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Kayla Balangue

Jun 21 2024
7

Update #6 East Africa

By | 2024 Teams, East Africa

As Dave would say, Aaayo! 

Today was, to say the least, full of love and amazing memories. We started the day as we have every morning thus far, at Courage Café. Friends back home, please rate them a 5 star review on Google Maps. We promise it’s amazing. Don’t think twice, just do it 🙂

When we got to the House, the girls greeted us with big smiles. Their joy is a constant reminder of how powerful the Lord is. We started our day with praise/worship and, as usual, it was moving. My favorite part was when Lauren and I started swing dancing to Praise. The girls laughed at us at first, but then everyone began to dance and we all ended up on stage. After praise and worship, Isaac and I shared our testimonies. It inspired one of my best rafikis (friends) to share hers, as well. Her choice to share her testimony proved her to be nguvu (strong) and jasiri (courageous). 

We continued our teachings about Joshua 1:9 (shoutout to Grace who is incredible for planning all of our VBS lessons), ate lunch with the girls, played games, and had a spa day. The girls especially loved the nail painting station and the makeup/hair station. pictures below After a surprise fashion show and dance performance put on by the girls we ended our day with our final small group dance performances. We all had so much fun and the girls did great! 

I have the privilege and honor of being assigned today’s blog post on one of our hardest days because today was the day we said “See you later!” to our new friends. Many “nakupendas” (I love you) were said, many hugs were given, some tears were shed, and many smiles were shared. I know I speak for everyone when I say that these girls love and joy that they put into the world is infectious. Their love and joy for life, their love and joy for others, their love and joy for God, it is all breathtaking. Although leaving was hard, I know that this experience is something we will never forget. God is so alive here and in these girls, it’s remarkable. 

Asante sana (thank you so much) to all of our friends and family following along with us on this journey. Tunakupenda (We love you)

Mom and Dad if you’re reading this, yes I’m alive and yes the food is good here.

-Toni

Jun 21 2024
0

Update #4 Western Europe

By | 2024 Teams, Western Europe

Hola de Western Europe!

These last two days have been a blessing.
Wednesday we started the morning with breakfast made by Marilyn and Amanda.

We then walked to the refugee center where we spent the morning learning about the culture of Morocco from a Moroccan young lady while she prepared us traditional Moroccan tea.

We came back home for a cat nap and some card games before heading out to get tacos at Taquería Mi Ciudad, which Cole recommends with a rating of 7/10.

We made our way back to the center, but stopped at Plantate for some more coffee, rated a 6/10 by Cole, but I give the matcha a 9/10.

We got to the center and jumped right in to setting up for camp. This day was particularly special because the assistant director of the camp was bold in sharing her testimony with the kids at the camp, who are mostly Muslim.

We ended our day with a wonderful devotion from Amanda about prayer.

On Thursday, we started the day with breakfast prepared by Cole and Ely.

We then made our way to the neighborhood that the refugee center is in and went on a prayer walk, stopping at another ministry, a school, a park, and the center, as well as walking past several businesses that the refugees have started.

When we got back from the walk, we planned our English Immersion Event for next Monday and Tuesday, picking games and crafts.

After lunch, we made our way back to the refugee center for day 3 of camp. We stopped for coffee at L’Origine, which Cole rated a 7.5/10. His favorite so far.

At camp, Liana and I were working with the first, second, and third grade kids. We painted rocks with the flags of their home countries, did relays, and danced with the kids. It’s been really cool to see the ways in which the connections with the kids have grown over the last three days.

We finished the day with some delicious quesadillas made by chef Macie and sous chef Ely, as well as a devo from Cole.

We are very pumped for the last few days of camp and to see what next week’s events hold.

Love,
Hailey

Jun 20 2024
0

Update #6 Southeast Asia C

By | 2024 Teams, Southeast Asia C

These past few days have been filled with lots of joy and love with the kids and our team. We went to the soccer team’s practice and played a game where we tied 1-1. While we were playing soccer Winnie, Ashley, and I went to teach the HOH staff how to cook Mexican food. We also were able to worship with the kids during worship night that they held. We have been playing pickle ball tournaments with kids and all the staff. The staff games were intense and all close calls. After a long battle in the championship, Issac and Dianne won the tournament! Almost everyone has gotten sick but collectively we’re feeling so much better. Everyone on our team has also had the opportunity to share their testimony and Isaac and I led worship for a morning devotional! We finished painting one of their offices to make it look brighter and after we had a good time eating some really good homemade pizza for dinner (thanks to Isaac and Garrett).

The guys decided to all get haircuts and try different styles which I thought were very nice. All in all we are very tired but it’s a good tired knowing that we are helping these kids learn about Jesus and having fun.

-Daniel Garcia

The students here at HOH are becoming pickleball stars. It’s been awesome watching them master the game in less than 2 weeks. The joy on their faces when they learn a new trick, hit an overhead kill, or even when they mess up so badly that they hit it out of the netting around the court has been so fun to see. Soccer may still be their favorite but I think pickleball holds a close second in their heart. The bond between us and the staff members at HOH is getting stronger and stronger… so let’s just say there’s already plans in place to come again!

Jun 20 2024
7

Update #5 East Africa

By | 2024 Teams, East Africa

Vipi!!! (What’s up)

Today was absolutely incredible!
We started it off with some of the girls in the transition house who were older. They all shared their testimony of going to Christianity from Islam. We were so moved by their courage and strength in that process.

Afterwards we went to a waterfall hike with the primary girls who are younger and were so fun. The hike was very wet, muddy, slippery, definitely almost died (I’m ok mom). But was totally worth all of it. The hike was beautiful the people were so friendly and we then walked over to where they make arabica coffee grounds and beans. As a coffee lover, I was ecstatic.

Then we came back to the cafe to eat dinner and our team had a touching moment to talk about some of the moments we had with the girls and a lot of emotions were had.
By the time we had eaten the team was in the delusional phase of tiredness and could not stop laughing.

Today was amazing, although we’re all super sad to be leaving the girls from the first house tomorrow.

Waheli! (Bye)

-Alyssa

Jun 19 2024
4

Update #4 East Africa

By | 2024 Teams, East Africa

Today was wonderful!

It started off with our daily morning devotion with our team and Mama Victor. This started our day off well and we were all prepared for the long day ahead!

We all piled into our two vans and headed up to the house where we greeted the girls and began the day with worship, VBS lesson and a fun craft. Worship with the girls has been so moving for all of us as they all have some of the most beautiful voices on the planet. Even late tonight the songs they sang are still stuck on repeat in my mind.

Once the morning was finished we had a wonderful lunch and our fearless leader, Dave, showed up after leading a small leadership workshop with the Courage Executive Team bringing with him Kayla (our Global Outreach Leader) who will be visiting us for the next couple of days! With Kayla and Dave we then broke up the girls into smaller groups and rotated them through games of kickball and sharks and Minos and a dance group. We then ended with another worship song and said our goodbyes.

Leaving the first courage home, we headed to a Wednesday night church service with incredible worship and two sermons which one of was taught by Dave! We came away thinking about the hope we have in Christ regardless of the circumstances we are in and that “our faith is is the assurance of the things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

After this service we ate dinner with a group of older girls at a second courage house who are transitioning out of the program. These wonderful girls had several children who we all quickly fell in love with. We were given a tour of the courage house 2 and then reluctantly said our sad goodbyes and headed back to our hotel to get some sleep!

Despite this being our longest day yet, it flew by and we found ourselves wanting the day to never end.

Thank you all for the prayers as they are all so needed! If you could specifically pray for protection of the girls who we are able to work with and that they would be able to overcome the mental hurdles of trauma and hurt in order to succeed in their ambitions. They are all such beautiful girls who have some of the greatest dreams!

Bwana Yesu Asifiwe! (Praise Jesus!)

-Isaac

If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.

Jun 19 2024
5

Update #3 East Africa

By | 2024 Teams, East Africa

Jambo!

How do I describe a day that is completely unforgettable?

This morning, we got to hear a devotional from the Courage’s Chaplin Ellie. She asked Kenzie and I (Lauren) to act out a skit for her, one of us was blind and the other was limp, our acting skills were great!

Second part of the morning we got to worship with all the girls. We showed them a few of our songs and then after we asked if they would teach us a few of theirs. (We enjoyed theirs way more!) After worship we got to host a mini VBS, we went over Joshua 1:9. I was able to read the verse and share my testimony with all the girls. It very was scary and empowering at the same time.

For the afternoon we had three stations for the girls to be apart of. First group was dancing, second group was volleyball, third group was soccer. Kenzie and I had volleyball, and we just taught a few easy skills (pass, set, hit, serve) We were also able to give each girl a jerseys due to the kind donation we received from Jessup athletics. The girls were in awe and absolutely loved wearing them.

For the end of the day we ended with a few crafts. We made bracelets with the girls and Dave made balloon animals/crowns. The excitement the girls got over a balloon giraffe has kept a permanent smile on my face.

It’s only the second day and I have already fallen in love with the location and the people. I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us.

Tu Ta Unana Kaesho (See you tomorrow)!

-Lauren

If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.

Jun 19 2024
1

Update #3 Western Europe

By | 2024 Teams, Western Europe

What up fam! It’s Cole,

Yesterday was such a blessing.
We started our morning with breakfast made by your very own chef Cole and sous chef Hailey.

We then walked to the refugee center and learned about Muslims. The lecture was so educating and was so good.

We came back home for lunch and ate empanadas. We took a cat nap and made our way back to the center.

We stopped at a coffee shop on the way, I have a list of many I want to try. I rate this place a 3/10. Iced coffees are not common here, it’s so weird.

We got to the center and finished setting up for the camp. The kids started trickling in and it was time to go, go, go!

We started with dancing and then the kids put handprints on a poster paper.

Ely, Marilyn, and I were working with the older kids and they were a handful. We did a relay race and I was so ready to win. I didn’t win, the ground did.

It was such a cool experience and I’m so pumped to do it the rest of the week.


If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.

Jun 19 2024
3

Update #5 Southeast Asia C

By | 2024 Teams, Southeast Asia C

We’ve now switched to having our soccer camps. We got the opportunity to play soccer with some kids from another village. We were dominateddddd. The score was only 1-0 but still. Playing with the kids while they had no shoes on was really impressive. We also got to introduce them to Mexican food!! Winnie took on the challenge of trying to find the ingredients here with one of our field workers and managed to find everything he needed here at the local market. We made them chicken tacos, rice, beans, and horchata. They loveddddd it. The kids towards the end kept coming back for more and more horchata. Before we knew it, it was all gone. I’ve also (Bre) gotten to teach them some Spanish words and slang. Now when they play all we hear is “DALE BICHAA”, which means “let’s go girllll” or we’ll also hear “AFUERAAAA”, which means “OUTT”. It’s been so fun to not only be able to learn their language but have them learn Spanish. They’ve picked up on it really quick. We feel like we now have good relationships with everyone and so we’re all really sad that we’re coming to the last few days here.
⁃ Bre Gonzalez

Danny and Bre have both shared their testimony to the masses while Maddie and Winnie have shared their love for soccer at the camps. Every kid here loves yelling Isaac’s name. Ashley has built sweet relationships from the sidelines. & Nat has continued her mission to learn anything and everything about being a missionary. It’s been incredible to see the strides taken by our group to learn and grow. Whether we’re watching puppet shows, getting beat in soccer, or putting on epic pickleball tournaments we are finding joy in it all. Thank you for the continued prayer!

If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.

Jun 17 2024
0

Update #2 Western Europe

By | 2024 Teams, Western Europe

Hola, de Western Europe!

We have had an eventful past 2 days!
We started our Sunday with a yummy breakfast and headed to church! We traveled in the metro (which is spotless by the way) and headed there. The congregation was so welcoming and the message was so inspiring, it really moved our hearts and we saw God speak to the things we really needed. We witnessed around 5-7 people give their life to Christ and it actually brought me to tears.

We then proceeded to eat Dominican food with our new friend Danelle! She was the sweetest and it was so yummy!

We took a little break (siesta) and then had a scavenger hunt around the city! We went to so many different tourist attractions and were in awe of the architecture and the beautiful statues, gardens, cathedrals, and the royal palace. We ended the night with gelato and an overhead view of the ENTIRE CITY AND THE SUNSET.

On Monday we woke up and I cooked breakfast for our team and it was sooo fun to bond and talk before heading to the refugee center. We began preparing for our camp and painted posters, made tissue paper flowers (or head decorations according to Cole), and hung flags all over our main room because our theme is Olympics.

As a treat we had cafe con leche (coffee and milk) and walked around. We ate Turkish food for dinner during sunset. Can you believe the sun doesn’t set until 10 pm? It’s crazy!
We ended our night at our apartment with a devotional brought by our awesome student leader Hailey and had a team prayer to end our awesome day.

We are loving it here and can’t wait to tell you the rest of the adventures we have!

Love,

Ely!

If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.

Jun 17 2024
6

Update #2 East Africa

By | 2024 Teams, East Africa

hello !!! today has been amazing !! we got to the country at 4 am this morning! with that being said, we all slept great last night and woke up with sufficient energy for the day, praise the Lord! we ate lunch and dinner at Courage Cafe (sooooo yummy, pictured below) after eating lunch and meeting our amazing field worker, we headed to Courage House where we will be doing vbs, sports, and dance with the girls!

meeting the girls was something i will never forget. they met us with songs of worship and palm branches. the joy that radiates from these girls is contagious, and i can’t help but direct my eyes toward the Lord. it is hard to understand how these girls can be filled with so much joy when they have been through so much pain. i am amazed at their strength and their intelligence at such a young age. these girls are seriously amazing, and i am so excited to get to know them deeper these next couple of days! i am so thankful for the memories already made and the ones to come! thank you, Jesus, for this country!

-Kenzie

If you would like to share your prayer support with this team, please feel free to use THIS FORM and we will share your encouragement with them.