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2025 Teams

May 27 2025
8

Update #2 Southern Africa

By | 2025 Teams, Southern Africa

Officially our first day of camp! We all got up around 7am to start our day. The kids got off the bus around 8, and we greeted them while they were guided to their dorms to drop off their belongings. 

The kids eventually joined us in the dining hall, and we got to serve them breakfast. Before they ate, the local leaders led them in a song of prayer before they enjoyed their meals, and it was a beautiful thing to witness. The amount of gratefulness and joy radiating from the children is astonishing.

After we ate, we had a team debrief to go over the schedule, got put into our leadership teams, and headed out to the grass. We were able to meet some of the kids, and our wonderful Teagan got to teach them some cool dance moves!

We split up the children in teams of 15 (red, green, blue and purple) and we started the day with a lesson and worship. Our local leaders took lead on today, and they introduced the Parable of the Sower to the kids. Today’s theme was “Following Jesus”, and what it means to hide His words in your heart, just like Psalm 119:11 tells us to do. The kids are attempting to learn verses every day, so we took some time studying Psalm 119:11 and answering any questions they might have.

The day was filled with musical chairs, water balloon hot potato, arts and crafts, water relay races and so much more! A lot of us got to hang out with the kids during free time, playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, and just getting to know them. The joy and energy the children have is contagious. 

We ended the night with a great meal, a little bit of worship, and a great bed time story for the kids. Tomorrow will be just as fun!

~Natalie

May 27 2025
2

Update #7 Central America B

By | 2025 Teams, Central America B

God has shown himself to us and the individuals whose houses we have visited, in wonderful and miraculous ways. He has brought this group to the doorsteps of families that needed the love and comfort of God. Healing families, bringing hope and peace to the broken heart and the lost. It has been a great blessing to walk this journey and do Gods will with these amazing and unique individuals and have brought them here for a purpose. God is truly working in this place and I pray that the last few days of this trip are as fruitful and beautiful as the last few days have been.

-Joel

May 27 2025
2

Update #1 Southern Africa

By | 2025 Teams, Southern Africa

After two ten hour flights, we stayed in the Johannesburg, South Africa airport for the night on Sunday. 

We hung out in the airport, most of us trying to catch up on some sleep before our next flight at 6am. 

We all woke up together around 3:45am and played games before our flight. We boarded our flight and set off for final country around 6:30am! We were all extremely exhausted from the changing time zones and were ready to get to the site. 

The flight was only an hour and half long so we spent most of it talking, sleeping, and watching the beautiful sunrise! 

We made it through customs and met up with Glen, and the rest of the Hands of Hope team. The drive to the compound was incredible! 

My excitement and readiness to serve really grew in just the first hour meeting the team, riding in the van, and seeing all the amazing nature of this country. 

We all really began to connect with Hellen and her sweet baby girl on the drive too. 

Once we arrived to the compound, we unloaded some things, ate breakfast, and gathered with the team. We learned from Garikai, the national director, and Glen, the founder, about the culture and history of this country and the organization as a whole. We were fighting to keep our eyes open, as there’s a 9 hour time difference, but it was all worth it. 

We ate lunch all together and continued to learn. We had a little bit of downtime before heading to the house of one of the local pastors connected to the organization. We ate a delicious local dinner, including sadza. We even got to draw water from a well deep underground! It was super cool!!

We were all pretty exhausted and ready for bed, despite it only being 7:30pm. Returning to the compound we met up quickly as a team before heading to bed. It was an incredible day!

~Olivia

May 27 2025
1

Team Southeast Asia A is back home!

By | 2025 Teams, Southeast Asia A

After another long travel day, the Southeast Asia A has made it safely back to Sacramento around 11:45pm on May 27th. They are exhausted but their hearts are full of joy and sweet memories! Join us in praying for them now as they settle back into home life as they may experience some reverse culture shock. Pray for them to have the space to process all that they saw and did on this trip, to reflect well on how the Lord showed up for them, used them, and revealed more of himself to them.

Don’t forget to check in on a team member, and ask them about their experiences in country! They have lots of stories to tell and need their loved ones to listen as they process. 🙂

May 26 2025
0

Team Western Europe is back home!

By | 2025 Teams, Western Europe

After two weeks in Western Europe, immersing themselves in new rhythms of daily ministry and prayer, the team is finally home safe and sound, arriving back in Sacramento around 8:30pm on May 27th. The team learned more about community and how to love people from all walks of life like Jesus did, more than they ever expected. They had encounters with people that were truly orchestrated by the Lord and they learned how to listen to his voice when ministering to people.

Now that they’re home, pray for them to continue to lean into the Holy Spirit’s leading as they process the trip and adjust to new rhythms at home. Don’t forget to ask a team member about their trip, and take the time to listen to the stories they have to tell. 🙂

May 26 2025
5

Team Southern Africa has arrived safely in country!

By | 2025 Teams, Southern Africa

After what I believe is the longest travel day of any GO team this summer, the Southern Africa team finally made it to their destination! They had 2 very long flights, a very long layover, and one smaller flight before finally making it safe and sound. Join us in praying for them as they start their two weeks ministering! Pray that they would remain healthy, energized, and listening to how the Holy Spirit is leading them. We will update again soon!

May 26 2025
0

Update #10 Central America C

By | 2025 Teams, Central America C

Holaaaaa! Today was a long but amazing day!
We started off the day by planning a little birthday surprise for Mauricio, one of the Just One staff. He turned 23 today! Once we had everything ready, we headed to breakfast. We normally get a “Plato típico” which is a typical plate of the country. It comes with casamiento (beans and rice together), eggs, cheese, plantains, and crema. So yummy! We then headed back to our hotel room to get the signs and surprise him before he picked us up. We got to Just One’s building to decorate for both Pastor Mizael’s and Mauricio’s birthday. Rebekah and Danielle worked in the library while the rest of us headed off to building pilas. Today’s pila home was a hike! We had to walk through 2 steep hills to and from the house. We went thru lots of grass, trees, and even crossed a creek to get to the home. Since we all know the process of making pilas by now, we were able to help more. Putting the molds together, greasing them, and mixing concrete. The view we had was awesome. We finished our first pila and headed to our second and final one of the day. It’s so fun working together with the team and the Just One scholars + staff. Being here feels like I’m home. Everyone is so welcoming and loving. It feels like we have known each other forever! We then headed back to the Just One building and had lunch. Today Ms. Linda, Ms. Sonia, and Matias made “enchiladas” they are pretty much tostadas as we know them in Mexico/California; they were so yummy. We then headed to the Just One library and helped where we could. Today, Danielle gave a lesson on portraits. We all drew our partner or in my case, I drew a random person. It was so fun to see the scholars have fun and express their drawing talents while others laughed hard at their own art. We then had game time/free time with the scholars. I played volleyball with some scholars, Ellie, and Bella. We then headed back to the hotel and Erin and I attempted to go swimming but the water was TOO COLD! We just chatted for a bit before having dinner and hanging out as a team. So excited for what tomorrow holds and the new experience we get to have. I am in love with this place and I do not want to go home anytime soon. I’m so blessed to be here and serve alongside these amazing people.
-Con amor, Ely Q

May 26 2025
3

Update #5 East Africa

By | 2025 Teams, East Africa

Jambo Jambo from Carolina! Coming at you with an update from today’s adventure!
We started our day bright and early at 5:30 AM to pack and head to the airport. After a quick breakfast (shoutout to the fantastic pineapple I had!), we were nearly on our way when one of our team members realized her camera was missing. We prayed about it and praise God we found it in the van at the very last moment!
Once we were through the airport and settled in, I treated myself to some local snacks: caramel chocolate nut ice cream and Pringles made with only four ingredients. Let me tell you they were so much better than the ones back home!
After a safe and short flight, we were picked up by some seriously cool safari style vehicles labeled “TOTOTA.” The ride to the hotel was incredible we passed cows, goats, and amazing local vendors selling handmade goods.
When we arrived, we were welcomed with a delicious lunch of cilantro garlic soup and fresh bread. Later we had the incredible opportunity to visit the house and meet the girls a powerful and humbling experience.
We ended the day with a dinner of tacos fresh avocado and chips at a location that was… shhhheeeessshhhh absolutely stunning. Finally we gathered back at the hotel for team time filled with worship, prayer, and deep connection.
What has touched me most so far on this trip is 100% the quality of the people and the richness of our conversations there are never ending topics that last till 3am and meaningful exchanges that fill my heart. I absolutely love the locals and how they live life through the lens of doing what you love. Their words and presence bring me such comfort. I feel so at peace and incredibly thankful to be here.

Signing out Bogey

May 26 2025
4

Update #4 East Africa

By | 2025 Teams, East Africa

We had some technical difficulties so this blog post was supposed to be before update #3, take a look back at day 2 for the team!


Our second day at Courage House was SUCH a blast. Our time started off with a surprise from the girls at Courage—a choreographed worship song and dance! Our team was absolutely floored by their singing voices and dancing skills. After their performance, we went through a devotion led by Marilyn, and then Tarah and Ellie took over outside to teach everyone a dance to “Goodbye Yesterday” by Elevation Rhythm! We were all hot, sweaty, and exhausted by the end of it, but everyone had so much fun dancing, laughing, and worshipping, it didn’t even matter.

Once we were ready to go inside again, Preslie and Carolina taught more of their series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Today we went over patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness . Then (we switched to activity stations: clay art, a “spa day,” and of course, sports. All of the stations were a huge hit! I was running the clay station with Sydney, and it was so fun to see everyone’s creativity in action. We saw clay hearts, frogs, chairs, flowers, and everything in between (one girl even wrote out “<3 Jesus” in clay!). The spa with Brogan and Cheyenne was also so fun. Everyone loved the silly face masks, and colorful nail polish with stickers. Once we painted all the girls’ nails, they even insisted on doing ours! Sports with Cole and Carolina were also so fun, with a big jump rope, relay races, American football, soccer, and fun volleyball activities (courtesy of Carolina).

We ate lunch (which was INCREDIBLE, of course), we set up stations again, but this time we left it open so that the girls could float around to any activity they felt like. It was an amazing time of fellowship and connection with the girls. We colored and made friendship bracelets together, danced (Church Clap and the Cupid Shuffle have been big hits), sang, did more nail polish and face masks (Cole fell asleep with his on), wore ourselves out playing sports, and so much more!

It was such a blessing today to to watch each member of this team step into their element and use their giftings to pour into Courage and the girls there, as well as to get to know the girls at Courage House even better (they are so sweet and so much fun!) We all returned to the hotel with very full hearts and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Blessings, Kenzie

May 26 2025
3

Update #6 Central America B

By | 2025 Teams, Central America B

For this trip, the phrase that keeps coming back to my mind is that I need to prioritize trusting in God and that he has a plan for this trip.

Unfortunately for this trip, I have been sick the entire time, now it’s been nonstop coughing and being exhausted both physically and mentally at the end of the day. But I have been trying to trust that through sleep and God, I can make it through the day. I believe and trust that every morning God would give me the strength and the willpower to get through the whole day which I can see him doing throughout the trip.

But God has been showing me and teaching me to trust in him in other ways.

For the church we visited today the Pastor from a church in Texas gave us the word this morning. It was about the word priorities. He kept on always resaying that word over and over which meant it was important. He said we need to prioritize putting God at the center of our lives, basically saying living and doing things for God every day. He also said we need to prioritize pursuing God’s righteousness. The last point he made, which stuck out to me is that we need to prioritize trusting in God because if we don’t we will be sitting in a constant state of worry. Why this stuck with me because I believe the Lord is still trying to work on me trusting in him and his plans. Trying to trust in his plan has been part of my journey (and testimony) since my sophomore fall semester of college. I guess the Lord is showing me that I still need work in that area.

Another example of when trust came into play today was during our visitations to the houses to install water filters. My team was led to a house where the pastor said we had to install a water filter even though they had no bucket.

The man came out with what was left of a plastic juice carton, the team thought there was no way we could put a hole in it without breaking it. But Joel had the confidence to do it and said he would try. So we had to trust in Joel’s abilities to puncture a hole in the bucket without breaking it, which he was able to do. I believe we need to trust that God would make a way for the team to use what we were given which we did.

Throughout this whole trip, I have fought the inside voices of my head saying you are not going to make it, you are incompetent because you fell behind, you will never get better, say something, and so much more. I am sure the people we install the water filters for have a lot going through their minds as they are being told the gospel. Things like doubt, confusion, pride, and maybe even negative talk about themselves. But God can take those thoughts and turn them into something positive like even when I am weak he gives me strength, when I don’t feel loved he tells me that I am loved. The Lord is continuing to hold onto me when I feel like no one else is and saying I got you and you are not alone.

Through the remainder of this trip I need to trust that God will get me though the day and put my team at the right house. I believe that I will continue to practice when I get home to continue to trust in God and his plan for my life.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed.

-Grace