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Rebekah Kraft

we made it



HEY!
just wanted to let you all know that we made it in to san juan, domincan republic  yesterday.
 
i would capitolize things if i knew how.
´
i hope you are all doing well.
 
 
p.s. the heat here is hot!
 
love you all!
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Training camp



Hey guys.
I just wanted to post a video that my friend Di made for our squad. She did a great job on it and I hope you enjoy!
 




Solution- A video for the WR H-Squad from Di Dinnis on Vimeo.
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contact me



I took this from a friends page, but it is good info...
 
 


Many have been asking how best to communicate with me while i'm out in the field.  So here are a few options...
 
Email:
Regular old email will still be a great way for us to write back and forth.  Availability to the internet will not always be consistent, but there will certainly be opportunities to jump on the internet along the way, whether it be while sitting in an airport or at an internet cafe in some of the bigger cities.  So, please send updates on yourselves, pics, and i'll do the same :)
 
Skype:
I am finding out that skype is an excellent thing to download on to your computer!!!  It's extremely easy to use.  Either just thru Instant messaging, or with the mic and camera- during times that i do have longer times on the internet, this would be a great way to say hello in the moment!  My skype name is bekahkraft
 
Blog:
We are required to blog as much as possible.  And it may prove to be the best way for you, as supporters, to keep up on what my team is doing, experiencing, and where we are in the world at that moment.  You responding or commenting on a blog would be a great encouragement for me!!  
 
Mail:
It is possible to send letters to me while i'm away.  They must go through the Adventures in Missions office and can only be flat letters, so no packages.  Going through the effort of sending a card or hand written letter would be amazing for me while i'm away and greatly appreciated!!  The address should look like this:     

                                                Adventures in Missions
                                                                                                                             The World Race
                                                                                                                              For: Rebekah Kraft
                                                                                                                              6000 Wellspring Trail
                                                                                                                              Gainesville, GA 30501
 
 
Thank you for everything that you do and have done. 
We have 1 week until we are in the Dominican. Please be praying for safe travels for me and my team. Thanks!
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2 weeks



Hello!
I have exactly 2 weeks before I start this amazing journey that is the World Race. 
I am in the process of making a pile of things I want to take with me... I call it the preliminary round.
I will go through it again sometime soon-ish to see what I don't really need... or what makes my pack heavy. 
My goal is to have my pack  stay around 45 lbs. This will be the most challenging task. Which is why I have the preliminary round.
 
Today in Iowa, the high is only supposed to get to -1...That is without the windchill.  Currently it is -8 with the windchill making it -35. So, I was thinking warm thoughts as I went to my car in shorts and a jacket to try and move my car... Not happening. My car  likes to do things in this weather about as much as I do.  After I tried 4 times, I decided to see what the weather was like in the Dominican (since that is where we start out in 2 weeks)... 80 degrees and sunny. The only white stuff they have on the ground is sand.
 
Yesterday it really kind of hit me that I was leaving. I was at church and saying my last goodbyes to some of the church members because I don't know if I will be at church next Saturday because of the Holiday.  IT really hasn't set in too much, but just talking to someone new about the trip and how much the Lord is going to use me, stretch me, mold me this year, REALLY hit me. I held back my tears because I didn't want to cry in front of this person I just met. In June, right after the flooding in Iowa, I gave a presentation about this trip. I spoke to people who were all affected by the floods. Some losing everything thing they had, while others just knowing people or taking them into their homes. I cried. I didn't want to... But here I was, asking for people to support me, when they didn't have the means to.  I was talking to homeless people. I was talking to people who couldn't even afford to have inspectors come to their house to say that they needed to demolish everything they have worked for in their lives.  It was hard. What  made this moment hit me so hard, was that people still came to me and gave. I think about the woman who didn't have much to give, but she gave the equivalent of a half of a penny because that is all that she had. These people had nothing, yet they still gave.
My heart has been humbled by them.
I will be living on $7 a day for food, transportation and lodging over the course of the next 11 months.  I will have nothing, yet I will be better off than most of the people we will meet this next year. 
With that, I am asking you to still help me by supporting me. With all of the monthly pledges,  and donations, I have raised....$12,000. I am still $2,000 short of my goal. I am SO blessed by the many donations people have given. 
I want to thank each and every one of you. I have had a couple anonymous donations and I want to send out a special thanks to you. 
I hope that each and everyone of you enjoy your family this Christmas and remember the reason why we celebrate.
I love you all!
Be Blessed my friends!

~Bekah
 
 

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Leaving on a jet plane.



Don't know when I'll be back again...

Ok, so it may get back the middle of November... but it is the World Race... Who knows!

SO... Here is YOUR chance to say goodbye to me.

I know some of you live out of state, and some of you will be out of town.

I am inviting you all to see me go, pray for me, and send me out into the world at the Eastern Iowa Airport (Cedar Rapids) on January 3rd at 6 PM. I will be there at 6pm and will probably have to leave and go board the plane at 7pm.

One of my teammates is flying out out at the same time  as me, so you can see us both and wish us well.

Please post on here if you are able to make it or not. Also, If you know of anyone else who would like to sign up for my blog, please let me know and I will add them. The blog will be the best way to keep in contact with me throughout the course of the year.

Thank you and have a BLESSED Christmas!

 

Your sister in Christ,

bekah

 
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Shiny Plastic People



Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade
 
(Stained Glass Masquerade-Casting Crowns)
 
 
I am going to be completely honest with all of you.
For the last few weeks, I have not gone to church. It has really hit me that people are not what they seem at church. I don't want to judge others, because I am the same way...
Do I raise my hands to be closer to God or do I do it because it is a learned behavior.  Am I just going through the motions of church? I see people in the church raising their hands when lyrics of a song tell them too... Is that why the artist wrote those words? To help people go through the motions or to get them excited for church?
No church is perfect.
This brings me to pure worship. In Africa, my team and I walked to the orphanage where the girls lived, to worship with them. We were quite a way out and could hear singing in the distance. We knew at that moment that it was our girls worshiping God. The girls at the orphanage led their own bible study and worship every night. It was like a mini revival every night in their compound.
I know it wasn't perfect, but to me, it was beautiful, unhindered worship.
The girls sang at the top of their lungs, all doing their own melody and harmonies. Some of them breaking off and adding their own words on the breaks of the songs. They didn't care if they sang off key, if someone heard them, or if someone was watching them worship The Almighty.
Though they worshiped in song like this, they were still burdened. They were still putting on a facade. You could see the pain behind their eyes. things they have seen. Things they have heard. Things they didn't want others to know. Bricks that kept getting more concrete slabbed on. 
Brokenness
One of the nights, we gave the girls a break from their normal worship. We did a few worship songs (new ones for them to learn since they taught us some) as well as a little skit that night. The skit was about Jesus carrying our burdens, no matter what they were. Everytime we added something to his body, he would sink lower (from the weight), but still went on and grabbed more. By the end of the skit, the girls were bawling. Bawling doesn't give what happened justice... They were wailing! I had never seen anything so raw (And I grew up pentecostal). These girls were letting out their hurts, frustrations, their emptiness that they felt. What hurt me the most through this was the girls counselor. She was telling the girls that their emotions were too high and they needed to calm down. (basically) There were many of us that felt that the wailing shouldn't stop. We felt as if she was helping the girls put on the concrete on some of the broken bricks. These girls were hurting and needed a good wail.
 
There are times when I feel like I need a good wail, but I am not sure why. Why would I wail? I just feel Blah... Yes, things are hard, but I have parents who love me, siblings who care and people who are willing to listen and to help me tear down the bricks. Yet I want to still be that shiny plastic person, who says she is happy, excited and thrilled about life and the direction it is going.   Yeah right...
I am a fake
I am not a happy go-lucky christian who has a perfect life. I suck at life everyday. I am ready to wail. I am ready to let go of the things that are hindering me in my walk with Christ. Satan does not get to have a foothold in the joy that I find in Christ. And although I suck at life, I know that there will be a great day, when my life is fully enveloped in Christ and all I have to worry about is not a worry at all, but just praise and admiration for my King!
Keep me accountable for being real with each and every one of you. This trip is going to change me a lot.. It has alredy changed me in ways that I can't explain.  Thank you for being there!
 
 
Since I am being honest, I want to ask you to partner with me financially. YOu may only have $20 to spare this year during these hard times, but I still need to raise $4000 by Dec 15th, so that I can continue  on this great journey God has me on. PLEASE PRAY about it. let God show you his plan.
Please e-mail me with any questions you may have as well!
Love ya!!
 
 
 
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Cutting it close



Hey guys,
I am getting really close to the deadline that Adventures in Missions has set for us and I am still $4300 short of the goal. 

I know that this race is what God has planned. Everything has fallen into place thus far. But, I still need you to prayerfully consider supporting me on this last jaunt. A verse that keeps coming to mind is:  Romans 8:28 (New King James Version)
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
 
How awesome will it be to see all of the funds come in before Christmas? Please consider making a year-end tax-deductible donation. I know that the funds will come in, so please partner with me.
Thank you God!
HALLELUJAH! I am not going to limit God and His plan! 
Humble me Lord, make me see your work in all of this!
AMEN!
 

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December Update



 

December is a  major month for donations. People are looking for ways to get in their year-end donations to be written off at the beginning of the year. In fact, the last ten days of December typically supply as much as 40% of giving for the year for a lot of organizations. For this reason I am writing a December letter asking old friends and new friends to help me finish the year strong. Even if you are not a donor, or do not intend to be a donor to this ministry, I ask you to read this letter to learn about what I will be doing.

In April, I was accepted to do "The World Race" with the non-profit organization "Adventures in Missions". My team will be leaving on January 4th, to go to the Dominican Republic. I would like to share a little about the organization I am going with  and a bit about The World Race.

AIM (Adventures In Missions) is an interdenominational missions organization that focuses on discipling. We emphasize prayer and relationships in our work among the poor.

In the 17 years since we were established, we have taken 65,000 people to the mission field, some for a year or longer.

Through our 14 bases around the world, we have year-round ministry to places where "the least of these" are found. We believe that by giving people the opportunity to hold orphans, bring hope to the hopeless, and pray for the sick, lives are transformed. We seek to disciple as Jesus did – our vision is that God would use us to raise up a generation of radically committed disciples of Jesus Christ!

Adventures in Missions Values

1. Listening Prayer - Prayer is the basis for our direction and power. Acts 1:8
2. Wild Trust - To succeed, we must constantly attempt things doomed to fail without God.  Hebrews 11:6
3. Pervasive Excellence - We work as unto the Lord. Colossians 3:23
4. Foolish Grace - We work with a common spirit of humility and grace. Philippians 2:1-4
5. Holistic Integrity - We do things just because they're right (this incorporates shalom and Kingdom - it has to do w/ wholeness & restoration)

Why "The World Race"?

"What we're offering is not just another mission trip. The World Race taps an ancient human compulsion to take a spiritual pilgrimage. Aussies have their walkabout and Muslims have their Haj. American college students have an abbreviated bacchanal - a week's trip to Ft. Lauderdale in the spring that barely gives voice to the urge to go somewhere and do something different.

A whole new rite of passage is waiting to be born and a million young people are waiting to respond. They are under-challenged and ultra-coddled. They didn't sign up for the future they're being handed.

Once the World Race is broadcast to a broader audience, this generation will respond in numbers that overwhelm us. We owe it to them to gear up and do it right. We owe them not just this experience, but the opportunity it represents to tap their deepest yearning to not sell out, at least not before they've given a wild alternative their best shot.

Yours for the journey,
Seth Barnes
    "

Now that I have shared the vision of this mission organization and of The World Race, I am asking you to partner with me in this adventure of a lifetime.

I am still $5,000 away from the goal of $14,000 that I need to raise in order to go on this trip. I am asking that you would prayerfully consider donating monthly OR by giving a one time gift. Adventures in Missions is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. Donors will receive receipts for their gifts. Your donation may be tax-deductible. Please consult your tax-adviser.

I know that God is providing and will provide for the rest of the support to come in. "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." --Philippians 4:19

If you have any questions about The World Race, or would just like to sit down and talk about this trip with me, please give me a call at (319)431-7290. I would love to share with you about what God is doing in my life.

To donate, please follow the link on my page http://rebekahkraft.theworldrace.org or simply cut and paste into your browser. The link is on the left hand side of that page labeled "donations". If you would like to write a check, please make it out to Adventures in Missions with my name on the memo line. I would love for you to partner with me.

I am blessed to have each and every one of you in my life.

~Rebekah Kraft

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Happy Thanksgiving




Wishes everyone a very safe and

Happy Thanksgiving!
 
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Day one



Please pray for my squad as we start our 40 day fast today.  Each persons fast is going to be different throughout these 40 days.
We have 40 days until we are all together and start ministry with one another in the Dominican Republic Jan 4th.
When I prayed last night, God told me that he was going to reveal some pretty amazing things to this team. We are all excited to see what God has in store for us! I am not sure what these things are yet, but I will keep you all updated on some amazing things that God is showing all of us.
 
 
If you would like to post encouragement, I will be sure to share with my squad throughout these next 40 days.
 
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that each person on this team would be encouraged throughout this fast.
Pray that we stay strong even though the enemy is going to try harder to tear us down.
That we would feel completely wrapped in Christ's love for us
That we would all meet our goals financially even in our terrible economic times.
That our sqaud would continually grow closer to one another, even if we aren't all on the same small teams.
 
 
Thank you! 
Your sister in Christ,
Bekah
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