Hi Canada

     Well... I'm home.

     Last night, mom, dad, Daniel and I slept in a hotel in Beloit, Wisconsin, which is just outside of Illinois and about an hour from Madison. And I may or may not (but lean more toward the may side) have shed a few tears after the rest went to bed. I managed not to cry before, during, or after graduation though! Saying goodbye to my YWAM family was HARD but I made it without tears until the night! Then I read the note that Kenzie had written to me and I couldn't not cry.

     Anyway, we left Beloit shortly after 8 this morning. Had dinner with Kyle in Sarnia -I got poutine, hee hee!- and then visited my Opa (Roest) for about half hour. And I got to go to Timmies.... Yay!! I missed Tims. Trust me. I literally was craving an iced capp since going on outreach. So, for 2 1/2 months. I didn't get one tonight though cause IT IS ROLL UP THE RIM!

     So that was exciting although I didn't win :( Anyway, so we got home eventually. Its weird here, but I suppose I will adjust eventually! It just doesn't feel like I'm actually going to be STAYING here... The TC is home now!

      I'm excited to see everyone here, but I REALLY miss my YWAM family. So so so so so so so so so so so much. Like really, I miss them SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!! I miss them!!

     Okay I cant dwell on that. Really I just wanted to let y'all know that we made it home safely. I'm back in Canada again. Weird :P

     Blessings,

          Katie

This Is Not Goodbye

     Today is the day. At 2 pm, my DTS, along with the GMC DTS, will be graduating. Our amazing, life changing time here is over. Tonight, I will be gone. Last night was my final night sleeping in this bottom bunk just inside the door of the 2nd girls dorm, Bhutan. After today, I won't be in Madison anymore. My 6 months is up, and it is time to go home now.

     My first instinct when I woke up this morning was to cry. I don't cry. But it was my last time waking up here, across from LaShanda and Christine and with Anna on the bunk above me. After today, LaShanda will be back in Michigan, Christine will be in California, and Anna will be in Brazil for a couple weeks before moving to Japan. Everyone is scattering around the world. Already Laura is home in Mississippi and Annika is in Mexico, doing a school of Worship in Cancun. Which is being led by some people that I know from my time there. 

     I cant believe DTS is over. Back in September, when I left, I didn't want to come. I wanted to stay at home and go to school. But God had a wayyyyy better plan for me. So now I have to trust that He still has the best plan for me. I'll miss this crazy family of mine incredibly much, but I know that this is not goodbye. It is "until next time" (we have learned that in YWAM, that is actually incredibly true). It will never be the same again, but I know that my time living in community with these people was incredible. I wouldn't change it for anything. And God is going to take each and every one of the 48 people living in this building and bring them amazing places. I'm so excited to hear what God does with them and where He takes them!

     So YWAM Madison DTS 2014-2015, thank you for the incredible past 6 months!

     And home, I'm excited to see y'all! But please excuse any crying I may do during the next few weeks (yes, weeks. It takes a long time to recover from being separated from people you've just been transformed alongside!)!

     Blessings,

          Katie

The End is in Sight

     So. Its crazy. A week from today, I will be home again. Back in Canada. DTS will be over.
     Yesterday we finished the stateside portion of outreach. My team and I are currently in western Illinois, where we had our final event last night. We then were split up and went to different homes for the night. All the other students went to Britta's house, since it was her and Ethel's church. Eth slept at her mom's place, and Kenzie and I spent the night at the home of a lovely little family who Kenzie stayed with on stateside 2 years ago. And now we are here alone in their house, waiting for Eth to pick us up to go home.
     Tomorrow through Friday, we have a financial seminar. And then on Saturday, at 2pm, we have our DTS graduation. Discipleship Training School will officially be complete. The six months in Wisconsin will be done. It went so fast!
     To be honest, up until 2 days ago, I was dreading March 14. I didn't want DTS to be over. I love my new family here! I miss everyone back home, of course, but I know that I will see them again. These people, my YWAM family, I don't know if I will see again in this life. We just shared a lot of experiences over the past 6 months, and it will be hard to say goodbye.
     But then yesterday, we went to a more traditional church. We sang an old hymn. And I suddenly wished I was back home at the GCRC. And then as we were driving out of Chicago, where our first event of the day was, to drive here, we passed by 2 signs. One that directed you to Wisconsin, and one that directed you to Indiana. I wanted to go on the Indiana one, because suddenly I really wanted to go home.
     God is good, y'all! He made me ready for home just at the right time!
     See you all soon!!
     Blessings,
          Katie

Imagine

     I want to take you on a little journey. Imagine. You're nineteen years old. You grew up in San Diego, California. Your parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico when you were just a baby. After moving to America, they tried to make life good for you and your three younger siblings. You grew up American. Your parents occasionally spoke Spanish, but you had no real interest in learning the language. You didn't want the kids at school to think that you were Mexican, because you are American.
     Now you are nineteen years old. A high school graduate, you are now attending college with the intention of becoming a doctor. Then one day you come home and find the police. They inform you that your parents illegally immigrated into the States and that you are not welcome to live in America anymore. You are being deported to Mexico, the place where they say you belong.
     But the truth is, you don't belong in Mexico. You might not be a true American, but you certainly are not Mexican. You've never even been there, apart from your first six months of life. You know nothing about Mexican culture or even much of the language. The Mexicans don't accept you as one of them, because to them, you are American. You can't find a job because you don't speak the language. You have nothing now. Your dreams of becoming a doctor have been smashed.
     What do you do? How will you survive? All you've ever known is now behind you. The fact is, you don't know what to do. So let me help. I'll tell you what you do.
     You find a dump on the outskirts of Tijuana, the Mexican city just over the border from San Diego. There, you spend your days rummaging through the trash, collecting plastic and anything else that can be recycled or sold. You live in a small village just outside of the dump, where all your fellow workers also live in little shacks built from metal scraps and other garbage. The rancid smell of trash never leaves the air. You long for fresh air. Your hands become black and encrusted with dirt. This is your existence now. You make the equivalent of about seventy USD on a good week. This is your life, day after day living and working in the dump. The days turn into months, and the months into years. Suddenly you are forty-nine years old, still living in the same dump, just hours from the American border and city that was once your home.
     Sound crazy? It is. But it is also the story of many people. It's imagined for you, but for some, it's real life.
     The thing is, they don't want your pity. I was there, in that dump. I saw those people. They aren't living what we would consider to be a good life, but they are still able to praise God. In the dump village, the first thing I noticed was the church. They don't have much out there, but they have a church. They praise God in spite of their circumstances. Can you?
     Blessings,
          Katie