Hello again, lovely friends and family!
I am BACK with a fashionably late update on how domestic ministry in North Carolina went! I am currently writing this blog from Colombia! Praise God for getting my squad here safely and that we’ve been so blessed in our time here!
Domestic Ministry (Sep 20th-26th):
For our pre-launch domestic ministry, we worked with Adventures Relief to do relief from Hurricane Helene that took place in North Carolina last September. This was such a fun experience full of dancing, renovation, learning, serving, exploring, and praising the Lord!
After about a month of sleeping in tents… WE GOT BEDS!!!
Team Charis visits Generation Church in Black Mountain, NC!
Team Charis on the town 😎 And we got to pray over a sweet woman we met outside one of the stores 🙂
Matching silly socks with Big E! (we’re nuts about Jesus 🐿️)
My team working on our first house! We did counter installation, trim, outlet covers, transitions, got to explore the town, prayer walked, and even got to pray over an elderly woman who lived near the house we were working on!
Say hello to our domestic ministry volunteers! Donte (on the left building a deadman) was one of the most passionate Godly men I’ve met. There was not a sentence that came out of his mouth where he didn’t mention the Lord and scripture. And Garrett (our pineapple juice provider on the left), a loving father, and now, a newly married man! These two men are like brothers and in everything they did, they encouraged each other in Christ and pushed us to pursue the Lord every second of the day. They gifted my team the devotional, “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers that still puts us in awe every single day as we read it together.
One of the last days working on our first house, Donte suggested we go pray over the elementary school across the street. He got permission from the principal, and we went. We sat in the lawn and worshipped, prayed over the kids, their families, the teachers, and the building. Once we were done, the principal came out and said to come into the school for a surprise. We came in and were met by 4 boxes of huge, delicious cinnamon rolls. As we ate our gifts, we got to listen to the principal, the vice principal, and one of the teachers’ testimony from the hurricane. It was a precious time getting to know them and getting to pray over them.
HONORABLE MENTION from our first house!! A man that lives down the street from the lovely house we were working on found a bible stuck to a pole after the hurricane hit, all the pages intact, open to Revelation 14 and 15. People from around the world came to see this bible after hearing the news. A few people contributed and built the case and the cross so others can come visit this sight.
My squad visits Excel College for the night, participates in worship, and receives a message with the students!
My team starts insulation installation on our second house with one of the D squad boy teams! Many dance parties took place, we got to hangout with the homeowner and his daughter, and share the love of Jesus with them (and got candy in return).
Team Charis (and Donte) serve the racers dinner! As each person came up, our requirement from them was to do a dance move in order to receive their food 🙂
The map at base of where every volunteer is from!
My domestic ministry work jeans that I had the whole squad sign/draw on.
Leaving our beds and heading back to Gainesville for debrief before launching to Colombia!
I thank the Lord for what He taught me during domestic ministry:
- How to work with others while serving Him
- How to work at the pace of peace
- How to listen when He’s calling me away from my assigned task
- How to seek His face every morning
- Ministry is serving Him, its purpose isn’t to feed my ego or to get the job done fastest, it is to be a vessel for Jesus’ love and to serve His children
- How to eat an entire tub of cookie dough with your team in just a couple of days (thank you, Carley)
I can’t wait to go back to NC once we leave South Africa and serve Black Mountain again!
I miss you all, and you’ll be hearing from me very soon for Pt. 3: Debrief, AND a blog on Colombia so far!
I love you all and feel free to reach out to me through email or Instagram! I can’t promise it’ll be speedy, but it’s always nice to hear from others 🙂
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: Kowlerkk
Ps. We let that sink in.
Wonderful to hear all that you are doing. I’m so proud to see all of your growth. You are so incredible, and I’m grateful to hear about how God is working in your heart. You are amazing and God is amazing. I love you 💛💛
Love, love, love reading about God’s work in and through you, Kaylee! What a beautiful adventure He’s taking you on!