The end is near...week 7 recap!

Well friends, week 7 is over and our final week is underway. 

Week 7 was great. It went by so fast. I met 2 awesome guys who just graduated high school; one is going to Baylor and the other is a soccer stud! Needless to say we bonded instantly. I also hurt my knee really badly last week and am still hobbling along!

One of the highlights of the week was seeing our AD Jordan and our Regional Director Kate. They are so great and it was really refreshing having their presence for a little while. 

I also had an adopted mom last week, her name was Wendy. What a God send she was last week. It was incredible getting to learn from and talk to her.

Now, as i speak my final programming week in Wanblee is underway. Processing this whole journey is quite emotional. God has done so much that it is so unreal that it's all ending. We had our last sunday meal and club and our last trip to the beautiful badlands today. I was overcome with tears sitting in Gods creation there for the last time this summer. God is so good and so faithful. 

Anyway, prayers for my good byes to this place I consider another home. Prayers I can have the physical strength to end strong and the emotional strength to say good bye to beloved community members, and friends. 

Thanks for all of your continual prayers and support! My next blog will be from exit ramp which is both sad and exciting!

I love you all.

-Kristen

Week 6: Oklahoma, Texas Tough, and Teepees!

Hey Everyone!

I hope you are all doing well. It is crazy to think that week 6 of programming has just ended and I only have 2 weeks left. The time in Wanblee is just flying by. I am so excited to share with you some of the highlights of the week as it was one of the best of the summer.

This week we had a group of about 50. There were 3 churches from Minnesota and Green Bay Wisconsin. It turned out that we had a lot of Packers in the building this week! haha Of course as always we do orientation and kind of introduce ourselves and in my orientation I share my Oklahoma Sooner roots in which case I was immediately given a nickname that stuck: Oklahoma. All week students called me Oklahoma, and I have to admit that I loved it!

I felt like we were really blessed this week with great youth and awesome adult leaders. Everything this week was just effortless which made it so easy to focus on God, enjoy the week, and really get to know the youth. I especially connected with a few who continually brought me joy and laughter throughout the week. The pictures will be posted below.

This week I also experienced a work projects first: WE BUILT A TEEPEE. It was so cool. We literally gt the heritage of teepees and a lesson on how to put one up. The youth loved it and it was definitely an awesome  cultural experience.

While I loved this week a lot it was a little bitter sweet for me. I love being on staff with YouthWorks but this week my sweet sister Kailey was on my heart as she and my church youth group were on their mission trip in Cortez. It was cool sitting in club and thinking she was hearing the same passage but maybe receiving the message in a different way. I prayed constantly this week for our church's group and their week in Cortez and always had my sister in the back of my mind. I can't wait to get home and hear all about her YW experience this summer, I think we will be able to connect in a new and deep way because of it. I love you Kailey!

I also am going to ask for prayer. Things are starting to come to an end and thinking about life outside of YouthWorks is beginning to make me a bit anxious. I have done some major growing this summer and made some huge life changes and while I am so excited to put them into real life and I am nervous as well. Also please pray for our staff member Zach---He has strep throat. Just pray that he is restored and his health gets better going into the final leg of this journey.

As always thank you all for the continual support and prayers. I can't wait to see you and share with you in more detail the awesome things God has done this summer.

I love you all.

-Kristen

Week 5!

Well Friends...Week 5 is done!

This week was wonderful and weird in a lot of ways. After having a couple of weeks where we had 70+ people having 28 was interesting. Last week when we went to SAMS to shop it felt so weird. We kept wondering if we had enough food. Haha While it was weird shopping for 30 when we are used to 70 it was a great week! It was very refreshing to have a week where I got to connect and know all the students on a deeper level. This week I knew their names and about their lives. It was awesome.

God did a lot this week. I got to experience Kids Club this week which was both eye opening and humbling. It was so encouraging so see kids who have so little filled with such joy. It was very humbling. Not only was it great to be at Kids Club but God really used this week to refresh me; which is exactly what I needed.

This week I have a few prayer requests for y'all. First of all, as some of you may know I have been praying a lot about starting a Ministry Position in Woodstock, Il. I am just asking that you pray for Gods wisdom as things start to come together. I am flying from Denver to Chicago to see that awesome group and spend some time with my new and dear friends Amy Heavy, Erin Christner, and Erin Carwell. In that week I hope to meet with the church and get a feel for the community. Please pray that the week I am in Woodstock that God's will is revealed. This whole uncertainty s making me very anxious. Also, I have started the process of sending out support letters. Because things are still in the air it is my intent to give all raised money back to YouthWorks should I not pursue the position in Woodstock.

As always, thanks for the continual love and support. I can feel God's grace through you all in every way.

I love you all.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from this week.

-Kristen

Week 4! "Friends"

Well Friends, after being made aware of how much I say the word "Y'all" I have adopted a new term of endearment in my vocabulary that I am quite fond of..."Friends." This is just the beginning of so much that I have to share with y'all about this incredible week.

After feeling a little deflated and discouraged last week, God definitely turned things around. Getting to see and spend time with my area last week was a blast. Having conversation with Josiah---my adopted little brother instantly energized me, the company of my "best-friend" Connor lifted my spirits, and the fellowship with my other area fellow staff just boosted my morale and made me ready for the week.

Going into the week I was skeptical and tired. I was concerned that maybe I had seen the best I was gonna see this summer. I was worried that the relationships I made with adult leaders and students in the first two weeks of programming were as good as they could get, God used this week to prove me wrong. Keeping in touch with one adult leader from week two has been a huge encouragement. Amy Heavey has really poured into me as a person and pursued. It's awesome the friendship I have with her and how much I respect her after such a short time. In our conversation I expressed and my concerns and she told me she would pray that God used the the students this week to refuel me...and boy did they. God answered Amy's prayer for me, and my prayer for myself.

This week the students were great. I promised I would give some shout outs, so here goes.

I met one student named Arielle. What an awesome young person who really follows God fearlessly. She stepped in and stepped up in so many ways this week and it was incredible to watch her interact with the community in a new way and get out of that comfort zone. I am definitely a better person because of her presence this week.

I also bonded instantly with 3 other girls. Jill, Lydia, and Lili. Wow, these girls were incredible. God used them this week in big ways. If there is one thing I am learning constantly it's that God is always pursing me, he never stops, and this week God used them. Their laughter, kind hearts, and soft spirits lifted me up even when they weren't aware I needed it. Of course, as teenage girls they constantly asked me questions about my love life...or lack there of. We joked about random things and ended the week as best friends. It is so encouraging to see young ladies so on fire for God and wanting to serve him incessantly. Watching them interact with other members of their church, the community, and our staff brought tears to my eyes at times. God is working, he is alive, and breathing a fire into us that is just crazy. Wow, what a God we have. I feel so blessed to have gotten to share my life with these girls and equally be apart and hopefully impact theirs.

Not only did I see some awesome things this week that students did, but they reciprocated acts in several ways. I got the chance to share my testimony, and hear theirs. I was given the chance to tell stories and engage in laughter with them all the while glorifying God.

This week was needed, and this week was great.

Not only was it a good week because of the youth but it was a good week because I got to see my family. We finally got some internet service, so on my time off on Thursday I was able to FaceTime my mom, siblings and grand parents. Their faces made cry. It was the first time I had legitimately seen them in 7 weeks.My best friend in my mom and my sister made me lose it. I love them so much. It was humbling to see them all and reflect on this time realizing I have so much. I have so many material things that I don't need, but I have an incredible loving family that meets all of my spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. That is something you don't see in Wanblee all the time, so their presence and interactions were refreshing.

Anyway friends, this week was ground breaking for me. I am so glad I am on this journey and I am more encouraged now than ever to just seize the next 4 weeks of programming and love on everyone as Christ continually loves on me.

God is so good.
Thanks as always for the continual love and support.
I love you all.

-Kristen

Some thoughts! (:

Well friends this week is going so much better. I feel more restored with energy and am overwhelmed by the continual support. God is definitely using so many people and things to pursue me this summer.

I love all the people that I have come in contact with this summer. Students, adults, and community members; they have all been so wonderful. 

In so many ways I can feel this summer slipping away faster and faster. I just love this whole experience. I love watching God work and I really love seeing/reflecting on how he is working on my heart. It's crazy.

I am definitely forever changed because of this experience, because of God, Wanblee, and YouthWorks. 

Keep praying please ad I will continue to update. I love you all.

-Kristen