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| Bear Lake, Estes Park, Colorado |
Hope you're all doing well back home! Miss you (especially you, mama)! or... rather, wish you were HERE!
suffering for the gospel, obviously
Hope you're all doing well back home! Miss you (especially you, mama)! or... rather, wish you were HERE!
gung ho & taking it all in
Crusade staff are, by nature, perfectionistic, excellence-driven people with a high capacity for late nights and high stress (quite the opposite of what we preach, huh?). Putting them in an unusual situation where they can obtain grades, then, is a little like scattering bread crumbs on an ant hill. God forbid anyone get in our way.
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| mmmmm... dining hall food... YIKES!! |
Have you ever seen a Colorado sky? There seems to be another dimension to the clouds that makes you feel as if you could climb up inside. From the cardio machines in the gym I get lost in the view right outside our window: ice capped mountains wider than the eye can see. Between intramurals, the dining hall, late night chats with staff more genuine than I could have imagined possible, & professors dedicated to our complete confidence in the Gospel, I am nothing (and I mean NOTHING) short of blessed. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who made it possible for me to be here and learn more about the Lord. I am being equipped in incredible ways for ministry this next year. Praise God.
promise land day one
Today I arrived in Colorado!!You should have seen me tearing up as my plane landed with the Rockies in the distance... I couldn't stop whispering, "It's you and me, Jesus. Here we go." My super precious plane neighbor most likely thought I was a little crazy or about to meet up with a long lost family member but I didn't care because, well, I checked his left hand and he was married. So! I kept whispering and tearing up.. It was a big moment. I've waited for this day for a lonnggg time.
Paige in the Rubble
Paige Trotter, one of the students I have featured in my newsletters over this past year, brought me to tears recently with this video she showed me. At the beginning of this school year, Paige moved from Colorado to Bama & Desperately wanted to go back home. After a year of loving on & working with Paige, the Lord has moved her heart in an entirely new direction. After the Tornado on April 26th, Paige and her friend Alex began a Tuscaloosa Relief fund in which they raised over $6000! Just a few weeks ago they drove down to Tuscaloosa with her jeep packed high with donations, eager to share the love of Christ with her sweet home Alabama. She made this video during her visit.
beloved painted black
I know it
I know it like I know I'm a girl
like I know my nose is beneath my eyes
like the pale birthmark on my back
I know it's right
I know it is my construction
I know it's my calling.
I know I'm called to the Africans
I just know it.
This week I found old schoolwork
age eight to twenty two.
Sixteen papers of seventeendepict the desperate dreaming
of a young girl in barefoot battle,
ivory hand-in-hand with fingers Divine.
Sixteen of sixteen name Africa my home.
The calling could not be more clear
the calling... could not be more clear.
Maybe two years maybe thirty
the calling could not be more clear.
I hear the Lord saying
in reverberating echo:
"Listen closely as I speak
for the saints I call with purpose.
Equip the college campus not just 'sent' but bold to come.
across the ocean waters to bring Christ where darkness reigns
Not today, dear child, but first raise up with prayer & passion
an army two by two.
For two hands are all you have
but inter-weaved called as the body,
all the more, Christ at work.
I care not for Africa but for the Africans.
Delight in me as I transform you
to bring Truth to Beloved painted black"
So until then, names I know not yet,
I pray for your souls & tilling
that when I hold you in my arms
[the youth of Alabama by my side]
you will know that Jesus holds you
you will know that Jesus holds you 
i'm lookin at you, baby!
Within a matter of months, the energy level in my family sky rocketed to entirely new heights. Last fall my cousin Brittany & her husband Jeff gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Hyatt Stone Burnett & only weeks ago my aunt and uncle welcomed Vander John Stelten! Since it's been over fourteen years since we had a baby in the family (much less two!), my mom and I couldn't help but spend a day in Atlanta cooing over our two new objects of affection.
It's amazing the way people doat over babies. You can't help but to praise them. Everything about a baby is facinating. They are tiny. Innocent. Fresh. Clean. Joyful. And the list goes on.... How are Hyatt's cheeks so big? How are Van's eyes so small? Who will they become? We can't help but to watch... to delight. It's our natural response.
& so this process has really started to make me reflect on the concept of praise. Is my praise to the Lord as simple & joyful as it is over Vander? Is it an overflow of my gratitude? As I read up on the subject, I'm finding my heart more callous than I ever imagined... Praise God for these little boys to teach me what it means to be a child again....
But the most obvious fact about praise- whether of God or anything- strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, of the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise... the world rings with praise- lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game...
My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can't help doing, about everything else we value. " - CS Lewis, A Reflections on the Psalms
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation - John Piper, Desiring God
open your eyes child the river is before you, within you, don't you see, dont you see
This past season of my life has been so good but tough. Every week is different and not everything has gone the way I thought it would. It’s really been a season of transition where I’m waiting on the Lord and believing in His specific promises for my life. A lot of times, I have to shake off striving, doubt, discouragement and unbelief. My circumstances definitely aren’t perfect but each day I have to choose to continue to feast on the Lord’s goodness and believe His promises are always “yes and amen” for me.
I’ve found that most people really love and cherish the sweet promises of God for their lives but dread and struggle with the process that always comes attached with the promise. Although our God is the God of the now, He is also the God of tomorrow. He is the God of the journey. You see, the process is a completely Biblical concept. Take a look at Abraham and how God came to him when he was 75 years old. God promised Abram a blood line that would cause him to be the father of the nations. Although it seemed impossible, I’m sure Abraham rejoiced in this! I’m sure he was eager to see that word and promise come to pass. The truth is that Abraham and Sara didn’t have Issac until 25 years later but He was counted as righteous before the Lord because he simply believed (Genesis 15.6). How often do we think that when God speaks He is going to do every single thing He promised immediately? I want to challenge you to find joy in the midst of waiting on God and trusting Him. Trust and believe Him with all your heart and delight in the midst of the process. Don’t fool yourself – God has intentionally put the desires of your heart in you for a reason! Delight in Him as you go and as you wait and the process will be a whole lot easier. Enjoy the journey and the process – embrace the time of growth (even when it’s so stretching and tough) that you will go through as you wait on the Lord. Don’t lose hope if God’s prophetic promises don’t come to pass right away – we must continue to build ourselves up in faith by declaring what He has said! Find God in the midst of your transition and seasonal shifts. He is who He says He is and He is nothing but faithful to fulfill His word!
I want to change gears here and talk about how to fight off discouragement, despair and striving while we are in the midst of the journey and process with God (because it’s so vital).
I think the main reason why we so often get discouraged is because we focus on what God isn’t doing more than what He is doing and who He is! We take our eyes off of Him and when we do, we fall into unnecessary discouragement, despair, depression and hopelessness. We let our vision for the future and for our destiny/calling shrivel up when circumstances test and challenge us. As sons and daughters of the Most High we must know what our Father is doing in our lives in the current moment and we must continue to experience His goodness in the present moment to continue to walk in faith and stay encouraged!
Ask yourself – How is God wanting to move in my life now/today? What testimony/act of God has happened in the past that can fuel me and encourage me to keep pressing on in the journey? What lies am I believing about where I’m at now and where I’m going? Are there any areas in my life that I need to allow God to penetrate with His love, goodness and faithfulness? What situations/circumstances in my life do I need to change my perspective on?
Too frequently we let our circumstances and experiences shape and mold our faith, theology and beliefs. While God does want to shape the way we think and see Him through experience, the thing that should have the ultimate influence on our faith and beliefs is not our experiences, feelings or earthly circumstances but the Word of God, which reveals His truth and reality! Don’t always let your experiences and feelings sway, dictate and overly influence your faith. Let your faith (rooted in the promises of God and His Word) influence and impact your circumstance and feelings! Don’t let what God meant for your good, growth and transformation become a “dry season” or “wilderness” where you don’t experience or grow in God at all. I think too often we stumble into unnecessary “dry seasons” and “wildernesses” because we aren’t truly connecting with will and heart of Heaven. This often happens because we take our eyes off of the goodness of Jesus and the heart of the Father in the moment.
Seriously, where did the concept of spiritual “dry seasons” come from? I’m absolutely sure that the Gospel proclaims that we are never lacking anything, no matter where we are! The key to staying encouraged, built up in faith and living in the overflow of His abundance in whatever season you’re in is to continue to “fix your eyes on things above.” This is an exhortation that Paul gave the Church of Colossai in Colossians 3.2.
Paul also states several times in the Epistles that we aren’t citizens of this earth – we are from another realm/world. We are seated in Heavenly Places with Christ because that’s our home (Ephesians 2.6). The key to living a life filled with never ending joy, peace, love, etc is to always stay connected and aware of our source (Heaven). Remember – our model is Heaven, not earth. We live out of Heavenly Places! The things of this world don’t have the final say on how I live – Heaven does! That’s why Jesus told us to continually pray that His Kingdom (Heaven) would come to earth and invade our lives. If we are constantly tapping into what the abundant resources of Heaven then we will never ever be lead into a spiritual dry season here on earth! Love, peace, joy, etc never run out in Heaven! The truth is that there is no such thing as a “dry season” in Heaven! It’s an insult to think that the River of Living Water that flows from the Throne of Heaven into your very heart would ever run dry, run out or cease from flowing (John 7.37). I think these are exactly the keys to what we need to thrive in the midst of waiting on God’s promises to be fulfilled.
It is true that wildernesses may come in this life here on earth, but I think we’ve had the wrong idea/view of what a wilderness really is. Scripturally a wilderness just means that our earthly circumstances will be challenging and stretching. A wilderness does not mean that my Heavenly resources will be lacking or that my Father will depart! I’ve talked with a lot of people that think that the wildernesses of their lives are times when God is withdrawing His goodness and presence from them in order to test them. I don’t think this is the case at all – Because:
1) the Father will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13.5, Matthew 28.20) – it’s His promise to always be near to us
2) Look at the promise of Isaiah 35: “Waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. And the scorched land will become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water”. This prophetic passage reveals that even in the wildernesses and hard times of our lives we will be able to thrive and walk in the abundance of Jesus!
Simply look at how Jesus handled His 40 day wilderness: every time he was tempted to be discouraged our doubt the faithfulness of the Father and His promises…he boldly declared the truth and that released victory and strength in the midst of the challenge (Luke 4.1-13). I love how Scripture specifically says that as Jesus came out of the wilderness he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4.14) – that must mean that he left better, stronger, more filled up with the power of God than when he started!
I think the key to thriving while being in a season of tough times, transition and waiting on the Lord is to have the Father’s perspective (Heaven’s view). Look at where you are and see how God is using every little thing for your good (Romans 8.28). So continue to learn how to fix your eyes (or awareness) and mind on things above! This is the key to seeing the River of God flood your life even in the midst of trials, tribulation and extended processes. Dare to believe and trust God for every word and promise He has ever spoken to you. Stand on the Word of the Lord and claim and declare each of His promises specifically for you and watch them transform your mind and change the way you view your situation! Persevere in faith and continue to walk into the fullness of what God has for your life! "
- Nate Moore, my friend since 6th grade & buddy for life. Funny how many papers I helped you write in college but give you a topic you love and... my goodness! Get it, broski!
greek summit 2011
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| All students at Greek Summit take turns sharing their testimony so that they are fully prepared to share their story with their peers when they return to their campuses. |
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| "God is so good. I am constantly amazed by the work of the Holy Spirit in individual lives. So often it is easy to get focus on the magnitude and greatness of our God and forget that He knows the depths of our individual hearts. At Greek Summit, the Lord has been allowing broken people to experience the healing of Jesus and authentic Christian community unlike ever before."- Lissa Handley Tyson, junior at The University of Alabama |
it's all up in the air
LORD!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! STOP THE TORNADOES!!!! STOP THE FLOODS!!! THIS LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE TUSCALOOSA!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
april may newsletter
** Click on photos to enlarge so you can read! Click again to utilize magnifying glass feature to zoom in. * Note* This is merely an image of my monthly newsletter. To join the newsletter listserve, simply email allison.gortney@gmail.com **
update on t-town
Hey I'm Ann Elise Winters, a Tuscaloosa native and student at The University of Alabama. Since Allison is back in Georgia, here's a quick update on how Tuscaloosa has been doing since the storm!
Basically things are really started to get cleaned up. I've seriously never seen any community come together and help others the way that the Tuscaloosa community has. Groups have been going out everyday and volunteering their time to clean up the mess and so many generous donations have been made by everyone from all over the country. We are so extremely grateful for all the help that we have been receiving over the past few weeks. There's still a TON of more work to do, especially once the rebuilding process begins but I know with all of this help and God's amazing work we will have this town back on its feet in no time.
Thanks for the prayers and help!
Ann Elise was one of the freshman girls I spent a lot of time with this year at Alabama &, much to my delight, I was able to watch her grow leaps and bounds in her faith. During this next year she will be singing with the worship band at our weekly meetings. Until then, she's working at Private Gallery, a small boutique in Tuscaloosa.
hosea 2:14-23
"14 Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor[e] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16"And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.
21"And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,and they shall answer Jezreel,
23and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on 'No Mercy',
and I will say to' Not My People', 'You are my people';
and he shall say, 'You are my God.'"
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.
15And there I will give her her vineyards
and make the Valley of Achor[e] a door of hope.
And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth,
as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.
16"And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer will you call me 'My Baal.' 17For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.
21"And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD,
I will answer the heavens,
and they shall answer the earth,
22and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil,and they shall answer Jezreel,
23and I will sow her for myself in the land.
And I will have mercy on 'No Mercy',
and I will say to' Not My People', 'You are my people';
and he shall say, 'You are my God.'"
book recommendation: whiter than snow
What the students seemed to like best about this book was Tripp's honesty and ability to communicate our sin in a way that was both convicting and easy to understand. The chapters are short and meant to be read as daily devotionals.
Every few chapters the author takes a portion of the Psalm and transposes it into poetry. This was hit or miss for a lot of the students. Some loved it, some hated it.
echos from the storm
As you might be able to tell, I'm at a loss for words. I'm not quite sure what to say. Seeing Alana overwhelmed with emotion at our staff meeting yesterday, hearing that people are still locked in storm shelters in Holt without food or water beneath piles we can't find, and the thick blankets covering the windows of my living room windows (still afraid to take them down for safety reasons) are all present realities. The effects of the tornado are not even close to wearing off. New things are surfacing each day. I wonder if the cops have gotten all the guns back that the gangs looted from the pawn shops? That alone would make a huge difference in walking around the city without fear.
Overlooking the city from the DCH railroad tracks last night was .... devastating. I'd seen all parts of the city with my own eyes hundreds of times over the last week but standing there last night, after our second full day of regular work back in the office, was a raw reminder that the tornado wasn't our imagination. The nightmare was real. It'd been a full day since I wasn't overcome by fear and, in an instant, it all came rushing back in. For about 4 days, I felt fearful from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep... I do not miss that feeling....
I suppose I'm writing more for myself than for my supporters... I mean, there's not much at all I know right now. I don't know where the Karls will live. I don't even know if I'll be moving back to Tuscaloosa next year and if I do, I don't know when my support will come in and allow me to move back. I don't know if I'll get to be a part of any of the fall ministry plans we made in our staff meetings the past two days. I don't know how I'll be able to comfortably sit in Georgia after the weekend working on support, knowing that people are still missing. I don't know what our streets will look like a few years from now. I don't know if my house is safe for me to stay at alone tonight. It's really hard to know where to go and... my house wasn't even hit!
But the point I'm trying to get to, is that amidst all of the things I don't know, there is one thing, one sure and solid thing, I know with absolute certainty. "The Lord is at hand." God has not forgotten us. I saw it in the sunrise this morning. I see it as we worship at night at Snow Hinton. Those who lost everything are yelling "God is good." I don't know how or where but I know that God has big plans for this city through methods we definitely do not understand. I know that Jesus is our treasure and only hope, not just for a damaged city but for masses of people who have been and will be searching for security for the rest of their lives. God is just as powerful in the mundane as He is in the chaos. Sometimes it just takes the chaos to get our attention.
Throughout the day as I'm trying to re-establish "normal," I find that all I want to do is be on my knees praising God... desperately, completely, unashamedly, worshiping. Isn't that an odd response? Yes, we want Him to fix our city but even if He did nothing to help our city, He still is good. Instead of this posture of worship, however, I regrettably find myself fixing and planning things, trying to "move on" and not "waste my time" laying around talking to God. But ya know what? I think that's absurd. Praising God is exactly what we need to be doing right now. I'm just going to have to trust that my support will come in even if I take one day to really give myself completely to God.
I don't want to leave Tuscaloosa. A few months ago I was struggling to stay here - feeling lonely and inadequate and like I didn't have a place to fit. But now, I don't even want to go back to Georgia for a few days. I don't think I can handle seeing the rest of the world moved on. Tuscaloosa is in shambles. How can we just move on?
Thats enough rambling for now. All I ask is what I always ask. Please pray. I mean really. Please.... pray. Ask God for healing, ask Him for restoration and hope but, more than anything, I beg you to praise Him.
the juxtaposition of nightmare & hope
We just wrapped up day four of cleaning up the city and I have to say, my friends and I are ex-haus-ted. My legs are absolutely covered in bruises and scratches, my body is completely sunburned (despite the spf 50) , and nearly all athletic clothing I own is completely destroyed BUT, these have been days WELL worth the sore bodies. (If you're wondering how to help, you could definitely send some masseuses our way :) For the past few days, a core group of us has met up at 8 am and headed out in trucks full of waters, groceries, boxes, generators, tarps, and young twenty-somethings ready to rev up some chainsaws. So far we've worked in approximately fifteen different locations, helping families scavenge for belongings, tearing down trees, and hauling the remnants of Tuscaloosa into safe keeping. We've kind of formed a schedule for our day which ends, much to my delight, with climbing into the comfortable truck, and heading to Moes BBQ for some dinner and cold drinks.
I've been staying at the boys' house because the city has been so unsafe lately. All of my neighbors have "You loot, I'll shoot" signs spray pained on the front of their houses and so, since I neither have roommates living here nor a gun, I decided to re-locate. It's been really great to connect with such a random group of folks here and spent the time together. It's like we're becoming a little family :)
With each day, the reality of what just happened becomes more real. As I sat upon someone's front door atop a huge pile of trash yesterday, I surveyed the damage in front of me and was brought to tears because I couldn't count how many houses I saw. The places where people probably fell in love, got into fights, went for refuge, made a sandwich, saved up for their whole lives, brought home their first child, etc etc.... were all indistinguishable heaps muddled together in a mess of turmoil. It wasn't really until two nights ago when I stopped running around that I really sat down, thought about it, and started grieving this situation. I only tell you that because... my house is perfectly fine... I can't imagine how people who were hit feel. Wow... One of the women we've been helping, Model, just moved here two months ago from New Orleans in order to escape the reality of all she just encountered with Katrina. She went back to New Orleans last weekend to get her Mom (so they could live together in Tuscaloosa) only to return to the leftovers of the tornado. A ziplock back of her medical bills was just found... in Birmingham. One of the guy's close friends, a Phi Mu, was just found in a field the other day, thrown from her house down the street. Today I asked a family if there was anything I could do to help them move and they requested I go looking for their son beneath the debris.... Never again in my life do I EVER want to do that again.Can you imagine? I walked around looking for body parts while saying ".....hello?" Guys! That's absurd! I don't know how many total are dead now (I honestly don't think I can take watching the news at the end of the day) but rumor has it that 400 are missing or unidentified... Four hundred. Holy smokes.
The thing is, these piles aren't getting much smaller. When I first walked up and saw everything that happened, I honestly thought it was really sad but that it wouldn't take long to clean up. After working with some of the same families for the past four days though, I'm completely sick of working (and so is my body!) and frustrated at how slow the process is.
Some great news, however, is that a local church (which I visited this morning) is putting up a prayer tent at a park right near McFarland where they will be doing free counseling and prayer. If you've read/heard ANYTHING I've talked/written about this year, it's that I've fallen in prayer for the first time in my life. I cannot wait for it to open up tomorrow because I am so so so eager to hug and love on and pray with broken people who, more than ever, need a hefty dose of some Jesus in their lives.
I savor the moments playing with these beautiful, hopeful children ( if for only a moment to take away from the stress they're experiencing), looking into people's eyes, and seeing the community be real with each other. There are no masks needed in this type of situation. No one has the energy to pretend. I love it and I am soaking up as many opportunities as possible to dive in head-on to these people's hearts. I am so so so lucky to be in Tuscaloosa and a part of this. I've considered going home (to Atlanta) to relax many times but, truly, I don't want to go home. I want to be here. I want to be helping, not because I'm a good person, but because God is surly at work and it's incredible to see.
I know there is more news but... I'm ready to go laugh with some people and forget about the day a little bit. Everything is going to be ok. Tomorrow we're considering taking the day off. Students who all had to leave town (because the University told them they had to) are flooding back in to help. Maybe we'll let all of those fresh bodies go wear themselves out for tomorrow and then we'll jump back in on Wednesday.
Goodnight guys. Thanks for all of your love and texts/calls/emails. If you want to know the best way to help, ship any and everything you can think of to Tuscaloosa ( we need it ALL: gloves, duct tape, tarps, chainsaws, boxes, thick trash bags, shoes, clothes, diapers, toothbrushes, deodorant, and on and on) OR pray (hey-oh) OR come help!
Check out Isaiah 58 around verse 10 and on... and Hebrews chapters 10-12 I think it is... def 11 and 12. That's where we've all been camping out and talking about lately. Good stuff! Love love
quick update
Quick Update:
The news can tell you most of the facts you want to know and everything is so crazy down here it's hard to know what all is going on. Apparently Obama is speaking somewhere here today? That is honestly the least of anyone's priorities today.
I've had more than fifteen people in and out of my house over the past two days, spending the night and using our power/internet. Yesterday morning two of the girls and I woke up and snuck down the railroad tracks (where the cops couldn't stop us) and made it to Justin and Alana's house. Everything was... absolute chaos. Spent the whole day boarding up houses, digging through rubble, salvaging things in plastic bags, and praying for the city. I'm cut up really bad and insulation covered everything so my skin is burning but other than that, I'm safe and sound. A group of us got dinner together last night which, simple as it was, might be one of my favorite memories here. A truck full of us then went out and helped people move for a few more hours. Christie and D came down to look at her old apartment and patch things up. Finally, a small group of people prayed on the quad before the mayors 10 pm curfew was in action.
I promise I'll give more details later but honestly, it is all sooo overwhelming right now. If you would like to ask questions or comment, PLEASE do it here ( on my blog) or via email rather than through phone/text. My phone is in overload and I can't receive important calls/texts about help since my inbox keeps filling up.
Love you all and am so so grateful for your thoughts and prayers. I really really mean that.
Please pray for:
- those that lost everything - whose earthly treasures just flew off into the wind. I'd love to get to tell them today about a treasure in Jesus that doesn't blow away or fade
- for patience with all that is going on. I would love to squeeze some quiet/alone time in to regain sanity so that we can keep helping people
- I'd personally love for a few people to stay in town to keep helping/ hanging out with me throughout the weekend. Everyone is fleeing town ... this is the end of the semester.Classes are done for the spring. No goodbyes...
- For our seniors who are really bummed about no graduation
- For the Karls and Kalynn and a host of other friends who are trying to figure out their next steps. Their lives are cra-zy right now. They have almost nothing left
- For God to give us great places to help right now. The cops keep stopping us from doing anything and sending us to volunteer centers who are telling us to go home. So! We're sneaking through woods and stuff to try and find places to help
- For God to give us great places to help right now. The cops keep stopping us from doing anything and sending us to volunteer centers who are telling us to go home. So! We're sneaking through woods and stuff to try and find places to help
I'll update more later tonight but I just found a place to go help!!! Yay!!!!!!! I'll let you know how you can help later. Today the priority is finding lost people beneath the rubbish and clearing out houses to find people's valuables/bills/paperwork.
the 411 on the karls
Just received an email from Jeff:
I've finally been able to get some concrete information on Justin and Alana Karl's situation. I haven't been able to get to them or get in touch with them as cell service is almost non-existent. I finally received this text a few minutes ago from a student who lives down the street from them: I asked if their apartment is standing, livable, where are they staying, etc. He responded: "No its done. Whole sides of their walls gone. Their stuff is hanging out the side. They're staying at an apt next door to them. Both cars are destroyed." So, it's obviously not good. There are some students who I think have been able to get to them, comforting them. Please pray for the Karl's...it's going to be a long journey of recovery, materially and emotionally. Also, please pray for our team and students...everyone is in shock.
Thanks for interceding for us...
Jeff Norris
Campus Crusade for Christ
University of Alabama
www.bamacrusade.com
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and! hot off the press! The Karls just tweeted! Finally!
alanakarl: Thanks for the calls and texts. Feeling loved. We are okay. Things can be replaced but not lives. #thankful
justin_karl: Alana, Millie and; I are okay. Thank you for your prayers. Our home is mostly destroyed but God is sovereign and good so thats okay too.
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