Bonjour from France!

We have had such a good week in France! Eating croissants, strolling through the park and the zoo, sightseeing in cathedrals and amphitheaters, worshipping with amazing new brothers and sisters, and enjoying plenty of sweet treats...

This past week Gareth, Ashley and I were blessed to share some of our stories of walking as Sons and Daughters of God at a home group here in Lyon. Gareth and I shared our story of how Jesus miraculously brought us together and has provided us with everything we need as we love and serve Him. We watched as Jesus restored hope and joy in the hearts of his sons and daughters. It's so beautiful to walk in His Kingdom!

We also got to go on a new adventure... Ministering to a group of Spirit-filled Catholics who worship together in the crypt of an old Cathedral here in downtown Lyon. It was wild... and so much fun. We found ourselves just laughing, dancing and enjoying the goodness of Daddy God as He used us again to share testimonies of what we have seen Him do in our lives and around the world. After sharing some stories we were able to pray and bless our brothers and sisters to go out into the world and see Jesus establish His kingdom through their hands and feet. It was a beautiful time of commissioning His saints to go out and see Love transform the world.

We're continuing to learn and grow in what it looks like to be Sons and Daughters of God. Jesus is constantly reminding me of His perfect love and affection towards us. He's reminded me this week that I have nothing of my own to offer. I can only give what He pours into me. And so I am so very thankful that He is continuously pouring His love and affection over me. I am so thankful for the ways He takes my little voice and uses it to bless His sons and daughters. So thankful that He delights in giving me joy each and every day. So thankful that He is always faithful and provides our every need.

God I pray you would continue to remind us that it's not about us... It's all about YOU. All He is looking for is willing vessels. He's asking for lives completely laid down and surrendered to Him. And what a joy it is to lay it all down! To know that I am completely dead and it is He who lives and moves and has His way in me! Thank you Jesus. Thank you that I am free to be nothing and allow you to be absolutely everything!

Even yesterday we were blessed by an abundance of His goodness again. Gareth, Ashley and I were able to travel to Geneva, Switzerland yesterday to sightsee and taste the delicacies of Swiss chocolate and cheese! Yum! We had a blast laughing through the streets and exploring new places.  It is so good to be free to enjoy the beauty of everything He has made!

Thank you Jesus for your goodness and kindness and mercies towards us. Thank you for providing our every need. Thank you for lavishing your love on us. Thank you for inviting us into the greatest romance and adventure of all time.

Tomorrow we head to Tete, Mozambique to visit our beautiful friends Nick & Marlene and Brooke. We are so excited to get back in the dirt and among the poor. So expectant for what Jesus will do in our time, how he will continue to open our eyes and break our hearts for what breaks His. Thank you Jesus for the joy and delight and honor of loving your children all around the world. Thank you for leading us to love every person, wherever they are and whatever they look like. God you are so eager to pour your love out on this hurting world. Show us how we can make ourselves available to you so that more of your children might be touched and brought home into the kingdom.

With great love and lots of joy!
Kelly

Hallo from Holland!

Quick update...

God loves His Sons and Daughters! 

Europe has been amazing so far. We have had so many good laughs and a few good adventures... including our 10 hour stay in the German airport... 

So G and I landed in the Dusseldorf airport in Germany around 7am Wednesday morning after about 2 days of no sleep and long travels... we were exhausted and unable to stay awake. So we were passed out on the bench in the airport waiting for our friends to arrive and woke up to find my purse had been stolen... my purse with my wallet and passport... Hallelujah. We laughed at our circumstances... called the bank to cancel my card... and then I headed to police station while Gareth stayed with the rest of our bags. Filed the report after a bit of back and forth around the airport and then headed back to sit with Gareth and wait for our friends. We laughed some more and blessed whoever it was who had taken the bag. We also prayed- Lord bring me back my passport! We knew I needed it to continue in our travels and we also knew it was His idea for us take these adventures so we had total peace that He would work it out... and guess what... a while later... maybe 30 minutes or so, the police station called and had my passport in hand! ha!! The man who had stolen it was a wanted criminal and the police had passed by him that afternoon and caught him with my passport! Come on Jesus! So we were able to go pick it up and then head to the house we were staying. Thank you Jesus! Thank you that you provide all we need! Including perfect peace and joy! Thank you that you restore everything the enemy tries to steal from us! Thank you that the enemy cannot stop your perfect plans!

So then...

We just had an amazing time seeing God's kingdom come in Germany this past weekend. Gareth and I had the honor of getting to serve and share with our friends Ashley & Steve at a small seminar in West Germany. Steve taught on what it looks like to be Sons and Daughters of God. We were so blessed to see the hunger in the German church. God's people showed up so eager to see Him move in power and love... and of course He was faithful to come! We saw God move in the hearts of His people with such love. Love seeing people touched with the truth of Gospel and the truth of who Jesus says they are- loved and approved sons and daughters. God worked to remove shame and fear and heal wounded hearts. It was beautiful. Thank you Jesus for your goodness and faithfulness to us. Thank you for letting us be vessels of your love.

Now we are in Holland visiting some amazing friends and getting to enjoy a bit of rest after a long journey. Our next adventures take us to France in a few days. We are excited to see what Jesus does in His people there! Come on Jesus!!

Thank you all for your love and prayers. We are so blessed by our amazing global family. G and I send our love!

Hoping to be better about keeping everyone posted through the journey! Lots of love!

The Cunninghams

a small taste of India

As I am sitting here in my little nook in Nepal I am thinking of how it has been ages since I have updated my blog and how SO MUCH has happened it is unreal.

Over the last few weeks I have taken my first steps in India, fallen in love, and traveled all around the beautiful nation. My life will never be the same after being exposed to some of the most beautiful hearts and faces I have ever known.

The first couple weeks I was with my outreach team from Harvest School 16. We had an amazing team of 9 “laid down lovers” who loved, served, and worshipped just as Jesus did. We spent most of our time in the children’s home, appropriately named House of Love. HOL is home to over 100 children currently. We had the best time living among our new Indian family. We learned to cook for the masses. We watched some incredible Tollywood dance films and danced it up with the kids. We got decked out in Indian attire. We became part of a beautiful Indian family.

From the moment I met the kids I was completely undone. They welcomed us on the bus as we drove from the airport to the home. I was instantly moved to tears at the goodness of God. Three years ago He gave me visions of children in India that I would see and love and serve. For three years I have prayed and asked Him about when I would go and what it would look like. My heart has longed to be in the place He had shown me. And as the kids climbed on the bus I was just undone by their beauty, and by His love and faithfulness. And He is so faithful to make every dream come true. 

We arrived at the house and were showered with flowers. I mean showered. Covered in beautiful leis of fresh flowers, petals falling from all over as the kids were on different levels dropping down the orange and yellow petals on us. It was such a sight to be seen. More tears came as the house full of children welcomed us with such love.

Each day we would worship and pray and serve meals to the children. I have never seen such a hunger for the presence of God in such small children. They would ask for prayer rather than get in line to eat. They would weep in the presence and under the power of the Holy Spirit. They know and live in the Love of the Father and it is such a beautiful sight to behold. 

Each day we would play with the kids, sometimes joining them at school to play outside, other times taking them to the beach, other times just kicking it at the house. We also traveled to a few other homes in the surrounding areas- braving horrible roads and lots of carsickness for short visits into some dangerous unreached areas. The children would sing their beautiful songs of worship for us and we would get to pray for them and serve them dinner. It was such an honor to be in the presence of these little saints.

So much happened that I am not sure how to put it all into words... My most significant relationship is with a four year old girl we affectionately nicknamed “Baby.” She was brought to the home as a baby, rescued from her family where her father had gotten drunk, doused her in fuel and lit her on fire. This precious angel had burns covering one of her arms, her chest and some of her face. I talked with the Dad of the children’s home and heard of how she truly is a miracle to have survived. Her first months in the home she cried nonstop in pain, but they continued to love her, despite others saying she was a lost cause and just to forget about her. They continued to love. And now she is as happy as can be. She is the most beautiful child I have ever met. She is brilliant. She’s an absolute princess. I spent as much time as I could just loving on her and I know that God will be faithful to bring me back to her one day. She has stolen my heart completely. I just love God and his faithfulness, His kindness, His mercy. He is such a good, good Dad and we saw so much of evidence of this in our time.

After our stay in the south I traveled with a few other girls to Mumbai where we got a taste of Indian city life. So different from the rural area we had been in! It was a blast to go exploring and shopping and see more of India. I was also blessed to be reunited with my dear friend Nupur, who flew me with her to Hyderabad for her convocation from Law School. We had the best time exploring the city there. Next was a short trip to Kolkata where we stayed at another children’s home and were again blessed by the love we encountered. We were also able to visit the city and see the home where Mother Teresa lived and founded the Sisters of Charity. Another dream fulfilled. It was unreal to stand in the rooms and halls where this hero of mine loved and served and ministered so faithfully. Her life of laid down love inspires and challenges me to unreal levels. It was the stories of her life devoted to loving Jesus and the poor that really ignited something in me years ago. So to be in the place where she served was such an incredible honor.

God just keeps reminding me that everything is all about love. Simple acts of love. Love doesn’t have to look big and flashy. Love looks like listening. Love looks like holding a sick child. Love looks like waking up at 4am to cook meals. Love looks like looking someone in the eyes as they tell their story. 

Thank you Jesus for your goodness and your faithfulness to me. Thank you for so many dreams fulfilled. Thank you for accomplishing Your plans and purposes through me. I pray I may never get in the way of what You want to do on this earth. 

Thank you all for sharing in the story and the journey. I look forward to the days of being able to talk face to face and share more personal stories. May you each be blessed in the love of the Father, Son and Spirit.

Kelly

it's a beautiful life.

Hello beautiful saints of God,

I’m sorry I have not done well at writing updates. I get wrapped up in all that is happening here and I am not sure how to relay it all.

This school of students is really beautiful. We have been having a wonderful time together pursuing the presence and Kingdom of God. Jesus is so at work in each of us, changing and transforming our lives. We are becoming image bearers of God. It’s really beautiful.

I am not sure what to update on... Things have been really wonderful here. My days are full with classes, administration work, worship, time loving on students, resting, seeing Fogas and other friends from the village.

Ah, here is an amazing testimony from last week Monday. I went with a few of the girls from my house to go visit Fogas and his family in the village. Before we went I was told one of Fogas’ older brothers, Lucas was in the hospital. So when we got to the home everyone was a bit somber and worried about Lucas. So we all prayed together for his healing and for peace. As we prayed I was reminded of the story in the bible where a man comes to Jesus and tells him about his son who is sick and needs healing. He says he knows Jesus can heal him, all he has to do is say it. Jesus blesses him & honors his faith & says his son will be well. As the man returns home, someone meets him along the way and tells him that his son was healed at the exact hour Jesus said it would be so. Ha! What an amazing Jesus. So I am  praying, fully expecting Lucas to be healed. We hang out at the house for a few hours, eating and fellowshipping with their beautiful family. After eating I tell them I will go to the hospital to check on Lucas, because they are also telling me there will be hospital bills which they cannot pay for and they are asking for my help. So I feel prompted to go to the hospital and see the actual situation, and visit my friend Lucas rather than just hand them a wad of money. 

So, we set off on an adventure to the hospital! My friend Julianne, Fogas and his younger brother Asam come along and we hop in a taxi to the hospital. We get there and have quite a difficult time finding where Lucas might be. His name isn’t on any records of sign ins and they are just sending us to look through each hall of the hospital. It’s really hilarious because we are in and out of abandoned and full hospital wings. We are roaming around with Fogas & Asam (who are actually not allowed because they are children) but we need them to help us translate. After about an hour of searching we find Lucas’s name is on the list which says he is in the one wing of the hospital where visitors aren’t allowed. haha. So... the hospital staff at this point is a bit annoyed & is asking us all to leave, especially the boys. So we walk out, but Julianne says to me that I need to go back in because we have searched for so long & I need to see him. So I go back in, praying Jesus gives me favor, and an ability to speak without a translator... and guess what happens... Jesus hears and responds! I go in, wait in line to talk to some man in white coat who everyone is trying to talk to. I explain to him in broken Portuguese my situation- that I have a friend who is like family in the hospital and I would like to see him and help pay for anything he needs while he is here in the hospital. The man smiles and agrees to let me go see Lucas immediately! ha! So then I wander into the prohibited area and I’m looking all around for him, not finding him anywhere. A nurse approaches me to ask what I am doing & I tell her the name I am looking for. She steps into a room & then comes out with Lucas’s release papers! Because he was already gone! Because God healed him and he was able to go home! Come on! Praise Jesus. So good. 

So it was quite a beautiful adventure of love. God is good. He is healer. He hears our every request. We went home & found Lucas healed and happy.

I love serving this altogether beautiful, worthy, lovely God.

Thanks for sharing in the adventure. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Blessings!

Kelly

Outreach to the BushBush

Oh the BushBush was amazing. My team was incredible. They are all so filled with the power and love of God. We traveled 3 hours drive on the back of our big Iris trucks with 40 or so people to go share the love of Jesus. We had our Harvest School students, a team of 10 Scottish visitors, and our Mozambican brothers ready to love and serve. I was so blessed to lead alongside one of Heidi’s closest sons, Pascoal. He is a new hero of mine. He carries the heart of Jesus in an amazing way, full of love and compassion. His story is one of the relentless love of Jesus and how He completely transforms lives and fills His people with love and holiness. I was so blessed by my time learning from this mighty man of God.

Our first night our team arrived a bit late and we set up our tents and headed out to a big field to show the Jesus film, preach and pray. We had a pretty large group turn out. The projector ended up not working so we improvised with some skits and testimonies. We introduced ourselves and I was blessed to get to share with the crowds about how much Jesus loved them. I told the crowd how He called me all the way from America to this little village in Mozambique just to see their beautiful faces and tell them in Makhua (the heart language) “Yesu nau fenta” - Jesus loves you :) It was beautiful. Faces lit up. Hearts were filled. So many decided to give their lives to Jesus. hallelujah.

Then we invited any who wanted any sort of healing to come forward. This is my favorite story- A Mozambican Mama with a baby strapped around her back came up & wanted prayer for a headache. We prayed a bit and I asked her if it was better. She said it was a little better, so I said let’s pray more. As I prayed I asked God-when she is healed, let it manifest in a smile. (In the culture here I almost never smiles when they receive healing. They just walk away with same solemn countenance they had when they came to ask for prayer) So we are praying and within seconds a HUGE BEAUTIFUL smile comes across her face- “Uhovona?” (are you healed?) Yes! She is so happy she is beaming. And she proceeds to follow me, laying hands on and praying for all the other women around us with headaches as we continue seeing Jesus touch and heal His beloved Bride. Wow. My God is so good. He didn’t have to fill her with joy as he healed her, he didn’t have to show me that smile. But He loves us so much and His heart delights in bringing us joy. It was so special.

So that was night one. Night two was just a continuation of glory and goodness. We were able to get a  different projector so we could share the Jesus film- hallelujah the full Gospel was shared! We preached and prayed and saw so many people decide to give their lives to Jesus. We saw deaf ears open, headaches be healed, stomach aches be healed, joy replace mourning and grief, we saw Love manifest. It was beautiful. 

We also spent time walking through the village, spending time with people, hearing a bit of their stories and praying with them. Everywhere we went we saw God’s love manifest in healing and salvation. I am just overwhelmed by the kindness of God.

I could write pages and pages of all that we saw & all that God accomplished... It’s amazing. But I am very tired and very much in need of rest :)

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your love. Thank you for sharing in the story.

So much love to each and every one of you. I am so blessed as you share in the story with me. May your hearts be richly blessed and encouraged as you hear the testimonies of our King. I pray it provokes you to hunger for more. I pray we are never satisfied with what we have seen and experienced but that we always want more. I pray that as we continue to seek Him out, we would find Him in new and amazing ways.

Love you,

Kelly

With love, from Pemba

Lord bless this Pemba internet :) This is the first time I have been able to really successfully use the internet since being in Pemba, other than wifi on my phone. So sorry for the delay in updating :)

So much love to everyone back home and all around the world. It’s been a glorious first couple weeks back in Pemba. Every day I wake up overwhelmed by the goodness of God. I am so blessed to be here in this place I love surrounded by so many people.

My house is now full of new students for the Harvest School. I have 12 beautifully amazing women to share life and space with over the next 10 weeks. We have already shared laughter and tears and prayers and meals it has been such a beautiful time. I am really excited for what Jesus has in store for this season. Thank you so much for your continued prayers as I love on and minister to these twelve girls from 5 different nations & all different ages. Such a beautiful Kingdom picture.

I have been reunited with the Mozambican brothers I love so much. Last weekend I was reunited with Fogas and his family at church. I can’t express in words the joy I had as Fogas saw me for the first time, ran towards me yelling “I’m going jump you!” and leapt into my arms. We worshipped together in church, mostly just hugging each other and praising God that He is so good to allow us to be reunited again. My God is so good. I then got to go to his house while his mom made us all delicious lunch & I got to hold his 2 new baby nieces! His older sister & his older brother have each had baby girls. ah they are so beautiful!

I am so thankful for all of your prayers. Sorry it is late here and I am exhausted from all that has happened this week, 300 students arriving, getting everything in order, preparing for the school and all that it entails :) I’m thankful for your prayers for sustained energy in it all! :) 

Tomorrow morning we start classes! I have such an eager anticipation for this school. The students have all come so hungry to know more about Jesus and His heart. It is so beautiful to see. I know Jesus is going to be at work transforming lives in this season as we continue to press into Him. He keeps reminding me that it is all about Him and seeking out His heart. Everything flows from knowing Him. ah He is so good and I love Him so much.

This weekend I will be leading the first teams into the BushBush for outreach! Hallelujah! We are taking the name and love of Jesus into new places and seeing His goodness transform lives! He is going to bring healing and wholeness and salvation & He is going to use us, His children, to do it. Wow. What a humbling and incredible joy we have set before us. Please be in prayer for us as we go out. Prayers over the teams health and travels. Prayers as we enter into new territories that the Spirit of God would go before us making a way. That there would be a hedge of protection around us all. That the Gospel would go out in Power! That we would see His love on display in healings and signs and wonders. :) Ah He is so good and He has it all mapped out. Pray for me as I lead the team and help train the new staff on leading outreach. Haha I can’t believe this is my life. Taking out the Gospel & equipping others to do so. Wow. Jesus. Also pray that our team would quickly bond as family. It will be a new dynamic for me to lead an outreach so early in the school when we haven’t had time to really bond and get to know each other yet, but I know the Lord will be at work to unite us quickly. It’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to post about all He does!

Love you all so much. Sorry for a disjointed blog. Just trying to post but needing to sleep. I love you all. I am so blessed by your prayers. You are incredible. 

May you be constantly undone by the Love of your Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer. 

Blessings,

Kelly

One for the books...

What a day! What a gloriously hilarious day....

So I arrived at the Johannesburg airport at 7:45 this morning. My flight set to leave straight for Pemba at 11:10am. I take my time checking in, paying huge sums of excess baggage fees (oye), enjoying a nice breakfast, treating myself since it’s my last decent meal for a while (or so I think). I get to my gate around 9:40 (boarding is listed to begin at 10:25). My new friend Julie, also on staff for HS16, arrives and we sit and chat at our gate. Times goes by and we mention how we should be boarding by now. We look around, no one has moved, no sign has changed. Still at the right gate. No listed delays. Flight not listed as boarding.... More time goes by and I get a big antsy so I walk around trying to find an agent for our airline. There, of course, is no one to be found. So as we begin to walk from gate to gate asking where we can find a representative of our airline (keeping our gate in sight this entire time, still no activity) someone finally approaches us and informs us we have just missed our flight. 

Excuse me? We are so confused. Did the gate change? No. Did the flight leave out of this gate right here? Yes. When did it leave? Right on time; We opened the doors at 10:25. No, that is not possible, I looked at my watch at 10:29 and wondered aloud why there was no activity. We go back and forth for a while until she tells us to find someone else to talk to.

We are then sent on a goose chase around the airport to find our airline’s supervisor, who shows us no grace and assumes we are lying about having been at our gate because everyone else somehow made this (very sneaky) flight. (although there was one other man who somehow missed this mystery flight alongside us) This goes on for quite a while as we try to explain that it wasn’t our fault. We were where we were asked to be. We waited. We watched. There is no way this flight left without us knowing. Still no mercy. Our tickets have been forfeited. 

At this point I am so sad. I want to be in Pemba. I don’t want to pay another $500 for a 2 1/2 hour flight into Pemba. We are in the Johannesburg airport with no working phone numbers of anyone on this continent. We try emailing our few local contacts to see if there is anything that can be done to help. No response. And then we run out of our 30 minutes of complementary internet. 

So I take a minute. Be still. Listen to the Lord. (Yes it took me this long to get to this point...) But as I am still I am made aware that the last couple hours have consisted of me fighting to get my way to Pemba. I was frustrated. Disappointed. Confused. Sad. Anxious. So I laid all that at His feet and I apologized. I’m sorry for trying to take matters into my own hands. I’m sorry for wanting to be in Pemba more than I wanted to hear what You had to say about the situation. And I was still. And there was peace. And then things (slowly) began coming together. I got in touch with our one South African contact. He advised us to go to another airline and try for tickets later this week. After some hilarious moments back and forth at the ticket counter we were finally able to purchase the tickets. I was reminded that no money is ever my own, it is all a gift from heaven, for His glory. I have no right to lay claim on any of it. 

So then at this point everything is funny to me. Like how we had to go back and forth to the ticket counter because our tickets had to be paid in cash, not American dollars but Rand... So we had to go to the ATM. Which was hesitant to give us money. But then they didn’t have change at the ticket counter. So we had to wander around asking for someone for change for a 50 because we owed them 38R and only had 28R (meaning, we were short less than 2 dollars and no one would help us out!) I spent so much of the afternoon just laughing at our unreal circumstances. I have been in the airport for 9 hours. I have seen every inch of the airport. I have pushed around my tremendously heavy (by my own doing) bags. (Which, by the way, the original airlines had time to find and offload our bags from our flight before letting us know we had missed the plane... so bizarre).

So, all that to say, by the grace of God I am now heading to Pemba Friday morning :) I am going to enjoy a day’s rest in South Africa with Julie. I am going to continue laughing at what happened. And I am going to continue looking expectantly for what He has in store next. 

I am thankful that in all time, places, and circumstances He is sovereign and He is good. I am thankful for His hand of protection and provision. I am thankful for his joy and laughter. I am thankful for the reminder to be still and Listen. I am thankful that even if the plane heads on to Pemba, His presence stays with me.

Hallelujah. What a day.

Thanks for the prayers and the love.

May you be continually blessed by revelations of His goodness towards you in ALL things.

Kelly

The Adventure Continues

It’s 3:30am here in Johannesburg, South Africa and I am lying awake in bed praising God for His goodness and faithfulness. I am overwhelmed by His unchanging love and faithfulness. In just a few short hours He is returning me to a place and a people my heart has so fallen in love with. 

Thank you all for your prayers and devotion over the last months. I have felt the Lord’s hand of protection and provision over me as I have prepared to return to Mozambique. Everything came smoothly and easily- visas, finances, flight arrangements. I am still in awe of the ease of everything. I know it comes as the result of prayers and the decision to abide in Him and allow Him to handle every detail. As we rest in Him He cares for our every need. Thank you God.

I also want to thank each of you for your support and prayers as I had my surgery in March. I should have posted sooner- but everything went wonderfully. It was really easy and all the test results came back negative for cancer. Hallelujah! As I went and visited the doctor just last week he informed me that my thyroid levels were perfectly normal (even though I only have half a thyroid left in my body) and so PRAISE JESUS I don’t have to even take any supplements. God is so good and He cares for our bodies perfectly. Thank you for all the prayers and love sent up on my behalf.

I am so eager and expectant for this next season. I am so honored to be able to continue loving and serving my God in a place that is so dear to my heart. I am looking forward to meeting up with new and old friends tomorrow and in the next days as the rest of the school staff continue to arrive. I am eager to meet the new sisters I will have in my house to love and care for. My heart jumps at the thought of seeing my Mozambican family again. 

As I step back into the Pemba dirt I am so so very thankful for your prayers-

prayers for wisdom as I love on and minister to the new students (297 in counting for this next school)

prayers for my family and my heart as we adjust to being apart again

prayers as I and the other 37 staff finish up all the preparation for the upcoming school- construction of new houses and beds, provision of supplies for each house, preparation in our hearts for all that is in store, openness to hear what the Lord is saying about this next school

Thank you all for your love. I have been overwhelmed, yet again, by everyone’s encouraging words and prayers over the last months. I am so blessed by His body here on earth. I pray you would each know the power of your willingness to be obedient to Him in all that you say and do, and that you would receive all the blessings and benefits of your obedience.

So much love to you all. Many blessings. May the Lord continue to reveal Himself and His heart to each of us. That is my one desire. To know Him more, to hear His voice and to follow wherever it beckons. May we all be strengthened with His power, with His love, and with His joy. 

Kelly

A Much Overdue Update

Hello friends and family! Lots of love and blessings and joy to each of you as you continue to journey with me... It has been a long while since I have written and I feel like I have a million things to update on, but I will do my best to be both thorough and concise :)


I am back in Knoxville. :) Hallelujah. Jesus is really good and He invited me to move back here while I was still in Mozambique. I was hesitant at first to want to follow because I love Birmingham and my beautiful brothers and sisters there. But I am learning that obedience is the greatest joy. As I follow Him, I see that He is already with me, closer than ever, and there is nowhere I would rather be that right beside Him. Thank you God for your presence in my life.


Since being home God has gifted me with the most amazing job I could ever dream of having. I get to work with precious 3rd grade students as their teacher in an after school program at my church here in Knoxville. I ooze with joy whenever I even think about my students and my time with them. I am thankful that Jesus continues to remind me that the Kingdom belongs to the children. I love getting to play, laugh, sing, dance, swing, run, pray, read the Word, and learn alongside these beautiful treasures of the King. Please keep us in your prayers as I continue seeking God and his strategies in speaking Life and Truth and Love into their hearts and minds.


God's timing is perfect in everything. This job truly is one of His miracles of provision. I started within weeks of being home and my semester with my kids will end in mid-May, which is perfect, because Jesus (and Iris) have invited me back to Mozambique to be a part of staffing two more of the Harvest Schools of Missions :) Praise Him!


(big big smiles on my face) I cannot believe how good Jesus is in gifting me with more time in a place I love so much. I will be returning to Mozambique at the end of May to staff another 2 Harvest Schools in Pemba. I am so excited and blessed I can hardly stand myself :) Another beautiful gift of Jesus- after the first school, so in Mid-August, I will be leading a team of graduated students on an outreach to India! Yes, India. Because God is good and faithful. I am so blessed to be partnering with my amazing brother, Lyle Phillips, and his ministry Mercy29. If you aren't familiar with him and his ministry, I can't encourage you enough to check it out. They rescue children. They see the broken made whole. They set captives free. The love with abandon. It is truly and miraculously beautiful and I an in awe of the opportunity Jesus has given me to join with them in this season. Please pray for me and other staff and students as we prepare our hearts, minds, and all else to serve Him in another season in Pemba. Pray as I arrange flights, visas, and all the other details that come with traveling :)


I am so thankful for those of you who join in my story by reading this blog and partnering with me in prayer. I have another update and prayer request to share with you as you continue to walk with me :) Just before I left for Mozambique last September I went in for a regular physical exam in which the doctor found a mass on my thyroid. After having an ultrasound, he requested that I have it biopsied so that we could find out what it was and how it should be treated. There wasn't time between discovering the mass and my flight to Mozambique so I left for Pemba knowing that Jesus held me in His hands and called me to serve Him in Mozambique in that season. Since being home I have had the biopsy and based on what they discovered the doctors have decided that I need to have surgery in order to remove the left half of my thyroid. With surgery they will be able to tell what kind of cells are growing and whether the second half has to be removed.(it won't be, in Jesus' name :) So, all of that to say, I am going into surgery on the morning of March 29th. I am beyond thankful for your prayers as Jesus continues to heal and take authority over my body. I know that I am called to serve Him in the nations and that no weapon formed against me shall prosper. I know that His plans and purposes for me are good. I know that He is healer. I know that He provides and cares for me. So I am thankful for all of you who join with me in walking in healing and peace.


Thank you for your continued love and prayers and support. You are so very beautiful. Every day I am overwhelmed with the body of believers Jesus has surrounded me with. I can't praise Him enough. In many nations and cities and states I have the most beautiful, powerful, Sons and Daughters of God standing with me in battling for the Kingdom. We are blessed. And highly favored. :)


The most powerful gift you can give me is your prayers. ( I also really love words of encouragement :) )And I also want to invite you, as you pray, to seek the Holy Spirit about whether He prompts you to financially sew into what He is doing in the nations. I am always blessed and amazed at how Jesus continuously, faithfully provides a way in whatever He calls me to. If you feel prompted to give please email me at kazimmer@samford.edu so I can give you more information.


I know in many ways this update was brief; it definitely does not capture all the Jesus is up to in and around me. I would love to share more with anyone who has time to listen :) Please accept the invitation to call, email, facebook message me, (or any other form of social media I may have forgotten) if there is anything more I can share about. I am also eager to hear your stories of what Jesus is up to in your lives!


Thanks for Listening. Much Love.
Kelly






Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Remain at work in us this day and always. Let us be attentive to your stirrings and movements on this earth. All glory and honor and praise to Your Holy Name.

Merry Pemba Christmas!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! I hope you are all well. I am so happy to be writing on this beautiful Pemba Christmas Eve. The last days and weeks have been so rich with so many sweet blessings from Jesus.

I just returned from 10 days in the BushBush with my amazing team of Harvest students and Mozambican bible students. It was wonderful. We had the best time- so much fun and laughter and joy. We got to share the Good News of Jesus in several different villages and see so many people decide they want to follow Him. Every person who asked me for prayer was healed by sweet Jesus- headaches, pain in knees, stomach aches, all sorts of pains- touched by the love of our sweet savior. It was so beautiful. Thank you Jesus for your kindness and faithfulness.

The last few days here in Pemba have been packed with Christmas preparation and school clean up. It’s been so fun and so different to have a small team of only about 40 of us remaining Harvest schoolers around. Tonight we had our Christmas Eve celebration with all the Iris kids. We watched as students performed a wonderful nativity play, we sang songs, and we had holy chaos as each child was given a lit candle to hold. It turned into a game of who could blow out everyone else's candle quite quickly. Heidi and I had a good laugh as some students sang Silent Night while everyone was running around yelling and blowing out each others candles. Holy chaos at it’s finest. I love the way things happen here. Tomorrow we will feed about 5,000 people for Christmas day, hallelujah! What a beautiful, hot, busy Christmas!

Thank you for your continued prayers as time wraps up here in Pemba. It’s so strange to be away from home and family for the first time in the Christmas season, but it is very helpful to know I am right where Jesus wants me. Please keep me and my family in your prayers as the holidays continue.

I would also love your prayers as I begin the next step in this journey... I have exciting news to share... on my way home to America I will be making a stop over in India! :) Jesus started speaking to me about making plans to visit India after the school early in my time in Pemba and things are getting all arranged now. Please keep my in your prayers as I go to Joberg in the next week to get my visa and begin the journey. Thank you so much for your love and support. I am so blessed by my family and friends encouraging me as I go.

I can’t wait to share more stories soon about the wonderful work of Jesus. May you each be blessed with joy as you celebrate the birth of our beautiful Jesus. Thank you Lord for coming to this earth to make a way for me to enter into the Father’s arms. Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, love, love,
Kelly

Winding down, winding up :)

Hello beauties,

Wow it has been a long time since I have blogged. I am so very sorry for not keeping you all updated and in the know. Things have been so wildly busy.

School is now over. Wow. It's hard to believe. The first load of students went home today. Everything has been a whirlwind. We celebrated with lots of joy and singing and dancing at graduation yesterday. People were blessed with prayers and covering from Mama Aida, Papa Rolland, Pastor Supresa, Mel Tari and many others. We had a blast going around and blessing the students and commissioning them into their destinies. It's been an amazing honor to be among so many heros of the faith here. I am excited to see these students extend the glory of God into every corner of the earth. Hallelujah! Lord let your kingdom come!

In 2 days I head back into the Bush Bush :) This time for 10 days! Whewy! Leading a team of 30, about 15 Harvest Students & 15 Mozambican Missions students/pastors. We are going to have a blast! So thankful for your prayers for protection, health, and most importantly- the presence of God. May we do nothing apart from Him and His presence. May we listen to the sound of His voice telling us the ways in which to go. May we see his eyes in the eyes of the poor, lonely, lost and forgotten, May we see His spirit break through in love and in power. May we see the miraculous love of God manifest itself in joy. Please pray for energy and strength as I and the students are coming off of some pretty hectic schedules and ready to jump right in!

You all are so beautiful. Thank you for joining me in the adventures and endeavors the Lord sets before me. I cannot wait to sit with each of you and tell stories of what the Lord has done in and around me over the last months. He is beautiful beyond words.

Thank you for your love. Thank you for your prayers. May you each be blessed with His goodness and kindness and mercies anew each day. Love to you!
Kelly

Updates from Outreach

(a post written on tuesday morning but unable to be uploaded til thursday night :) i love pemba)


Hello beautiful ones!

I hope you are enjoying the beauty of the day where you are. Here in Pemba it’s another perfect day- sunny, breezy and hot :) and I am sitting in my hammock enjoying a peaceful, quiet morning before heading to class to hear Heidi speak.

Thank you for your prayers for outreach. It was phenomenal. Absolutely amazing. We loaded up our truck of about 15 Harvest Students & 15 Mozambican Bible School students and rode about 2 1/2 hours away from base to a village to share the love of Jesus. We also brought along Jesus, Father God, and the Holy Spirit so everything ran smoothly :) He led us in exactly how to speak and minister. Our team worked so well together as we set up tents in the King of the Village’s yard. (Just a reminder that we in the Kingdom are all royalty :) We went over to a large field and showed the Jesus Film, danced, preached, gave testimony and prayed for people to receive Jesus and to be healed from all sorts of illnesses.

To be honest the first night was a little difficult for me because as we went into the crowds to pray swarms of kids were coming up & mocking. This is a village that has been visited by Iris before and has a church plant so they knew a little of what to expect. Kids were coming up pretending to need prayer for deaf ears when they really could hear fine. There was just a lot of ridicule coming from the children & it was really making me upset because I hated to see the name of Jesus being mocked. But we prayed for people and we saw God doing miraculous healings then we headed back to camp to sleep after a very long day.

The next morning I woke up and opened the bible to several passages where Jesus is talking about children. Jesus reminded me that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the children. He reminded me how much he loves the children. He reminded me that he said never to hinder a child from coming him. His heart is so beautiful. I repented for my frustrations with the kids from the night before and I asked God to give me new eyes.

So throughout the day of Friday I spent my time helping with the children’s ministry- seeing kids truly enter into worship and prayer and have fun learning about Jesus. We played games and laughed and sang and gave out food. It was beautiful.

That evening as I sat in the dirt about to go up to pray for the sick I sat with two beautiful girls I had met earlier (maybe about 6 & 8 in age). As I sat there they laid their hands on me and began to pray. It was so beautiful. I felt the Lord preparing me to go and minister. So as I went out into the crowd I brought those 2 beautiful princesses with me & had then lay hands on everyone with me & pray with me. And guess what- the Kingdom came! Because it belongs to the children! We saw a woman with a hurt knee be healed, we saw headaches disappear, we saw a woman with pain in her elbow & knee be healed, we saw a man who couldn’t lift his arm because it was in so much pain raise his hand and thank Jesus for his healing! Others on the team saw deaf ears open up, dizziness disappear, we prayed for men to be set free of alcoholism. It was altogether beautiful. I just keep praising and thanking Jesus for letting me be a part of something so incredibly majestic. God is good.

So thank you for your prayers. Thank you for sowing into the kingdom.

I’m working on catching up on rest & enjoying all the goodness He has for me here each day. Each day is so full- full of His love and mercies and kindness and joy. Yesterday I got to treat my family of boys and their mom to a lunch of chicken and fries at Iris’ restaurant. Whew you should have seen their smiles. It was wonderful. We had a great time laughing & fellowshipping. They are a beautiful family. Thank you for your continued prayers for them. Yesterday their Mama and I had a really sweet time in church worshipping and praying & weeping together. I love that God’s Spirit works and moves through us even when we are unable to communicate. He still knows the cries of our hearts and he is able to minister despite and language barriers. Hallelujah.

Ok. I have a million other stories of how wonderfully glorious and faithful Jesus has been but I am going to sign out for now. I pray you each are enjoying the beauty of where you are. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to build relationships with the students here in the school.

Sending you lots and lots of LOVE!
Kelly

Enjoying the Beauty

Hello beautiful ones!!

I am so sorry it has been so long since my last update. Things have really picked up speed here in Pemba. Since my last update students have arrived, classes are three weeks in, the base has been flooded with children from the village, teams have gone on outreach, and the goodness of God has continued to spread all over :) hallelujah.

Things in Pemba are so wonderful. So very busy and so very wonderful. I have an amazing room full of beautiful women from literally all around the world- Norway, America, Brazil, Estonia (i had to ask where that one was), New Zealand :) Canada, England and Maputu (in southern Mozambique). So cool! In total I am over 2 rooms of 8 girls each. Our 2 newest roommates just arrived this past weekend after traveling up from the Iris base in Maputu. They are beautiful Mozambican women with hearts to love and serve God. It has been so much fun to be around them. We would love your prayers for community and communication because they mostly speak Portuguese & Shangan (the tribal language around Maputu). So far things have been wonderful though. The other girls are so fantastic as well. Thank you for your prayers. They have been such a blessing, loving and encouraging me. It has been really fun to be here & in community. :) :) :)

Classes have been really fun. We have had a couple different missionary speakers give testimony and tell about their hearts. My favorite part so far has just been the worship. So good. The presence of God is so full and sweet here. I am constantly amazed and blessed as God reveals more of Himself to me in worship and then I am even more amazed when I get to go around praying for people and seeing God work in their lives through me. Wow. It has been so crazy amazing to see and feel him use me to touch and bless the students and the other staff. I just love it.

His JOY is so good. Everywhere I go I just get to carry His joy. :) It's so wonderful. Thank you Jesus for your love & joy & presence & the life you have given us!

My time with my boys has been lots of fun. I get to see them most days and we have a good time- going into the village, playing soccer, eating the most fantastic meals ever at their mom's house, trying to stay out of too much trouble :) Every time I see them I just praise Jesus for being so faithful to bring me back here to a place I love so much with people I love so much. In church the other day in worship Fogas came and sat by me & I just began to weep thinking about the goodness of God. I love these kids so very much & God is so very kind to let me see them & love on them. I can remember so many days away from them when all I wanted to do was be able to hug them & love on them & he heard my cries & answered me. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus. So good. And so very faithful. Saying that, I would also love your prayers for how to love and encourage them. Some days are very hard because they are very needy & very broken. it's easy to be seen here as a white missionary who can provide for their every want/need. But I want them to see that Jesus is the real provider and that I am just a vessel. I want to be attentive to His Spirit and when He is leading me to give & what He is leading me to say & how He is leading me to love.

I love our God. He is so good. He is faithful in the big and the small things. He is a provider. He has given us all we ever need. Many people have spoken about the fact that God has given us all we need- His love & power & strength & joy & grace. He gave it all. It has all already been given. We just need revelations of it. We need to see & recognize & call out what he has placed inside of us. thank you God that you have already given me everything I need to be staff here, to love kids here, to minister to students here, to fulfill my destiny, to fulfill my daily tasts, to lead outreaches here, to simply love the people around me, to worship you. It's all in me. Help me to discover more of it within me, more of You within me. :)

I don't know what all to write about. There is just so much. I am thankful for the girls around me in my home. I am thankful for all the students here (265, wow!) who have such hearts to go after God. Worship has been so amazing, surrounded by so many people with hearts to seek God. I am just in awe every day. I am thankful for the beautiful body of Christ here- the Mozambicans and the internationals from all over the world. I am thankful that God is helping me learn the language (vaccani, vaccani- slowly slowly in Makua). I am thankful for the beautiful Indian ocean I get to see everyday. I am thankful for the wonderful staff I get to serve alongside and how much fun we are having together. I am thankful for all of your prayers and encouragement & patience with me in slow communication. I am thankful for good health & good sleep.

You are wonderful, beautiful, precious. Thank you for your prayers. I would love more prayers for continued energy and strength. Everyday is so full- breakfast served at 6:30, class from 8-1, lunch, then afternoons filled with playing with kids or helping serve in some way, dinner, night classes or meetings, and bedtime. All filled with lots of valuable time in between of loving on students & getting to know the people God has surrounded me with here. It's a pretty sweet deal, just a bit tiring some days :) but God is good and His grace is sufficient. I would also love your prayers as I continue to try to learn the language.

AH! And prayers for leading outreach. I will be leading a team out the weekend of October 27. I don't know yet where, but we will head to some area of the bush bush and share the love of Jesus! My team is amazing. About 16 internationals and 15 or so Mozambicans. Please really be covering us in prayer over our time out- from thursday-saturday. We will be sharing the love of Jesus, preaching, praying, seeing God show up in glorious ways, camping in tents, riding on loooong rides on dirt roads, ministering among the poorest of the poor, performing a children's program, seeing so much need, and doing whatever the Spirit leads us into :) It's going to be so good. Please pray that we are able to communicate the love of God clearly & whatever else the Spirit leads you to pray :) thank you thank you thank you. I can't wait to share stories of the miraculous ways God brings more of His children home :) hallelujah!

Ok, it's getting late here in pemba... 9:45 haha so I am going to head to bed. (you can also pray for us all to have grace in this HOT HOT weather :) ) it is hot... all z time.

Thank you all. So much love to each of you. I would love to hear from you whenever you have time- email, facebook, here- whatever. It's always so good to hear how you are and what Jesus is up to where you are.

LOVE!
Kelly

Back in Pemba! Hallelujah!

I feel like I could start all my blog entries with the title “Jesus is Good!” Because He just is.

My first few days in Pemba have been spectacular. Wonderful beyond words. So much goodness has taken place I don’t even know if I can type it all :) I like it this way.

Everything is very much the same, and very different at the same time. It was very strange to be back the first day. I didn’t realize how much my heart recognized all the sights & smells of Mozambique. It was crazy, so much came flooding back.

So i got here on a Saturday afternoon and had a good time meeting some staff & just being reminded how things run here. I have a bit of relearning to do, but is good. I had forgotten how different life was here. It is beautiful and simple, but a very very big shift from the way I am used to living. But thank you Jesus for the joy in it all!

Sunday was amazing. A perfect gift from above. I went to church here on base and in worship I see Mama Afia (the mother of Carlitus, etc) & I just run over to her shedding tears of joy. It was so so wonderful. She told me she was going to walk all the way home (a good 15 minute walk) to her village to tell the boys I was here so they could come see me. A while later she returns, followed not long after by Carlitus. Oh my goodness. He is so grown up. He has gotten so big. I just held him & cried I was so happy to see him. Jesus is so good. Thank you God for beautiful reunions. Later that day Focas & Hasam came to the base to see me & that was wonderful too. A day full of lots of hugs & smiles & laughs & joy. So good to be with them.

Also in church there was a woman who I had just met (honestly I cant even remember her name) & as the church was taking up the offering (during which i had no idea what was going on because the service is only in Makua & Portuguese right now) this beautiful Mozambican woman with a baby strapped around her back comes over & puts a coin in my hand so I can give to the offering. Wow. God your people are beautiful. It was very humbling & very beautiful. Such a gift. Thank you Jesus for how you move and work. The whole service was very moving, just having children all around me at all times, loving on me & worshipping with me. I love this place so much. So much beauty.

Today we spent the morning getting the houses set up for students to come. :) Can’t wait for them to start rolling in a couple weeks. I get the honor & joy of being the House Mom for House of Peace C and I just know its going to be wonderful. I am really excited for all He has in store.

I spent the afternoon at the boys house, ironically without them there. I just hung out with Mama & her daughter, Laucinda (19) and their older brother Papaitus (18) who speaks pretty good English. Most of the time it was just me & people who don’t speak English though so it was a pretty funny time of just sitting in the dirt together. I love this place. In America the whole situation would’ve been so awkward but here it was perfect. Laucinda did my nails after I complimented her black nail polish. It reminded me very much of the time I allowed her to put Mesha in my hair, which made me nervous. Their nail polish is some strange gray substance (reminds me of cement) that she put on with a toothpick, let dry/harden and then wiped off, leaving my nails black. I’m curious to see how long this lasts and what exactly it does to my nails... aye TIA (this is Africa) Sidenote: when she finished my nails Mama took the leftover goop & put it in Papaitus hair as hairdye i guess? So strange. So very strange. But it was a wonderful afternoon.

Tonight we had a cookout with the staff, first time eating a steak in Mozambique, pretty good. Now it is getting late (almost 9:15pm) and I am ready for bed. I hope & pray your all are well. Thanks for reading the long updates. I feel like I could write a million more pages about the goodness of God & all that is happening here but I will save some for later. God is good. I am thankful for each minute here. Thank you for your prayers and love, I can’t express how much they mean to me.

a verse i discovered this morning-
1 Corinthians 8:1- “while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.”
whew. amen Jesus. I pray we are all filled with more of His love each day. I pray we continue to learn how to love where we are and who we are with each day. Thank you for the love you share with me. Blessings and love to each of you!

ps- thank you for all the prayers because all of my luggage made it with me on the plane. First miracle of the trip- check!

Jesus is Good!!

I could list you a million reasons why but I will try to limit it to a few:

the journey has begun!! i am safe in jo-berg. all my flights went smoothly, i slept a little bit on the 15+ hour flight :), i was seated between two amazing women- one from Germany who teaches New Testament studies at Berkley- wow, and one who is from South Africa but living in Chicago (shout out to LORI) with her husband. There were also 3 pastors sitting in the row in front of me & I was reminded that "i am surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses" thank you jesus! ok other reasons Jesus is good- got to be sent off by the 3 best roommates in the whole world (no arguments please, i know it is true), i am staying at the cutest little bunk house run by an older couple who are the SWEETEST, the wife is a cancer survivor and told me all about her story- wow, and there are some other cool people staying here from all over- australia, cookeville,tn (haha, small world) and Minnesota and i dont know where else. my cell phone miraculously worked here and i got to talk to mom. i felt completely wrapped up in prayers and love all day long, my heart was so moved every time i thought of all the love & support i have been covered in. thank you all so much. let's see- tomorrow i will be in the Pemba dirt! glory glory hallelujah! i want to go to bed right now so i can wake up, hop on my plane & see all the faces of those i love. :) ok those are a few good reasons to praise Jesus :)

also, as i was in the airport waiting painfully for my first flight for like 2 hours because we got there so early i had some time to read & journal & i wanted to share what God showed me because its really wonderful...

1 Corinthians 1:2-5
1 When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

-that's Paul talking, about he came to teach and preach only through the Holy Spirit, not by his own skills or wisdom. He decided to know nothing but Jesus. Thank you Jesus- that that's all you ask of me. I just have to seek you out, rely on you. You don't ask me to be well-versed or well-spoken. You just ask me to know you & rely on your Spirit. Such a comfort. Even Paul came in weakness- timid and trembling. Whew, what a consolation. thank you God that all the glory is Yours.




prayer requests-
~that my baggage gets all the way to pemba :) haha they said it was checked all the way through so i didnt have to get it tonight but i'm not 100% sure about that... :)
~continued health and energy
~unity and sweet connections with the other staff members as we begin to meet up.

Love to each of you! Can't wait to send you an update from Pemba!!! :)
kelly

Calling All Prayer Warriors!

Precious friends and family,

I hope this finds each of you well. I am writing because I have exciting news to share! I have just been accepted to help staff the next Iris Harvest School of Missions in Mozambique. This means I get the joy and honor and delight of returning to Pemba, Mozambique for the next few months to love on children and see others trained and equipped for taking the Gospel to the nations. I am excited beyond words! Jesus is so good and faithful to bring me back to a place I love so much.
Most of you will remember two summers ago when I attended the Harvest School of Missions and fell even more in love with God and His people. Many of you gave of your resources- prayers, funds, encouragement, and I just wanted to sincerely thank you again. Your gifts are absolutely invaluable. My time in Pemba was a life-changing experience that I hold very dearly in my heart. In Pemba I learned more of the Love of God- tasting and seeing His goodness for myself. I saw Jesus move in power, with signs and wonders. I saw people come into saving knowledge of Jesus. I saw pastors being equipped to teach and share the Word of God. I saw children being taken in, loved, fed and transformed by the glory of God. I saw people worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. And I was invited to join in all of these endeavors! So beautiful.
I am so thankful for this chance to return with a new role. I will be serving as a staff member for the school which means I will be leading teams on outreach into the “bush-bush,” being available for ministry and prayer, being a “house parent” for some of the students in attendance and many other duties involving service and love. I really covet your prayers in this time of stepping into a leadership position. I know Jesus has called me to this place and I trust He will provide and equip me with everything I need. Still, I am asking for your prayers for wisdom, leadership from a place of love, strength, health, endurance, and anything else the Lord places on your heart to pray. Having a leadership role is much different from being a student at the school and so I am sincerely asking that you remember me in your prayers. The focus is not as centered on me, but on the students we are equipping for the work of the Kingdom. Your prayers are valuable and crucial to the work of the Kingdom and I am thankful beyond words for them! I know that I cannot carry out my responsibilities without the strength of Jesus and the power of your prayers.
And now, for some practicalities... I will be leaving on September 15th to begin the journey to Pemba. I ask that you please pray for my travels- safety, luggage making it with me, energy. Also, please pray that everything comes together in time for the trip, particularly my visa. As you can tell time is short between now and when I leave and so I ask that you join with me in trusting Jesus to provide all I need! :) I land in Pemba September 17th and spend my first two weeks there primarily with staff members- setting up, preparing for the students to come. The school begins October 3rd and runs through December 10th. Again, please pray for me as I lead and minister to these students from all over the world and all different stages of life. After the school I will immediately be leading a team of students into the “bush-bush” for a 10 day outreach where we will be traveling to different unreached villages in Mozambique, camping out and sharing the Gospel and seeing people come to Jesus! After that I return to Pemba for Christmas with the children at the Arco Iris Children’s Center! I am so excited for this chance to share Christmas with these beautiful children of God! I will be flying back to the states December 28th and covet your prayers for that time as well.
That was a lot of details, I know. Just wanted to give you all an outline of my time so you will have more of an idea of how to be praying. I also plan on keeping up with the blog that I stared two years ago when I first traveled to Pemba. The web address is http://irisharvest.blogspot.com/ and I will do my best to update frequently with praises and requests and amazing stories of what God is up to!
Also, for those of you who remember my trip two years ago to Pemba you will probably remember the family of boys I basically adopted as brothers- Jere (age 4, went to be with Jesus in heaven in May 2010), Hasam (age 7), Focas (age 12), and Carlitus (age 15). I just wanted to share the amazing news that I will be reuniting with them! Praise Jesus! My heart thrills at the thought of holding them in my arms again and loving on them and seeing the little men of God they are growing into. I also ask for your prayers as I seek to love on them and speak life over them and minister to them and their family. When I was in Pemba before God made it very clear to me that a main reason He brought me there was to love on those boys so I am very excited to be reunited and see what He has been doing in and through them since we were last together.
So, I ask that you join me in praising Jesus for His faithfulness! He is a good, good God and I am so excited to go and serve Him! I thank you immensely for your prayers and your encouragement, love and support. Please feel free to write me while I am preparing and while I am away- kazimmer@samford.edu. I look forward to sharing stories about the goodness and grace of God! Thank you for sowing into the work of the Kingdom. I pray your are blessed and filled with all the love and fullness of God.

Overflowing with love and gratitude,
Kelly Zimmerman

Home Again, Home Again

Greetings from Knoxville Tennessee! We are home! After 31 long hours of traveling Chelsey and I made it back safe and sound to our families last night. Thank you so much for all of the prayers. Our travels were great, we made every flight with plenty of time, they all ran smoothly. It was great. God is so good. That is one thing I have learned more this summer. God is so good. He is for us and not against us. And he works all things together for our good. Before we left Pemba, Chelsey and I went to confirm our flights with LAM (the airline we were flying out on) and we were told that our reservations had been cancelled. The airline had given away our seats. Mind you this is 2 days before we are supposed to leave, and they told us there was nothing we could do but show up and the airport and try to get on, or wait 4 more days and leave Sunday. Ha! But instead of freaking out, Chelsey and I just prayed about it and had peace and just knew that we were getting on the plane on Wednesday. God is our provider and he was going to take care of us. So we showed up at the Pemba airport on Wednesday, went up to the desk and came away with our two tickets, no problem. God is so good! So from that point, our travels were completely smooth, minus some sickness along the way, but again, the Lord took care of us and we were able to laugh about the fact that were getting sick in just about every airport we stopped at...

So I realize I haven't blogged in quite a while, there is so much to say. Since my last blog I have graduated from Harvest school, gone on my second bush outreach, had my hair braided by some Mozambican friends (only to end up looking like bob marley and have to immediately take them out, pictures to come), eaten my last bowl of rice and beans for a long time, had tonsilitis, given out about 300 dum dums, taken countless photos, played on the beach, celebrated heidi baker's 50th birthday, and sung lots and lots of Makua songs...

We left Iris Wednesday afternoon, which was hard, but we just keep remembering that we are moving forward into something new and not just leaving something behind. God has so much more in store for the future and I am excited to see what it holds. I am so so thankful for the summer and all the experiences God has given me. He has been so faithful to fill me with so much joy since leaving. Chelsey and I would just sit on the plane and crack jokes about all the hilarious and amazing memories we had made, with children and new friends and each other. I really am just ready to burst and tell you so many stories... most of them having to do with my mozambican brothers, you'll probably be sick of hearing about them within a few days :) Let me see if I can't load a few pictures...
Asam aka Monkey
Focas

Carlitu

The hardest part about leaving was of course saying bye to my boys. The 3 days prior to leaving I had to fight back tears just about any time we were all together. But we had such a sweet, sweet time in our last days. I took them to town and let them each pick out one new outfit, because they had literally worn the same on outfit every day all summer. So they picked out these really cute matching shorts and t-shirts... after much deliberation. They had a great time deciding what to get. But then we came back to Iris and they put on their new clothes and we had a photo shoot, and I'm telling you, they are the most beautiful boys in Pemba. They were so happy and having a blast snapping photos. I will have to find a way to load some on here... Then Focas made a slingshot for Tommy and Carlitu wanted me to take his only other shirt back to the states to give to Tommy. I'm telling you, these boys about broke my heart with their kindness in the last few days. Focas had been given some money by one of the other missionaries and he used it to buy me a beautiful necklace and then he kept wanting to buy me snacks and drinks with what he had left over. It was unreal. With the little that thier family had, in the last days they wanted to pour it all out on me. So beautiful. What an amazing picture of the body of Christ and what it looks like to love.

So on the day we left for the airport, the boys showed up at Iris at 7:30am and we spent the whole day together before I had to leave at 11 to head to the airport. First we sat and talked/cried together. I told them about what a blessing they had been to me and how I know God has a huge calling on each of their lives. They just sat and listened and cried as I shared with them more about how much God loves them as his sons. It was a really precious memory. Then we dedided to stop being sad and go have some fun so we went to the beach for a walk and played around by the pier for a while. Then we headed back to base so I could finish packing my bag and see their mom and littlest brother who had come to say bye to me. So precious. I don't remember how much I've written about their mom or family, but she is so sweet. She's this tiny little woman raising 5 of the rowdiest boys you'll ever meet, along with her daughter and grandaughter who she takes care of and another little boy whose parents passed away and had nowhere else to go. Talk about a full house. But she would always invite me over to their house, a little mud hut in the local village where we would all sit together in the dirt. The boys would have to translate if we wanted to say anything because she mostly just spoke Makua, so we mostly just laughed and watched the boys. She loves to laugh. Anyway, Mama Laucinda came to say goodbye and we all sat by the playground my last few minutes before it was time to go. I got to thank them for all their love and friendship and for what blessings they had been, and then I prayed over the family. We gave our final hugs with lots of tears. It was really beautiful, definitely a time I will never forget.

And now I am back home. It is so strange. In some ways it feels so normal to be back and in other ways it feels so so different. Everything is completely different from life in Africa. I am so thankful for all of your continued prayers and we readjust back into life at home. I really cant put into words how thankful I am for each one of you and every prayer you lifted up this summer. I know my time and experiences would not have been the same without your faithful prayer covering. I am so blessed by each of you. Thank you for your love and support.

Blessings,
Kelly