March & April 2026

Mission Weekend

At the beginning of March, our church celebrated missions in their annual Mission Weekend. This event highlights many of the ministries and missionaries that are supported and connected with the church. Sharing about all God has done in my ministry this past year greatly encouraged me. I enjoyed looking back at the ways God has provided and all the people I have been able to share His love with through all the opportunities. As many people came to look at the board of the highlights of the ministry experiences I had this past year, I was especially encouraged by the young children who came to explore the discipleship and gospel-sharing tools at the booth! One young girl was deeply intrigued with a gospel-sharing tool that opened and folded to share the complete gospel. She continued to bring her friends and siblings over so she could show them, and she was naturally sharing the gospel with all her friends! After about the fourth time of her coming to the booth to look at the gospel-sharing tool, she asked, "Where can I get one of these?" I said, "This one is yours now. You are already using it to share Jesus with all your friends!" This young girl so naturally shared the gospel countless times that morning.

Our ministry organization (Global Link Partners) was invited to share on Saturday morning at a Mission Expo, and it was so encouraging to make many connections there and to share alongside my team a glimpse of what we have been able to do (collectively and individually) over this past year. On Wednesday night of Mission Week, we were also invited to share in the AWANA classes about missions! We enjoyed all three groups of young kids as we looked at what it means to be Global - around the world and in our own backyards, Linked - to connect together with others and Jesus, and Partners - to rely on your church community and Christians around the world to each do their part in sharing the gospel. For each of the pieces in our organization name, we had an activity that focused on those skills including locating places on a globe, linking together a verse with a team, and working together by only using one hand to pass a globe beachball without letting it fall. Reminding these young learners that they are already missionaries to their neighbors, classmates, and friends is one of my favorite ways to encourage them in knowing they each have an important role in the big mission of the church. 

Student Link

As we are coming to a close on the school year, both of my Student Link Disciple-Making Groups are wrapping up with the material. There are just a handful of lessons and meetings left with these groups and the students are already talking about how they want to serve in helping lead next year's group or starting their own individual group with some friends. This is the goal of the program, to make disciples who make disciples. The bond these students have together is also super impactful. I am encouraged to see how they keep each other accountable and the ways they have already brought up wanting to continue meeting to encourage each other after we finish the Student Link book. I love seeing how God uses me to share all He has taught me and is still teaching me with them.  

Toddler Bible Study

The preschoolers and toddlers have been busy! Most weeks, they are averaging 6-8 Littles in the group, but now that spring/summer activities have started, it could begin to fluctuate more. With the consistently sized group in the spring, it was fun to think of activities to tie the lesson all together. Their curious questions and playful spirits are always wonderful to see.

In a lesson on Jesus healing the lame man, we made MagnaTile houses and filled them with little people so they were crowded. Then, I told the students to smash the roof of their house to let the paralyzed man in! I used the trusty felt board to tell the story and leaned it up to the carpeted divider so we could place the characters on top of the board like they were on the roof of the house. The kids thought it was fun to see how crowded the felt board got as we retold the story! 

We spent a few weeks on Easter as we celebrated Palm Sunday and Jesus entering Jerusalem and talked about the Resurrection a week later! When I asked the kids what happened to Jesus after he was crucified, one saw the picture of the cave tomb in the Children's Bible I was holding and said, "After dying on the cross, Jesus was placed into a cave with lions!" While she had inadvertently combined two biblical stories (the resurrection and Daniel), I thought, "That's a new conspiracy for the 'disappearance' of Jesus's body from the tomb that I haven't heard before!" Some of the older preschooler students were beginning to piece together how big of a sacrifice it was for Jesus to die for our sins and reacting to the crucifixion. It is great to see their engagement in these Easter lessons as they are realizing the impact this one story has on everything.

In our most recent lesson, we looked at the story of Noah's Ark! We made an ark out of MagnaTiles and filled it with animals, and then played outside on the playground as if it was the ark. One of the boys said, "Get in the ark! We have tigers and dinosaurs in here!" While that may have been intended as inviting, I imagined the ark as more of a Jurassic Park experience from this preschooler's description. Had he said there were lambs and bunnies on the ark, I would have jumped right on, but he reassured me they were nice dinosaurs and tigers. 

Youth Group

While Wednesdays are currently my longest day of the week as I run from one regular event to the next, it always ends on such a good note with these 6th grade girls! We have been going through a series on the Fruit of the Spirit and talking through all those attributes we see in our life when we have the Spirit within us. The discussions have been deep and meaningful, and we are seeing the girls open up more and more. Since our group is regularly at 16 girls, we divide into smaller groups for discussion times. It's a Catch-22 in some ways because, as leaders, we want to be connecting with all the girls and rotating, but we also want to develop that trust in consistency for those deeper conversations. So far, it has been working out, and we are thrilled all the girls come regularly and continue to bring their friends! 

While this game (9-Square) is typically played with one person in a square, these girls decided since they are all "one group" that they could be "one" in the game! I love their unity - and when up against high-school boys, there had to be some way of balancing the game!

Earlier in the year, after Fall Retreat, a couple of the girls had brought up how they would like to have more Bible memory throughout the year. Additionally, after Winter Retreat, a couple girls brought up how they would like to have more worship throughout the year. My co-leader made it possible. She talked with the youth pastor about having the girls lead one worship song for the middle school youth each week. She also gave out memory verses that go with the Fruit of the Spirit theme, and we provided incentives for those who completed those verses. Listening to these girls recite Bible verses and stand before their peers to praise God through worship encourages me in so many ways. I am so proud of them. 

Earlier in the year, we had wanted to serve together as a small group but decided to wait until the spring. This past month, we all joined together to serve at our church's Second Harvest, which provides food to people in the community. It ended up being on one student's birthday, and she said she loved serving on her birthday surrounded by her friends! We had brownies and popsicles afterwards to celebrate. It was amazing seeing each of the girls serve in their own ways and how they paired up to help each other with different tasks!

Youth Sunday 

Watching the 6th grade girls and the Student Link students and leaders participate in Youth Sunday was so fun! Once a year, the youth take over the service and participate in all the ways the congregation members would - on stage in worship, sharing testimonies, reading verses, serving coffee, handing out bulletins, welcoming, leading Sunday School, and communion/offering to name a few. This gives the youth an opportunity to practice serving and finding ways they can serve in the church. It was so fun seeing all these youth serving and trying out new areas to serve, and then, I also loved when they would say, "I will be serving at welcoming because I already regularly do that with my family," or "I'll serve at the coffee bar because I am already regularly helping there on Wednesday nights and know what to do." So many of these students have experiences serving at the church because their families have committed to serving together. It is such a great way to connect as a family and also reminds everyone that these youth aren't just the future church, they ARE the church now!

6th Grader Choir

All the Student Link students and leaders got new "LINK" shirts as we all joined together in serving on Sunday. It was fun to see all the different talents of the students as some were greeters, some servers, some speakers, and others organizers. After serving two services, we met from both campuses for sandwiches to have fellowship with one another and talk about all the areas where we served that morning.

Czech

As more time passes from when I had lived full-time as a missionary in Czech, I see glimpses of the ways God continues to remind me of the connections I made and the impact of serving there. At the beginning of March, I received a message sharing with me how one of the young adults in youth group shared her testimony of when she made a commitment to God. This young lady shared how I was at a youth event with them and talked with her about what it means to be a follower of Jesus. I was honored she recalled how God had used me in her own story! 

Additionally, I was asked to come in to speak briefly with a Christian high school class about mission work in a post-communist country. I loved being able to share some of my experiences with them and encourage this group of teenagers in missions. During the talk, I called one of my young friends in Czech who has a powerful testimony of surrendering her life to God at a young age and remaining faithful through her teens even when some of her closest friends and family don't share the same belief. The students got to hear her story directly from her! I love seeing how God has given me the experiences I had in Czech to encourage teens in their journeys. 

This past month, one of my dear friends in Czech came to Minnesota for a visit. I was very happy to get to spend some time with her and enjoyed catching up. I am also getting ready to return to Czech for a short mission trip in the fall! Our team is coming together, and we have just begun planning for this trip, but we are all excited to be going back and partnering again with the ministry I spent nearly a decade with! 

January & February 2026

Discipleship Conference 

For the last week of February, I returned to the Discipleship Conference with SonLife in Florida as I had been to last year. With others from my Student Link Team, I was there to help serve the SonLife team for this conference. Their purpose for the conference was to connect with youth and church leaders around the USA and Canada giving them tools and support in disciple-making for the various ministries. I loved joining in on the different seminar trainings and felt enriched by the experience as I was reminded about the importance of the ministry work I get to be a part of. One speaker talked about the term “lost” and how some Christians have gone away from using the term “lost” to describe a non-Christian, not wanting to offend, some people now call that group “seekers” as we are all seeking for something. The speaker didn’t disagree with this, though shared he prefers “lost” saying two keys things: lost things have value, and lost things are being searched for. I really liked that description especially when talking about ministry. 

I enjoyed the conference and serving the pastors, youth directors, and other attendees at the conference to give them a great experience as well. It is always encouraging to come together knowing we all have a common goal and want to see Christ’s love spread like little wildfires around the world. 

Student Link

I have been so grateful for these couple groups of Student Link students that I lead and the way they keep each other accountable! One of the guys in a group I lead has struggled for a couple weeks to make it to the Student Link meetings because he would stay up late and end up falling asleep after school. A couple of his peers said, “Leave it us.” The next week, this student showed up and I quickly started talking with him — as his friends followed in after him they said, “You should give him a moment. He’s still waking up. We just pulled him from his bed and told him to get to Student Link.” I absolutely love the accountability and friendship these guys have — to care so much about their friend to go into his home and get him up because they know he wants to make this commitment to Jesus. This group asks so many questions, and I am always excited to see where the conversation will take us! 

We are often joined by “Jack the Dog” for Student Link with the girls. Though he is not a lap-dog, he has taken to sitting on my lap while I teach! These girls are looking at their Student Link books with the end in mind. While we are still months out, they have seen all the progress they have completed together and want to keep going. Their different personalities come through in these times, and I love seeing how God has made them all so unique and still how they connect together!

Student Link - Outreach

Since there are many groups of Student Link with lots of members of one youth group, each month we try to have a Student Link connect event to bring the students together. In January, we braved the cold and went sledding before — like true Minnesotans — went out for ice cream. I enjoyed seeing the youth from the different groups connecting together as well as forever Student Link leaders who are now in college come in to join this event on their J-Term!

In February, we went to the mall the day after Valentine’s Day to pass out roses to strangers. Each rose had a verse tied to the stem that talked about the love of Jesus. We split up into groups and roamed the mall, looking for people with whom to share the joy of God. The girls in my group were giddy with excitement and confidently approached women in the mall with these roses saying they wanted to share joy after Valentine’s Day, referenced the verse, and asked if they could pray with the ladies. A good handful of the women were incredibly grateful for prayer and were happy for the girls to pray right there in that moment! I know God works through these touchpoint encounters. I am also grateful for the opportunity it gives students in sharing their faith so they have confidence when their friends ask them questions about their faith. 

Toddler Bible Study

The toddlers/pre-schoolers and I have been enjoying our Tuesday mornings together as we look at different Bible stories and biblical principles. One cold January day, God quickly gave me an idea for a lesson. I brought in a pair of mittens and asked the kids, “What can I do with these?” The answers flooded in, “Build a snowman!”, “Make a snowball!”, “Play hockey!”, “Make a snow angel!” I looked at the kids and holding the mitten in my hand said, “It can do all that?! Well, you have me convinced,” and then I said to the mitten, “Make me a snowman!” The kids erupted in laughter saying, “No! You have to do it!” We then talked about how without Jesus inside of us, we are like the mitten without a hand — lacking purpose. While a big topic for these little learners, I believe it resonated with them as an example of what it is like to have Jesus inside of each of us.

This little learner laid on the floor for minutes just looking at the kids with Jesus.

The following lesson we looked at Jesus with the little children. After reading the story and filling in the flannel board, I gave each of the kids a child flannel picture and told them to place it where they would like to be when Jesus calls the children to him. One child put herself next to the crowd of kids saying she would like to be with her friends to see Jesus. Another put himself as close to Jesus as he could, only to be followed by the littlest in the class who placed her picture right on Jesus’s lap! The last little learner in my class placed his picture under the tree saying, “It looks hot there… I’ll stay in the shade and listen!”

Right before Valentine’s Day, the kids and I talked about what it means that Jesus loves us. The kids and I had a great discussion as we shared different things we love, how Jesus shows us love, how we show Jesus love, and how we show Jesus’s love to others. It made me smile when I asked the kids to tell each other things they love about each other and one little boy turned to one girl and said, “I really love… your brother.” She just gushed, “Thank you! I love my brother too!” 

 

Youth Group

Wednesday evenings are lively with this group! The energy from 15 6th grade girls cannot be accurately described, so I will let you readers imagine it for yourself. While many of them get sugar-highs on Wednesday evenings and some are just always excited to see their friends, I am always amazed at their care for each other and their focus in learning about God. The minute the speaker begins, they are all tuned in and ready to follow along in their Bibles and answering the questions (even if the leader had asked the question rhetorically!). 

While this group of girls loves games and are regularly competitive, they play the games with each other in mind. They look for ways for their friends to succeed, because to them, if one of the 6th grade girls win, they all win. They make me so proud. Recently, these girls brought it to our attention that they wanted to have time to memorize verses and to worship in youth group. My co-leader planned a memory verse list for the girls to have and challenged them to say the memory verses to a parent and us leaders (and of course, some motivation rewards are involved!). Additionally, we asked the youth leader if dinging one worship song before youth group began was possible, and he agreed! The girls are excited to lead the worship song in front of their peers as we all worship God together. 

One leader brought her new puppies to church on Wednesday for “socialization time” and the 6th and 7th graders and I had some quick puppy love time! 

Youth Group - Winter Retreat

We drove north through a snowstorm for a Winter Retreat weekend with the youth group. Once we got to the camp, we all realized we should have packed our ice skates — simply to get between one building and the next because the sidewalks were slick! The girls were careful and after another light snowfall, there was traction that kept us upright the rest of the weekend. I don’t believe one of us left camp without some kind of bruise or scrape as we tried out many of the crazy camp activities — ice sledding, tubing hill, and other events. Even in all the bumps and bruises, we all left the weekend with smiles. 

One of the really important things from this event was the time for the girls to connect with each other and with the leaders. I was grateful for the hours of free-time where the girls could just be together and not feel as if they were running between one activity to the next. I saw them grow in their friendships and create tighter bonds while also stretching out of their comfort zones in different ways. 

The way the retreat was organized allowed for the students to pick a couple break-out sessions instead of a morning chapel on Saturday. I thought this was a fun way to engage the students and other camp staff in leading sessions. Without prompting, all of our girls signed up for the lesson on the Lord’s Prayer saying, “We just talked about prayer in youth group and wanted to know more!” As we were in the session, the speaker broke down the Lord’s Prayer into sections and labeled them (adoration, thanksgiving, etc.) and gave the students some time to make their own prayers. As the speaker was giving this task he said, “I wish I had a handout or a PowerPoint slide with these points on them for you to follow along.” One of my sweet 6th grade girls raised her hand and said, “If we want to follow the plan… can’t we just look at our Bibles for Jesus’s prayer?” My heart warmed. One of the things we had been focusing on with these girls during our session of prayer was that when we don’t know how to pray, we can look at the Bible as a reference or to pray scripture. The girls had all understood — it’s not about a system or plan or format, it’s just about talking to their Heavenly Father.

Youth Group - Baptisms

I rejoiced with two of my 6th grade girls at their baptisms this past month! I loved hearing them share how God has transformed their lives and their decision for baptism as an outward declaration of their faith. As the church body came together in the evening to celebrate these baptisms, I was heart-warmed to see a handful of the 6th grade girls gather around their friends before their baptisms to encourage them and then eagerly find them afterwards for pictures and congratulations!

Youth Group - Palooza

I flew in from Florida and went straight from the airport to our Middle School Palooza! Palooza is an outreach event for the youth students to bring their friends to experience lots of fun activities and - most importantly - to hear about God's love through an evening program. I was just about a half-hour late, but I found my 6th graders all over the building in various activities with all the friends they had invited! Total, we had 12 regular attending 6th graders plus 8 invited friends who joined them! My co-leader and I had so much fun just spending time together and watching these girls light up as they competed, worked together, and laughed throughout the evening. We all gathered at the end (all 200+ youth students with their leaders) to listen to a message about what it means to be a good friend. The speaker looked at Peter's life and how he thought he was a good friend to Jesus, but never could be the kind of friend Jesus was for him. I loved seeing these 6th graders engage with the message and hold their friends as they listened to this message about friendship.

Loved seeing so many of the Student Link Youth volunteering at this event as they poured their energy into these lively middle schoolers!

Czech - Elephant & Piggie Stories

For those of you who have been reading this blog for a while, you know all about these two beloved storybook characters, Elephant (Gerald) and Piggie. We regularly read these engaging children's books in English Classes I taught in Czech. The children attached to these characters and our plush animals of the storybook best friends quickly became class favorites. For years, I have used these books to teach and students who have grown up through my English Classes recall these stories with nostalgia. I left my entire collection of the books when I departed Czech, sharing it was my hope the books would be used by others. For a season, the books were left alongside these lovable characters in the closet. After my trip to Czech last September, I was talking with a dear friend about the materials I had left at the Mission building, including these books. She had been teaching English with young kids at ELIM and eagerly snatched up the books to use again! I have loved receiving pictures of her daughter enjoying the books and the characters. They hold a special place in my heart as I think of all the kids who have enjoyed these two plushies and the collection of books, and it fills my heart again knowing these stories are still being used to spread lots of joy.

My friend wrote her daughter decided they needed to take Piggie for a weekend stay to her house! This little pig has traveled with me across Czech to camp, has comforted crying kids, and continues to light up little faces.