A little recap on 2013 and why I'm going to Germany!

I thought maybe it would be time for an update for anyone remotely interested in what is going on in my life seeing as I'm leaving the country in 49 days and all. Wow. 49 days. When I got home last year, I thought this spring would never come. Now it's almost here, and I'm not sure how we're already here!

I mostly wanted to let you know a little bit of what God has been up to and where exactly He's leading me. 2013 was one of the hardest but best years so far. Last January I was in South Africa and now here I am sitting on my bed in Oregon. It is so crazy how things have changed. This year at home was nothing like I had planned or imagined on so many levels. Friendships came and went, opportunities were taken, mistakes were made, tears were cried, and joy was multiplied. I saw God literally provide my daily needs during the first six months that I was home. When I got off the plane from Scotland, I didn't even know how I was going to put gas in my car. But time after time after time God was faithful. Random checks, house cleaning jobs, babysitting, an incredibly loving mom, and then a full time job (that started just at the perfect time!) were all reminders that Papa always knows what I need and He is my faithful provider.

While I was home this summer, I was able to spend almost 4 weeks at camps. I love camp. It was so great to be able to serve the kids in our area and to be able to do it with some of my most favorite people in the world! Coming home to these camps again made me realize how incredibly blessed I was to be able to grow up going to them.

I have to be honest, my re-entry from a European/African YWAM experience back to good ol' Salem was much, much harder than I expected it to be. During my DTS my leaders kept telling us that being home was going to be the true test of what we had learned and changed when we were gone. They said it would be hard, lonely, and probably not that much fun at the beginning. As much as I didn't want to believe them, they were so right. After I left Belgium, I struggled with a deep depression and loneliness and a feeling of uselessness and disconnect from life here in Oregon. But again, Papa was faithful. He provided friendships that I needed to encourage me, to lift me up, to point out where I was wrong, and to just love on me. Some friends were literally only present in my life for 4 days or two weeks! But, they were such a blessing and such a gift from God.

So, why did I choose to go to Germany this spring? Great question! I heard about this school (Kerusso School of the Kingdom) when I was still in Brussels in February. A team from YWAM Herrnhut in Germany was visiting our base there, and they were basically on an advertising/recruiting trip for their base. Well, they got at least one new student from it! They were talking about second level schools they offered there (you have to have completed a DTS first before you can attend one of these), and Kerusso jumped out at me. I literally have not been able to get it out of my head since that day!

YWAM Herrnhut is a castle!!

Kerusso is all about Jesus and learning how to follow Him, doing the things He did. It focuses on practical, tangible ministry - praying for people, healings, prophetic worship and evangelism, and mercy ministries. It's about bringing revival to the nations, hope to the broken, poor, and needy, light to the darkest places, and Jesus to people who desperately need Him. I want to be a part of something like that. I am so excited for the opportunity to live in community again and to be constantly surrounded by people who are passionate about our sweet King Jesus and the people He so desires to see brought back to life in His Name!

I am confident that Kerusso is a crucial step in the way Papa is leading me. I know He has called me to full time mission overseas. I don't know where that means I'll be in 6 months after the school or in 5 years down the road. I don't really have a plan right now. Of course, if you know me even a little bit, you know I probably have some cockamamie idea swirling around in my head... :) But I am so excited to just take Jesus hand and walk this way with Him!

If you've made it all the way to the end of this, thank you! I'd like to ask you to please pray about partnering with me financially for this school. I thought that I was going to be able to pay for the tuition and travel expenses by working full time this fall and winter, but you know how life goes sometimes... And I'm learning to trust God to provide again! So if God puts it on your heart to give financially, you can give through my home church (Labish Center Community Church, 7114 Labish Center Rd NE, Salem, OR 97305) or to me directly (Katy Flanigan, PO Box 21207, Keizer OR 97307).
But even more than that, please partner with me in prayer. There is no possible way I will be able to succeed in this school or in future ministry without my friends, my family, praying for me. I have tons of reminder pictures that you can stick on your fridge or in your Bible or wherever! All I know is that I can do nothing without God and the encouragement that comes from knowing people are interceding for me.

Thank you again to everyone who supported me during my DTS last year and who helped me and encouraged me this year! I couldn't have done it without you.
Be blessed, fam. Cheers.