Thank You...

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Faith Family,
I find myself flabbergasted that I have come to the end of my time on the field. It is something that I knew would eventually end but could not fully comprehend, and I’m still not sure that I do. Time has flown by but at the same time stood still. It is odd to think about re-entering into America after being so far removed from it for such a long time. I know there are those who have been gone for longer, but this is something new for me. There is quite a bit to process through and reflect upon in the upcoming days, weeks, and months but I want to begin by thanking each of you.
I hope to be able to do so to each of you individually, but I want to begin through this. It was by the hand and blessing of God that I was able to come and complete this internship and through that you all have been the hands and feet of Jesus. Thank you for being obedient to the King of kings by giving both financially and by waging war for me through your prayers. Nothing that was done could have been apart from the prayers of each of you. Thank you for believing in the mission the Lord has me on and for loving me persistently through the process.
Throughout my time on the field Jesus was showing me about His consistent love and how He preserves His people. One week I found myself in the book of 1 Chronicles which starts by recounting the genealogy of the Israelites. While the names do not hold the same weight to me as they would the original audience I can appreciate what the author of Chronicles was trying to do. The Israelites at this point were at the end of the exile and slowly trickling back into the promised land (and the author even lists some of the names of those who had already returned in the middle of the genealogy which I thought was pretty cool). After this the author recounts the glory days of king David and all that was done in his reign largely mimicking 2 Samuel and 1 Kings. However, the intentions of this book are different than the previous accounts. These are a people who have been exiled from their home after all their years of rebellion against the Lord and are finally being permitted to return to the land the Lord had given them in the time of Joshua. They are discouraged and disheartened and many do not know what to do now. The author of Chronicles is reminding them of their God, the God of Israel, who He is and who He has always been.
My favorite verses are in the middle of David’s prayer when he says, “And who is like your people Israel-the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for Himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God” (1 Chronicles 17: 22-23). Wow. What a bold and beautiful statement about how the Lord preserved the people He claimed for Himself. The people that He made into a great nation. The people He used to show the rest of the world who He is. The people He raised up out of the pits of slavery in Egypt. The people that He punished for turning away from Him but whom He loved through it all. The people that He is now calling back to the promised land to re-inhabit it. The people with such a rich history-and that is what I think the author of Chronicles was trying to do, remind the people of that rich history and the way their God preserved them, set them apart, and loved them through it all. It is beautiful to read about. It almost makes me wish I was Jewish but thankfully I get to claim that history as my own because Jesus has adopted me into His people, into His family. You all are a part of that family and story and I am thankful to do life together, with you, in whatever season we find ourselves.
Bisous, Katelyn