Where in the world is Katie Nowell?

So as I'm sure you are aware, I have been horrible at keeping up with blogging while I have been in Madison, WI for InterVarsity New Staff training. I will do a brief update of my time and experience there and then I am going to try and be better about keeping up day to day! So where have I been and what have I been doing?!

I went from Memphis, TN --> Madison, WI --> Frankfort, KY --> Virginia Beach, VA

But let's start with Madison...

Madison is the headquarters for InterVarsity. Sounds random I know, but it was gorgeous!...in the summer that is. I'm not so sure I'd be saying the same thing when December rolls around. The city is nestled between two lakes and has beautiful views and is a friendly city. They also have some awesome food! They are known for cheese curds, which I found to be interesting...they squeek! Everyone said the fried cheese curds were amazing, but unfortunately I couldn't partake in that :( So, we ate and explored the city, and learned about InterVarsity and Jesus!

Our days were jam-packed with Scripture study in the morning, and then each day we had a training focused on one aspect of our job/role on campus and then we would have free time, worship and dinner and time with our tables, or "family groups" to process the day's information. My family group leader was Lindsay Fauver, who is also Greek IV staff and is at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. She was wonderful!

Some of the spiritual highlights included:

* Contact Evangelism - I had never done this before, but basically we went out into town and just talked to people about their faith. We were encouraged before and were all super excited (or at least my group was!) It sounds a lot stranger than it actually was, and we ended up having 31 people in Madison that made a decision for Christ that day! :-)

* Ministry Partnership Development - In order for me to do my job I have to raise my salary as well as the cost to run the ministry on my campus. Each missionary gets a budget for the year and then is responsible for raising the support through friends and family, and churches. As you can imagine this can be rather difficult and sometimes their are psychological and mental barriers because it is hard to ask for money! We had awesome training in this area and I am so excited to share the vision of my ministry with people and invite them into partnership with me because it's not just asking for money! We also got to hear some awesome stories about how God provided for people in some big ways -- it was awesome!!

* Prayer Ministry - I had never heard of Prayer Ministry before I went, but it is amazing! There were IV staff at the conference who were simply there to pray for us during the day and then available if we wanted to meet and pray with them. I went one day and you just pray together and God reveals himself in some pretty cool ways. My prayer partner said she thought I had a gift of speaking and exhortation, which means speaking truth. For a while I have felt like I was supposed to be some sort of speaker, so it was cool to hear her affirm this gift in me!

* InterVarsity's heart for other cultures - InterVarsity has put a particular focus on all of its smaller ministries, but then has also done a great job in expanding it's ministry to include people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. We had people who were working with International Students, Multiethnic chapters, Black Campus Ministry, Filipino bible studies, Asian American bible studies, and Greek (Fraternity & Sorority) bible studies. It was neat to see how we can all come together through InterVarsity!

Other fun things (in pictures)

* We went hiking one day and it was amazing! We actually climbed up these boulders to the very top and then took the trail on the way down

* Running -- Since Madison is surrounded by lakes, there are some awesome running trails. We ran from the Capitol around the lake and then I insisted on climbing out on a log to show how far we had run. It was supposed to be a 6ish mile run, but ended up being a little over 8...we were exhausted!

* Greek Staff Hangout -- There are a couple of staff workers who are Greek and work in Madison both at the National Service Center (NSC) as well as on campus at University of Wisconsin. Jen and Eric Holmer (greek staff) had us over to their house for a little get together. We played cornhole, ate cheese curds, and hung out around the fire pit. They were awesome hosts and it was nice to get away from the hotel and spend some time in a real home...not to mention their sweet little baby Charlotte who is only a few months old came out to play with us! :-)

* Thrift shopping -- Us Greeks always have some event to dress up for or be silly (or in the case of the boys who I work with, they wore their funny outfits to our sessions during the conference haha) There was also a dance party where we got to do a photo booth and show off our sweet gear...it's safe to say everyone was a tad bit jealous ;-)

* Family Group -- Here is my group; We came from all over the states...Ohio, Kansas, Florida, Texas, and Colorado...We were really like family after being together for ten days!

Overall, it was an amazing ten days and I already miss my ONS family!! The material we learned was very helpful in starting my new job and I am still processing everything I learned while there...it was a lot. I am looking forward to our National Staff Conference in January where we will all be reunited again!

XoXo,
Southern Saving Grace