hosanna

perfect timing for a reminder.

kellyjwarren — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:19:12 +0000

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear, Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lillies of the field grow. They do now labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If this is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:25-34.

This reminder couldn’t have come at a better time. God made the universe; He can handle my life and my future.

the path of Peace

kellyjwarren — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:31:52 +0000

“You will not find my peace by engaging in excessive planning: attempting to control what will happen to you in the future. That is a commonly practiced form of unbelief. When your mind spins with multiple plans, Peace may sometimes seem to be within your grasp; yet it always eludes you. Just when you think you have prepared for all possibilities, something unexpected pops up and throws things into confusion. I did not design the human mind to figure out the future. That is beyond your capability. I crafted your mind for continual communication with me. Bring Me all your needs, your hopes and hears. Commit everything into my care. Turn from the path of planning to the path of Peace.” 1 Peter 5:6-7, Proverbs 16:9, Psalm 37:5

-Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, 9/17

A friend of mine recently showed this to me. The timing literally couldn’t have been more perfect. Such a great reminder of how limited and weak I am and how awesome and in control Jesus is. And what a good thing that is.

um, what. [an interuption]

kellyjwarren — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:55:44 +0000

I have started my Senior year at The University of South Carolina (aka the best university in the world). This doesn’t seem right. Who decided I was allowed to get this old? I don’t like it and would like to find a way to over-rule this decision. I’m 21? And living in a house with friends, driving my car, making my own decisions, almost completely independent of my parents (we won’t bringup the financial aspect of this statement…), and basically on my own to live life however seems best? Not cool. I’m pretty sure I’m still supposed to be 5 and playing with Barbies and dress up clothes instead of buying professional clothes for work and interviews. I don’t know when it happened but I guess at some point I became an adult.

My time as a student at Carolina has been great and I’m really excited about this year. I’m excited for football games, hanging out on the horseshoe, seeing friends between class, Midtown stuff- pretty much everything except actually going to class! I’m also already getting sad about having to leave Carolina and saying good-bye to all the incredible people I have met. No matter how much I wish it, it would be foolish for me to believe that everyone is going to stay in the same city. In fact, I’ve already had to say good-bye to some great friends. Not the happiest thing to think about. (I’m not really the biggest fan of change…)

I’m also very nervous about what will happen after graduate. I have a few really awesome opportunities and as of right now have no idea which to take advantage of. None of them are bad decisions so the choice is not clear. I would greatly appreciate prayers as I try to discern my will vs. the Lord’s and (attempt to) wait patiently on Him. Please pray for guidance and wisdom as I prepare for the next chapter of my life. I’m having lots of conversations with friends, family members and people in the fields I’m interested in, so don’t be surprised if I ask your thoughts and opinions!

sunday.

kellyjwarren — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:49:40 +0000

On Sunday morning (the day after we arrived in Swazi) we attended church. It was great because church was held on our back porch and was very simple but the most beautiful service I have ever attended. There weren’t any instruments or sound equipment. There were only voices. Voices that combined to make a beautiful sound. I couldn’t understand any of the words but it was easy to tell that believers were having very intimate moments with their Creator. There wasn’t a set order or worship or designated amount of time spent on anything. There was no worship leader, just individuals in love with God. Whenever one song concluded, another person would begin singing a song and the rest of the congregation would sing with them until the song ended. Then someone began the next song until eventually nobody started a new song.

Following the singing there was a time of testimonies. People stood up and said whatever they wanted. For some this was a long story about how God had recently provided for their family. Others simply stood, proclaimed God’s love and the Gospel and made statements about trusting Him no matter what our conditions are. After this was the offering, introduction of our team and a sermon by one of our teammates. A team who was leaving that day was also at church and one of the members played his guitar with the children as they sang “Jesus Loves the Little Children” in English. It was beautiful. Church concluded and we were able to stand around and meet some of the Swazi’s. I was able to meet several of the teenage girls and learn some basic Saswati. I also played with lots of the children.

It was a beautiful service, one that I won’t soon forget. I couldn’t help but compare it to services at home. I love Midtown’s services and the way that we worship but the service in Swazi was beautiful. I loved that it wasn’t fancy and there was an idea of order however nothing was set in stone and there were no time limits or restrictions on anything.

my team.

kellyjwarren — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:26:35 +0000

I was priveledged to be a part of an incredible team in Swazi. I was pretty worried about the team prior to the trip. 2 of the girls go to school together but other than that none of us knew anyone on the trip. Ages ranged from 19 to late 50′s. There were many different backgrounds, denominations and experiences. To say we were a diverse team is an understatement! I was worried that while I would kind of get to know people I would not make any strong connections. I was also worried that I was going to have to cut the sass and sarcasm to do so!

My team minus a few people on the last day

Well. The Lord showed up big time and totally proved me wrong! As soon as I got off the plane in Johannesburg I met up with most of my team members. One of the girls, Christina, and I hit it off right away. Someone made what I’m sure was a ridiculous statement and Christina and I locked eyes and shared a sassy look! I immediatly knew that I would have at least one friend on this trip!

I have left this trip with 14 new friends, although I am certainly closer with some than others. Christina, Megan, Ashley and I made up the “Sass Squad.” It really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me well that I was part of this group! These 3 ladies are incredible. They’re sassy but also love the Lord a lot. It was so awesome that even though we started as total strangers we were really able to share with one another and encourage each other. I miss them a ton.

The other two girls that I really spend time with are Andi and Zandee. They go to Western Carolina University. I’m really glad I go to know them not only because they live close enough to me that I should be able to get together with them occassionally but also because they are strong women who love the Lord. They both learned a lot during the trip and it was really cool to see what the Lord was teaching them while they were there. Zandee and I have been staying in contact since returning home and it has been awesome to hear what the Lord is teaching her and changes He is bringing about in her life, especially since so many of these things are very similar to what I have learned!

The girls. I miss these 5 ladies so much.

Our team was composed of 10 women and 5 men- one of whom was our leader. Matt was an incredible leader. His passion for God and for the Swazi’s was so clear in his words and actions. Plus he had some really good advice concerning missions, processing through stuff and some of the options I have for my future. He was a great leader but he was able to balance that with being our friend. Great combo.

The Sass Squad and Matt, our leader/honorary member of the Sass Squad

I could write about all the great people I got to serve with but these are a few of the highlights! Such an enormous blessing. I love and miss all these people so much and am so glad they were put in my life.

Home Visits

kellyjwarren — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 15:10:49 +0000

Each afternoon the 3 groups went on home visits. Most of the homes we visited had ties to a local church. We worked with our translators who lived in the area to compile the names of the homesteads that we needed to visit. For the most part, the purpose of these visits was to visit, pray with and encourage believers. Some of these people attended church frequently while others are unable to due to illness or disability.

In total, my group went to 8 or 9 home visits. There were many sad stories. Only one of the homesteads had a man around- the rest were absent or dead. A few of the homesteads had adults or children who asked that we pray for healing. I remember visiting one house and hearing about a little boy who had been born with a medical condition that resulted in him having no control of his bladder or bowels. The saddest past of this is that after we left the homestead we were discussing the little boy and realized that a short drive away in South Africa this condition could be fixed. However, because the family has no money the boy has to live with it.

We spoke with the people who lived in this house but didn’t actually go in.

Many of the visits were also encouraging and convicting. I remember going into the home of a family who’s one room house is smaller than my bedroom. There were at least 5 adults and 6 children living in this house. There was one bed and mats on the floor. It was a cold, windy, rainy day. There was no electricity or heat; there wasn’t even room for them to start a fire in the house. But as we talked to the oldest woman who ran the homestead, she praised God. There was a joy in that house. The children giggled and smiled and talked to us. The woman talked about how she trusts God even though life is difficult. There were several visits like this. People who have nothing by the world’s standards were filled with hope as they testified that they trust God and know that He has a perfect plan for their lives. Another woman at a different homestead admitted that they had no food and didn’t know where their next meal would come from, however they were trusting God to provide. This was very convicting because God has very generously provided for me and given me tons of material blessings, yet I still struggle with trusting Him completely with so many aspects of my life.

This woman was getting married. We visited her family on Wednesday and were invited to the first day of wedding festivities on Friday. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay for much of it due to other things we had to do. Behind her is her family’s house that we visited when we first met her.

I reflected on these visits each night as I returned to the team house. I thought about my life in America. How easy it is for me to rely on my money, possessions, education, family, etc. to provide! If I have a medical problem, I simply go see a doctor. If I need food, I go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want or go to a restaurant. Because of all my comfort, I rarely have to truly rely on God and trust Him to provide. I thought of my trust in God in comparison to the people I met on the home visits and came to the realization that they had a much stronger understanding of God who provides than I do. They know what it is like to be in need and only have God to turn to. As a result, for the most part their relationships with God and love for Him is much greater than my own.

One thing I feel that God is challenging me to is to be less comfortable. I have so many plans and back-up plans that I can rely on myself rather than Him. This causes my relationship with Him to be less strong than it could be. I’m not entirely certain what being less comfortable looks like in my life, but I am praying through it and welcome any ideas, suggestions, encouragement, etc.

Care Points

kellyjwarren — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:05:31 +0000

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings we went to care points from 10-12. Our team of 15 was split into 3 smaller groups and each went to a different care point. There are 3 different levels of care points based on how developed they are. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday my group went to a very developed care point. This meant that the yard was fenced in, the Go-go had a building to cook in, there was a building where classes were held, a playground and bathrooms. This is one of the most developed care points in Nsoko. When we arrived at the care point each morning, we got out of the car and were immediately mobbed by kids. We took some toys, like balls, jump ropes, and kites and some of us played with the kids using those. Others of us just sat down and the kids piled on our laps. This is mostly what I did. I held, hugged and tickled kids who, for the most part, aren’t really shown affection from the adults in their life. For some this is because they have no family left, others are abused, many have parents who simply don’t have time for them and, of course, there are the exceptions however they are few and far between. We also did some type of Bible lesson each day. On Friday we did a clothing distribution for these kids. After we gave them all new outfits the playground looked like a completely different place. It was full of bright colors as the kids ran around in their new kids and not their old, faded, torn clothes. The children also received a meal each day at the care points. For some this is the only meal they receive during the day.

On Thursday we went to a different care point. This was a huge change from our other care point. It is one of the least developed care points due to some problems AIM has run into when dealing with the chief of the area among other things. There was no fence or building. There was a pile of concrete blocks the kids sat on and some stacked up around the pot the Go-go used to cook lunch. It was SUCH a change from the care point. My experience at this care point was also different. I didn’t play with the little kids as much but instead spent time with some older boys (12-16). A few of them spoke English well so we talk about America, Swazi and our lives. At one point one of the boys tried to convince me that I should marry his friend!

The two care points were very different but I loved my time at each. I loved playing with the younger kids and I also loved talked with the older ones and getting to know them. I have always loved playing with and working with kids so this was right up my alley!

home.

kellyjwarren — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:50:34 +0000

I’m back in the states after an incredible trip. I met some incredible people- both locals and team members, laughed a ton, learned a lot, played with adorable children and saw so many beautiful things and people that left me in awe of the God I serve.

I’m going to try to update on here some of the highlights over the next few days. Here’s an overview of what we did.

We arrived in Swazi on Saturday and unpacked, met each other and chilled. On Sunday we attended church which was incredible and beautiful. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday looked very similar. We got up, had breakfast and went to Care Points. Care Points are run by women in the community called Go-Go’s. These women take care of the kids that attend, prepare lunch and feed them, and some also teach the kids. For the most part my group just ran wild with the ids and played with them, taught a few Bible lessons and did a clothing distribution. It rained a ton Wednesday so we didn’t go to the Care Point. After Care Points we returned to the center for lunch and to re-group. Then we set off for home visits. For the most part we visited people who already know the Lord but needed some encouragement. I ended up being encouraged and learning a lot from the people we visited.

The building at the Care Point we visited Mon, Tues, and Fri.

Around 4 or so we all finished our home visits and headed back to the center. Then we had free time until dinner. Some people played with kids, some spent time with Jesus, some played games, etc. There were lots of options and this was a good chill time. We ate dinner as a team and then talked together for a while. Each night we talked about events of the day and what we were thinking and processing through. I loved this time because it was great to hear about what everyone else was experiencing. We also learned a little more about Swazi each night during this time. After a time of worship the official night stuff was over and we had free time until we wanted to go to bed. Some nights we did “Salon de Swazi” (more about this later) but most of the time we all sat around and talked. I loved this time because most nights it ended up being the Sass Squad (4 of us girls) plus couple other people. We stayed up talking about all kinds of things, laughing and eating chocolate. It was great.

On our last day, Saturday the 30th, we went on a game drive and saw tons of animals, went to the market in Manzini- which was great, went out to dinner and hung out in the guest house we were staying at. It was a wonderful last day. On Sunday we flew out and it was a really hard day because of all the good-byes.

I miss my team a lot and am still processing through everything I learned on this trip. God certainly used it to teach me and grow me. I’ll try to post more on all that later!

At a Care Point with two of my team members and some of the kiddos.

SWAZI!

kellyjwarren — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:57:02 +0000

Welp. I’m leaving for Swaziland tomorrow! I’m really excited and also a little nervous. I will be flying out of Charlotte at 6 AM on Friday, July 22. I’ll have a layover at JFK in NYC and from there will fly to Johannesburg, South Africa. From there I will take a short flight to Manzini, Swaziland. Most of the team will meet up at JFK but we will all be together in Johannesburg. After arriving in Manzini we will still have to drive to get to the place we are staying for the week. I will do all of this in reverse on July 31 and will be back in the states August 1.

While I am in Swaziland I will be working mostly with children. We will go to care points every morning to play with them, teach a Bible lesson, do a craft and in general love them and show them Jesus. In the afternoons our schedule varies some. Somedays we will do home visits, some days we will go into local schools, and other days we will just do whatever the missionaries we are working with want us to do. There will also be children at and/or near by the compound we are staying at. We will have many opportunities to play with them. Honestly, this trip still doesn’t seem real to me. I can say the words “I am going to Swaziland” or “I will be in Africa” all day long, however I know that it won’t really sink in until I am on the plane or in country. I am so very blessed to have this opportunity.

I would super appreciate your prayers as I’m traveling and in country. Pray for safety for myself and my team and peace for my family as I am so far away. Please also be praying for all the people we meet, that God will be preparing their hearts to understand the depth of His love and mercy and that He will give us wisdom and boldness when sharing His truth. Please pray for the health of our team, that we would have no sicknesses and would all remain physically healthy as well as being emotionally and mentally healthy. When I have been on trips like this in the past, Satan uses any opportunity he can to limit the spreading of the gospel. Pray that this team will bond and we will not allow petty things to cause division.

Thanks and yall are the beeest!!!

peace

kellyjwarren — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 01:58:45 +0000

2 Chron 20:12 “…We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

One thing i’ve been learning about lately is trust in God and His plans rather than my own. Which is great because when I’m trusting His plans I don’t have to run around in 85 directions trying to make lists and figure things out. It brings so much peace to know that I’m really not in control. I ultimately don’t have power in the end. And it’s so freeing to know that no matter how badly I mess up I can’t ruin God’s plans for my life. He already knows what is best for my life. He will get glory through me and my life, despite me.

And anyways, the average lifespan of an American woman is 79 years. I don’t have time to worry.