End of the summer mission

After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned. Acts 14: 21

Thank you all for your steadfast prayers and love throughout this summer. I am grateful to have been yolked with you all in the mission of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Please continue to pray for the Church of Europe and the communities that we spent time with.

Your Brothers and Sisters

It has been an amazing week... with an amazing group of people.    God has been so evident in everything this week.... in the fun, in the Word, in the Mass, the homilies, in the worship, in the love between everyone.  What a gift that God brought me here!

Truly it is the same whether I travel through the U.S., to Europe, Australia or China.... the truth is that God is renewing His Church through young people.   I am amazed always to meet so many young men and women desiring to radically give their entire lives to God.   It is so beautiful.

I leave today to meet up with the rest of the team in Shoenstatt, Germany for the European Catholic Youth Conference.   We will be gathered there with teens from U.S. military families stationed throughout Europe.

WELL..... CAUGHT IN THE END.....

There I am .... innocently trying to pass through!

Gathering for camp

Arrived in the Roermond, today the teens arrive for Life Teen Camp- Netherlands.  There are parishes from 3 cities in the Netherlands and from Germany who are journeying here today.

We will begin this afternoon... please pray for us all this week!

Unexpected Encounter

As I journeyed to Switzerland, I did not expect that this brief stop-over would be an extension of my prayer for all of Europe in such a way.   

I arrived during a national holiday and was blessed to attend many local gathering and meet with many many people who live here.   It was good to get a sense of what life is like here.

This place is breathtaking... such beauty of His Creation.   There are many signs of the Church here... you see beautiful little Churches like this one in what seemed like every few miles, stations of the Cross set up along hiking trails, and grottos for Our Lady cut into every hillside... yet, to most, God is very far from normal life.   

I stopped here to pray ... and, a woman who was watering the plants in the church, came over to me.  She had tears in her eyes and held her heart.  I was wondering if there was something wrong or something she needed prayer for.   Then, she said "It is so beautiful to see a young person in the church praying.  We never see any young person come here".   A woman moved to tears at the hope that young people might come here to know and worship their one true God, their Father who loves them.

To me, my time here was a revelation of the attentiveness of God to all of His creation... that there is no remote location on Earth that He is not passionately pursuing His children.  My heart was so drawn to pray for this place.... for renewal of the Church here..... for Jesus to be proclaimed here..... that the restlessness I saw in so many young people I spoke with would be settled the true love of God and His purposes for their lives.

Details of Providence..

I leave England tomorrow morning.   It has been such a gift to be here and witness such abundance in God's grace this summer.   I will miss everyone very much.

After a much appreciated stop off to visit a very dear friend of mine who lives in Lugano, Switzerland,  I will be heading back to the Netherlands for their Life Teen Camp early Monday morning.

This venture back to the Netherlands was only made known after my visit there.   The community had asked me to come back before I needed to be in Germany... and I had felt I was to go... but we didn't know how we would manage the plane ticket (my ticket had been booked to fly directly to Frankfurt).   God seemed to have it all figured out in advance... and made things quite easy for us.  I received an email from AirBerlin stating they had some scheduling issues and would no longer be flying into Frankfurt but had rebooked me on a flight to Dusseldorf and would offer me a train to Frankfurt.   Well, Dusseldorf is the airport needed for me to fly to the Netherlands.    So, without need of a travel agent...... all was aligned for me to be off to the Netherlands.    

I remain in awe at His Perfect care.

Please pray for all my travels and this next week, for the Life Teen Camp in the Netherlands and all the teens who will be there.

God bless,

Kristin 

Every good tree bears good fruit.  Matthew 7:17

The tree above is the one right outside the window where I have been staying.   There are so many apples on it that the branches are bended down, nearly touching the ground.   For the past week now.... as you walk around the grounds, you hear people say "what is going on... I have never seen so much fruit in all the years I've lived here".   There berry bushes, fruit trees, all of it is in a season of unbelievable abundance.   

As I prepare to leave England in 2 days, I am overwhelmed in gratitude for the spiritual fruitfulness of my time here... and for the many seeds sown that I trust will one day bear even more abundant fruit.   I have witnessed the Lord heal, proclaim His truth, and bless His people here in tremendous ways.   Clearly, there is a movement of grace in this place and much is being prepared within the Church here.

Please continue to pray that God would nurture and bless all that He began this summer here.   And please pray for this Diocese and community.   In particular, I ask for your prayers for Archbishop Vincent Nichols and for Fr. Digby Samuels, the chaplain for youth and young adults.  

Fr. Digby has been very touched that there are people back home praying and concerned with what God is doing here this summer.   He has felt the support of the entire community back home through your love and prayer...he wanted me to pass along this message to all of you praying::

Please do pass on my grateful thanks to your whole team who pray for you and your mission here. The Lord is so clearly blessing you and all your ministry, not least showing us the gift of prayer ! 

All that you shared with us was inspiring because of your own relationship with the Lord in prayer and because of the intercession of your team. Thank you for showing us and modelling for us that if we really put our trust in Him His fruit will be born in us and in the parish amongst all of us and not only the teens. It's that way of prayer that allows the Lord to act rather than us acting first and praying a blessing later that is amongst your most important reminders for us. So thank you again. I really appreciate what the Lord is doing through you. Please ask your team to continue to pray for this small parish of St.Patrick's that we may indeed grow in holiness and witness to the Lord and His Church.

Be sure of our prayers for you and the community.   

Fr. Digby Samuels

Blessings,

Kristin 

The Joining of Communities

First, thank you to everyone who has emailed and have been praying.   There has been some issue with posting on the blog... so, I apologize for the delay in getting these posts up.  

It has been quite a blessed week. Bernadette from the Netherlands came to visit for a few days and to meet people from the community here.   We experience several very grace-filled days... and witnessed God joining together these two communities.    There was a great blessing that came from the mutual sharing.... as the Church in Europe is undergoing such similar challenges from nation to nation.   There is great strength that comes from a unified mission.   These two communities have made plans to maintain relationship and be of support to each other.

I am in awe again at the orchestration of God.   I remember back to the plane ride here and the sense that God would be about a work of joining many in true communion.... what a blessing to have watched that happen here in the UK, and that He would also join each of the communities I traveled to into communion with each other.   

WRITE IN...

I would love to hear from you...     If you have been following the blog, please send a note.   Just click on 'comments' and type away :)

~Kristin 

SIMPLICITY

John here… I’m back in the States now, here in Atlanta, Georgia at the Steubenville Youth Conference. It’s been a whirlwind couple of days, filled with many blessings. I left the UK Thursday after Kristin and I drove 5 hours back south then stopped over to check out London a bit (yes, that's me on the boat there).   After touring the city, I flew straight to Atlanta where (after 26 hours of no sleep!) I met a group of 16 excited teens from my parish in Virginia. The Lord has been very gracious in somehow erasing the jet lag, and providing for me to be present to them in this powerful weekend. In the midst of all this though, I’ve had some time to sit back and let the message that the Lord was revealing to me during my little bit of time in the UK congeal a bit.

I believe perhaps the greatest message that the Father had for me during the brief time we were serving in England has to do with my identity in Him. The “subject” of many of our conversations over the course of the past two weeks centered around worship – why do we worship? what does it mean to worship? what does it mean to lead worship? And specifically as we entered into what it means to lead worship, the Lord revealed the great simplicity of that call more deeply to me: He is my Father, and I am His child. It’s that simple.  And it is the true for all of us.  It’s when we remain in Him – in the arms of the Father – that He bears great fruit through us.

It can be easy to seek our identity in what we do, whether it be in ministry, or our jobs, or activities, or relationships or whatever – when the truth is that God desires that we would find our identity simply in who He says that we are: His beloved daughters and sons. 

As those whom he has gifted and entrusted with a call to ministry, the call is the same: that all that we say and do would flow out of our union with Him. Before we are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors… music ministers, youth ministers, we must first be children. And so as we come before Him, we do so with hearts of disciples… and it’s from this space that He reveals to us His desires for our lives, and for our ministry, and in this way that we move from “doing things in His name” to “ministering under His authority.”

May the Father grant us the grace simply to be children, and to remain in the freedom of that simple call. Amen.

Peace and prayers,

John

 

SUMMIT

 Here we are on the coast..... we traveled today to  Newcastle, UK about 5 hours north of London to gather with local leaders for a night of ministry.    We had a similar gathering in London last night with leaders from the southern part of the UK.    

We were honored to have met so many beautiful people.... some of whom had traveled many hours.

As a ministry, we have been preparing for a worship summit in Houton, TX this coming September.   It is to be a gathering of leaders for a time of prayer, listening and empowerment.    

What a gift to have witnessed that all that we have been holding in our hearts for that upcoming gathering seemed to be poured out through these two nights here in the UK.    How beautiful is the revelation of His heart.   

'Indeed the Lord God does nothing without revealing His plans to His servants' Amos 3:7

I am including below the vision for the Worship Summit (this September's gathering in Houston).    We witnessed all this being fulfilled over the past 2 days.   And we trust God will again pour His blessings upon all those gathering in September.   

**Please pray for the many priests, ministers and leaders who gathered with us over these past 2 days.

VISION FOR SUMMIT::

In the face of cultural turmoil, economic crisis, and an ever-growing human need, God calls for leaders who will find their strength in Him, who will persevere in leading where they are, and who will worship Him above all.

Psalm 61: “For the leader; with stringed instruments of David.  Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer!  From the brink of Sheol I call; my heart grows faint.  Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you are my refuge, a tower of strength.”

God is passionate about empowering His people, especially those who are called to serve Him in leadership.  He seeks out these leaders throughout the Scripture.  He empowers Abraham, Noah, Moses, David, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, James, John, Mary and many others.  And, just as He empowered Moses on the “Summit” of Mount Sinai and the early Church in the upper room, God desires to empower us today.    

At the heart of ADORE is a passion to be led by God to the mountain and be empowered by God to do His work.  We invite you to come to the Summit with us (in whatever capacity you serve in leadership) while we allow God to empower us and send us out to proclaim his Great News to the world.

Jesus Take The Wheel

Good morning from London Colney, UK!

John here. It has truly been a blessing to be here in this place the past few days, and I've been amazed and humbled by the great work the Father is about here, the beautiful community of people, and the beauty of His creation in this place. Yesterday we had a chance to do a little sightseeing, which was a great gift. We traveled over to Windsor with Tom Bonard, a good friend we've met here, and walked around for miles (and miles), enjoyed a proper British meal of "bangers and mash", and then rented a little motorboat for a little trip up the River Thames. The most exciting part, of course, of all of our travels around this United Kingdom has been Kristin being at the helm of the car (on the left side of the road)! (Most of the time!) The Father has poured out to me an extra dose of courage and faith in His protection through all that :-) 

Today we head up north about five hours to the town of New Castle for a gathering of young worship leaders, praying together and talking about the Lord's gift of worship. Please pray for our travels, and for this gathering tonight!

Peace and prayers,

John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky4rfA_tebY

The Good Shepherd

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach?  And how can people preach unless they are sent?   Romans 10:14-15

John and I spent the second day at the Brightlights festival.   These days have been profoundly blessed and we have been in awe at the perfectly orchestrated movement of God.   It is clear that God is reaching out to the people of this city and it has been a privilege and gift for us to be here with this community.   

London is indeed a unique place.   It is a city filled with much diversity and goings-on yet at the same time there is a tangible openness and awareness of the people here to the connectedness we all share as human beings.   

There is much we desire to share with you in gratitude for the journey God has had us on.   We will be sharing some of these stories with you after tomorrow.    Thank you for continuing to pray and journey together with us.   Thank you for being patient with the blog.... as we have tried to be especially present to those He has sent us here to meet with and love.   We truly feel the communion with everyone.   

All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer.    Acts 1:14

It has been a very full week, as God had been opening many doors for conversation and ministry within the local Church community here.   I will be writing a more detailed update very soon... but wanted to humbly ask for prayers at this very important time of the mission.

John arrived on Monday and we have been preparing for the Brightlights festival and gathering with worship leaders from around the Diocese for times of prayer and formation.    It is such a beautiful community here and we have felt so welcomed.   

We wanted to pass along some prayer intentions::

For the Brightlights Festival and all details surrounding the planning and ministry of the weekend.

That every one the Father desires to draw there, would respond and come.

For protection over the grounds and those traveling to the festival.

For the gospel to be boldly and clearly communicated and that all would come to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

For the Church community of London... that God would bless and draw them together in the shared Mission of the Church.

Prepare the Way

Persevere in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving ; at the same time, pray for us, too, that god may open a door for the word, to speak of the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, that I may make it clear as I must speak.   Colossians 4:2-4

 In 9 short days this field will become a place for hundreds of young adults to gather and encounter Our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth.  For many it will be their first encounter, for others a deeper revelation and receiving.   And to each of them .... He already knows the goodness of their hearts, He already knows their needs, their hopes, their joys, their struggles.  He knows their desire to meet Him, to talk with Him ...... for this is His desire, the desire He has written upon every heart.   It is overwhelming to experience even a taste of the longing of God for His Children.... the longing of the Father's heart that all would come to know of His great love through His Son, Jesus.    And that all might receive the fullness of the promise in the Holy Spirit, that precedes forth from the Father and the Son.   I pray that as you gaze upon that picture above, you too can anticipate the longing of the Father's heart for all those He will gather here.

The community here has been busy preparing spiritually and practically for the Brightlights Festival, a gathering of young adults that will be held in North London next weekend.   We will be serving at this festival, through the ministry of leading worship, proclaiming the gospel, and helping with formation and guidance to the local team of musicians and ministers.  Our hope, that all will be transformed through their encounter with Jesus Christ and that those chosen to serve Him in this place will become better equipped for all the work of building up the Church. 

The community here truly feels the communion with all of you praying.  They asked me to invite you to pray this novena that we are beginning today.... for the Brightlights Festival and all those who will be gathered.

Thank you all for your love and prayers.

Kristin 

 Holy Spirit Novena

Dearest Holy Spirit, confiding in Your deep, personal love for me, I am making this novena for the following request, if it be Your Holy Will to grant it: 
(mention your request).

Teach me, Divine Spirit, to know and seek my last end; grant me the holy fear of God; grant me true contrition and patience. 
Do not let me fall into sin. Give me an increase of faith, hope and charity, and bring forth in my soul all the virtues proper to my state in life.

Make me a faithful disciple of Jesus and an obedient child of the Church. Give me efficacious grace sufficient to keep the Commandments and to receive the Sacraments worthily. 
Give me the four Cardinal Virtues, Your Seven Gifts, Your Twelve Fruits. 
Raise me to perfection in the state of life to which You have called me and lead me through a happy death to everlasting life.
 I ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Attentiveness of the Father

Today, I share with you a story from the first few days of my time abroad.   I share this because it is the constant theme.... "The Attentiveness and Perfect Care of the Father".

I traveled this summer with my guitar.   Desiring to have the time for personal prayer in song and to practice as I am learning.   The morning I left for the airport..... I broke a string.   It was a bit upsetting, knowing I am in a really remote part of town and probably with no access to a music store.  Funny, that it was one my first prayers "Father, I trust you can take care of this".

My first day in Germany, around this little alley way, we walked up upon this most adorable Luthier shop....something you only see in movies :)   George has been hand crafting the most exquisite guitars for decades.  Each guitar a work of love and countless hours of crafting.

They took us in, fixed the string, tuned the guitar, and sent us along.   It may have been a small thing, but, it was for me, the Father's reminder that He knows and cares about every little detail of my heart.   

This is my prayer for all of you..... that today, would be a day for you to experience the special care of the Father and the goodness of His individual love for you.

Receive

 Thank you for the love and prayers you have sent forth.   I believe it is as important for us as a community to send our love to this place as it is for us to receive what this community sends back to us.   

Tonight, after talking and praying with some people from a local parish they said "please tell your community back home that we send our love.   They need to know that we love them and will pray for them."

This is the Bride........the more of her we see......the more Beautiful we recognize her to be.

By His Spirit

"They strengthened the spirits of disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, "It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God"  Acts 14: 22

This first few weeks have been an exercise of trust in the Father's providence to unfold this mission.  My days have been about waking, praying, and remaining available to Him to provide for every interaction and task of the day.   And, in the midst of these interactions, to trust He will reveal and move with the power of His love.

God has been faithful to this every day and it has strengthened my heart.    Each day has been filled with time to build relationship and encourage the work in the Kingdom.   Each day, His providence, from meetings with priests and ministers that has lead to invitations for ministry to having meals with families, to wandering upon a Catholic Church during a stroll, and ending up having tea and talking about trusting God amidst the challenges of the current culture.   

In the midst of all of this, there is a grace which is the missionary spirit of the Church.   It is the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ, alive.  And in this, He is caring very individually about His people and comes with a message of hope, a message of good news to His people.   

Through this missionary life of the Church, we as a body of believers, are united in the bigger picture of His Church.... of the one mission of Salvation through Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for praying!

Love you,

Kristin 

The Church on site at SPEC.

SPEC Center :: Where I am staying.  This is the site where St. Alban was arrested and taken to be martyred for the faith.  It is holy ground.

What storm could possibly rage itself mightier than even a shadow of your power, oh Lord?

Stepping into England

I arrived in St Albans today...... fittingly, on the feast of St Alban.   

St Alban was the first Christian Martyr of England.   He was martyred for the faith only after having converted a few days before his death.  I will share more about his life later, as I believe it is a timely witness for us now.

Tonight, I spent with a large part of the Catholic Community that was gathering for a birthday party.  It was a beautiful way to begin my time here.   This community also has been praying for renewal in the Church... particularly in parish life and in outreach to young people.   They have been anticipating much blessing for the summer.   We will all pray and wait in the fulfillment of His promise.

Please send along any prayer requests this way as well. 

~Kristin 

Yes, there are still a few windmills left in the Netherlands.... this one was directly across the street from where I stayed at the Hussen Home.

Went for a walk and stumbled upon this beautiful little shrine to St. Joseph.  I spent quite a bit of time here... praying individually for all of you and lit a candle for you and your intentions.   Let's just say..... there was quite a flame coming from that place after I left :)

   This is a picture following a prayer group that meets in the home each week.  It was an amazing evening....... filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.   

Fruitfulness of Prayer

 "missionary fruitfulness is the result of the community's prayer"  Pope Benedict XVI

I love this statement from the Holy Father.   I have been experiencing this truth in a tangible way.  Thank you so much for all of your prayers...... they are truly yielding miracles.   As I have been meeting and praying with people, I have consistently heard the same comment... that somehow through my coming they have been encouraged that God cares about them and that He has heard their prayers.  Although I am the one who is physically present here, they feel the love and support of the entire community back home.   Such a sense of communion is a powerful revelation of God's love and fidelity.    

I am so grateful for my time here, I feel as though God has forever extended my spiritual family to include these beautiful people.   It has been as though we've known each other for our entire lives.... that is a great gift.

Thanks again for your prayers.... know that I love you and am praying for you.   

Kristin  

The Netherlands

Met Marlo in Shoenstatt, Germany for 2 VERY full days of prayer and planning.   We prepared for the ECYC Conference we will serve in August.   We then drove to meet the community in the Netherlands.   I have been abundantly blessed by the community here in the Netherlands.

The Church here is in a very difficult state.   Christianity has waned in this culture and Christian Churches have been closed everywhere.   When you speak to the young people who are practicing the faith they all share the same report, stating Christianity is thought of as 'old fashioned' and 'irrelevant' and that they are generally the only person in their class who would state they were a Christian.   

My days have been spent meeting and praying with the local priests and lay persons who have been praying for renewal in the Church.  

The Church here is in much need of missionaries to come short term and long term.  As I sat with Fr. Hans, the local priest, his eyes filled with tears, out of love for the Church and the people of this community, he said "this country once sent out thousands of missionaries to the rest of the world. Now, I pray those places would hear our cry... we are desperate and we are asking for missionaries to come to the Netherlands.... the Church will die without help."   

Please pray for renewal of the Church in the Netherlands and that God would send missionaries to help and support this beautiful community.  

Journey Begins ~ Corpus Christi

I begin my travels to Europe today, on the Feast of Corpus Christi.   The Lord orchestrates all things so beautifully when we abandon all to Him, and so I believe the gift of this outreach beginning on this day has been by His choosing and for a purpose.   Through this confidence, I offer these writings as a prayer in communion with each of you.   

 And,  I pray that through this journey God would bless us all with the grace of coming to know in a deeper way the truth of  unity in Him.    The unity that joins us all within the mystery of ONE precious body of our Savior.   

You are receiving this link because I hold you and your intentions in my heart as I go forth.   This has been a great source of joy for me.   Be assured of my prayers for you and that you all come with me on this journey.  I am learning more and more about this missionary grace..... that as God sends forth.... He truly does send forth the entire community.   

Much love.

Kristin