Back to the Heart of Things

Hey Everyone,

I pray all is well with you. I’m doing great here. I had a couple days where I was not quite feeling 100%, but I have bounced back and am ready for another week.

Despite the sickness, I have had a wonderful couple of days. I have returned to my true love. As much as I enjoy being hostess to the short term groups that come in and as much as I love working in the mountains, I am happiest ministering to the young girls here at the school. As many of you know, I am an Adolescent Ministry major and my heart is for Jr. High and High School girls. I have been so caught up with things around here I had almost forgotten this.

By chance, I was asked the other night to lead a devotional for about 30 of the girls. After some prayer, I felt I was supposed to give my story. My story is the main reason I am so passionate about teenage girls. So I gave a message on Purity of Heart, Soul, Mind and Body. I had a translator with me so that I would not be hindered by the language barrier. When I finished, my translator said that this was a message that all of the girls need to hear. So over the next month, I will be slowly going from room to room to give my message. All together, I will speak to about 250 girls. It is an incredible feeling when you see your dream coming into reality. I have known for awhile that this was a story I was going to be sharing with girls at some point. It is happening. Praise God.

I have been trying to be more intentional with my time with the girls. Last night, I made a bowl of oatmeal before bed. Three girls, Irma (18 years old), Rudy (17) and Kayla (14) saw me making it and were curious of what it was. I ended up grabbing three extra spoons and standing around a bowl of oatmeal sharing and getting to know one another. It’s these interactions that make it all worth while for me.

On top of all of this, I am learning to be careful of what you pray for. God will make it happen. I have been praying for challenges and stretching. This morning I gave a 15 minute message to a group of 20 adults. I spoke on selflessness and what that looks like on the mission field and in our daily lives. Holy cow. The Spirit was in me and later a man came up to me and said, “I was unaware I needed to wear my steel toed boots this early in the morning”. Meaning apparently I brought a tough message. To tell you the truth, the real miracle about this whole thing is the message was at 6:00 this morning. As some of you know, I am not a morning person. It’s amazing I was conscious at that hour.

I tell you all of this as a testament of what God is doing in my life. I am just a 20 year old girl from a small village in the middle of Illinois. I have leaned to be obedient and through that obedience God is doing awesome things. All praise goes to Him. Amen.

Prayer Requests:

1. As I tell my story to these girls, may they soak it up and understand how important it is. It will save them a world of hurt.

2. Tree of Life has a large pastors conference annually. This is a time where 300 pastors come together to fellowship and sharpen one another. There is not enough money for this conference this year. All together, they need about $15,000. At the moment Pastor Guy, the director, is trying to make the decision of does he go ahead and cancel the conference now to respect the time and money of the pastors or does he hold out and just have faith that the money will come in from somewhere. I ask that you really pray about this. Pray for Pastor Guy as he tries to make this decision and perhaps pray that the money will somehow come in. Dare I say it, if you feel led to give some money please give me an email ASAP. (katelyn.barnhart@student.indwes.edu)
This conference is a big deal here. It is a time of renewal and teaching that lasts them the year.

Peace, Love and Joy,

Katelyn