Every Day Things

I arrive at the ship like most days.  I change into work clothes and find all the supplies to clean the boys bathroom.  Broom, dust pan, general cleaner, disenfenctant, and rags.  Starting with the toilet in the corner I clean one at a time, working clockwise and making sure the lids are shut and the doors closed and locked when I'm finished.  I get to one toilet that needs a little extra love and care then continue on.  Next is the urinal. That takes it's own special cleaner.  Once that is finished the mirror above the double sink.  Once the toothpaste splatters are gone, like they never were there, it comes to the vanity.  My brothers here are hard workers.  Inevitably there is some grease or dirt to clean, reminding me of how He created men to work with their hands and to serve Him in the practical.  The floor comes next.  Swish goes the broom until there is no speck of dirt on the floor, but rather in my dustpan.  

Now the rather ugly part.  The showers.  The drains must be scrubbed to try and hold back the ever encroaching mold.  Because living on a ship on the Pacific Ocean, in a tropical climate means that nothing ever really gets dry.  The tile of the shower is also attacked with gusto.  There's that one corner that water never quite drains out of.  The walls, in their peeling beauty also must be scrubbed back to white from black.  More mold that is ever trying to take over the place. 

Empty the garbage, then mop the floor.  That is how I spend most days from 1:45 to about 2:30.  It's work.  Hard work, but every day it allows me time to think about and process a myriad of things going on here in my little corner of the world.  

Some days I think that if I find one more pair of boxers on the floor or one more wet towel, I might explode.  Often times, it's when these thoughts flit across my minds eye that The Lord softly reminds me of the song I'm already humming.  He asks me again and again to give everything I have to Him.  Even if I literally have nothing to give.

This weekend for example.  I woke up on Saturday morning (okay, let's be real... Morning is a relative term for this girl.  Morning does not come before 10:30) and went upstairs.  While I was eating breakfast someone came into the Mess Hall and said that we weren't supposed to do the dishes because people had just been leaving them everywhere.  They wanted us to leave a sink full of dishes until the people responsible came and washed them.  

We have to pause the story here and start another so you understand where I'm coming from next.  I've been reading the book, "Kisses From Katie" and one thing she has taught me is that we have to love with every single ounce of everything we have.  That even when it hurts and people don't necessarily "deserve" it, we are still called to love.  

You may not agree with me, and people on the ship certainly don't, but this is my conviction:  people will not change unless they have revelation.  And most will not receive revelation by shoving dishes down their throats.  

So I washed a sink full of dirty dishes.  Because all I can do in this life is love.  I am not a parent to these people I live with, even though some call me Momma Katie.  They have chosen to, and they would listen.  But those I don't have a relationship like that with, they will never hear words.  They will only see love.  So I love them, and try to be the hands of Christ for half an hour and wash dishes.  Are there other things I would like to do on a Saturday?  Yes.  But God taught me the hard lessons of the simple things in 2013, and washing dishes is something I can do on a Saturday morning.  

I'm not here to preach.  I understand there is a place for correction in the body of Christ.  All I have is my story to share, and this is it.

It's hardly believable that we leave for PNG this Sunday.  I am so excited!  Excited for what the Lord is doing in the people and what the Lord our God is doing in my outreach family.  

Praise Report:  The Lord is faithful and is bringing exactly the right people to come and share with us this week.  We're having some time to bond with Selena, which has been great.  

Prayer Requests:  Our school has about $12,000 still owed, spread out across about 12 people.  Really be praying for a release in finances.  We're trusting God with big, amazing things.  We know He will provide.  

That my outreach family would continue to bond as we get day by day closer to those airplanes.  

I sincerely appreciate every prayer.  I believe with all of my heart that it does make a difference.  I would ask that you continue to lift up my team and whole DTS as we head to PNG and Darwin over the next 7 weeks.  I won't be able to post or respond to anything, but we serve a God who works despite lack of internet. ;) 

Be blessed and until next time,

-Katie 

24 Hours to Change a Life

Upon returning to Townsville from the beautiful Gold Coast we learned that another one of our own would be going home.  There is nothing more terrifying than the feeling that your heart is being ripped in two.  

A sweet man from South Dakota, 18 and ready to take on the world.  Heat rash has covered his body for a while now.  It is painful and even the doctors could not find relief.  

My outreach team was the last to arrive home.  It was tender and sweet.  Everyone gathered out on the dock and all of our friends ran to greet us.  I cried when I saw Hannah Renee and again when I saw Nat.  There is something crazy that has happened in all of our hearts.  We have bonded more than most DTSs.  We've been made fun of, but that's okay.  We love with everything we have.  

After hugs all around we started to sit and talk with everyone about the overall experience of outreach.  Things were both positive and negative.  While sitting and chatting in the lounge, a group of people came in and said we were praying for our brother.  So we stood up and prayed Korean style (Everyone prays at one time, out loud).  I asked if anyone received a word or a picture and Rey said she had 24 hour prayer.  So I found a piece of paper and we wrote down time slots of an hour each, asking two people to fill each slot.  

I am amazed.

God is good and He is great and mighty to save.  The slots filled and we started at 10 pm.  Hour by hour, my brothers and sisters gathered to pray for one of our own.  Many times there would be people that weren't on shift that would come to pray as well.  The first two started a piece of paper for others to write down words, pictures, or scriptures from the Lord.  We prayed through the night.  We didn't see healing, but it didn't phase us.  We kept. on. praying.  

Morning dawned and Nat and I started our shift at 8.  The group before us started another sheet for what the Lord was speaking about other things.  One thing was to really start the sessions with worship.  So we did.  

I cannot explain to you how much the lounge changed over that time.  The atmosphere was changed.  You could tell that the Holy Spirit was dwelling there.  When two or more agree, that's when the crazy, beautiful happens.  There were more than two of us.  

The 24th hour we decided to do corporate worship to end everything off.  Looking back on that night still amazes me.  We prayed all together for our brother and two of our sisters who needed healing as well.  We didn't see healing.

That doesn't mean that God didn't work though.  Just because we didn't see immediate healing does not mean that our God does not heal.  He does heal and He does work, but only in His timing.  Does that mean we should just give up?  No.  Prayer does change situations and people's hearts.  It brings the Kingdom to earth.  Someone asked me quietly why we didn't see healing, and this is the impression The Lord put upon my soul.

"If I had healed him in the second hour, would you have kept praying?  If I had healed him in the twelfth, would you have kept praising My name?  If I had healed them, would you have come together to worship Me like you did?"

Silence

Now it makes sense.  While we didn't see physical healing for Dillon, Hannah, or Naomi we did see amazing healing in people's hearts.  We saw prayer warriors and worshipers rise up to do what they were created for.  That is enough.  Our praying didn't heal our fellow students, it changed us.  

We also found out that my outreach teammate who had to go home due to a knee injury does not have to have surgery.  That is the work of my God who heals and saves.  It is so exciting!  And encouraging!  

Praise:  Minor outreach was amazing and we saw God work in incredible ways. 

Prayer Requests: Last week we found out we would have another member added to our outreach family.  My outreach team is the underdog team as well as the older team.  There are 9 of us.  8 women and 1 man.  We would greatly appreciate your prayers.  The newest addition to our family is another leader.  Her name is Selena.  She actually just returned from Milne Bay about a month ago.  It will be a blessing to have her on the team, and she will bring a whole new vibe to what we're doing.  I'm excited.  

I think that's plenty for now.  Thank you for bearing with me and my sporadic, generally long blog posts.  Be blessed and much love from Down Under.

-Katie

Overdue

Where do I begin this crazy story?  Since the last time I updated you all (which I realize was over a month ago), so much has happened and so much has changed.  When I left off we were just preparing to go camping.  So far, camping has been my favorite part of DTS.  

We had the most amazing speaker for the first week.  He's a Kiwi (someone from New Zealand).  I've never met a teacher like him.  His topic for the week was "The Lordship of Christ".  Going into the week I had no idea what to expect.  Mark Parker is the most exuberant 58 year old man I know.  Not only that, but he LOVES Jesus and he loves teaching young people.  A worship leader by trade, his lectures were confronting, comical, and a little on the long side.  But that's okay.  Mark taught us about the fear of The Lord and what being a disciple really means.

What he spoke, I had never heard before.  He taught what it means and looks like to lay down your life every day.  And in Mark Parker's words, "Shut up and die to yourself and get on the altar."  He is the first person I have ever heard say that there is no excuse for human nature, stop sinning.  I hear all the time, "People aren't perfect, so of course you're going to mess up."  Never before has someone looked at me and said point blank, "Stop sinning."  Don't get confused here.  I am not saying that all of the sudden I've found the key to Atlantis and the way to be perfect.  I am saying that speaking life over people and giving them a chance and space to live holy lives is what I have found freeing beyond imagine.  

The second week of camping was just as beautiful, but more simple.  Our speaker was an amazing South African woman named Ania.  I wish she could have stayed for the rest of our DTS with us.  Her testimony was without a doubt the best I've ever heard.  She is a woman who will change the world.  

Ania spoke on "Christian Disciplines" a.k.a how to live like a Christian.  She didn't speak about lollipops and gumdrops, but rather what walking in the true freedom of Christ looks like.  She talked about making decisions that you know are right and sticking to your guns, even when the world around you tells you you're wrong. She spoke about hearing God's voice and the 10 Commandments like I've never heard before.   

She's amazing to talk to personally.  She was the first speaker I really connected with and got to sit down and chat with.  I talked about my dreams and what I feel The Lord calling me to do.  It was an amazing week.  

Then we returned to Townsville a week before Christmas.  It was a pretty quiet Christmas, and a little odd with all of the heat.  I'll share more later as I think this has been long enough.  

My current location is the Gold Coast.  It is beauty beyond compare.  We're on week two of our outreach.  We fly back to Townsville on Saturday.  

Until next time, folks.

-Katie :)