Bom dia familia e amigos!! Como estão? On our last two days serving with the children from the community, we prepared multiple stations of activities. We had an amazing time with them as they explored different stations including coloring bookmarks, arts and crafts, sensory toys, creating crosses with sticks, making bracelets and paper airplane, water balloons and so much more! The rooms were filled with laughter and smiles and lots of fun craziness. We had the opportunity to show God’s love through all these activities but also by talking, encouraging and praying for the children/staff. Our hearts were heavy to say goodbye to those amazing little angels but we know their faces will be in our hearts forever.
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 some long international flights, our team has safely arrived in Central Asia! It’s the middle of the night in Central Asia as they arrive so please pray that they would adjust to the time change well and get some rest to begin their ministry with renewed energy!
We cannot wait to hear all about how the Lord will be working in and through this team throughout their two weeks 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.
Thank you for your continued prayers! Our team is thriving here in Southeast Asia and we are all sleeping well and healthy which is a gift from God! It is very humid here so we are always sticky, and it has rained quite a bit in the last few days.
Today was another fun and full day of ministry. In the morning, we got to participate in a VBS program in a nearby community with YouthLab, a youth group made up of student leaders who share the gospel with the community. I am so inspired by their passion for the Lord and for ministry. They ran the camp all on their own, dedicating their time to serve God. We sang songs, played games, and saw a skit put on by the youth, which had to be moved into a covered area because it began to rain. The kids called this area the chapel of their village, but it consisted of only a concrete box with tin roof. We passed out sandwiches to the kids and then got to help fill buckets of water from the well and deliver them to homes in the community.
The chapel we visited in the community.Filling water in the wellMe (JD) getting mangos from a tree
The village we visited is located in a gated community with many big, expensive homes. We even passed a golf course on the drive in. The village was very impoverished, with small makeshift homes and trash everywhere. It is heartbreaking to see the immense poverty located so close to great riches. To me, it feels like an injustice, but somehow the people living there are still joyful.
In the afternoon, we got to put on our own small VBS program at the children’s home. We had worship, a skit telling the story of Jonah, and some rotating stations which all the kids enjoyed. Many of them are orphans or their parents cannot keep them. Being able to spread the love of Jesus to them was amazing.
We had a little bit of time to rest and debrief tonight, and tomorrow will be a more chill day which will be nice after all we have experienced.
We look forward to what God has in store for us next!
Today after breakfast our team decided to take a tricycle ride to get some starbucks to start off our day. and here we have two basic white girlies getting starbies in a tricycle.
Coming from feeding the poor yesterday to getting a Starbucks drink we’ve noticed the different classes of society. That there’s not much of a middle class, you’re either rich or poor. I am super grateful for the blessings and opportunities God has given me in my life.
We then came back to our facility that we are staying at and the girls got ready to help out in the kitchen while the boys went to help out with demolition and construction.
Today we’ve also visited a children’s home from ages one to five. We got to spend some time together and connect with them.
To finish off the day we attended a praise party which we were able to worship with the teenagers and hear an amazing word.
Please continue to pray for us as we serve in different communities and connect with the people here, as well as get used to the time quicker here! Thank you!
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 about 25 hours of travel back home, the team made it back to campus safe and sound! (Plus very sleepy. :)) Please continue to pray for the team as they experience re-entry back into the US, that they would draw close to the Lord through navigating reverse culture shock and that they would be transformed by this experience even in their daily rhythms.
Make sure to ask a team member about their experience and how you can be praying for them specifically!
On Wednesday night, we had the opportunity to visit the Palace of Parliament. This impressive building is the second-largest administrative building in the world, surpassed only by the Pentagon. It was created by former dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and construction began in 1984. The building covers an area of 330,000 square meters and boasts over 1,100 rooms. We had a great time taking photos and enjoying the evening.
The following day, we had the chance to meet the Media team of the organization (GEM) we were serving with. It was inspiring to hear about the creative ministry tools and projects they were working on. One of their major projects is a movie. Some of their team members are former actors from the U.S. and they recently completed the script and will soon begin production. It was fascinating to learn about their backgrounds, roles, and how the Lord led them to work in Europe. They also shared with us that our gifts and talents could be used on the mission field if we decided to serve full-time.
In the afternoon, we had our first round of debriefing for this trip. We grabbed coffee at Starbucks and we were able discuss our time. It was a meaningful time where we discussed our fears and anxieties before the trip, how well our team worked together, and the impact of our work over the past 2 weeks. This trip stretched all of us. It was incredible to witness each of us using our gifts and talents and stepping out of our comfort zones.
Friday was our last day of work at the church. We prepared two meals for the Ukrainian Refugees. Esther made Chicken Fried Rice while the rest of the team prepped and made pizza for dinner. The day flew by quickly, and we had to say our final goodbyes to the volunteers and the people we served throughout the week. It was a bittersweet moment. These past two weeks went by in a flash, and we are incredibly grateful for the time we spent here. Our goal was to serve and encourage others, but in reality, they were the ones who encouraged us.
Friday evening our hosts Gene and Jason invited some of the church volunteers to dinner to celebrate our team. Gene and Jason both thanked our team for being here and for being willing to come to Eastern Europe and serve in that capacity. it was a special time. We ended the night with a gelato trip for one last time and headed back to the apartment for get ready for a 3am wake up call to head to the airport.
This was a life changing trip for us as a team in so many different ways. We witnessed firsthand the significant needs of the vulnerable and marginalized, which reinforced our mission to support those often overlooked by society. This experience demonstrated the value of taking a leap of faith, even when uncertain of what lies ahead. By obeying God’s call, we were able to demonstrate His love and grace in practical ways. We pray that our service left a lasting impact on the lives of those we assisted and our own spiritual journey. We are truly grateful for this experience and are prayerfully considering returning someday to continue working with this local ministry.
Our fifth Global Outreach team of the summer is now at the airport to start their two weeks in Central 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 for the team to be able to get some sleep on their flights so they can enter into Central Asia with a renewed energy, and pray that they would continue to feel God’s peace and presence each day. We are so excited for all that the Lord is going to show them and for how he will use them in Central Asia!
We will update again once they have arrived safely in Central 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.
We had our last full day of ministry on Wednesday and it was so sweet! It was clear that God was moving and that he will continue to move even after we’re gone in this community. Each group was able to encourage families with the water filters, with their own testimonies, and with the hope of the gospel. Over our two weeks, we collectively installed 157 water filters and 210 people heard the good news of Jesus!
To end our trip with some intentional debrief and rest, yesterday we had our free day and our very last day of our global trip! We started our day off by taking a 45 minute boat ride out to an island. We got life jackets, masks, and flippers and then head out to go snorkeling! We were able to snorkel in the second largest barrier reef in the world and we saw many different schools of fish, conch shells, lobsters, etc. It was so cool! We got back in the boat and took a short ride to where the stingrays and nurse sharks like to hang out (very scary) and then we got to swim with them too. After that we fed tarpon, we held little sardines and they jumped out of the water and ate it out of our hands (also very scary). For some of us it was our first time snorkeling and it was amazing!
After we went back to the island and ate lunch and then had some time to explore the island and the little souvenir shops and get some sweet treats (or some much needed coffee). We headed back to the mainland after a very full day for dinner, more time at the pool, and of course mao, the worst card game ever.
Today we traveled back home and have all returned safely, so thank you for praying for safe travels! We are very sad to be leaving this wonderful country and our new APU and Simpson University friends, but are excited to see the ways God is going to use our experiences for His glory at home. See you all soon!!
Kamustaka! Danyelle here with a blog post for Day 1!
Today is what we called “jetlag day”— we are 15 hours ahead! We arrived at base around 1:00 am and started bright and early at 7:30 am with breakfast and a tour of the facilities! Side note….we had to check ALL of our luggage due to weight (on top of the supplies, sports balls, and clothing donations) and by a miracle of God, ALL 18 pieces of luggage made it here with us!
Anyway, the tour was awesome! God has done some amazing things with the organization and it is so cool to see how the Lord has provided for them! They have a children’s home, a home for crisis pregnancies, a clinic for pregnancies, a feeding ministry, a Christian school and a thriving youth ministry! The director was able to tell us the amazing testimony of this organization and it is truly guided by amazing faith in God’s timing and provision. The director said a quote that accurate depicts all that God has done: “There is a thin line between faith and insanity; walk the line.”
We have the opportunity to participate in every ministry here, which so far has been wonderful to participate in. The first ministry we got to participate in was the feeding ministry. We got to go into a community and provide some soup to families in need.
This was such a heartwarming experience as we got to hang out with all the kids in the community and make connection with them.
When we got back, we had an amazing Filipino lunch and we laid out all of our donations.
We were also able to swim in the swimming pool here! They have some super fun slides and diving points. We also made a little friend!
Then, we were heading off to our next assignment, which was to hang out with some of the kids at the children’s home. Here, we played with the kids, made cute bracelets, and played volleyball!
We came back home, ate dinner, and then had team time! It was difficult, but we mostly made our goal to stay up until 9:00 pm. 😎
Overall, it was a great day and we are so grateful to be here!
Prayer requests
continued strength to do God’s will!
for God to use us greatly!
for continued provision for the ministry here
Signing off,
Danyelle 🙂
(p.s. hi family and friends!)
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 blessing and honor to worship together with our fellow Brazilian family. In first service we volunteered in Children’s ministry and babies. The smiles, giggles and laughter of these incredibly children were such a blessing for us to witness. We then attended the second service where we heard Pastor Costa preach a powerful message about the importance of building relationships with others and living out our testimony. After service we got lunch with the Pastor and his wife. Then we attended church again for the night service at a difference campus and received another amazing message about the Prodigal Son. We miss you all and continue to appreciate all the prayers!!!!
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.
