Lately...

WOW! What a week! Sorry that it's been awhile, but I decided not to use the internet this last week just to wean myself off of relying on it, etc... so no updates were possible!

Well... I won't bore you with every little detail, but this week has been amazing! Work has been really good and it's been cool to see the interest of my coworkers in spiritual things and how challenging it's been to converse with them on that level through language barriers and culture differences and such.

As a sidenote, the oil is indeed here, but it's not nearly as bad as the media is making it sound. There is oil on the beaches in patches, and the water is oily... but the beach itself is enjoyable... and the severity varies by location. I've been on a few areas of beach with no sight of oil. People are losing jobs/having hours cut, but hopefully this pattern stops.

World prayer yesterday was the BOMB. This week my group talked about tribal people/animism and it was just so interesting to learn about their practices and beliefs and to talk about their spiritual need. It's crazy to think about the fact that there are people out there who have never even heard the name of Jesus in passing. It was super convicting and definitely broke my heart.

Today, my brother and his roommates did the sweetest thing ever! They all invited my DGroup over for dinner to celebrate my birthday on Friday and it was delicious! They did such a great job, and had a little slideshow of pictures of Jordan and I and were just so kind and welcoming... and I loved our conversation! It was just the most pleasant surprise, so thoughtful and nice :)

A few more highlights/things I've been learning:
~1 Corinthians 9:27 - "No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." I've been learning a lot about the importance of discipline in my daily life and being in control of my body rather than my body controlling me.
~I am my own greatest barrier in knowing God more. If I want to know God more then it's up to me to deny myself, and to get rid of my own self-interest and really desire to know God and to glorify Him.

Prayer points:
~Just praise God for who he is and for sending his son to die so that we can enter in to a relationship with him if we just trust in him
~Thank God for the amazing opportunity that Kaleo is and how much everyone has already grown.
~Pray that jobs for the whole project would be secure and that the oil spill wouldn't affect tourism to the point of needing to lay off workers or cut hours any more.
~Pray that I personally would continue to grow in my relationship with God and in my daily discipline
~Thank God for the spiritual hunger that's evident at Alvin's Island and for the conversations we've had, but also just pray that we'd overcome the language barrier and the common dislike for workers to be talking with each other at work.
~That the tribal people and animistic people would come to a knowledge of God through creation and through missions work

Thanks so much!
Let me know if there's anything I can be praying for for you!

~Kelsey