ICOM

Kontaktmission is at ICOM! ICOM is the International Conference On Mission, it's a huge conference for missionaries, organizations and people interested in missions to get together and learn and mingle! We have a great big booth, and have enjoyed talking with passionate people! Pray for our team today and tomorrow as we are continuing to talk with potential partners and planters!!

Cincinnati Christian University

Camping out at CCU today! Talking with students about mission, short term, and long term!!

 Two weeks ago I was at Union University for their GoWeek! It was great talking to students about their passion for church planting and mission! Spain was a big hit at that school, lots of Spanish majors wanting to go spend time in Spain. Then I drove over to Knoxville to speak in Chapel and classes for their mission emphasis week!! The hit trip there was Ireland!! Exciting stuff!! I will post more next week, and also post some pictures of the wedding I was in!! Lots going on this fall!!

Gearing up for FALL

So fall has begun. At least in the world of school.. even if the calendar still says its summer.

Here I thought I was out of reach from the grips of school schedules, college campuses and students. Alas, that is not the case. I am about to plunge head first into the world of school again. But not as a student! I am so excited to connect with students and engage them in cross-cultural ministry! Not only am I excited to send them out, but I am ready to experience ministry with them. Serve with them, lead them, teach them, and then walk with them when they return home from their service.

Some schools on my list to visit:
Union University, Johnson University, Central Christian College of the Bible, Cincinati Christian University, Carson-Newman University and MTSU!

So much is ahead of me. So many goals. So many plans. So many people I haven't met yet. So many places I haven't gone...And you are connected to all this. Maybe as a friend, a partner, a supporter. No matter what your relation to me and this ministry I am excited to share this journey with you.

Last week I was in Humboldt for a team meeting at our U.S. office. It was refreshing to be with my fellow team even for just a few days. We brainstormed and made plans, but also shared about what we were working on, how God was moving and what we were planning on doing in the following months.

So my fall is getting busy. But I am excited to get this work started. I have set out a goal of 8 trips in the next year! I will need leaders, and of course participants! I am excited about the task before me!!

Before I close I want to share a note from one of our participants from a German trip. They worked at a summer camp with German youth. Loren observed this about her experience working with German Christian youth and the need for discipleship and mission in Europe:

"That's what those teens need- people to come alongside them and equip them to equip others to live a life for Christ. And those churches in Germany need those people to do that."

Its encouraging to hear students talk about the need for Christians to serve in Europe. This is what fuels me: Seeing peoples lives change by the experiences they've had, people they've met and things they've learned while serving overseas. 

Things to keep in mind & in your prayers:
Travel & Safety
Support raising (still need about 70% of my monthly commitment goal to be fully supported)
My interactions with students and potential tripsters!


Blessings and Peace!!

Settling in and digging in

Its hard to believe its been a month since I've been in Germany at our CrashKurs mission weekend where we trained, worshiped and fellow-shipped before sending out 30+ German and American young people into short term mission service. One has already returned from a short survey trip of the ministry work happening in Spain. Upon his return, Josh, shared how encouraged he was by the missionary and all the work his team is doing in Murcia, Spain. Another of our short termer is in Yena, Germany serving for 3 months and he shared how heart broken he is by the apathetic nature toward the Gospel by the young and the old within the community in Yena. I am so encouraged by the stories they tell and the excitement they have for sharing the gospel with Europe.

I've been working in this position for less than 3 months and already I am seeing so many rewards from it. I am anticipating the next year to bring blessings, lessons and challenges. All of this makes me very excited and extremely nervous! But I know that I have a great team at Kontaktmission to help me, a wonderful partnership with my supporters who lift this ministry up in prayer, and a God who is faithful and giving. He is the reason I am in this position and why I am so excited to see young people experience mission and grasp the reality of it.

The last few weeks I have been working on ordering business cards, designing brochures for the GoConnect trips, networking with campus ministers, and support raising. I am happy to announce I am at about 35% of my ideal  monthly ministry budget. So until I am at 100% of monthly commitments I am working a part time job. Hopefully I wont have to keep this job for long because starting in August I will be traveling at least 3 times a month doing college visits and recruiting.

I am so thankful to you all who encourage, support and love me and have joined in this ministry with me. I am excited to share church planting with you, Kontaktmission, and my life. Continue praying for my support raising and also for good networking because in the next few weeks I will be setting up my college visit calendar for the fall.

In other news: I dont think it has been below 100 degrees at all in the last two weeks! [slight exaggeration..but seriously, everyday has hit over 100 and one day I think it was like 112!!]

I have found a church here in Murfreesboro! And I love it!! Its called the City Church and it meets on Sunday nights. I've started to make some great friendships with some great ladies!!

Kontaktmission Headquarters

Isabell (from our Mission Academy) giving a
testimony of culture shock at the Crashkurs

Hi again! I am excited about what is happening in Germany right now, and more specifically the Kontaktmission  world! This weekend we held our annual Crashkurs. A time for everyone who is going on a short term project (anything from 2 weeks to 2 years!) to gather and learn about Kontaktmission and prepare for their time on the field. [These participants include Germans, Americans, Russians, etc] It is also a great time of fellowship and worship.

So I have sent out the Americans and I am excited to hear how their trips go! I will be praying for their time and then after they are done I will spend time with them on the phone debriefing them about the their reactions to culture and what they experienced.

Today I am in the office of Kontaktmssion Germany. I have spent the morning working with Rahel Trefz discussing future opportunities and planning for next year. Her role at KM is short term in Europe and media development. I am excited to work with her on trips in the future. We are planning to have a multinational team for a summer 2013 mission trip! Hopefully it will work well, Kontakt hasn't done anything like it before!

This has also been a time to aquatint myself more with the German side of Kontaktmission and familiarize myself with our missionaries and the various ministries we are involved in.

In Schwäbisch Hall (one of the few cities
in Germany that the old architecture wasnt
destroyed by bombing in the war) 

I am excited to get back to the states and begin working on planning for GoConnect 2013. I think it will be a great year, busy and challenging, but great. This summer will be spent support raising and making contacts for visits in the fall to talk with students about Kontaktmission and their future as missionaries.

Join me?

Prayer. Partnership. GoConnect.

www.kontaktmissionusa.org/donate
racheldowns3@gmail.com

CrashKurs

Hallo! I am in Germany right now! I am attending the Kontaktmission annual CrashKurs in Germany! It has been great so far. On Monday I will spend some time in the office working with our German team! I am excited about it. This is Willi, he works with the Missionaries working in Russian speaking countries! He was speaking to us about motivation in mission!

West TN Strawberry Festival

So today I went to a parade for the west tn strawberry festival. It was an hour and a half of marching bands, pageant winners, and various other representatives from all over the surrounding areas! It was quite a southern experience! There were some interesting names like Miss Washer Throwin'.

It was a good time, then afterward we ate some carnival food! The whole town shuts down for this event and thousands of people come from all over the state! Just another day at the office.