Audra Krell

On Purpose

Archive for the category “Mission Trip”

20 May 2014
3 Comments

We’re Talking To You

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We’re back and gearing up for another medical mission trip to Valladolid, Mexico. We leave July 26, and it’s not too late for you to join us.

This year, in addition to running a diabetes clinic, we’ll be building a playground and having a festival to celebrate the opening of the playground. We want the Yucatan to know how much we love them so we’re going to play together. They’ll be food, music and tons of fun.

The playground is being shipped from Arizona. As you might imagine, this isn’t a job for the Pony Express; financially or otherwise. It takes quite a bit of money to get the set over there. We had a benefit concert to raise money and are now having a car wash on the morning of May 31. Please bring every car you’ve got to the Scottsdale Bible Chapel at 7901 E Shea Boulevard. We need to raise the rest of the money soon, so that the playground will be there when we arrive to build it, at the end of July.

Two other big announcements, the dream team will be back together! Everyone pictured below is going again, along with many other returners. We would love to have you. Please message me if you need more information about joining us.

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And finally, Mason is going with us this year! One Krell at time……soon it will be the whole family.

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Keegan, Mason and I have been working hard to raise funds to go on the trip. But we need your help. Our biggest need is your prayers for safety, health and strength to serve as God sees fit.

We also need financial support. Giving online is very easy. The simple steps are outlined below.

Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity, we love partnering with you to be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. We couldn’t do it without you.

Go to www.scottsdalebible.com
Click Online Giving
On the right side of that screen click on Mission Trip Giving
In the drop down for Trip/Project select the team (Mexico Yucatan #756)
In the individual drop down select Participant-Put name in memo
The donor should type in the team member’s name in the memo box (Audra Krell or Mason Krell)
Hit next and complete steps for donation

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Posted in Health, Mission Trip, Purpose and tagged , ,
16 Jul 2013
4 Comments

Learning and Serving with Thanks

Learning and Serving with Love

Valladolid. Hundreds heard of our great God. Many chose to live for Him. All chose to love.

Thank you for your prayers and your financial support. We could not have done it without you.

3 John 1:4  reads ” I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” NIV

It is with the greatest of joy that I profess that we did just that.

We came alongside the underserved, took them by the hand and walked with them in truth.

Amen.

Posted in Christianity, Health, Mission Trip, Purpose, Respect and tagged , , , ,
07 May 2013
4 Comments

5 Ways to Support Our Medical Mission

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Keegan and I are deeply blessed to be going back to Valladolid, Mexico in June. We’ll be serving with International Medical Assistance and working in the same hospital, Centro Medico San Lucas. This is IMA’s biggest trip of the year. Our team will perform hundreds of surgeries over 5 days, as well as 300 dental procedures, build an eye clinic, and see hundreds of children in the villages. We will play with them and run medical clinics. And best of all, every patient will hear the gospel. We will love and care and support and come alongside the sick and the poor. We plan to once again, give our brothers and sisters everything we’ve got.
A few significant changes are happening this year though. Keegan is coming back, but in a medical capacity. The trip touched him so deeply last year, that he changed his major at U of A and is pursuing a Family Studies Major with a pre-health minor. His ultimate goal is to become a pediatric oncologist. I came back to the US and went back to school. I’m now a Licensed, Certified Nursing Assistant and plan to pursue a nursing degree. Can’t wait for pictures this year as Keegan will be in scrubs too!
We must thank all of the donors from last year, who made the trip possible for us. As you can see it has changed our lives. Our only desire is to continue to serve those who need our help while continuing with life-long learning. Keegan and I are committed to assisting people at the highest level.
We have raised a good portion of funds this year, but as you’ll see below, we have a little gap to fill. We appreciate in advance, any and all support. We love you all and look forward to partnering with each of you to get our boots on the ground in Valladolid.
5 Ways you can help:
1.) Pray for provision in every way, for the safety of our team, and for those supporting us from home.
2.)Donate readers. You know those cute reading glasses from Dollar Tree? There is a desperate need for those and we’d be more than happy to take them to Mexico.
3.) Donate Advil, Tylenol or other pain killers. Please note, we cannot take expired medication into Mexico.
4.) Donate airline funds. Keegan and I are using points to purchase our airfare and are one round trip ticket short. Airline tickets are about $850.
5.) Donate to our individual trip fund. If you give to Scottsdale Bible Church it is tax deductible. Keegan and I are $350 short (total) on our trip fees.
Instructions for online giving are as follows:
Click Online Giving
On the right side of that screen click on Mission Trip Giving
In the drop down for Trip/Project select the team (Mexico, Yucatan #756)
In the individual drop down select Participant-Put name in memo (Audra Krell or Keegan Krell)
The donor should type in the team member’s name in the memo box
Hit next and complete steps for donation
We are truly grateful for your precious friendship. Thank you for your prayers, we couldn’t do this without you.
Posted in Charity, Christianity, Health, Mission Trip, Purpose, Respect, Travel and tagged , , , ,
05 Nov 2012
12 Comments

An Adult Child of Education

Photo courtesy @Istockphoto

So we got big day tomorrow folks. I’m beginning an accelerated nursing assistant program. Come Christmas and God willing, I will be a CNA. This is a continuation of a dream and a calling God has placed in my heart, after working in the hospital on our medical mission trip this past July.

Here are 5 bonuses for returning to school:

I get to pack my lunch. Got ahold of these little babies today: LUNCHBLOX.  Only thing better would be if they came in pink.

Speaking of pink, I have to bring my stethoscope and it is of course, the most beautiful pink you’ve ever seen in your whole life.

I’ll probably be the oldest person in the class. Everyone will look to me as the fascinating non-pierced,least hip, non-tatted dinosaur that I am.

I got new school supplies. A suh weet lime green notebook and some cool pens.

The number one best thing about it, is that I have the honor of learning how to care for God’s people in a new way.

I can’t wait to be a student again.

Posted in Health, Mission Trip, Science and tagged , , , ,
19 Sep 2012
20 Comments

Men on a Mission

Photo Courtesy @Experience Missions Facebook Page

There were many men on the medical mission trip to Valladolid this past July. I watched average men be great and great men humble themselves in average ways. It is the joy though, that will never be forgotten. The very exercise of ministering delighted them and the team deeply.

In the United States it’s easy to mistakenly believe life is all about us. Upon arrival in the Yucatan however, we found our purpose through the lives of others, through the love and life of Jesus. We could only find ourselves when we looked through the lens of purpose as we served.

In my ever inquisitive “journalistic” nature, I spoke to several different men over the course of the trip, ages 18-70. Most of them love to read, but went further to say that they were in Mexico to live a remarkable story, not just to read about one.

In order to fully live, they did things that made them uncomfortable. They viewed and performed procedures in medical, built structures they never thought they were capable of and did jobs with materials which weren’t what they wanted or needed or were used to. They wore the same clothes and poured sweat, tears and love into the people of Valladolid. They lived out Matthew 25:36 and had compassion for those in prison.

In short, they lived a great story. They found themselves and it wasn’t a coincidence. They discovered who they are in the hard things that tested them, the moments and experiences that turned them upside down and inside out.

A lot of the men got their question answered. You know the one, the one we all wrestle with, “Am I good enough?” A resounding yes was the moment-by-moment response they encountered in the Yucatan.

And then they went home. For some the story ended. They closed the book on that short story with a silent prayer they’d be able to live it again someday. Some closed it and filed it under science fiction, believing it was a seven day fantasy where they got to be the hero who lives deep in their heart. Others filed their story under the travel section and put it away in their “Been there, got the T-shirt” drawer.

But a few came home and decided to live their new story, right here in the USA. It isn’t easy. The culture continues to tell them who they are and all that they will never be. Old labels haunt their every day and sometimes that pervasive darkness just won’t shake. And then they remember. The sure, strong voice of The Father telling them this is what they were designed for, this is who they are meant to be.

This is where the ladies come in. We can emasculate our men, join with culture in oppressing and marginalizing them. Or we can have compassion. We can affirm the hero they are, their strength and courage.

If we choose the latter, we change the world. There are millions of fatherless kids, desperate to live their true story. The men in your life can continue their mission and come alongside our boys, offering them hope and a different way.

Your love for your men, is the encouragement and acceptance they need to show someone else how to live and love well.

Posted in Boys, Men, Mission Trip, Purpose, Travel and tagged , , ,
31 Jul 2012
6 Comments

ICU

Our last day in the Centro Medico San Lucas hospital was the most difficult. We had few patients in post- op for hours and then the unit exploded. Suddenly there were several discharges, four new patients and an emergency trauma sitting in the waiting room. I’d heard about him all day. His injuries were extensive and he only spoke Mayan. Not a bit of Spanish.

The boy was 18, one year younger than our oldest son. He’d been in a horrible fight; someone hit him in the face repeatedly with a broken beer bottle. A local alley war changed the young man’s life forever. A split second decision left him with vision in only one eye and deep cuts which will certainly scar. He’s the victim of a drama with eternal consequences for all involved.

When he came to the PACU, his face bore the tracks of a hundred stitches. Some curved in the shape of a bottle, some random and jagged, the way angry glass carelessly claims it’s real estate. Surgical bandages covered his eye, his expression passive.

I expected terror and even rage, but the boy was somewhere deep inside himself, far away. My momma heart broke, for him and for everything that would be different now.

But it was his father who took my breath away. His father’s eyes that made me want to cry out in pain. His father spoke a little Spanish, but there aren’t enough words in the world, in any language, that I could speak to comfort him. As a parent, I grieved with him, worried over his internal heart injuries and wished I could literally infuse him with hope.

All I could do was use my eyes. We took gentle care of the boy and heaped grace and mercy on him in the form of blankets, water and pain meds. I smiled at his father at every turn, praying he could “hear” me.

I still pray he can hear me.

I see you brother. I’m standing with you. There is something much bigger than us here. God is with us and has plans for your son, plans to prosper and never fail him. Amen.

Posted in Boys, Health, Men, Mission Trip, Parenting, Purpose, Respect, Uncategorized and tagged ,
25 Jul 2012
16 Comments

I’m an URN

Valladolid Team

We partnered with International Medical Assistance and served in Valladolid, Yucatan, MEXICO for one week.

One life-changing week.I’d heard the trip would change my life. Heard, but didn’t comprehend. I’m still struggling to write because so much happened. It’s time to jump in though.

I’m now an URN. An Unregistered Nurse in every US state and most in Mexico.

Caring for the patients in post-op for 10,11 and 12 hour days has left me burning with passion to answer God’s call. The call to care for all of His people in a deeper way. Being a part of something much bigger than myself has become my one desire.

I’m exploring all the options for going back to school to become a nurse. Maybe even a Registered Nurse if I’m lucky.

I’ve got to believe though, that after everything I was privileged to do and all the medical things I participated in, that in God’s economy, I’m registered. Seems a real fine place to start.

So, much more later. For now I’m asking God to reveal the path.

What about you? What do you when you are overwhelmed with the good choices of fully living?

Posted in Health, Mission Trip, Purpose, Science, Travel and tagged , , , ,
13 Jul 2012
8 Comments

On Distraction

For 26 hours I rode the roller coaster, eyes closed, hands in the air, nausea and all. I’m in the final stretch of preparations for our medical mission trip to Valladolid.

After feeling ill all week, I went to the doctor yesterday. I was frustrated that I had to go and sent a text to a couple of girlfriends regarding how distracted I was by my physical problems.

After talking for a bit, the Doc asked if I could be pregnant. I almost snorted. “Um, No.”

She raised her eyebrows, burrowing into my eyes.

“Really. No chance.” I assured her.

“I want you to take a test anyway.”

10 minutes later she opened the door and dropped a bomb or several. The test came back positive. And, I was having a miscarriage. And, if the pregnancy was ectopic, I would be having surgery. And, I wouldn’t be going on the mission trip.

The rickety car flew around the old wooden tracks faster and faster as the bottom fell. The ultrasound was scheduled for today and I made my way home. I felt lousy, was consumed with a need for answers and in shock. Collapsing in bed, I prayed for direction, healing and answers. Fever and chills ruled the tunnel of night and the car began another steep decent as daylight dawned.

Finally we bumped to a stop about 10:00 this morning. Blood work showed no pregnancy, ultrasound was great, no explanation for a host of unusual symptoms and a positive pregnancy test yesterday. I do have an infection, but that’s a different distraction which has nothing to with the original problems.

I’m baffled by the events of the last two days. I don’t have answers and I have more questions. But what I do know, is that God is good, He’s got this and He will lead me away from the tracks.

My job is to stay the course now. This isn’t about me and I won’t be distracted from serving the marginalized people of Valladolid. I value my health and I will take care of myself, however I won’t lose my ability to pay attention to what I’ve been called to do.

You can easily see what to pray for and as always, we deeply appreciate the power of standing tall together, on our knees.

What about you? Ever had a time of deep distraction from the things God was calling you to? What did you do?

Posted in Christianity, Health, Mission Trip, Purpose, Travel, Women and tagged , , ,
09 Jul 2012
18 Comments

Flip Flops on the Ground

A quick update on where our son Keegan and I’ll be, this time next week.

We leave Saturday for Valladolid, Yucatan, MEXICO. Sleep is elusive, as I’m so excited. Keegan is serving on the music team and the band will lead us in morning devotions and put on several open air concerts. I’ll be working in pre-op at the hospital in the picture. I’m most looking forward to helping ease the pain and suffering of our Mayan brothers and sisters, in Jesus’ name.

To those who have supported us financially and spiritually, you have made a huge difference in many lives already. Truly, we would not have been able to go if hadn’t been for you. We look forward to putting hands, feet and voices to your prayers as well your dollars.

I discovered tonight that the hospital has a Facebook page. Check it out HERE. I don’t know a lot of Spanish, but enough to see that they are excited about us coming and they have been praying for us. That humbled me to the core.

I can’t wait to get my flip flops on the ground in Valladolid as Keegan and I both will be rocking it for God’s people.

We covet your continued prayers.

Valladolid, Yucatan

Posted in Christianity, Health, Mission Trip, Purpose, Travel and tagged , , ,
17 Apr 2012
7 Comments

Partnering with the Equipped

On July 14 Keegan and I will be traveling to Valladolid, Yucatan, Mexico to serve on a medical mission trip with Scottsdale Bible Church. We will travel with an incredible team of Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Musicians and Outreach experts.

At this point, I will be working in the hospital, in pre-op. If you know me at all, you know this isn’t a case of God calling the equipped. I know though, that He has indeed called and will equip me. I’m most excited about being able to show God’s love to a literal, physically hurting people. Through an interpreter and my actions, I will show each patient how important they are, how much they are loved by God.

We will bring healing to the sick, serve surrounding villages, put on open air concerts and perform up to 200 surgeries and necessary procedures.

Every person that is treated in the hospital will have the opportunity to hear the gospel. I’m so excited and blessed to be a part of this team.

I’m looking to partner with you; the very much equipped. There are 3 ways that we can team up and do this together.

1.) Prayer. Pray for safe travel, safety in the Mayan village, that we would bless people mightily and that the funds to go and serve would be generated in God’s perfect timing.

2.)Financial support: Total cost of the trip is $1800. Every donation in any amount is tremendously helpful. Your financial support is tax deductible and you’ll be provided with a receipt.

3.) Help us by purchasing items from the following list:

  • Flip-flops for children
  • Eye Glasses (2.0 and up) These are at the dollar store for you guessed it, a dollar.
  • Bottles of Advil, Tylenol and Children’s Vitamins
  • Glucose Test Kits
  • Pony tail holders, Head Bands
  • Soccer and Basketballs
  • Crayons, Scissors, Sharpies
  • Ziploc bags
Together, we’ll be a part of something much bigger than ourselves. I believe God calls us to that every day.
If you’re able to help would you indicate that in the comments? I especially appreciate your prayers.

 

Photo courtesy @NeverFarAway/tumblr

Posted in Christianity, Health, Mission Trip and tagged , , , ,

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