The Beginning of something squad like!

Hello! I hope you are enjoying the summer so far! I know that I am with a new turn – I finally got to hear the voices and see the faces of K-Squad, all of who are wonderful people! There were a lot of lessons taught and lessons learned over the course of the week. We grew closer together in a variety of ways. Each person has their own valuable stories and lessons they learned, please take time to read through some of their blogs as well. Doing what I am called to do for this next year with joy was challenging as we stepped into each new day, but also very rich. We crammed what we could into 7 days of real-life experiences to prepare us for what lies ahead for the next year.As we will be challenged, in new ways over the next year, we embark on this journey together, while all along the Lord confirmed in each person there that this is what’s next. Reflecting how we will be living in community and stepping out of our comfort zones in many ways. He continued to be right there giving each of us what we needed. In a short amount of time, K-Squad will be heading out to Guatemala to serve the people there. We are the Treasure Seekers, these 5 great ladies who are in my team for the next year:

Abby Withers: She is adventurous and fun-loving. She is willing to stick by you through the storms of life. Abby has a warm personality and is caring about how others are doing. Over the last 2 weeks, Abby has been one of the people who makes me chuckle and reminds me that what we are about to do might be crazy, but it will be so worth it!

Allison Pine: I hope to connect with her more than a lot of fun challenges within the week of Training Camp. She is determined and persistent in the things that come her way. She is kind with her words, and patient in teaching others new skills. I want to be aware of what she has to offer as she speaks with truth.

Chanel Thorpe: Her laughter is contagious and it’s reflective of who He is inside of her. She is sincere and seems to be up for a challenge in a short amount of time. As I am getting to know Chanel He flows out of her, as she walks with peace. She is bubbling over with spunk and it seeps into the rest of our team. What a gift!

Daliah Huff: Her smile lights up a space, and the way that she carries herself is inspiring! I can’t wait to connect with this girl on the field and see all that He has in store for our friendship. I know that she has a lot to teach me about life, seeing the ways that she has served already and I am finding myself paying attention when she speaks. She is getting to understand and know each one of us, and sometimes on the field will give her the room to grow into who He’s called her to become as she gains boldness from the Lord.

Samantha Rouse: Her openness, expressiveness, and ways that she challenges me is unique just over the first few days of training camp. From the stories she tells as a nurse, she is patient, detailed, and willing to do the best that she can. I can not wait to see how the Lord will work through Samantha.

So there you have it–a jist of Treasure Seekers. We have only known each other for a couple of weeks, but I can say each of them are like family. I am beyond excited to share in this once-in-a-lifetime adventure with each and every one of these amazing women who love the Lord. Please keep us in your prayers throughout this month as we head into launch next week, and then begin our journey after that!

TRAINING CAMP!

What a whirlwind to experience so many great things all in one place. Some highlights! -The squad (all 29 of us!) AHH they are all great, I can’t wait to see how He uses each one for the specific purpose He’s called all of us into for the next 11 months.

-Tasting and experiencing the different types of food! Especially crickets – they reminded me of burnt popcorn. Want to try one?
-So many unique possibilities as we never knew where or in what condition we were sleeping in. That was a fun challenge

-Learning the art of taking successful bucket showers and washing dishes in buckets.

-An abundance of sessions and Q&A each day to fill us, after impactful worship. Taking home a lot of good truths and applying them to real life.

-Connecting and connecting more with our squad and then our teams as we were being challenged to discover who we fit best within team exercises.

-Tent city and showing others what a joy it is to embrace the “roughing it” over comfort. Maybe it will rub off on others and have a ripple effect?

-Hiking up Mount Yohan as a squad to equip, encourage and challenge each other to make it to the top!

-Worshipping on the side of the mountain moments before we all got soaked by the rain and everyone ran into their tents and sweet fellowship began taking place.

-Downtime, what felt like very little, consisted of spike ball or tossing a disc around, unless you consider working out with 28 other people around 6 am FUN DOWNTIME then we were adding an extra few hours of connecting and laughing and walking in unity while trying new things that our hearts said ‘thank you’ towards!

-Jesus is FUN! And Beautiful! He continues to allow people to be set on your path of life to connect with and share His truth with them. So much laughter, conversation and stepping up and into new things such as skits and dance parties for the sake of living in freedom not comfort. This week was challenging in new ways, but the Lord walked alongside of me offering peace throughout the whole week. He is leading us into His truth and gently taking each of us by the hand as we walk forward together. He says Yes you can together with ME, when we offer our Yes’ to Him!

Much love–Katie Ross

Financial Update: I am currently past my latest deadline ($13,000) and will officially be launching with K-Squad (Treasure Seekers) on August 6th. My last deadline is in November, when I have to have $18,700 in my account. Thank you so much for your continued prayer and financial support!!