Week 4

AH! What a crazy week. It's getting harder and harder to make time to keep everyone updated on my time at Kaleo. But let me tell you, it's been wonderful. I'm being challenged. I am growing. God is good.

2 TU D-groups at Seaside--Meghan, me, Roxy, Bekah, Stacey, Haley, Lauren, Cherish, Micaela, Rachel, and Eliza. Pray for these sweet girls this week! God is working in them at their workplaces, on the beach, and everywhere we go.

For the most part, my week followed the same pattern as it has for the last few weeks. I've gone to work each day, cooked dinner, and then headed to our various training each night. On Monday, we did our Inductive training, where we learned about creating applications from scripture about observing and interpreting it. We learned to make applications and goals specific, practical, applicable, and measurable. I'm looking forward to making applications to the scripture as we continue our study in Ephesians. On Tuesday, we had Stumo Night like normal, where we ate dinner, worshipped, and listened to a speaker. The message was about not giving up on sharing the Gospel. The speaker reminded us of God's calling on our lives--to share the Gospel, even when we feel like we are failing. It was a really great reminder to persevere when it comes to following God. No matter the situation, no matter my feelings, I am called to obedience to Christ. My faith is not defined by feelings.
On Wednesday, we had a free night! My group caught up on laundry and on the Bachelorette :-)

It is absolutely beautiful here. Praise God for his creation!

On Thursday we picked up on world prayer and girls time. We prayed specifically for animistic and tribal peoples around the world. We prayed that missionaries would be called to reach animists and that Bible translations would be made available to peoples with tribal languages.
Friday was d-group night and my d-group went to a local mexican restaurant and ate burritos over our Bible study. We discussed Ephesians, prayed for the country of Chad, were accountable to our prayer and Bible-study lives over the week, and discussed the book we have been reading about evangelism. I love the time I am able to spend focused on Christ with my D-group. Afterwards I think I went to an ice cream social in a TU D-group's room, where everyone brought their own tub of ice cream and ate it together and danced to songs straight from middle-school dances and the 80's. It has been a blessing to get to know other people from my campus and I can't wait to see how the relationships grow over the summer and into the school year.

Our memory verses for the week. Great reminders to stay connected to Christ.

On Saturday we trained in evangelism. We worked on our testimonies and answered some questions and misconceptions about testimonies and coming to Christ. Afterwards, we went to the beaches to share the Gospel with the people around us. My group was able to have a really in depth conversation with a couple, and we were able to give really great insight about the Holy Spirit and about Christ. At the end of the conversation, the man didn't come to know Christ, but my partner Haley's testimony that she shared related so well to them and I strongly believe that it planted a seed in their hearts. Pray for Jabar and his wife to come to now the true Christ.
Sunday was a great day of worship at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The message was over the minor prophet Hosea. I really enjoy the sermon series because I'm learning a lot from books of the Bible I've only grazed through a few times. Afterwards, we headed to Seaside for a day of relaxation with my D-group. We ate at some food trucks and then walked around the little town shopping and sight-seeing. We also visited Seacrest to see where Stacey worked last year. We were able to meet some of her old friends from last Kaleo and it was so cool to physically see the impact she had made last year, and gave me hope that I'll build friendships that last this year.

My D-group at church! We are so thankful for the church that has welcomed us this summer. They are so fully of joy and kindness and I'm really being fed by this body of believers. 

I've learned a lot so far. Way too much to even begin to list. I'm learning every day, I'm making applications every day, and I'm growing closer to God every day.
But it's getting really, really hard. It's hard to manage my time. It's hard to keep a good attitude at work. It's hard to get all my assignments done. But this time is so rich, and I'm absolutely so grateful for my time here. I think I'm maturing and I think that the time I've invested will pay off.

Thank you for your continued support. Thank you for your patience and for reading my updates! I am so excited to see those who are still in Tulsa and I am so grateful for your prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for our endurance and that God would continue to reveal great things to us. Pray for the upcoming semester that each of us would continue to seek Christ when school starts back. Pray for the hearts of those we will minister to, and pray that many people would come to know Christ or know Christ better because of our lives. Thank you so much! Have a great week!

Karla Johnson

week 3

Hi all! I hope everyone had a great week last week-- I know I did! Let me share with you my experience at Kaleo this last week!

On Monday I was able to sleep in a little bit and get to work at 9:30. My devotional time was really wonderful because my roommates all had work really early that morning (poor Eliza had to be at Panera where she works at like 5am or something!) so I had the room completely to myself and I was able to take my time and complete focus on God. I loved it. Work was really great too because the scheduling manager forgot to add my name to the schedule, so the general manager penciled me in and gave me extra hours! (Yay money!) So it was really a blessing in disguise. After work, I had some time to catch up on my Inductive study and book reading for the week, and for the first time since the first week of Kaleo, I chilled on the beach on a week day! It was so nice to be on the beach soaking up the sun at the same time I was soaking up God's work. There are few places I would rather be than on this beautiful shore! I really can't express how thankful I am to those who have supported my financially, because your gifts are paying my rent so that I can live here! After my time not the beach, we headed to a special conference on relationships. At this conference we focused on how we can glorify God in our time before marriage by investing in becoming the people God wants us to be, by investing in seeking God, and by investing in his mission for our lives. We talked about sexual sin and how to live sexually pure lives. We talked about what the Biblical definition of marriage and sex are, and about how we our lives can be enriched by pursuing these virtues. At one point we talked about modesty, and the perspective preached was my favorite--as women of God, we should dress modestly not because it is our responsibility to control if men lust over us or not. As women of God, we should dress modestly because it helps our brothers in Christ (we don't HAVE to, but if we love our brothers and we can help them overcome a sin, why on Earth should we not?) and because it attracts the right kind of men (godly men who flee from lust). I thought the perspective was great because it said that women do not sin because of how they dress, but they still have a responsibility as a caring sister in Christ to think about how they can help others not sin through their dress.

One of our memory verses for the week!

Tuesday was another normal day of work. It was a long day. After work we continued with our relationship conference and once again I was blown away by the things I learned. We talked about standards, boundaries, and becoming godly men and women as we prepare for the future. We discussed living our single life to the fullest for God and learned how to develop a healthy plan for dating. While a lot of the discussion was based in opinion and would require prayer to see what is right for each person, the important, biblical hard facts were preached and we were able to develop strategies so that we can live dating lives that line up with the Bible. I really really enjoyed it and I plan on applying a lot of what I learned to the relationship I have with Heath. I saw areas of our relationship that can be better surrendered to God to improve both our individual relationships with God and our relationship to each other. The lessons taught at the conference were relevant, helpful, and I really can't wait to apply them in my future.

On Wednesday I worked at McAlister's once again. Afterwards, we ate Dinner in the Fitter's room (a Stumo Staff couple from TU whose influence is so great).  They made us the best crock pot Mexican food and it was so nice to be ministered to by a a couple who I respect so much. After, we went to Inductive Training, where we learned how to interpret the Bible. By focusing on the word, sentence, paragraph, book, Bible, and historical context, we learned how to use the Greek and Hebrew translations (through an app called Blue Letter Bible which provides definitions of words straight from the languages of the Bible) to interpret what the author meant by the things he wrote. We were also trained to cross-examine verses through the app to get a full-picture understanding of the ideas we were studying. I find this training so useful. I believe it will come in handy when I am unsure what is meant by a certain passage or phrase and I am so thankful for the training I am receiving.

On Thursday, I of course went to work, but I also had my one-to-one with my D-group leader, Stacey, who I look up to so much already. Her advice and counsel have really helped me as I face the challenges here, like trying to have a good attitude while working a minimum wage job, or living with girls who have different personalities and modes of operation than me. Our discussion was focused on prayer and I think it was a great reminder for me and gave me some good ideas on new things to pray for and ways to pray. After work my D-group had our discussion time. We went over our highs and lows, world prayer, Bible study, book study, and the same categories we always talk through. It was wonderful, but I'm so sleep deprived right now that I can't quite remember what I learned :-)

Friday is where the real fun started. First, at work, I was put on register for the first time. Let me tell you, time flew by so quickly! Before I knew it 4 or so hours had passed and I was half way through my shift in the blink of an eye. It was a blessing--I was ready for it to be the weekend! Right after work, my D-group and I jetted to Atlanta, Georgia for our D-group weekend! The drive was about 6 hours long, but the time change meant that we didn't arrive until about 1am.

My lovely D-group :-)

On Saturday we woke up bright and early to start our day in down town Atlanta. We began with a downtown scavenger hunt that Stacey bought on Groupon. It took us to a lot of cute places around the city, like the Coca Cola Museum and the Olympic Park. We ate at a really delicious flatbread place and then headed to the Aquarium, where we saw so many different kinds of fish. Atlanta has the largest aquarium in the world, and it was so impressive and fun! We explored lots of fun exhibits and even saw a dolphin show. I really loved it! Afterwards we ate at Fat Matt's Barbecue, which was recommended by locals as a must-visit restaurant. It was well worth the drive.

Fat Matt's! They had the best barbecue and the best live blues band.

On Sunday, we went to Passion City Church, which was such a cool experience. Louie Giglio spoke, and Jeff Johnson lead worship. I've never been to a mega church, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and excitement in the building, and was impressed by the love I felt as the members welcomed me. The message was on Evangelism--we are all evangelists. I loved the experience and I really feel that I heard from God and felt his presence in the giant church. It was seriously one of my absolute favorite parts of Atlanta. Afterwards, we ate at a delicious brunch place with another D-group, then headed to a Peach Festival! At the peach festival, I tried a fresh-picked Georgia peach, and let me tell you those peaches are worth the hype! It was so juicy and delicious and it was everything I could ever dream of in a peach! I was also able to buy gifts for my family at all the booths that were set up (Love ya, fam!) We then headed home, where we caught up on the Bachelorette (Shocking ending, btw). It was a really really fun day. We also made a video for the Kaleo D-Group Weekend Video Contest (we lost...) Scroll to the bottom to watch it!

One of the walls at Passion City Church. When someone comes to know Christ at Passion, they place a light bulb in one of the holes in this mural--each lightbulb represents a person who has come to know Christ! It was a wonderful picture and it was so cool to visually see the impact that this church was having on the Atlanta community.

Overall, my week was filled with ups and downs but my weekend was wonderful. I love my D-group more, I love God more, and I learned more about myself on the weird mini-vacation.

Here are some prayer points:

-Pray for group unity. We saw a lot of each other over the weekend and we saw a lot of areas to work on.
-Pray for Evangelism this Saturday. We'll be sharing on the beach. Pray that many would come to know Christ.
-Pray for my work situation. I'm not getting the hours I would like, and I'm not getting breaks either. Pray that I would have a good attitude, that my bosses would find good favor with me that they may give me more hours, and that I would have opportunity to share Christ with those around me.
-Pray that we wouldn't get weary as the new-ness of Kaleo is beginning to wear off and the heaviness of work is beginning to take its toll.
-Pray for my family. My grandma and uncle could use your prayers as they're facing some health issues. Pray also for my mom and dad and siblings cause I miss them a lot.

Here are some of the things I've learned:
-God is good. He's at work. He loves me. He wants me to love him too.
-Relationships surrendered to God are worth the trouble.
-Patience.
-Self-control.
-Perseverance.
-I'm learning about how to love God--through obedience.
-How to create practical applications from our inductive Bible Study
-The world and how to pray for it.

While I can't say that I'm happy every single moment here, I can say that I wouldn't trade them for the world. I'm having fun, I'm making memories, and I'm growing spiritually and personally. I'm learning to cook and care for myself, to pursue God always, and to think of others way more frequently than I would normally. This summer is amazing. Thank you once again to everyone who has supported me financially and through prayers and encouragement. Thank you to Jennifer for being the wise voice that told me to come here. Thank you to my parents who keep sending me snacks and other nice things. Thank you to those who send me nice texts and cards and snapchats. Thank you to Heath for taking care of my library fine while I was away. Seriously, thank you to everyone who has invested in me. I can't wait to show you how it will pay off in my future.

Also, if you've read this far, your reward is watching this awesome video that my D-group leader, Stacey put together from videos that we took on the trip! I hope you love it as much as I do.

XOXO

Karla

Week 2

Hi friends! Week 2 of Kaleo flew by! I'll update you on what's happened since my last blog post.

Alright, last Sunday I left off with what we did after church. But after I posted, my D-group cuddled around our leader's bed to watch the Bachelorette. (#JustGirlyThings, amirite?). I've never really gotten into the Bachelor or anything but oh boy was I laughing so hard with my D-group as we analyzed the guys picked out for JoJo (Big fan of Jordan, Luke, and James T. btw). Even though our main focus for the summer is definitely growing closer to Christ, the friendships that have already began growing are a serious perk and I am so excited to see how much they grow and broaden this summer.

Pray for my D-group!

And did I mention that I got to see this really awesome Journey tribute band?? They seriously sounded just like Journey and I flipped out when they sang Faithfully. It was so hilariously wonderful and I just had to share.

Monday was my first full day of work at McAlister's Deli. It was interesting. It was our grand opening, so my job for the day was to greet people as they walked in and direct them to the counter to take their order. I spent about 6 and a half hours on my feet, standing in the doorway and saying Welcome to McAlister's a few hundred times. I didn't get a lunch break which bummed me out, but I did learn how to wrap cookies and I was able to have good conversation with my coworkers. I really believe that God will work within those relationships with my coworkers and that I will be able to positively impact their lives.

On Monday night, all Kaleo participants headed toward Inductive Training, which is a session where we learn how to study the Bible so we can understand it on our own. We learned about different types of observations to make for each Bible passage, and we learned how to draw the main idea from the passages. This week our inductive study was over Ephesians 1:1-14, and we will be going through the entire book of Ephesians this summer. The passage this week's main idea was that God blessed his chosen people in Christ. It was interesting to draw conclusions from the passage by looking at simple observations like repetition, cause-results, descriptions, and promises made. I learned a lot from the passage by studying it in depth and I can't wait to apply this technique to my personal Bible study as I learn more and more about how to practice it.

On Tuesday, I went with another Kaleo girl who works at McAlister's to Starbucks to do our devotionals together. Her name is Maddison, and it was so nice to be kept accountable to my devotional, because I totally missed it on Monday because of the business of the first day of work. At work on this day, I was assigned to be a runner, which means I looked at the food orders on a screen, prepped for each order by laying out napkins and utensils, then ran each order to the corresponding number in the dining room--I brought people their food! It was very fun, and because I worked side-by-side with my boss, I was able to ask (and receive!) a lunch break. It was a much better day and I was in an even better position to speak with my coworkers and get to know them.

Tuesday night was Stumo Night, which meant that we all went to a church to eat (free!!!) food and worship. This Stumo Night was special though, because it was themed and there was a costume contest! The theme was "Moon" and so my D-Group leader, Stacey, decided that we should go all out, so she cut up card board boxes at her work to make into space ships. Her coworker also happened to have galaxy print pants in her car and she gave them to Stacey (we didn't know the theme until like 5 hours before the event so it was totally crazy that her coworker happened to have these perfect pants). So I put on my NASA shirt on, pulled on my star printed skirt, jumped into my space ship, put on some purple lipstick and blue eyeliner, and I marched into Stumo Night with my D-Group with pride. And guess what? My group won! It was such a funny experience to dress up like aliens for a night of worship, and I am so glad for all the laughs that were made in the process. The message was about being hungry for God, and I plan on applying what I learned in it by spending more quality time in God's word this summer.

This D-Group is out of this world 

P.S. We went to Walmart right after Stumo Night to pick up some groceries for the week, and of course we didn't have time to change from our alien outfits, and we totally got some crazy stares.

On Wednesday, I did my devotional with one of the Stumo staff members--Lauren. I loved gaining perspective from someone who was at a different stage of life than me, and the devotional was one of my favorite so far because of the implications of the verse it was over: John 14:21, which says, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved my by Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him." For me, this was really challenging because it basically said that if I, and other people in my life, say we love Christ but do not keep his commandments (including his commandment to go and make disciples of all nations!), we aren't completely truthful in saying that we love Christ. It meant that our lifestyles and our actions must line up with God's plan and will for his children or else we aren't loving Christ. The message also encouraged me to watch out for my Christian brothers and sisters who claim to love Christ but live lives that are contrary to his teachings by gently and lovingly reminding them that loving Christ means obeying Christ.

Afterwards, I worked another full shift of 8 hours and then we had a free night. It was my week to cook for my D-group, so I made chicken enchiladas, black beans, chicken tacos, and kettle corn (which I burned..) It was delicious, and despite the many problems I ran into cooking the meal. After that, my d group and I went to the Laundromat. It was extremely sketchy, and we couldn't understand the Vietnamese owner, but we got all our clothes washed and dried and even had a nice conversation with a woman named Margaret, who encouraged us to live for Christ in our daily lives and to keep on working for our relationship with Christ.

Thursday was filled with work until 5, and afterwards we had World Prayer and Girls time! At world prayer, we focused on Hinduism and India, and heard about some people who live in India. We learned how to pray for workers in New Dehli and Hyderabad. It was amazing to hear stories of how God is at work in India, and praying for India impacted my heart. I felt like I was making a difference even though I wasn't actually doing anything. My view of God widened as I saw how he was changing lives despite how difficult it was for Hindus to follow Christ. After world prayer we broke up into two rooms. The guys had a lesson together and the girls had a lesson together. At first, I was really weary of girls/guys time. I thought it would be kind of offensive and stereotypical and that we'd talk about sins that both sexes struggle with but are only deemed "bad" if girls/guys do it, or that we'd be lectured on modesty or something irrelevant or silly. But I was so happily surprised. The message at girls time was probably to most impactful messaged I've heard so far at Kaleo. The focus was gossip, complaining, and bitterness. When I heard the focus, I thought I was fine. I feel like I'm not a huge gossip or complainer and that I can get over things pretty quickly. But as we dug into the lesson, the Spirit dug into my heart and I saw my sin for what it was. I began to realize that my dabbles in gossip and complaining--no matter how small or harmless I consider them--are absolutely destructive and simply pull me away from God and away from people. And I realized that I held bitterness, real, deep and nasty bitterness in my heart, and I had for nearly an entire year. As we discussed bitterness and strategies to overcome it, I was moved and inspired to really tackle my bitterness. I also learned strategies to handle gossip and complaining, and I am so excited to give over these petty sins in exchange for the goodness that comes from having words given over to God. On Friday morning before my devotional, I prayed to overcome the bitterness I held because of certain broken relationships, and my heart lightened. For the first time in a long time, I prayed for the people who had hurt me, and I prayed for their well being. Afterwards, I felt so much better. God is working in my heart to uproot those ill feelings and unforgiveness.

So like I said, Friday started off great. My time in prayer with God impacted my heart and my devotional went really well. Work was fine and when we got home my D-group had our time together talking about accountability, inductive, world prayer, our evangelism study, and all the other lessons we go over every week as a group. This weeks memory verses were John 14:21 and Romans 12:1 and I worked really hard and was able to recite both of them correctly! After our time going over our lessons, we went to a movie theater to watch Me Before You. (Not a fan of the movie, but loved the memories made before and after!)

Our memory verses for the week!

Saturday began with a one-to-one meeting with Stacey, and she encouraged me and checked up on my week. She taught me an illustration that helped me understand different ways to dig into the Bible and I really loved getting to talk to her and hear her advice about spending my time in the word. I plan to apply the illustration by spending at least one morning this next week meditating on a passage of scripture and to be more intentional about reading and understanding Bible passages used in sermons and lessons.

Stacey is seriously killin' it at the DGL game 

After that, we went through some evangelism training. We then headed to the beaches to share what we had learned with others. And here's what happened: My partner was able to share the Gospel with two young girls who were super nice and were apparently believers. They encouraged us and thanked us for sharing with them, and then it was my turn to find someone to share with. We asked a woman our opening question, "We are here for the summer with a group of college students and are looking for opinions of an illustration that sums up the main message of the Bible, can we get your opinion?" Her response? No. No big deal, we walk on to ask another lady, who just looked at us funny when we began speaking to her. We keep looking and looking for someone to talk to, but we kept getting rejected. After about 4 No's, 1 "we don't speak English", and a few missed opportunities of people walking away as we headed towards them. Honestly, it was frustrating and a little discouraging. But my partner, Micaela, and I decided that because we only had a few minutes left before we would have to head back to the condos, we would sit down and pray for the groups that managed to find people to share with. We prayed for all the pairs that were speaking with people and for all the people who said no to us. While I was bummed that I wasn't able to share the Gospel message this Saturday at the beach, I was thrilled to still be a part of God's work through prayer. When we headed back to the condos, our large group had share time. So many people chose to make Jesus their Lord that day on the beach, and I am so thankful for the growth and stories that came from the day. While I was so heavily tempted to pity myself and feel guilty that I didn't find someone to talk to, instead I chose to allow God to teach me the lesson of patient and persistence. God gave me really great perspective and even though it was hard for me to feel like I failed, I know that God used me that day on the beach and I know that He is good no matter if I can't see what comes from that experience.

After share time, we headed to this really cool Pirate Festival called Billy Bowlegs, where we saw way too many people dressed like pirates and way too many fried food stands. I caved and bought a corn dog and even had a bite of a deep-fried Oreo. It was really funny to see all the pirate themed merchandise and hear live pirate music. Later, my D-group minus Stacey went and walked around downtown Fort Walton Beach and ate ice cream and laughed forever.

Cherish and I in downtown Fort Walton Beach

Today, Sunday, we went to a new church and I absolutely loved it. This morning before church my devotional was based on Psalm 8:3-4 which says, "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" As someone who is obsessed with astronomy and space, I absolutely loved the devotion and was simply overwhelmed by the power of God and was so eager to praise him at church. When we showed up at church, the first song we sang was "Overwhelmed" by Big Daddy Weave which says, "I see the work of Your Hands, Galaxies spin in a Heavenly dance oh God All that You are is so overwhelming" and I seriously almost cried. The eagerness to praise God in my heart that was caused by my devotional and the fact that the song related so well and allowed me to worship God so personally leads me to believe that that church service was a perfect start to the week ahead. The rest of the service was so wonderful and I felt so welcome and loved and challenged by this new church. I am really excited to see how God moves in this little church in Florida.

After church, my d-group and I went to this really beautiful and amazing flew market! Luckily I forgot my wallet or I would have purchased so many cool things for my living space this fall. It was definitely an experience and I loved that added memory with my D-group.

If you've made it this far down this week's update, you deserve a gold star! I've way over-shared this week, but I'm having such a wonderful time that I can't hold back the details of the things I am experiencing. As I finish up, keep these main points in your prayers.

Prayer points:
-Unity for our group. As we spend so much time with each other and are starting to get into routines that can make us tired and grouchy, it is so easy to forget to love each other and serve each other like Christ has called us to.
-Encouragement. Because of the obstacles I personally faced this week on the beach, I could definitely use prayers that I would not have fear of rejection the next time that we evangelize.
-Energy. We're into the full swing of 35-45 hour work weeks on top of all our training and responsibilities. If you could pray that we could get good rest and that God would energize us, that would be wonderful!
-Dedication. Pray that as we learn so many new lessons, we would have the dedication to actually apply the things we are learning. It's easy to write down applications without actually applying them!
-Hearts for the world. Pray that our hearts would grow for others. Pray that we would be open to listening to others.
-Relationships. This week starts our conference on relationships. Pray that every student would have hearts open to listen to what we can learn about having Christ centered relationships. Pray that we would have strength to end or fix relationships that do not glorify God and to seek and foster relationships that do glorify God.
-Endurance! It's getting hard to balance all of this stuff, but I know that with God we can do it.
-Generosity. I'm still about $600 dollars short of my fundraising goal this summer. Pray that my friends and family would have generous hearts (or that my boss gives me a raise!) so that I can have my summer fully funded.

Thank you so much to each of you who have supported me through prayer, financial support, or through encouraging words or Facebook posts. Thank you for loving me and caring for me even though I'm not at home to love and show care for you. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to be here at Kaleo (Hey Jennifer, I'm talking to you!!!) and for everyone who has been sending me mail or text messages or tweets. I love them.

If you want to invest in my time at Kaleo and in my spiritual growth this summer, please click on this link! https://secure-q.net/Donations/StudentMI/8842 I would really appreciate it!

I pray that God will give my group another amazing week and that because of this week we would be more like Him. I pray that you, the person reading this, would also take steps to become more like Him this week as well. Thanks for reading!