Kansas City

A few weekends ago I went to Kansas City to visit Elena, the friend I went on the road trip to Arizona with last year (I can't believe that was over a year ago!) She interned at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City and then decided to stay there with a group of people she met through the internship. I'd heard so much about this amazing (albeit radically different) life that she was living there, and I was curious and excited to see it firsthand!

The trip was so amazing. It was exactly what I needed! I had been feeling kind of overwhelmed with being busy all the time and feeling like I haven't been spending enough time with God. I felt like such a disappointment. The weekend was a retreat away from routine, away from distractions, and it was awesome to just spend time with God and His people. By the end of the trip, I felt recharged, encouraged and excited to come back and start making some changes in my life.

I got into Kansas City on Saturday morning, and by Sunday night I felt like I had already been there for days! Elena lives with six other people in a house, I loved hanging out with them, the fellowship, community, desire to seek after God's heart, the commitment to live for Him and an openness to the things that He has for them. The first couple of hours were mainly catching up with Elena and meeting her friends. We went to Chipotle for lunch and I got to hear a few amazing God stories from her roommates (by the way, most of them are 19, but act more mature than people my age!) After lunch, Elena and I were chatting when one of her roommates came in and told me that she'd be praying for me before I came, and that while she was praying, God revealed something to her about me, which she shared with me. I was so blown away. A stranger giving me a Word from God. Someone who's never met me praying for me. I was really amazed.

After an afternoon nap, we went to an evening service where the pastor taught on an excerpt of Revelation. I think it was the first time I'd ever heard a teaching on the book of Revelation. IHOP focuses a lot on the end times, and how we as believers need to be fervent in our prayers during this time. We came home and ate dinner together, Elena made lasagna. At the dinner table, everyone prayed for the person to his or her left, it was really nice. They kept talking about this great convenience store called QuickTrip (QT for short) so we decided to go for a late night snack. I loved it - it's like a fancy 7/11! We took our sweets home, ate and chatted in the kitchen before bed. Three of us girls slept in the same room - we talked for awhile but I was so tired that I think I drifted off to sleep at some point (I hope it wasn't mid-sentence, haha)


Outside of QT


















Look at the selection of drinks!


















There is a microwave for you to heat up food you buy!


















It's a fresh milkshake machine!























House I stayed in

















Elena (on right) with her roommate Brooke at the coffee shop of IHOP - I LOVE coffee shops in churches ....


















Elena with her roommate Spring - this is the attic that they share. It gets so much sun! You can climb out the window and sit on the roof of the house. Pretty amazing huh?


















I woke up the next morning at noon. I never sleep till noon! But it was nice since I was on vacation. Rather than rushing around trying to be 'productive', after showering and getting dressed, we roamed into the kitchen looking for breakfast and five of us ended up sitting on the kitchen counter eating, drinking coffee and just talked. It was one of the most natural and enjoyable ways to spend the first couple of hours of my day. Ah, the joys of having roommates and suite mates who are believers. It's so amazing to have people to share revelations with, to pray with, to keep each other accountable, to fellowship with and encourage, etc., all living in the same house, to be surrounded by God's Word and his people all the time.

In the afternoon, we went to the 'prophecy room' that Elena signed us up for, where a few people prophesied over us. It was a really encouraging Word - and extremely right on. This boy who couldn't have been more than 12 or 13 was one of the people prophesying over us! I thought he was observing or something when I first walked in.

That night at the dinner table, the parents of one of the roommates (who also live in the house) were challenging us and sharing with us. The dad asked everyone how much they were pursuing God on a scale of 1 to 10. I said 3 - and that may have even been generous. He asked us to think about what we wanted out of our lives on earth. Do we WANT to pursue God, to do everything we can for Him? If not, fine. But if so, then we need to give up the things that are holding us back. It's about making a decision either way and sticking to it. Another question that was discussed was whether or not we've read the entire Bible through. Everyone talked about ways to keep each other accountable about reading the Word everyday, about fasting together, when they were going to do Bible studies together, projects for the house, etc. They're like a huge family, each member with a place and a role. After dinner, we did some house chores. Then one of the girls played the piano and led us in worship. The mom of one of the girls then shared her testimony with all of us - it's so amazing that it seems almost unreal.




















The next morning before my flight, we went to the prayer room for a couple of hours. The prayer is open 24/7, which means there is always someone praying and worshiping God! It's so awesome. There is a worship band of 10-12 people on the stage, and the worship music never stops, the teams change every couple of hours. In the auditorium (I think it can seat at least 500) there are people sitting, standing, pacing, dancing, singing, reading the Word, writing in their journal, doing Bible studies, some of them even have their computers with them. Basically, it's just a place you can go to spend time with God, and the environment keeps you accountable, as opposed to sitting in your room trying to spend an hour with the Lord and getting distracted every 5 minutes. Occasionally, someone will go up to the podium and pray for a specific issue that's on his or her heart, and ask others to pray in agreement. The worship team would sometimes sing verses that are inspired by the Holy Spirit, like words that are not part of any written songs. The prayers were really powerful, it convicted me that I need to be praying more for bigger things, especially for our nation.

I am so happy for Elena and really respect and admire her commitment to the Lord in staying in Kansas City. Although I am slightly envious of the lifestyle and 24/7 fellowship with believers that she has, I know deep down that God has called me to a different life. I mean, I would like to have more time to fellowship with Christians and I think it'd be awesome to have an IHOP equivalent in NYC, but I know that He wants me where I am right now, geographically. I am so encouraged by this trip, and it made me excited and ready to come back to continuing serving God! There are a lot of changes that I need to make, but this retreat of sorts has re-energized me with hope and passion to start again. I want to play the piano more for worship, be more committed to reading the Word, be open to fasting when it's appropriate, find people to keep me accountable and just learn to be in His presence ALL the time!