Quick Update

Hey Hey Hey.
It is about 1 am over here in Scotland. I finally found a computer charger, so i can be on the wireless over at Scott and Rachel's place. :)

My apologies for not updating as much as I promised. I will give u a (very) quick run down of what has gone on. And yes, i will describe in more detail later.

For 10 days I was down in Melton Mobray, England at a church called Welby Lane Mission Church. I went with a group of people from a church called Deeside Christian Fellowship here in Scotland. Recap: AMAZING! I am so blessed that I was able to participate in this mission with the group of ppl that went. We put on a Holiday Bible Club (VBS for all of you in the states) and I was able to teach 6-7 year olds about Jesus' miracles, along with David and Brittany- two other members of the team. (This is my shout out to you two!)

We also hung out with youth on Tuesday night and played some football (soccer). I was just support form the sideline you see :) We also participated in many church activities like bible study and lots of prayer time.

The team, (oh ya, there were 10 of us- Me, Katie (Team K!), Jane, Brittany, Cherry, Margaret, Dougie, David, Gordon, and Zak) also put on a service at a place called Long Clawson Baptist Church were several of us shared our testimony, including yours truly, and sang some songs. I was also blessed to be a part of the special music and sang "Desert Song" by Brooke Frasier. Props to Katie on the Cajon!

Overall it was great- and i made some good friends! I am excited to see what God has in store for Welby Lane Mission Church.

So what am I doing now u ask? Well I am helping out at this thing called Imagine. It is sort of like a conference for young ppl, like 15-16ish, and it lasts 5 days. The unique thing about it is that everyone camps out on site. Well, not everyone :) I am going to try it out tomorrow- just to get the full Imagine experience.

I am on the information team. So I sell day pass tickets, lanyards, and programs. (aka programmes) And i also ask questions like- where is this room? and where is the lost and found? do you have change for a 5? wher do i charge my phone? and so on. I like it because i get to see everyone's face!

and guess what? I have seen some ppl that I met last year when we worked with breathe at IBC! I saw val, and elsbeth and sam and richard. I am going to go up to Mel tomorrow and say hi. I was also able to see Joanna and Kirsty! How great it is to see familiar faces.

Alright, more to come later. Goodnight.

Speaking of night, I have been having some crazy dreams over here! I like it :)

GOD is good. all the time.

See u in 6 days.
-kelsey

Taking off!

(posted later than actually written)

Well! Here is an interesting fact: I am sitting at the airport! The time is currently 6:26, exactly 2 hours before my flight takes off. The plane is not here yet, and the lounge is pretty empty, so I might have to entertain myself for a while. I don’t think that I have even flown out as late as 8:30. I mean, I know it is not that late, but I am interested to see if I like this better.

So the excitement of Scotland is only escalating at this point. As I sit here I can here this family across the way talking about how many American Dollars they have left. Oh, and of course- they have Scottish accents! Only like 15 more hours until I land on that sweet soil.

I have never flown alone before- something that makes me quite nervous. But as I sit here I think that I will be ok. I mean, sometimes the phrase “God is always with you” is used too much (no offense) But I did not come to this point and say “Oh God please come with me and comfort me.” It is more like, “God, thank you for sending me here, and thank you for including me in your work.”

So while it is an adventure for me to travel alone, I at least travel with a purpose. A purpose for the Kingdom.

A little side note here- I am not quite sure if the ground is shaking or if my heart is just beating fast because this is actually happening. I don’t think my pulse can actually make this row of chairs shake. But I did have to stop and think for a second :)

Anyways- simply put, I am thrilled! Thanks for being a part of this journey.

Here are some prayer requests:
-That I will engage in conversations with people and not be scared
-To be looking for every opportunity that God has for me
-For a safe flight
-For friendships made

Thanks guys- it means more than you know!
-Kelsey

Can you believe this?

Well hello! It has been a little while since my last post (about a month actually) and there is a little bit of a reason. See, I was waiting to hear back about serving with this particular youth group. I was counting on working with them because I did not have anything else planned for that week.

I guess the problem was that I wasnt hearing back about the possibility of me working there. So, i reverted back to human nature (like it could leave! lol) and i started to worry. i was like..... I dont know what is going on!

So i prayed. And was like, "God, please open some doors for me to serve! I know it is your will for me to go to Scotland, please show me what you want me to do."

And guess what? He answered me. The NEXT day. I opened my email and had 2 messages. One told me that there was no availability for me to work with that youth group. So i got really sad :( but then i opened the next email. and it was asking me if I wanted to help lead a mission trip for a church called Deeside Christian Fellowship. Ummmm, yes!?!?! Wow! And get this- the mission trip is in London!

So here is the low down: I am taking a mission trip to Scotland where I will be leading a mission trip in London. A mission trip within a mission trip! What what!

Here is the underlying message. This is not anything that I imagined that I will be doing! God's plans are soooo much better than my own. He knows what's going on. He is so good people. So good.

So here are some prayer needs.
-that the little details get worked out soon.
-that I will continue to be encouraged
-that God will help me with my words to help people understand why I am going
-that I will be prepared to lead others on the mission trip

And another note: I am done fundraising!!! God has provided in abundance! Praise the Lord!

Be encouraged my fellow brothers and sisters! Your prayers mean so much to me! And thank you for giving financially as well. You have blessed me in ways that cannot be expressed in words.

Thanks again :)

11 days until departure!

-kelsey

It's Booked!

That's right everyone, i have booked my flights!!!! Oh man, that was a great day. God answers prayers in a mighty way my friends.

So it is official. i fly out on July 10 at 8:30 pm and arrive in Aberdeen on July 11th at 4:40pm. Then i will fly out on August 10th at 6:40am and arrive in Houston on August 10th at 3:35pm.

Please pray that God will continue to open up doors for me to serve in beautiful Scotland. Pray that I will to continue to see how good he is. Cause, he really really is.

On top of that, he has been providing funds from people in big ways! Man, He is just incredible.

One month and 13 days away :)
-kelsey

Dates Decided

Hello All!
I have decided the dates for my Scotland mission trip. July 10- Aug 10. A whole month! I had originally planned to go about 10 weeks, but i found out that I need to take summer school from June 7- July 7. But that is ok! I am not discouraged in any way. If anything, I am excited that I get to stay in the beautiful country of Scotland for a month!

So I looked up how much a round trip will cost, and guess what? I have like the perfect amount need to book a flight in my trip account! So thanks for all of you who have been supporting me in prayer and by donations! God is so good. I will soon be assessing how much more money I will need for other things like food and such, but i dont think it should be a crazy amount. Plus, I know that God will provide. He does everyday.

Keep praying that more doors will open up for me to serve. I mentioned in the post before this that I will be working at Imagine- which i am pumped about!! It would be really cool to update again with more exciting news about where God is placing me this summer. So, look forward to hearing more!

-kelsey

Imagine!

Doors have been opened for me to serve in Scotland! This is the first thing that is "set in stone" for me to do. Have you ever heard of Passion? I went to Passion 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia this past January and had a seriously great time. It is a conference for 20,000 Christians from ages 18-25 from around the country. (and even the world!) They bring in the biggest speakers, like Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, and John Piper. Musicians like David Crowder, Hillsong United, and Chris Tomlin. It is 4 days packed full of Jesus. What could be better??? :)

Anyways, Scotland has their own version of Passion. It is called Imagine. And guess who gets to serve??? Me! Oh, i am so pumped! I get to work in the office to understand how things are run from July 26-30, and then Imagine starts Aug 3 and ends the 7th. I think my duties will include helping people sign up, tell them where to go, and just helping out in general. I think i will also be on a prayer team as well- which should be pretty cool as well. It does not really matter how I serve, I am just so thankful that God gave me a place to serve!!!

Anyone else as excited about this as I am? Hehe.

Please feel free to check out Imagine. The site is: http://www.imaginescotland.co.uk/

Thanks for all the prayers and support. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the beautiful country of Scotland. July can't come soon enough!

Please continue to pray that other doors will be opened for me to serve. I want to work at a summer camp called Scripture Union Scotland for a week as well. So lets pray to see if that is God's will.

More updates to come soon!
-Kelsey

Getting Started

Today I am creating this blog to start things off! I am very excited that God has called me to go back to Scotland. I know that he has big plans for that country and I want to be a part of it all! I will be sending out postcards and letters soon to inform everyone of my summer plans.

Prayer Requests
- God's guidance for this trip. I have a lot of unanswered questions so far, and i need some clarity
-For a buddy? I do not know if God wants me to go alone or with someone
-For fund-raising, I know that God will provide, but I need to be faithful and help raise support

Thanks so much! More info on the way,
-Kelsey