Over the past few weeks, I’ve experienced a renewed sense of joy through simple, both planned and unexpected, encounters with Christians from different cultures. These moments have reminded me of the power of hospitality and the richness of God’s global family.
On a flight from Toronto to Budapest, I sat next to a man from Newfoundland. What started as casual conversation turned into hours of sharing stories about our lives and backgrounds. By the time we landed,…
One of the most meaningful moments this week didn’t happen on a stage or during a program—it happened around a dinner table.
We were sitting in the home of a Ukrainian pastor and his family, sharing a simple, homecooked meal. As the conversation unfolded, they began sharing what it’s been like to leave everything behind because of the war and start over in a new country. There was both heaviness and hope in their story, but what stood out most was their faith and their desire to keep serving others, even in the middle of rebuilding their own lives.
This summer began for me with a familiar joy—welcoming a small team of university students to join our missions work Romania!
Just days ago, four young women from Azusa Pacific University arrived to serve alongside RTC this summer. I could see in their faces a desire to embrace new rhythms, a different culture, and unfamiliar places. I also saw in them a resolute trust in God to work through every detail.
I knew the date was coming, but I didn’t expect it to feel quite like this.
Without telling me, my wife reached out to people from different seasons of my life and asked them to write. I expected a few kind birthday notes. What I didn’t expect were these to be the kind of messages that make you slow down, read twice, and quietly thank God.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve experienced a renewed sense of joy through simple, both planned and unexpected, encounters with Christians from different cultures. These moments have reminded me of the power of hospitality and the richness of God’s global family.
On a flight from Toronto to Budapest, I sat next to a man from Newfoundland. What started as casual conversation turned into hours of sharing stories about our lives and backgrounds. By the time we landed,…
One of the most meaningful moments this week didn’t happen on a stage or during a program—it happened around a dinner table.
We were sitting in the home of a Ukrainian pastor and his family, sharing a simple, homecooked meal. As the conversation unfolded, they began sharing what it’s been like to leave everything behind because of the war and start over in a new country. There was both heaviness and hope in their story, but what stood out most was their faith and their desire to keep serving others, even in the middle of rebuilding their own lives.
This summer began for me with a familiar joy—welcoming a small team of university students to join our missions work Romania!
Just days ago, four young women from Azusa Pacific University arrived to serve alongside RTC this summer. I could see in their faces a desire to embrace new rhythms, a different culture, and unfamiliar places. I also saw in them a resolute trust in God to work through every detail.
I knew the date was coming, but I didn’t expect it to feel quite like this.
Without telling me, my wife reached out to people from different seasons of my life and asked them to write. I expected a few kind birthday notes. What I didn’t expect were these to be the kind of messages that make you slow down, read twice, and quietly thank God.
You know what’s always amazed me?
How something as simple as a college student saying “yes” to a summer can turn into something much bigger over time.
For years, we’ve had students come serve with us. They arrive not fully knowing what to expect but come willing. And somewhere along the way, something shifts. You see it in how they connect, how they listen, how they begin to care about people in a deeper way. And then, years later when you start hearing it in their stories.
Last Sunday at Impact Church was one of those moments that reminds us why this work matters.
For so many students, faith can feel distant or uncertain and they are not quite sure how to take their next step. That’s where the church is able to step in and create a place where they can see what it looks like to follow Jesus.
My phone showed me a photo from 2014 this week—and I couldn’t stop thinking about the stories behind it.
It’s just a simple group picture, but every person in it represents a piece of what God has been building over the years.
Allyssa was the only girl in the group back then. Since that day, she met Razvan, got married, and now they’re raising three kids while serving…
