Welcome (back) to Georgia

"Welcome to Georgia!"  I saw these signs everywhere as I arrived back in the US with the 21 other people I just spent the last two months in Kenya with.

This was my second time in East Africa.

It was not anything like the first time I was there.

My team was completely new.

The ministries were completely new.

The church was completely new.

The entire experience was completely new.

And that's what I needed.

The Lord gave me newness in all areas this summer in order to break expectations I didn't even know I had.

So long I have been living under the rule of expectations, constantly trying to live up to what I think or what others think is required of me.

The Lord asked me to go on this trip not to continue to live under the rule of expectations, but to experience freedom from them and relish in knowing the Lord has made me sufficient.

As long as I do what God has asked of me, I have done enough.

It took me a while to realize this, and not without the wise words of my co-leaders, but I was able to step into this with confidence through the course of the summer.

I ended this last semester in the freedom God has given me, without expectations, and in anticipation of what He has next.  This ending transfers over as the beginning of this upcoming semester, and I cannot wait to see what else the Lord will walk me into if this beginning is already so good.

Not in a Spirit of Fear

The other night my entire bedroom was uproariously laughing at a super lame joke.  There was snorting, honking, gasping for air, and cackles.  Even in our over-tired state there was so much joy filling the room, and I was sure God was laughing with us.

All of a sudden our laughter stopped and every head turned toward the window.  We heard a scary noise.  There was a bit of rustling and some heavy footsteps.  Every heart in the room started racing, eyes wide open in the dark, ears perked to hear what might happen next.  Our spirits froze.

But we have not been created in a spirit of fear.  We are not meant to fear anything.  We are meant to rest in the peace our Lord gives us, knowing that we have been created in His image, knowing that we have authority because of how we were created.

But I couldn't help it.  The Enemy placed some fear around me, and instead of fighting against it, I succumbed to it.  My mind raced through all the horrible possibilities of what might happen.  I was making up a thousand what if circumstances, deciding how to make a run for it rather than stand up and fight.

After what felt like an eternity, I finally managed to choke out the words "in the name of Jesus Christ, there is no fear, and in the name of Jesus Christ, we are protected."  Within five minutes of this declaration, all the girls in my bedroom were sleeping, including myself.  God dropped a divine rest upon my room, and we all woke up feeling more refreshed and joyful than the day before.

When I woke up in the morning, after recounting the terrifying noise, I went to examine the compound to see what it could have been.  Turns out it was the guard dog bumping his food dish around the driveway, and the footsteps was the security guard trying to make the dog stop.

There was nothing to fear afterall.  What amazes me is how we allow the Enemy to take a dog's food dish and turn it into a murderous prison escapee breaking into our room.

All this to say, we ought to stand in the authority and strength we have as children of God, knowing we are protected and can cast out fear in Jesus's name.  If I had remembered to do this in the first place I would have saved a lot of adrenaline from pumping vigorously and unneccesarily through my veins.

New... Again, and Again, and Again

The other day God gave me an incredible revelation:


Just because you are struggling today with something you struggled with one year ago does not mean you are taking steps backwards.

It means He is making you new... again.

He is always making you new.

You were new a year ago.

You were new six months ago.

You were new last month.

And yesterday.

And now you are new today.

God always has something more for us.
A deeper intimacy.
A greater mercy.
Bigger eyes to see.
More words to speak.

God takes us to places where He knows we will be stretched and where He knows we will grow.
Shouldn't we be happy we have struggles?  Even if they are the same as they were a year ago or a decade ago, it means the Lord loves us enough to bring us closer to Him, to make us more like Him, and to make us newer than we were a minute ago.

Blogs in Kenya

I leave the states tomorrow to go to Kenya!

I am so excited it's crazy.  I will soon be reunited with my beloved Africa.

I told you all I would continue to blog while I'm out on the mission field, and I will.  But I'm gonna try to keep this as simple as possible.

AIM, the organization I work with, gives us a site to blog off of.  This is where I'll be posting the next couple months.

http://kenya.adventures.org/

Click that link, then my name, and you will see a list of blogs I have posted from that website.

Thanks for keeping up, and I look forward to seeing your comments :)

I Hate Packing

A pile of clothes, shoes, shampoo, and deodorant has exploded itself all over my bedroom, waiting to be nicely reorganized and shoved back into a 70 liter pack.

The shampoo stares at me with destructive eyes.

The bottle threatens to explode soapy bubbles onto my newly laundered clothes.

I shake a heavy-duty, gallon-sized Ziploc bag at the shampoo, but it stares back, eyes cold with malice.

The deodorant feigns unpracticed protection.

I ask, "will you guard my underarms from stench, dear friend?"

"I've never been to Africa before.  I don't know if I can withstand such heat," some fluttering eyelashes and fabricated naivety accompany this reply.  It desires more from our relationship, perhaps more recognition for it's mediocre work.

I flash the deodorant a mean glare, but it seems not to notice.

My shoes threaten to be clunky and awkward, too big to fit in my pack.

My shoes do not like going to Africa.  They have tried to escape from my sight numerous times.

They, like the deodorant, feel under-appreciated, I am sure.

The only allies I have are my skirts.

The unlikeliest of all friends, they willingly fold, twist, and maneuver into the cramped spaces of my pack.  Perhaps they are so willing to work with my limited vacancy because of their utter excitement.  My skirts will see the sun each and every day in Africa.  They will be worn for the first time in months.  I imagine they feel like puppies waiting to be adopted and loved.

I guess now it is time to conquer this battle zone rather than personify inanimate objects.

On to packing...

Goodbye Minnesota

Well, friends, I am excited to say I am leaving Minnesota for the summer TOMORROW!

Yep, these are my last few hours in the state I call home.

In less than 24 hours I will arrive in Atlanta, Georgia to start my wonderful summer adventures.

My summer schedule is confusing, and you are probably already scratching your head because you thought I was going to Kenya.  Fret not!  I am still going to Africa, just not tomorrow.

This is what my summer schedule looks like:

Georgia

North Carolina

Georgia

Kenya (June 5- July 28 (don't bother trying to reach me by phone these months))

Georgia

and alas, on August 18 I fly back into Minnesota just in time for the state fair and the new school year to begin.

If you still want to support me in this Kenyan mission trip I am going on, it's not too late!  I need about $400 more in order for this trip to be paid!  You can still support me with a tax deductible gift by clicking here, putting "Kiersten Smith" into the participant name box and following the directions from there.  Or you can send a check made out to "Adventures in Missions" in the mail with "Kiersten Smith- Passport" in the memo line to this address:

Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470 

And don't worry, I'll keep updating my blog while I'm overseas, so keep checkin' back!

Round Two: More Information

If you know me or follow my blog, you've probably caught on that I'm leading a mission trip this summer for college-aged pupils (ages 18-22).  If you've been keeping up, you also know that I did not know where I would be going this summer.  Well, guess what.

I found out where I am going this summer.

Do you want to know?

Okay, I'll tell you.

I am going to....

KENYA!

Wanna know some things about Kenya?

This is a map of Kenya.  It's in Africa on the East coast on the Indian Ocean.

Kenya is bordered by Uganda (where I went on a mission trip fall 2011), Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

This is what their flag looks like:

Bantu Swahili and English are the two official languages of Kenya.

Kenya gained full independence on December 12, 1963.

Nairobi is the capitol of Kenya.

During the trip I will be walking alongside the participants on my team, encouraging them on the way, and also doing logistical things like making sure the team is where they need to be, keeping a budget, etc.  The ministries offered to us in Kenya can be anything like hospital ministry (including but not excluded to praying, assisting nurses, volunteering in the kitchen), hanging out and befriending the locals, or volunteering in children's homes.

The trip will cost me $1500.  If you are interested in supporting me in these ministries over the summer, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com

or

click here, enter "The Passport" in the program box, and enter "Kiersten Smith" in the participant box

or

mail a check with "Kiersten Smith- The Passport" in the memo line to this address:

Adventures In Missions
P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470 

Keep reading my blog to stay updated on what I'll be doing this summer and what's going on in my life right now!

The Importance of June 1st

June 1, 1933: Aviator Roger Williams announces plans to fly round trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

June 1, 1935: A compulsory driving test is introduced in England for all drivers.

June 1, 1938: Superman makes his first appearance in D.C. Comics.

June 1, 1967: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released.

June 1, 1979: Rhodesia ends the nearly 100 years of white minority rule and changes its name to Zimbabwe

June 1, 1980: CNN launches in Atlanta, GA. 

June 1, 1990: President George Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign an agreement to end production of chemical weapons.

June 1, 2005: Sweden shut down the Barseback 2 nuclear reactor.

June 1, 2010: Homer Simpson was named the best TV and Film character of the past 20 years.

June 1, 2012: Kiersten Smith meets her Passport summer mission team in Georgia.

I am leading a college age mission trip this summer (in 94 days!) with Adventures in Missions, the same organization I went to Uganda with.  The cost of my trip is $1500.  If you are interested in supporting me, you can email me at kiersten.smith@hotmail.com and I can answer any questions you have and let you know how to best support me.

Round Two

To my dearest supporters, friends, family, and fans-

I have some very exciting news!  You know how I just spent three and a half months in Uganda?  Well, I now have the opportunity to spend two months in another country!

I will be going on another mission trip this summer, but I do not know where to yet, and it doesn't really matter.  The place doesn't matter this time because this time I am going as a leader, and my ministry is the students on the team.

The trip dates are June 1st to July 29th, but as a leader I will need to be at the training camp in Georgia (where we meet the team and do a briefing of what the trip might look like) a few days early and stay a few days late at debrief (where we say goodbye to the team and talk about what happened on the trip).  I personally will be spending some extra time before and after my trip in Georgia to visit some friends and my boyfriend.  I am not exactly sure of when I will be leaving or returning to Minnesota yet- there are some details that still need to be worked out.

I am super excited for the trip that I will be leading.  God has been giving me so much joy in my life as I follow Him in obedience, letting Him shape me and stretch me, and He has asked me to help lead others into the same freedom I have found in Him.  God has given me a strength that is not my own, and He wants me to use it for the Kingdom.  I have told God I will.

The trip will only cost $1500 this time because I am leading.  Even though the trip is less money now than my trip to Uganda was, I still have a huge financial burden to face.  I have bills that need paying, loans with interest, and large medical expenses that I will need to have paid off soon.  After all my visiting and traveling is said and I done, I will be away from home for approximately 3 months, which is three months in which I will have no income.  I am asking you to prayerfully consider helping me with the obvious expenses of the trip, and the hidden expenses of the trip that await for me here in the states.  If you are interested in supporting me, you can send me an email at: kiersten.smith@hotmail.com for information on how to best support me, or just give a quick call to talk to me.

I have no lack of need for prayer, either.  This is my prayer list while preparing for the trip taking place this summer:

-for God to put His hand in selecting the team I will be going onto the mission field with
-for God to give me wisdom and discernment in knowing how to approach leading the team
-for God to gift me with spiritual authority and strength
-for endless joy in my daily school-work-study life as I eagerly wait to go on a mission trip again
-for God to meet all my financial, physical, and spiritual needs

Thanks so much for everything you have already done in supporting me and helping me make sure I was taken care of!  I appreciate all contributions, prayers, and encouragement sent my way.  I will continue to keep you updated on how the Lord is moving in my life!

Kiersten
kiersten.smith@hotmail.com