Greetings from Rwanda!

Hello Friends and Family,
Well we have made it safe and sound to Rwanda! Last Sunday we took another 10 hour bus ride from Mombasa to Nairobi. We spent one night in Nairobi and then took a nice short flight to Rwanda on Monday. On Monday we had the day to rest and unpack in our new home for the next two weeks. This past week and next week we are working with a Church called New Kingdom Fellowship and out of that church they have an organization called Parental Care for Destitute Children. On Tuesday we had another day to relax a little. That day they took us around the city and showed us the church and the different sights where they do ministry.
On Wednesday I went to help with there ministry for street boys. We picked up about 25 street boys and took them to a field outside the city. There we play futball (soccer) and then shared the gospel message with them. That was a lot of fun, but also a little scary because these boys are very good and very big. But I held my own as one out of two girls out on the field. On Thursday I went to help at a preschool that they have started for kids in the community. We colored some pictures, played with balls and had fun with bubbles. That afternoon we went to the church for women's ministry. There we had a little service with them and shared about how much God loves them. Also on Thursday Will, Lauren, and Cody from Pismo came. Will is going to be here for about 9 days and Lauren and Cody will be here for about three weeks. They are all staff from YWAM Pismo. It was such a blessing for them to come. It has been encouraging and it has really lifted the spirits of the whole team. Will's wife Lori also made us some chocolate cookies, so that has been a wonderful treat as well.
On Friday morning we went back to the church for a service with the street boys. We also cut there hair and gave them soda and cake. In the afternoon the boys went to play more soccer and the girls stayed back and prayed for Rwanda and the ministry that we are doing here. Today (Saturday) has been a very raining day. It has rained almost all day and not a nice rain but a hard rain. In the morning we went back to the church and worshiped and spoke to the kids from the community. I was asked to speak on rejection to them and to share that Christ is always there for them. It went really well, God is stretching me a lot with speaking in front of people since it is not my favorite thing to do. He is really using me and giving me the words to say. This afternoon we took a bus out to a river and we got to witness the baptism of about 10 of the people that the Pastor has been working with. We were out in the pouring rain, but it was beautiful. It was so cool to watch and know that the lives of these teens have changed so much. This was one of the best experiences that I have had on outreach yet. God is really working in this place.
Tomorrow I will be preaching at a church about Acts 2 and mission. I am a little nervous, but God has been speaking to me a lot about what he wants me to say to these people. Next week we will be working with this same ministry as well as speaking and working at a conference that they are putting on.
Our team is doing really good. It has been wonderful to have three added people. Please pray for continued health on our team. We have a few that are having problems with their stomachs and such. Also pray that God is use us in mighty ways here. We have such a desire to bring Christ to this country. They have gone through some much reconstruction in the last 13 years since the genocide, but we want to see Christ come to this land and bring it under his rule.
As for me I am doing pretty well. Please pray for me as I speak tomorrow. Pray that God would speak through me and that the words would reach the hearts of the people. Also pray for continued energy. We are now over half way through outreach and I get tired very fast so pray for a second wave. Also pray that I would keep my focus on the here and now. I have begun to think about all that needs to happen when I get home and what is going to happen. I have been worrying about these things a lot so pray that I can be focused on here and that I can trust God for all those things.
Thank you so much for you prayer, support, and love. This week we talked about things to praise God for and you as my supporters were on the top of that list. I am so thankful for all of you and all that you do. I hope and pray that all is well with you. Have a wonderful week!
Blessings, Katie

I am here...

Hello Everyone!
We made it to Nariobi! It was a very long flight but we are finally here. We got delayed in Washington DC and we missed our flight to Zurich. So we had to get a new flight. Then we went to Paris, but we were a little late for that. So when we got there we had to run through the Paris Airport. It was crazy. Then we took a flight to Nairobi. That was the best flight because we had a ton of room and I got to lay down and sleep for 5 hours. Which I really needed because it was hard for me to fly on the other flights. We got to Nariobi at 5am with no baggage. It was left back in Paris and we didn't get it until today which is Saturday. We were all very tired. We got picked up and drove to a church/school that we stayed at. All the girls are in one room and all the boys in another. We have matresses but we are sleeping on the floor. We have to take a shower/wash ourselves in a bowl of water. On thrusday all we did was sleep and eat. It was wonderful. It has been kind of hard adjusting to the time change. On Friday we went to the Imani Kids orphanage. The kids are beautiful. It was so fun, we played with them, help them clean, and sang lots of songs. We will be working there all next week. I am very excited. Last night we went to a Good Friday prayer meeting and went for dinner at a missionaries house. Today (saturday) I went to the airport to get our bags. It took 4 hours of sitting there waiting for the very slow people. But now I have clean clothes and it is wonderful! Now we are shopping and using the internet. Tomorrow we will go to church for Easter. Things are going really good though. I have enjoyed the food so far. I am having a little trouble sleeping. So please pray that I can have good rest. Also pray for our team we have one girl that is having a really hard time with her back and is in a lot of pain. But I am doing well and enjoying myself. I am trying to take it all in and enjoy this amazing culture. I have to get going becuase we are paying for the mintues on the computer. But thank you for your prayers and support. I miss you all!
Blessings from Africa,
Katie

7 hours...Africa...an adventure of a lifetime...

Well in about 7 hours we will be on our way to Africa. The last two days have been super busy. A few Wal-mart runs, lots of packing, hours of cleaning, and a few good-byes. I have to be ready to go tomorrow morning at 4:30am and that will begin our 25 hour travel day. I am filled with mixed feelings as the time comes to leave. I am very excited for all the fun, the fellowship, and for what God is going to do. At the same time I am pretty nervous about sitting in a plane for so many hours, about cultural shock, about missing home, and about finding time for myself. But really I am more excited then nervous. I can’t wait to see all that God does in and through our team.

I have a special prayer request that I would like to share with all of you. My friend Kara on our team really needs tons of prayer tomorrow. Kara struggles with a lot of anxiety problems and has a very strong fear of flying. She is so nervous about flying and she has been crying almost all night. Pray that God would give her a peace about flying and that He would take away her fear. Pray that we as her team and friends can be there to support and comfort her the whole way. And pray that she would sleep a lot on the flights and that she would forget that she is even in a plane. Thank you for your prayers for her, I know that she really appreciates it.

I hope to update you all ever so often while I am there. If you want weekly updates to can e-mail Kyle at: kylesfriend@gmail.com he then will forward you weekly updates from our leaders. Feel free to leave comments or send me e-mails. I should be able to check them and I would love the encouragement. Thank you for your support, prayers, and encouragement. You have all been a blessing to me. I miss you all and can’t wait to see you in June.

Africa here I come...

Dear Friends and Family,
In less then a week I will be on my way to Africa. At this point my brain is just filled with things that I need to get done, excitement, and nervous thoughts. I wanted to post this blog so you could have some of the details of our trip before I left.
Next Tuesday April 3rd we leave for Africa. I will be flying out of San Louis Obispo, California around 5am. Half the team flies to San Francisco and the other half to Los Angeles. I will be part of the San Francisco group. Then both groups will meet up in Washington DC. From there we will take the very long flight to Zurich, Switzerland. From there we take another long flight to Nairobi, Kenya.
From April 4th until around April 21st we will be staying with Youth with a Mission Nairobi. But we will be working with Calvary International Fellowship. We will be working with missionaries from one of the churches here in the central coast of California. There we will be working with a church in the slums, with Imani Kids orphanage, and with another church in the area.
From there we will leave and travel to Mombassa, Kenya which is on the coast of Kenya. We will be there until around May 2nd. There we will be staying with YWAM Mombassa. At this point we do not know what kind of missionary we will be doing there. We will know more information once we get to Kenya.
From there we will travel probably travel back to Nairobi and fly to Kigali, Rwanda. While in Rwanda we will be staying the city of Kigali but working and staying with three different organizations. From around May 2nd until around May 16 we will be working with Parental Care For Destitute Children. During this time we will be hosting and some will be speaking at a conference. We will also be working a lot with the street children.
From May 16 to around May 23 we will be working with Widows of Hope. This is an organization that started after the civil war in Rwanda. These widows that have come together, brought orphans into there homes and have committed to raise the children in Godly homes. During this week we will have the opportunity to live with the widows and help them in there households. We also will be teaching them about sanitation and HIV/AIDS.
From May 23 to around May 30 we will be working with YWAM Rwanda. There again we are not sure what kind of ministry will we be doing there. We should know more once we arrive in Rwanda.
On May 30th we will fly back to California making the same stops that we made on the way to Africa. We then will have the weekend to recover from jetlag and cultural shock. Then from June 4 to June 8 we have debrief week, during this week we will share about our experiences and talk about what God did in and through us. On June 8 we will have a graduation celebration that evening. Then on Saturday, June 9 I will be leaving California to come back to Grand Rapids! I leave California early that morning and will arrive in Grand Rapids around 9pm that night. I will then take a few days to recover and in 20 days from when I get home on June 29 my beautiful sister will be getting married. I am already so excited for her and Brain.
So there is an overview of my travels for the next two months. At this point I am pretty excited about the whole adventure but also very nervous. I wanted to share a few prayer requests with you in hopes that you will be praying for me and my team.
· Pray for safe travel during these next two months. Pray that we will have no problems with flights, visas, or passports. Also pray that within the countries that God would be a head of protection of the vehicles that we will be riding in.
· Pray for physically and emotional health for me and everyone on our team. Pray that the food and malaria medication will be nice to our stomachs. Pray against any depression, anxiety, and any sickness that we could get.
· Pray that God would use us in great ways! Pray that God would use us to show his love, grace, and compassion for these people. Pray that God would give us the words and methods to really reach these people. Pray that God would give us boldness in witnessing to these people.
· Pray for unity within the seventeen people that are going. Pray that we would not get on each others nerves too much and pray that we can be there to support each other. Pray that I will be able to find alone time away from everyone as I need this in order to be refreshed and have energy.
As far as my fund-raising goes I was able to pay off the whole lecture phase due to the support that you all blessed with me with. As far as the outreach phase goes I have had $1600 come in. Thank you so much for that. I still need around $1800 to come in to be able to pay for the whole outreach phase. I am praying that God would provide this money. If you are interested in helping support me send me an e-mail and I can give you the information on how to do that. Money will be accepted for the outreach until the end of May.
During our time in Africa I should be able to get to the internet hopefully every couple of weeks. I hope to be able to send out more of the mass updates at that time, but I can not promise that this will happen because you never know until you get there. If you would like to e-mail me you can at ktlynn86@hotmail.com, I would love to receive updates from your lives and I would really appreciate some encouragement. Also I hope to put updates on my blog and maybe even some pictures. The address for that is http://katrina86.blogspot.com. If you would like to or if you need to talk to me before I leave feel free to give me a call. My cell phone number is 616-334-7490. Thank you all for your support, love, and encouragement. I know I have had said it before but it really is a blessing to have you in my life. May you all be blessed today and live in the love and grace of Christ.

In His service,
Katie Pfruender

Love Fest, Rocklin, San Fran, Modesto, Camping and Photography class…

So much has been going on lately I have not even really had time to tell you all about it. So I am going to try to recap the last few weeks for you so you can know what I have been up to. For Valentine’s Day we had a big love fest. We all got dressed up one night and had a wonderful meal together. It was a great time. Here are some pictures for that night.

This is all the girls at Love Fest.

This is all the boys plus our speaker for that week Joel.

Here are four amazing girls Kara, Rhiannon, Shelly, and Crystal.

For the first weekend in March I took a very long train and bus ride to Rocklin, California to visit my Uncle John, Aunt Kendra, and cousins, Kevin, Kyle, and Kaleb. I had a great weekend with them. I got to watch Kyle and Kaleb play basketball. I got to go out for frozen yogurt at the place where Kevin works. We also celebrated my birthday with a wonderful meal and bowling. And on the last day I even got to play a little tennis in the sun. It was great! I don’t have any pictures from that weekend yet. But I hope to get a few from my Aunt Kendra. It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed getting away from YWAM world and spending time with my family.
From Rocklin I took the train to San Francisco where I met up with the rest of my team. We spent the next week at the San Francisco YWAM base. We got to do a little shopping, see the sights and I got to go out to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. We all had a great week there. Here are a few of the pictures that I took during that week.

Here is Crystal and I in front of the Golden Gate bridge.

We spent a day at Fisher's Wharf and Pier 39. It was fun!

From San Francisco our team drove to Modesto, California which is a small town about an hour and a half east of San Fran. There we worked with the Modesto YWAM base. They are a newer, smaller base but we got to help them reach their community. On Saturday we worked on their church grounds cleaning things up and putting together a community garden. We planted lots of vegetables in the garden and when they are harvested it will all be given to the homeless people in Modesto. We also had a big BBQ on 9th street for some of the homeless people that live around there. It was a wonderful weekend and here are a few pictures from that.

Cat working hard moving all the weeds that the girls pulled out.

Crystal working on the community garden.

Jimmy a leader in Modesto helping his daughter in the garden.

Rhiannon and I at the BBQ.

This past weekend we went camping. We went just to relax for a little bit and to have some more team bonding time. We drove up highway 1 all along the coast until we got to this great camp ground. On Saturday we drove to a national park about 15 miles up the road and did some hiking. It was absolutely beautiful! I really enjoy camping even if it was a little cold. Here are a few pictures from that weekend.

All of these were of hiking through the woods. It was wonderful and when we got to end we got to see this great waterfall.

This is Will and Eli standing on Highway 1 after hiking.

During all of this crazy busyness I still have had photography class so I wanted to share with you a few pictures that I took during class. Enjoy!

Candles in the mission in San Louis.

A waterfall at the mission.

This is Cameron our photography teacher. He has his own wedding photography business here in the central coast. He has been amazing!

This is Cat, she was our model for a day.

This is a funny picutre for those who understand cameras. This is a very small camera with a very big lens. It is Will's camera with Cameron's lens on it. The lens costs at least twice as much as the camera it self.

This is a picture that Will took of me. I really liked it so I thought I would share it with you all.

In just a little less then two weeks we leave for Africa. I am getting pretty excited but I am also still a little nervous about the whole thing. In the next week I will be sending out a little bit more information about what we are doing in Africa and where we will be going. For now, thank you for your support, prayers, love, and encouragement. Have a wonderful day!

Rocklin and Birthday

This past weekend I have had to joy to come up and visit my Uncle John, Aunt Kendra, and cousins Kevin, Kyle and Kaleb. It was a wonderful break away from the base. I was able to have some fun with them as well as celebrate my birthday! I head down to San Fran later this evening, where I will meet the rest of our team. We are spending the next week at the San Fran YWAM base. They just want us to get away for a week and spend some time in a new city. I am excited for this next week but also a little sad to say bye to my family. Tomorrow will be my 21st birthday. I wish I could be home with my friends and family, but I know it should be a good day away. Thank you to all those who have blessed me with amazing gifts and cards. It has been a wonderful birthday even though my birthday hasn't come yet. We leave a month from yesterday for Africa. I am a little nervous but also excited. It is hard to believe that we are leaving that soon and that we will be gone for 2 months. Well I need to get packing my stuff and get ready for San Fran. But thank you to all of you. You have been such a blessing!

Photography

This past week for my photography class we had to take pictures of one person and show their personality through those pictures. I took pictures of my roommate Crystal. I thought I would share the pictures with you all. Here they are...

I am really enjoying my photography class and my teacher. On friday I get to go with him to do an engagement shot. I am very excited.

Bonfire

The first week in California we had a bonfire so I wanted to share some of the pictures from that night

These are all the girls
These are all the boys

This is Katrina, Crstyal and I.

Sorry

The internet at our house comes and goes and when it has come it doesn't go very fast. I have been trying to put some new pictures up on here but it is not working again. I just wanted to let you all know why it's not working. I hope to go to a cafe later that has faster internet and then I will be able to put the picutres up. Have a good day!

Some Pictures...

This is the view outside our deck. It was probably about 70 degrees the afternoon that I took this picture. It is wonderful out here on the coast.

This is our kitchen.

This is our living room. We have five boys that live in our house and three girls. It is a fun group of people and we have a wonderful vacation home to stay in.

This is my bedroom, I share it with two other wonderful girls.

This is gum alley, it is a alley that people put there gum on the walls, it was kind of gross. This is in a city near Pismo called San Louis.

This is a group of us out for Sushi the other night, good times!
This is the four boys and one of our leaders.
This is all the 11 girls on the DTS.
This is the city of Pismo Beach, CA looking up at it from the beach.
This is Crystal one of my roommates and the ocean.