A day on Katey's farm

On Saturday, Kami, Katey, Rachel and I headed out to Katey's farm for the afternoon. What fun!! It was really great to be out in the country and to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine again. It was a day of firsts for me: first time to drive a 4 wheeler and to make caramel (toffee) apples. Driving 4 wheelers is funtishous, until you can't make it up the hill and end up in the fence :) Thankfully Kami came to the rescue and helped me. On the farm there is a church which was built in the 1800's, which Katey's mom uses for her wedding planning business. Her dad loves hunting and so as you walk around their house, there are all these animal heads up on the wall. There is even a Springbok hide, from one of his hunting trips in South Africa.

She stepped out of her comfort zone...

Kira, stepped out of her comfort zone when we took the OutBounders to downtown Atlanta for ministry in Centennial Park. The park is full of people and the OutBounders were sent out in small groups to talk, share the gospel and pray with people they met.

Kira admitted that she was “not so excited” about this—she is much more comfortable serving the Lord behind her desk using her admin gifts and abilities to enable others to go out and “evangelize”. The Lord had other plans J

As her team set out, Kira decided to keep a low profile and let the other girls do all the talking. The first two ladies they met only spoke Spanish and guess what? Kira was the only Spanish speaking person on the team ! She started talking with the ladies, who had not been in the US long and were struggling at their jobs. Kira was able to encourage and pray for them and their situation. The ladies were surprised by the kindness which the girls extended to them.

Many of the OutBounders had similar experiences and were encouraged and challenged to step out of their comfort zones more often to touch others around them.

October OutBound

The October OutBound conference went very well and was a highlight group for the year! Twenty people joined us for a week of fun activities, teaching and experiences. Each OutBound group is different—this group really engaged well with each other and the OM USA Team.

Many participants had been on previous short term mission trips and were looking for a place to serve longer term. Elizabeth, worked amongst Muslim women in the UK with OM Turning Point for a Summer and is now planning to join the team for two years! Holly, taught English for 3 years in South Korea and is planning to join the Doulos—she visited the Ship earlier this year while it was in Korea. Janet, a writer by heart, will join the OM International office in the UK as a journalist!

One OutBounder said, “OutBound was amazing... I feel prepared to go to the mission field after this week!” These are just a few of the stories! Thank you for making a difference through prayer for the OutBound Conferences. 2008 here we come!

My first baseball game

Baseball is the name of the game this season. Kami & Katey took me to my first baseball game, here in Atlanta. We were going to watch the Braves (Atlanta team) place. It was a fun evening and I quickly realized that cricket and baseball are not the same. The girls had to keep reminding me that we were not watching a "match", but a "game" :)

Wedding Bells Reunion

On September 29th, Jaylene and Ken got married on her family farm in Iowa. Jay and I joined the Doulos together in September 2001 and shared a cabin together. There were a few other Doulos friends at the wedding and it was a joy to catch up with everyone. Most of usd arrived the Wednesday before the wedding to help Jay and her family get everything set up and ready for the big day on Saturday. It felt like old times! Ken and Jay would be married on the grass patch outside the back of her house, which is exactly where her parents got married 27 years ago.

The Wedding Day was really great. We (the girls) headed down to the hairdress early in the morning for breakfast and all the stuff that we needed to do to get ready. After that we took all the bridal party pictures, which is a little different from what I'm used to. Here in the US, the bride and groom see each other before the church service. We had fun taking the pictures - Jay wanted a couple of pictures of us in gumboots!

During the ceremony, the bridal party formed a half cirlce to semi-surround Ken and Jay during the service. The funniest experience was having a snake pop up out of the ground in the middle of the circle as Ken and Jay saying their vows! Fortunately she didn't see it, otherwise it may have been a little more exciting than we expected :) He just slithered out of the circle and disappeared.

The day after the wedding, all the ex-Doulos people gathered together for a brunch, which was great fun. Amaxing to see how God has been using and building into their lives and here He is leading them. My friend Rachel and I drove from Iowa to Kansis City in the afternoon, which was fun. There were tornado warnings at one point, but fortunately we didn't have to worry.

Quote of the Week

"Everything we do is a platform to bring glory to the King!"

July 2007 OutBound

"The OutBound conference took me outside myself and my limited experience to get a glimpse of how big our God is!"

From 22 - 28 July, 24 Americans arrived from 12 different States for the week long OutBound Conference. (One young guy, traveled for 2 days on a bus to get here!!) It was great to meet all of them and to hear about their journey in getting involved in mission.

We divided the group into four teams (we call them Tribes) and on the first day they came up with a Tribe name and skit. The "Honeymooner" Tribe was made up of three young couples - 1 couple had been married for 5 weeks, and the other two celebrated their 1st and 2nd year anniversary while on OutBound!

We had a great week with the OutBounders and really enjoyed interacting with them in different ways. It was encouraging to hear testimonies from the OutBounders of what God has done in their lives this last week at OutBound.

Peter, is a young man who loves action, challenge and has a heart to serve. He came to OutBound without a clear idea of where he could be involved in mission. He knew that the Lord wanted him in mission in Asia somewhere. During the week he was able to connect with some of the people working here in the office to learn about different countries. He is now planning to go to Nepal for two years.

Jeff, Carmen & their three kids are planning to go to South Africa and be involved with OM's AIDS ministry. Five of the OutBounders will be joining Artslink Team here in Atlanta. Artslink is a new and exciting ministry, which connects Christian artists with unique short- and long-term opportunities to use their artistic gifts practically and most radically on the foreign mission field.

One lady said, "Thank you for w orking hard to break through the protective outer shells we put up. And thank you for doing this from the vantage point of vulnerability and transparency. It enabled me to drop my guard and really connect with issues."

Mid week, we took the Out Bounders down to Atlanta city for Life Experience. The first part of the afternoon was focused on team dynamics and interaction, while the second half was a time of ministry. The Tribes were split into small teams of 2 or 3 and they sp ent the afternoon in Centenial park talking with different people there. Anna (the girl in the grey shirt) was able to share the Gospel with this lady, using a simple sketch diagram she had learnt the day before at OutBound. This was the first time she had this kind of opportunity.

Thank you to all who were praying for the OutBounders and the Team during this week. We saw the Lord do amazing things - we caught a glimps of how big our God is!