Reaching the unreached! 10/40

In so soon, I will be arriving back at the destination that stole my heart last time I was there. I cannot fully describe how I am feeling right now. Since I have been away, in the US, I have felt this inner cry and longing. I have known I needed to go back and so I am overcome with joy that God provided me a way to teach the Nepalese!

But, that is not all He provided! Two months after I arrive (the students will be on a short be on a short break from school due to cultural festivals), I will be partnering with a ministry called climbing for christ on a trip to reach the unreached sherpas in mountainous regions. 

When I first found C4C, I was pulled by their vision statement. 

"TAKING THE GOSPEL TO MOUNTAINOUS AREAS OF THE WORLD WHERE OTHER MISSIONARIES CANNOT OR WILL NOT GO"

My first question to God, "Can I do that, God? I am so incredibly excited about the work you will be doing through me in Kathmandu, but Lord, I feel like there is more work to be done that just that."

He didn't answer me right away. But I could not stop thinking about reaching the people of Nepal in the most hard to reach areas. Finally, I got an urge to do even more research on the organization. This led me to find the trip they have in Nepal just two months after my arrival. I quivered. This has to be God! So I prayed. He said to lower my pride and wait. 

Later, I spoke with a woman who is a well known mission advisor. I did not bring up C4C to her. We talked about Nepal and what I should expect, moving there without an organization. 

But she said one thing that rung in my head, even hours after our conversation. She said, "Karina, don't limit God to one area. God has gifted you in many areas and who are you to only let Him shine through 10 percent?" 

Right away I felt this sting in my heart, and Climbing for Christ came shooting back up to my head so fast it almost hurt. 

Immediately, I got on my knees and started praying. The Lord finally (after a few days of praying) gave me peace to apply, and a week later I received and email that told me I would be a part of a team to reach the unreached in Nepal.

PRAISE GOD! For those of you who do not know, I love climbing and the outdoors. One of my favorite things to do is to recite Romans 1:20, while admiring God's marvelous creation. 

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

It is so exciting that God will be using me, teaching in Kathmandu AND to go to reach the most unreached people in Nepal, the Sherpas! 

Please be praying for me, friends! 

Also, I do need to raise around $2,000 in order to make all this happen. God is my provider, and so I just ask that you pray and see if He puts it on your heart to be a supporter. Ask God if you should be a one time or monthly supporter. And ask HIM to give you a number of how much to give. 

To donate you can either pay with your card using: 

www.gofundme.com/nepal 

or pay by check 

http://www.climbingforchrist.org/Expeditions/SponsorAClimber.aspx 

Thank you so much, this would not be possible without givers! 

Matthew 28:19 
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

"I have a plan for you!"

I cannot actually say how many times people have asked me the same question. "Why Nepal?" I love being asked that question because it brings me back the place where I first received the calling to go to Nepal. 

Before I even get into that I do want to say how awesome God is, I mean really. He has a plan for each of us. There have been so many times in my life that that statement seemed far fetched and unreal. But let me tell you, it is truth.  Jeremiah 29:11 gives us a more eloquent way of saying that He has actually known the plan for you before you were even formed in your mothers belly. A beautiful God. A very beautiful and loving God. 

Just a bit of background, I have always (as long as I can remember) toyed around with the idea of teaching overseas. Then around 5 years ago now, (when I accepted Jesus to be my Lord and Savior) I started to feel an intense call to be a missionary as well. 

So, why Nepal? 

I was there once before. I went as a Team Leader with a mission organization named Global Expeditions. I was there for one month and as much as I wanted to "happen" to Nepal, that is not what happened at all. No, Nepal happened to me. This one month experience changed me deeper than any other encounter I have ever faced in my entire life. 

Since the moment we arrived in the country, I felt this inner calling telling me this is where I needed to be. I felt safe there, an inner belonging that I do not feel anywhere else. Yes, I have been many other places that were amazing and I feel blessed to have gone. However, nothing has affected me like Nepal did. 

I saw the need in Nepal and that is a part of the reason I felt called to return. But the truth is, I am so broken for the country that I dont know that I could go anywhere else. 

There is a book in the Bible about a prophet named Jonah. God called him to do something crazy and he tried to flee from it. I believe that the call on my life to go to Nepal is so strong that if I did anything else, I would find this deep longing and feeling of disobedience.

The call will be wild, it will be great and it will be full of Him. 

I need all the prayer I can get, folks!

I leave on July 7th, but I am taking a detour to visit my brother and so I will not arrive in Nepal until August 2nd. Please be praying for safe travels! I will be updating as much as possible. Thank you and praise be to the Messiah!

How I came to know Jesus!

When I first started in college I was suffering from depression. As a college freshmen requirement at my university, I was seeing a “peer-mentor.” My peer mentor took notice of the hopelessness in my actions and attitudes. She recommended a counseling service that was free for college students.

Reluctantly, I decided to comply. I was desperate for a way out. Everything in my life seemed to be crashing down and I was tired of feeling so alone all the time.

My counselor, a woman who was a scientology follower began diagnosing me with “depression” and “PTSD.” I felt even more hopeless and so out of desperation I kept on seeing her. One day, I admitted to her that I had believed to have felt the presence of God as a child. She told me, “that is why you have problems. You are living with the false belief that there is a God.” At that moment, the tiny bit of hope that was there diminished. How could she say there was no God? With all the bad in this world, I really believed there HAD to be God to save us. If there was no God then I would commit suicide. Why live for nothing? Running back to my dorm, crying hard, I really thought it was the end.

But God had a different plan. Because you see, as I learned later, people were praying for me as I ran back to my apartment. I came in to find a friend and my roommate sitting in my living room. They saw me and immediately asked what was wrong. They began praying for me and I began to feel the presence of God again. I walked into my room, shut the door, fell on my knees and cried out to God. He met me there. (Jeremiah 29:13) After that, I prayed with some campus ministers to have Jesus come in to every area of my life. Eventually, I was even able to go through an awesome ministry called Freedom in Christ where all those chains from my youth were broken through Jesus’ name! Praise God!!