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Are you thirsty?

Do you know the feeling, when you are outside in the boiling sun, and all you want in that moment is an ice cold glass of water? What about after running a mile or two, what is the first thing you want? Water. The human body needs water, it is essential in order to live and function. Without water we become dehydrated, tired, angry, and bitter. But with water, we at evilly awake, hydrated, and ready for the day. The same goes for our faith. Without the Holy Spirit in us we are spiritually asleep, we are controlling our lives, and we are living for worldly things. But when we thirst for the Holy Spirit we are spiritually awake! We are aware in every situation of both the situation itself and God. When I learned all of this during this past week, I was amazed. I had heard that we should thirst for the Holy Spirit, but never had I thought about it in depth. We we accept Christ our sins are forgiven and we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We are able to taste the sweetness of the Holy Spirit in us! But as I have walked this past week thinking of this, I realized how difficult it is to constantly rely on the Holy Spirit for everything. For years I have tried to accomplish everything on my own, never asking for help, even when I may need it. But Galatians 5:25 says, "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." But in order to do this we have to be directed and empowered by the Holy Spirit himself. We must desire to be filled in every aspect of our lives. We must repent and turn from sins and confess them. And we must surrender control of our life. For, we will never taste the sweetness of the Holy Spirit if we don't taste the bitterness of sin. I admit this is not easy to do, I still struggle with wanting to control my life. But we have the gift of the Holy Spirit in us, who provides the fruits of the spirit! So are you thirsty? Do you desire and long for the living water of the Holy Spirit? In the race we call faith, we have living water, the water that will allow us to conquer this marathon and finish spirituality awake!

UPDATE: From Death to Life

Do you ever think about what happens after death? Really sit and ponder it? When we go out on the beach here, we ask people how they would answer that daunting question. Some know, some don’t; some are excited, some are apathetic, and some are terrified. No matter how much we avoid the topic, or how invincible we think we are, the truth is ultimately unavoidable; death is a physical assurance in this life, and we desperately want to know we’re going somewhere better afterwards.

Left with this reality, and the pain in the eyes of some of my fellow humans I interact with on the beach, I can do nothing but worship the God who is in the business of saving people from eternal death to raise them to eternal life. God’s love is by nature a condescending love because it involves loving creatures he doesn’t need, who fail to meet his mark of perfection, and who choose their way over his every day. Yet he loves us in spite of our sin, and I will praise him for that to the end of my days and into eternity. I fail, but he does not, and he is faithful to use me to do his good work in the lives of others despite my brokenness.

Over this past weekend, God used me and two others on our trip to lead four girls to Christ on the beach, and oh what I would have given to hear the sound the angels must have made as those girls entered the kingdom of heaven! All four were in or just coming out of high school, and chose to enter a relationship with Jesus after hearing the gospel out on the beach. I’m left speechless, praising Jesus that he saves, and that we can spend a lifetime trying to know him and still have barely scratched the surface.

-Krystyna

#teamkeena #becausehefirstlovedus #NMB15

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1-2

#becausehefirstlovedus #teamkeena

Meet my girls. These women are the beautiful, spunky, genuine, precious, Godly gems that I get to do life with this summer. From left to right is Jen, Kristin (KP), Bailey, and Sam, and it is such a privilege to say I know each of them. In just two weeks, I have seen each of them grow in their walks tremendously, and brings me such joy to know that God has only just begun his good work in them for the summer. Love leading these ladies and seeing them run after Jesus with everything they have.

-Krystyna

#becausehefirstlovedus #teamkeena

God is SO good! Just look at this picture!! He has done so much this past week on this beach. We have had so many stories of new brothers/sisters in Christ, and I am so ecstatic to be here to see hearts changed in the name of Jesus. Just the other day I had the chance to pray for a woman who lost her husband a month ago, she told me she had lost all faith and was angry with God. I was able to reassure her that her husband is with our father, and in the end (after praying) we were both bawling, but bawling with happy tears as she was resting in assurance knowing her husband had been saved. God is incredible! And just thinking that this is just one example of how God has been working amazes me! I cannot wait to see God move more this summer and witness more hearts changed for Him! -Kayla

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Update: Setting The Pace

First things first, if you ever come to South Carolina here are things to remember: -You will need water, lots of it. -There are shells everywhere, try not to step on them for they will hurt your feet. -Sunscreen is a must, even on the cloudy days. Do not say you don't need it, ever. -You can find almost anything you need at Walmart, and I mean anything. I say all of these things because these little facts are not things I knew coming into this trip. I was unaware I could cut my foot on a shell, and I was unaware that even an hour without sunscreen could result in looking like a lobster. You may be wondering why I am talking about what seem to be stupid little facts, but they represent something greater. This week we discussed setting the pace, the pace of our faith in Jesus and how we plan to live that out this summer. With any race, you need to know what you are getting yourself into, you need to train. So coming to South Carolina I didn't know I needed a bucket of sunscreen, or to not step on shells when on the beach. I wasn't trained, I wasn't ready for the little things. But I also wasn't ready for the big things. I wasn't aware of how much I would be stretched in my faith. I didn't know how to share properly. I wasn't sure of where God was going to lead me this summer. But our faith is a race, it's a marathon. And in any race you have to train. You need to know the little things, but you also have to prepare for the big ones. In a marathon, you don't just decide to wake up and run, you have no training. It takes time! The same goes with our faith. You have to use the tools to stay in shape (reading your bible), you have to train, and most importantly you have to set yourself at a pace so you don't burn out. As Christians, I believe we like to take our faith head on a lot. We like to think we can handle this race of faith by ourselves. But the truth is, we can't. It's impossible. If we attempt to run this marathon without God, we will hit mile 20 and not be able to finish. But with God, we have have the greatest coach imaginable! He has already ran this race for us, so he can help us along the way. With him, we have someone to talk to about the worries ahead. We have someone to train us in the many aspects of this marathon that will be difficult. But most importantly we have someone to run this race with us! I've also learned the importance of running with people. If you try to run alone, with no one to help you train you will burn yourself out. However if you have others around you, there are people setting this pace of faith with you. As believers we are not competing, we are on the same team. So, yes, I don't know what I am getting myself into in this marathon of faith, but I am learning. I am understanding the ups and downs, I am gaining knowledge about setting my pace, and I am using the trainings the staff leads to stay in shape. 1 Corinthians 9:25 says "All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize." We must train, we must practice, and we must rely on our coach. We must run this race, competing against the enemy of our souls, who hates God's Kingdom and wants us to drop out. We must remember that the race is set before us, our Sovereign God has set the course. But you can't run the race if you have never entered it. You need to put you faith and trust in Jesus our Savior, if not, you aren't even in this race. If you don't enter this race, you won't get the prize, the eternal prize God offers us. Whether you are in the race, just starting, or sitting on the sidelines, we training. We need our coach. We need God. So, are you ready to start this marathon? Are you ready to run this race with your team? It's time to start setting the pace. Let us cross the finish line, whenever it may be, running as hard as possible, together, expecting to win. --Kayla

#teamkeena #NMB15 #becausehefirstlovedus

Last night was the first women's time of the summer mission and I left so in awe of the ladies God has brought here. There are so many dark, scary, hard things each one brought into this room, but we left celebrating the freedom we have in Christ. There is no room for shame when empathy is present, and my prayer for each of them after last night is that we could be fully known and thus fully loved this summer.

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Day two of official NMB activities with all the students here. Praising the Lord that all arrived safely and ready to spend a summer learning about God's deep love for them and how to share that with others.

#teamkeena #becausehefirstlovedus #NMB15

UPDATE: Staff Training Week

Wow. What a week. How do you describe an experience that simultaneously felt like coming home and entering a crash-course bootcamp on leading college students?

Two years ago, I attended this same 10-week mission trip as a student, and even after being here almost a week now, the nostalgia is still overwhelming at times. I can’t walk into a room without remembering another piece of what God taught me here two years ago, and it’s been an incredible source of affirmation that this is exactly where God wants me. Knowing the profound impact this trip had on me – how I grew in my understanding of how to pursue a relationship with the Lord and how to share my faith with others – gives me such assurance and excitement for the growth God has planned for this year’s students.

At the same time, this week was packed with more information and training than I even knew to expect. Our Leadership Team walked us through schedules, expectations, roles, and themes for the summer as we prayed and prepared for the students to arrive on Wednesday. Though the schedule was packed, I have never felt so cared for by leaders before; we had time to individually seek time with the Lord, we heard a window into the lives of every member of our staff team, and we grew closer as we worked to love each other well and trust God for great things. What an amazing atmosphere to work in, and what an amazing team God has gathered for this summer’s mission.

I’m also very excited to share that my role on the staff team will be to lead and mentor the worship team for the mission this summer. To be entirely honest, I think my jaw dropped when I found out purely because of how humbled I was to be asked to lead this team. Having been a student on the worship team here two years ago, I feel incredibly honored to serve in this way and I’m trusting God to move in profound ways from start to finish. In addition to leading this team, I also will lead a Bible study and disciple the four girls in the group, and I can’t fully express my excitement about both these areas.

I think the prevailing emotion I feel after this week is love; I feel loved by my staff team, I feel loved by my Team Keena supporters, I feel loved through the positions of leadership I get to serve in this summer, and above all, I feel loved and deeply known by my lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Praising him for all that he is, and in love with the God big enough to rescue and use this sinner to build his glorious kingdom.

-Krystyna

8k�~.�<

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First seafood of the trip!! Ready to try some East Coast crab! #teamkeena

Fears Diving In

Going into this summer mission I thought I knew exactly what was coming. I knew I'd be meeting new people, sharing my faith, and deepening my relationships with both Christ and my fellow missions team. For an extrovert, this didn't seem like a big deal. I love people! How hard could it be?! Quite difficult, it turns out. Coming here and meeting everyone who has had so much experience sharing from past missions trips, I started to question if I had what it takes. Questions started popping up in my mind... What if I'm not good at it? What if people don't want to hear what I have to say? What if I can't make a difference? But then I hear different questions in the back of my mind.. What if you change someone's heart? What if you help bring someone to MY kingdom? What if you make a difference?? Just when I start to doubt I hear God telling me why I am here, and what I am here to do. I am here to follow Christ, and make disciples of all the nations. It's when I hear these questions in the back of my mind when I know that I don't have to doubt. I don't have to have worry or be anxious! God has me here for a reason, and I can't wait to see what he has in store! -Kayla Follow #teamkeena as we follow Christ by searching the hashtag #teamkeena

"You called me out upon the water, the great unknown, where feet may fail. And there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep. My faith will stand." Spending quiet time today in worship, remembering that whatever is lying ahead in our journey, God has planned in advance. So excited to see where he leads us this summer as we go out sharing the gospel!

#teamkeena

Making memories to last a life time. Who knew that dancing in the rain could turn into splashing in the ocean? I am so blessed to be here, making friends, memories, and changing hearts in the name of Jesus! So blessed to be here, and thank you to all who made making these memories possible for #teamkeena

#teamkeena reporting for duty!

Waking up to this view this morning, and praising God that we have made it. Also rejoicing this morning, knowing that yesterday #teamkeena found out that our mission to South Carolina has been fully funded!!! Thanks to all who made this trip possible! God is SO good!!!!

This is how we feel after packing all day for Summer Mission in South Carolina with Cru!! T-five hours until we take off for the East Coast to spend our summer sharing the gospel. Praying for our last bit of support to come in and excited to see God work in amazing ways!!

But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

2 Corinthians 12:9

#teamkeena #2 corinthians 12:9

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