Craziness. We only have 4 more days left in Spain!! The time has gone by so fast. It is so sad to leave all the beautiful people that we have met here. I can bearly believe it. These last days will go by really fast too getting ready to go and all. We are having a party on Friday and inviting everyone over, so that will be a nice way to say goodbye.
I know I haven't written for awhile. Sorry. Things have been going very well here. We started working with this missions center located in the middle of the city. A number of Evangelical churches are working together to keep it operating. They do so many cool things--give out clothes and food to poor people, help people fing jobs, provide showers etc. So we have been working with them and that has been really encouraging to see other Christians working together to do something about those issues in the city.
Let's see, we also had a worship night on October 31st while everyone else was celebrating Halloween. It was really cool to spend that time worshipping God and proclaiming his rule and authority and goodness. I am so thankful to be here with these people serving God. I have been learning so much. It is so good to be doing God's work and following His will.
I am so excited to come home and be with everyone. I miss you all so much. After this week in Spain, I will be in Romania for a week of debrief, and then I am meeting my mom in Athens!!! Yay!! I am so excited! Then I will be coming home on November 24th!! It has been a long time. I am so excited to come and see everyone. Miss you all.
Love, Katie
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
The rain in Spain....
So things have been going well here in Spain. We are still working in most of the same ministries with the churches. They are going well. We have all been taking turns teaching etc. So that has been rather streching, but a good experience. :) Good becuase I learn a lot myself from preparing the lessons. So that has been really great. We just had a worship seminar on Saturday with one of the churches. So we were all able to teach about different aspects of worship. That went really well. It is good to be able to share some of the things that we have learned so much about in the last few months. :) We have continued to feed the homeless and are looking for other ways to provide for them as well. It has been so cool having conversations with and just loving on these people. We are hoping to get involved with an urban mission here in the city hopefully this week. They also provide other services for people in trouble or in need. They provide clothes and showers and help finding jobs etc. So it will be exciting to work with them too. We are looking forward next weekend to our weekend off. We are traveling to Madrid from Sat-Mon and are so excited for a break and to see more of Spain as well! I'll have to put in a new blog after that!
We have less than 3 weeks left here now. The time has been going by so fast!! It has been so good. I am looking forward to going home though. I miss everyone so much!! Can't wait to see everyone again! (ps. I have been adding more pictures to facebook if you can get on there). :)
We have less than 3 weeks left here now. The time has been going by so fast!! It has been so good. I am looking forward to going home though. I miss everyone so much!! Can't wait to see everyone again! (ps. I have been adding more pictures to facebook if you can get on there). :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Spain!!
Wow. So I see I have not updated this in a month. Sorry!!! Internet has been kind of crazy here and I have just this week found my new free wireless location!! Praise God!
So things have been going very very well here in Spain. The time is flying!! Our group of 6 has been involved in so many different things! We are working with 2 different churches here in Valencia. One is a Spanish church comprising mainly of one family, and a couple of young people/friends. They are such beautiful people. They have really taken us in and been such a blessing. A couple of them speak decent English, but otherwise they do everything in Spanish. So we have all gotten to test out our limited knowledge of the other language. It is great. We are working with them helping out there worship team, teaching English classes, teaching there youth group (so, the church minus the parents), and fellowshiping with them on Sundays. We are also working with another church which is a church plant from England. There are like 6 of them or something that came from there and now the church is like 9 or so. :) But it is just starting. So we are helping them with worship, and will be helping out with Alpha program, as well as teaching Sunday school. They have also made us do many random things such as hand out leaflets in the street for hours on end and do a prayer walk around the old city walls of Valencia. They are great to work with too. And everything is in English!
We have also been doing stuff just as a group. We have been spending a lot of time in prayer for the city and the country and for the ministries we are involved in. We have also taken a few prayer walks of our own. We are also going out a few times a week to bring food to homeless people in the city. That has opened up some really interesting conversations, we've been able to pray for people, and give out a Bible!! It has been really good to see that side of the city too. God also led us a few days ago to help clean out the bull ring where they do all the bull fighting. Weird I know. Everyone thought so. But that is what God told us to do, so we went there, not really expecting them to let us in, but they did! So that was cool.
It has been really really good so far. Spain is beautiful. There is a lot of spiritual hardness here though. The older generation is stuck under a heavy and harsh form of Catholicism and the younger generation has totally rejected Christianity to the point of being very anti-Christian and paganish themselves. It is difficult, dealing with the hardness of a post-christian country where people live for the next distraction and take pride in their secularism. It is a very difficult mission field. It is very interesting to look at the spiritual side of the country, coming here as missionaries, rather than the splendor and color that is very evident to the tourist. There is so much potential here for great things. But so many walls to break through too. Please pray for openings, especially among the Spanish people themselves. (the immigrants are much much more open) Pray for them to begin to question how they are living. Like Ecclesiastes says, it is only when Qoheleth took time to "step back and survey" all his hands had done that he realized it was meaningless. What the Spanish first need is that big picture look of stepping back and considering.
I miss you all at home so much. Only a month and a half now!! I am so excited to see everyone again. Please keep me updated through email. I will try to get back to all of you. I miss you lots and am in prayer for all you people at home as well.
Blessings, Katie
So things have been going very very well here in Spain. The time is flying!! Our group of 6 has been involved in so many different things! We are working with 2 different churches here in Valencia. One is a Spanish church comprising mainly of one family, and a couple of young people/friends. They are such beautiful people. They have really taken us in and been such a blessing. A couple of them speak decent English, but otherwise they do everything in Spanish. So we have all gotten to test out our limited knowledge of the other language. It is great. We are working with them helping out there worship team, teaching English classes, teaching there youth group (so, the church minus the parents), and fellowshiping with them on Sundays. We are also working with another church which is a church plant from England. There are like 6 of them or something that came from there and now the church is like 9 or so. :) But it is just starting. So we are helping them with worship, and will be helping out with Alpha program, as well as teaching Sunday school. They have also made us do many random things such as hand out leaflets in the street for hours on end and do a prayer walk around the old city walls of Valencia. They are great to work with too. And everything is in English!
We have also been doing stuff just as a group. We have been spending a lot of time in prayer for the city and the country and for the ministries we are involved in. We have also taken a few prayer walks of our own. We are also going out a few times a week to bring food to homeless people in the city. That has opened up some really interesting conversations, we've been able to pray for people, and give out a Bible!! It has been really good to see that side of the city too. God also led us a few days ago to help clean out the bull ring where they do all the bull fighting. Weird I know. Everyone thought so. But that is what God told us to do, so we went there, not really expecting them to let us in, but they did! So that was cool.
It has been really really good so far. Spain is beautiful. There is a lot of spiritual hardness here though. The older generation is stuck under a heavy and harsh form of Catholicism and the younger generation has totally rejected Christianity to the point of being very anti-Christian and paganish themselves. It is difficult, dealing with the hardness of a post-christian country where people live for the next distraction and take pride in their secularism. It is a very difficult mission field. It is very interesting to look at the spiritual side of the country, coming here as missionaries, rather than the splendor and color that is very evident to the tourist. There is so much potential here for great things. But so many walls to break through too. Please pray for openings, especially among the Spanish people themselves. (the immigrants are much much more open) Pray for them to begin to question how they are living. Like Ecclesiastes says, it is only when Qoheleth took time to "step back and survey" all his hands had done that he realized it was meaningless. What the Spanish first need is that big picture look of stepping back and considering.
I miss you all at home so much. Only a month and a half now!! I am so excited to see everyone again. Please keep me updated through email. I will try to get back to all of you. I miss you lots and am in prayer for all you people at home as well.
Blessings, Katie
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Finishing Up (Lecture Phase)
Wow does time fly!! We are going to be entering into our last week of the lecture phase this week. And then off to Valencia in a week and 2 days!!! We are all trying to soak in all of the teaching and time together here that we can. We had a great week of teaching on Missions last week. I honestly wasn't very excited for it going in, but our teacher was really great. I was both challenged and encouraged in new ways. This week we are going to have a quick teaching on the Father Heart of God, and smoosh 5 lecture times into 2 and a half days. So we will be busy. We are doing this becuase we are leaving on Wednesday for the YWAM national conferance in Medias, Romania. We are leading worship there and there will be teaching as well. So we will be gone through Sunday and then back to sleep, pack, clean, and we are off to Spain on Tuesday! The time is really going to fly by. I am excited though. I think I am ready for something new--a new place, different things to do during the day. It has been so so good, but I am starting to miss home and am getting excited to go back and see everyone. :) So, Spain will be good and keep me focused with all the great (and hard) things that I know God has for us there. I will keep you all updated. Probably won't write again until I am in Spain. Not sure how I will be able to connect to the internet there. We'll see. :)
I posted some new pictures on facebook, from the last few weeks. You can see it on my facebook profile, or type in: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048809&l=040ac&id=63802769 to your address bar and you should be able to see it even if you don't have facebook. :)
Miss you all so much. I hope you are all doing well as I know everyone is transitioning back at home too. ;) Be blessed, my friends and loved ones. -Katie
I posted some new pictures on facebook, from the last few weeks. You can see it on my facebook profile, or type in: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048809&l=040ac&id=63802769 to your address bar and you should be able to see it even if you don't have facebook. :)
Miss you all so much. I hope you are all doing well as I know everyone is transitioning back at home too. ;) Be blessed, my friends and loved ones. -Katie
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Horribly Hot, but Happy.
Things have been going really well here. Since I last wrote we had lectures on Prayer/Intercession and also on Team Building. Those were two amazing weeks. I learned so much about intimacy with Jesus and the necessity of it and the wonder of it. I desire Him more and more. I think this kind of prayer and intercession is going to be a big part of what we do on outreach. The week on Team Building was great. We got to take personality tests and analyze people. I was in my glory. :) It was a really fun week. We played a lot of team games and learned about relationships and how to work together towards a goal while honoring each other. We were also challenged to encourage each other more as members of a team and also of the body of Christ.
This week we are talking about Christ and the Cross. I was a little skeptical going in. I have studied this stuff for years and years and years. It should never be old though. Christ's mercy's are renewed every morning. We have been talking about the exchanges made at the cross and praying through those and proclaiming them into our own lives. It has been good.
Things are looking good for outreach. We have 2 for sure contacts!!! (That is a really really big deal.) It is looking like we are going to be in Valencia, Spain for most of, if not all of the 2 months. We are working with one church there and also with a group of Christian missionaries trying to reach out to the young people of the city. We are all so so so excited.
Please pray:
-that God will continue to reveal to us the power of His cross in a life transforming way.
-praise God that the 2 African staff got their visas!! and will probably be coming next week!
- that God will continue to give us guidance for outreach and will also provide accomodations for us in Valencia
-that God will provide financially to a number of people in the school so that they can get their school fees in before school is over.
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You all mean so much to me! I miss you all so much.
-Katie
This week we are talking about Christ and the Cross. I was a little skeptical going in. I have studied this stuff for years and years and years. It should never be old though. Christ's mercy's are renewed every morning. We have been talking about the exchanges made at the cross and praying through those and proclaiming them into our own lives. It has been good.
Things are looking good for outreach. We have 2 for sure contacts!!! (That is a really really big deal.) It is looking like we are going to be in Valencia, Spain for most of, if not all of the 2 months. We are working with one church there and also with a group of Christian missionaries trying to reach out to the young people of the city. We are all so so so excited.
Please pray:
-that God will continue to reveal to us the power of His cross in a life transforming way.
-praise God that the 2 African staff got their visas!! and will probably be coming next week!
- that God will continue to give us guidance for outreach and will also provide accomodations for us in Valencia
-that God will provide financially to a number of people in the school so that they can get their school fees in before school is over.
Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You all mean so much to me! I miss you all so much.
-Katie
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
so thankful
Things have been going very well the last week and half or so. We were very busy preparing for leading worship all weekend at a misisons conference in Medias, a city about 2 hours away by hot and crowded bus. The weekend went really well though. It was kind of like a mini vacation (you know, only 3 people per tiny room vs. 6!). We had fun thogh , and there was still time to relax too.
Last week was our lecture week on Spiritual warfare. It was very good, rather different than one would expect, but still good. It was a lot about your own identity as a spiritual being and who we are in Christ and throught Christ and the authority we have in that. It was good.
This week we have been having lectures on intercession and on prayer. It has been so powerful. I feel like I am learning so much and that God is speaking so many things to me. I am so excited and thankful to have this opportunity to learn so much in so many ways. This is such a greenhouse of growth here in this community. I know it will greatly affect the rest of my life. Thank you all at home who have been supporting me so much, through communication, through finances, and through prayer. I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to do this. God is so good.
Prayer Requests:
-continued guidance for what exactly we should be doing on outreach in Spain
-for wisdom in how to spend my time, trying to keep up with people, to dig even more into God, to do my homework, and to rest.
-that the things I am learning here will continue to grow in my week by week and effect my life in a permanent way
regarding pictures, I figured out a way to place a link to my facebook albums, even for those who don't have facebook, so here are all my pictures!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044545&l=0a576&id=63802769 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046067&l=76aea&id=63802769
Last week was our lecture week on Spiritual warfare. It was very good, rather different than one would expect, but still good. It was a lot about your own identity as a spiritual being and who we are in Christ and throught Christ and the authority we have in that. It was good.
This week we have been having lectures on intercession and on prayer. It has been so powerful. I feel like I am learning so much and that God is speaking so many things to me. I am so excited and thankful to have this opportunity to learn so much in so many ways. This is such a greenhouse of growth here in this community. I know it will greatly affect the rest of my life. Thank you all at home who have been supporting me so much, through communication, through finances, and through prayer. I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to do this. God is so good.
Prayer Requests:
-continued guidance for what exactly we should be doing on outreach in Spain
-for wisdom in how to spend my time, trying to keep up with people, to dig even more into God, to do my homework, and to rest.
-that the things I am learning here will continue to grow in my week by week and effect my life in a permanent way
regarding pictures, I figured out a way to place a link to my facebook albums, even for those who don't have facebook, so here are all my pictures!!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2044545&l=0a576&id=63802769 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2046067&l=76aea&id=63802769
Friday, July 25, 2008
News news news
Man, I am sorry for not updating this more often. I am going to try and be better about that. :) So things are going well here. We are having different speakers come in every week, stay with us, and teach us during out lecture times. We just finished a week on Evangelism. It was much better than I was anticipating. :) I feel like I am learning a lot. God is teaching me many things, through the speakers, through scripture, and through experience. It is so good to be in this kind of environment -very furtile for growth. It is such a blessing.
In the last few weeks we have been praying and fasting a lot about where God wants us to go on outreach. The whole world was pretty much open to us. So we really wanted to hear from God where He wanted us to go. We were receiving some direction, but it was very hard to wait. Today we have finally finalized a location. We are going to be spending our 2 month outreach in Ibiza, a little island off the Mediteranean coast of Spain. We are all so excited. I will finally have a place to use my Spanish!!! A little backround: this is actually a well known "clubbing" island that college students from all over Europe go to for the summer or for spring break etc. That is its main draw. There is not a ywam base there, but we have contacted and heard back from a few different missionaries working there. There is so much potential for starting new ministries and for getting to know and help a lot of the local missionaries there. I am so excited to go! We are going to be doing a lot of research and a lot of praying in the next few weeks.
Here are some prayer requests for this week. It would be so awesome if you could join with us in seeking God's will in these things. Your part is just as important.
-pray that God will reveal to us what ministries He wants us involved in/starting in Ibiza.
-pray that the communication will go smoothly getting everything set up to go.
-pray that God will continue to unify our team that is going.
-pray that God will bless us and teach us this next week as we are studying Spritual Warfare.
Thank you so much for your time and prayers, they really mean a lot.
I miss you all so much and hope you are doing well. If anyone wants to contact me (It has come to my attention that you are unable to comment on this blog without setting up your own) then please email me at katie.jensen@comcast.net. I would love to hear from people.
Lastly about the pictures: I am sorry I don't really know how to post them in bulk on this blog. I can only post 4 at a time. If you know someone with Facebook, they are all on my facebook page!!
In the last few weeks we have been praying and fasting a lot about where God wants us to go on outreach. The whole world was pretty much open to us. So we really wanted to hear from God where He wanted us to go. We were receiving some direction, but it was very hard to wait. Today we have finally finalized a location. We are going to be spending our 2 month outreach in Ibiza, a little island off the Mediteranean coast of Spain. We are all so excited. I will finally have a place to use my Spanish!!! A little backround: this is actually a well known "clubbing" island that college students from all over Europe go to for the summer or for spring break etc. That is its main draw. There is not a ywam base there, but we have contacted and heard back from a few different missionaries working there. There is so much potential for starting new ministries and for getting to know and help a lot of the local missionaries there. I am so excited to go! We are going to be doing a lot of research and a lot of praying in the next few weeks.
Here are some prayer requests for this week. It would be so awesome if you could join with us in seeking God's will in these things. Your part is just as important.
-pray that God will reveal to us what ministries He wants us involved in/starting in Ibiza.
-pray that the communication will go smoothly getting everything set up to go.
-pray that God will continue to unify our team that is going.
-pray that God will bless us and teach us this next week as we are studying Spritual Warfare.
Thank you so much for your time and prayers, they really mean a lot.
I miss you all so much and hope you are doing well. If anyone wants to contact me (It has come to my attention that you are unable to comment on this blog without setting up your own) then please email me at katie.jensen@comcast.net. I would love to hear from people.
Lastly about the pictures: I am sorry I don't really know how to post them in bulk on this blog. I can only post 4 at a time. If you know someone with Facebook, they are all on my facebook page!!
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