly but when I figure that out I will update you.
There´s a few things I need still.....
The fees for the practicum ($2,000) of which I have around $3,00.
In order to stay in YWAM and do missions work I need monthly sponsors. What I´m aiming for is having 30 people sponsor me $25 per month and possibly, if someone feels like blessing me this way, a sponsor to cover the cost of my phone. I use the donations only for course fees so I don´t have any extra money to pay for toiletries etc.
I appreciate all of your support so much and thank you for partnering with me!