A Central Asian Galentine's Party
You may remember the “Story of the Knitted Grinch”. That fateful day in December 2023 was a huge reminder to me to not be shy about getting to know my neighbors. I’ve definitely carried that lesson with me, especially during our time in Central Asia. Getting to know my neighbors here hasn’t been easy. The language barrier is very challenging, because most of my neighbors speak “street” instead of “literary,” meaning they use more slang, words borrowed from other languages, and lots of shortcuts you won’t find in a grammar book. In spite of this, slowly slowly I’ve gotten to know my… Read more
“Well we’ve had one, yes. But what about second breakfast?”
If you were born and raised in evangelical churches like me, it is very possible that you have never really fasted before. If you are even more like me, your church might have had a sort of (and I mean “sort of”) Lent tradition where you chose, each year, something to go without for that time of Lent. In past years I fasted from various things like social media and even music (yes, all music, it sucked). But if you are a little more aware of fasting traditions around the world, you may know of Islam’s holy month, Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Muslim calendar. It is a special… Read moreA Very Merry Christmas & a Happy (but crazy) New Year
Amadas’ Christmas Parties December began with the preparation for and hosting of our annual Christmas parties—by far the largest of the events we hold each year. Over the course of several hours, we had the joy of connecting with 285 women! After registering, each woman was given intentional, one-on-one time with a member of our team. During this time, we listened to them, shared the Christmas story (several hearing it for the very first time), received prayer requests, and prayed with them on the spot. The women were also invited to participate in a simple craft, creating space to slow down… Read moreDecember Update
Happy New Years everyone! I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Years with your families! Ministry Update I am at approximately 75% of my monthly goal and 94% of my one-time goal! God has been faithful to provide the funds through the generosity of his people this far and I know he will continue to be faithful. I am heading to DC in early January on the first of two trips to the Bulgarian Embassy as part of the visa process. I am currently to hoping to have the process complete by mid-late February depending on how long the US and Bulgarian government beauracracies… Read more
Semana Santa en España
Welcome back to another update from Spain! I am loving my time here and learning new things every single day. The past month has been filled with so many amazing, exciting things, and although I can't touch on all of them, I'll just share a few quick ones. One of the amazing things that I've really enjoyed during my time here has been getting to know the team a little bit better and learning to work alongside them to create videos for the Lord. And as I've learned from people from different walks of life and even speaking different languages, it's been really amazing. Also, as you know,… Read more