Herkese merhaba! (“Hello Everyone!” in Turkish)
My squad and I have been on adventure for a while now and I want to summarize what we’ve been up to for the last several months!
Ministry in Craiova, Romania (End of November, December, beginning of January):
- Help to facilitate Bible studies with adults from the community who are curious about hard topics of the Bible
- Gathering and organizing food and supplies for Ukrainian Refugees
- Hosting youth events for the community in Craiova, Romania
- Christmas Shoebox Giveaways (like Operation Christmas Child!)
- Prayer ministry: interceding for the community, country, and the ministry we partnered with (Hope Church)
- Street Evangelism: Meeting people and talking with them about the Gospel
- Ask The Lord (“ATL” was around two weeks): This is when the Chameleons (my team at the time) traveled to a few different cities based on where we felt the Lord was opening doors to go and share the Gospel. We traveled to Alba Iulia, Albac, and Cluj- Napoca in Romania and had some awesome testimonies come out of this!
Mini Debrief (Beginning of January):
- Where our squad came together and celebrated what God had done in each team during ATL and then changed teams!
- During Mini Debrief, four new teams were revealed! Here they are, down below :
Daddy Day Care ^
STCKD ^
Stop. Drop. & Roll (SDR) ^
1-800-ASK-A-FARMER (ASK) ^
- During this time, I had the high honor of stepping into the role of a raised-up squad leader. This role is truly a privilege and humbling opportunity to serve the squad in a unique way. I can now be an extension of leadership back in the states and help to serve & love & empower P- squad (around 26 of us)! Within this role, Kara, Jordan J, and myself (alongside our amazing mentor Lindsey, and coaches Matt and Kathy) help to facilitate and pray over squad debriefs and other times of reconvening as a family and body of Christ throughout our World Race experience. We aim to walk alongside and encourage our Team Leaders as they lead their individual teams with boldness and surrender. The decision to step into this opportunity was one of counting the cost. My World Race experience may look a tad different than I thought it would, but it is of great JOY and HONOR to step into this opportunity. I am experiencing such a deep love for continuing my organic friendships formed at the beginning of the race, seeing them flourish in new ways! I have been so fortunate to find brothers and sisters in my P- Squad family who I can lean on while learning the ropes of this new opportunity for discipleship and service to the squad. It’s an honor and I am consistently humbled that God would use me in this way!
Willing Waters (Myself, Jordan, Kara)
Ministry in Kotodesh, Albania (January):
- I was with team STCKD during the country of Albania! Much of my time was split between leadership training and also ministry with the team.
- Village ministry (I personally did not have a chance to go to different villages) but my co-laborers on STCKD got a chance to go to various villages to play with kids, build relationships, and share Bible stories and personal stories of how God has made Himself real to them!
- Adopt-a-Child Ministry (I didn’t have a chance to help out with this) but STCKD helped out with the behind-the-scenes biography writing and editing for children who are financially and spiritually sponsored through the church
- Widow’s Bible Study
- Teen and Kid events throughout the week!
- Being prepared to share personal God-testimonies at any moment
- Ask the Lord what to do and who to talk to when in the main city of Pogradec, Albania!
- Ministry to our ministry host (Pastor of Living Waters Church) and his family
- Throughout my time with STCKD, I was being trained by the alumni squad leaders on how to step into squad leading when they would leave the field! It was a busy, rewarding, challenging, growing, and sweet time of stepping deeper into discipleship training!
Team STCKD near the bridge that the Apostle Paul walked in Albania!
STCKD at Youth Ministry
New Friends at church in Pogradec, Albania
Send-Off in Tirana, Albania (Beginning of February):
- Sending off the alumni squad leaders was emotional and very special! It was filled with reminiscing, prayer & commissioning, communion, worship, devotions, fun, and ministering to the community in Tirana. I surely will never forget those days!
ATL in Albania (February):
- A time of Asking the Lord where each team should go and share the Gospel!
- I felt that my time with team STCKD was not over so I accompanied them during this leg of the Race too
- A future blog to come to explain all the ways God showed up during this time but in effort to summarize, we journeyed down the coast of Albania (from Durres, to Vlore) and saw God move in AMAZING ways!
Debrief in Istanbul, Turkey (End of February to March 5th):
- Traveled to our fourth country: TURKEY!!
- We spent a week in a hostel in Istanbul where the squad came together to debrief their time in Albania
- Debriefs are purposed for times of refreshment for the squad, sharing about their experiences as a team, reflection with the Lord, and strengthening as a body of Christ. We did one on one hang outs with the squad, devotions, worship moments, times of squad fun, and teachings!
- Having the opportunity to run alongside such an awesome leadership team while facilitating this debrief was beyond a privilege. P Squad leadership team is made up of Lindsey (Squad Mentor), Matt & Kathy (Squad Coaches), Jordan Jost, Kara Perrault, and myself (Squad Leaders).
- We have a special community here in P Squad. It’s an honor to love them with the fullness of the love of the Father!
Where am I now??
I am currently with team 1-800-ASK- A- FARMER and we are in Biga, Turkey! We will be asking the Lord how to use our time here in turkey, as many conversations have already been had about Jesus! Guys.. when I say the doors have been wide open to sharing the Gospel, I mean conversations and friendships just start without us having to even try hard at all! We love our muslim neighbors and it’s exciting to think about the relationships that are already being formed with them, less than a week into our time here!
Please be in continued prayer for:
- Direction for each team on P Squad as we serve in the communities that we are in!
- For our faith in Jesus to be strengthened as we answer hard questions about Jesus and the Bible
- More and more open doors to share the Gospel!
- For my family, friends, and supported churches to experience the revelation of Jesus’ love in a new and fresh way today and in the days to come!
Feel free to email me ([email protected]) or text me through whatsapp! I love you all, more than you know! More blogs to come!
Katherine
