As you all know I left home on Sunday morning and drove to Birmingham, AL. I stayed the night in Birmingham with my friend Kristen and drove to GA yesterday morning. Darci and I are currently dogsitting for an employee of AIM that is out of the country until the 20th. So as of right now we are staying in his house, we do not know where we will be staying after the 20th but I will keep you updated.
Also, I wanted to explain a little better what my life in Georgia looks like. I am working in the offices of Adventures in Missions. Right now I am currently in the office but I can't officially start "working" or get paid until I have $3000 in my support account. Right now I am only at $2054 so although I may be in the office sometimes, right now my number one job is support raising.
Please continue to pray for me in this big transition. As always it is hard. I am already missing my friends and family and in the midst of that I have no income. There are so many emotions going through me it can sometimes be a little overwhelming. I believe the Lord has me here for a reason and I believe He will reveal that to me in His timing, and I also believe that if it is His "will" its His "bill." It can just be really hard when your not seeing the "bill" covered. Thank you for all of the support and encouragement in all of these crazy transitions.
If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, you can do so by clicking the "support me" link on the left side of this page.
If you would like to make a donation directly to me you can mail it to the address below and my mother will be able to deposit it directly into my bank account.
103 Mooney Ave
Oglesby,TX 76561
Please pray continue to pray! Much love to all : )
I have been ready for bed since 10 PM, yet I find myself lying in bed wide awake at 3:45 AM.
Why can't I sleep? Maybe its because my nerves are going crazy...
My bedroom is packed up and as a result I find myself sleeping in my little brothers room. Only they aren't here because they are at their dads for the weekend. As I sit in their room without them, I can't help but remember how much I missed them while I was on the race. In fact, the same tears that I cried then are beginning to stream down my face. As soon as my baby brothers found out that I was leaving again they weren't happy. My 9 yr old brother continues to say to me "It's like your not even part of our family anymore." Even though I know he doesn't mean to hurt me, those words cut through me because I know that I am hurting him. I just want to be the "perfect" big sister. Just like I want to be the perfect little sister, friend, daughter, aunt, grandaughter, cousin, etc... I want to be there at important moments in my loved ones lives.
Sure, I could choose to ignore the call that God has on my life. I could choose to just live a normal christian life and I would probably even be happy doing it. But something in me yearns for more.... something in me knows that there is more.... to be honest i'm not even sure what the "more" looks like.. I just know that something deep within me tells me to keep striving...
I don't know what the rest of my life is going to look like, for all I know by this time next year I could be married and settled in the place we are going to live for the rest of our lives. I just know that right now He is asking me to once more to take a HUGE leap, and as scary as that leap may look.. I know that I am one step closer to my inheritance.
I wrote this blog to be real with everyone and to let you know that I am not claiming that this stuff is all peaches and cream , and I am not claiming that there will not be tears. In about 24 hours I will drive the long stretch on i20 between Texas and Georgia and I promise I will weep at least half of the way there, I will probably even argue with the Lord... But guess what, that is just the Lord performing surgery... Time will heal.. Then He will be at it again. THE SURGERY IS WORTH IT!!!
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
As I get ready to transition, the thought of leaving people I love at home again gets pretty overwhelming sometimes. I've even had people ask me "why do you think it is so overwhelming?" The truth is, I don't have some profound answer for that. All that I can say is I LOVE these people.
At the same time there are people in and around Georgia that I love so much and I cannot wait to be around them. It had me asking God, "Why do I love people so deeply?" "Why does love have to be in the equation, it just complicates things?"
This verse immediately came to mind .......
We love because He first loved us.
1 John 4:19
When that verse came to my head it came with a picture of my best friend, Anessa. To make a long story short. In a time when she was hurt beyond words and needing healing in her own life. She chose to love me in a way that I had never experienced. I was on a road to destruction and I didn't care to change. I am still to this day blown away that I listened to her when she spoke truth to me, and I am convinced it was supernatural. She walked alongside me and chose to love me even when I was hard to love. She loved me because He first loved her and I would not be in the place I am at right now if it wasn't for LOVE.
We were created to "love", and we should consider it a priviledge that we can feel love, because it shows us that He first loved us.
If it wasn't for my friends obedience I wouldn't be on the journey I am on now. But instead, 3 years later I stepped onto the mission field. It would be selfish for me not to want to spread this love that I now know. I am excited to go wherever He calls!!
Freely you have received, freely give
Matt 10:8
Thank you Anessa for your willingness to never let me settle and showing me what it looks like to truly love Jesus and love people. You showed me that there was more and I am so thankful for you and your little family : ) I love you so much!
To my family and friends thank you for encouraging me and standing with me through my present and future choices in following Him. I love you all!
end of blog----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- support update, I am at about $2021, which means I really need supporters.. Please continue to pray about supporting me on this next journey of making His love known! You can donate monthly or just as a one time gift. Donations made by clicking the link on the lefthand side of this screen. Thank you all so much for your continued support!
I sometimes struggle with how to explain to someone how good God really is. I can tell them about His love for them and I can tell them everything He has done in my life and how I know that He really is good, but I often feel like people think I am crazy. The truth is you will never know how something makes you feel until you have tried it. I feel like people are always wanting answers but they are too scared to go searching for them. But my question is, why? Why do people run? Are they afraid of what they will find? Are they afraid that once they experience it for themselves there will be no excuses?
I love to tell people how good God is and I will continue to do so for the rest of my life. I even believe that is a role I am given as a believer. But I am so ready for people to start seeking answers for themselves instead of just asking others, because the truth is.. God can show you how good He is a whole lot better than I can.
People are always wanting "more" of everything, they are never satisfied.
EVERYONE of us have a purpose and destiny on our lives that the Lord planned for each one of us individually. It's no wonder so many people are unsatisfied, because so many people are settling for "less" and we were made for "MORE."
Although I don't always know how to fully explain how good God is, I do promise you one thing.... If you dig deep and seek Him for yourself, YOU WILL FIND ANSWERS... and if your scared you will have no excuses to turn around... YOU ARE RIGHT! You will have no excuses to ever go back to the same person you were before... But once you see the truth for yourself and you taste a little bit of what God has for you, it will no longer be excuses you want... There will only be a hunger to get more of Him.
It isno coincidence that you are alive in 2010 and not 1880.. You have a purpose for the here and now and it is your job to figure out what that is.... Don't settle. You can live a good Christian life and still settle. I don't know about you, but I don't want to live the good "Christian" life... I want to live a "Kingdom" life. It will be uncomfortable sometimes, but the reward is great.
Salvation costs you nothing. The Kingdom will cost you everything.
- As you all know God has revealed to me the next step in the process of finding "my purpose" and I will be leaving for Georgia on March 7th. I am so excited to be a part of what is going on with Adventures in Missions, they are all awesome people seeking The Kingdom. If you would like to be a part of what they are doing through me I ask you to please continue to pray about supporting me financially, as this next step requires that I raise support. Please pray about pledging a certain amount per month or making a one time donation. I am honored to have all of you alongside me in this journey of my life and I am excited to keep you updated through the process.
Donations can be made by clicking the "support me" link located on the left hand side of this screen. Right now I am at $2021 and I need $3000 by March, $9000 total. Thank you so much!
I just made another video from this past year for a church service I am speaking at on Monday night and I wanted to share it with all of you... Remember you made everything in this video possible! Please watch : )
To continue supporting me financially for the next season of my life please continue to donate through this blog site by clicking the "support me" link on the left hand side of this page... Thank you so much and I look forward to sharing my future experiences with you!
I just thought I would post an update to let everyone know where I am at in my transition....
About 2 weeks ago I finally allowed myself to grieve this past year, which is something I didn't realize I needed until I just started crying all the time and couldn't explain it. I have shed a lot of tears and there are pages full of information in my journal, all of this had to happen so that I could let go of one season in order to be ready for the next. Although last year was amazing and can never be replaced, it is a season that has come to pass and I am ready to embrace what God has for me next. I know this next season involves moving to Georgia and doing the AIM apprenticeship, but I still don't know the big picture and I am so excited to find out what all God has in store for me this year. I cannot even begin to explain to you how excited I am about my move to Georgia and the people I will be doing life with.
As most of you know this next season that God has called me to is support raised just like The World Race. I will need to raise $3000 before I can even step into the next season that He has for me, as of right now I am at about $1800. My hopes are to be in Georgia by the beginning of March and I am confident that God is going to provide because He always does. I believe He already knows who He wants to use in supporting me financially. So I am asking you to seek Him on my behalf and if you feel like He is choosing you to partner with us please do so.
Last year YOU stepped foot in over 20 different countries bringing God's kingdom to all them. You did this through supporting me and I am asking you to once again consider being a part of what God is doing.
Donations can be made by clicking the "support me" link on the left hand side of this screen... Remember, no amount is too small... Your donations can be $1 if that is what you can do. But please join me in the next chapter : )
You are the ones that make it possible, it is your journey just as much as it is mine!!
The day I arrived home from The World Race was very confusing for me because I expected to be nothing but excited when I stepped off the plane in Dallas. I was excited to see my loved ones but at the same time I immediately felt a void that I had never experienced before. I prayed about it and even tried to fill the void but it is still there. The void is "community."
This past week I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my World Race teammates and for a few short days the void left... But as the "goodbyes" came, the void slowly came back. When the final goodbye came at the airport I literally found myself in tears until sometime after the plane took off, and they have made a couple of appearances since. I do not like to admit that I am a needy person, but I am telling you that I NEED community. I need to be around people that are after the same things as me and understand me in a way that others can't. I believe that God has made a special community for everyone of us, it is just our job to find it and I have found mine.
I will be moving to Georgia sometime in the beginning of March to do a 6 month apprenticeship with Adventures in Missions, which is the organization that sends out The World Race. I will be working with people that are getting ready to go on The World Race, encouraging them and telling them about my life changing experience this past year. I will be surrounded by a community that loves me, people that have the same desires as me, and people that will be pouring into me in the way that God intended it. I am so excited that God has opened this door because I am excited to further my walk with Him, encourage others in their walk with Him and continue to learn what it means to really bring God's Kingdom to Earth. It is all about a journey with Him and completing the destiny that He has made for us, He just so graciously gives us other people to walk alongside us.
My apprenticeship with AIM is support raised, which means I have to raise $9,000 before the end of the 6 months. I am currently at about $1600 and must have $3000 before I can even make the move to Georgia. So again I ask you to please pray about supporting me financially for the next season of my life that God is calling me into. This past year was the most amazing year of my life, He has transformed me into a totally different person and I am wrecked for His Kingdom. It was only possible because you were obedient to His voice when He asked you to support me. Thank you!
If you feel like He is leading you to support me for the AIM apprenticeship, you can continue to follow me through my World Race blog http://karafrate.theworldrace.org and on the left hand side of the screen there is a link that says "support me." Once you have clicked on that link you will see the options to support me, and all donations made there will go directly into my account.
As always prayers are accepted, Please pray for me as transition is never easy.
Thank you again for your continued support!
Kara Frate
As I watch the news broadcasts from Haiti and hear the
people of America respond I continually hearthese comments among many others crossing the lips ofthe people I am surrounded by....
"Why would God allow this?"
"Turn the channel it is too much for
me"
"Maybe God is punishing them"
"What can we do to help?"
"How will Haiti ever come out of this?"
To all of these questions I do not have
an answer, but I do know this...
Exactly 11 months ago I was entering
into my 2nd month on The World Race in the country of Haiti.My team was staying in an orphanage called
Canaan, not too far out of Port Au Prince.Although my team and I were blessed beyond measure if you were to ask me
what my least favorite country was on the race, "Haiti" would be at the top of
my list.From being surrounded by great
people and being treated like a queen, there was really no explanation for the
feelings I had towards this country and quite frankly it wasn't fair.I found myself asking God "Why do I feel this
way?" but I never felt like I got an answer until now....
The moment I heard there had been an
earthquake in Haiti my mind immediately started flooding with memories from my
time spent there, and the memories have not stopped.I have memories of precious children that I
loved dearly, I have memories of walking into a low funded smelly hospital and
basically having to walk around puddles of blood so that I could pray over some
sick person who was covered in flies,the first thing I noticed upon arrival were the trucks covered in
witchcraft symbols, I remember watching out my window at the people with their
candles lit selling goods amidst the night life and chaos of Port Au Prince and
being so happy I was not in the back of the truck.
As I reminisce the reasons for my
feelings become so obvious to me.As
Americans we have good health systems, safety, money, churches on every
cornerand much more.As Haitians, they do not have any of the
above.... Talk about being uncomfortable...I was stepping into a sea of uncomfortableness and I did not know how to
handle it so I shut down.Now 11 months
later as I look at a country I never wanted to enter into again, My heart
breaks for them and I can't help but want to be there.People the reality is that God did not call
us to be comfortable.As a matter of
fact everything He ask me to do is very uncomfortable, but that is what you are
called to by being a follower of Christ!It is time for the church to rise up and claim their inheritance..If you shut down, the enemy wins!.People are going to be hard to love, but LOVE
THEM ANYWAY!He may call you to a
foreign land where the spiritual climate is wack, suck it up... You may live in
the Bible belt, but that's not the rest of the world.THIS WORLD NEEDS JESUS, BOTTOM LINE!!So lets get off our butts and go do something
about it instead of judging and instead of being scared of the unknown.God set YOU apart before you were born for a
specific purpose....What would the
world look like if we all found ourpurpose?
I am not God and I do not claim to have
all of the answers but did anyone ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe
stuff like this happens to wake up the church? Not Haiti.....
THIS IS A BLOG MY TEAMMATE LIZ FROBA POSTED TODAY REGARDING THE TRAGEDY IN HAITI.. AS YOU ALL KNWO WE WERE THERE IN FEB, SO THIS IS HARD FOR US... PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THIS COUNTRY...
If you have followed my blog you know i have a heart Haiti and have spent a significant amount of time there. What you may have not known is I am planning to return in 6 weeks and now hope to return sooner. Despite the tragedies that have occurred in the last 24 hours I have every intention of still going at the end of February and if I can come up with the money to get there and put a team together I will go sooner. Here is an email you will probably be receiving if I have your email, but just in case I knew this blog would hit a lot of people. Please pray about helping. Please pray for this country and these people. Please pray for God to move in a mighty way in the midst of this tragedy and for people to turn to Him. God is in control, I believe that...and He will be glorified in this mess. Contact me with any questions via the email me link on the left. Read how you can help below.
Hi Friends & Family,
If you are in my address book, you are receiving this email. If you would like to help, I will give you a few ways you can as well as update you on my current situation. I am sure by now you have heard of the tragedy that took place yesterday in Haiti. The capital Port-au-Prince where approximately 2,000,000 people live has been destroyed. It is truly heartbreaking, whether you have spent time in the country or not. Some of you received an email a couple weeks sharing about an upcoming trip I am taking to Haiti in February. This trip is still scheduled and if I can get there earlier to help then I will do so. As long as a plane will land I have every intent of going. I am currently unemployed and in in transit so whatever I can do to help this country and people I love, I will. Unfortunately, being unemployed limits my ability to help financially so that is where I need you to help. I am sending this email to 700 people. If everyone gave $10, that would be $7000 towards relief efforts. Let's be honest..$10 is one meal at Panera, I'm broke and I can afford that. I think the pictures all over the web and facebook will give you the motivation to do so. (Click here to see the one on my facebook: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3835952&l=8ea943f420&id=502501431) There are two ways you can go about helping. Keep reading.
You can send the funds to me at: Liz Froba 2066 Weddington Lakes Dr Weddington, NC 28104. You can make the checks out to me or if you want a tax receipt to Canaan Orphanage. Canaan is a 501(c)3 organization run by my friend Chris Hlavacek. You can also give through the Canaan Orphanage webiste: http://www.canaanorphanage.org - this is set up through paypal. The money will be funneled to where it is needed and use it to get help down there along with food and medical supplies.
I will continue to send updates via my world race blog, my new blog: lizfroba.blogspot.org, and facebook...I still don't understand Twitter yet.
The reports from Canaan are good. They are safe. There were 3 kids that I know of who were in Port that they have been unable to get in contact with. All cells in Haiti are down. Pastor Henry has also had no contact with his family, who all lives in Port. This morning Pastor Henry and Elsie went in to Port to try to find them. Please pray for Pascal, Stepenson and Yolnide...as well as many former Canaanites and their families who live in PAP. I have also received updates from Dony St. Germain and the orphanage connected with Christ Covenant. They are pretty far from Port and reports are good. Some damage, but not devestating.
This country needs are help. Even $5 makes a difference. Thank you for reading this. God is in control and He will help His people.
Peace-Liz
PS - If you live in the Charlotte area, please keep reading: Two needs: Going to try and collect extra supplies to take down in Feb. If you have medical supplies or clothes you would like to donate, please contact me via email. I will be back in Charlotte on Feb 2nd. Also, this is a request outside of Haiti. I am really in need of a truck or suburban to move stuff to NJ. The rental trucks are outrageously priced for my current financial situation. If you can help or know someone that can, please let me know. Looking to move stuff in Feb or early March. Can give a honda accord in exchange for a truck. THANKS!
.jpg)
make a long story short. In a time when she was hurt beyond words and needing healing in her own life. She chose to love me in a way that I had never experienced. I was on a road to destruction and I didn't care to change. I am still to this day blown away that I listened to her when she spoke truth to me, and I am convinced it was supernatural. She walked alongside me and chose to love me even when I was hard to love. She loved me because He first loved her and I would not be in the place I am at right now if it wasn't for LOVE.
This past week I had the opportunity to spend a few days with my World Race teammates and for a few short days the void left... But as the "goodbyes" came, the void slowly came back. When the final goodbye came at the airport I literally found myself in tears until sometime after the plane took off, and they have made a couple of appearances since. I do not like to admit that I am a needy person, but I am telling you that I NEED community. I need to be around people that are after the same things as me and understand me in a way that others can't. I believe that God has made a special community for everyone of us, it is just our job to find it and I have found mine.
If you have followed my blog you know i have a heart Haiti and have spent a significant amount of time there. What you may have not known is I am planning to return in 6 weeks and now hope to return sooner. Despite the tragedies that have occurred in the last 24 hours I have every intention of still going at the end of February and if I can come up with the money to get there and put a team together I will go sooner. Here is an email you will probably be receiving if I have your email, but just in case I knew this blog would hit a lot of people. Please pray about helping. Please pray for this country and these people. Please pray for God to move in a mighty way in the midst of this tragedy and for people to turn to Him. God is in control, I believe that...and He will be glorified in this mess. Contact me with any questions via the email me link on the left. Read how you can help below.
update you on my current situation. I am sure by now you have heard of the tragedy that took place yesterday in 
to get in contact with. All cells in Haiti are down. Pastor Henry has also had no contact with his family, who all lives in Port. This morning Pastor Henry and Elsie went in to Port to try to find them. Please pray for Pascal, Stepenson and Yolnide...as well as many former