"The Road Goes Ever On and On"

Day 1 of Pre-Field Orientation!
After my first solo road trip, I'm officially in Dallas, and tomorrow begins the first full day of adjusting to life on campus at the Global Institute of Applied Linguistics :)

The drive to campus went by fairly quickly!  I spent a good portion of it in prayer for my family and my friends who have constantly showed me more love and support than I ever thought possible! My heart has been so full today, even though by mind/body is exhausted.

Tonight I met my teammates and other students from other teams who will be traveling all over the world this summer, and it was really neat to learn a little more about all of the places PBT is sending interns to! After the initial arrival, figuring out dorm room assignments, navigating all those awkward yet necessary get-to-know-you games, I'm finding myself at the end of Day 1 of this internship!

(fun fact- I encountered a llama today. And also a tarantula. Exciting stuff. ;)

My little sister tucked a note into my hand before I backed out of the driveway this morning to head for Pre-Field Orientation. It contained the lyrics to a song from J.R.R. Tolkein;

"The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."

And it also had a generous gift of money for my trip to Asia.
I may or may not have cried- opening her letter was the sweetest moment of the day!
My sister is pretty darn cool :)

Tomorrow I'll be getting up bright and early to go to church with the whole internship team, and then when we return we'll be going over all the logistics stuff after receiving our schedule/agenda packets.

This is really happening!
It's such a strange feeling when something you've looked forward to for so long is suddenly right in front of you.

Your prayers mean more to me than you will ever know! I would not be here if it wasn't for the ways God has moved through my friends and my family in ways that totally blow my mind.

((Just as a reminder, if you would like to be added to the online newsletter mailing list to keep you updated on all the specifics of the internship as it progresses, PLEASE email me and let me know! We are compiling the lists very soon so we can start sending these updates out. 

Here's the email you can use to contact me:  untiltheyallhaveheard@gmail.com  ))

I hope you guys know how much I love you, and how thankful I am that I have the privilege of carrying your love/support with me into this internship! 

When I was 11 years old,  my world changed.
Because, for the first time in my short life, it wasn't "my world" anymore.

After hearing a sermon by a visiting missionary from Pioneer Bible Translators, my horizons were vastly expanded as I was made aware of the staggering reality that of the approximately 7,000 language groups there are in the world, only a fraction of them have access to any part of the bible in their native language. 

The weight of that harsh reality hit me- because if I truly believe that the Word of God is a "lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105), how could I stand by and do nothing now? Now that I know that millions upon millions of people are spiritually 'lost at sea' without any knowledge of what a life raft is. Now that I know that unimaginable pain and suffering is occurring within communities who have no ability to glimpse what hope in Jesus looks like.

The bible doesn't save people, only faith in Christ can do that, but the bible is the primary window through which can know God and be assured of his will.  Theologians call this 'Special Revelation', I call it 'The-most-mindblowing-beautiful-truth-in-the-history-of-EVER', but I guess the shorter terminology will suffice. :) Through personal study and wrestling through many tough questions, I have come to believe that the bible is the inspired word of God, penned through the obedience of men throughout thousands of years, to reveal aspects of Gods nature, his redemptive plan for humankind as a whole, and his desire for each and every person to come into an understanding of the depth of his relentless love for them.

For the first 11 years of my life, I was relatively unaware of the desperation for 'wholeness' and 'healing' that existed outside of "my own world". 

Years went by, and, for quite a few of them, I put my dreams of working with PBT on the back-burner of my life.  And yet, God continually and persistently kept placing PBT in my mind through 'chance encounters' with past interns/missionaries, to speakers at conferences, to conversations with new friends at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on campus.

11 years later, God just wouldn't let me forget about that dream that was sparked in my heart as a child that day in church!  

And right now, tonight, I find myself 11 days away from embarking on the training portion of my internship with PBT as a part of the first team from this organization to be sent to East Asia!  I'm really not convinced that my heart is big enough to hold all of the gratitude and excitement I am feeling to finally have this door opened to me! I am privileged and blessed beyond measure to have this opportunity to see how God is already moving in East Asia, and I am so humbled that He has chosen me to play some small part in that beautiful plan.

I will try to update this blog as often as I am able to- I'm sure there will be many high points and low points in the months to come! I hope I will have the opportunity to capture as many of those moments here as I can, so that whoever reads this can be walking through this journey alongside me in prayer, and that they will be encouraged by hearing about the amazing things God is doing in Asia!

After all, this adventure isn't mine- it's His.

~K