Wrapping up 2014...

Dearest Friends and Family,

Merry Christmas! I'm sure I say this every year, but I really can't believe it's the end of 2014. We found out I was pregnant with Nadra back in January, so it's hard to believe that the whole year has past, yet can't imagine life without her.

We traveled to South Carolina for Thanksgiving, where Nadra got to meet Chris's parents (who had just arrived for a visit in the US) for the first time, which was wonderful. In mid-December we traveled to New Jersey for an early Christmas celebration with my family - my parents and grandma had met Nadra, but she was able to meet more extended family and we had a lovely visit with many of you.

As we prepare to celebrate I keep reminding myself that Christmas is a special time to celebrate Christ, to celebrate what it means that God sent Him to be a perfect man, to dwell on earth, to die as a sacrifice once and for all. Yet that's a reality that affects every moment of every day. So as we go into 2015 I pray that your moments and your days are captivated by the reality that Christ came to make the way for us to know Him.

With much love,
Kate


HIGHLIGHTS:

• My World Orphans Role: My role as Senior Mobilization Director means I oversee all the short-term trips World Orphans sends. In 2014 we sent 34 trips, which mobilized 302 people. I'm so grateful for my amazing co-workers and our church partners who made the trips happen and made them fruitful.
• As we look to 2015 I'm excited to continue pursuing the depth of what it means for our short-term trips to help our church partners care for orphans...until they all have homes. I'm reading a book called Helping Without Hurting in Short Term Missions, I highly recommend it if you're at all involved in short-term trips! 
• Chris: He's been working at a walk-in clinic associated with a family practice for 2.5 years now and continues to really enjoys it...check it out here! 
• The girls: We love having two girls! Nadra (3 months) is smiling and cooing all the time and starting to really laugh - it's so fun to watch her grow and develop. Jazmine (almost 3.5) is an amazing big sister. She loves to play with, read to, and sing to Nadra. And just today I realized that she knows the words "indigo and violet"! She's a sharp little girl and continues to delight us. Certainly working from home and caring for the girls has its challenges (although they are very content children!), but I feel really grateful to continue my work with World Orphans and also be home with my daughters.

Veterans day, orphan care and Christmas....

Finding out just last week that I was off from work today in honor of Veteran's Day, I started thinking  about how to make the most of a precious day off in the midst of a busy season, and about why Veteran's Day is a holiday...

Having traveled to well over 20 countries, I'm always grateful to be home...my family and my own bed, but I'm not always glad to be back in America.  Spending time in other places, especially poorer places, can shine a spotlight on the consumerism and sense of entitlement we struggle with as Americans.  Seeing people in other cultures who physically have so little yet are so joyful and so generous can make the abundance of America overwhelming.

However, as I listened to an Army veteran on Sunday, with tears in his eyes, remind our church body about how amazing it is that we could freely gather to worship Jesus, I was freshly overwhelmed with gratefulness for the peace and freedom we experience in America.

Our military and government certainly provide plenty of topics to debate and disagree over, but I don't ever want to take for granted the great sacrifices that countless men and women have made over the years that allow us to live and worship in peace and freedom.

So as I spend today trying to prepare for a thoughtful, intentional and worshipful Advent season for my family and gift giving that will honor those we love, I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

As I think of my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are spending themselves to care for those in need, and who are suffering because they choose Christ, I am humbled to count them as family, and longing to honor them in prayer and in the choices that I make this season.

So whether or not we find ourselves in peace and freedom, may we be consumed with the peace of Christ that transcends circumstances and passes understanding.

Prayer Update - Iraq

During this season of Lent I'm desiring to meditate on the reality of Christ's death and resurrection, and the glorious truth that when we trust in the sacrifice of Christ, the Father sees His perfection and not our sin.  And at the same time desiring to think about what it means that out of that trust, flows love and obedience....not to earn His favor (if we could earn it, Christ didn't need to die) but as an outpouring, a reflection of His love and grace.

This is a portion of a newsletter written by my co-worker living in northern Iraq.  It struck me as an excellent summary of what the Christian life calls us to, and I'm praying Lent is a time to focus my heart and have a fresh understanding of a life that is about seeking Him, finding Him, walking closer with Him...

My prayer for you is that this Lent season finds you with a renewed sense of passion and awe at God's love for us.

And I'd ask that you'd join me in prayer that the Lord would encourage this family as they walk with Him....

Jesus is drawing all of us into the limits of our own abilities and beyond. The life of faith seems hardly worth living if He's not, and so, the stretching, stretching, and more stretching continues... unabated. But, aren't we so glad it does. When we finally get to the end, we'll be able to look back and see a life that was SPENT, not hoarded, a life that was consumed by God's grace and presence, not just kept safe and secure in the mires of our own personal goals and dreams. It's a life of sacrifice that God has called us to, and if we're not on that road then, our spirits' should be crying out for it. For it is upon that road that we find Christ. I want to find Him... closer today than yesterday, more ever present than I could imagine, truly one with Him, doing together what the Father is doing in our world. Hurdles are ever-present just like with everyone else, so please keep us close to your hearts and in your prayers, and step by step we'll climb the mountain together.

To read more about their ministry, click HERE.

One of the many reasons we need our family....

If you've read this blog for any length of time, it won't surprise you to hear me say how honored and grateful I am to be in relationship with my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, how much I have learned from them, how they challenge me, and how they inspire me.

Recently I read this article, "What we say when we don't mention the Gospel" an honest and well written reminder of our desperate need for a Savior....and for me another reminder of of our need for relationship.  (Highly recommend reading the article - definitely worth the time.)

Being in relationship, in true partnership, with Christ followers in other cultures, reminds me in deep ways that what really matters is Jesus, trust in the hope and truth of His Gospel.

Being in real cross-cultural relationship has a way of showing you that you don't have all the answers and you don't have everything figured out.  The food, the dress, the music, the style of worship, the approach to time....it's all gloriously different.

A reminder that God is calling to Himself people from every tribe, tongue and nation.

A reminder that there are a lot of things that are important, but only one is necessary....Jesus.

I pray this season of Lent finds you being reminded of the sufficiency, centrality, beauty, joy and amazement of Jesus.  (Really great thoughts and recommended readings, here.)

Vision for the year...prayer update

A few months ago I did a little survey to get a sense of what kind of updates people (my friends, family, financial and prayer supporters) want about the overall ministry of World Orphans, my role in the ministry, our personal life, etc.  Your feedback was super helpful (and the random winner turned out to be a woman who has been faithfully volunteering for us in Mobilization for years, so I was thrilled to send her a gift!)

There was a consensus that quarterly newsletter updates are good, that people do want to hear a combo of the overall ministry, my specific role, and how my family is doing.  And EVERYONE wants more pictures of Jazmine :)

One thing I heard from a number of people was a request for more prayer updates.  So hear is my goal...

I'm committed to actually sending out quarterly newsletter updates (not just drafting them) that are hopefully interesting to read, and have plenty of pictures of Jazmine.

But in between the newsletters, I'd like to do a once a month blog post with ways you can pray for the ministry and/or my family.

So....It's not the end of January yet and here's a prayer update!  Thankful to be off to a decent start :)

We would covet your prayers for the ministry as we cast vision and set goals for the year.  

As part of the World Orphans Management Team, I was in Colorado the first week of January with other World Orphans leaders - it was a wonderfully encouraging time as we each shared our assessment of our department and our vision and goals for the year.  We all came way encouraged and excited to share with our co-workers.  The coming weeks and months will be filled with hard work as we each lead our departments to do our part in supporting our church partners around the world.

I am honored to be part of a ministry that exists to empower the church to care for orphans....until they all have homes.

Please pray that the Lord will grant the entire World Orphans team joy in working hard in our roles, unity in working as a team spread out all over the US and around the world, and that in the midst of the details (which are really important) that we'll keep our eyes on the eternal purpose of what God has called us to as we equip, inspire, and mobilize the church to care for orphans and vulnerable children...to see churches engaged, children restored, and communities transformed by the Gospel of Christ.