Jambo! The team successfully arrived after 20+ hours of flying. Our six hour layover at the Instabul Airport was a fun adventure of sights, sounds, and trying to sleep where we could. It’s great to be back together as a team after not seeing much of one another since the end of the semester. These are some great students. I practiced making balloon animals and made friends with a couple of kid travelers along the way. Please pray for good rest as we landed at 1:30 am local time, and for all the love and energy God graciously supplies as we meet our field workers and the girls later today for the first time. Blessings, Dave Heitman (Team Leader)
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.
Things have been a little bit hard to get used to, new food- a.k.a…chicken and rice almost every day, driving on the left side of the road, and the Bahasa language. We found out quickly that Soccer is the most popular thing on this island. Don with HOH is the Soccer Coach for the best team on the island. We got invited to watch the championship game of the season. It was interesting seeing hundreds of eyes being locked onto us as we sat to watch the game. We got treated like royalty because they don’t have many foreigners (aka Bulai in Bahasa) coming to their island, let alone to a championship soccer game. We took lots of pictures with people, received gifts, and celebrated with the team. Some small highlights of the first couple days so far are: the soccer game mentioned before, playing worship songs with the kids, and going to church service. Two of the biggest highlights are teaching the kids how to play pickle ball and I mean…. A LOT of pickle ball, and Natalie getting baptized in a river.
-Maddie Jern
We’ve been accepted with open arms. We look forward to everything that’s coming our way. We’ve been blessed with a community here that is constantly teaching us to look at life in a slower more compassionate way. We were fortunate enough to watch our sister in Christ get baptized… tears were shed, the river was swam in, and God was being praised to the highest. It has been such a gift to go to their local beach, eat coconuts that a staff member climbed a palm tree to get, and celebrate a sport that is LOVED by everyone around. We are so blessed and so grateful to be here.
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.
The team has made it safely to their country and is excited for these next two weeks! Please be praying that they adjust to the time change quickly and that they warmly embrace all of the people and cultures they will be encountering this week!
We are so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do in and through them!
Our eighth and final Global Outreach team of the summer is on their way to the airport to begin their time serving with an anti-trafficking organization in East Africa!
Please join us in praying for their safety as they travel, and for their health (spiritual, mental, and physical) while they are on the trip. Pray that the team would be united together and would serve one another and the ministry with humility and grace. We trust that God has some incredible things planned for this team and we are so excited to see how God is going to work in their hearts and use them to bless and serve those they are ministering to in East Africa.
We will update again once they have arrived safely in East Africa!
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.
What a first couple of days it has been at our worksite! Servanthood here includes devotions, sharing testimonies, learning the culture, playing pickleball and soccer, experiencing fellowship, and worship. Food is also a big part of the culture here and the team and I have been very fortunate to try new foods while being comforted by lots and lots of rice;) Exploring the island is enlightening in and of itself, but to see the kids’ joy throughout playing pickleball the last two days has been something none of us will forget. The simplicity and slowness of life here encourages solitude with God and community engagement. Not only are kids involved in playing pickleball, but the staff as well. What’s nice is that no one is afraid to get dirty and sweat or be out in the sun.
I think I can speak for the rest of the team when I say the most challenging yet FUN part so far has been trying to learn the language of everyone here. With that, learning and effort results in bonding as well as a deep connection. It is also really cool to see how each kid appreciates us trying to learn their language while they try to learn ours. – Natalie Sexauer
We’ve eaten at great restaurants, walked the land around our site, worked in the kitchen, learned how to (kinda) communicate with all our new friends and raided all of the convenience stores in town. We are definitely noticed by ALL which is all the more reason to share God’s love with the masses. Winnie has finally joined us, so we have our whole team complete…we’re very happy to say the least. So excited to see what the days ahead look like!
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.
Our seventh Global Outreach team of the summer is on a plane on their way to Western Europe to start their two weeks serving refugees!
Please join us in praying for their safety as they travel, and for their health (spiritual, mental, and physical) while they are on the trip. Pray that the team would be strengthened by the Lord each day as they pour out in service and that they would see God at work each day and in new ways throughout their trip. We can’t wait to hear about how God is already at work in this team and how He will use them to minister to those they encounter in Western Europe.
We will update again once they have arrived safely in Western Europe!
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.
Our first day in B (our stopover city)!! Our flights were 14hrs and consisted of face masks, sleep, and lots of coffee. When we first walked in the welcome sign said “Home of the Gods”. This is one of the biggest Muslim cultures…meaning Christianity isn’t. Which is very different from America. Today I opened my Bible plan and I am at Luke 15. This passage has three stories of Jesus saving the one. It talked about Jesus leaving the 99, how Heaven rejoices over a single sinner returning to God, and the Prodigal’s son. As I am faced with my desire for everything to go as planned, I am reminded of who God is that He is in control and is intentional. I am reminded that even if there is one person that hears the gospel from the trip it would be well worth all of this for the one. The one coming to the Father is something that money or time can’t buy, but it is only by the power of God through Jesus by the Holy Spirit.
So my prayer tonight and ask for you to join us to soften the soil of the one He is using us on this trip to bring home. More thsn one would be cool too, but that we will rely on the one that does the saving and rest that he is in control. Pray for us too as we are also here to encounter God in a new culture!!
– Ashley Salazar
Once we got off the plane we were greeted by one of the House of Hope members that had our car and driver ready and waiting. Our hotel in B has a huge pool that we all couldn’t resist so we jumped in before dinner. We ate chicken, fish, shrimp, octopus, and rice at a restaurant on the water as the sun went down. Our first B sunset was one we won’t forget. After dinner we walked the streets and purchased bracelets, jerseys, and shoes all while being half asleep. It feels surreal being here after praying about this trip for many many months. We’re eager for our 9th group member, Winnie, to join us so soon. Next stop S (our ministry island)!
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.
The team has made is safely to their country after a couple lengthy flights through the night! They are staying the night on one of the main islands before they take a flight tomorrow to the island where they will be doing ministry the next 2 weeks. Please be praying for their safety on the next flight and for the team to gain some energy and have a restful night of sleep before they head to the island tomorrow and begin their ministry.
We are so excited to see all that the Lord is going to do!
Our sixth Global Outreach team of the summer is on their way to the airport to start their two weeks in Southeast Asia!
Please join us in praying for their safety as they travel, and for their health (spiritual, mental, and physical) while they are on the trip. Pray that the team would be filled with the Holy Spirit as they minister to the people they encounter on the island, and they would act with humility, gentleness, and love to every person they interact with. We are so excited for all that the Lord is going to do in them and through them in Southeast Asia!
We will update again once they have arrived safely in Southeast Asia!
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.
After the longest flight of our summer teams, the Central Asia team has made it back home! They are ready for good showers, fresh fruits & veggies, and some well deserved rest! Please pray that the team would remain healthy or regain health as they come back to the US and that they would be able to seek out and apply all that God has to teach them about their experience in Central Asia.
Make sure to ask a team member about their experience and how you can be praying for them specifically!
