After a full day of travel, the Western Europe team has made it back home! Please join us in praying that the team would be able to reflect well about all they have learned and experienced now that they are home, and that the Lord would speak to and guide each one of them about how they can continue to do ministry in their home contexts.
Make sure to ask a team member about their experience and how you can be praying for them specifically!
Hi y’all! Amanda here with western Europe’s blog! Man what a busy couple of days!
Tuesday we woke up had breakfast and a Marilyn read us a devo, prayed and we were off to the metro for our 2nd full day of English immersion camp! But things didn’t go as planned. I was praying and missed our 1st exit on the metro… I opened my eyes and everyone was gone, so yeah I had a long 4 hours hanging out in the metro talking to Jesus. The team was initially worried as they tried to look for me but they knew I was okay. God’s always with me. He had me. It was great seeing my team after we were reunited.
I was bummed I missed the camp, but I got to hear all about it and see pictures! The kids got to learn, do crafts, play telephone, pictionary, four square and have fun surrounded by the Holy Spirit. We all got to relax for a bit after and I made a salad.
At 4pm we were off to the next camp, stopping for coffee along the way. Our last day of camp! Man, was it bitter sweet. We got to play and just love on all the kids! Teaching them English words, dancing, singing, water balloon toss, crafts, and English card games. We had a few accidents playing capture the flag, a kid fell out of a tree and skinned his shin really bad, Cole got to be doctor, putting his medical background into play cleaning and bandaged him all up, as well as giving advice. The next injury, a minor scrape, he was asking for Cole.
It was such a blessing to see all these different age kiddos enjoying themselves, growing more confident in themselves and their abilities, trying new things, listening, and helping. We had theme days during the camp: good friend/bad friend and the good Samaritan (treat others the way you wanted to be treated-don’t judge) and watching them catch themselves teasing another kid and correct themselves was beautiful! God is for surely in that place and was moving in their lives. Marilyn played games and made strong bonds and friendships with the mothers which we know opened doors! So many seeds planted! So much love! The kids really took a liking to us! It warmed our hearts. At the end of the day we sent them home with goodies, treats, a full heart and smiles and it was all God. He kept providing us with the strength and wisdom needed… He carried us.
We cleaned up and headed to ice cream, it was raining and thundering, the thunder was loud!!! The ice cream spot was off the chain!!! So many flavors, treats, desserts, crepes, cones, cups so many things and they were super generous with the servings and it was so creamy! The crepe was huge! The entire atmosphere and the service was extraordinary. We made it home with no rain, ready for debrief and prayer requests, which is always good! Best way to end a long day. Hailey and I got all the donations ready to take to the center in the moring, man talk about seeing God move. We had 4 suitcases full of toys, games, crafts, and all kinds of stuff for the kids. We were all ready for bed but it was a party out in the streets.
Wednesday morning, most of us got to sleep in some, Macie and Marilyn made breakfast. We ate, did a run through of the day and we were ready! Prayed and headed out, of course a coffee spot but this one was not one of the good ones. Adorado café, Cold brew 1.5-tasted like tea, Esthetic 5, lemon bread 6, atmosphere 5.
We got to the center and we were ready to clean! A suprise to us, our Moroccan friend was back with more of her tea and this time she also brought bread with oil and honey and cake, her dad’s recipe. We love spending time with her! We had a little group meeting, the list went up and we all pulled together and got it all done listening to worship music and cleaning away. Again God showed up and supplied us with everything we needed. We went through all the donations again, separated and put them away. Than we got to eat Moroccan food, oh man!! So bomb! I ate lamb for the first time! Delicious! We had the perfect amount of food, just a little left over and some dessert pastries, oh man the pastries here are fire!!!
So we finished up, cleaned up said our goodbyes, thank yous and blessed the center and staff. It was raining again! We got to enjoy walking back to the house in the rain! Our last walk from the center. When we got back to the house we got settled and began our big debrief! It was actually really good! 25 questions we got to take our time write them down and share. Our team does a really good job sharing. It was beautiful to re experience the entire trip, remembering it all seeing God move the entire time. We have so much love for the kids and families it was really good to just let everything out, good, not so good, sad, things that we will and won’t miss. It was just a beautiful experience. God really showed up. I just love my team! We decided to have free time after, refill up our cups however that looks. And prepare for tomorrow.
-Amanda
Wow! We just finished day nine! We are having so much fun serving these precious kids and their moms. Today we added a second location to our “English Immersion” camp. We took public transportation for about an hour to serve at a new sight in the morning. Even though we were meeting these kids for the first time, we bonded quickly. Day One was a huge success!
After completing Day One at the new center, we headed back to our place to rest and regroup for our first day of English Immersion Camp at the center we have been serving at for the last week. Both camps were a huge success!
We have such a committed team. Being fluent in the language of our country, Ely has been a lifesaver. She is our MC, main teacher, and constant translator. Hailey has kept us all organized and on time. Cole is excellent with the older boys, as well as being the only guy on our team! Amanda’s high energy keeps our sports games high energy, and she keeps the team going. Macie’s gentle compassionate spirit ministers God’s love to the little ones. Finally, Liana’s sweet spirit is a ray of sunshine for everyone. The Apostle Paul said it right when he compared the Church to the human body. Each part works together for the good of the whole body. We see this in action everyday!!!
In addition to working together to serve Jesus by serving these refugees, our other highlight today was receiving Kayla B. today! What a treat!!! We get to keep her for our last four days!
Personally, my highlight was playing games with the Moms, seeing them enjoy themselves, and bonding with them as new friends. I look forward to staying in touch with these precious women and building a cross-cultural friendship with them.
As you can see, we can never out serve God! No matter how much you give up or step up, God blesses you double when you love God by serving others. We thank God for this opportunity to serve!
In Christ Jesus, our Lord,
Professor Williams (AKA, “Marilyn”)
Hola amigos!
We have been staying busy over here in Western Europe! Yesterday during camp we played some fun water games with the kids, and today we traveled with to a nearby town for a pool day! We were blessed with beautiful weather and lots of volunteers, which made our field trip run smoothly. The kids have all gotten so comfortable with us and we are having a blast with them! It filled me with so much joy to see the bright smiles on all of their faces today (and to help the little ones who couldn’t swim lol)!
We enjoyed a picnic lunch by the pool, and a few hours later took the train back to the center. The kids were exhausted from a day full of playing and a few even fell asleep on the way back.
It makes me sad that we are halfway through our time here, but I am also in awe of how much God has been working through us in just one week! It has been a blessing to be able to bond with these kids and show them the love of Jesus. Marylin has also been able to bond with some of the moms! We need lots of prayer that God will open doors within these conversations to share about our faith.
We are all so excited to see what is in store during our second week here! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us along the way!
¡Nos vemos pronto!
Macie
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
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.
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.
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 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.