This Summer is Flying!

I have completed week two of the summer mission work I've been doing in St. Louis and it went very well in spite of some challenges that I know the enemy tried to hinder my focus with. This is my weekly report I had to send in to the MBC...it's pretty much exactly what I would be writing anyway so I figured it would be okay to recycle it :)

I unfortunately am now working alone since Shawnee, the other summer missionary left, so that was sort of a shock and kind of a downer, but I'm completely at peace and content with it now.

I have accomplished a lot in my work at Oasis International refugee ministry. I am enjoying every minute I spend there and developing an even deeper passion for this ministry than I ever imagined God would place on my heart. I am continuing to meet new refugee families everyday I am there. In the last week, there were 3 new families that just arrived from Iraq with nothing to live with. They came in asking for furniture and whatever else could be provided to help get them started. It still amazes me at how happy and joyful they are in spite of their circumstance. I definitely believe that God is using them in my life as much as He is using me in theirs. I am continuing to tutor Dina, an Iraqi woman who just moved here in May with her family from Baghdad. I get along so well with her and her husband, Anwar. Anwar speaks very good english for not being here very long. He and some other Iraqi men are always making jokes with Jenna (an intern from IL) and me. They are also teaching us some Arabic, too. They all find it quite entertaining when I greet them with "Shaku Maku", which translates sort of like "What's up?" here. On Wednesday morning last week, we went to the farm that they are working on with refugees in Columbia,IL. My dad even got to come help out. I helped harvest some of the crops like cucumbers and zucchini while the other did weeding and plowing. It was a blessing to be a part of that day working together to help prepare the produce for selling at a stand they have set up by the local McDonalds. We have used opportunities where we are all together to share that we believe God is blessing us. As they are mostly Muslim, they respect us for being follower of Christ. I have not yet been able to fully share the gospel with any of them, but I pray that God will open opportunities for me to do so.

I have not yet spent a lot of time with International students. We did not have any Washington University students show for our Wednesday night outing to Botanical Gardens which was a bummer. I hope this week we have better luck in building relationships with the students there on campus. I want to hopefully plan a few extra fun events this week and next week to continue getting to know them.

I was in my best friend's wedding as her maid of honor on Saturday so that took a lot of energy out of me, but I feel pretty well recovered after resting. It was amazing to see so many faces that I've not seen in years there come together like old times. The Filipino ministry that my dad started in the early 90's is still going...even without a pastor right now. I got to attend a service/fellowship Sunday afternoon to hear their hearts for plans to continue trying to spread the good news to the Filipino community in St. Louis. I pray they can be successful in their attempts and I hope I can be a part of that too.

I can't wait to see what God will do this week as I continue to serve.

In Christ,
Katlyn

Jeremiah 29:11

Well, I have been through one week of my summer missionary position. It went very well...along with a few exceptions. God is definitely working some crazy stuff in my life right now and I'm trying to let Him be in total control.

I love working at Oasis (an International Refugee ministry). I'm going to be tutoring an Iraqi woman in English for 4 hours a week! She is very nice and have definitely enjoyed that so far. Oasis did a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday that was really cool...it was just to show how thankful they are for Oasis being a blessing and the people they have been able to encounter. I am glad to be a part of this. I have also started working with some International students from Washington University. We went to Botanical Gardens for the free concert on Wednesday. I met some students there. On Thursday, we had Culture Junction, which is a conversational English time with students. We talked about Independence Days in different countries...although we only had 1 student so it wasn't a big learning experience, but still informative. Friday consisted of prayer walking on the campus. I am definitely going to like working this summer. The one negative to this week was that I have just been informed that my other co-worker is also not going to be able to continue working with me, so now I am doing this job solo. We started this summer with 3, now it's just me. I guess I have to have faith that this was in God's plan all along and trust that I will be able to handle everything on my own. It scares me a little, but I believe it will work out for the best. I will not let the enemy bring me down!

On another positive note, I got to go to the Fray and Jack's Mannequin concert this past Friday. It was probably one of the BEST concerts I've ever been to in my life! The Fray definitely gave an excellent performance. I also am glad I got to attend with my friends Angel and Justin, and also my brother. It was so much fun. I'll never forget it!

Yesterday, we celebrated my brother's birthday (which is actually today). We had a LOT of food, which is normal for us Filipinos :0). I am so blessed to have such a great family that I can have fun with. Some friends got to come too!

Well I've got a lot going on this week. My best friend Angel is getting MARRIED on Saturday, so I have many maid of honor duties to tend to.