Hello from Lagos!

We made it! We have wifi for the night, nothing promised past that, but I wanted to let you all know that all 11 of us and 23 bags made it from College Station, to Houston, to Lagos, to an Ambulance, to a hotel for the night. Tomorrow we will visit the mission hospital we will be working at for the next week. (I think). Everything in Africa is pretty flexible haha so we will see what tomorrow brings!

Dinner calls...We will update as we can! Thank you for the prayers!

Katie and Kaitlyn

Feelings of inadequacy.

Good evening, it's kind of late, but I'm kind of geeked out with excitement, and I'm feeling a little nervous about the trip, mainly because I feel inadequate to go do what I'm about to go do.

The verse Katie shared in the last post sums things up pretty well.  But I don't even know that I'd consider myself weak, sometimes I consider myself far below that, like the dirt under the rock that the worm is sitting on.

I think great men of the Bible also felt the same way.

1. When Moses was commanded by God to set the Hebrew nation free: "But uses protested to God, saying "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?" - Exodus 2

God answers in the next verse, as He always does, so faithfully.  "I will be with you."

We don't have to go it alone.

2. Gideon has a similar reaction when the Lord asks him to rescue Israel from the Midianites: "But Lord", replied Gideon, "how can I rescue Israel?  My clan is the weakest in the whole rice of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!"  - Judges 6:15

And the Lord says to him in verse 16: "I will be with you."

3. And again, Jeremiah responds in a similar fashion when God called him to be a prophet: "O Sovereign Lord, I can't speak for you, I'm too young!"  - Jeremiah 1:6

Again, God responds in verse 8: "And don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you."

I feel like I could go on with more examples, but the gist is this: God uses those who are willing, those who are weak, and those that feel inadequate.  He does not need the strength of men to accomplish His great works, for the strength of men always fails, but our unchanging Savior has endless strength that is all good, all the time.  Therefore, I rely not on my strength or abilities (which are limited to say the least), but rely on the one God from whom all strength originates.

It's worth repeating:

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. - 2 Corinthians 12:9 Be in prayer for us!  We leave in 4 days!

Summer Missions

Hello again! 8 days to go...

This is a call to prayer! I am convinced that prayer is the most powerful thing a believer can do (James 5:16), and I beg each of you reading this to faithfully pray for these teams! (Kaitlyn, please add to this with any teams you know of!)

THAILAND: This trip has my little sister and a lot of dear friends on it- so as often as you pray for Nigeria, please pray twice for the Thailand team! They will be there June 12-June 21. This team will be doing village evangelism, preaching, and working in an orphanage, among other things. I know God is going to do AMAZING things! The village they will be visiting has only three Christian families in it. What an opportunity for the gospel to be spread! Pray that God would equip this team with boldness and that each member would allow the Spirit to speak through them as they step out to preach the gospel.

BOLIVIA: My inspiring friend Susanna and her friend Jennifer will be headed to Bolivia on June 27. They return July 24. This will be a trip to work with a group of orphan girls that Susanna has previously worked with. She will even get to visit the little girl she currently sponsors! There has been a lot of unrest with the leadership in this ministry and some political issues so please pray that things will get resolved and there will be no issues while they are in the country. Pray that they will know how to meet the needs of the kids that they will be working with and that they will be able to work around the language barrier. Also for health, strength and joy no matter what. Pray that God will continue to reveal His will to them for the future.

CROATIA: A team from MMBC will be in Croatia from June 13-23. This is a construction trip with a wide range of people going to serve. Please pray for safety for the whole team, that contact will be restored with the missionary there now, and for safety while they are serving.

NIGERIA: Kaitlyn and I fly out of College Station June 14th! Kaitlyn will be back July 13th and I come back July 26th. I can't tell you how excited we both are about it! Please be praying that we would be sensitive to the Spirit's leading and that our team would be spiritually, physically and technically prepared for all that God has in store. I think we have both been battling with the realization that we may not have a clue what we're doing...but after reading 1 Corinthians I am confident that we're the sort of people God is happy to use :-) (But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.) Our greatest desire is that God would be glorified through this summer, both home and abroad, so please pray for that every moment you think of us!

I'm so amazed by our God. Last Tuesday I went to my old small group through Eikon (young adults ministry at MMBC) and as we were praying I came to the realization that just from that small group of girls, we were sending people to Asia, Africa, South America, North America, and Europe. That's 5/7 continents. God can do some pretty crazy things- even through a tiny group in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Thank you for your payers!

Katie

How did the disciples prepare?

I've been at a bit of a loss as to how we should prepare ourselves for a trip with this much spiritual weight.  Honestly, it feels a bit like preparing for a battle against an unknown adversary, or it's like asking me how to solve any math problem from 5th grade level on.

So I asked myself, how did Jesus and the disciples prepare for big moments?  (This would've been a good moment to be wearing a WWJD bracelet, Katie, we should acquire some of those) Almost every time, without fail, they went away to be alone and pray.  

Luke 5:16: "But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."  

How often do we fail to prepare our hearts through prayer?  

One of my favorite quotes lately has been: "have you prayed about it as much as you've worried and complained about it?"  

The best and only answer to our worries, thoughts, preparation, and anxieties should be prayer.  We could study up on surgeries, read and research Nigeria, the muslim faith, the culture, and the history until we're exhausted, but will any of that prepare us like prayer will?  This isn't an excuse for us to be lazy and head out on our mission totally unprepared from a research standpoint, but it is so comforting to know that we don't have to have all the answers.  

Christ uses the weakest vessels at the toughest times in their lives to manifest His glory and His love.  If he needed a powerful ruler to carry out His plan, he wouldn't be God.  His power is perfected in our weaknesses.  My own power will not save people, Christ moving in their heart alone will save them.  My role is merely to plant seeds and guide them when their hearts are open to hear.  

2 Corinthians 12:9: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more glad about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may work through me.  

For the sake of time, I'll break it down.  

• Get away and pray.  Communication with God keeps you in tune with His almighty plan and keeps your heart and mind sensitive to the Holy Spirit's whispers.  Set aside serious time to do it (just give God your full attention, it doesn't have to be 45 minutes straight), and save the rifle shot prayers for random daytime moments.  
• Trust that God has all the answers, and it's ok if you don't. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight." - Proverbs 3: 5-6
• My desires and comfort matter very little.  I am part of the body of Christ, not the Savior of the world, and I alone can do only what Christ does through me.  No matter the struggle, Christ has been through worse, and I gladly put myself at the mercy of the one who saved me.  

18 days!  Be in prayer, everything else will work itself out.  

With great love, Kaitlyn and Katie.  

Philippians 4:19

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say that I have been absolutely amazed at how God has provided for this trip. I shouldn't be shocked, God promises to do so over and over again. And yet with each email, text, and Facebook message my jaw drops, my skin tingles and I can't wipe the smile off my face for hours. I feel like God is really giving me the ability to proclaim Philippians 4:19 with full certainty. Seriously guys, I can't tell you how humbled we have been by your support...and even more humbled to know how you all have been praying for us throughout this process. Kaitlyn and I have been on our knees praying for this trip and doing just about everything we could think of to try and fund it...

Kaitlyn gave plasma a few times, it sounded like an interesting experience to say the least. 

Our garage sale was a HUGE success, thanks to everyone who donated and prayed.

Kaitlyn with our first sale.

So, after all of your prayer and donations, I think Kaitlyn and I can both officially say we are funded! If you still want to be a part of giving toward the trip, anything beyond what we will need for ourselves will go towards helping others on the team or buying more medical supplies. Again, words can't express how humbled and grateful we are for all of you. 

The Quartemont's are in the process of purchasing our tickets and finalizing details, so be praying for that! Tentatively, the team will be leaving the weekend of June 14 and returning around July 10th. I'll be working in a hospital in Lagos for a few weeks after that and returning late July. We'll post the final details when we get them. In the mean time, please be praying everything will fall into place and that the team will be able to spend the next month really drawing near to Christ and preparing for this amazing opportunity. 

We love you guys,

Katie and Kaitlyn

MMI who?

So, hopefully after reading Kaitlyn's post you have a little bit better of an idea of WHERE we're headed, but I thought I might let you in on WHO we're headed there with. 

As I mentioned before, Dr. Imperial connected me with the Quartermonts last Thanksgiving. It has been such a pleasure getting to know them. Dr. Quartemont is a family practice physician in College Station who received extensive surgical training while in residency. He and his wife Velvet felt called to ministry from the start and actually lived in Nigeria for a few years after Dr. Quartermont finished residency. They returned home and founded medical missions international in 1991 and have been traveling to Nigeria for over 20 years. Last year they were able to perform over 150 surgeries and see over 900 patients. Kaitlyn and I are SO excited to be apart of it this year. We're going to have a team of 10-15 people this summer. Here are a few pictures from Medical Missions International's facebook, which you can visit here: https://www.facebook.com/MedicalMissionsInternational?fref=ts

Typical OR in Nigeria

This is one of the best stories I heard when I first met the Quartemonts last November. This baby was resuscitated for over 15 minutes by their son and survived. Seriously, miracle child!

And of course, we're really looking forward to playing football with the locals, who will undoubtedly school both of us.

It's been a great week at the HSC for us. Last night Dr. Clark was kind enough to come in and show a few of us how to perform some surgical ties and sutures. Here is a pic of some of our classmates attempting to suture chickens. 

To top it all off, I am SO happy to announce that TAMHSC awarded me a partial International Education Scholarship that will help fund the trip! I'm still not fully funded yet, but that is going to help in a huge way. Thank you guys so, so much for praying for that for me- and for your continued prayers! I know I couldn't have gotten it without you.

Stay tuned for more information on future fundraising events...a garage sale, profit share, and pancake dinner are in the works! 

Love you all!

Katie

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Where are we going again?

Hey everyone!  This is my first official contribution to the blog, and I feel a little bit of pressure to make it good.  I thought I'd start off with some logistics.  "Blah, eww, gross, logistics." Don't fret, not boring logistics.  Fun logistics!

I thought I'd show everyone some pictures of WHERE we're going.  If you're like most Americans, you might be able to pick Nigeria out on a map.  If you can't, don't be embarrassed, because I'm here to show you!  We can call this post: Good times with Geography!

Here is Nigeria:

And here are the cities we're going to: Lagos: the port city (and the most populous city of Nigeria, around 8 mil during the last census of 2006), Kaduna (a large trade center due to lots of intersecting transportation), and Ondo (a smaller city known for Cocoa manufacturing)

If no rebellions or dangerous activities are occurring in these cities, we'll be in all of them at some point during our trip.  Dr. Quartemont seems pretty wise in the ways of Nigeria, which is wonderful considering I know only what a few people have told me. 

Things we DO know: 

There are a heap ton of people in Lagos:  

There are a lot of people in need of physical help: 

There are a lot of people in need of spiritual help: 

And I know we are called by God to serve those in need, both at home and abroad.  Christ was a wonderful example of this while on Earth, now it's our turn to share the love of Christ with others.  

Be in prayer for us as we prepare to leave and while we're there.  Pray for sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, courage to share His love with others, and safety for everyone: the doctors, students, and the patients.  

With great love, 

Kait.  

Stepping Out in Faith

"And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

I've been thinking about that verse a lot lately. As we draw closer to our support raising deadline (May 22) I find myself slightly more anxious about raising support. To be honest, this is the first time in my life that I have ever committed to something that I didn't have the money for. It feels awkward to say that. Money is something of a taboo subject...which is funny, since Jesus seemed to talk about it an awful lot. But, that's getting a little off topic. My point in writing this isn't that I haven't finished fundraising- it's that i'm almost excited that I haven't. I think we can fall into a false sense of self-sufficiency in America. For the most part, we live luxurious lifestyles in comparison to the rest of the world. I can't think of a time I didn't know where my next meal was coming from. Don't get me wrong, i'm not complaining that God has so richly blessed me, but I'm excited to have to rely on Him in a big, tangible way. It's somewhat nerve wracking at times, for once this isn't something I can really control, but it's been pretty cool to see what God has already done.

Take last week for example. I'm studying in the library and someone who wishes to remain anonymous approached me telling me that she had recently been given some money and she felt as though she should help Kaitlyn and I with our trip. My jaw virtually hit the ground. It's not that I didn't think this person was generous, I know how amazing her heart is, but we're in medical school, and for the most part, we're not exactly dripping money. I can think of so many different things this person could have spent that money on...good things...and yet she felt led to give to our trip. Seriously, words can't express the gratitude I was filled with...and am filled with...as each of you have come along side me on this adventure. Your support and encouragement have been unbelievable...it's overwhelming to know how many of you are praying for us as we prepare for this summer, and I really can't express how thankful I am for that.

So, back on topic, Kaitlyn and I will be having a garage sale in College Station on May 5...if any of you want to stop by or have anything to donate we would really appreciate it! Just contact me or Kaitlyn for more information, and I'll post the address closer to that weekend.

Oh, and good news, Kaitlyn is going to come and save the level of writing on this blog...she's an amazing writer and I know you guys are going to enjoy her posts...so check back soon for that!

Love you guys! Thank you all SO MUCH for your prayers and support!

Katie

The Beginning

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This verse was heavy on my heart as I thought about what I would do this upcoming summer. Since it is the last real summer vacation of my life and the idea of applying to residencies in the future hangs somewhere in the back of my mind, the decision wasn't easy--at first. I considered spending the summer at home in Fort Worth, I considered applying for research positions, I considered traveling...but it always came back to missions. And then God made the decision really easy.

 For as long as I can remember I had two criteria that must be met before I joined a mission team abroad. They are personal convictions, not something I believe everyone can or must meet. But for me, I chose not to join a missions team until I could a) go for more than a couple of weeks and b) until I had received some amount of medical training that I could bring to the team. Like I said, those obviously aren't catch all criteria for a successful mission trip, but something that God put on my heart. When I considered what I would spend this summer vacation doing, the Lord reminded me of that conviction, and I began to ask around.

 God has blessed me with an amazing bible study through Grace Bible church in College Station. Dr. Imperial, a family doctor in College Station, leads the group, and when I asked him if he knew of any mission teams going out this summer he put me into contact with the Quartemonts. The rest, as they say, is history. I first contacted the Quartemonts last November. They are the founders of an organization called Medical Missions International. I'll use future posts to explain more about the organization and give you guys more details about the trip, but in November they brought me into their home, fed me (Gold to a medical student), and spoke so enthusiastically about their past trips that the excitement was overwhelming. The joy and love in their household is tangible, and I was immediately sold on the trip. Since then, the details have started to fall into place and Lord willing, I will be traveling with them alongside one of my favorite classmates to Nigeria for six weeks this summer! I can't say enough about how excited I am about this opportunity. I know this entry is already long enough so I'll go ahead and end it here...Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. More to come soon! Katie