Jalepenos and heart surgery

It's about time for another update....

Last week was full of surprises: my YWAM friends celebrated my 22nd  birthday complete with cake, presents, balloons, and blessings. Speaking of celebrating a birth, our DTS leaders announced that they are expecting their first baby! We love birthdays and babies.

Local outreach is challenging. Each week, a group of us go to a womens' home for dinner and fellowship to minister to women who have come off the streets, out of strip clubs, and struggled with drugs and alcohol. It's heartbreaking to return and discover that women we were bonding with have left the program early and are probably returning to their former life. Last Friday night's outreach on the streets resulted in much "seed planting:" we had great conversations and made contacts. However, the spiritual atmosphere was incredibly dark and heavy: I know it may sound odd, but we could most definitely feel the spirits of evil.

A DTS is not easy. Each week, I feel like I'm going through heart surgery. I think this fifth week was the first week I haven't cried. We've completed one-third of the lecture phase, and I think we're finally getting rid of the junk we've been carrying around and now can focus on re-filling our hearts with truth.  We've changed so much, though it certainly hasn't always been comfortable change. It's like a painful workout: it hurts so much it feels good.

Now that the weather is beginning to cool down (only 95 degrees at 8pm instead of 105 degrees!) I am trying to run again.  I have missed running, so I am tickled to death that I can run outside without inhaling hot smog.  This working-out indoors is not my cup of tea; I prefer to be outside versus jumping up and down in front of a computer screen.

Besides working out, hair-dyeing, tea parties and dance parties, we found a new way to have fun: jalepeno eating and jalepeno juice-drinking contests. Needless to say, we only had one contest, due to severe after-effects. Himmat stuffed jalepenos inside his piece of cake, then proceeded to drench the cake in the pepper juice. Repeat again. After those two pieces of scorching cake, he and Sadie then drank the jalepeno juice. Bad idea. The rest of us were cheering them on before making an "I'm sorry we made you sick" card.

A few details about our outreach in Asia.... We will be in Mumbai, India for 12 days and will be working in Kathmandu, Nepal, 38 days.  For our trip, I need to purchase a trekking backpack, winter jacket and hiking boots. I have priced these online, and each are going to cost roughly $100. If you feel led, you can "sponsor" any of these three items for my trip by sending a check and mentioning the item in the memo line. Below is my wishlist and address.
I feel like a kid making her Christmas gift list.
 
Outreach wishlist:
Hiking boots
Winter jacket
Trekking backpack

My address:
Katie Hudson
C/O YWAM

P.O. Box 36606
Las Vegas, NV
89133