Blog Log

When I went to Spain, I did not know hardly any Spanish. I knew like an embarrassing amount of Spanish. I lived there for three months and deeply relied on my Spanish knowing friends. But, I remember the day I went into the tobacco store to buy stamps – yeah, they don’t sell them at the post office, cross-cultural work, it’s the best – and I actually asked to buy stamps in Spanish. I wrote it in my journal, “successfully bought stamps by myself today!”

However, I did not only communicate with people who knew English while in Spain. I started learning some Catalan Sign Language and Spanish Sign Language and hanging out with Deaf friends. By the end of the trip, I had deep, meaningful and fun conversations with friends in Spain in a language I didn’t know before I went there. Was I perfect, absolutely not. Was there a bunch of grace? Absolutely, yes. Did I rely on the Deaf people to order things for me at stores? You better believe it.

Sometimes people are shocked when they learn I know another language. They think, “I barely know my language, let alone another one!” Well, you’re smarter than you think! Language learning is not necessarily easy breezy for everyone, but it can be done by anyone at any age! And here’s a few tips how:

1. Find a language buddy

The thing that has absolutely helped me the most in any language learning situation is having someone who is a fluent speaker to talk to and with. In Spain, I had a friend that was a friend, so we had normal chats, but I also asked him several questions about, what does this mean? How do I say this?

But really, the only way to become natural and fluid is to find someone who knows the language and start chatting. Maybe you get lucky and your language buddy is a friend, but if you don’t have a friend in the language you want to learn, maybe you can hire a language buddy and soon you’ll become friends.

2. Learn to Laugh at your failure

This one is hard. This one can bite. This one is a huge humble pie. But language learning will make you look like an idiot. And feel like a baby. But guess what, learning like a baby would make you a genius. They listen and listen and then make mistakes and then grow and learn and practice and make mistakes and learn some more and grow and become masters. When you realize that what you’re doing took you years the first time, you can learn to forgive yourself and laugh with your language buddy when you say funny things like “soda” instead of “pop.”

3. Get a coach

There are people out there that love to learn languages and love to help other people learn languages. They have years of experience and practice and training. When language learning takes it’s toll and you’ve forgotten to forgive yourself, a coach if there to remind you that you’re doing great. When you feel like you can’t find a language buddy, they’re there for inspiration. When you feel like there is no motivation to continue to learn, a coach is there for accountability to remind you what you’re doing this for.

My good friend Nora is one of these people. You should check out some of her stuff by visiting her YouTube channel – link – and her blog – link (I actually make an appearance in one of her videos!).

Language learning is fun and a great way to connect with people. Give it a try and reach someone in their heart language.

What language do you want to try to learn? Leave a comment below!

Some more posts like this:
A Linguist’s Tips to Communicating
Are different Bible versions still the Bible?

Prayer life is one of the most basic things in Christianity, so why is it so hard?

A few years ago, I was driving up to North Dakota. From Kansas. It is all very flat. Which is super interesting for the first 20 minutes because you’re just amazed at how far you can see. But then you start looking for something else to do. Well, this was my second trip to North Dakota, so I came prepared. I brought along “Moving Mountains” by John Eldredge – the audiobook version. It’s a book about prayer and how you’ve been doing it wrong – ha – or maybe how you can be doing it better.

That book and this podcast – link – changed my life and my prayer life. So, I wanted to share with you some of the practices I still remember and use in my daily prayer life.

1. Listen

Hearing people don’t like silence. It makes them uncomfortable and so we often try to fill it with something – music, car noises, and one of the worst, our own voices. I am no different. But, I found that when I prayed, I talked the whole time. My favorite part about praying is that it is a conversation between me and Jesus. But when I talk the whole time, he doesn’t have a chance to talk to me. And when I don’t let him talk, I can’t hear him. And when I can’t hear him, I can’t get to know him. And when I don’t get to know him, I am just a lost sheep. “His sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” So, when you ask a question, wait for the answer. Get to know the shepherd’s voice so you can follow him when he calls.

2. Get Deeper

Think of your best friend. How do you talk to your best friend? Do you call your friend up and say, “Hey, I’ve been a little sick today and I really need to get better. Thanks.” Or do you say, “Hey, sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while, but I could use your help getting my car fixed.” No.

But that’s how I used to talk to Jesus. The one person – being – who knows me better than anyone else on the earth, in the universe and I talked to him like he was that friend of a friend who owned the only truck in town – “Hey, can you help me move a couch?”

When I talk to me best friend, I give her the full version – I leave nothing out. And I tell her what my heart actually feels. And I do it often. Talk to Jesus, then go deeper – what’s actually in your heart? You won’t surprise him.

3. Practice

It took me years to learn how to ride a bicycle on my own. I’m still working on learning the piano. I’ve had every class that KU has to offer in ASL, I lived in a Deaf house, and I continue to talk to Deaf people. Why? Because practice is at the base of everything I do. So, why do I feel like practicing talking to Jesus is weird? I didn’t take my training wheels off the first day I got a bike. In fact, I asked my dad to take them off, tried to ride my bike, fell, left my bike in the grass for a week, then took my bike back to my dad to have him put the training wheels back on.

I start small. I share one secret. I ask one thing. I wait for an answer. Then I ask another small thing. Then I build my way up to, “Jesus, what do I do with my life?” I don’t start with that. One easy test to practice if you hear Jesus – ask him if he loves you. If you hear, “no” or “kinda” or “sometimes” that’s not him. So, you can ask again. “Jesus, do you love me?” Until you hear the resounding – “YES!”

Jesus wants to talk to you. And your heart wants to talk to him.

What’s something you’ve been learning about prayer? Leave a comment below!

Find this interesting? You might also like:
Role Models

I’ve been frustrated over the past couple of years. I see new TV shows and movies come out and I keep asking, “where are the good females?” “Where are the role models for young women?” I saw a movie with a woman who was a total jerk to men and other women. I saw a TV show that had male actors and has progressively fired them all and replaced them with more women as if women and men can’t work together.

But it’s not like there aren’t good female characters out there, but I blame the modern movie and TV industry for ruining our image.

For example, I once watched a video essay about Hermione Granger from Harry Potter. (I’ll link it here.) Basically it says that book Hermione is a great role model for young women. She has big teeth. She’s smart. She’s bossy. She has a big heart. She loses her head under pressure. She perseveres through diversity. See, she’s broken, but she longs to and does improve herself. And, she’s equal to Ron and Harry. But movie Hermione is perfect. She never loses her cool. All people love her. And she continually makes a mockery of Ron saying that women are not equal to men; they are superior.

TV Show:

If you want a good TV show with a good female character and a good role model for your young girls, watch Lois and Clark the New Adventures of Superman. (Find it here.) Lois isn’t perfect, but she’s strong, great at her job, beautiful, top of her field, and knows how to submit to Clark (when it’s time – spoiler).

Movie:

If you want a good movie with a strong female lead and powerhouse, watch the newest Wonder Woman.

Books:

If you want good books (emphasis on books – not all visual versions of these ladies are well portrayed) for your young girls to have someone to follow, I have a few suggestions. (And as C.S. Lewis said, if you can’t read a children’s book when you’re old, it’s not worth reading when you’re young, so you can read these books, too.)

1) Anne Shirley

Anne Shirley (or Anne of Green Gables) is a wonderful character full of imagination and growth and ambition and vocabulary.  (Find her series here.)  She doesn’t let people push her around, but she’s teachable.  She has a hot-head that gets her into trouble, but she’s humble and learns from her mistakes. She learns and grows and adapts and doesn’t let diversity stop her – but she isn’t rude and overpowering and in-compassionate. You’ll laugh with her. You’ll cry with her. You’ll love with her. Read about Anne.

2) Elsie Dinsmore

Elsie Dinsmore is a character in her own book series that not many people have heard about.  (Find the first book here.)  She lives on a plantation just before and after the Civil War.  The book series starts with her as a child and moves into her being a mother.  She is a strong Christian girl and woman whose faith moves mountains and the lives of those around her. She invites those around her one step closer to Jesus, just like Jesus did, and just like you can do. Read about Elsie.

3) Jo March

Jo March loves adventure. Jo March can’t be tamed. Jo March has failures.  Jo March has successes. And Jo March knows who she is. Jo March is a Little Woman with a big heart. (Find her story here.) I love Jo March and I wanted to be her growing up. But, I am glad to be like her sister Beth in my adulthood. Read about Jo and Beth and Amy and Meg and see which sister you’re more like. Then see which sister you’d like to be like. Then work to be like Jesus and I’m sure the best qualities of all the sisters will shine through.

You see, these women aren’t perfect. A lot of them don’t even know Jesus. But I learned a lot from them, and as a young person, they really helped shape me into a woman who loves Jesus, people, adventure, imagination, and moving mountains.

Share with me who are your favorite female characters?

“God is bigger than the boogieman.” -Veggietales

“If you wanna be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be a servant of all.” -Psalty, Singsational Servants

“It’ll teach you patience.” -Sunshine Factory

I learned these phrases when I was a kid and in times of uncertainty or contemplating, these phrases and ones like them come into my head and give me advice, comfort, and/or guidance.

I’m sure you have similar helpful phrases. But I met a Deaf man in Sri Lanka with a different story. His childhood was full of terrifying idol and demon worship. His family prayed to gods they needed to appease and make happy. He lived every day in terror. A religion built on fear. I saw this religion performing one of their tributes while I was in Sri Lanka. I saw women carrying coconuts on their heads. I saw men being led around the street with hooks in their backs. And I saw men dangling 30 feet above the ground by hooks through the skin on their backs and legs. This Deaf man thought he had no way out. Thought he was trapped in a terrifying life forever. There is no Bible in Sri Lankan sign language. There are no kids TV shows or movies to watch and find truth. There are very few actual Deaf Sri Lankan Christians. But one found him. He brought him to church. He gave him a story of hope and freedom. He told me that when his friend brought him to church for the first time he got goosebumps. “I was overwhelmed by the love of God. I felt peace in His love.”

I met around 150 Deaf Sri Lankans around the entire island. 15 of them were Christians. Not 15 in each city, 15 total.

But my work, my goal, my passion is to bring water to this dry land. Jesus to these thirsty people. So many people aching for a love that brings peace but don’t know where to find it.  My work with DOOR brings the Gospel to these people in the language that speaks to them and then teaches them how to grow a life with Jesus at the center.

One more thing, I asked Jesus to break my heart for what broke His and he gave me a passion for the Deaf. Will you help me make this work a reality by financially partnering with me today? Follow the link and you can sign up to start giving monthly (standard monthly donations are $50 or $100) – link.

To see they this is important, read these blogs:
Why the Deaf need their own Bibles
Are different Bible versions still the Bible?

People sometimes ask me how I got to where I am. “Why did you learn to sign?” “How did you find DOOR?” “Why were you in Spain?” “Have you ever been to Africa before?” Well, here are the answers and a little bit more information. Enjoy!

Want to help send me on my mission? Visit my giving site by clicking here.

You might have read my last blog post that went something like this: “Kenya was hard.” This is true, Kenya was hard. There was a lot of spiritual warfare happening there. And while Jesus and I came out on top, I have been looking back at the time with fear and looking to the future with a sort of dread. “If I go back out there, won’t this just happen again?”

That’s been the questions lingering in the back of my mind since April. And now, I go to Sri Lanka in 17 days and it’s no longer in the back of my mind. I am starting to think more and more often, “When I go back, how will it be different?” This morning, I go to a local church here in North Dakota and I start the morning by confessing this fear to Jesus. “Jesus, I’m afraid of going to Sri Lanka. I’m afraid I’m going to be attacked the same way I was in Kenya. I’m afraid I’m not good enough for this. I’m afraid of my language skills.”

Then, the guest pastor gets up and starts talking. His topic was about transforming culture. This title starts putting up red flags for my linguistics mind. “Wait a minute,” I think, “Culture is good and important and people have different cultures. It’s not a bad thing to have different cultures.” And then this guest pastor says the same thing. But then he declares that Jesus sent us out into the world to turn it upside-down like the men in Acts 17:6. To change culture to match the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 6:10). That it is our job to make a place feel more like Jesus when we are in it. And I can’t disagree with that. And I felt empowered. And I felt convicted. When I was in Kenya, I did not make rooms feel more like Jesus when I was in them. I was too distracted from the warfare to notice that I wasn’t.

So, I can go to Sri Lanka and take Jesus before me. I can go to Sri Lanka and decide that whatever happens, Jesus is my center. I can go to Sri Lanka and look through the lens of Jesus and be the thing most like Jesus in a room.

You can go to work and be the thing most like Jesus in a room.

You can go to a dog park and be the thing most like Jesus there.

You can go to the grocery store and be the thing most like Jesus in the building.

Because you can take joy. You can take Love. You can take healing. You can take invitations to greatness. Jesus, through his Resurrection and Ascension gave followers of the Way that power. And not only did He give that power, he kinda demanded we use that power. To go into a new culture and make them long for the Kingdom just by being like Jesus.

The Lord did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7).

I’ve been doing a lot of healing this summer. A lot of realizing just how powerful a relationship with Jesus can be. That He *can* replace people. That He *is* enough to meet all my needs. All my needs. All of them.

So, I look at what I’ll be doing in 17 days and I don’t fear it. I’m excited about the opportunity to show Jesus off. Will it be hard? Maybe. But I now know I’m up for the challenge.

Here’s another good read:
3 Tips to Boost Your Prayer Life

I’m back from Kenya! It was tough, but very good. I went to Kenya to learn about language survey and see if that was something I wanted to do. It turns out that language survey makes my nerd heart very happy!

So, I’m going to contract with DOOR to do language survey for them! There are several ways that God told me this is the next step for me, so I’m excited to see how the next year goes!

This job, though, is missions based and I’ll need to raise support. I’d like to start on my first real survey trip this August, so having funding by then would be fantastic. My church is actually my sending organization. If you’d like to support my mission, support the Deaf, support Bible translation through me, you can give tax-free through my church as a one time gift or monthly.

You can give now by clicking here.

If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I’d even love to come to you and explain in person the importance of this work to advance Bible Translation for the Deaf!

Starting last year, I had been learning a lot about myself. A lot about what makes me vulnerable, what wounds me, what happened in my past to make me the way I am today. How those actions have influenced my whole life. And I started stripping them from me and that made me raw. Like when you peel off dead skin, but didn’t wait for the skin underneath to gain strength. I saw the sin and lies and was like, “I want it off of me.”

But, two things happen when you do that.

A) you get disappointed with yourself for not being able to take it all off at once.

B) you now no longer know how to defend yourself.

You see, I was a kid who became smart and observant and made my words matter because at least then when people didn’t like me, when I didn’t have friends, when I got rejected, it was because they were inferior.

But last year, I learned that that was a sinful response I had created to cope with a deep wound and lie of not being good enough. So, what does Kate do? She uses her big brain and stops that defense. She peels it off and says it isn’t a part of her anymore. But what did Kate not do? She did not heal from the wound of not being good enough. And she did not put on the God given armor I talked about in my last blog.

Then, I come to Kenya. And it’s more than obvious that I was supposed to come here and meet DOOR. Jesus was fully in that decision and I stand by it. But what’s that thing they say about great heroes? Great heroes have great enemies? Something like that. The Enemy saw me, walking in a path Jesus had for me, with no armor on. No protection. I was like the lead character in a cop show who doesn’t wear a helmet in the house raid because TV.

So, the hits started coming. And then they kept coming. And then they got worse. My team didn’t instantly like me. Then they still didn’t like me after weeks. Then one bluntly turned down my invitation to come watch a movie with me, “I don’t want to.” Then another decided he couldn’t understand me. “You sign like these cheesy JWs. Only worse.” Then, they doubted all my capabilities. “Kate, you should practice in front of all of us so we can watch and make sure you did it right even though you just practiced with that guy.”

And I was hurt. And I was angry. And I was bruised. And I was judgemental. And I was lonely. And I was hurt. And you know how feral a wounded animal gets? That was me.

But, I am not the daughter of the most high King for nothing. I am not abandoned. I am not alone. Jesus comes to your rescue. Jesus breaks your chains. Jesus heals. Jesus sets the captives free. And Jesus calms the wild beasts.

Jesus sent me gifts and constant reminders that he was there. If I would have been calm enough to see them and bask in their glory. He brought me brownies. And a girl who loved me the second she saw me. And a 5 year old with an imagination the size of C.S. Lewis’. And he brought me excellent internet for a whole weekend where I got to call so many of the people who do love me and talk for so many hours. And he had me bring Live Free by John Eldridge with me. And he was able to calm me down and help brush me off and put the breastplate of righteousness on. And patience. So much patience.

So, maybe you’re feeling defeated. Maybe you’re feeling like the world is over and there’s no point. Maybe you’re feeling the angriest and the most hurt you’ve ever felt. Look for Jesus. He’s there. He loves you. Put on a piece of armor and live in it. Then get another one. Ask Jesus to heal your wounds. Then ask him to change your responses. And remember, you’re never alone. You aren’t fighting alone. I’ll fight beside you. And Jesus, oh Jesus, he’s at the front, he’s got your back, he sends his angels to guard you and he has conquered, will conquer, forever conquer your enemies.

But, we have to remember, people are not our enemies. The Enemy uses people. He uses their wounds and their sinful responses to hurt us. Idk my teammates wounds, I don’t know their hurts, but I know they have them. So, I don’t only pray for Jesus to heal my wounds, but to heal theirs. I don’t want to curse them or judge them. I want to lift them up. So, I put on the sword of the truth, and I go meet them again and again. You can, too.

Since I’ve been in Kenya I’ve been encountering this passage a lot. In different ways. In Mozambique Sign Language. In Kenyan Sign Language and in English. I mean, ok, I get it. I’ll pay attention.

Do you know how much God loves us? So bloody much. And the Armor of God passage is another way that he proves that. I mean, if you watch the Kenyan SL translation, he mentions the enemy and evil spirits fighting us. Look at his face. It’s serious battle. It’s not kids’ stuff. And what does God do? He gives us armor. For our full bodies. The enemy is real. He attacks. He abuses. He’s cunning. He’s shrewd. He isn’t always obvious. And God didn’t say, “Welp, good luck.”

He gave us helmets, belts, shields, breastplates, swords, and yes, even shoes. He prepared a way for us to fight in battle. But do you know what it says at the end? If you use these, victory is yours! You’ll be able to stand. Wow.

But, it also says, your battle is not against flesh. It’s not against your friends and your not-so-friends. And my addition, it’s not against yourself. You fight the Evil one. And victory is yours.

So, when you’re lying in your bed, whoops, wrong story

When you’re feeling like the world is against you, you’re right. But there is hope and there is victory. Don’t stop and become overwhelmed, put on your armour. Say, “Faithfulness, Truth, Righteousness, The Word, The Spirit, and Salvation are mine today and we will win.”

https://youtu.be/EXToIKbY7eA

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.