2012: What
will this year bring?
Emily Kissell August 2012
Junior year starts in just a few
days. Once again, I have to apologize
for the lack of consistent updates this year.
I will do my best to keep this short while still explaining the evens
thus far. To begin, I will say that due
to my still being in a wheelchair at the time of counselor orientation, I was
not able/allowed to help with Signs and Wonders Camps in Kansas City (and therefore
elsewhere). That, and the fact that my
lease had ended caused me to have to move ‘home’ to Minnesota
for the summer. However, before I made
the move and after a few chaotic days of frantic packing and deep cleaning, I
went to a healing service at the camp on their last night. While there, at least a hundred kids prayed
over my knees and I felt some strength return to my knees. I was still in my wheelchair but could walk a
little further at least. The
improvement, though small it may seem was great for me! So, the next day, with my car packed with as
much as I could (and the rest in a storage unit) I drove ‘home’ to Minnesota.
Summer back in Minnesota
was challenging to say the least. I had
done the foolish thing of planning on spending my summer in Kansas
City (and perhaps with some traveling for camps), and
so when I was ‘homeless’ and handicapped, I was pretty upset. I hadn’t applied for any jobs in Minnesota
(in April) because I was expecting to
stay in Kansas City. By the time I arrived in Minnesota
in early June, most of the college students had already been home and perhaps
even had jobs. Had I started applying in
April (at least) I might have had a job for the summer. In fact, most of that month was spent on the
couch filling out applications. At least
on Sundays and Wednesdays I was able to help out with my kids church; leading
small groups, teaching preschool, etc.
In July, some families in our
church went up north for the weekend and we rented some cabins. That was really fun! Right before we left my previous boss at the
daycare I’ve worked at on and off for the past 5 years called to offer me a
temporary job for a week. This ended up
lasting three weeks! It was so great to
be able to work again and I had so much fun meeting the new kids and seeing the
few that I still knew. I was even able to attend a church friend’s wedding at
the end of the month which was so beautiful!
Finally, the first week of August
arrived and I was able to be a counselor for 4 girls from my church at the
Upper Midwest Signs and Wonders Camp.
The camp was so amazing and really I could write a whole page or two on
it but this is becoming long enough.
I’ll just skip to the end and tell about the last night at camp which,
again, was the traditional healing service.
The whole week there had been a guest speaker at the afternoon sessions
(aka: counselor break time) from Bethel
in California and he had been
speaking and teaching about healing to the kids. The kids were so pumped up and
encouraged by the healings they were witnessing every day! So, when the last night came, there was
hardly a thought of doubt in their hearts!
That night, at the service, I received prayer from many kids (and most
of my girls stuck with me the whole time).
Near the end, I was actually feeling worse and I just wanted to give up,
but one my girls said to me: ‘Emily, raise your hand! Keep it up!’
So, with her helping my hand stay up, I went up for more prayer and the
pain persisted. Though my faith was
shrinking back, the kids’ was increasing.
Finally, to my shock, I realized that he pain in my knees was
decreasing…and fast. I couldn’t believe
it! It was such a strange sensation
because I knew that thought the pain was disappearing, I knew that the
problem(s) in my knees was still there so I still had to take it easy. The next morning (Thursday), as we went down to breakfast, some of my girls asked me
why I was still walking like it hurt…and I had to keep reminding myself to walk
normal because I could now. After about
5 months of being in a wheelchair and walking strange I had to retrain myself
how to walk! Thank You Jesus! J
The day after camp, I woke up,
packed the last of my things into my car.
I then went to a travel clinic to get the necessary shots required for
my visa to Bolivia,
visited my grandparents and finally headed back down to Kansas
City! I had
wanted to switch to my nightwatch schedule immediately and as early as I could
before school started. However, I was
way too exhausted from the roadtrip, packing, and the shots so I decided to
switch the next day (Saturday). But, due to the shots I woke up really sick
the next day and slept way too much to be able to switch properly. Yet again, my plans were just not working
out! Finally, Sunday came and my fever
broke and I was able to switch! As I
write this, it is day 5 and I’m feeling better and better.
Also, if you would like my new
address please email me and I will be glad to give it to you. I will try to take some pictures of my
basement apartment (shared by a girl on a different schedule…and I rarely see
her!). I am so happy to be back in Kansas
City and am so excited to begin the school year! Please email or text or call me with any
prayer requests you might have and I would love to pray for you! Thank you for all your support! God Bless!
Proverbs 19:21 “Many are
the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
~Emily
If you would like to partner
with me financially, you can send checks made out to IHOP-KC and send them directly to me or the base. IHOP-KC is recognized by the IRS to be a religious order and
any donations (so long as my name is NOT on the check) will be able to
be tax-deductible. It is very important,
if you do want to have tax deduction, that you do not put my name anywhere on the check.
If you send it straight to
the mission’s base here please do not include any personal note or letter to me
as they will discard of it and I will never see it. There are thousands of people at this
mission’s base and they cannot just personally deliver my mail to me. You can simply put a post-it or a scrap piece
of paper with my full name on it in the envelope or stuck to the check, it is
better that you not write my name on the envelope. Kansas City and the United States government require that at
least 20% of my check go towards federal, city, etc. taxes, so I will only get
to keep 80% of the amount. If you wish
to support me and do not want those taxes taken out you can simply make the
check out to me. “Contributions
are solicited with the understanding that IHOP-KC has complete discretion and
control over the use of the donated funds”
No comments:
Post a Comment