Prayer Letter

I don't have time to write much (I'm getting ready for a busy next few days before heading to work!) but I thought I'd at least post the prayer letter I sent out this week. My schedule for March is also at the bottom. If you DON'T receive my prayer letters but would like to, please email me: kabernathy@abwe.cc

Dear Faithful Supporters,
Over the last month, God has done “beyond what we could ask or even imagine” (Eph. 3:20). He continues to graciously reassure me one step at a time that He is with me and that HE is at work, preparing me to go to Romania in His own time. Let me share with you a few of the exciting things He’s done in the last few weeks!

*My trip to County Line Baptist Church in Dayton. THANK YOU for praying and encouraging me as I faced that scary first hurdle. I could sense your prayers and became LESS nervous as the week went on, which was pretty amazing. The people at County Line were so supportive and encouraging. I enjoyed my time with them and appreciated their enthusiasm about God’s work in Romania and their commitment to pray. They were a wonderful first church. They also voted to take me on for monthly support, which is very exciting as well! Thank you again for praying!

*Continuing individual support. I’ve had several new commitments in the last few weeks, including one by my own youth group! They secretly raised money for me for several months and were excited to be able to support me for the whole two years I am in Romania! I also had a young elementary school student at my church give me a hand full of change and a few crumpled up dollar bills to help get me to Romania a little faster! It is times like that when I know God is reminding me that HE is working on people’s hearts, and that He hasn’t forgotten me. I’m beginning to see how exciting it is when I depend completely on Him to provide! At this time, I need 100 more churches or individuals to support me for $16 a month. EVERYTHING helps!

*More opportunities to speak in churches! I currently have six churches scheduled in the month of March! THANK YOU for praying, and please know that God is answering your prayers! March will be a very busy month, so please continue to pray for me and for the churches I have the chance to visit. This is still a very uncomfortable thing for me to do, but I’m learning how much God delights in weakness as He shows His strength. My speaking opportunities range from ten minutes to a full hour and will take me all over Ohio. I look forward to sharing with you the ways that God uses your prayers!

Waiting is never fun or easy. The only answer I have when people ask when I’ll go to Romania is “when God wants me there”! But I’m reminded of men like Abraham, Joseph, and David. God used waiting in their life as a time of preparation, and I can see glimpses of how He is doing that in my life also. Is He doing that in your life? Be encouraged. The God who asks us to wait is the same God who asked Joseph to wait. He knows what He’s doing. And He’s worthy of our trust.
Thanks for your continuing prayers and encouragement on my behalf!
Because He Lives,
Kristie Abernathy

Schedule for March:
March 8th: AM Bible Baptist Church, Bedford, OH
PM Grace Baptist Church, Cedarville, OH (Meeting with missions committee)
March 9th: Berean Baptist Church, Pickerington, OH (Women’s missionary meeting)
March 18th: Maranatha Baptist Church, Columbus, OH
March 21st -22nd: Calvary Baptist Church, Chillicothe, OH
March 28th -29th: Memorial Baptist Church, Columbus, OH

Little Pieces of Happiness

I could write a lot about a lot of things (which is why I should update more, and consequently, why I DON'T update more! The longer I put it off, the more overwhelming it seems!), but instead I'm just going to (hopefully!) write a little about some happy, encouraging things that have happened in my life lately.

*My visit to County Line Baptist! Thank you all for praying. I actually got LESS nervous as the week went on, and I know that was only because of God's grace and the prayers of His people. It was a good first church. The people were so kind and encouraging. They were also genuinely interested in what God is doing in Romania! Even though I was originally told they wouldn't be able to take me on for monthly support, they voted later that week and DID decide to support me monthly for the full two years! Thank you, Lord! How encouraging!

*My youth group. They are one of the reasons that I know I'm still home and they're one of the GOOD things about still being home. I love them and spending time with them. They also surprised me, and collected money secretly for several months to be able to support me monthly for the full two years that I'm in Romania. How cool is that?!? I group of teenagers in Columbus, Ohio, will be part of God's work in Romania! I love it! And I love them and their enthusiastic support of me. The picture is of them.

*My supporters. They amaze me. I've had two in the last couple of weeks who have raised the amount of their support. I also had a little girl give me a bag full of change a couple of dollars to help send me to Romania. She'd worked hard for that money, and you know what? I can't wait to tell her how God uses that! How sweet and exciting. I love kids. One of the things I love hearing most is that GOD is nudging people on my behalf. Such a good reminder of what I already know, which is that this is His work, not mine, and He is truly worthy of my trust. This also puts me CLOSE to having 50% of my support which is HUGE!! It's all downhill from there, right?? :-)

*My VACATION!! A week from today (yessss!!) I'll leave to spend 5ish days in Kansas City, Missouri with some wonderful friends. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to face to face conversations, laughter, and rest. God has blessed me with so many wonderful friends...it's just hard when so many of them are spread out all over the world. But I'll get to spend next week with three of them, and I feel like it's Christmas or something! It will also probably also be the last time I see them before I leave. Can goodbyes be beginning already??

And so those are some of the good and encouraging things in my life. I'm also aware, though, that so many of God's people are hurting and struggling right now. I've had too many of those phone calls and emails. I was reminded this morning, though, how short and unimportant MY life is in the grand scheme of things. May we not just "bustle about in vain" or "heap up wealth" but may we use each day of this "breath" of a life in a way that will matter after we're gone (Psalm 39).

By Faith

"And by faith we'll walk as You walk with us."

This is a line from "Speak O Lord", a song written by the Gettys (if you don't know their music, you really should!) which we happened to sing in church this morning. I love the whole song, but that line in particular was a good reminder as 2009 begins. I found myself praying "That's it Lord...as long as you keep walking with me, I'll keep walking by faith." I'm not going to lie...2009 looks pretty scary to me right now when I think about it for very long. But, as I said in one of my first blog posts, God has taken me one step of faith at a time, and I can look back at the past and trust Him with the future. Amen? :-)

One of the scary next steps comes next Sunday as I do my first church presentation in Dayton, Ohio. It really is a scary thing for my introverted, shy little self, but this is what I WANT, what I've WAITED for! I have the opportunity to share with people all over the place about how God has worked in my life, and what He is doing in Romania. I'm prayerfully trying to see "pre-field ministry" really as ministry as I begin this next phase. I also have three churches scheduled in March, which is great as well! Please pray that God gives me courage. Pray that the words that I speak are His words. Pray that I'm an encouragement. And please pray that God will continue to raise up churches and individuals who want to be a part of what He is doing in Romania.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

Today is December 13th. DECEMBER 13TH! Santa Claus is at Walgreens (yes, Santa goes to Walgreens. Twice this year, actually!), I just returned from Christmas shopping, and my car radio is set on Christmas music stations. I know it's December 13th, and I know Christmas is less than two weeks away. I'm just not sure HOW we got to this point.

The last month has been a whirlwind of Romanian, Walgreens, teaching...and a brief break from all of that to spend time with family and friends at Thanksgiving. Which was wonderful. I remembered how fun it can be to have a social life! :-) Now, Romanian is done (my final was on Monday), my weeks teaching in youth are over for now, and yes indeed the wonders of working retail at Christmas are setting in. Would you believe this is my 7th Christmas in retail? I have decided that whoever wrote that this is "the most wonderful time of the year" apparently never had finals and obviously NEVER worked in retail. My old roommate, in an attempt to avoid working on her own final projects, researched this and discovered that it is indeed true.

In the middle of all that craziness, I've needed the reminder of why we celebrate this season. I've KNOWN it my whole life, but how easily I forget. How many people out shopping today understand that the reason we celebrate this holiday has nothing to do with huge TVs or new DVDs? It has nothing to do with those, but has everything to do with our Heavenly Father loving us enough to give His Son. It has everything to do with God becoming man, being born as a baby, with the realization that ultimately He would die for the sins of those who He has called to be His children. We celebrate Christmas to remember that, but I've lost the awe. I've forgotten how WONDERFUL that is. I've forgotten that this season truly is worth celebrating. Think about it! "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"! Why? Because the plan of His Father, from ages past, was to save His people from their sins. In spite of ourselves, He loves us. Wow. Yes, this season truly IS worth celebrating.

So what's happened in the last couple of weeks? Not much, really. The big news is that I DO have a meeting set up with a church in January, which is great...but so far, that's it. I know my timing is horrible, with the economy and the holidays quickly approaching. As my mother just said, it's not promising. I'm not sure what's next, what I should DO next, or if I even have time to do it! So at least right now I feel like I'm just sitting and waiting and trying to decide...what's next. God's waiting room, so to speak. Can you tell I was just reading about Joseph? :)

I've also decided not to take another quarter of Romanian. This quarter has been good and helpful, but I at least have a start now, I have all the books, and I can keep working on it myself. Ah, the benefits of having been homeschooled...knowing how to discipline yourself to learn! :-) Plus, it will save me some money, which is always nice, AND give me more free time...in theory! So I have another month or so, and then I'll be done with my "formal" Romanian training until I'm actually in Bucharest!

In all the craziness of the last 10ish days (my Grandma is in the hospital, my cell phone is dead, my car is dying, and the election results were, in many areas, not what I would have chosen), I've been reminded that the same God that I trust to be in control of MY life is all in control of all of history and of the lives of the people I love.

A Day Off From Jesus

I've been saying I needed a day off. Just one day where I didn't have to be anywhere, and could do something fun...like go shopping, as I mentioned. Well guess what! I got it! Kind of. Not how I would have expected, but as I've told several people, I think the circumstances were God's way of telling me to take a break. There was an accident on the freeway, and I couldn't make it to class on time, so instead of stressing about it, I decided to enjoy it. And I did indeed. I went shopping. And had lunch at Chipotle. And I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. What a great day! So if you were praying that God would give me a chance to relax or something like that...He did indeed, and I'm so thankful! I actually woke up this morning feeling rested emotionally AND physically. So thank you friends. And thank You, Lord...for hearing and answering even "little" prayers.

So...October 19th....

Can someone please tell me how in the world it is already October 19th???

It has been almost a month since "school" started, and with my new schedule, time absolutely flies. I think I've at least gotten used to the new schedule, which isn't to say I'm really crazy about it, but at least I've figured out how it works. I do have enough time to get it all done, and (minus this blog...) I've managed to stay on top of things fairly well, for which I'm thankful! My biggest frustration is I that don't have much free time to do "fun" things (like shop-I need nice, winter skirts and such and haven't had time to shop!) or stay in touch with friends here and all over the world. I think I'm more emotionally exhausted than anything else. It can be hard to have no time to talk to anyone for days. But only for a season.

Romanian is going well! Thank you all for praying. Languages are definitely still really hard for me, but I'm thankful to have a head start! I got a 97% on my first test (quite a difference between Moody grading and OSU grading, I'm finding!), and I generally UNDERSTAND most of what's going on. As is the case with learning any language, though, it is harder for me to figure out how to say things, and especially pronounce things. I keep thinking "I don't know that my mouth can do that!", but the sounds are slowly becoming less foreign to my lips, and I can see that I AM making progress. Which is encouraging.

As far as the support raising goes, I gave my presentation at my church a few weeks ago, and they voted to support me for 15% which is a HUGE encouragement! That brings my support level to (about) 30%! I've also called and talked with several pastors (TERRIFYING!!!) and my father has talked to others. We've sent lots of letters to lots of churches, so now...we wait, and then call again. Most churches are booked through the beginning of the year. Please keep praying that God would give me supporting churches that are excited about what God's doing in Romania and willing to support me both financially and in prayer.

Closing thoughts: I was talking to a friend tonight who is in "full-time ministry". He was sharing how he spends his days studying to teach, getting lessons ready, and then teaching throughout the week. I was so jealous! It was a good reminder, though, that this really, truly, is what I want to do, what I love to do, what God has called and gifted me to do. And that really WILL be my life one of these days. In God's time.