My Job

     I told you earlier that I would update you on what my role here in YWAM Madison will be. So, I figured now is as good a time for that as any!
     Those of you who I talked to before I left know that I am helping to pioneer a preschool for the 4 and 5 year old staff children. This preschool will hopefully be starting on September 15, and it will be running three days a week for two hours. I am literally building this thing from the ground, so that's pretty scary but at the same time, I know that God has prepared me for this.
     Currently I am spending my time reading the curriculum, and trying to figure out what I can use, and piecing that with different curriculum I have found online to form different lessons. I am also trying to figure out how I want to set up the room, what furniture and supplies I need, and pretty much everything else involved with running a preschool. I have put together a registration form that I hope to send to the parents by the end of this week. I have a bunch of children's books that I need to go through, and I have to figure out what toys and supplies I would like, and if we can get those.
     So it is a lot, and I hardly know where to start, but it is coming. I have read the curriculum, I have a small closet with a few pieces of furniture, and I have a to-do list a mile long.
     But the preschool will only be running for a total of six hours a week. I obviously will need time to plan and prep for classes, but I still will have some time to spare. So after much consideration and prayer, it has been decided that I will move to our other location, the TC (Training Center, where I lived last year) to be support staff for this year's fall DTS (discipleship training school, what I did last year). So I will once more be living in a building with about 50 other people, living in community. I will basically just help out and support the staff of the school, and do whatever needs to be done (which will probably include cooking).
     It will be a full schedule, and I'll definitely be leaning on God for strength during these next few months! Please be praying for me as I spend the next three weeks pulling a preschool together!
     Blessings,
          Katie

The new staff and our leaders for Connect (new staff training)

Be Careful What You Google

     Tonight, we had a big anniversary celebration dinner here at YWAM Madison. It's something they do every year, to reflect back on the year that passed and see how God moved and blessed. And YWAM Madison has seen a LOT of growth in the past year, so it's pretty great! God is good!
     As we were sitting there, listening to people's testimonies of God's faithfulness through the past twelve months, I started thinking: how on earth did I get here??
     Yes, smart ones, I drove my car. But seriously, how did I end up being a YWAMer?? I mean, I had heard of it, but joining YWAM had never once entered my mind.
     Then, a year and a half ago, I was halfway through my final semester of college. I had to start thinking about what I would do next, and I thought about volunteering in an orphanage. That is something I've wanted to do since I was about 12 years old (and, by the way, I did get to do that in Mexico!), but I never knew how to. Then I thought of YWAM and on a whim, Googled 'YWAM children'. Not 'YWAM orphanages', but children. My DTS focus came up and now, here I am on staff.
     I literally am here, a doing missions the way I always wanted to, because I Googled something on a whim.
     Okay, I mean, of course I'm really here because of God and His plan for my life and Him telling me to and all, but it still amazes me that the way He orchestrated this began with me GOOGLING something.
     God is so awesome, guys! I love it! I am SO BLESSED!
     Be careful what you google, y'all ;) But not really cause trust me, I wouldn't want my life any other way. God's plan is always the best! Even if it scares the crap out of you!
     Blessings,
          Katie

Connect

     Today is Thursday (yes, I sometimes have to remind myself), which means that our 2 weeks (er, one and a half for me...) of Connect, our new staff training, is nearly over. We have been busy getting to know the YWAM Madison community and the people better, and learning more about all the different areas of ministry in YWAM Madison.
     We spent one weekend at our downtown student housing for the university, called the Phos House. Phos means light, which is a very accurate description of it. It is a light for the university and downtown area. While we were there, we prayed over the university and city, beautified the place in the crushing heat (let me tell you, there were a LOT of weeds!) and moved furniture in preparation for the students to move in.
     Another thing we did was pray for the neighbourhood around the GMC, our central base here in Madison. Then, in small groups, we decided to do something to bless the neighbourhood. I told the story of how one time my mom left cookies in the mailbox of a lady she cleaned for, but the mailman got them, and he was so thankful for them. So my group baked cookies and left them at different houses in the neighbourhood. The mailman also got a bag, and he was so thankful and excited. So that was a really fun and cool experience!
     So that's just a couple things that we have done during these days of training. Next week, real life of being YWAM staff truly begins!
     Blessings,
          Katie

The Beginning of a New Adventure

     Hey everyone! Wow, it has been a long time since I have written on here! And here I am, at the beginning of a whole new adventure! Even though really, it began last year when I first arrived in Madison, Wisconsin.
     So, in case you did not know, I am back in Madison! I will be serving with YWAM Madison as volunteer staff for the next eight months. But more on that later.
     When I was driving home at Christmas last year, I was just chilling to music as I drove when I suddenly, God told me, in my head, "You're going to staff". This freaked me out a bit, but I knew that God's plans are wayyyyy better than any plan I can come up with, so I followed through with that, and after outreach, I applied to be on staff. I was accepted, and asked to pray about what my role would be on staff. When I saw the list of different opportunities, one immediately stuck out to me- helping pioneer a preschool for staff kids. I prayed about it, and felt that this was the role God wanted me to take on in Madison.
     So on Sunday, August 9, I left to go back to Wisconsin. Staff training began on August 10.
     My trip to Madison turned out quite different than I expected, and different from anything I've experienced before. Previously, I had felt a strong urge to drive a different route than I normally do. It was very clear to me that God wanted me to cross the border in Sault Ste Marie rather than in Sarnia. So on Sunday, I headed north. It took me about 8.5 hours to drive to the Sault, and when I reached the border, it wasn't very busy.
     Then they pulled me aside and searched my car. I sat in their little office for three hours while they looked through my stuff, asked me questions, and did who knows what else. One thing they asked me was why I drove that way, when normally I cross in Sarnia. I was straight up: "God told me to." I think they think I'm a little crazy ;)
     In the end, they fingerprinted me, took my "mug shot", and sent me back to Canada. I was denied entry into the United States. I was so confused. God had told me to go this way, so why would He do that if He knew I was going to get stuck in Canada?!
     I stayed the night in a hotel there (thank you very much, my lovely parents!) and once morning came, I had decided that God must have a task for me in Sault Ste Marie. I knew He told me to go there, so there must be a purpose.
     I hung out at the mall across the road all day, waiting to hear from Madison about the situation. I had just grabbed my Bible from my car and was entering the mall to sit and read, and hope to have clarity about who to approach/what to say, when I saw an elderly gentleman sitting on a bench outside. I said good morning, and, long story short, ended up talking to him for nearly an hour. Well... he talked to me, mostly :P And God came up shortly into the conversation! It was really neat.
     I don't know that I said anything that changed this man's life. I really didn't say all that much, to be honest. I don't know if God just wanted him to know that he was valued, or if he just needed someone to pay attention to him, or what, but I believe that the reason God sent me to Sault Ste Marie was for that conversation with Frank. After that, I felt like I was free to go home. I didn't have to stay there anymore.
     So I drove eight hours back home, where I stayed for the next few days trying to figure it all out alongside those in Madison who were helping me. I ended up with a letter from them, as well as a few other pieces of paperwork, and drove back to the border on Thursday to try again. This time in Sarnia.
     They held me there for an hour and a half, asking me questions and such, and then they again fingerprinted me and took my picture. But then, finally, they let me through! So I arrived here in Madison on Thursday.
     I'll tell you more about what my time here in Madison will look like, although at this point I really don't know that much. But that will be for another day :)
     Blessings,
          Katie