Thank you for all of you who prayed for the Chinese student I talked about in the previous prayer update. God has answered your prayers!
A couple weeks after Li (name changed), the Chinese student, asked me if I believed in God, he wore a cross necklace to class. I found that pretty strange since he had just told me he didn’t believe in God.
Pointing to his necklace, I asked him, “Do you know what that means?”
Putting his hands in prayer position, he said, “Yes. I do.”
I gave him a puzzled look. He replied, “My sister gave it to me for my 14th birthday.”
With another puzzled look I asked, “I thought you didn’t have a sister?”
He said, “I don’t. She’s my best friend though. She doesn’t have any brothers or sisters either, so we call each other brother and sister.”
“Oooh. That makes more sense. Does she believe in God?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “She just thought it was neat, so she bought it for me for my birthday. I dreamed about her last night, so I wore the necklace today.”
My face brightened, “Really?! I prayed for you last night that you would feel better,” I said.
His face then brightened, and with a smile he said, “Wow. Thank you so much!”
Days after that conversation, Li was still wearing the cross necklace! Would you join me in prayer that one day the cross would be imprinted on Li’s heart, not just hanging around his neck? Praise God for the seeds that have been planted!
Partner Update
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support for myself, for Spain, and ultimately for God’s kingdom. I am so thankful for you and praise God for such a great team. As summer begins and I set goals, it is one goal of mine to pray for you one hour a week in addition to when God brings you to mind. Please let me know how I can be praying specifically for you! I am honored and blessed to have you as teammates and would be honored to pray specifically for you.
Over the last month, I completed my online class with World Team. In the class, we looked more deeply at the gospel as well as how our sin behaviors come from idolatry. For instance, when I seek to please people, I am idolizing acceptance and worth from them that I need to find in God. When I overeat, I am idolizing comfort and pleasure that I need to find in God. Although it was good to be convicted, it was extremely difficult to be looking so intently at my sin for weeks. By the end of the class, I felt quite depressed.
Thankfully, a friend reminded me to look to the light, Jesus, instead of staring into the darkness, my sin. Sometimes when we sin and realize our mistakes, we are overcome with guilt and shame. Let’s remind each other to yes, confess that to Jesus, but then to keep looking at Jesus and His perfect sacrifice that completely frees us from our sin and shame. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
Thankfully, a friend reminded me to look to the light, Jesus, instead of staring into the darkness, my sin. Sometimes when we sin and realize our mistakes, we are overcome with guilt and shame. Let’s remind each other to yes, confess that to Jesus, but then to keep looking at Jesus and His perfect sacrifice that completely frees us from our sin and shame. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
In the last month, school also ended! While I am excited for summer, I'm also a little sad that school's over. God blessed me with some really sweet relationships in the high school, and I will miss those students greatly. Thank you for praying for those students! I'm trusting God with those students and looking forward to all that He has in store for this summer. Right now I’m enjoying VBS, spending time on partnership development (PD), and coaching basketball. I’m also looking forward to tutoring, visiting family in MI, taking vacation, a mission trip in Cumberland, WI, and much more. I have to confess that I’m quite anxious about continuing partnership development and other World Team training when I have such a busy summer. I’m asking God to help me trust Him one day at a time and stay faithful to what He’s called me to. Please join me in this prayer!
Thank you again for your faithful prayers and support. I am thanking God for you!
With love, Kelsey
Other fun pics from this month:
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| My cousin Erin ran in Indiana's state track meet |
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| 4 generations on Father's Day |
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| A quick getaway to LaCrosse |
