Sorry for the delay...

Hey everybody!
I hope you are all doing well. I’m sorry I feel like I haven’t updated this blog in ages. Things have been so busy and the internet is such a hassle sometimes. Sorry if my communication has been lacking. It really is so slow and difficult to use the internet that if usually just frustrates me, just at the thought of it, so I haven’t been very consistent in emailing or blogging. I hope you know I still love and think about you every day.
Things have been great here. The team from Knoxville arrived last Friday & it was such a blessing to see them! So good to see familiar faces, and to have some dark chocolate brought all the way from the states. Hallelujah! The Knoxville team is on outreach right now, along with Chelsey and her team, so you can be sure to be praying for their time in the village, I’m sure it will be incredible.
It’s crazy to think we only have 2 weeks of school left here. We officially graduate 2 weeks from today. Wow. The time has really been flying by. It’s crazy to think I’ve spend 2 months in Mozambique. I do love it here. I feel so comfortable and familiar with the place and people now. It’s incredible.
Jesus is so good. I am learning so much about just resting in the Father’s love and letting Him take care of everything. He has shown me and taught me so much this summer…
Last night we had dinner with our Outreach team, which consists of about 10 Akunas (white people/mission students) and 12 or so of the Mozambican bible students. We had a good spaghetti dinner with pancakes for dessert. Such a treat! It was fun to hang out with the Mozambican men and hear some of their testimonies. It’s crazy the work that Jesus has done in their hearts, bringing them from such broken places into amazing men of God. Then today we were able to go into the villages around the base with our outreach team and pray for the people in the village. We basically just wander around going up to different houses where people are sitting outside and the Mozambican students tell them about Jesus and ask them if they want prayer. Today we prayed for a woman with a terrible toothache and after we prayed she was completely healed! Hallelujah! It was so amazing. It gave me such joy. To see the power and presence of God. The woman’s face lit up & she had a big smile. It was the first time I had seen any of the Mozambicans get excited to be healed. They usually just say they are better, but there is no change in their emotions, so its hard to know if anything really happened. Anyway, so she was healed & she ran over to get a friend of hers who told us she had some heart condition. So we prayed for her & she said she was a little bit better. So we prayed again & then the same thing happened, she lit up, big smile, and told us she was healed! Praise the Lord! It was so amazing. Such a good day. God is so big. He has totally shattered every box I had put Him in before coming to Mozambique. My mind is blown every day by new revelations of Him. I am excited to be coming home soon to share more and more of all the stories of the amazing works He has done, in and through me. So good.
Thank you for your continued prayers. They are so appreciated.
The boys are doing well. It was so neat when the Knoxville team got here and was able to meet the boys they had heard about through my blog and had been praying for. It was funny because the boys were not happy to hear I had friends from America coming because they thought it would mean less time with them, but after the Knoxville team took them out to lunch one day, they decided they were ok. Thank you so much for the prayers for the boys. Some days they wear me out. With requests and with their attitudes and their fighting, but they really give me so much joy. Everyone here tells me every day that they can’t believe I have the patience for them and tells me I have found the worst kids in Pemba. But they really are my joy. If a day goes by that I don’t see them, I feel like I’m missing something. I love my time with them. I love to love on them and receive love from them. A couple weeks ago as we were praying in church, Focas (the middle one) was holding my hand and walking around with me as I prayed over people. Then I just sat down and decided to pray over him and his brothers and I was just overcome with love for him. I just began to cry and cry. He looked at me and just laid down in my lap, letting me cry all over him. It is probably one of my most treasured memories from being here. God just revealed how much he loves those boys and how much he loves me and how much he loves each of His children. It is unreal. He loves so much it hurts. Ah God is so good. So anyway, I cannot wait to share pictures and stories and videos of the boys with you. (they LOVE taking my camera and making videos. Carlitus even made a special one for mom). The 2 older brothers keep asking if they can come home to America with me, they’ve even suggested just hiding in my luggage. I explained that security probably wouldn’t allow it. So funny. Please be praying for our hearts as time here wraps up. I am so thankful that the Lord promises to bring all works to completion, because I know He has started great works in these boys and I am certain that there is a big calling on their lives. It’s definitely going to be a struggle to have to say goodbye.
Thank you for your love and prayers. I am so looking forward to seeing you all in a few weeks. I pray that God is doing amazing works in your life wherever you continue to be this summer.
Blessings,
Kelly

the Joy of the Lord is Our Strength

:) Thank you so much for all the prayers and encouragement. Days are flying by. I cant believe more than half my time here has already gone by. SO much has happened and it has just been so glorious! The Lord is teaching me so much and I cannot wait to come home and share the love and stories with each of you.
I hope you are all doing well back home. I am super excited because the team from cedar springs is coming in on friday! hallelujah for familiar faces!
today we had a really good church service with the mozambicans and it was such a joy. i love worship here because it is such a full on experience. we dance and sing & there is such freedom. today one of the older widows pulled me around and we danced and then she led me on stage where we danced with many other kids and women. it was so much fun. i cant wait to share pictures. then there was a really amazing prayer time where the lord hit me again with his love. he is so good. so so good. i am just so thankful to be serving such and amazing god.
thank you for all the love and prayers. sorry for another disjointed blog. i never know how to gather my thoughts on these things and i feel so rushed with the mozambican internet... not to mention my 4 brothers are here with me learning to play pinball and solitaire... oh the joys of modern technology.
i love you all!
kelly

Love. and be loved.

Hello everyone! Happy 4th of July! I hope you all are having a spectacular weekend to celebrate the independence! It's kind of funny to celebrate here amongst several Brits...

I just got back from my first Outreach experience. I spent the past 3 days/2 nights camping out in a village here in Mozambique about 3 hours from us here in Pemba. It was an intense experience. My spirit is so tired. We went through the village praying for people and seeing healings and people come to Jesus. It was really incredible. There were so so many children. It was actually a little overwhelming... especially when I tried to start handing out stickers. But God was good. We showed the "jesus film" each night and watched and prayed and layed hands on people as they gave their lives to jesus. We saw miraculous healings. 2 deaf people regained their hearing. many stomachs and headaches were healed. it was really incredible. the power of god was definitely displayed.

one thing the lord really taught me today is the importance of loving and being loved. we are learning so much here that sometimes me head is just left spinning. sometimes i have to question what i am being taught because it is all so new & some of it is pretty far out there. but god is my teacher and he is good. but i just had a revelation today of the importance of being loved by god and then giving his love away. i think that is all we should be about. i cant do anything without his love. i dont want to learn how to heal or see miracles or do any of the crazy things they talk about hear if i am not doing it for the purpose of love. any encounter i have with him, i want to draw me closer into the heart of my Father, only so i can pour out that love to others. i dont just want some crazy experience that i can relate back to my friends and family who werent there to see it. i want to experience the love of god so that i can share it with others, so i can bring them joy and hope and healing.
some people are a lot easier to love. like the poor. i could sit with them and love on them all day. thats easy for me. but then when i had to pile into a truck with all my team members and i was tired and cramped in, it was harder for me to love them. but thats what i am called to. loving everyone. sometimes i really stuggle with loving those who are closest to me. so i just want to sne out my apologies and ask for your forgiveness when i do a horrible job of representing our Fathers love. I hope to learn more about his love this summer so i can come back and love those around me with a fuller heart. i am so thankful for all of the love you have each poured into me.
so right now i am just praying for more love encounters with the lord. i want to be so full of him and his love that it just oozes out of me and becomes easier and easier to love those around me. i want to see lives and hearts changed for the sake of love. thanks for joining with me in prayer.

thanks for reading. i hope you all are doing well back in the states or wherever you may be. i am so so thankful for all the prayers and encouragement. i'm praying that you all experience some amazing love encounters with the Father. i love you.
kelly