inLIGHTin

I think this is a record for the most blogs in a month!! You all should be proud of me!!

How's life back in the land of seasons?? I can't even describe how weird it is to me to have lived for a year and a half experiencing the same weather!! I mean, sometimes it rains more, sometimes is hotter or cooler, but always the trees are green, always we're wearing shorts and tanktops and DYING when we wear anything more. I have worn pants three times in the past year, and a jacket not even once. Sam is very ready for some cold weather, but I'm a summer girl and love it. I am however, ready to be a little cold for once, but mostly just to have something different. Already we are dreaming of hot chocolate, snow, using actual blankets, and taking hot showers. Things you never knew you'd miss!

Well, we did finally get our applications for 5th semester and ranked our preferences as first Saginaw, MI, second Miami, FL, and third, Roseau, Dominica. At this point, we'd pretty much be ok with any of them, but are hoping more for Saginaw. If you get the chance, please pray that we get accepted there, but especially that we end up in the same place as James and Mary and Marc and Ericka as well. The friendships we've made here have been amazing. I have such a cool group of girls that I hang out with. We're supposed to about our placement for 5th on or before November 5th, which is the day after Mini 2. I'm expecting we will hear no earlier than that date, so you all can start bugging us about it right after that, but we'll also try to let you all know, cuz we're going to be so excited!!

In the next posting below this, I've included some of the pictures from the first inLIGHTin ministry we had on Friday!! It was kind of crazy leading up to it, because I was in charge of securing enough donations from the area to be able to feed everyone, but miraculously we did have enough food and it went really well. Someone counted over 100 kids participating in one of the games, so we had plenty of interest!! It was great!! The ministry is intended to target teenagers, but because of different school things going on that day, we ended up with mostly elementary aged kids. it was fine and a lot of fun, but we're hoping to find a way to draw in a much older crowd in the next coming weeks. Pray that we would find where they're at and just be very aware of what their needs are right now, and not try to force our agenda's on them. The one's we managed to talk to seem to really just desire relationships, well, the girls anyway. The men in this culture are a whole different issue and need a lot of guidance. You can see last weeks posting for more info. So our first week was definitely a success in some aspects, but also really gave us an idea for what to expect, and what we need to do. Another area of prayer is regarding the woman who is currently renting the building we're using. The owner gave us permission, but the renter, who runs a cafe/bar there in the evenings, was not very happy to have us there. About halfway through she invited a bunch of men in who started drinking, so we had to ask them to at least go outside to drink, and then everyone started arguing and no one was happy. Fortunately, most of the kids were outside and weren't aware of what was going on, but we know is this going to be an issue that we have to deal with before next week. Please pray that the woman would be open and accomodating to us, and that we can work out something that's good for all of us.

Well, that's about all our news! Both of us are just plugging away at school and trying not to think about Christmas too much. We love the island and don't mind being here, but have both realized that a year is too long to be away and are starting to get really excited to go home. Pray that we would be content here and just cherish our last two months here on this amazing island. Feel free to send us an email and catch us up on what's going on in all your lives! Let us know what we can be praying for you, and know that we are SO EXCITED to come home and see you at Christmas!!

Love to all,

Katrina

inLIGHTin pictures

These are the pictures from our first inLIGHTin ministry!



Here's part of the team, hiding in the shade waiting for the door to be unlocked. When the owner showed up to let us in (15 minutes before we were suppossed to start), he told us we looked like refugees camped outside.

Ryan praying before giving the message.

We played chubby bunny for one of the games. The kids had no idea how to play, so Ryan and Liz had to demonstrate!

Although she's obviously not from the age group we were targeting, she's so adorable! Where there's free food, anyone will show up.

Playing capture the flag in Portsmouth's awesome park/cricket field/football field/everything else field.

October news and hurricane...

So, I'm sorry I'm not more consistent in updating this thing. I always have things in my mind to write about, but I don't usually get the chance to sit down and write them out to you. I think the rest of this semester is going to be relatively not-busy for me, so maybe I'll get better with the updates.

Life here has been changing and busy. Sam had his first mini of semester 4 and did really well!! He's really picking up the material well because its new and doctor-ly, so it keeps him interested. It was a huge relief to have this first mini go well though, because it takes off some pressure for the rest of the semester. Even though he has a bit of senior-itis and is having trouble staying motivated, he is enjoying this semester. He's been doing a lot more hands-on stuff through physical exams in class, as well as going through some clinic rotations at the hospital in Roseau. He's ready to head on to the the next step though and actually be in a hospital full time.

I finished my first set of classes for the semester, and am now enjoying fall break! It's been really nice to have the week off, I think I needed the break. I'll be starting my last round of classes and then I will have a degree in December (God willing)!! I know its going to feel really good to have this part done with.

The sad news for us is that our friend Mary left last week to go back to the states. She's about 5 months pregnant now, and needs to be closer to home for medical care. It was really hard to see her go and a little tough getting used to life without her here, but its good that she can be back home now. Continue to pray for her and the baby's health (everything looks good so far), also pray for our friend Ericka who's about 6 months along and has a high risk pregnancy. Before Mary left I got to put together a little baby shower/going away party for Mary. It was a lot of fun and turned out pretty well, even with our limited resources. The pictures of that are below.

In other news....there is a young pastor who just moved here as a missionary with his wife who is a student at Ross. He has been led to start a youth ministry in the town of Portsmouth near the school. One of the biggest problems in society is the youth, because most of them are raised in fatherless homes, and end up having children of their own at very young ages. Overall they are just kind of neglected by society here. So pastor Ryan has been led to minister to them! Its going to be a very exciting ministry, because it is obvious that God is with him and will use him to accomplish great things here in Dominica. I'm excited to see that God is working in the people here and am excited to jump in behind. So, next week, Friday Oct. 24th will be the first meeting of in-Light-in. We have no idea how many kids will come, but we have a place, we have some volunteers, and we have some ideas for how to reach them, and we'll see what happens. We would really appreciate you all praying for this as it gets started, because the need here is so great. We are relying solely on donations for food and other supplies, so pray that the community responds generously. We have no idea what to expect with this, so your prayers would be greatly appreciated!! If you want to check out Ryan's blog and get a feel for where his heart is at, check it out at: www.millertimejedidiah.blogspot.com

I think that wraps up most of our news! Actually, as I write this right now, we are experiencing our first hurricane! It actually didn't hit our island directly but passed a bit north of us, but it has definitely still affected us. The rain and storm surge were so bad last night that when we woke up this morning, pretty much the whole island was shut down. The prime minister told everyone to close their businesses and stay at home. None of the transports are running because near the water, the roads are blocked by boats and other debris that have been left in the road by the waves. There were also a lot of mudslides blocking off some of the other villages. It's pretty exciting. The doors are open in our aparment, and even from all the way up on the hill, I can hear the waves. The beach is almost a 10 minute walk from our house. So its pretty impressive. The water is completely brown, but we've actually had electricity for most of the day, for which I am very grateful for. I had to work still today (the owners make TONS of money when everything else is shut down), but tomorrow I'm hoping to go take some pictures of the water before it dies down too much. I wish everyone could have seen the rain we've had. It's just amazing to me coming from dry Colorado. If Grand Junction ever got as much rain as we've had here in the past 2 days, I think it would go back to being a lake instead of a valley! We've actually had rain every day for at least the last month. It's been pretty amazing. I'm actually not sick of it yet, although everyone else is, because I enjoy the change.

Ok, I'll wrap it up. That catches you up on our news! Oh, for all you who are wondering, we still don't know where we'll be living after Christmas. They keep telling us "you'll get an email this week," and then it becomes "oh actually it'll be next week." And that email is just to give us the applications for either Michigan, Miami or here in Dominica, then it will be a few weeks after that before we hear where we've been accepted. We plan on applying to all three places, but we're hoping to get into Michigan. The program and living conditions there seems to be the best option. So keep that in your prayers if you don't mind. You can be sure that we'll let you know when we do finally hear!!

Ok, that's it! Check out the pictures below, and send us an email to catch us up on your news if you get the chance! We love and miss you all....

Katrina

Baby shower and goodbye

Mary's baby shower! Even though we weren't able to buy cute baby things, we still managed to have a fun party complete with cakes and lots of riends. Everyone enjoyed being able to support Mary and the baby, as well as say goodbye to her before she left. Overall I'd say it was a success!

Before Mary left, the four of us went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant on the beach. It was nice to spend some time together with the four of us, without having to cook!

This is a picture of all the girls in my Bible study! Almost all of us are spouses, and its really nice to have a good group to fellowship with.

This is Charlie, the cat we're watching for a couple of months. The sink is one of his favorite places to sleep!

And of course, I have to include a sunset picture!

New Apartment

Well, we have moved (again), but are still in the same apartment building we have always been. The last two semesters we were in a double because of family coming to visit, but since everyone has been here who is coming, we decided to switch back to a single. it's pretty small, but we actually really like it. If there's one thing Dominica has taught us its that we don't need a lot of space or a lot of things to be happy. We're really happy in our comfy little apartment. Mary and James live right next door, so that makes it a lot of fun too.

Kubuli was following me around as I took pictures, that's why she's in almost every shot.









This is the kitchen. As you can see, the fridge is VERY SMALL (it's the small white thing to the right of the door in this pic, the microwave is on top of it). I though it would be a problem, but so far it really hasn't. It makes me wonder why everyone thinks they need those monstrosities we have everywhere in the states. For families they're obviously necessary, but for Sam and I, we're fine with the tiny one. Who would have thought...





















One of Kubuli's favorite pastimes is to destroy cardboard boxes. It's very strange for a cat...but she loves it!