"Dobre Rano" (Hello) from Kar-lai...in Slovakia! :)

En route to Europe!

Zemplinska Sirava ("Slovak Sea")

Our American team successfully traveled from Washington, D.C. together into Budapest, Hungary back on June 29 & 30. I traveled with the smaller team straight to Michalovce, Slovakia for the SpeakOut training with Slovak staff. Everyone was excited to be trained and equipped for reaching native teens with the Gospel message through this unique, evangelistic English Camp.  

Slovak staff during
united training time with Americans

As of this message to you, 1 full week of staff training has just completed here in Slovakia...and the CAMPERS ARRIVE TONIGHT!! Please pray for their hearts to be ready for the gospel message, for the staff & volunteers to be led by the Spirit, and for God to be glorified! Pray that language will not be a barrier to the gospel, and that the work we Americans do here will bless and lead into the work the Slovak staff will continue after we leave.

CHECK OUT the photos I've taken thus far via Flickr (links also below) and get to know the American and Slovak staff on these 2012 Speak Out projects! Feel free to check and pass this link along to others - I'll be updating it every so often...especially as I am staying in Slovakia only until July 13 and then travel back to Budapest, Hungary to stay through August 1 to see the SpeakOut camps and debrief there.

Note: Praise God for providing 70% of the finances needed for these summer projects in Slovakia & Hungary! Please pray God provides the remaining $1,490 to cover these missions. (Donations can continue to be given all the way through my time here on project - but I'd love to see the rest come in by August 7, so please pray for that! If you wish to give, write out to Campus Crusade for Christ and send to 3326 Bo Jeremy Drive, Orlando, FL 32822.)

THANK YOU!
For His glory - - Kar-Lai :)

____________________________________________________________

2012 SPEAKOUTS: SLOVAKIA & HUNGARY   *selected highlights below
(Note: I'll be in Slovakia = July 1 - July 13; Hungary = July 13 - Aug 1...so keep checking this link: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS for updated photos!)

Sunflower fields are everywhere!
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Prayer Walk night
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Pali, Slovak staff -
evangelism training time
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Prayer Walk Night - overcoming barriers
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Prayer walk night
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Americans warmly welcomed by the Slovak team!
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Doug; American-Slovak staff,
Slovakia Speakout Director
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

Viktor, Miska; Slovak staff, during training time
(see more at  http://flic.kr/s/aHsjAtb8tS)

"Someone Pinch Me!" (January 2012 Newsletter)

NEWSLETTER for JANUARY 2012

CLICK HERE FOR NEWSLETTER

Me with the Philadelphia
SV+Cru team members!

{BONUS NOTE:}
"Someone Pinch Me!"

Today, I talked on the phone with my first potential recruit (yay!) over the phone and was humbled all over again by everything.

Me with the Pittsburgh area
SV alums & staff

It's been a whirlwind these past 8 weeks since I tearfully left Syracuse on a chilly morning (Dec 7th) and trekked down through several cities to arrive in sunny Orlando (Dec 14th). Since then, God has blown me away by accelerating so much of this transition time - He got me plugged into a church and worship team the FIRST weekend I was in town, I've a beautiful house and phenomenal housemates, amazing co-workers...and best of all, I have finally started doing what I know I was made to do "for such a time as this." 

With our Student Venture Leadership Development team at headquarters having dwindled down to only 3 full-time staff (myself included), transitioning into my new role has been a challenge--but I've embraced it all head-on with the understanding that God knows what He's doing!

Nathan & Kendra McNutt:
amazing SV workers in Pittsburgh
(he's the dairy farmer!)

Please pray for our team and the potential recruits that we (and me specifically!) will be handling this upcoming year as we regroup, restructure, and re-energize recruiting efforts...there are so many teenagers out there whose eternal lives are depending upon our prayers and efforts.

I'm SO excited for what's yet to come - and believe me, YOU are always on my mind and in my prayers...THANK YOU for your prayers and partnership - all for His glory!

                                  In His service,

                                  Kar-Lai

Here are a few more photos from the "epic NY to FL trip" :)

Jared & Dominique Dawson,
SV Atlanta staff who happened to
be in Indy the same time as I was!

SV staffers CJ & Anika Neal treat me to
"famous" breakfast at their
home in Indianapolis

SV Chattanooga based friends

SV Atlanta teens gather for their
final meeting of the year

Orlando's Crosspointe church:
Christmas eve worship team! :)

Kar-Lai's Reporting Trip - from NY to FL! :)

Hey friends!!

It's finally time...I'm getting my bags packed, my driving trip planned, and my heart is (almost!) ready to start the transition as I drive from Syracuse to Orlando to report to my assignment at headquarters. How exciting!! :) I'll be driving from Wed 12/7 till Wed 12/14, and am so happy to be able to mark this new season of my life with this momentous trip.

Here's a look at the map of my driving trip (see below). You can interact with the map by clicking and dragging on the map anywhere, or clicking on any of the colorful pins to see notes on when and where I'll be in a particular city.

Please be praying that all goes well as I stop at various cities to meet with friends, partners, and Student Venture staffers. I'm looking forward to hearing and sharing about what God's doing all throughout these places in the lives of those I'll see. I'll try to keep you posted on things via facebook and e-mail when possible, so stay tuned! I want you to feel like you're on the trip with me :)

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. It is an honor to go forth as an extension of your hearts, hands, and feet for the glory of our amazing God!

Love,
Kar-Lai


View KL Reports from NY to FL! :) :) in a larger map

Visiting Student Venture Headquarters (Orlando, FL)

Can I just say how great God is?! I was able to fly down to Orlando, FL on Sunday (9/21) to meet with the headquarters staffon Monday (9/22) for a tour, staff meeting, and interview. I wanted to write a more detailed message to you describing the events of the day and what my thoughts were after it was all done. As always, I value your opinions greatly and encourage you to let me know your thoughts as you hear me share about this whole process and opportunity. As you all know, I am quite verbose...so please bear with me as I share...or at least make sure you have a chunk of time set aside to read this mini-novella of an update...hehehe. =)
I was quite nervous beforehand and didn't really eat much for the two days. After waking up quite early at the hotel I stayed in, I got a ride from Warren Bane (the Director of National Recruitment) to the headquarters and was thoroughly amazed at the beauty of the "campus" itself. There were mini lakes, essentially, with fountains and a vast expanse of fields and trees surrounding the two to three very large buildings that resembled mini-White-Houses. I got a quick tour of the inside of the buildings and was introduced to several staff here and there. There was a staff meeting at 10 and I was happy to sit in on it.

What was so refreshing was how the staff took time to pray before their meeting, lifting up prayers to God as they remembered staff out in the field and people who are raising support to become full-time staff members, and prayed for God's hand to be upon them all as they seek to do His will. After the meeting, I was able to sit with Warren and Mike, another Leadership Development National Director, over lunch. I got a nice overview of the heart and vision of the organization and later sat in on a phone call to Google before having my interview with two other staff members, Lauren & Andy. Again, I was overjoyed when they prayed with me before the interview...it put me at ease; the interview went for about an hour and a half, and I was very comfortable during it and able to answer all their questions well.
Basically, here's what I wrote down during my flight back to Syracuse (so it'd be fresh after such a full day) that encouraged me:

1) The spiritual environment is beyond encouraging. There are countless ways and opportunities to receive training, be stretched, learn more about your giftings and how to be spiritually healthy and continue to grow in faith and fruitfulness. They even give you 1 day per month to take off and spend the day with God, get spiritually re-energized...or even just whenever a break is really needed, they'll encourage you to take, like, a prayer break during the day or something!

2) The physical space is amazing! So open, colorful, aesthetically pleasing, condusive to collaborative team work. Very different from the very unpleasant space we use at SU for review...seriously, I almost went crazy in that one small room with white walls and, what, 20 people in it during application review season?!

3) I had a list of questions I'd written out the night before and all of them were answered during the day without my even really having to ask about them!

4) There is much room for growth and movement into any direction and ministry area within this organization because it's so large and has so many facets. I'm totally psyched about this because, instead of having nowhere to go up or around (like at SU), there are many possibilities with this organization...and they encourage it! They say that if they see your gifts and skills being better used in a different area that you'd love more, they'll encourage you to go there...rather than people trying to keep you somewhere just because they need something from you.
5) They do things to make sure staff and their families can connect, communicate and socialize together so as to build a sense of "Family" overall.

6) My interview was about 1 hr 30 min, and we covered a lot of what I've already been prepping via filling out the application...so that was a relief! Praise God =)

7) My role on staff would be to identify potential future staff from various pools, follow and track them through their process of considering joining Student Venture placements around the country, and be available during their search to guide, listen, and encourage them. I'd probably have the freedom to define my position and duties/parameters too as they're open to that. I also might have the chance to work directly with high schoolers too, mentoring/discipling them if that's what I'm interested in.

Once I finish my application and send it in with my 7 recommendations, they'll review it asap even before Nov 1 and tell me if I'm pre-approved, which basically means I'm approved and "in." That will be my green light to proceed with giving my 1 month notice to SU because I'll have to go to the 5 week training session in January and I don't want to miss any of that! During training, I'll be able to send out the official announcement to everyone I know to tell them I'm joining Student Venture and I'll start building up my network of Ministry Partners and raising funding and support. When I've raised all my necessary monthly funding, I will be a full-time staff member and move down to FL where they have people to help me find housing and get situated.

Overall, I felt a great sense of peace and excitement as I went through the day. I kept thinking to myself, "I would love to work here!" There were many things that were positives, and not many that were negatives other than things that I am nervous about (like raising support)...but even those are nothing because if God's calling me to this, I belive He will provide and this is a way He's helping me to grow my faith and trust in Him. I'm still feeling good about things and haven't seen/learned anything that would be a deal-breaker for me. I still have some questions that are in the process of getting clarified, but the bottom line is I can see myself thriving professionally and spiritually there, getting discipled and being used more fully than how I'm being used now at SU. I don't see the door closing at all yet, even when I'm faced with the daunting task of raising support (I'll have to raise money for both the training time and monthly too) or relocating.

In weighing the costs of leaving Syracuse now that I've finally felt more invested and involved, I see that starting anew with Student Venture and Florida would mean I'd gain many more opportunities to grow overall and be more effective in the long run for the bigger picture of God's plans. I understand that God will continue the work he's begun in Syracuse even if I'm not here...but it's a hard decision in some ways because I've just begun to get rooted here! But, I told God I'd go wherever He'd send me and that I would trust His plans, not mine. =)

It's interesting because in the past, when I'd interviewed for other jobs last year, there was always something holding me back from saying I'm passionate and excited about those jobs. With this job, it's the opposite - I am confident I believe in the mission, vision, purpose and values of this organization and because it's all for God's glory, I am certain I can say I'd be passionate about it! I feel it in me, but I've been hesitating to say it out loud - "It's confirmed; God is calling me to Florida!" I don't know what's keeping me from saying it...but perhaps I'm waiting for that last peice - the application approval. So, I'm going to try my hardest to complete my application as soon as possible.

In closing, here are the photos from my visit to Student Venture/Campus Crusade for Christ International,Inc. headquarters in Orlando, FL on 9/22/09: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=121247&id=580456650&l=a228b3a645

Thank you again for your continued support and prayers! I'll keep you posted as things progress...
Many blessings to you,
Gahlai