First Days in Chico!

   Well I just finished my first official week of DTS here in Chico! It's been more of an adventure than I could have expected. The first night here was really hard for me, just being in a new place and not knowing anybody I felt really intimidated. I have gotten along really well with everybody though and now I don't want to leave! I am getting to practice lots of Spanish and I already feel like some of my friends will probably be in my life for a really long time. 

     The base is really beautiful, we've gone hiking a few times. It makes me laugh how on the website for my DTS it talks about the amazing springs that are here, but what they don't say until you're here is that they're sulfur springs that smell REALLY bad! haha. It really is a beautiful place though. 

      Every day we have breakfast at 6:45, personal devotional time, worship, prayer or bible study, lectures from whoever the speaker is for the week until lunch, and at 3:00 we have work duties. Nighttime is different every day of the week. I absolutely love spending just so much TIME with the Lord! 

     My favorite part of this week was definitely the lectures. Our speaker's name was Bill Payne and it was shocking to me how much wisdom he had and how much God used him to reveal more of His love and character to us. For me something really cool is just the fact that it's OK for me to have questions. In the past when something that was written in the Bible or taught in church that I wasn't really sure about, I would just blindly push my doubts away and agree with whatever it was without very much question, because to me if I didn't agree with everything then I didn't really have faith. Something our speaker shared though is that there are two ways to come to God with questions, either starting with doubt and challenging Him or starting with faith and truly wanting to know His heart better. It changed my mindset because now when I hear something instead of just saying 'wow that's a great point' and not really growing much from it, I understand now better how to pray into those things with God. 

     Another thing is my understanding of prayer has changed a lot. A few times a week we have intercession, which is really new for me. I pray to God all of the time but honestly the idea of Him giving me images or words to pray is a different concept for me. Prayer has always been about me talking to God and I know He can speak to me as well but being here I'm realizing what a big part of prayer that is! Today I took some time to pray about some personal stuff and God gave me a very specific scripture that was just so incredibly relevant. I have never really felt like I was very 'good' at praying, especially out loud. I always felt like it was about what I had to say and I would get nervous. I really hope God will show me that He can use my prayers, that He listens, that He speaks, and that I have power in His name.

     I am so thankful for my first days here and so excited about the foundation God has set out for me. Thanks for reading this guys! Keep me in your prayers while I'm here! :)

Support Letter

Hey everyone, I hope you are doing well. I am sure some of you have heard by now that 

God is calling me to a very exciting opportunity next year. I am writing to let you know 
exactly what it is I’m being called to and tell you a little bit more about what I’ll be doing. Next year I am going to be participating in a program called YWAM, or Youth With A Mission. This is something I have been praying about for a long time. Ever since I have started getting involved in Mexico I have felt like I have wanted to do something mission oriented with my life. I am still not exactly sure what that will look like but for the past few years I have felt a tug on my heart to the poor, the orphaned and the fatherless. I have had a definite picture in my head of taking the love I have been given, and sharing it with less fortunate children internationally. God has blessed me so incredibly much throughout my childhood. When I first felt my heart move in Mexico it was because of the children that were not as blessed as I was. I got to know them, their personalities and their joy and I didn’t understand why I was the one with the ‘good’ life and why they were the ones living with next to nothing. It used to bother me immensely. Later as I grew closer to God and more familiar with how he wants to use me specifically, I have realized there was a reason that I was so blessed. I have been given so much love from God, my parents, my family, my youth leaders, and my friends so that I can take that love and pour it back out into those who truly need it. There is nothing I want more than to just show children that they are loved and I know this is something that is pleasing to God. 

I first heard of doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) through YWAM and began to get interested in it through friends. YWAM is an international Christian organization focused on training this generation to make Jesus known throughout the world. YWAM is a fairly large organization with over a thousand bases in many countries. The DTS focuses on training youth to evangelize, love, and care for people all over the world. The DTS is made up of two parts, the lecture phase and the outreach phase. The lecture phase usually lasts about 3 months and consists of classes, speakers, and local outreaches. The purpose of the lecture phase is to better equip the students for the outreach phase, usually lasting 2-3 months, and usually in another country, with various focuses. 

On January 16, 2013, I will be taking part in a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in Chico, California. I will be spending 12 weeks there for the lecture phase, and I will find out what country my 8 week outreach will be in once I am in training. Another thing I am so grateful to the Lord for is His aid in my learning Spanish. I am not quite fluent yet but He has placed the right people in my life to help me to get very close. The winter DTS in Chico will be entirely bilingual. I am so excited to learn even more Spanish, and likely go on the outreach in a Spanish speaking country. 

It would mean so much to me if you would consider supporting me in this decision to pursue God’s will for my life through YWAM. I am hoping that my time there will further enhance my understanding of the ministry God is bringing me to. I will be trying very hard to keep all of my family and friends updated on this journey while I am away. All of your prayers mean so much to me, now as I prepare to go, and also while I am actually doing the DTS. Right now I am working at Chick-fil-a to try and raise some of the $6,000 cost. I am praying that God will help with me to raise the rest of this money, and I am faithful that He will.  If He is calling you to help me with this financially, then please do so, but not because you feel obligated, but only out of obedience to the Lord. Any support, especially prayer, is greatly appreciated. Besides praying that I will be able to raise enough money for this, some other prayer requests I have are that God will truly use this time to bring me closer to Him and to show me more of his plan for me. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I hope you will keep me in your thoughts as I go away with the Lord on this adventure. 

If anyone does want to help me financially, please make checks out to “Youth With A Mission” with “Kayla Carlevato” in the memo and send it to me at:

9629 Valley Woods Ln

Knoxville, TN 37922

Not Slow to Fulfill His Promise

     My life is kind of crazy right now. It's kind of crazy because it's kind of normal. My week is so much more routine this year and I'm not sure if I like it or not. I've been used to having a lot of free time over the past few years, and I mean A LOT. Last year I only had classes twice a week, now I have three days, two of them being at Pellissippi Community College. I also have drivers ed, small group and I usually work 20-30 hours a week. It feels really weird always having somewhere to be and something to do. 
    It also feels really weird because I throw myself into doing all of this stuff here but I feel so detached. I'm not really sure why. I really really really miss Mexico, and every single person I'm friends with there. I also really miss my brother and sister in Africa. I guess I spend half of my time wishing I'm in Mexico and the other half wishing I'm in Ghana with my siblings. or that my siblings were here, or that I'm in Mexico with my siblings. haha.
       For anyone who doesn't already know, my parents have been trying to adopt two kids from Ghana since December. My brother Stephen and I went over there with my parents in April to meet them and I already love them so much. I feel so blessed that these sweet children are going to a part of our family. I also feel really frustrated, because we can't really be with them yet. 

     Our new sister is just 3 years old, she's really shy but so sweet. I miss holding her more than anything in the world and I miss hearing her adorable little voice. Our brother is about 6 and he truthfully has one of the best personalities I know. He's such a sweetie and he can't wait to come live with us just as much as we can't wait for him to be here.

    I don't really think I can explain the connection we have with them. I know when God made our family in heaven they were always meant to be a part of it and I'm so excited that we know that now and for all of us to finally be together. Waiting is a lot harder than it might seem. I feel like I really can't wait any longer to see them again and it's going to be impossible to wait any longer at all. We get pictures of them and sometimes we can even skype with them, and every time I see them I think they've grown or changed. It's really difficult for me because they are my little siblings and I want to be with them while they grow up. Even if they can't be here yet, I wish I could be over there with them to just hold their hands and wait with them.

     I'm not going to pretend that I know every single little step that's involved in the process of international adoption because it's a lot more complicated than you might think. There's a lot of paperwork and dates and costs involved and I don't always know exactly what's up. I know we were supposed to have a court date in June. That's what our lawyer said when we were in Ghana. But when I left for Mexico we still hadn't gotten a date scheduled. While I was there my mom told me that the person who was supposed to sign our paperwork to take to court had stopped signing off on anything for anyone. It was really frustrating for awhile because that's pretty much exactly what she told me and I didn't know anything else. 

    Three months later and we still didn't have all of the signatures we need to take to court. Now that I'm back in school the question I always hear is "so when are you guys getting your kids?". Before last year I didn't really know anyone with successful adoption stories. I mean I guess I knew kids that had been adopted but I didn't really know anyone that I'd actually seen come back from another country with their kids. I remember I used to feel bad for people when they told me they were in the process of international adoption. I knew a few people that had pursued it and it hadn't worked out for them. I used to think how sad it was that they were spending so much time and money on something that might not even happen. Now I think people must feel sorry for us when the answer we have to give is we don't know, we're STILL waiting to go to court. 

    I always try to justify why we haven't gotten a signature on our paperwork yet. I try and explain it to people that ask, I try to make them see that even though things have stopped in our process that they are going to start again. That as soon as we get that signature it could only take a few more months. That they will be here one day, so don't forget about them.

   When my parents first decided to adopt I decided not to get my hopes up very high that it would go by quickly in case it didn't. I hadn't even wanted to tell anyone about it right away, not even my best friends because I felt like that would make it go by slower with everyone asking how much longer it would be. I was right. Because now it's September, and I have to admit my hopes keep going up pretty high every time we hear that our papers are being taken in to try and get signed again. And every time they don't, I feel like crying. It just doesn't make any sense that it should take so long. These kids are a part of our family but we can't be with them. 

     Sometimes I think maybe we aren't praying hard enough or maybe we aren't praying the right thing or for the right reason. I pray and pray but we're still waiting. I see the frustration in my whole family everyday and I'm really starting to just feel stressed out about it. 

     Whenever I'm not thinking about my brother and sister I'm wishing I'm back in Mexico. Lately everything is reminding me of Mexico and I have dreams about being there almost every night. I thought I knew what it meant to miss people, but there are so many people I want to be with every day it's kind of overwhelming. Last year I really found out what it meant to have your heart in two places, now I know what it's like to have it in three places. It's not even that I would rather be in Mexico or Ghana than Tennessee, more that I just need to be with the people in those places. 

    I really do like my life and friends and family here, and I know I was really blessed for the time I did get to spend in Mexico, and in Africa, but I just really miss my friends. I keep having this feeling like I made such close relationships and then abandoned everyone. I feel like that about my brother and sister too. The short week we spent with them was so great, but how are they supposed to understand why we had to leave or why they can't come with us yet?

    So I'm really just confused right now. My hearts in this place right now where I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do. I'm trying to trust in God and focus on where He is and what he needs me to be doing here, but sometimes I just feel mad about everything and sit in my room for a long time or try to take it out on people, and then I just end up being even more frustrated. 

    I guess sometimes I spend too much time focusing on what I want, where I want to be, and who I want to be with. God has me here for a reason, and He's put people here in my life too. I've started to realize that instead of constantly praying for myself and how God can change my life, I can just pray FOR the people that I miss. I pray for my friends days and that God will be present in their lives. I pray for my brother and sister to be safe and to have patience. I've found that this brings me so much more peace than when my prayers and thoughts are self centered. 

     When I was in Mexico I wondered why God was being so frustrating and slow to work. Growing more and more patient while I was there wasn't just a random thing, I need that patience now, while I'm waiting for our family to be together. And sometimes when I do feel like just giving up and getting mad at everyone I realize all of the patience is paying off and it's amazing to me how God can use every little thing in our lives later on. When I was in Mexico I didn't understand why I couldn't just have a huge impact on everyone I talked to, and feel God using me in everything I did. I didn't understand why everything there was more frustrating than usual or why our trip couldn't be perfect. Now I see that I was being prepared for the months ahead where everything isn't really going to go my way. 

     This week my friend posted this verse and mentioned it to me.

 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 2 Peter 3:9

     This is such a real thing in my life right now. I know God has every little thing in his hands and that it will all work out for his good. When I was in Mexico I thought I needed to figure out where Mexico in itself needs to be in my priorities. But now I think I also needed to be prepared for the adoption not going as fast as I had hoped. Even though I feel frustrated, my trust is still completely unshakably in God.

     

     If everyone could please keep my family in their prayers next week we are trying to get one more signature before we can go to court. Thank you!