Wisconsin to Wichita to Juarez

This is my last entry before I head to Mexico on Sunday!

Things have really been coming together for this trip (: I've received support from people all over the world and I'm pretty sure I'm almost at my goal. I wish I could be more specific, but I don't get my invoice until later :/ I'll write another update from Mexico, as I'm allowed to go without having all my funds, but I need to receive them sometime during my trip (if I don't get them now). I'm planning on doing an internship (unpaid) at the  Ozarks base in Arkansas for leadership training as soon as my DTS is done and then hopefully staffing at the base in Montana after that. Unfortunately everything costs money, but if y'all are interested in being a monthly sponsor, please shoot me an e-mail to: katie_williams09@yahoo.com

On to the more fun things!
We have gotten so much snow here in the past few days that the start of our journey will be interesting! We depart Sunday morning around 4am for a 10 1/2 hour journey to Wichita, Kansas. From there we drive 13ish hours to Juarez on Monday. 
We've been working on crafts to share with the kids. I learned how to make a balloon dog and a turtle! I hope the kids like them because I sure do. We have plans to make tie dye pillow cases with verses on them for the children's home kiddos and for the Creel hill tribe kids we want to make some goo involving mixing food colouring, shaving cream and cornstarch. 

I have to pack soon, which might take me all evening. I have to fit two months worth of clothes & toiletries in one bag along with my sleeping bag and sleeping mat. Should be an interesting time! 

I'm so incredibly excited to go to Mexico! So blessed to have this opportunity. I'll write another blog from Mexico if I can, if not, look out for the next one in February when I return. 

Mexico Madness

Hello fellow blog readers!

I thought it was time for an entry dedicated to MEXICO! 

I'll be leaving for Mexico on December 29th, 2012. It will take approximately two days to drive there from Wisconsin with a drive time of 22 hours and 48 minutes (at least that's what google maps says!)

This map is of the journey I'll be taking from Madison (A) to Juarez (B) to Mexico City (C) Mazatlan (D) and lastly Creel (E)

My outreach team consists of John and Beca Stenson and their three adorable children: Elliot, Annie and Leif, Plus DTS students: Maria, Rieneke, Sam, Emily and myself. 

:::Juarez:::

Rancho Los Amigos is a children's home on the border of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Mexico. This home was established through YWAM and is run by Beca Stenson's parents. We will be spending one week there at the beginning of our outreach and one week at the end (due to scheduling restrictions). While there we will be able to spoil the orphans who live in that home and spend time with them & help them have a really special week.

:::Mexico City:::

After our week in Juarez, we will then travel to Mexico City. It isn't determined yet on whether we will fly or take a bus, but once we arrive there we will be working with the street children and ministering in the red and pink light districts. Please pray for safety for my team as this can be a very dangerous city.

:::Mazatlan:::

Mazatlan Carnival is the second largest carnival in the world and draws a massive crowd. My team and I will join with other ministry teams and go out during the carnival to reach out to those in attendance. This carnival is a week long event and is very 'worldly spiritual', as most of Mexico is. Our aim is to bring light to this dark festival and show the carnival goers that Jesus is the reason to celebrate!

:::Creel:::

Lastly, we will be visiting the Tarahumara hill tribes in Northwestern Mexico. This will most likely involve trekking up to their camps in the hills and spending time with them. Our aim in this area is to become a part of their community while we are there and really bond with the Tarahumara people.

Then on February 21st we hope to have travelled back to Madison, Wisconsin. We then have a week of debriefing & preparing for Stateside. Stateside is a week long tour of the eastern, midwest States & Texas where we speak at churches and schools about children at risk and give presentations of what we did on outreach (if you know a church in one of those areas that would be interested let me know).

I hope that information gives you a picture of what I will be doing for two months. I am so excited for what God has planned and I am blessed beyond belief to have your support. Originally I needed the full $2,500 but right now I have $2,045 to go. I have received a few donations in the past day or so but am not adjusting the total until I've received the rest during Christmas break. God will provide!

Outreach Prep & Happenings of YWAM

 <---Sometimes you have to leave base and be crazy on Black Friday. We were on Thanksgiving break so we went to see how insane the crowds would be in Madison. We took pictures everywhere! Promise we didn't break anything.

 This art work is what my Mexico team did during our 'team bonding' last week. We thought since we have all girls on our team, and only our male leader was there, that he should do finger painting. He has children, I'm sure he's used to it! It was so fun! And any instance can be used to team build! My team consists of: The Stenson family (John & Beca and their children, Elliot, Annie and Leif), Maria, Rieneke, Samantha, Emily B and myself. We are leaving December 29th and driving down to Mexico to Creel, Juarez, Mexico City and Mazatlan. We will return to Wisconsin February 21, 2013.



 Those beautiful people are the DTS students and myself who represent my home state of Michigan! We were all dressed up for our base's Love Feast. That consists of a delicious meal prepared by our staff and we took a look at how much Jesus loves us and the sacrifice that He gave to save us from our sin.

So you might be wondering why I have a picture of Montana if my base is in Wisconsin.....

Well here's the deal: After you finish a DTS with YWAM you have the option of staffing at pretty much any base. I feel that God is leading me to Montana to staff at their base there. They have an Endurance DTS that I would like to be a part of and that is what my plans are for 2013. The reason for Montana is simply that God is calling me there. To be completely honest, I really didn't know where exactly that state was nor why there in particular, but I am 100% committed to following God's call on my life and that is where I will be headed. Click on the link below to see what that Discipleship Training School is all about!

Montana Endurance DTS

To everyone who has supported me financially or through prayer or in anyway...this is for you! ::::

Arkansas and Cincinnati

I'm attempting to be better at writing on this blog. At least that's what I tell myself every time I write a new entry, that next time, I'll write more often!

So here's the lowdown:

Arkansas

Two weeks ago my team and I travelled to Ozark, Arkansas for a week of camping with the Ozark DTS. On our way to the campsite, our van broke down in Lebanon, Missouri. By the grace of God, a member of a local church stopped by and invited all 27 of us to stay at his church and found someone who could fix the van the next day. Half our team left the next day to set up camp 3 hours away while the rest of us explored Lebanon while our van was being repaired.

We made it to Ozark National Forest on Monday night/Tuesday morning. It was pretty scary driving those roads in the dark when there was a huge drop on one side. Our campsite was incredibly remote! We did, however, have morning class and evening class (around a fire!) with a speaker that camped as well so he could share about Spiritual Warfare.
During one of our afternoon sessions we were taught how to navigate using a map and a compass, the following day we were sent out into the Ozark National Forest in our teams and had to make it from point A to point B. My team consisted of 6 Madison students and 3 Ozark students. Our hike was around 15 miles and halfway through we had to camp for the night in the tent we made out of tarp and string. It started to downpour seconds after we finished making out shelter, so we spent the next half hour worshipping God and singing at the top of our lungs. We got up before sunrise, dismantled camp, and hiked the rest of the way to the end point, which we reached 20 minutes before time was up.

Cincinnati Conference:

Topic: Finish the Task
Speakers: Danny Lehman and Dan Bauman. With a testimony from Jackie Stanely.
The conference was really awesome but completely exhausting. We had to be at the church from 7:30am until 9:30pm with various lectures and speakers. They gave us food though (: The speakers had gone through so much! Their journeys were so motivational and heartwarming. So glad I had that experience to go through. I got to hear firsthand about how God works through someone even in an Iranian prison, how He provides for a family when their father dies when they are in a 'restricted' country and about Osama Bin Laden. Remarkable experience.
 
And now I'm hanging out with my best friend in Grand Rapids, Michigan while she works. Tomorrow it is back to Madison and back to learning more and more about God from my lovely staff.

Viewing DTS...

Katrinaw1209's photostream on Flickr.

October Update

Hello All!

I’ve officially been in Wisconsin on the DTS course for 3 weeks! It has been such an amazing time already and I’ve learned so much about myself and about God. I cannot wait to see what He has in store for me and the rest of the students here in the next few months.

A Little about the base:

Although it is called YWAM Madison, we are actually 15 miles north of the city near Columbus. Our base is surrounded by cornfields and the nearest store is 10 minutes away. Currently, we do not have wifi on the base, so when we want to get in touch with anyone back home we have to drive to a café that has such. Due to not having a car, I am reliant on other drivers. It definitely teaches patience and communication!

My dorm room, Bhutan, is shared between myself and 12 other girls and the other 14 girls stay in Japan down the hall. The boys’ room is across the hall in China where all 11 of them stay. Our staff stays in various sections of the building along with the ones that have children. There are three little ones that are growing up out here and they are such a joy to have around.

Week 1: Learning about the Father Heart of God

The first week here was really tough. I had a lot of soul searching and drawing near to God that I had to do. With my past of struggling with anxiety at certain days I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to handle all the demands and living with 60 other people. God definitely reached out to me and after crying out to Him and breaking down, I believe Him and I have overcome this problem of mine. I am so thankful for the friends and staff members that He placed around me as they were so supportive and prayed with me every day.

Those first few days also had a lot of orientation about the base involved and ‘get to know you’ questions. The other students here are very open and everyone answers the questions (as some of them were deep ones!) so honestly. I feel like I’ve known the people here for so much longer than 3 weeks. We are also allowed to pick what church we want to attend every Sunday and my first place to worship was at Black Hawk’s downtown Madison location.

Week 2: Learning about coming to God with a

 Clean Conscience

The second week was where everything officially started. My day begins with a 5:45AM alarm and a 6AM work out. Generally, we are done around 6:45AM to hit the showers and prepare for the day ahead. Breakfast is 7:15-7:45 with quiet time (individual devotions) until 8:45AM. Live worship performed by various students till 9:30AM and class until 1:00/1:30PM. After class we have community responsibilities, or chores, and on different days we have another class session or outings etc. Then it’s dinner time, I do my chore, which is dinner clean up, and we have focus nights or electives afterwards. The day usually goes until 8PM then I have more free time. This Sunday’s choice was Black Hawk Downtown followed by a trip to the laundry mat and a place to use wifi.

Week 3:

Such an exciting week! Survivor camping happened! This involved driving 4 hours north to YWAM’s Northwoods location and navigating to where our backpacks were and going through ‘customs’. The staff were recreating what it would be like to go to a communist country. They were of course, still our staff, so we did experience the harshness, but when it comes down to it, they really do care for us. After getting our rations of dried beans and a bit of rice we had to then jog/run to our camp and set up our tarp tent. Four hours of capture the flag later it was back to our camp to get ready for sleep. We were woken up at 4AM after getting to bed at 1AM by a ‘night raid’. We then had to lie out in the woods to stay away from the government for an hour and half. It was back to sleep for a few hours after that and an attempt to make breakfast in the morning. Our alarm went off before we had chance to cook food though….so at this point we’ve gone since the night before with no food. We spent the rest of the day doing different games and growing closer together as a school. It was also so eye opening to have this experience and gain a little insight into how others have such persecution to deal with every day. 

Made it to Base!!

Hey all!!!
I've made it to Wisconsin and have spent my first week at the base! It's been pretty cool and there's 41 of us students and around 60 of us all together...so that's pretty awesome. We've been busy all day everyday this week and it just gets busier every day! Rescue Ops training starts tomorrow and then we have a new speaker for  class. Can't wait.
We went to Black Hawk church in downtown Madison and located a laundry mat afterwards to do some clothes washing. There isn't any laundry facilities on base so we have to do laundry once at week after church. It makes for a good day and gets us out in town for a while, so it's worth it.
After searching for ages...we finally located wifi at Culvers in Columbus, Wisconsin (which is technically 20 minutes from where the base is).
The only downside has been the unfortunate......disposal of Gustav, my ipod, who met his fate at the laundry mat in the washer..... :'(

Hopefully I'll be able to update you with something more descriptive next time. So much happens it's difficult to remember what to say...
We have been learning about Hearing God's Voice this week though. It's been really exciting and God has definitely been moving among us this week.

The Pieces of YWAM

YWAM=Youth With A Mission

"To Know God and Make Him Known"

YWAM Overview

That ^^^^ is so you can get a gist of what Youth With A Mission is. Just click the link  and away we go!

Rescue Ops ♥

^ That's the course I'm doing! There are people from all over the world on my course. Canada, Holland, USA, UK. We're all different not just because of where we live but our personalities as well. However, we are united in Christ & all have the same goal of sharing Him to the brokenhearted! We also must have a crazy love for fitness since we have bootcamp at 6am Monday-Friday and we are camping for a week in the Ozarks. God's given us this love and desire to be physically fit so we can meet the challenges that travelling to the darkest corners of the earth with require.

"I have but one passion: It is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.

- Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf "

Rescue Ops Course     < Click for more information

Not only will we be doing physical work outs, but we will be learning how best to reach the lost. My team and I will have 'class' every day and worship sessions to connect with God and to know what direction we should be going in. During this Lecture Phase (first three months of the entire course) we'll be traveling into Madison to be a light to the students, workers, children, and those who are homeless. Additionally during the week there will be speakers coming to the base to share with us their knowledge of missionary work and on Sundays we have church at various locations throughout the area. In truth the course is considered to be a 24/7 commitment and we are not allowed to work because of this requirement. God will faithfully provide for those who depend on Him so we have nothing to fear!

"1 Peter 3:15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,"

Outreach phase = The two months towards the end of the course where myself and the other students will be traveling to a third world country to share the message of Christ and to uplift those that live in the dire conditions (We have a variety of locations to choose from which will be given to us after we arrive on base in September). This will be emotionally difficult and will require a vast amount of dedication from each of us. We will, however, have experienced staff (volunteers) with us and God as well!

Breakdown of Expenses
Lecture Phase---$3,350 (This amount I've raised already through work and fundraisers)
Outreach Phase---The cost varies depending on location, but is expected to be between $2,500 - $3,500. Each of us are responsible for raising our own funds.


**After reading this , if you would like to help the cause there's a donation link on the right hand side of my page. I need funds for the second half of the course, Outreach Phase. (: **

5 Weeks till Take Off

I realized earlier today that this blog was created for my YWAM trip, but I haven't written anything about it on here yet. My apologies fellow blog readers! Here goes!


It's seriously only 5 weeks until I depart for America. That concept comes with a range of emotions: happiness, excitement, fear, nervousness etc. It will be such an adventure being back in the States and getting to know all the students and staff at the base in Madison. I just can't wait to learn more about God and grow in my faith, deal with my insecurities and share Jesus! Really looking forward to the outreach that we will be doing in the city of Madison before we do our main outreach in another country. 


I've been trying to prepare for the trip by reading the Bible a lot, listening to uplifting music, and reading this book by KP Yohannan called "World Revolutions". In the book he speaks about being a missionary in Asia and how those in privileged countries don't grasp the concept of being a Christian and living that sort of life like Christians in third world countries do. I have to say, as much as I didn't want to think I wasn't living as I should have been, I agree with KP. He has some good points and I urge every Christian to read his book. 

During my reading of the Bible, this section in 1 Chronicles 16 stood out to me "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name, make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts. Glory in His Holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." That's verses 8-11.


That is truly the mission!


I'm seeking God & fully believe that He will be with me through the entire course and will guide me. I know He has promised He will provide and as I'm reminded of the fact I still need half the course funds, I keep thinking of what He said to me. He has this all figured out. 


More later! ♥

Turning Point

I'm home from Tanzania and woke after sleeping for 12 hours of much needed sleep. Being in East Africa was such an amazing and challenging experience. It was the first time I had ever been to that continent and traveled there alone. The first few days I was there tested my coping skills and my faith in God. I've always battled with anxiety and this would be the prime situation to induce a panic attack. To make sure this didn't happen, I tried to remain positive and read my Bible a lot and prayed a ton. It all turned out well and I really enjoyed my time in Africa.
I worked with ten children at a small school on the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania where I taught them Math, English, Phonics and Art. The kids loved having me there, even though I couldn't speak Swahili and they didn't speak much English (aside from the kids in my class).
The other days I volunteered I spent at Cradle of Love Baby Home. There were 41 babies ranging from 3 weeks to 3 years. I spent time playing with them, and bottle feeding the little ones in the nursery, feeding lunch to the older babies and taking the babies outside for play time. I miss them already! The memories and the bonding time I had with them. Even though I was spit up on multiple times, I'd love to see them again. I got to rock baby Justin to sleep and just the feeling of absolute trust from him was amazing. It was such an incredible experience being in Tanzania. I traveled every day to the volunteer locations by myself and navigated Arusha by speaking broken Swahili to people who knew little to no English. I rode on a motorbike taxi across town and randomly took a taxi into town to buy ice cream one evening with a fellow volunteer, passed armed guards next to all the banks and crossed streets in town where multiple volunteers got mugged. Thanks to the Lord I was safe the entire time I was there and lived with incredibly nice volunteers.

Tanzania pics!

 Ujamaa Hostel
Where I stayed with the other volunteers in the area. We had two guard dogs plus a locking gate, and glass shards embedded in concrete with protective wire above it.

One of the kids from Meru View School where I taught English, Math, Phonics and Art to 10 six year olds

Precious baby hand from a little one at Cradle of Love Baby Home

Took a break from volunteering to go on safari to Lake Manyara

He loved me! and he was such a happy little guy. Always laughing

Cutest little smile!

Speaking of loving cuddles! He would not let me put him down ever!

Spent some time in the nursery as well where all the babies from 3 weeks to 6 months stayed. Had to gown up to reduce the risk of germs to the babies and spit up to my clothes :P

Time for Tanzania

So it's nearly 11pm the night before I leave for Tanzania. Ultimately I was going to use this blog for YWAM and onwards, but this trip is important as well. The baby home I'm going to visit is Cradle of Love in Arusha. It's near Mt. Kilimanjaro. I'm so thrilled to go, as I've never been to Africa, and I absolutely love 0-2 year olds. Working with them and showing love to them is my God given passion. I'm hoping and praying that I can be a light to them and to anyone else that I meet throughout this journey. The baby home desperately needs funds to feed the babies and make sure there are diapers/nappies for them, so please pray that they receive what they need. 
I just feel so blessed that I've been given the opportunity to help them and I'm hoping for lots of cuddles!
I'll post some pictures and let you know how the trip goes when I get home on June 30th (well, no doubt I'll be jet lagged and tired, so it might be a few days after that).
If you want to have a look at where I'll be volunteering click the link below (:
Cradle of Love Baby Home