Sunday, July 31, 2011
First impressions
It is our night free time here in Juarez. I have met my fellow students and we have had a little time to bond. Three girls came with me and ty across the border. There names are Lauren, marissa, and Elizabeth. We got time to get to know each other on the ride to Juarez. Lauren is 18 and from Pennselvania, marissa is from Dallas Texas and elizabeth is from Houston. When we got to the base we met the rest of the crew. There is the leaders, lalo and Lea(who is married to Ty and they have an 18 month old son named Eli). Then there are the Mexican students. Estrella, laydh, eirc and Alex. There is also a guy named shawn but i haven't figured out what he does yet. I am all organized and believe i am ready for this. Marissa is in the process of dreads and I think I'm going to have her do a couple in my hair! :) the warned us that tomorrow is going to be a boring day so if my post isn't very exciting then let's say i warned you too. Well i think that's all for now . . . Love you guys!
Arrival
Hello friends! It is currently 1:38 in El Paso Texas and HOT! (probably as hot as MI though).
Okay, so lets talk about the trip. I got to the airport at 4:30 and had some amazing support come in at 5. I had a small everything bagel and headed on my plane. It was one of htose tiny ones so the carry-ons had to go under the plane. I began to feel sick pretty soon into the flight but I decided to shake it off. Then I felt like I could throw up. And so i did. All over the floor #luckyihadanisleseat! Then i went to the bathroom half an hour later and threw up again and again. Finally it felt over so back to my seat I went. After getting off the plane i grabbed my suitcase and headed to the other side of the Houston airport. Turns out i grabbed the wrong suitcase. I went back and forth 5 times and missed my first flight into el paso. The next flight was in about 2 hours so it gave me a good amount of time to go cry in the bathroom and collect myself. The flight to el paso went fine (besides the fact i was sitting in between two complaining men) but I slept most of the time. I got off, met my director Ty and my fellow student lauren (who is so sweet!) we got my luggage and headed to Wendy's which was perfect for a hungry but upset stomach. Overall I was sooooooo nervous and scared. I even questioned if i was ready for this. But of course God pulled me through with the help of my loyal friends:) we are here at the office in el paso waiting for the next student to show up. I'm pumped!!!!!!!!
Mom: Lauren has the same amount of luggage as me :)
Love you all and thanks for the prayers
Okay, so lets talk about the trip. I got to the airport at 4:30 and had some amazing support come in at 5. I had a small everything bagel and headed on my plane. It was one of htose tiny ones so the carry-ons had to go under the plane. I began to feel sick pretty soon into the flight but I decided to shake it off. Then I felt like I could throw up. And so i did. All over the floor #luckyihadanisleseat! Then i went to the bathroom half an hour later and threw up again and again. Finally it felt over so back to my seat I went. After getting off the plane i grabbed my suitcase and headed to the other side of the Houston airport. Turns out i grabbed the wrong suitcase. I went back and forth 5 times and missed my first flight into el paso. The next flight was in about 2 hours so it gave me a good amount of time to go cry in the bathroom and collect myself. The flight to el paso went fine (besides the fact i was sitting in between two complaining men) but I slept most of the time. I got off, met my director Ty and my fellow student lauren (who is so sweet!) we got my luggage and headed to Wendy's which was perfect for a hungry but upset stomach. Overall I was sooooooo nervous and scared. I even questioned if i was ready for this. But of course God pulled me through with the help of my loyal friends:) we are here at the office in el paso waiting for the next student to show up. I'm pumped!!!!!!!!
Mom: Lauren has the same amount of luggage as me :)
Love you all and thanks for the prayers
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Departure
T-MINUS 8 hours!!!!!!!
ways you can pray for me:
- safe travel
- i might be afraid of flying alone so peace while in airports
- finding my director easily
- having a good first day (meeting people and such)
- good team dynamics
that is all for now, i will keep updating the prayer requests as they come. You guys can pray for my parents though for sure! I am their baby and they hate to see me leave but love what I am doing.
I also want to take this post to thank each and every one of you. If you are reading this blog it means that you have been a huge part of my trip already! I thank all of you who gave financailly. I greatly appreciate it. (and if you have not donated financially, not fret! I can recieve support my first 3 months). I have already been overwhelmed with all the prayed I have recieved. It has been such a blessing I can not comprehend how this trip would go without it.
A few things to know before you begin this blogging adventure with me:
I will probably not be checking my spelling very often, so I'm going to apologize ahead of time. Also I have been getting into this thing called hash tagging. here is a link to explain it : http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/susanorlean/2010/06/hash.html
#thankyoulaurenkastner
I just want to say that I have AMAZING friends and family and I cannot wait to share my experiences with all of you via blog. If you want to get a hold of me you can facebook me or email me at kelseyraek@gmail.com. If you want to write me or send me a package you can send it to:
Kelsey Klumpstra
YWAM DTS
4444 Edgar Park Ave
El Paso, TX 79904
I can only recieve letters/packages the first three months :(
I Love ALL of you!
ways you can pray for me:
- safe travel
- i might be afraid of flying alone so peace while in airports
- finding my director easily
- having a good first day (meeting people and such)
- good team dynamics
that is all for now, i will keep updating the prayer requests as they come. You guys can pray for my parents though for sure! I am their baby and they hate to see me leave but love what I am doing.
I also want to take this post to thank each and every one of you. If you are reading this blog it means that you have been a huge part of my trip already! I thank all of you who gave financailly. I greatly appreciate it. (and if you have not donated financially, not fret! I can recieve support my first 3 months). I have already been overwhelmed with all the prayed I have recieved. It has been such a blessing I can not comprehend how this trip would go without it.
A few things to know before you begin this blogging adventure with me:
I will probably not be checking my spelling very often, so I'm going to apologize ahead of time. Also I have been getting into this thing called hash tagging. here is a link to explain it : http://m.newyorker.com/online/blogs/susanorlean/2010/06/hash.html
#thankyoulaurenkastner
I just want to say that I have AMAZING friends and family and I cannot wait to share my experiences with all of you via blog. If you want to get a hold of me you can facebook me or email me at kelseyraek@gmail.com. If you want to write me or send me a package you can send it to:
Kelsey Klumpstra
YWAM DTS
4444 Edgar Park Ave
El Paso, TX 79904
I can only recieve letters/packages the first three months :(
I Love ALL of you!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Letter
Today my parents recieved a letter. This is what it says:
"The headlines on April 11, 2011 read "Murder Rate in Juarez Has Dropped in 2011; Ministry Believes Prayer Has Helped". We believe that prayer is making a difference, and we would like to ask you to join us, and the others around the world that are praying for our city!
In January 2008, the cartel wars in Meixco boldly moved into the border city of Juarez. Before that time we had a murder rate of approximately 300 people a year, which was considered high even for a city of 1,5 million people. Juaerz was considered a somewhat dangerous place. Since then the murder rate has skyrocketed.
In 2008, there were 1,653 murders which was 551% higher than the previous year. In 2009 there were 2,626 murders. In August of that year Juarez was named the "Most Violent City in the World" - more violent than cities in war zones!
And last year, in 2010, there were 3,111 murders in the city! In February 2010 it became known as the "Murder Capital of hte World". Ciudad Juarez now holds the world record for homicides per capita. The city surpasses war sone death tolls, and makes it seem in effect, like a war zone. There were so many murders in Juarez, Mexcio, last year that it is also now called "Death City" and "Murder City".
But this year the trend has taken a downturn and we want that to continue! Would you pray with us that the enemy's grasp on Juarez would be broken and that the city would become known as the "City of Peace" and the "City of Light"? Please continue to pray for hte safety of all those who minister in dangerous situations here are around the world."
Although this letter is supposed to be uplifting, my dad's exact words were "Why would they send this to US?" and my mom said something like, "Oh and by the way Kelsey, thanks for picking the most dangerous city in the world :)" The crazy thing is this does not scare me at all. I am more nervous about other things than spending 3 months in "Death City". But I do ask you to pray for my entire team as we face this city and its problems.
8 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"The headlines on April 11, 2011 read "Murder Rate in Juarez Has Dropped in 2011; Ministry Believes Prayer Has Helped". We believe that prayer is making a difference, and we would like to ask you to join us, and the others around the world that are praying for our city!
In January 2008, the cartel wars in Meixco boldly moved into the border city of Juarez. Before that time we had a murder rate of approximately 300 people a year, which was considered high even for a city of 1,5 million people. Juaerz was considered a somewhat dangerous place. Since then the murder rate has skyrocketed.
In 2008, there were 1,653 murders which was 551% higher than the previous year. In 2009 there were 2,626 murders. In August of that year Juarez was named the "Most Violent City in the World" - more violent than cities in war zones!
And last year, in 2010, there were 3,111 murders in the city! In February 2010 it became known as the "Murder Capital of hte World". Ciudad Juarez now holds the world record for homicides per capita. The city surpasses war sone death tolls, and makes it seem in effect, like a war zone. There were so many murders in Juarez, Mexcio, last year that it is also now called "Death City" and "Murder City".
But this year the trend has taken a downturn and we want that to continue! Would you pray with us that the enemy's grasp on Juarez would be broken and that the city would become known as the "City of Peace" and the "City of Light"? Please continue to pray for hte safety of all those who minister in dangerous situations here are around the world."
Although this letter is supposed to be uplifting, my dad's exact words were "Why would they send this to US?" and my mom said something like, "Oh and by the way Kelsey, thanks for picking the most dangerous city in the world :)" The crazy thing is this does not scare me at all. I am more nervous about other things than spending 3 months in "Death City". But I do ask you to pray for my entire team as we face this city and its problems.
8 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Nerves
As the month of July came on I kept telling myself that I would get more and more prepared mentally. This however, turned out to be false. As each day keeps speeding by I feel pressured to become prepared. (Which of course is good and bad). I have always just been plain excited about this next step of my life but now as I begin to talk to others more about it and comprehending the small amount of time I have left, my nerves begin to come. I know that the Lord has complete control of my life and anything I do for His glory in His name will be blessed by Him. I still have so much to do but I'm sure it will be fast and easy once I put my mind to it.
To Do List:
- Find a Flight
- Send in my boarding forms
- Buy more 'missionary' clothes (longer skirts, dresses with sleeves, a slip. . .)
- Communicate with a lady who has gone through this particular DTS
- Go on a family vacation
- Live up my last summer as a High Schooler
All this is pretty much to say that I wish I had more summer but I am super excited about August!!!
To Do List:
- Find a Flight
- Send in my boarding forms
- Buy more 'missionary' clothes (longer skirts, dresses with sleeves, a slip. . .)
- Communicate with a lady who has gone through this particular DTS
- Go on a family vacation
- Live up my last summer as a High Schooler
All this is pretty much to say that I wish I had more summer but I am super excited about August!!!
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