I can't believe I leave for orientation in 5 weeks!! That is soooo crazy! Yesterday morning things went better at the consulate and after some misunderstanding and me getting yelled at (in English by a Peruvian...) I have the one piece of paper I need to send to Lima ASAP (please pray that my visa gets done in time).
Orientation starts June 20 and lasts until July 3. During this time I will be getting a taste of what life in Peru will be like. I'll be spending time with the home in Brooklyn and listening to speeches and a various sort of other activities I'm sure. I am hoping to have almost, if not all, of my sponsorship in by then. This leave 5 weeks to raise $3,080. I have faith I can do it, but it is still rather daunting. Please keep praying that more people are willing to embark on this mission of compassion with me by financially or spiritually sponsoring me!
Thanks for all of your support.
http://usa.heartshome.org/Kari-S-Sioux-City-IA.html
www.heartshomeusa.org
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
Roadblocks
The last few weeks have been crazy! I took 7 finals, graduated college and am now sitting in Chicago. Why Chicago you ask? Well, the Peruvian Consulate has been rather difficult...first they take a long time to verify my passport so I call and they say they have no record of me. Great, more money spent driving to Chicago to do it in person. Not to mention the time too. I was supposed to start my internship today...thankfully the lady is really understanding and is ok if I start on Thursday. I went to the consulate today and they immediately handed me my student ID back, I was very perplexed. Then I asked (in my awful Spanish, I get stage fright) if the papers were ready for me.
"Come back in 2 days"
"They aren't ready?"
"Come back in 2 days"
--Call mom frustrated and upset--
"Will you send them to Tulsa?"
"Yes"
"I don't live there anymore..."
"Come back in 2 days"
--Call mom again, get the idea to just ask to change the address on the envelope to send them back--
Got on the elevator, rode to the 18th floor, they are now closed. So I waited until 3 which is when I am usually told to call back and talk to someone in English. No answer until 4. Then I talk to someone who tells me to call back at 9am to talk to someone in English, well I may as well stay in case I need to go in (which I probably will since body language and hand gestures will be helpful tomorrow). So here I am, in Chicago, after a long day. At least I can be productive!
Good news is more donations have come in! However, I am still in need of $3080. Please continue to pray that I reach that goal! I would like to have it all by orientation on June 20. Also, please pray that my visa gets done in time so I can leave on August 3 like I am supposed to!
Love.
"Come back in 2 days"
"They aren't ready?"
"Come back in 2 days"
--Call mom frustrated and upset--
"Will you send them to Tulsa?"
"Yes"
"I don't live there anymore..."
"Come back in 2 days"
--Call mom again, get the idea to just ask to change the address on the envelope to send them back--
Got on the elevator, rode to the 18th floor, they are now closed. So I waited until 3 which is when I am usually told to call back and talk to someone in English. No answer until 4. Then I talk to someone who tells me to call back at 9am to talk to someone in English, well I may as well stay in case I need to go in (which I probably will since body language and hand gestures will be helpful tomorrow). So here I am, in Chicago, after a long day. At least I can be productive!
Good news is more donations have come in! However, I am still in need of $3080. Please continue to pray that I reach that goal! I would like to have it all by orientation on June 20. Also, please pray that my visa gets done in time so I can leave on August 3 like I am supposed to!
Love.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
$10
What can $10 get you nowadays? A dateless dinner at an average restaurant. 2 cups of Starbucks coffee. 3 gallons of gas (that will get you approximately 60 miles). Or a year of satisfaction knowing you are giving up one of the aforementioned options and sponsoring a missionary.
I leave for Lima, Peru in about 112 days. I will be gone for 14 months minimum and will be living out a life of compassion and love. Heart's Home is a Catholic organization that was established to provide those 2 things to those most in need, especially the children. I have answered God's call for me to serve with them and I couldn't be more excited. Part of this mission is to find others willing to sponsor me and partake in this mission of compassion with me. It costs $650 a month to be a missionary with Heart's Home. That includes travel, room, board, 100% health insurance coverage, and training. To date, I have raised $5295 and $3805 is left to raise.
If 28 people were willing to sacrifice one dinner out or 2 cups of coffee every month, and put it towards sponsorship I would reach the amount necessary to support me while serving. The benefits of sponsorship are many. Materially, sponsors get an update every other month while I am serving in Peru. I have already been praying for my sponsors for months and will continue to do so. Any prayer intentions can be sent to me to take before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Also, those that I will be serving are the ones who are not aware of the amount of love they are entitled to as human beings. That is my main job. I won't be teaching or providing health care per-say. I will be loving people and be their friend.
I ask you to consider sponsoring me and being a part of this mission of compassion and bringing love to the world. If financial sponsorship is not possible, spiritual sponsorship is also an option. For this just fill out the appropriate sections on the sponsorship form which can be reached via the second link below.
Thank you. Feel free to contact me with any questions about my mission or Heart's Home.
La Paz de Cristo,
Kari
www.heartshomeusa.org
http://usa.heartshome.org/Kari-S-Sioux-City-IA.html
I leave for Lima, Peru in about 112 days. I will be gone for 14 months minimum and will be living out a life of compassion and love. Heart's Home is a Catholic organization that was established to provide those 2 things to those most in need, especially the children. I have answered God's call for me to serve with them and I couldn't be more excited. Part of this mission is to find others willing to sponsor me and partake in this mission of compassion with me. It costs $650 a month to be a missionary with Heart's Home. That includes travel, room, board, 100% health insurance coverage, and training. To date, I have raised $5295 and $3805 is left to raise.
If 28 people were willing to sacrifice one dinner out or 2 cups of coffee every month, and put it towards sponsorship I would reach the amount necessary to support me while serving. The benefits of sponsorship are many. Materially, sponsors get an update every other month while I am serving in Peru. I have already been praying for my sponsors for months and will continue to do so. Any prayer intentions can be sent to me to take before the Blessed Sacrament every day. Also, those that I will be serving are the ones who are not aware of the amount of love they are entitled to as human beings. That is my main job. I won't be teaching or providing health care per-say. I will be loving people and be their friend.
I ask you to consider sponsoring me and being a part of this mission of compassion and bringing love to the world. If financial sponsorship is not possible, spiritual sponsorship is also an option. For this just fill out the appropriate sections on the sponsorship form which can be reached via the second link below.
Thank you. Feel free to contact me with any questions about my mission or Heart's Home.
La Paz de Cristo,
Kari
www.heartshomeusa.org
http://usa.heartshome.org/Kari-S-Sioux-City-IA.html
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Blessings
It has been a while since I posted. Perhaps this is because as I have jumped into my final semester of undergraduate work, I have found myself preparing for mission in my free time. "in my free time" that's a problem. I have realized that I should be preparing for my mission always. Yes, I am excited for this joyful time leading up to graduation with my friends, but am I priming myself for the next adventure in life? Is it really going to be an adventure? If I do it right, it will feel like one but not in the sense of Indiana Jones. While in Peru, I will be dedicating my whole life to God and his children around me, my brothers and sisters. I will have many exciting moments like Indy but will not have to worry about making it across a rope bridge only to have it be cut and then I'm left hanging on for my life. There will be one bad guy chasing me but staying focused on the Ultimate Goal, I known he'll never get me.
I have taken time this Lent to prepare for the more logistical side of mission work. Technology, it is such a great tool but I have found myself spending too much time with it. I would text more than talk on the phone and I lost that true relationship with people by not having any sort of sensual contact with them. I am going to keep this brief and just say that in this time leading up to Peru so far, I have received many blessings (including reaching half of my sponsorships) and I thank you all for your support. Please keep praying and journeying closer to Golgotha these next few weeks.
La Paz de Cristo
Kari
I have taken time this Lent to prepare for the more logistical side of mission work. Technology, it is such a great tool but I have found myself spending too much time with it. I would text more than talk on the phone and I lost that true relationship with people by not having any sort of sensual contact with them. I am going to keep this brief and just say that in this time leading up to Peru so far, I have received many blessings (including reaching half of my sponsorships) and I thank you all for your support. Please keep praying and journeying closer to Golgotha these next few weeks.
La Paz de Cristo
Kari
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Adios!
It's official! I have a day that I am off to Peru for the next GINORMOUS step in my life. I depart August 3. No worries though, I'm leaving with a bang (do you honestly expect anything else from me?). August 1 I plan on heading down to Tulsa from IA (I'm really actually going to miss that state...especially the good ol steak and potatos). There will be a going away party of sorts that night...which I'm sure a stop to Kilkenny's is in order, it's tradish! August 2nd will be my last day to tie up any loose ends and to spend some qt with the fam. At 5:30 that evening, is my sending forth mass. Fr. Matt Gerlach will be celebrating the mass at the St. Philip Neri Newman Center (400 S. Florence, Tulsa, OK)...no worries, it's not like a wedding mass or like I'm taking vows..just a special little mass before I go. I don't know what time I leave yet but I do know it happens on the 3rd.
Each home has a visitor that is sort of like a "supervisor missionary" that makes sure everything is running smoothly in the house. The one for Barrios Altos is Fr. Lorenzo (a priest for HH) and he will be visiting on August 6 and would like to have me there so we can meet! Which is why I'm leaving so early in August. Now all I have to do is finish raising sponsorships! I'm still working on getting all of my letters out. So far I've sent 120 and I have at least another 30 names on the list!
**If you know of anybody that might be willing to partake in this mission of compassion with me, feel free to pass on any neccessary information**
Thank you so much for all of your support throughout this preparation process. Know that you are in my prayers and I hope those I'll be serving and I are in yours.
Pax.
Each home has a visitor that is sort of like a "supervisor missionary" that makes sure everything is running smoothly in the house. The one for Barrios Altos is Fr. Lorenzo (a priest for HH) and he will be visiting on August 6 and would like to have me there so we can meet! Which is why I'm leaving so early in August. Now all I have to do is finish raising sponsorships! I'm still working on getting all of my letters out. So far I've sent 120 and I have at least another 30 names on the list!
**If you know of anybody that might be willing to partake in this mission of compassion with me, feel free to pass on any neccessary information**
Thank you so much for all of your support throughout this preparation process. Know that you are in my prayers and I hope those I'll be serving and I are in yours.
Pax.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
God is SO GOOD!
Just a quick update. More sponsorship letters have gone out in this past week and I'm slowly finding out that God will provide. People that I didn't expect to donate much are surprising me and it's so beautiful to know that I have the support of friends and family. I'm still working on getting more out in the mail and via email.
I'm still not sure when my exact departure date is. I hope to find out in the next week or two. Once I know that, I will be able to set up my sending forth mass which will *hopefully* be held at the Newman Center at TU providing Fr. Matt will be available that day. I'll keep everyone updated.
OH ONE MORE EXCITING THING! I made a Peruvian dessert Friday night. I think it was quite delish and I still have some in the fridge :) I shared it with some friends that thought it was good too. It's called "leche asada" or "roasted milk". It's really simple and easy to make with only a few common ingredients: eggs, sugar, vanilla, evaporated milk (some recipes use real milk), and cinnamon sticks. However, don't let the simplicity fool you, ovens are still hot when you make this dish...I have not 1 but 2 burn marks on my left arm. fail.
I've also been working on my Spanish a lot more. I have officially changed my phone into Spanish so I'm constantly reading some common-ish words and I'm able to use predictive text in Spanish so that's fun! Also, I've gone back to work at Applebee's to save up money for when I go...some of the cooks are still there from when I worked there before and I told them that they can only talk to me in Spanish. I've already noticed that I'm getting more confident with speaking it and hearing it is getting easier too (but that's still a tricky task).
Well, this isn't a quick update but as I was typing I realized I had more to tell you all than I thought!
Blessings.
I'm still not sure when my exact departure date is. I hope to find out in the next week or two. Once I know that, I will be able to set up my sending forth mass which will *hopefully* be held at the Newman Center at TU providing Fr. Matt will be available that day. I'll keep everyone updated.
OH ONE MORE EXCITING THING! I made a Peruvian dessert Friday night. I think it was quite delish and I still have some in the fridge :) I shared it with some friends that thought it was good too. It's called "leche asada" or "roasted milk". It's really simple and easy to make with only a few common ingredients: eggs, sugar, vanilla, evaporated milk (some recipes use real milk), and cinnamon sticks. However, don't let the simplicity fool you, ovens are still hot when you make this dish...I have not 1 but 2 burn marks on my left arm. fail.
I've also been working on my Spanish a lot more. I have officially changed my phone into Spanish so I'm constantly reading some common-ish words and I'm able to use predictive text in Spanish so that's fun! Also, I've gone back to work at Applebee's to save up money for when I go...some of the cooks are still there from when I worked there before and I told them that they can only talk to me in Spanish. I've already noticed that I'm getting more confident with speaking it and hearing it is getting easier too (but that's still a tricky task).
Well, this isn't a quick update but as I was typing I realized I had more to tell you all than I thought!
Blessings.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Sponsorships
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and New Year. I spent a good portion of my break studying for the GRE, recovering from these darn wisdom teeth being pulled out, and writing sponsorship letters. I hope to get most of them sent out when I get back to Tulsa later this week. Please take time to read the letter and consider sponsoring my mission. If you don't get one and would like to sponsor me, please click on the link at the bottom of this page or email me and I can send you the letter!
God Bless
God Bless
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