Jeremiah 29:11-14
For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
It’s here. Month nine. I’m still persevering. I’m still holding on to what I have left. I’m longing to stay, to keep pursuing the uncomfortable. I want to keep going. I need to walk hand in hand with the Father over every continent to proclaim His name to the unborn. I want to meet new faces, I want to grow old with a wrinkly smile because I want to have that bottomless laugh that forms at the pit of your stomach where it hurts to keep laughing and you start to cry because you can’t contain all of the joy inside. I will hope in the Lord because I know He loves to hear my dreams to this beloved life He is letting me live.
If I had to choose one word to describe my experience it would be Shalom, when you hear or see something and can’t quite explain it, but you know it’s calling and stirring something deep inside of you, also can be meant as peace. Shalom is Thai children running and shouting your name ready to embrace you. Shalom is riding bikes down the dirt roads of Cambodia. Shalom is homemade roti and nann bread. Shalom is being able to speak enough Spanish to understand/ have a little conversation with a local. Shalom is watching almost every sunset on Ometepe. Shalom is community. Shalom is my team Alt+0134.
I’ve experienced deep joy in my life and it was because I came out of hiding. I pursued the uncomfortable, and put all my certainty in the Father. I have lived almost a full year away from the “complacent, easy, serene living”, away from family, and away from what I thought I knew and I can honestly say that it has been the best nine months of my life. Yes, there was neglect and hopelessness in the eyes of people, but this is why I was sent. That simple prayer I got to proclaim over them or that one meal I got to serve them might not seem much at all but God uses us in the pages of His story for a reason. I just want to say thank you God. Thank you for your grace, your presence, your endless love for me, for never letting me down, and your joy that fulfills me. You are good.
This journey has taught me to have courage, to never give up, to proceed in faith, to have sureness in God, to be bold, to live in a community, to be flexible, to never assume, to be an English teacher, to be a counselor, to approach strangers with the topic of Christianity, to grasp how little you need to live, to live in Asia, and to be dauntless. I’m not the same Kathryn anymore. I’m 20 years old and I could say that this was the best year of my life and I could also say that choosing yes to go on this trip at such a young age is setting me up for success for the rest of my life. In reality though this was just a training camp for the rest of my life. I have 60 plus years ahead of me. A famous quote by John Piper that I can relate this to is, “missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” I know that this season is ending but my life isn’t ending here. God proclaimed to us to feed His sheep and to care for the ‘least of these’ and that’s what I did over a course of nine months and over three continents. Now what are YOU waiting for? Be brave. Go and do.
To my family. Thank you for releasing me into my Fathers care. Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for the encouragements and for believing in me. Thank you for your trust. To my friends. Thank you for the letters! I have loved having one to open every month. Thank you for following and keeping up to date with me.
To anyone else who just said a prayer for me, donated to my trip in anyway, encouraged me, or donated gear to me, thank you. You might think your not doing anything to make a impact but you are! I couldn’t of gone on this journey with out your help! God is using you in endless ways. I will forever have endless memories and stories that I don’t want to keep to myself. I want to share my experiences with you. I’ll be on Georgia red clay again in 3 days. See you soon.
With love,
Kathryn
