EVOLSIDOG

2009 coming to an end...

2009-12-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

wow this year has definitely been a year of growth. God challenged me in many ways and taught me to truly rely on Him.

Japan was amazing. I could go on and on about my experience in Japan because it has forever changed me. It was very humbling and just what I needed to grab ahold of my relationship with the Lord.

School was pretty good this semester. I learned a whole lot about friendships and how important relationships are beyond just surface level.

I am looking forward to the new year and what God is going to do in and through me in 2010! <3

Hardin Simmons Fall 2009

2009-08-19T16:46:00.001-07:00

Well it's back to school time! I am leaving to go back to good ol' HSU tomorrow and I am so excited! I will be rooming with my best friend Sarah and our suite mates are two of our close friends! We are all sorority sisters!

I am excited for this semester because I think BIG things are going to happen. Not sure what all God has planned but I know something will happen because God is so good!

Some of my favorite pics from Japan <3

2009-08-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

This is a "healing" god. People will rub their hands on it and then rub their own body wherever they feel pain in hopes that they will be healed.

This is one of my closest friends from the summer named Haley. She and I would often hold hands walking down the street..it's common for close Japanese friends to do the same :)
This is my friend Yasui. She worked at a grocery store at my station and a couple days before I left Japan my friend Brian and I had lunch with her and shared the Gospel with her. It was a precious time.
These are the intern girls I lived with.

This is my friend Matt from California. We were the bestest of friends in high school and look! We saw eachother again in TOKYO! Praise God!

This is my precious friend named Ai. This was taken after I baptized her. What a humbling moment.

This is a picture I took at the biggest temple in Tokyo, it's Psalm 115 :)

Precious Japan <3

2009-08-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

well here I am in Plano, Texas... sitting, thinking about my time in Japan.

I'm trying to get my thoughts and feelings all together.

This summer living in Tokyo, Japan has changed me in many ways. I'm going to try and write all that I have learned and just my overall experience in Japan.

This summer was very humbling. God used me in so many ways...and often times more than others. Why did He choose me? To lead people to Him, have many contacts, and just overall allowed me to love people more than I ever have before. God blew me away. Maybe it's because I set the bar pretty low for God. Before coming to Japan I prayed that I would be able to at least tell one person about Jesus and that's all I would need to be satisfied for my summer. well....God allowed me to tell hundreds of people about Jesus! The Gospel was in my everyday speech...it became my love language. It was natural. How this happened was only because God chose ME and worked through ME. to love people and speak truth into many people's lives.

I am still in awe.

I have countless stories of how God moved not only in my life, but in the lives of people I met. I was able to see a person's life change in a matter of minutes and see their heart change from disbelief to having faith.

July 15, 2009. I was able to witness what life is all about. Seeing my precious friend who I had been having Bible study with...finally put her faith in the Lord made my whole summer worth it. and I will forever remember that moment because in that moment I was changed. I finally figured out that this is what matters in life. My purpose for living is to share with people Jesus' love for them. Then on July 30th I was given the privilege to baptize her! If this isn't humbling..I don't know what is.

I have learned to listen. This definitely was not a part of my character before coming to Japan. I have always been the talker and initiator of conversation. Learning to just BE. and listen to others has taught me way more than if I hadn't listened.

God is teaching me to be content. I haven't quite figured it all out because I am continually learning to delight myself in Him. I am learning to be found in Him. Christ is what defines me.

Through this experience I have acquired a somewhat different outlook on life. I desire nothing more than to love people regardless if they are Japanese or not. Jesus' love is for EVERYONE. I pray that this wouldn't just be something I did in Japan..but that I would continue living a missionary lifestyle wherever I am.

JAPAN!

2009-05-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Base camp is this Saturday-Tuesday.

I fly to Japan THIS Tuesday May 26!!!

woo-hooo JAPAN HERE I COME! :)

10 more days!!

2009-05-13T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ten more days until I leave for Tokyo, Japan!!!

May 23-Aug 8 I will be living in a different country!

Pray for me and everyone on our team! :)

2009-03-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

I am now a Sigma Alpha member!! It truly was a hard 5 weeks but now I have 27 new sisters that will be there for me whenever I need them!

Here we are at "crush" it was our date function. (look at us silly pledges)

Sigma Alpha Pledge Katrina Jensen

2009-01-31T22:35:00.000-08:00

I am pledging a sorority here on campus called Sigma Alpha here are two things this sorority is recognized with <3

TOKYO!!

2008-12-29T20:26:00.003-08:00

I am going back to TOKYO, JAPAN! This past summer I went to Tokyo for a ten day trip and I was forever changed. I truly witnessed how mighty to save God is.

I fell in love with the people, the food, and everything Japan had to offer.

I applied to be an intern along with 100 other people and only 17 were chosen. God wants ME to go again. I am still speechless. I will be living in Japan from May-August 2009. The trip costs about $4500. . .Along with many prayers I need your help financially. I ask that you would be praying for the people in Japan along with others that are going on this trip. If you see me around school you can give me your donation or you can mail it to me at either of these mailboxes:

School:

Katrina Jensen

HSU Box 15288

Abilene, TX 79698

Home:

Katrina Jensen

6650 Marlin Drive

Plano, TX 75023

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

God Bless,

Katrina

Christmas 2008!

2008-12-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

so this year was pretty sweet! Cowboy boots, betsey johnson, pink personalized licence plates, walmart gift card, ulta gift card, hello kitty wallet, necklace, gps, and more!!

friends!

2008-11-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

This is my new roommate Amy. and I love her. We click so well and we're going to be in each other's weddings :)

This is my Best Friend here at HSU. Her name is Brittany and we are inseparable. We do just about everything together...eat together, walmart trips, and other fun things :)
I love this girl.

I love Hardin-Simmons.

2008-10-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was homecoming and it was a blast! I love getting dressed up for HSU from my purple and gold painted nails to my purple and gold headbands. I love it.

pastor in training!

this is our beautiful chapel!

classic.

my schedule...

2008-09-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

so what does my week look like? If you were wondering..

MW
12-12:50 Greek Lab
1-2:15 Bowling
3-5pm Intro to Hospital Ministry

T/TH
10:30-11:45 Intro to Youth Ministry
1:20-2:35 Greek
2:45-4 Bible 1301 (Old Testament)

Monday nights I watch One Tree Hill and The Hills with my friends Danielle and Brittany
Tuesday nights I go to the college bible study from Fountain Gate
Wednesdays I go and eat dinner at University Baptist Church followed by a worship service
Thursdays I either go to Monks coffee shop or out country dancing!

and then it's random events on the weekends!

I love HARDIN SIMMONS.

church!!

2008-09-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

So I think I have found a church home! It is called Fountain Gate Fellowship here in Abilene! I ended up going here on sunday..kinda by accident, but you know God always does things for a reason! I was supposed to go to another church with a couple of my girlfriends..you see we were supposed to have a sleep over saturday night and then all go to church together the next day..well long story short it didn't happen. So I was thinking about what church I could go to and I remembered I talked with a couple girls from this church at the info fair during new student orientation week! I ended up talking with these two girls because they asked me if I had been to Japan because I was wearing my "pray for Japan" shirt! They both went to Japan this past summer as well, so we got to talk about how we all missed Japan and how amazing it was. So when all is said and done I ended up going to Fountain Gate on sunday and it was one of the best experiences I've had going to a church. I was greeted with open arms and many "glad you're here" "welcome to fountain gate" along with a couple of hugs! It was so refreshing to see so many hearts on fire for the Lord! Some were dancing, clapping, or raising their hands during worship and you could just feel God in this place! After service the church had a lunch for the college students..so of course I went and met more people and got to see the two girls (Alyssa and Tifany) again and we talked about Japan some more! I ended up going to their college group Tuesday night and it was a lot of fun and people seem really into their walk with Christ.

HS HS UU!!!

2008-08-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some girls from my family group!

our group "Press Your Luck" and we're making a W for Whammy!
two ladies I am the closest with!

everyone signs our beanie! HSU tradition!

I love Hardin Simmons! It's like a big family!

2008-08-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

I miss Japan. I turned in my application over a week ago to be an intern in Tokyo next summer. If chosen I would live in Japan from May-Aug 2009!! I am continually praying that God will allow me to go back next year! I know many people are applying for the internship so I don't know how they are going to narrow the selection down! This past summer there were 35 interns so I'm not sure how many will be allowed to return next summer! Please keep me in your prayers that I will be able to go back to where I left my heart.

I am moving to Abilene to attend HSU in 3 days! I drive down there on Tuesday morning! I am super excited to meet new people and be in a different town! I am mostly packed and my dorm room is going to be super cute! My theme is Zebra print and hot pink! I love it!

I left my heart 6,453 miles away :(

2008-08-03T05:29:00.001-07:00

People would rub this idol and then their body where they feel pain in hopes of being healed.

People would breathe in incense and brush the smoke towards their body to have "healing"
My Trek group :)

over looking Tokyo

melon soda!

where I did 5 minute English!

Largest temple in Tokyo

anything goes in Japan..

peace!

one of the busiest intersections in the world.

Turner..one of our leaders. we laughed so much together!

truth.

He truly is..

scoooop.

MAKE HIM FAMOUS!

cute!

Korean girls we met!

i love kids..

chillin after our friendship party

I got people in Japan saying "SCOOOP"

Overall this trip was amazing. I can't even describe in words how I am changed forever. God used me in bigger ways than I could have ever expected. He really showed me that he is the "God of this City" and how "Mighty to Save" He is. Thank you for supporting me in this journey and keeping me in your prayers. Please continue to pray for the people of Japan and for those that have accepted Jesus into their heart! God Bless!

TOKYO HERE I COME!

2008-07-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

I am leaving tomorrow morning to head off to "base camp" for my mission trip to Tokyo! I won't be on a plan to Japan until Monday the 21st! I am so excited and God is already at major work there! Two of my closest friends from California will be there the same time I'm there and they are also non-believers so I hope myself or others from our team will impact each of them as well! Please pray for our safety and good health during the trip. Also be in prayer that we will be able to reach out to the lost and Jesus' light will be evident in each and every one of us going! I will update when I return!

i also got an award from Miriam (http://miri68.blogspot.com/) for "living the Jesus way" yay!!

God Bless and take care!
<3

ONE WEEK!!!!

2008-07-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

July 19-31~ I will be in Tokyo, Japan spreading God's love!

FREE HUGS!

2008-07-05T17:56:00.001-07:00

Today is the 4th international FREE HUGS day! I first heard about this probably about a year ago when I watched this video on Youtube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4) after watching this video I knew I wanted to be apart of this movement! So today my mom, my friend Jessi and myself all went to the mall here in Plano,TX to join others around the world in giving away FREE HUGS. Today was one of the most rewarding days of my life, we touched so many lives and brought many smiles to people's faces! Many people said they needed that hug and we even had a lady join us! An elderly couple walked by and they were probably in their late 80s or even older and the woman looked like she had had a stroke but we each gave them both a hug and the man whispered into my mom's ear "That means more to her than you'll ever know"

Overall I am so blessed to be a part of this movement and brighten people's day!

YEC

2008-06-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

Here is Drew Worsham He's an illusionist!

This past weekend I went to YEC (Youth Evangelism Convention). Since iWitness Ministries partners with them (Organization that is running my mission trip) I was able to go for FREE! It was a pretty good conference..Great music and speakers! Here is a pic of us with Jeff Johnson who performed at the conference and WOW! was he great?!

Here I am in the front by the stage along with about 70 others who are representing the group going to Tokyo! We all got to go in front of this conference and have our parents and everyone there pray over us! Check out our shirts we wore! "MAKE HIM FAMOUS"

Photoshoot June 16, 2008

2008-06-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

I had the lovely Jessica Burk take pictures of me because she is creating a portfolio! Here are some of my favorites! Thank you Jessica! I love them!

One year ago today..Faith (Little One) was born.

2008-06-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

First picture I took of her the first day I got her!

a couple weeks later

and here she is today

she loves toys, ice cubes, toilet paper rolls, shoes, clothes, and just about anything I feed her! I love her so much!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE ONE!

40 more days until Tokyo!!!

2008-06-08T14:40:00.001-07:00

40 more days and I will be standing in the midst of all this commotion trying to shine God's light in this desolate city.
I received my flight info, who my roommates will be, and found out that I will be a leader! I'm so excited!

My Birthday Continues!

2008-05-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

My mom and I celebrated my birthday by going to Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant. It was Amazing.

This was on the inside of my menu! They also decorated our table with "Happy Birthday" confetti.

My mom had an Hawaiian Martini..I tried it but it was way strong. lol

Lobster Sushi with caviar

This was the Martini!

Us at dinner!

Appetizers!

Entrees!

Dessert! Look they went all out with a "happy birthday"

Mommy with her dessert that was the bomb.

Here is Roy's!

Look at the 8th one down! We used to live in Woodland Hills!

The evening was wonderful. We had amazing service and food!

A much needed update!

2008-05-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

My 20th Birthday was May 7th and on my actual birthday I received a Barnes&Noble gift card from mommy, gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure, cupcakes, money, and cards! I am so blessed.

The Carpenters gave me some wonderful gifts! A beautiful card, target gift card, money for Tokyo, and headbands! The best part was that it came in this Hello Kitty box!

Thank you Carpenters!

Renee got me this yummy body wash!

This was my FOCUS surprise party! They went all out in decorating the house with my favorite colors Pink and Green! Thank you Jamiann,Raveen, Kelsea,Brianna, Amber and Renee!

Look at the decorations!!

Very yummy cake that Amber made for me with turtles on it!

Big card everyone signed!

Thank you girls for all you did!

Look at all of the balloons!

Birthday Dinner at Dickies BBQ!

I love Linda!

My BFFL.

James, Raven, and I!

Look at the car mats Linda got me!

This was the whole gang at Dickies!

"Birthday Wisdom"..This is a FOCUS tradition...you're supposed to tell the whole group that you're celebrating with what God has taught you or revealed to you this last year.

This past year, and most especially this past month I have learned to truly rely on God and know that He has a better plan for me than I can ever imagine. As you might already know or have no idea..I recently left my church of almost 3 years of being there. I was really involved with the youth and had taught middle school girls for the last 2 years. I decided to leave because I needed something more. I was not on fire for the Lord. I dreaded going there and only felt like it was routine. My desire to go to church was fading. I truly miss my girls and it was one of the hardest things I had to do was say my "goodbyes" to them. Tears were being shed almost everyday since April 15th when I decided to leave. I am visiting a new church now and am actively involved with a college ministry there. It is amazing. They have welcomed me in as family and have encouraged me on many occasions. These fellow college students are actually "walking the walk" and striving to live their lives for Jesus. I am so on fire for the Lord and I feel like I've recently climbed to the top of a mountain. I am more joyful in the way I speak. I yearn to write notes at Bible study and outside of church. God has shown me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that it's His unfailing love and grace for me. God has truly amazed me this past month and encouraged me to keep this passion inside of me to lead people to the Lord.

These are a few of my favorite things!

2008-04-22T20:02:00.001-07:00

BLACK&WHITE PHOTOS WITH COLOR

THE PEACE SYMBOL

MY CAR

SUNFLOWERS

ZEBRA PRINT

TURTLES

HELLO KITTY

SINGER.. INDIA.ARIE

MY BIBLE

MISSION TRIPS

BOOKS

HONEY

HORCHATA

GREEN TEA FRAP

RICE PUDDING

SUSHI

Spring Break Mission Trip NEW ORLEANS!

2008-03-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

ok this entry is a little bit late...and better told in person but here it goes~!

For spring break I went with my friend Lauren and her church (FBC SACHSE) to Louisiana and throughout the week I was amazed at all of the things God had in store for us...

Here we are driving in the church vans..and we've driving for about 10 hours..which it should only take around 8..and we're stopped in Lafayette, Louisiana to get gas, about two hours away from where we need to be. Four of us girls walk over to wendy's to use the restroom but it's past 10pm so we can't get in...so we walk over to starbucks and use the restroom there..once we are all done we walk back to the van, ready to get in and our co-pilot says the van is locked. Our first reaction is that we're bummed and how long is this going to take? After standing around for a little bit...I say to me friend Jessi "Do you think that maybe we're stopped here for a reason...like God makes everything happen for a reason?" she just looks at me like I'm crazy..because she is already feeling sick and groggy from the trip..so I say "ok sorry maybe I'm getting too deep." In the meantime a couple of people have said.."this is just satan putting road blocks in our way" and I'm not having it. so I say...let's start singing...so we all start singing praise and worship music..and so people around us, stopping to get gas...can hear us sing and jamiann says.."this is why we're stopped...we are reaching out to these people around us" so we continue to sing and not let this situation get us down. A couple of the guys are working on getting it unlocked by using a hanger in between the window and door..and I say "this isn't enough, let's pray over the van...put your hands against the van" so I start praying as we all have our hands on the van and I'm just saying things like "Satan you have no hold here, and you aren't going to put road blocks in our way" so I finish the prayer and we continue singing. A car pulls up next to us...pimped out and all...nice rims and everything...so this young man gets out of his car and walks by us and says something like "dang that sucks" and I say.."you know any tricks?" and he says "no, just what they're doing with the hanger" so he goes and pays for his gas and comes back to his car...and we're all excited because he is hearing us sing "Jesus, Lover of my soul" I believe..and he starts to try and open the door with the hanger..and not a minute goes by and the door UNLOCKS! we all are screaming and saying yay!! hugging him and taking pictures with him...and we all start getting in the van..and I'm like..."we need to do something more" so I yell out of the van "Jesus Loves You" and this guy Bobby who is with our group is talking to him saying thanks and asks the guy who helped us what his name was and he said Sean..and Bobby says "Thanks Sean, we'll be praying for you" so Bobby gets in the van with all of the rest of the people in our van and I'm still like...let's do something else..so our driver Dana...(who is so awesome) is like."hey! let's give him money" so we gather some cash...$15-$20 and she walks over to Sean and hands him the money..but he won't take it so she puts it in his pocket and says "just trying to show God's love in a tangible way, you are our angel" and HE hugs her and says thanks! so...NOW we're all in the van driving away and we are all so pumped....just on fire and knowing in our hearts that, that was the reason we were stopped at that gas station because no one remember's locking the doors to the van! As we're driving we are listening to worship music and just singing and lifting our hands just praising the amazing God we have and Bobby...starts to speak (more like praying out loud) and saying things like "Lord, let Sean be more impacted by this than us because we don't know what is going on in his life right now" and so we start crying tears of joy feeling like we were a light to Sean and he won't forget that he helped this van loud of Christian college students and we hugged and took pictures with him!

GOD IS SO AMAZING.

here is a pic of all of us at the gas station~! He is the tall one in the middle with the bright blue shirt on!

I need your help!!

2008-03-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

If you didn't already know..I'm going to Tokyo, Japan this summer for 2 weeks on a mission trip.

The total cost of the trip is about $3,000 and I've already sent in $1300....

My last payment of $1700 is due April 8...and of that amount I have only $150

please help me plant the seed in Tokyo...

you can give the money to me or send a check with my name.. Katrina Jensen(Tokyo) in the memo to...

iWitness Ministries
695 Main Street
Suite 400
Lavon, TX 75166

Please help! doing mission work has been my passion ever since I could remember...I really feel like God is calling me to do this and the way God provides is through His people.

Thanks so much!
Katrina Jensen

God Bless!

Mike Huckabee for President!

2008-03-04T09:55:00.001-08:00

I went to his rally at quad C...and wow! I was so impressed!!!!

GO HUCKABEE!!!!

amazing.

2008-03-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Jesus is so amazing. I love worshipping Him and being at a place where I am "Sweetly Broken" before Him and knowing that any battles I'm going through..they aren't mine..they are His. Jesus washes me "as white as snow" and no one else on this earth can do that. Many prayers are being answered..money for my mission trip to Tokyo is coming from all sorts of places so it's really neat to see how God is working!

This past weekend I got the opportunity to hang out with some really awesome guys who play in a band called Burgundy Road (www.myspace.com/burgundyroadmusic) ..they are so humble and such an encouragement in my life. Here are some pics of myself and Alex with a few of the band mates!

God Bless

<3>

Change is constant.

2007-11-12T21:39:00.000-08:00

So we've all heard the saying. "Change is the only thing that is constant in this world"

I couldn't agree with this anymore.

Tonight I realized how my past friends and the friendships I've had in the past with certain people are totally opposite now. Some of my past friends aren't even a fraction of who I knew them to be.

It makes me want to smile and cry at the same time. Smile because I am past those childish relationships that weren't growing. and cry because I wondered if I wasted all that time being their friend.

people change. and they're going to change. I can't get upset and feel sorry for myself or them. God has a plan for everything. All I can do is pray for them.

Proverbs 27:17 (New Living Translation)
17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

If I'm not sharpening my friend and they aren't sharpening me. It is not a healthy friendship.

So I will move on past these friendship and allow them to build my character and change me into the person God wants me to be.

Peace, Joy, and Jesus
Katrina

God is so good.

2007-10-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

I am going on a mission trip next summer to Toyko, Japan and I couldn't be more excited!