whoa. in 9 days we leave for Botswana!

We are in the single digits of the countdown until I leave. It's been such a crazy and awesome road since January when I found out I got accepted on the trip. Ranging from raising support, to getting my vaccinations, and even receiving overwhelming positive encouragement and support from family, friends and my church family. I have learned how blessed I am and how small I am. God, the creator of the universe, finds time between feeding the animals of the earth and making the sun rise and set to work in my life. Praise God for the raising of my financial support and working out every detail of the trip! It's been such an awesome and humbling experience to be able to see God do his thing.

The team as a whole will have raised right around $100,000 of support to make our trip possible. As of right now, we need to raise about $5,000 to enable our entire team to be able to leave next Saturday. God will make it all happen; I just have this feeling in my bones He will. If you would like to help my team raise this last 5%, you can do one of two things.
1) Pray for God to work in the hearts of those He wants to contribute and help them to give freely and joyfully.
2) If you or anyone you know that might want to help, have them contact me at kkelly11@students.towson.edu to help them make their contribution either by check, money order or even online giving.

Thank you to all for your continued prayers as we enter the one week mark until we leave, as we travel and while we are over there! On the left hand side, there is a Prayer list with some specific things you can pray for our team about.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Modimo o a go rata.

Why go? Part 2

[DISCLAIMER: This is somewhat long-winded and I apologize, but I feel it all contributes to why I am going to Botswana]

In my last post, I talked about why I am going to Botswana this summer. My answer to that question has two parts. The one I talked about last time is about what Jesus has done in my life. How he loves us, died for our sin and offers us new life. The other part of the answer is the opportunity God has opened the door for.

When I first heard of Summer Project during my freshman year at Cru, it didn’t really interest me. I thought it was great thing, but just not for me. I spent the school year being away from my family and my friends from home and I wanted to spend my summer with them; plus I needed to find a job and earn money. I prayed consistently for two of my friends going on summer project or STINT (a one year mission’s trip overseas). That summer came and went. I worked, went to Watertown, NY for a mission’s trip with the youth group from my church and enjoyed time with my family and friends. 

Sophomore year began and I began to learn more about God’s love for the world. In Acts 1:8b Jesus is talking to his disciples after he had risen from the dead and just before he ascends into heaven. He tells them this, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” I heard someone explain this verse in this way. Jerusalem was the city the disciples were in, Judea was the larger area they were in and Samaria was the neighboring area.  It would be like Jesus commanding us to be his witnesses in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, neighboring states, and to the ends of the earth.  Jesus told and commanded the disciples to be his witnesses where they were, short distances away and across to the ends of the earth. This command began to marinate in my mind over then next year.

At Radiate (a Cru conference over winter break) that year, I really felt God showing me how important that whole idea of taking the Gospel everywhere we go, even to the corners of the world. At the conference they talked about God’s love for all people and the different opportunities to be a part of God’s plan in taking the Gospel across the country and around the world. I started examining what was holding me back from going. As a variety of things came to the surface, I realized a main restriction I was placing on myself was not trusting that God will take care of everything. I decided to offer up my summer and apply for summer project to Botswana. I was looking at the list and Botswana seemed to scream, jump and tap dance off the page. I also loved that the project dealt with kids and from what I had heard from people who had gone the previous summer.

After talking with my parents, I applied and got my references in order. I then waited for the following 6 and half weeks to hear back if I got accepted. I tried to not too excited since nothing was set in stone. I had all my close friends, my Bible study and the freshman Bible study I co-led praying for God to have me wherever He wanted me for the summer. One day as I was about to leave for my anatomy lab, I saw I had an e-mail telling me because of an excess of female applicants, my application had been declined. I was devastated. My heart seemed to ache after a quick cry and during lab, where we ironically were studying the cardiovascular system. After class I was walking to the Union to meet for discipleship and I saw I had a voice mail. It was from the director of the summer project to Central Asia. I was so mixed up. Was this God telling me to go there instead? After talking with my parents, my old youth pastor, my discipler and close friends, I came to the conclusion that Central Asia just didn’t capture my heart. I have always been a big advocate of doing what you are passionate about. I knew if I went God would work in miraculous ways, but I couldn’t let myself do it just because the opprotunity came my way. So I withdrew my application and declined the opportunity to go to Central Asia.

I spent the summer working two jobs and spending time with family. I decided to apply once more for the summer project to Botswana and if I was denied again, then God has a different course for me to take.  When I got the call from Jen, the assistant project director, telling me I was accepted, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe it. It was actually going to happen. I was going to Botswana.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Modimo o a go rata.

How Jesus Rocked My World.

I've been asked a lot "Why would you want to go to Africa?". I have expected questions similar to this one. My answer is twofold, the first part being about this awesome relationship I have with a dude named Jesus.

Even though I grew up going to church and had a lot of knowledge about God, I didn’t really know Him and definitely didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. For me, God just wasn’t an active part of life. I went to church and Sunday school every week. I believed all of the information I knew about God and it guided my morals of what was right and what was wrong, but it was mostly from a distance. I was constantly living to fulfill others’ expectations for me and to ultimately be accepted by others. I did this by working hard to get good grades, making the volleyball team, following the rules, and doing what I was supposed to do. As a result, I felt empty and worn-out.

Every Memorial Day from 7th grade to 12th grade, I went with my church's youth group on a retreat in the Poconos we called Tusc. At Tusc when I was a freshman in high school, I was challenged for the first time with the question of ‘What am I living for?’. I believed that God loves us and He sent Jesus to die for our sins so we can live in heaven with God forever, but that was not reflected in the way I was living. I was living for playing time, straight A’s and a being a morally good person. Once I realized how contradicting this was, I decided that I needed God to be a dynamic part of my life.

At that moment, I sat down and just told God that I was sorry for not following Him and doing things that were not honoring to Him. I asked Him to forgive me for those sins and I thanked God for loving me. I then thanked Him for sending Jesus to die for the sins I’d done, so that I don’t have to pay the price for them and I can live with God and Jesus in heaven forever. I felt a rush of calmness come over me and from that point on I have never been the same.

My life is far from perfect, but it is way better now that Jesus is a huge and active part of my life. Instead of living for things that do not satisfy and will ultimately fail me, I try to live for Jesus because I am no longer a slave to those things and now experience freedom that lies with the new life I have found in Jesus. I still struggle with letting others' expectations and acceptance of me take control over areas of my life. I find myself continually going back to God and asking him to let His love be enough for me. The best thing is this: Jesus will never leave me. He will always completely satisfy me, always accept me and most importantly always love me.

I challenge you to ponder the question, "What am I living for?", because it changed the trajectory of my life.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Modimo o a go rata.