Keeping the Faith :)

Sorry for the delay in blog posts, we have been hard at work here in Kabala! But it is such an encouragement to know that people are waiting for news from us and praying for us, thank you so much :)

We introduced the mentoring programs at the beginning of June, and ran our first two mentoring training sessions last week. What an incredible display of God's grace and power...over 35 youth showed up to both sessions, which is more than double the number of youth we usually have at youth meetings! It was amazing to see them talking to each other and discussing the importance of having mentors in life, and sharing ideas about how they could become better mentors in their own life. It is such an inspiration to see the young people of this town so excited and supportive of this program...it really gives us the courage to keep going. The support we have received from the NGO I work at, the church, and all the people we know in the community is really beyond description...another incredible reminder of how amazing God is, that he can provide us with a 'family network' on the other side of the world from where we grew up.

My partner in the program and my "sister" Katie will be heading back to England this week, so please pray for safe travel for her on her way home and for strength for me as I continue the work here. It has been such a blessing to have a friend and sister here to work with, to talk with, and to share with, and I am so grateful that she gave her time to come here with me. She will be doing some fundraising in England for the project, so pray that God will go ahead of that and bless it richly! After I take Katie to the airport and return to Kabala, I will be starting the HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse education sessions next week, and running bible studies on the call in God's word to stay pure and avoid sexual immorality. I am really excited to be starting these programs up, and am confident that God will go ahead off them...programs that deal with these topics are greatly needed here, but rarely discussed, so pray that the youth would have an open mind and be willing to learn.

I am reading an incredible book this week called "Against the Wind", which is a call for missionaries and those serving God with their lives to live differently and finish well in a world of compromise. It is an amazing inspiration, but definitely hard to read, because it makes me realize how I sometimes long for "home comforts" and do not fully rely on God...but there is a part in the book that discusses the certainty of knowing God's call for your life, and having faith in that when all else is lost. This is such an encouragement, because from the moment I stepped foot in Sierra Leone, I knew I had found God's call for my life - to work in Africa as a missionary, a teacher, and whatever else he has planned for me. Sometimes I think in 'realistic' terms and realize it would be much easier to just stay at home in Canada, where I have my family, friends, and everything I could ever need...and it doesn't make any sense to get up and leave for a place that I never knew before three years ago. However, when God calls you, there is a certainty that overshadows all doubt, so while I may miss my friends and loved ones back at home in Canada, I know that for now, I am fulfilling my calling...and I pray that God will reveal it more fully to me as I walk with him this summer, as to where he wants me to go next. Really, it is incomprehensible to think that somehow I am able to eat food I had never tried in Canada, walk miles under heat I am not used to, and speak a language that I never grew up with...hard to understand if you don't realize the greatness of our God. He has brought me here for a purpose, and as long as I stay committed to that, he will allow me to finish it. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"...I pray that wherever you are, you would experience the revealing of God's plan for your life

Much Love! -Krissi