Haiti bound in t-minus...

        8 days! Wow...only a handful of days until I leave for Haiti.  Today, I got together with the lady that I am going with and we prayed for the needs of the people and that we would be open and willing to be used by God.  Please join with us in praying for this country as we are gearing up to leave to spend 2 weeks there.  We are very excited about this trip and what the Lord will teach us as we are ministering for His name and renown.

        Some other good news!  In my early teen years, or maybe even before, I used to listen to my grandmother tell me stories about the prison.  She used to visit the prison weekly with a group of other believers and pray for the women who were incarcerated. I longed to go with her, but I wasn't old enough. That desire to minister in the prisons never left me. While I was in Peru last year, the Lord opened the door for me and my husband to visit the women in Prison. This experience deserves its own blog and there is too much to write....but I would love to share it with you if you ever have the time.  Before leaving for Peru, I had been trying to get inside the prisons in Tazewell County.  The opportunity never presented itself, even though I tried for many months.

        One day at HSM, my boss asked me where I really felt called and that he wanted to get me plugged in to where God wanted me to be.  I replied that first is International missions, and the second is Prison ministry...and i wanted to merge the two.

        Long story short, he knows a guy that is actively doing prison ministry in the area that is willing to get me plugged in.  Please pray for Jason and I as we pursue this opportunity and for the doors to open if this is where God wants us to be.

Thank you for your continued prayer support. If you would like more information on what we do or how to get plugged in to a short-term trip overseas, email us at vicars4missions@gmail.com

So that all may know Him,
Kathryn

Equipping the Called

     Have you ever felt inadequate in your walk with God? I believe that all of us can answer "yes" at least some point in our Christian walk.

     In late July, i was coming to an end of working at two different places of employment at the same time.  Since I would have more spare time, I decided to go into our office and pick out a good book off of the book shelf. The first book that caught my attention was The End of the Spear by Steve Saint.  Steve was the son of one of the 5 missionaries that were brutally killed in the jungle of Ecuador that set out to share the Gospel to unreached people groups.

     As I have slowly been making my way through this book, the Lord has been teaching me many things; one of them being something that I believe we have all struggled with: feeling inadequate to be used by the King.

    As the main focus of the book is about God changing the hearts and lives of the most feared tribe in the World (the Waodani, formerly known as the Aucas), there is a big lesson to be learned from Steve's late Aunt Rachel.

    Aunt Rachel, as a young girl, was offered the riches of the World from a very wealthy woman who was passing away. This woman wanted to leave Rachel all of her money.  For a reason that the world and this woman could not understand, Rachel turned her down, knowing the the Lord had big plans for her that did not include ties to something that would hold her back from being able to follow His will. To make a long story short, Rachel was asked to leave the woman's house and was banished for her "foolish" decision.

    Rachel ended up living among the most fierce tribe and becoming a part of their family. As she came to the end of her life, dying from cancer among the Waodani, Aunt Rachel began to reveal her lack of qualifications to Steve as he visited her in the jungle:

 "Isn't is something that the Lord Jesus would have used someone like me to do His work in this special place? I was too old to apply for missionary service, I couldn't help the Waodani that much medically, I was not a Bible scholar, and i wasn't a superior translator....

"...{I just} loved the Lord Jesus with all of my heart, and I trusted Him completely." [End of the Spear, p. 184]

     As my husband Jason always says, "He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." Isn't is great to know that we can be used by Him, if we just trust Him with all of our hearts and lean wholly on Him.

    Please go and read this book. it is very inspiring and encouraging.

   Continue to pray for me (kathryn) as I gear up to leave for Haiti in 2 weeks.  To know more or support us through prayer/finances, please email vicars4missions@gmail.com

So that all may know Him,

Kathryn

Destination: HAITI

    God has been challenging us as a couple in so many ways.  We are learning that God's ways and thoughts are higher than our own...and we wouldn't want to have it any other way!  We have many "possible" short-term trips on our radar to lead, and we are praying about those and that we walk through the right doors.

    One door that has swung wide open is a trip that I (Kathryn) will be taking in just a couple of weeks to Haiti.  A woman who volunteers her time at Heaven Sent has had a desire to go to Haiti since the devastation of the earthquake. Every time she walked through our doors, Haiti was on her heart and lips.  I remembered that over two decades ago, almost 26 years to be exact, my parents went on a mission trip to Haiti. The missionaries they served with are still going strong and bringing the Gospel to Haiti. My parents have stayed in contact with them and provided their names and phone number for me.

Picture from the B.E.M., Hope for Haiti website of the area
where we will be serving.

    To make a long story short....we will be going to serve with these missionaries, Pastor Ignace and his wife Franchette in Les Cayes, Haiti. If you know my age, and did the math from the amount of years provided above...you may put 2 and 2 together and figure out that my mother was pregnant with me when she was in Haiti!!  How special of a trip this will be for me. It's almost if things are coming full-circle for me in the missions world...or maybe it's just God's little gift to me to be able to go where my earthly parents once walked with me...while my mom carried me along for the ride in the womb. 

What and amazing God we serve!

     After 7 days with Bethanie Evangelical Mission, we will travel back to Port Au Prince and be picked up by another missionary couple who we will serve with another 6 days or so. We will be visiting many different ministries in order to establish relationships and send teams there in Haiti in the near future. Although this will be an amazing mission trip where we will bring Hope to different areas of Haiti, this is also very much a vision trip; a goal of establishing a long term relationship in order to keep bringing the Gospel to this country.

If you would like to receive our newsletter and or join our prayer/financial support team, please e-mail us at vicars4missions@gmail.com.

So that all may know Him,

Kathryn 

Missions trip to Peru

Many of you may know that Peru is very near and dear to my heart. I have been on 5 mission trips to peru, the longest being 7 months.  Peru is a beautiful country filled with beautiful people.

We are currently seeking people to join our team to head to Peru January 22-31. This trip is mainly a medical trip, but we will also be doing some evangelism, visiting the orphanages and feeding centers.  I personally and not a doctor, so I will be spending a lot of time ministering among the children and their families.  So, if you are not medically inclined....don't worry!  There is still plenty to do!

I thought I would share some photos of beautiful Arequipa, peru where we will be working. Arequipa is a gorgeous city nestled at the foothills of the Andes Mountains. You will also catch gorgeous views of Misti, the well-known volcano in Arequipa.

The above photo is a picture of the main plaza in Arequipa. There you will be able to shop on our day of sight-seeing.

This is a typical Peruvian (Quechuan) mother and child that you will meet in the pueblos where we will be working.

This is Misti, a volcano in Arequipa.  You will see this volcano from wherever you are in the city or pueblos. Misti is truly a breath-taking sight!!!

If you would like more information about this trip,  please contact me at kathryn@hsminc.org

If you would like to join our prayer and financial support team, please e-mail me at the address above!!

So that all may know Him,
Kathryn

Team has returned from Ghana!

Our team from New Community Bible made it back safely from Ghana, West Africa and their trip was amazing!  They sent us several pictures and it made me so eager to go!  The team consisted of medical professionals, the pastor and his wife and other members of their church.

Working on some construction at the Training Center

The Discipleship Training Center. It took 7 years to complete,
but it is finished and completely debt free!

Painting the gates to the Training Center

The team also hosted some Pastor Meetings and brought words of 

encouragement and hope to the leaders and pastors in the surrounding areas. 

We are so thankful for their hearts and willingness to serve in Ghana, West Africa. Thank you for all of your 

prayer support for this team. I am looking to plan a trip in October/November of this

year to complete the painting and tiling needed inside of the center.

Please pray about being a part of this trip!

Keep us in your prayers. If you would like to know more about us, please e-mail us at 

vicars4missions@gmail.com

So that all may know Him,

kathryn

Time of Transition

Today (Saturday) the last team arrives to stay the week for Wade Summer Missions. I know that may not create the same sense of mixed emotions for you as it does for me, but it is almost not real that it is actually coming to an end.  It took about 7 months to plan and gear up for our teams and the end date (August 4) seemed so far away. Not anymore.

I have been so blessed by our teams and watching them serve God through sharing the Word, leading sports camps, and local construction projects that have helped members of our community.  Through this, we have seen people helped and lives changed for the sake of the Gospel. What a powerful thing to witness.

Wrapping up summer missions means wrapping up my time at Wade as Director of Missions and Outreach. Instead of spending my time between 2 offices (HSM and Wade), I will be able to fully be at Heaven Sent Ministries. This transition has been in my prayers since February and we have already seen od working. As many of you know, our salary depends upon outside support from friends, family and fellow believers that want to join in the cause to spread the Gospel locally and around the World.  As a steady check ends from one place, we fully believe that God will continue to provide financially for us in our transition. Someone once told me (it may have been my grandmother...):

"if Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice, His life, and cared for you that much...why would He not want to provide for you and take care of you in the little things? And don't you think that everything else is pretty small compared to Him laying his life down for the sins of the entire World?"

Thank you for joining with us in prayer for the needs of those here and around the World. Our God is greater, He is stronger...He is faithful even when we prove to be faithless. We are so blessed to be a part of the H.S.M. team, and if you would like to join us in ministry, please e-mail us at vicars4missions@gmail.com

Prayer Needs:

1. Possible trip to Ghana this fall to complete the construction on the Training Center

2.Medical Missions trip to Peru in January...pray for the team, and pray about joining the team!

3. The famine and Drought taking place in Ethiopia/Somalia/Kenya. We would like to get involved sending food packages and relief and possibly take a trip there as well.

So that all may know Him,

kathryn

Expectation

Do you ever have something heavy on your heart? Not necessarily a burden, but maybe a longing, or a waiting in great expectation for something. Maybe God has placed something on your heart and you are in a period of waiting and listening.

For many years, I (Kathryn) had this similar feeling, almost indescribable, and it had to do with my baptism.  This great sense of excitement and wonder about my baptism started as I began my second or third semester of classes at ODU in norfolk, VA. I was about 20/21 years old and I was growing and being stretched in my faith. At this point in my life, I was getting settled in college and I was being delivered from a fear that I had been living with for over a couple of years. I was really sensing and feeling the goodness of God and love being poured out over me.  This made me reflect heavily on my Christian life and walk with God.

I was baptized when I was about 11 years old or so...I can't remember the exact age. We had changed churches and the Pastor took some time to visit us in our home and discuss Baptism with me and my sisters.  Soon after, we were all baptized. I remember this being a special day: my family was present, my sisters and I being baptized together, starting our life in a new youth group, a new church. Life was good.

But in college, as I was reflecting back, I just don't remember being completely sold out and aware of the real meaning. Being delivered from this fear that I had been living with, I was ready to go before God and present myself wholly unto Him and be a witness for His namesake.  I was eager to be baptized, cleansed: forgetting the old and being made new. I began to pray, spend time in the Word and journal about my desire to be baptized.

Last September, the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to share His Gospel in the jungle of Ecuador with a team from North Carolina.  To be a part of a mission trip like this has been my desire for many years.  To make a long story short, we arrived in the Jungle to live among the Ashuar tribe for a short period of time.  While we were there, 2 Ashuar Indians had inquired about being baptized. They wanted to learn more about baptism and them physically be baptized themselves. I shared with Dan Clowers my desire to be baptized one day, and the question arose...why not now?  

I wish I could describe to you the feeling.  It honestly felt like the best birthday present anyone could ever receive. There I was, in his perfect timing, in the perfect place...in an Amazon River tributary...I was being baptized with two Ashuar Indians on the foreign mission field surrounded by my brothers and sisters in Christ.

God has made us for a purpose. First and foremost, we are to to be constantly growing and molded into the image of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we weren't made by happenstance. We were made because He has a plan for each of us; to give us hope, a future, peace, and an expected end. During our journey on this Earth, He wants to use us. His Word says in Habakkuk 1:5, "Look at the nations and watch and be utterly amazed, for I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe...even if you were told."

Don't sit back and miss out on the life, blessings, victory and power that He has for you. Seek Him, know His voice. Live a life of expectation and prayer. Watch God move. I did and I still am. We aren't perfect, but He is and always will be.

Check out this video of my summer in peru and Ecuador...at 5:30 you can see my baptism.

Peru/Ecuador-Baptism Video

Be a part of a move of God. Join in the ministry at HSM with us, there are so many ways to get involved. You can always e-mail us and let us pray for you (vicars4missions@gmail.com). We look forward to hearing from you and thanks for all your continual prayer and financial support!

So that all may know Him,

Kathryn