On Saturday May 21st at 8am, I pulled up to my friend Meghan's car to leave for the 13 hour drive to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. My friend Charlie and I would be riding with Meghan all the way to Lafayette, Louisiana to stay with another Kaleo participant's grandma who offered her home to us for the night.
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| Meghan and me on the beach! It is so nice in Destin! |
When I pulled up, I found out that Charlie's luggage had been stolen shortly after he arrived where Meghan was staying. Charlie filed a report with Campus Security but the chances of them finding his tub with all of his clothes for the 9 week trip were slim to none. Not a great way to start a trip. This caused us to delay our departure, and we had to make a stop by Kellyville so that Charlie could pick up some clothes for our trip. After that, we were off. Disappointed that his luggage was unfound, we headed to Florida, praying that God would take care of the situation and protect us on the drive there.
At nearly 5pm that day, Charlie got a call from Campus Security that said that Charlie's tote was found by Tulsa Police Department. Campo also disclosed that the person who took Charlie's stuff was the same man who Charlie had talked to in the parking lot earlier that morning, and who filed a report with Campo about a stolen wallet. The man also stole a car and a motorcycle the night before in the same apartment village. But his stuff was found! We praised God that he took care of Charlie in this situation. We acknowledged that the problems we encountered were attempts from the enemy to stop our work in Ft. Walton, and God showed us on the very first day that His hand was on us and He was ready to answer our prayers. The fact that Charlie's things were found by the police--something that simply doesn't happen every day---gave us confidence that God was going to take care of us at Kaleo.
We arrived in Louisiana and had a great night of talking with other Kaleo participants.We really had a lot of fun and it really boosted my confidence that I would build fun and rewarding relationships at Kaleo. We left early the next morning, and the participant's lovely grandmother made us breakfast before we headed off to Florida. It was my birthday, May 22nd, so Meghan allowed us to make a stop at Buffalo Wild Wings and Starbucks for a mini celebration. Charlie even bought my lunch and I really loved that my friends took care of me on my birthday.
That night, we finally got to where we were staying. My room, which I am sharing with 4 other girls from TU, contains one bedroom with a full bed and a bunk bed, a small bathroom, and a room with a kitchen and living area that contained a pull out coach and a small table and chairs. It wasn't much, but the view from our balcony made it all worth it--it's beautiful!
When I was told we would live on the beach, I thought it meant we would live like a few minutes from it. I was wrong. I walk across a parking lot and I am on the beach. It's so amazing. I absolutely love it!
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| The view from out room! I love it. |
The first night, we ate dinner then had Kaleo Olympics, which was kind of a long relay race with tons of different events. We met a lot of different people at this event, and it was super fun, but I hurt my leg which kind of sucked (but it's healed now!). I don't really know who won, but I know that I really enjoyed myself.
After our game, my Discipleship Group (D-Group) began unpacking and went to Walmart to buy groceries. At Kaleo, only about 1 or 2 meals a week are provided, and all the others we have to cook or buy ourselves. So this was my first time shopping to cook for myself for the week. It was absolutely overwhelming despite the fact that I made a grocery list and meal plan a week before leaving for Kaleo. It was absolutely crazy! The Walmart was huge, the produce sections was nearly bare, and I couldn't find a lot of the things I needed, but I managed to make it out alive and without destroying my bank account. And I even have food left over! (That's right--I successfully fed myself for a week!)
After that, my D-group and I sat down and my D-group leader Stacey gave me a cupcake and we sand happy birthday to me! She gave me candy and the others mini cupcakes and I loved that small celebration. It was really hard to be away from my family on my birthday, but my D-group made me feel the love, and I made it through.
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| Me, Cherish, Stacey, Eliza, and Micaela--keep them in your prayers this summer, because the poor things have to live with me!! |
The rest of the week was crazy, too. On Monday, we had orientation in the morning and the rest of the day was dedicated to job hunting (I filled out at least 20 applications!) That night, we learned the first part of inductive Bible study, which is just a fancy and in-depth way of reading the Bible. On Tuesday, we job hunted again until 5pm, and then in the evening we had Stumo Night where we worshipped and listened to a message from a speaker about giving our all to God this summer. On Wednesday, we continued our job-hunt during the day and had World Prayer in the evening.
During World Prayer, we prayed from the nations. Specifically, we prayed for followers of Tribal religions, Hinduism, Atheism (Unreligious), Islam, and Buddhism. We prayed specifically for missionaries that shared connections with Stumo and Kaleo, and we prayed that God would give us a heart for the nations and call upon workers for his harvest.
On Thursday, most everyone had jobs, but I still didn't. The places that said they would hire me still hadn't called me back, and I was getting very frazzled and disappointed. All of my D-group had jobs, and I was the only one who didn't, and I felt so incompetent and angry! I went to two jobless meetings and I was getting tired of waiting on job offers that weren't coming in. At this point, I heard that McAlister's Deli was hiring workers on the spot. Luckily, one of the staff members from Stumo--Bekah--offered to take me to apply. On the drive there, she poured her kindness into me and encouraged me. She prayed for me before I went in and while I was speaking with the managers, and I got the job! I was so thankful. Afterwards, we made a Target run and I really loved the chance to connect with this woman who I looked up to in the faith. Her love for Jesus and for others overflows, and though she is in a different season of life than me (she's out of college and married), I loved being able to deepen our relationship and have conversation with her.
On Thursday afternoon, we had free time so my D-group and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Thunder Playoff game. On Friday, I began work (which was long and stressful, but I am so excited to be working with so many new people that I can share the Gospel with), and then we had D-group night. Together, we studied the Bible, studied our book on evangelism, recited our memory verses, discussed our inductive Bible reading, discussed our devotionals, and shared accountability and the struggles we were facing. And we enjoyed Waffle House (there is a Waffle House on every corner here. Every. One.)
On Saturday morning, we started training in evangelism. We learned how to present the Gospel in a clear and effective manner, practiced a ton, and then headed to the beaches to share what we learned. My evangelism partner was Eliza, and we were able to share with 4 women who said they were all believers, but said that they really liked our presentation of the Gospel. It was a success--we shared the word!
After sharing, we headed back to our condos for a beach cook out. Before the cookout, we were divided into groups containing 3 D-groups and each group was given an animal. We then had about 10-15 minutes to build a sand castle/sculpture that represented our animal. My group was the horses, and Cherish had the great idea of building a sea horse! Our sculpture won and the prize was getting to either ocean kayak or paddle board. I decided to ocean kayak with Cherish and while it was really hard to get on the kayak, and it was really scary to be so far in the ocean, it was so much fun and it was one of the coolest adventures I've been on.
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| Our winning creation! |
This Sunday, we woke up and went to church, had lunch together at this great Donut place, and went thrift store shopping. We just got done cleaning our room and now we're all watching Netflix/ typing a blog to keep friends and family updated about Kaleo. It's been an amazing week and God is already at work. Here are some of the main things I've already taken from Kaleo:
-My patience level had moved through the roof as I live with people with different habits and try to quickly get a job in a slow-hiring location.
-My ability to cook has improved lol
-God is teaching me in our devotions to love him and pursue him more.
-I'm learning true and deep fellowship centered around Christ.
-New tools to study the Bible and reach others is a definite plus
-My prayer life is improving and my heart for the world and for the lost has already shown signs of growth.
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| Highly photoshopped picture of my D-group when we first found out we were a D-group! |
I really am starting to miss my family and Heath. Heath's family went to Flippin, AK and I was originally going to join them, but it conflicted with Kaleo so I had a really hard time knowing that I was missing out on that experience. However, I wouldn't trade this training or time at Kaleo for anything. I absolutely love the atmosphere here. I love the people around me, the activities, and the presence of God. I'm learning to live for Him in the midst of a crazy busy schedule of a full-time job and hours of training, and it's pushing me to make my time with him intentional. I love the skills I'm gaining and the relationships I making. I am so excited to see how God will work. This is just the beginning of a wonderful and Christ-filled summer.
I'd like to give a huge shout out to everyone who has prayer for me or given financial support for Kaleo. This is the summer of my life, and I'm so so thankful for all of you who have made it possible. Thank you for investing in my spiritual growth. I can never thank you enough for the impact that your prayers and gifts are having in my life. Thank you!!!
If you're reading this and you're like WOW I want to support all this amazing program is offering you, Karla! Then click this link to donate to my Kaleo fund. https://secure-q.net/Donations/StudentMI/8842 The money you donate pays for my rent so that I can have a place to live during all this training and fun. Please consider giving what you can!
If you're reading this and you're like WOW I want to pray for you, then please keep these points in your mind as you pray.
-Unity for D-groups. Pray for my D-group: Me, Eliza, Cherish, Micaela, Stacey.
-The people we are reaching on the beach, that they would be open to the Gospel and we would be faithful in telling it boldly.
-For safety
-That we would open our eyes to the opportunities we have to share our faith with our coworkers over these next 8 weeks. That our relationships would be strong enough to give us a good witness.
-For workers to be called to the Lord's work around the world.
-For the people we will reach on our campuses when we return this fall.
-For God's will to be done at Kaleo
If you've read this far--you're the coolest. Thanks for your patience and interest in my life.
Thanks so much for the support!
Karla Johnson
