TO MY BELOVED SUPPORTERS AND SUBSCRIBERS:)

A few updates from this past week!

• We invited our neighbors over for an open-house to our apartment! Aside from the fact that our hand-written Turkish invitations were gibberish (we found out), the neighbors came over and enjoyed themselves to some Turkish tea (made by Americans), some homemade desserts, and intentional conversation. Continued prayers that we can love our neighbors as ourselves and show His love through our actions!
• We were so generously welcomed and loved on by our new friends to their home village! Their sweet family provided delicious meals and snacks in abundance, genuine laughter, and sweet conversations about life and Jesus! My team and I were amazed at the hospitality, generosity and love that came from this family. Talking about Jesus and answering really good and difficult questions about our relationship with God FILLED us up and we walked away from that day feeling so blessed and honored to have a moment in this family's life. (Side Note: Our friend's brother and dad in this family are shepherds and showed us their herd of sheep and lambs. This was probably the cutest thing ever. So much about a shepherd's life relates to our heavenly Father who is the best shepherd - Psalm 23. Really in awe of the patient, loving God that I serve)

Beautiful friend and her flowers that she made into a flower crown for me!

Meet lamby :)

My friend and I walking together. Talking about life!

Our beloved Turkish Family!

A generous picnic that was provided for by our sweet friends and their mom. Truly, this was an act of hospitality that blew me away.

• March 23rd was the start of Ramadan for those who practice the Islamic faith. This means that for 30 days, people here in Turkey will be fasting from dawn to sunset. We have found out that this time is a time where many will seek spiritual understanding. Please continue to pray for our conversations, that we will have open doors to share the Gospel with people. And, please be praying that people will have visions and dreams of Jesus- as this is a common way that Jesus has revealed Himself to many people in the Islamic faith. We have already had AMAZING conversations and are really fueled by these  conversations
• So much more happened this week, but here are a couple highlights from this week!!

Reflecting on the Field

Lately, I have been praying and asking the Lord that I don't go home the same person as I came on the Race. Honestly, I don't know if that's entirely possible on the Race- to go home the same person. But even still, sometimes I wonder if I've changed at all. The sweet part of the Race is that I get to do life with people who knew me at the beginning, seven months ago, and also who know me now seven months in. They have seen the highs and lows of my time out here and have walked alongside of me through it all. As I reflect on the past several months, the Lord has undoubtedly changed me from my core. I wanted to make a blog post just to share some of the things that I believe God has taught me in each country. I think it would be impossible to think of every way God has changed me, but here are a few points!

Guatemala: 

• Leaning not on the approval of man, but solely on the approval of God.
• Beginning to discover what it looks like for my identity to not be rooted in what I can DO for others, but in WHOSE I belong to. This allows me to serve and love others from a place of being confident in who Jesus is and who He says I am, and not in my efforts or performance
• Sharing Jesus from a place of RELATIONSHIP with people, not with an intention of pursuing an outcome in a conversation

Romania:

• Recognizing how broken I am without the grace of Jesus and learning to DEPEND on Him fully
• Realizing how God has been vying for my FREEDOM for so long from perfectionism, which is rooted in pride. Stepping into more obedience with fasting and physically, spiritually, and emotionally experiencing the effects of this spiritual discipline in my life. I truly felt a weight lift off my shoulders after committing my ways to the Lord in this area of my life! Fasting is meant to bring FREEDOM to the captives! (Isaiah 58)
• Learning more about spiritual warfare, confession of sins to my brothers & sisters that brings HEALING & LIFE, and endurance through the hardest moments of my walk with the Lord

Albania: 

• Experiencing refreshment in the Lord! Realizing how God used my brokenness in Romania to show me how to depend on God for everything. Truly experiencing joy and a fresh start!
• Learning how to move through life without plans and seeing God show up in CRAZY ways to provide!
• Being confident to voice my questions about the Lord to others. This helped me to see how this honesty brings deep fellowship, genuine friendship, and pursuit of honest truth
• Being prepared to be unprepared! Haha. Basically, learning to lean on the Holy Spirit for the words to share when expressing testimonies about how the Lord has shown Himself in my life, not relying on my own scripted responses!

Turkey:

• Learning to be RAW about my relationship with God and pursuing Him in a genuine way, not for anyone else. Learning to ask questions to God that I never have before because I am learning about other religions and how to share the Gospel to them
• Experiencing a really sweet confidence in the Lord that allows me to thank the Lord for my God-given gifts and CELEBRATE the God-given gifts in my brothers and sisters!
• Finding joy in discipleship and walking through the messy parts of life with people, and allowing them to walk with me through my questions!
• Growing in my dependence on others. Accepting help and not being self-sufficient but community minded!

There is SO much more that I could write but I wanted to share some thoughts about what I have walked through with the Lord over the past several months.

I am praying for you all and I am so honored to know each one of you. To God be the glory, forever and ever AMEN!

I have been thinking about home a lot lately while still being very present here on the field. I rejoice that God is doing a GOOD thing in your lives and I look forward to hearing all of the testimonies when I get back home!

Love you all and can not thank you enough for your prayers and love!

Katherine