CCP Update 6: DEPARTURE

My church made a short introduction video with some clips from the CCP last year. Enjoy!

{ The Final Countdown }

Well, this is it! After five months of planning and anticipation, our team will be meeting at the airport in EIGHT DAYS to fly to Atlanta and then on to Johannesburg.  Finally! I can’t believe it is nearly here!

My stomach is in a lot of knots and I feel really nervous, though it is in a good way.  To be honest I think the idea of this super long flight is making me nervous for some reason, but I’ve been feeling butterflies for a couple weeks now. I have no idea what to really expect since I haven't done anything like this for this long of a time, but I am eager to be at UJ-Bunting (the University we are working at) and to begin to work with the staff there. 


This past week I have been rushing to do a lot of final preparations now that I have finished my semester in school.  I went to the doctor yesterday and received my immunizations and other shots I needed, and received a lot of information (and lecturing) from him about foods I can and cannot eat, things to purchase, and prescriptions to fill in case I get sick.  I don't think he left any bases uncovered.  I'll be working the rest of this week to settle things with the bank so they don't block my account when I'm over there, and will hopefully be done shopping for everything I need by tomorrow night.  Tonight I am heading to HGBC Main to film a short video about my trip, which my church hopes to play over the summer in services and to post on www.iamplusone.com (Hickory Grove's missions website).  Sunday, my church will also be recognizing me in both services and praying over me as I head overseas, which I expect will be a really special moment to me. It's so awesome to know that they are in full support of this and that I have a church that is committed to serving its members.  I'm also working full time until the day I leave, so coupling that with all of these preparations is a little exhausting, but still exciting nonetheless.

 { Ministry Specifics }

Our team has been split up into around 6 different sub-teams that will each have a specific responsibility during the week while we are there, ranging from planning our meals, to planning our prayer time, socials, etc.  I am particularly excited because of the role I will have while I am there.  I always felt like I had missed out on the ability to do dorm ministry because, lets face it, I never lived in a dorm at UNCC, and while I was at Appalachian I had not really developed a conviction or a heart for evangelism.  This summer is kind of going to be a fulfillment of that hope; I am on a team with three other students as Resident Captains (the unofficial name- last I heard the guys were trying to come up with a cooler name for our team).  Bill and Kristen, our leaders, came up with a creative scavenger hunt to tell us who we were on teams with, and when we put our pieces together, we came up with this:

Jaimey Etten and I are the women who are on this team, so each of us will kind of be in charge of one of the dorms and organize the ministry within them.  Basically, we come up with a plan for the day and strategize how we want to do ministry within our buildings.  

To accompany this, Jessica Reed is my ministry partner for the summer, so we will be paired up to do ministry within the dorm and will work together throughout the summer.  Jessica reminds me a lot of Meredith, the woman who led me last summer, and I am so excited to know her better and for the people the Lord has put me with; I look forward to learning and growing from my friendships with these women and the rest of the people on my team.

 { Support update }

When I told my parents back in December that I was going to South Africa, they seemed pretty cool about it.  They’ve always been great about being on board with any missions projects I do.  However, when I told them I had to raise $6,000 to go, they became a little hesitant. It’s no surprise that the economy is not in the greatest shape right now which limits the excess money people have to give. While my parents never said, “you can’t raise that much,” I could tell that they were skeptical about where the support was going to come from.  I did not have any doubts initially when I began because I truly believed what one of my leaders had told me: All of the money in the world belongs to God, so he will push some of it your way if he wants you to go. 

There were times that I felt a little overwhelmed looking at that number, but I was hopeful.  And God has completely come through for me.  I have been so blessed by the people that so willingly invested in this team and in this summer.  I know that there will be people impacted eternally because of this, and I cannot imagine a better way to use the money we have.

To put this number into perspective, let me say it this way: seventeen college students, who have classes, jobs, internships, and other full time responsibilities, have raised $92,471 in THREE MONTHS.  In one of those months alone we raised $45,000.  We are $9,530 away from our goal, and we are praying and trusting that this money will come in for us before we leave.  I can’t even begin to explain the joy our team will feel when we know that our support raising journey is complete.  God has come through in huge ways for us, and it has been such a testimony of his faithfulness and provision.

{ Things I'm Excited For }

Some people have also asked what I am looking forward to the most, so here are ten things I'm really excited about, in no particular order (some serious and some not so serious):

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1. Immense spiritual growth and the development of my character and sanctification into Christ's image.

2. Experience in dorm ministry, as I stated before.

3. Hopeful clarity for plans for my future.  I'm praying that I will walk away from this with a clearer picture of what I want to be doing with my life five years from now.

4. I get to eat zebra, giraffe, and other exotic animals.  My family can tell you, I'll try just about anything once unless it poses a clear danger to my health.

5. Developing relationships with the students in JoBurg.

6. Developing deep friendships and relationships with the people on my team.

7. Watching Christ transform college students enslaved to sin and idolatry through new relationships with Him.

8. Worshipping with people of a different nation and culture.

9. Not having a cell phone for 7 weeks.

10. Lifelong memories of my team, the students, and of God's faithfulness to us.

{ Final Notes }

So here we are...just days from departure!  I’ll end this by saying that I found out a month ago we will only have internet for a couple of hours a week.  I will do my best to update this blog at least three times while I am there but hope to do it more.  Just bear with me as I try to keep up with the minimal access to the internet and everything I need to get done while we are there.  Below I have put our team picture along with the names of the students on our team and the schools they go to (or just graduated from) so that you can be praying for each of us as we are overseas.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support, and I am beyond thrilled to be able to bear witness to all that God will do in the nation of South Africa this summer.

In Him,

Katlyn

{ Other blogs of CCPers: }

Daniel Fox’s blog can be found here. 

Mallory Gurley's blog can be found here.

Caitlin Curl's blog can be found here.
Jaimey Etten's blog will be posted when I can find the URL.

Back Row, From Left to Right: Bettina Lemm (Davidson College), Jessica Reed (UNC Greensboro), Jaimey Etten (UNC Greensboro), Kelsey Cawthorne (UNC Charlotte), Caitlin Curl (UNC Greensboro), Devin Carter (Wingate University), Me, Rachel Newmister (Davidson College) Second Row, From Left to Right: Wes Gaylor (Wingate University), Daniel Fox (UNC Charlotte), Stephen Chambers (UNC Charlotte), Erika Lowder (Wingate University), Daniel Williams (UNC Charlotte), Mallory Gurley (UNC Greensboro), Alex Wong (UNC Greensboro), Patrick Mauney (UNC Greensboro), Phil Swanger (Davidson College), Mason Carpenter (Elon University) Front- Our leaders: Bill and Kristen Moore (on staff at Davidson College)