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.
As I reflect on my time in Romania, one conversation stands out as both the hardest and most meaningful moment of the trip. During a week of church youth camp with Bethel Baptist Church and the kids from House of Hope, we spent our days full of energy—playing games, doing activities, and learning about Jonah and Jesus.
One day at lunch, I was talking with a girl from House of Hope Orphanage whom I had grown close to. The conversation shifted to faith, and she looked uneasy as she admitted…
