Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Kathryn's update!


Dear Family and Friends,

I want to share with you what I have been up to this past year. Most of you have seen pictures and heard stories, so this is simply a recap of the last six months. At the beginning of the year I went to Tijuana, Mexico to volunteer with YWAM San Diego Baja. I helped them move their entire base to a new location, and my organizational skills were put to good use! I also was a part of facilitating teams to build homes for poor families. Each new home takes two days to complete, and a family gets a home. My favorite thing to do was to go to the Zona Norte in downtown Tijuana. This area is the red light district where all the bars are located and prostitution takes place. There are many homeless people in that area. Our team would prayer walk and sometimes hand out flowers to the prostitutes. We also gave out hot chocolate, soup, and cookies to the homeless or anyone who passed by. ywamsandigobaja.org, (Homes of Hope)

I left Tijuana in March to attend a YWAM school of ministry development near Los Angeles, CA. I was able to lead some times of intercession and communion. In the school, I was challenged to look at my core values and beliefs to see if they were biblical. I learned about leadership, biblical worldview, discipleship of the Holy Spirit, Spiritual gifts, personal strengths and many more interesting and challenging topics. Once a week we worked with YWAM’s urban department and had the opportunity to prayer walk in downtown LA and the surrounding area. We also volunteered with Habitat for Humanity.

During the school God defined some of the things I am passionate about, and in doing so defined my call to discipleship and prayer in the midst of a broken and hurting world. My passion is Christ and to live a life devoted to Him. My mission is to disciple a generation to reach the nations. God has given me His heart for the city of LA and our nation. I have been contemplating the idea that if we can not live as missionaries in our own communities, how can we live as missionaries in other nations.

All that being said, I will begin volunteering with YWAM Los Angeles (ywamla.org, transformationdts.org) in the beginning of August. I am staffing the upcoming fall DTS (Discipleship Training School) and working with the urban department. I will be contacting local community service agencies and setting up volunteer opportunities for our staff and students. The vision is to move into the city of LA with some fellow YWAM’ers in the next year in a half. We would like to do urban training in an urban setting, and be well connected with some community agencies to better serve them and the community. I will be sharing more details of all that I am going to be apart of in the weeks to come.




Please join me in prayer in the following areas:

To transition well into my role with YWAM LA and to find favor with staff and students.
To be lead by the Holy Spirit as I disciple students, lead times of prayer, and lead outreaches into the community.
To connect with local agencies, so we can better serve our community.
To continue to grow in my relationship with Christ and my devotion to Him.
To continue to trust God for all that He has called me to do.

God is so good and is so faithful to provide!! Thanks for your love, prayers, and support. Please know you are a part of what God is doing in my life and how He has used me in all lives of the people I have met around the world. (Romans 10:14-15)

In His Love,
Kathryn Richard

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