January 2010 Newsletter (2009 break down below)

Hello all! First newsletter of 2010, woo!
2009 ended with an unsuspected stay in Las Vegas. As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I was planning on going to Calgary, Canada for Christmas with my sister Megan. The day before I was to leave, I found out from our attorney that I should not leave the country while I have a Visa pending. I won’t bore you with all the details, but if I was to leave the states I would have to start part of the Visa application over again, which would mean I would have to stay in Canada for upwards to 4 months. So my first Christmas away from home was spent in Las Vegas. It was a hard but a good two weeks off with lots of rest. Thankfully this will be the last time of me mentioning Visa issues because … I recently received my 2 & ½ year Visa!!!! I felt so relieved and excited when it came in the mail! Praise Jesus!Mya Christine Stevens
December 30^th, 2009 7 lbs. 6oz.
As excited as I was to hear that she was born, it was also difficult because I knew that I was supposed to be there for the birth. I’m now an auntie! Hopefully I’ll be able to go to Calgary sometime in the spring to meet her.

2010 is already off to a busy start. We have our first Mission Adventures team coming in mid February from a local high school. Sam, Brett and I are doing all that we can to get ready for what looks like the busiest year for MA at our base. There’s lots of preparation, program planning and praying to do in what seams like such a short time.

March is going to be a busy month with 3 out of the 4 weeks will be spent leading teams! Things are also starting to get busy at the base with the DTS having just started with 5 students and 2 short term staff. In a short time I went from living with 5 other people to now 14!!

Lately, as staff we’ve been doing various types of outreaches in the city. Recently we went to the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, a homeless shelter a couple streets away. We helped with the dinner feeding, where over 350 people were served!

It’s always fun to serve at the LVRM and get to know some of the residents there. One man asked me if I was always so cheery and began to tell me how he is the current president of the United States. It’s great to see so many people get fed who would have gone without food otherwise. We plan to do more work with the LVRM with our Mission Adventures teams as we have in the past year.
I still find it hard to believe that a year ago all this started; my journey with missions. 2009 was a great and busy year for me, with lots of ups and down, travelling, and transitions. For a breakdown of what 2009 looked like, check out my blog (bethkonrath.blogspot.com). This time last year I would have never guessed that I would be in full time missions, but God’s known to do the unexpected!
Thanks for reading!! Hope all is well with you! ♥Beth

Prayer Points
-For the MA teams that are coming this spring
-Energy during MA weeks
Praise Points
-My visa came!!
-Baby Mya is healthy
-2010 is off to a great start! :)

A look at 2009

2009 was one of the best years of my life (maybe because I wasn't in school??). Here's where God took me this past year!

January: (Nova Scotia, Las Vegas)

What a long month January felt like! The end of the month couldn’t have come any faster. The day after I had my last day of high school I got onto a plane to head to Las Vegas to join Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to do a 5 month school; Discipleship Training School (DTS).

February: (Las Vegas)

My first full month in Las Vegas! As most of my friends were back home in high school, I was studying missions and God, getting ready to leave for Turkey for 2 months. This month I really got to know my DTS mates and develop friendships that would go beyond the school.

March: (Las Vegas)

The beginning of March, my DTS helped lead a Mission Adventures week for Scottsdale Christian Academy. This was my first hands on experience with MA, aside from March 2008 when I was a MA student for a week. I would have never guessed that I would be on full time staff later with the MA program.

April: (Las Vegas, Turkey)

Half of April was spent in Las Vegas, gearing up for 2 months in Turkey. I still don’t think it really hit any of us that we were going to be in Turkey for 2 months until we landed in Istanbul. The Turkish culture was a shock to most of us, something that we were going to have to adapt to.

May: (Turkey)

A full month of being in Turkey. For most of the month, each week we travelled to different towns/cities. We got to see tons of different places, and God used us in amazing ways. I can't wait to go back to Turkey and explore even more!

June: (Turkey, Las Vegas)

The first half of the month was spent in Turkey, getting ready to head back to Las Vegas for our last week together as a DTS. I stayed in Las Vegas for the summer as short term staff for Mission Adventures. It was hard to see all my DTS mates leave; the people who I had spent the last 5 months growing and learning with were all of a sudden gone.

July: (Las Vegas)

A full month of being on Mission Adventures summer staff, leading teams. It was during this time that I realized that God wanted me to be in Las Vegas, full time, with the MA program. July was VERY hot out!!

August: (Las Vegas, Nova Scotia)

I arrived home for the first time since January. Most of the month was spent resting (a lot of this!) and catching up with family and friends. It was a great break from the business of the past 6-7 months; a much needed break!

September: (Nova Scotia, Las Vegas)

My last month at home. I spent more of the month working at my old job at the drug store, and getting things ready for going back to Las Vegas on full time staff. At the end of the month, I returned back to Las Vegas … later than I had planned (Visa issues … no surprise there).

October: (Las Vegas)

It was a good but difficult month. It was great to be back in Las Vegas and get things started for Mission Adventures. But also hard because most of our time was spent in promotion, making tons of phone calls to churches which tends to be discouraging.

November: (Las Vegas)

Birthday month, I turned 19! I got to spend Thanksgiving in San Francisco with my friend Peter and his family, who went to Turkey with me. It was a much needed break and it was great to see him and my DTS mate Kristen. Most of November was spent doing promotion, and some program planning.

December: (Las Vegas)

Things started to pick up with the Mission Adventures program. Teams began to start the application process, and as staff we started to look at the schedule and plan things out for the teams that are going to be coming to Las Vegas in 2010. The later half of the month, I was on vacation for 2 weeks. What a relaxing and great break it was. Although I was not in Calgary as planned, it was a much needed break ... again. And Mya was born, I'm an auntie! :)