Kaitlyn Rushton Update 2013

   There is a girl named Kaitlyn Rushton that I’d like to introduce you to. Kaitlyn graduated my first year at Millar. She was the prayer force leader of the student body, leading us on Tuesdays in prayer, and encouraging us outside of that time slot too.  I soon learnt that Kaitlyn warred with an unknown health problem where she goes into fits of seizers, the worst I think any person could experience… sometimes she would be conscious and not, other times all she could do to relieve the pain was scream. It is a very real part of Kaitlyn’s life.

   She recently shared more about her struggles with what doctors in Kansas could identify as Limes disease and possibly some parasites; what some previous doctors said was only “in her head”.  The disease has taken its toll and worse on Kaitlyn. Some mornings she wakes up paralyzed, unable to even speak, for half an hour or so.  YET she is still as on fire for God as EVER! She wrote me a lovely letter, and she hardly talked about herself, but wrote to build me up! I am richly encouraged to see that she can see God’s GOODNESS every day, see His strength, His Love… even in the midst of struggle! What a testimony, and how Glorifying to God!

    Friends, I have written you about Kaitlyn because she needs prayer! Please Join me with many others in lifting our sister in Christ!

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Here is her Update letter that she wrote...

I never would have imagined a few years ago that I would be in the state I am presently. So many things that I easily took for granted are now things that I miss significantly. Each day now I diligently thank my Loving Father in Heaven for what I do have, and though it looks differently than what we would imagine a 21 year old girl would have, I realize that His ways are not mine and His ways are far greater. 

My days and nights are saturated with intense sickness and great weakness, so much so that walking or even standing is something that I cannot do alone. My mom now has become my 24-hour caregiver. Each day I lay in bed unable to often even read or talk. I experience around 45 different symptoms now, each week seemingly to get more.  Some of the symptoms being extreme fatigue and weakness, pressure headaches, sensitive stomach and nausea, trouble sleeping, fogginess, lack of comprehension and focus, memory loss, feeling extremely ill and severe hypoglycemia. I am incapable to work or really leave the house at all. I also have episodes where I go unconscious for 2 to 3 hours and go in and out of vicious convulsing and shaking. In the past months I have also experienced bouts where I go completely paralyzed for the time span of approximately half hour to an hour. It has now been 24 months of being extremely sick and doctor after doctor have turned me away, not being able to figure out what has taken over my once energetic body.  

My journey now takes me to Kansas to where I will undergo extensive tests for Lyme's Disease and other related diseases, I pray that I will find a solution or are pointed in a direction that will satisfy the quest to find a long awaited diagnosis.  

“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing of your steadfast love in the morning.  For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.” Psalm 59:16

Found copy at: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/finding-a-medical-solution-for-kaitlyn/89102#sthash.Iotu7rCI.dpuf

David Woelke Update - November 2013

For all who don’t know about David Woelk, he is a youngemr fellow (about two years younger than me), the summer of 2012, fell off his BMX bike and hit his head on the ground; he was not wearing a helmet.  After emergency brain surgery, David lost his left eye, some brain tissue, and a vast portion of his skull just behind the left temple.  He used to live in Swift Current at the Palliser (a home for those needing living assistance, where I participated in Field Ed ministry last year) and he goes to Saskatoon hospital regularly. 

Thank you for all who prayed for/supported David Woelk, he has been doing really well. I have not seen him, but I do have an update. His girlfriend Tamar, a past student from Millar College of the Bible has been still visiting him, daily. This girl, regardless of David’s “new head”, inability to talk/limited movement/ to eat without a tube/ needing a nurse to do everything for him, she still claims that she loves him dearly. David, as we know, does not know Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour. Tamar was visiting him daily, talking to him, showing him Louie Giglio videos (a Christian speaker), and sharing Christ to him when it seemed fit. David responded, and asked Christ’s forgiveness! (Speaking through the signals which he communicates through.)  Another exciting thing was, after Tamar and David prayed, David said his first word, “AMEN”. Praise the Lord that He provides us all ways to come to know Him! That David was not worthless in Tamar’s sight, and especially in God’s sight. Obviously God loved this boy… I’m glad that he did not refuse Christ.

There is something about Christ that pushes people further away as well as bring people closer to having a relationship. Why is that? Also, I have learnt that we cannot just share the “benefits” of Christ, and leave out the hard facts (possible persecution, life will not be easier, submitting to God sometimes is hard, spiritual warfare, etc.). There is truth is God’s Love, but the enemy is real too, and the devil wants to keep you from God as much as possible.

Remember, satan wants people to worship him, not God. If we refuse God, we believe the devils lie, we are then recruited to satan’s forces whether we intend to or not.  If you have not asked God for forgiveness of the things that you are guilty for (lies, living selfishly, not loving God first in your life- all these are based on the ten commandments) AND you don’t want to believe the devil’s lies any longer, than ask God today to forgive you! It’s simple, He wants to love you, have a relationship with you, but it’s your choice. Christ is seeking the Lost (Luke 19:10), and He doesn’t want to harm you like the devil does. Jesus say’s In John 10 that He is the Good Shepherd, and the good shepherd gives His life for the Sheep.” Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, so we didn’t have to die in our sins.  Want to be a child of God? Pray. God will accept you.

Update Letter - November 2013

Dear Family and Friends:                    

   A brand new year! This summer I worked for Wal-Mart then I hopped into 5-Day Clubs! It was an amazing summer… and now I’m at MILLAR! Second Year! Woot-Woot! This letter I have lots to share and I have so little time, so I’m going to “do my worst” and overload you quickly. J

This summer I absorbed lots of sun and got bit by all sorts of wild things... Those in Alberta who had been rained on and flooded out of their homes may have a reason to be as glum as stormy grey clouds.. who could blame them? As for the Boettcher family in Airdrie, the rain ruled over the skies, but Airdrie apparently is the highest city in Canada! I got to witness Airdrie become a refuge for the needy, and it was pretty wondrous to see mankind rolling up its sleeves to help their fellow neighbor. As for me, as fun as it would been to be part of the flood-relief team, I got a pretty nice farmers tan doing the Father’s work elsewhere! J

   On July 1st I headed off to Regina to train for 5-Day Clubs with Children’s Evangelism Fellowship (check it out on 5dayclubs.com). It’s been a grand journey with 5-Day Clubs.. I tell ya! The theme for this summer’s clubs were “Free way, God’s One Way: Jesus”. As I was teaching children about obeying God’s way over their own, I learnt to obey God myself! Because I work with so many people, I’ve had to learn how to love others more than myself. I’m learning to be MORE patient, bearing burdens even when I’m tired, forgiving when I’ve been disappointed or hurt... which are all things that include me dying to self and practicing everything I believe in! Certainty no person is perfect, but Jesus was and He is the only life-support I have to persevere.

  In addition to the summer, I have made a handful of friends through 5-Day Clubs and I’m missing those I’ve crossed paths with… especially all the kids I met! By the way, if you are reading this, I have been praying for all of you kids that I have met this summer, all your pictures are on my wall! I miss you all, and Love you very much!!! It is my heart’s prayer you will hold on to God, as He cares so much for you!

   God has done tons of cool things with these kids I worked with, and I had a front row seat to the action! If you want to read up on some of those adventures go to 5dayclubs.com and click “CYIA Blog” and look down on the right hand side for my name, and feel free to comment! You don’t need a password or anything, just an email address to post!

   I am BACK AT MILLAR! I’m learning so much, and it is a daily blessing to wake up here again! I’ve been heavily considering a new path: Missions, but I have nothing to  However, when I start thinking about all the reading I have to do, I already want  to take a nap..

   I’m on seniors Ministry again, and I’ve got to chat with some of the old friends. Rosemary still lives! Bob and Alice are still kickin! Deanne is still as shy as ever! And my new friend from the last few visits (last year), Len, he’s just so bashful! Pray that Len and Deanne feel the Lord’s love through our group’s visits, and that they will be open to hearing more about Christ.

I really I love school! It’s the best place for me! However to be brutally honest, it’s harder to leave the family …I miss everyone more now… and I feel like I’m missing out on everything! Novalee is in Kindergarten; can you believe it? Onesha is growing up into a little-women! Tatyanna is almost 18! Please Pray God will work in their lives! I love them so much… But God takes better care of them than I ever could! Pray that the seeds, of the Gospel of Christ, that were planted long ago will start to grow even now!

   Also, a SPECAIL THANK YOU times-four! I want to thank everyone who I met this summer, helping my partner and I (if I had one the week I visited) with meals, billeting, and even our laundry! I met so many generous people this summer, I praise God for them, for I would not have had the summer I had without them.  On another note, thank you for praying for David Woelk and if you donated anything to the Woelk Family, thank you so much! (See next page for David’s progress!) Lastly, thank you for anyone who’s prayed for me and those who wrote to me J I love hearing from you! (I apologize I am not the fastest person at responding, forgive me!)

If you would like me to update you via email, instead of paper mail, le'me know!!

I love you all! Thanks for reading! Until next time God Bless!

David Woelk Update - January 2013

Dear Family and Friends:

How are you? I hope that God is doing as many wonderful things in your life as He is in mine. I am having a wonderful year at Millar College of the Bible, and feeling God's will to do more for the world around me.

I want to share with you a challenging ministry opportunity that God has presented to me. 

    Back in 2012, Thursday June 28^th, David Woelk fell and hit his head on the ground from a BMX bike accident.  After emergency brain surgery, David lost his left eye, some brain tissue, and a vast portion of his skull just behind the left temple.  He is currently living in Swift Current at the Palliser, a home for those needing living assistance.  David is two or three years younger than me. His progress has been minimal, but seeing David I am moved with compassion.  He is not able to talk, walk or even sit up, but he is able to understand a bit. He can play the game “Trouble”, and greet you with a handshake, pound, or high-five. God has placed David on my heart, and I believe David’s condition can improve.

    I want to raise support to help provide for David’s family medical and living expenses.  They have a direct CIBC account to deposit into. I pray that the support raised will be enough to ease his family’s finical burdens for the upcoming skull reconstruction surgery.

Jesus’s value for life is so evident in scripture.  I love to recall when Jesus went up to the untouchable lepers, healing the “unclean”, forgiving and healing the undeserving, and He saw and cared for the forgotten people.  David and his family are non-Christian; what a ministry it would be to receive Christian love and support!

      First, you can help pray for David, that God would ultimately be healer, working through the doctors and nurses to help him progress, so one day David can talk and walk again.  I do believe we should pray according to God’s will, but I also believe our God is great, and we can pray for Big things! So don’t hesitate to ask God for healing!  Remember to pray for David’s family and friends who have been affected by the accident.  Pray that God will minister to their hearts, show the truth of His son being they are a non-Christian family, and aid their difficult journey with David’s condition. Pray that God will provide the Woelk’s financial needs for their life supporting David, and bring more Christian people to walk alongside the Woelks.

Another way you can be involved is to help provide that financial support. Would you consider supporting David with a small donation? The David Woelk direct fund is: CIBC, Account # 7580339, and Transit # 00198. For more information on David’s journey and progress you can email me, or visit the Facebook page: David Woelk and Family Assistance Fund.

Whether you feel led to contribute financially, through prayer, or both, all of your support is appreciated.

Thank you and God Bless!

Update Letter - January 2013

Dear Family and Friends:                      

So from the last letter I turned twenty two,  both Christmas and New Years has passed,  I finished one semester of classes and started the last semester of my freshmen year at Millar College of the Bible, and I passed my courses with really great marks!  It has been a blessing to be here, and though the journey has been trial sum (with healing, and yes homework), God has been working in my heart and life and after so many years of living selfishly before Millar, I’m free to grow and I’ve seen His work in me!  It is really nice, because I didn’t know I wasn’t growing in my old lifestyle, but with God I am!

Still in this new semester, God has humbled me multiple times, and brought opportunities to be thankful over feeling “owed something”, forgiving over feeling angry, and it is all about loving God, asking for the love He has for others into my heart, so I can love with His love, and He can spill into those people.  For a long time I have been struggling with this, it’s easy to believe but harder to put into practice, but I praise God that He is so patient and forgiving!  I guess that’s why He says in Philippians 1:6 (ESV), “…that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

This semester, the school has entered into a season of grieving because three people have died.  Over Christmas Break a girl named Anna Elby died at 24 in a car accident over Christmas Break. She used to be a student at Millar, I didn’t know her, but the school has been very pricked in the heart over her death.  Dustin Baloc died in a work accident; he was a good friend to one of the students a Millar, and it just added to the darkness and loss the school had been feeling.  Lastly, Stephen Cochran was on his way to Missions Conference last Monday, and died in a car accident; he was also 24 years old, and in February was going to mission to Japan with OM missions. His brother goes to school here, and I have meet Stephen and his family.  The school has been so crushed and devastated over the loss.  The most amazing thing was the family were still able to PRAISE GOD regardless of losing a loved one. 

Despite the hurting, I’ve appreciated seeing God’s work through people. There are some who go out of their way, with kindness, to tend to life and uplift others to God in prayer. Our great God comforts us personally, so that we are able to care for the afflicted, especially those suffering for Jesus’s sake (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). What a privilege it is to be part of the Body of Christ! 

Youth Edge 2012: On November’s first weekend, Millar threw a huge youth event for 15 yrs and older. It was SO MUCH fun!  Youth edge is done every year, so if you know teens that would like to have an awesome God-honoring weekend; I really encourage you to sign up for the next one!! There are Drama productions, hour classes of your choice, games, outdoor activities, Biblical speakers, and a worship team.  This round we had Matt Price (worship leader) and Michael-Ross Watson (main speaker) come over from London to share with us! 

I really enjoyed hearing Michael-Ross Watson again; I met him in Crossfield AB six years ago.  I still remember Watson praying over the church, people brought to tears, while holding hands as a body before God.  It was quite the experience for a Baptist Church, but I believe God brought allot of spiritual and emotional healing that day, being vulnerable before God alone.  At Youth Edge Watson shared his testimony, and the called all who needs prayer to come forward. I got to pray with two girls!  They wanted to re-devote their lives to Christ!  I remember the life God gave them. I got to see their burdened hearts be filled with peace; what an amazing Gospel God offers!  I also remember that God gave me more energy than I had (or the perseverance to stay awake), and the words than my tired brain could could come up with; I was running on His Fuel!! J

Sparrow was performed by our school’s Drama, Choral (singing drama), and Choir teams.  I wanted to share with you what was so good about it.  Jo Carter, a Millar staff member, and Sparrow’s writer and music director (along with her husband and other staff who helped create it), shared it like this, “A prostitute gets stabbed on the streets, and dies. WHO CARES? There’s most likely no family, and no one even to hold a funeral. Tomorrow she will be forgotten, so tell me: Who Cares?” After a long pause, she explained, “God saw her fall. He cares. He goes into the garbage to bring out life! Bringing value to what was lost!  In fact in Luke 12:6-7, it says that God doesn’t forget the five sparrows sold for two pennies, AND you are worth more than many sparrows”.  God doesn’t think those on the streets are too far gone, if truth be told Jesus came for the invisible and wants to give us life abundantly. 
           Millar will be touring this production this spring. It is family friendly (all ages), it’s a musical, and there are also stories thrown in to share the Gospel, so it is a great opportunity to witness to friends and encourage new believers.  I will inform every one of those locations and dates once I find out! I will be taking a group of people when Sparrow comes to Calgary AB, so if you are for sure interested in coming with me, let me know!  J

Missions Conference: Wagdi Iskander, now a pastor in Calgary AB, was one of our speakers at Missions Conference.  I won’t say much about him other than his testimony was amazing!!  I would like to persuade you to look him up on You Tube, his testimony is there.  However, I’d also encourage you not to listen around small children, just because he plainly talks about the real things that happened to him, but not profanely.  I tell you this much, He used to be a proud Muslim in Sudan, and through a Christian who withstood Iskander’s persecutions, Iskander became a Christian! It’s a sobering story, but it makes you ask the question, “Is Jesus’s forgiveness worth getting burned?”

Please Pray for:

 ©     Healing for the Millar student body due to the recent deaths.  Remember the family and close friends who have been struggling spiritually and emotionally too.

    ©       Health Problems

o   Tori did leave school last semester, but we still continue to follow up with her. She has found what was wrong, causing the Seizers, continue to pray for her growth, even though she’s away from school.

o   Kaytlynn is our prayer force leader, and she also suffers from severe seizers.  This week has not been a good week for her, as I’ve been told, being she has not attended class but kept herself in her room.  Please pray God would be healer, even ease these seizers as they are very painful.

o   Devan, a guy in our freshman class, has been struggling with suicidal tendencies for a long time. He recently just was taken to the hospital.  Pray God will show him that God DOES love him and wants to carry his burdens.

o   My Great Aunt Pat, Grandpa Speerbreaker, and Aunty Gloria who are struggling with Cancer.

o   David Woelk, a young fellow who fell this summer off his BMX bike, and injured his head.  His girlfriend used to go to Millar, and he lives at the Palliser (where we visit to sing some Sundays for Field Ed).  Pray that God can be healer, regardless of how doubtful it looks. That he will be able to regain strength, understanding, his speech, and his ability to walk again.  There have been some glimmers of hope that he can in fact understand, but they are not sure…

    ©   For School! Reading was a challenge last semester, but I think I understand how they expect the work to be done (we get all our homework at the beginning of the semester, and it’s up to us to complete the load over the months). 

Thank you for reading my update!  I wish I could tell you ever thing that I’ve been learning, and send you all books that I’m reading!