Global Outreach

We’ve learned so much during our time here, both from the kids and from the missionaries who’ve made this incredible place their home. Here on the property, our favorite activities have been making jewelry with the kids as part of their livelihood project, helping out in classrooms and in PE, and spending lot of time getting to know the foster families. One of the girls had a birthday party the other day and they taught us a call and response happy birthday song that cracked us up!! 

We’ve also been able to go off the compound to an after school daycare where they feed the kids and keep them out of trouble. What a fun but exhausting experience; it’s crazy to realize people volunteer most of their day to this ministry! 

Pray with us for continued energy and sensitivity towards the needs of the missionaries and the kids we’re spending time with. We’re thankful for good health (except for a bit of altitude sickness!), absolutely gorgeous weather and the amazing opportunity to play just a small part of such a great ministry.  #CUGO

The China team has been building relationships with students in and out of the classroom. One activity involved discussing the true meaning of Easter. Playing card games and basketball have proven to be other effective ways of getting to know one another. Teaching English is a great way to connect. Pray for opportunities to share the gospel. #CUGO

Well, our time in the Czech Republic has come to an end. Even though leaving is hard and goodbyes are so sad, it’s amazing to look back and see what God has done these last few days!

Camp ended well as we continued to enjoy time with our students, have good conversations and answer their questions. Thursday was extra special as it was Gospel Night! The evening talk explicitly shared the whole Gospel and then led students in a reflection activity. Many students seemed very thoughtful and took time to pray with and talk to the leaders.

On Saturday, camp ended and we traveled to Zlin, where the local church we worked with is located, to begin follow-up! We thoroughly enjoyed worshiping with these fellow believers at their church Sunday morning and enjoyed a cook-out, picnic in the park and several other activities, all of which the students from camp were invited to. Many students came and we enjoyed more good conversations and time together.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

“Hola!”  We kicked off our first full day in San Jose with a soccer training session on the field of a Nazarene University. It didn’t stop raining for the duration of training, and our goal keepers were treated to a pretty intense mud bath.

The afternoon was filled with the joy of smiles, soccer, and piggyback rides. Our team visited an elementary school in San Jose and joined the children for recess. The children adored the game time, but we pray that our biggest impact could be in the Good News that was shared through two team testimonies and the “Wordless Book” message from Coach Meade.On Sunday we play University of Costa Rica at their game facility (ranked top 3 in the country), we shared a meal with their team at a missionary’s house. During that time, Lauren–our goalkeeper shared her testimony through a translator. Praise the Lord that Hannah and Taylor individually prayed with a girl from the team afterwards and she accepted Christ!  Many of the other girls were asking good questions.   The coach of that team shared his testimony as well. This was a huge development because his team did not know he was a believer.

We are fervently praying that the Good News we were able to share would be grown. Thank you for your prayers and being part of our team from afar!

We just finished our 3rd full day of camp and we are having a blast! It’s amazing to see God work through all the different activities and people here: From being able to love on students during English classes, afternoon workshops and games, evening activities and hike day (we survived!) to being able to explicitly share the Gospel with them during evening talks and discussions. God has also given us several neat opportunities to share our testimonies with students and answer their questions during meals, hikes and bonfires! Tug of war during the afternoon games.

  Hike day!

Bonfire!

Our team, the Josiah Venture interns and the local church!

A few prayer requests…

• Continued strength as we finish the last 3 days of camp
• For the students: that we would continue to build good relationships with them, that they would understand more about the Gospel and that they would see Jesus through us
• For our team, the interns and the local church: that we would continue to encourage and work together as one unified body of Christ

Basketball camp is going great . Evan, Vinny, and Andrew are doing a great job building relationships and reflecting Christ’s love.
Thanks for praying for us!

–Kris DeWitt (team leader)

Greetings from Bolivia.  We have had an excellent week installing water pumps and recording instructional videos in Vacas, a rural area near Cochabamba.  The instructional videos will be placed on YouTube for people in Bolivia and around the world to help them build hand-operated pumps.  The team has also participated in church services, provided Bibles, and encouraged members of three churches.  We have greatly enjoyed learning about Bolivian culture and meeting with members of the communities, pastors, and fellow believers in Christ.

It is amazing to see how God has used the engineering talents of SIM missionaries and others to provide water to numerous rural families but also how God has used the missionaries to provide spiritual water to the people.  The churches in the Vacas area are thriving, God is clearly working in the hearts of the people, and they have a strong hunger for God’s Word.

Our women’s soccer team is on the ground in Costa Rica.  Pray for impact on those they play with.

It is our third full day in the Czech Republic and we are loving every minute of it! Right now, we are at a Josiah Venture training center in beautiful Malenovice. Here, we’ve been able to meet the Josiah Venture intern team and local Czech church we’ll be working with –  we are thoroughly enjoying getting to know them!  #CUGO

Ryan planning camp with the Czech church leader, David.

Landon, Josiah Venture missionary over all English camps, giving us our final charge.

Chelsea, Rebecca, Renee and Ryan.

We’re only three days in and we’re already amazed at how God is working in our preparation, giving us strength, helping us build relationships and showing us how He is using Josiah Venture and the local churches here to work in the hearts of young people!

Today, we’re leaving for where English camp will be. A few prayer requests as we start this next part of our trip:

• Continued strength as we’re getting used to the physical demands of camp.
• That our team, the interns and the local church will continue to get to know each other and will truly work as unified followers of Christ.
• For the students as they arrive tomorrow!!! And for our relationships with them.