Outreach: Weeks 1& 2

Hi friends! The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of craziness! On September 29 (A month ago, Yikes!) we began what is known as "outreach phase", which means we are no longer having lectures or classes, but instead most of our time is spent doing ministry, evangelism, and intercession. This is the time where we get to actually live out and practice all the things we have been learning about in lectures. So, as I posted before, my team is broken into 3 different outreach groups, and each team has different locations that they are going to. Five weeks ago, my team got on a bus that took us to Prague, Czech Republic. We arrived late at night and went to church the next day. We were only in Prague for a few days, so we focussed on prayer and intercession for the city. We met with our contact and he led us on a prayer walk around the castle grounds and we stopped in between a big Catholic church and some of the government buildings and prayed for the people and government of Prague and the Czech Republic.

We were also able to do evangelism while we were there and one of our leaders made a scavenger hunt to create a fun ice-breaker. One of the items on the list was to talk to an American. This one was a bit tricky, because it’s not so much about looking as it is listening. We were walking on this old bridge when I suddenly heard English, so I whipped around and saw these two girls walking along. I started chasing them down, trying to catch up (not creepy at all, right?). When I caught up to them, I had a really clever opener: “Hey! are you guys American?”—Smart right? Anyways, all of my craziness was worth it because we ended up having a lovely conversation with these two girls. Their names were Becky and Kaitlynn and they are from Atlanta, Georgia. It was pretty amazing to talk to someone so close to home, half-way around the world! Then, on top of all of it, they let us pray for them at the end of our conversation!! Missions doesn’t have to be sparking the fire of revival in a city (although it’s truly incredible when God moves in that way). A lot of times, missions is just laying the ground work, putting in the hours, plowing the field, and welcoming God’s spirit into a place. Sometimes missions is a conversation, a prayer, or just a smile.

On Thursday of that week, we woke up early and hopped on a tram, a bus, and a train and 7 hours later we arrived in Bad Blankenburg, Germany.

We were helping out with an anti-human trafficking conference. Missionaries from all over Europe and the United States came together to share ideas and encourage each other. This was such an amazing experience because we got to meet so many different people who are working to end modern-day slavery. The stories they told were actually unbelievable and so encouraging to hear how God is working all around the world through people who are just simply willing to follow Him.

After enjoying this beautiful country-side town in Germany for the weekend, we packed everything up again and set off for Croatia. 4 train rides and 1 (15 hour long) bus ride later, we arrived in Split, Croatia. From there we drove to Kastela Nova which is where our apartment is located. When we got there, we saw something quite unexpected...

This.

This is the view from our apartment. Our leaders said we would be "close" to the Sea, we didn't know they meant this close. We even got to go swimming during one of our first days here!

We have been partnering with some other missionaries here, as well as some local churches. Our main activities have been evangelism, prayer walking, Bible reading (we read the Bible aloud around the cities), and helping with other existing ministries here.

The first two weeks of outreach were quite eventful and VERY full of travel, but I got to experience some amazing places and meet the most incredible people! I am currently writing out some of the stories of the people and encounters I have had over the past month and will be posting them soon! I can't wait to share the ways God has been moving in Croatia! Tomorrow we pack up again and set of for Sarajevo, Bosnia.

Please be praying for me and my team and our safety as we travel. Also please pray for unity and godly communication amongst our team. As we were praying for Bosnia we got a word that the harvest is ripe and ready to be harvested, so we are trusting God to move in mighty ways there! Pray with expectancy!! :)