see you later then

Yesterday I went to the airport with several friends to say "see you later" to Kelsey (who will be ministering in Zambia for a year) and the team (who will be there for two weeks). Oh man. It was heart-wrenching to see the tears of friends and family as they prepared to see her go and eventually watched her walk toward her departure gate. It was a bittersweet display of the many lives Kelsey has touched who did not want to let go of her for so long but were excited about the journey God has ahead of her. Not only was it hard for me to see her go because she will be away for so long, but it was hard to see her leaving without the assurance that I would be joining her in a few weeks, as it has been for the past two years. My heart aches to join the beautiful harmonies of Zambian worship and to take pictures of the sweet children who love to see themselves making silly faces. It has been too long since I have had the joy of watching my Zambian brothers and sisters in Christ take hold of how to share the Gospel and disciple new believers.

However, though I may not get to be a tangible part of her ministry in Zambia until Spring Break or even Summer, I am so excited that God has called Kelsey to Zambia for this year and that she has been obedient to his call. If you don't know what stepping out on faith looks like, here it is: Kelsey just graduated high school, which means if she was like most people around here, she would be going to college this year. However, she felt that God was calling her to do ministry in Zambia this year, and so that's what she is doing. It doesn't end there though. When you plan to do ministry in Zambia, there are a lot of uncertainties involved. Basically, Kelsey does not know exactly where she will live (or the living conditions involved) or what she will do. She is working with an organization that will take care of her, but still, there are lots of unknowns. Now that is trusting in God! I am so encouraged and challenged by her example.

Her obedience is such a picture of this verse: "Truly I tell you," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life." Mark 10:29-30. For this year, Kelsey has left her home, family, friends, and pretty much everything else behind to further the Kingdom.

Please pray for Kelsey (and for the team!)...
--safety in travel
--openness to the Gospel among the Zambians
--communication with the Zambians, especially with pastors and church members
--for Kelsey...that God will provide friends for her so she is not lonely, that she will stay healthy and safe, that God will bring people to himself through her and that she will be able to disciple them

Please pray for this team. Spiritual warfare is real, but prayer is powerful! Our God is greater!

Our Kelsey prayer bracelets!

Kelsey's Send-off Party

#camp2011

God truly moved at summer camp this year. A lot of things stood out to me, so I'll probably have several camp posts, but here's one thing that really hit me.

Wade said something that struck me. If it doesn't hit you the way it hit me, you're gonna think this is really dumb because it's so simple, but it's so profound. Wade was preaching about the reality of hell, and he said that life isn't fair and God isn't fair because if God was fair, we would all be in hell. You know, I've heard the Gospel all my life. I've even heard it put similarly before, but I guess it's been a while since I've truly remembered that I don't deserve what Jesus did for me on the cross. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, we were all destined for hell. Romans 5:10 says that we were enemies of God, but we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son. Before we accept God's gift of salvation, we are literally God's enemies. However, even in the midst of our sin, God loved us so much that he sent his Son Jesus to earth to live as a human and die a sinner's death, bearing the weight of every sin committed--past, present, and future. He didn't have to do that. If God was fair, we would all be in hell. We deserve hell. Everyone has sinned against the God who is perfection, who cannot be in the presence of sin. That God chose to save us. I think that word "save" is overused, and we forget it's gravity. God SAVED us, RESCUED us, from eternal separation from him, from eternal torture in hell. He didn't have to do it, but he did. I don't know about you, but that makes me want to live for him. That makes me want to tell other people that someone loved them enough to die for them even when they were His enemies. I hope that the Gospel means something more to you now than it did before you read this, and I pray that this unconditional love will compel you to action.

"Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." -1 John 3:18

You're Gonna Miss This

This summer is flying by as I treasure all of the "lasts" that are happening all at once. You know, a few years ago, I thought I would have no trouble leaving all my friends and family and going to any college, whether I knew people there or not. Goes to show you how much can change in just a few years. God has blessed me with incredible friends, Sunday School teachers, family, and just people in general. So, what has happened to change my feelings from a few years ago? Well, for one, I've realized the value of the friendships and relationships that I've had for several years that I thought would be easy to let go. Also, God has strengthened those relationships as well as brought new people into my life with whom I wish I had more time to spend. One thing that God has certainly changed and developed in me throughout my high school years is my desire to pursue relationships with people, opportunities to strengthen and to be strengthened, you know, iron sharpening iron, accountability. I used to think that I could handle life on my own. I was (and to some degree still am) very independent and did not really care about knowing other people deeply and them knowing me. As I've grown in my relationship with God and my knowledge of his Word, I've begun to understand the importance of deep relationships that are rooted in Christ, the kind of friends that talk about Christ and what God is teaching them, the ones who pray for each other and hold each other accountable in their walk. God has blessed me with relationships like these, relationships that I never thought I would want or need, and now I'm leaving these friends in a little over a month. I say leaving; however, I do not mean that these relationships will just end, but going from seeing these friends almost every day of my life to seeing them maybe every other month or so, well, it's gonna be quite different. Moving on from such a strong and close family of faith is going to be tough, but God is showing me that this is a time when he is teaching me to rely on his sufficiency. He is the strength of my heart, my portion forever. What more could I need? I'm trusting that he will provide new friends for me as I go to college, friends that will encourage me in my faith and hold me accountable.

My Sweet Core Group!

Senior Girls!

humbled

Oh man. So you see, I went to preteen camp this week. I told my parents I wanted to drive myself to the church for departure on Wednesday and drive myself back home upon arrival at church yesterday. Something about being as independent as possible just makes me feel great. Well, on Tuesday night, they really didn't want me to drive myself, just because my car would be parked at church for a few days when it could be safe at home--a reasonable request. However, I really wanted to take care of myself, and my parents finally gave in and allowed me to do so. You're thinking I got in a wreck on the way to church? Well, that's incorrect, but God did humble me in a more subtle way. When we arrived at church yesterday--after a very long and loud ride with fifth grade boys--I got my stuff and went to put it in my car before going to help unload the preteen ministry stuff from the truck. I opened my trunk and put my stuff inside, including my water bottle, to which I had so [in]conveniently attached my car key with a carabiner.  I closed the trunk and then, to my horror, realized that I no longer had my beloved car key of independence, and my car was locked. Fortunately, my phone was in my pocket and not in my bag. With much frustration, but calm and collectedly, I called my dad and asked him to bring me my spare key. The event which I thought I had avoided occurred. I had to wait for my dad to bring my key so that I could get home. He might as well have just picked me up in the first place. So, the point of my long and maybe even boring story? Though I do not think God was telling me that I must ride with my parents every time they suggest such, I do believe that he used this somewhat embarrassing episode to humble me. To remind me that even though I am eighteen years old--as I so often remind my parents--I can make mistakes, whether big or small, with trivial or even devastating consequences.

This humiliating yet humbling experience made me think of James 4:10, which says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." God does not expect us to be perfect--though he does call us to obedience. He calls us to respond to our mistakes (and to our imperfection in general versus God's holiness) with humility rather than pride.

So, there you have it. For the first (and hopefully the last) time, Emily Knight locked her key in her car. Yep, I did.

It's been too long

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. My sincere apologies.
So, I'm starting a club. Basically, if you have ever shared the Gospel in your sleep, you're in it. That's right. It happened to me. You see, the other night, I was looking at AweStar Peru updates before I went to bed. Somehow I ended up dreaming that I was on a mission trip. Oddly enough, we traveled to wherever we were going, and we happened to arrive at my basement, but I guess it really wasn't MY basement, because there were Asian people inside watching TV. So, I guess we were in Asia somewhere? Anyway, I walked in and began to share the Gospel with the people inside. I talked about how man had sinned against God, so man was separated from God, and how Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to allow man's reconciliation with God. Unfortunately, that's as far as I got. I woke up after that. Interesting, huh?
That's all for now, but hopefully more to come before (and after) camp!