12 Days till departure!

Wow I can't believe it...12 days left. Time sure flys!

This Christmas was incredible! I received a huge box of clothes to take to the children in Thailand. I am so excited and I couldn’t have asked for a better gift. This is a gift that will keep on giving.

I also unexpectedly received generous donations. Although there is still a lot needed, every little bit is an encouraging step closer to my goal. Praise the Lord.

I have been in contact with the people already in Thailand, working with Life Impact. They seemed to have a wonderful Christmas there as well. This is a post that I read about their Christmas. "It’s Christmas morning here in Thailand! We had an awesome time celebrating Christmas with the kids and staff yesterday! they got hooked up and had a blast! Some of our staff invited people from the community to celebrate Jesus Birth with us and 3 of them received the best gift of all...Jesus Christ in their hearts! Merry Christmas Everyone!" Amazing right?

I have a video that will change your life if you take the time to watch it. It is made by Life impact and it describes and shows what they do.

Rescued


Please continue to be in prayer regarding my trip and especially over the next 12 days, that I am able to raise the necessary funds.

If you are able to help financially - you may give with a credit/debit card or by electronic check by going to GSL Church and clicking on Donate Now. Just be sure to note your gift is for KT2Thailand in the notes section or note your gift is In Honor of KT2Thailand.

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”-Luke6:38


"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose" — Jim Elliot


Serving Him,
Katie

Only 17 Days Until Departure!

Time is flying!

I have finished the semester at Evangel University in Springfield, MO, and I'm back home in Tulsa trying to get all the final details settled before I leave for Thailand. ONLY 17 more days!

I want to give very special thanks to the faculty and administration at Evangel who have approved my education plans, so that between online classes I will take in Thailand, classes in the summer after I've returned to Tulsa, and allowing my teaching this summer at Happy Hands (preschool for deaf and speech delayed children) to count as the practicum I will miss this semester, I start my Senior year this fall as scheduled, even though I will be taking the spring semester off to teach and do mission work with children in Thailand.

My airline ticket to Thailand had to be purchased, and, Praise the Lord, someone bought my ticket for me - however, I do need to pay them back ASAP!

In the next 17 days, I must raise at least $2200, to cover the cost of my ticket and to have the money necessary to cover my food and expenses for the first month, so I am not a burden on the Life Impact International Children's Home at which I will be living, teaching English and sharing Jesus for at least three months!

I will need a minimum of $4000 for the three months and airfare to and from northern Thailand, but if I can cover my flight over and the first month's expenses, I will go and trust the remaining support to be provided as it is needed.

Please be in prayer regarding my trip and especially over the next 17 day, that I am able to raise the  necessary funds.

If you are able to help financially - you may give with a credit/debit card or by electronic check by going to www.gslchurch.com and clicking on Donate Now. Just be sure to note your gift is for KT2Thailand in the notes section or note your gift is In Honor of KT2Thailand.

I'll be keeping everyone posted as to my progress in preparing for the trip!

Serving Him,

Katie

Katie in Cambodia - In Her Element!

Here is a picture of taken on my mission trip to Cambodia in July of 2011. Can you see my heart for children and for missions in my smile?

One thing I have found is that children are children no matter where they are from.

I am so looking forward to my 3+ months of teaching and ministry in Thailand!

My biggest need is to raise $1400 ASAP to purchase my airline ticket to Thailand. I leave Jan. 8, but need to purchase the ticket as soon as possible to get a good price.

You can view previous posts to learn how to make a tax-deductible contribution.

KT2Thailand - A Semester of Teaching & Missions!

Dear Friends & Family,

With your help, I will be leaving January 8, 2012 for northern Thailand, near the border of Burma, to work/serve/teach at a children's home operated by Life Impact International (Please check out their website to learn more about who they are, what they do and where I will be serving.)

With your help, I was able to minister in Cambodia last summer for two weeks, taking the gospel to jungle villages and ministering to young girls rescued from the sex trade in the capital city. God really touched my heart on that trip! I had felt a call to missions several years before, but on my trip to Cambodia, God confirmed it.

Now I have the opportunity to combine the two things most dear to my heart, and to which I believe God has called me - teaching and missions!

I will be teaching English to the 55 plus children at this mission compound, as well as teaching them and showing them the love of God and the value they have in Jesus Christ. In addition to these children who have been rescued from the slave and sex trade, there are also more than 15 babies, 15 teenagers and 5 young women who have also been rescued. The compound consists of several homes and cottages, as well as an Orchard and Fish Farm. The children receive an education and are taught a trade through working in the orchard or fish farm. Most importantly, these children learn about God - that God loves them - and that they have great value through Jesus.

I will spend the semester in Thailand, then return home in time to teach the summer session at Happy Hands, a pre-school for deaf and special needs children in Tulsa, OK, before returning to Evangel University for my Senior year.

The Education Department at Evangel has been so supportive of my trip to Thailand! I will take several classes online while in Thailand, then make up the rest of the semester's classes over the summer. They will also count teaching at Happy Hands this summer as my practicum which I will miss by being in Thailand this semester. I will also not lose any of my grants, scholarships or other financial aid.

Life Impact International is 10 year old ministry and is well established, but does not have the funds to pay me to come and to teach, nor are they set up to take designated gifts on my behalf, so my church, God's Shining Light, will act as my sponsor and forwarding agent.

The trip will cost approximately $4000 - about $2800 for round-trip airfare and $400 a month, for the three months I will be in Thailand.

While it would be nice to raise all the funds prior to leaving, my immediate need is for $1400 to purchase my ticket to Thailand, which needs to be done ASAP!

Since I do not have a firm return date, I am only purchasing a one way ticket at this time, I will need at least $600 toward my living expenses before I leave.

I would ask you first and foremost to keep me in your prayers - that God will provide the necessary funds for this trip - and for both my safety and effectiveness while I am on the mission field in Thailand!

If God lays in on your heart to give, you can either mail a check to:

God's Shining Light Church
PO Box 690675
Tulsa, OK 74169
(Please note on the check it is for "support for Katie's Mission trip")

Or

You can go to www,gslchurch.com - click on the Donate Now icon on the "God's Shining Light" page and donate using a credit or debit card or via electronic personal or business check. On the donation page, you will be able to designate your gift to "Katie's Mission Trip."


All donations are tax-deductible when given through God's Shining Light Church!

The funding benchmarks are:

ASAP - $1400 (plane ticket to Thailand
January 1st - $600 (living expenses in Thailand)
February 1st - $600 (living expenses in Thailand)
March 1st - $1400 (plane ticket home)

As I mentioned, I need to purchase the plane ticket to Thailand ASAP!

Any financial gift you feel God leading you to give would be greatly appreciated and, above all, I would ask for our support in prayer, first, that I’ll be able to make the trip and, second, that God will use me in a great way, for His glory and purpose!

Thank you so much for your prayers and for any financial gift you are able to provide.

Katie Rutherford

"HOW, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And HOW can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And HOW can they hear without someone preaching to them? And HOW can they preach unless they are sent?" (Romans 10:14)