Special Guest Post-A Heart for Africa

A few months I somehow stumbled on to Katy's blog and read with glee thinking-this girl could totally be my next friend in my head. As I continued to get to know her through her posts I learned of the beautiful heart that God has given her for Africa. She leaves next week and I'd love to see as many people as possible join me in committing to praying for her.
(In exchange for hugging as many of those beautiful babies for us as possible, deal Katy??)
So today she's taking over the blog to share what God is doing in this ministry project and I'm so excited for you all to join in. Also, she has a beautiful etsy shop that will make you want at least 1 of everything. And what's better than that? Knowing that every penny goes to Africa. Check that out here!
Katy-thanks so much for joining me here today and sharing with us your heart for Africa. More than that, thank you for your willingness and obedience to follow Him no matter the cost, no matter the distance. As you take up your cross and follow Him next week, remember the prayer team you're leaving behind who will be lifting you up daily to the One who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. You're a beauty and inspiration friend.


Hi, new friends!





Now that it's been a month since Stephanie asked me to guest post, I'm finally here (and couldn't be happier, even though it took me forever to get this together)!





Before I jump right in, let me introduce myself...

My name is Katy and I get real over at The Stones: Just Us, Doing Life, where you're going to get a little bit of everything- mostly life/marriage/family, a little DIY, some food, a lot of Jesus, and a little Africa.

My hubs (the one next to me up there) and I have been married for 4 years this summer (crazy!).  We met in high school when I asked him (nothing more than a friend of a friend of a friend at that time, basically a stranger) to our school's Sadie Hawkins dance.  After 2 years of "denial dating", we made it official and started dating my senior year of high school.  Fast forward 4 years and we got married right before I graduated from Texas A&M (whoop!).





The past 4 years have been crazy- 2 degrees, 7 moves, 1 back surgery, 1 year in Africa, 1 year at camp... and a lot of adventure all along the way.





Come get to know me- you can find a list of things that set my heart on fire here.








Ok... now onto the meat of this post.


The reason why Stephanie asked me to guest post is to share my heart for Africa.

The Lord put this passion in my heart years ago and it's been incredible to watch what He has done with it in the years since then.  I could go ON AND ON about how and why I love Africa so much, but we don't have time for that today.  I'll leave you with the most recent update and let you follow my blog for the rest. :)





I'll be leaving July 1 to help lead a team for about 3 weeks in Rwanda.  I will be going with One27 Ministries, a local organization based on James 1:27-

"Pure and undefiled religion... is this:

to minister to widows and orphans in their distress,

and to keep oneself unstained by the world."

{Pastors from last year's training}

This trip in particular will consist of a training for pastors, a conference for women, a conference for youth, and evangelism/encouragement trips into villages of Rwanda.  (For more info about how/why the Lord has laid these events on our heart, visit this post.)

We are making our final preparations (well, I'm avoiding them as I write this!) this week and are calling on the body to be a part of our team...  

How, you ask?  PRAYER. 


We believe that every believer is

called to be intimately involved in missions.  No, not everyone is

called to GO.  That's just a small part of it, but EVERY believer is

called to SEND.

"For just as the body is one and has many members...

 so it is with Christ.

And

if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the

body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  If

the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the

whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?  

But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.   

If all were a single member, where would the body be?   

As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable...

But God has so composed the

body... 

 that there may be no division in the body, 

but that the members may have the same care for one another.   

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." 

 -1 Cor. 12:12-26 (paraphrased)

Would you consider being a part of our team this summer and joining us in prayer?  We're asking our prayer partners to visit this post and leave their name and where they're from as a way to encourage the individuals we're taking.  

{To keep up with our trip updates, follow One27's blog and like One27 on Facebook- we'll be updating both as much as our internet access allows.}

Well, it's been fun hanging out with you new friends today.  I hope you'll come on over to my blog and say hey.  I am a lover of people and cannot wait to get to know each of you!