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. 

November & December 2025

Student Link

It's been a season of thankfulness and remembering a birth that changed the course of history. Each year, the holidays sneak up faster, and I have loved the regular meetings with these Student Link groups that continually brings our focus back on the reason for all the celebrations.  We've seen how "busyness" tries to take hold of our schedules, and yet, when we come together, we are all encouraged.  I love watching these ladies walk with each other in discipleship, keeping one another accountable and coming alongside their friends when seasons feel cloudy. 

Love when my co-leader is back from college to join this group again!

Over the past couple months, the girls and I have looked at themes of "friendships" and "choices." It has provided a lot of great discussions, and I love hearing these ladies ask each other their thoughts and pour into what the Bible says in regards to these topics. It seems that every meeting these two months has been in a different location - the coffee shop, two homes, and even a quick check-in call when the weather was uncertain. 

When one student has a litter of puppies, it seems the most reasonable response is to do Student Link with puppies! We all loved having sleeping pups curled up next to us as we studied together. 

One of our favorite spots for meeting on the comforts of the couch with piles of blankets, and (of course) Jack the dog, who thinks he is one of the girls.

Quick check-in video call when Minnesota weather makes it difficult to meet (so grateful for the technology to connect!).

On Wednesdays, we are regularly meeting for Student Link with anther seven students. We have a really fun time discussing the themes together and diving into deeper principles. I enjoy how this group isn't afraid to jump in with their own thoughts, analogies, and questions. These high school students are such a huge encouragement to me and the other leaders as they show the desire to grow deeper in their faith and keep themselves accountable. My favorite was hearing last Wednesday, "Kendra! You will be so proud; I'm improving!" I joined this student in with celebrating his accomplishment in meeting the goals he had set for the week and let him share how these regular habits are giving him a growing excitement in his faith. These students enjoy spending time with each other outside of Wednesday nights as well, and it is really fun to see how their regular connection with God also brings them closer together. 

Toddler Tuesdays

Seeing the holidays through a child's eyes is one of the most beautiful parts of this season. We looked at a theme of thankfulness during the Thanksgiving season and talked lots about different things we are thankful for. For many of these little kids, they could not yet think of things abstractly, so I loved the things they were thankful for that they saw right in front of them - toys, shoes, and each other. As we talked about all the things we are thankful for, we thanked God for giving us these good things. 

After Thanksgiving, we moved into a theme about Christmas! These toddlers and preschoolers had a lot of excitement around Christmas and shared all about the different decorations that were going up in their homes. One of the main decorations they talked about were the Christmas trees. I asked the littles if they had a star or an angel on top of the Christmas tree and shared how these were the "invitations to Jesus's birthday party." The kids really liked that God sent these invitations so the shepherds and kings could come celebrate Jesus's birthday. I shared how putting these toppers on our tree is a way we can remember that God invites us to celebrate each year the reason for Jesus coming to Earth. 

The last Tuesday we met before Christmas, the toddlers and I made many different nativity scenes. They worked together to create Bethlehem with the Little People toys and gave each other roles in the story by assigning who would be the angels, shepherds, kings, and animals (my favorite part was when the herd of camels and one lonely donkey came to carol for baby Jesus!).  We continued this lesson by making baby Jesus's in mangers; however, the craft had been sitting in the storage closet for a while and the stickers had all dried out. I quickly grabbed some glue sticks, but the cardboard mangers were too stiff for the glue, so I resorted to stapling them together. The whole time, the preschoolers were saying, "This project isn't going well." "I don't think this one will work." "This is not how I thought it would go." So, I used this as part of the lesson asking the kids, "Do you think everything went as Joseph and Mary had planned when Jesus was born?" The kids all shook their heads and agreed Jesus' birth wasn't as his parents had planned. "But God had a plan! And look, your baby Jesus' are all wrapped in the manger now ready to be brought home!" Sometimes our plans look like they aren't working, but that doesn't mean God isn't orchestrating it all for His plan. 

Our final nativity recreation was a classic felt board. I had all the characters out of view and asked the littles to recall who should be in the picture. As they remembered the characters, I'd let them place the people/animals/angels on the board. Then, after all the characters were in place, I gave each of the students a (very 70's looking) child character and asked them to place themselves in the manger scene asking them, "If you could have been there, where would you be to see baby Jesus." I love how these littles put themselves into the story because even though we weren't there physically, God invites us all to celebrate Jesus's birth in our hearts in remembering the reason for Christmas. 

Youth Group

Volunteering with these 6th grade girls on Wednesday evenings is never enough time with them! I am so grateful for the time to connect and pour into their lives as they ask big questions. These girls don't shy away from going deeper and pursuing Jesus together. All their different personalities mesh so well together, and as leaders, we love to see how this group continues to grow in knowing one another. 

We end each youth group time with a special handshake the girls made :)

Christmas party with all 15 girls and 3 leaders! 

With close to 15 students regularly, this group can get big for discussions! We've started randomly dividing the girls among the leaders to create smaller groups so they have more opportunities to share their thoughts and questions after programs. It is working really well.

With the holidays, there were a few weeks that we have missed for regular Wednesday nights, but we always celebrate ahead of time with the youth kids! There was a special worship and games night for Christmas, and Thanksgiving was accompanied by "Pie Night" - a tradition where the youth and leaders bring/bake pies to share. As the leaders had been giving challenges to the students about making pecan and pumpkin pies, I side mentioned in a youth meeting that it would be a real challenge for the kids if they made gluten-free, dairy-free, and nut-free pies for those with dietary needs (myself in that mix included). I had offered it almost jokingly believing none of the students would have the determination to make that work, and was overwhelmingly surprised by the loads of kindness as nearly ten little bakers came on Wednesday night with a pie that was allergen-friendly. My heart swelled with joy (and my belly filled with pies!). I am so grateful for these kids and their compassion and love to serve others.

Mini-pie bites! 

October 2025

 Fall Retreat

All through my middle school and high school years, I attended many retreats, camps, and overnights at a variety of camp locations.  There is always something special about getting away for an extended weekend to focus on scripture and to just spend time intentionally soaking in the joys of life God gives.  All during high school, I attended Fall Retreat as a student and had some very impactful moments in my own faith-walk through these retreats.  I was excited to be able to return again, but this time, as a leader.  I volunteer each week with the middle school kids at the church I attend.  It was a special time we all got together to grow and encourage these young 6th grade girls in their faith journeys as well.  Throughout the week, we learned about the Eternal Kingdom, and what life after death will be like.  The speaker shared on many things and addressed the longing for Heaven - the completion and wholeness we desire - so clearly.  There is nothing that matches listening to this next-generation talk about God's love and dive in deeper.  Those moments of deep discussion broke up the day of laughter, bravery, and learning!

 

We definitely have an adventurous group of 6th graders as free-time each day was filled at the rope's course, rock climbing wall, bouldering wall, and zip-line!  Our test of heights was challenged and conquered in many aspects!  This brave youngest group competed in all the activities and games during the week, and excelled.  It was fun seeing how these games connected with the theme of the week.  

Additionally, a big part of retreat is the focus on Bible Memory.  There is a set block of time during each day for intentional scripture memorization.  The excitement the kids had in the verses they learned was unmatched.  They would then repeat the verses they had memorized alongside the speaker as he shared in evening programs.  On the last full day of retreat, I noticed a few 6th grade boys in my memory group who were not memorizing.  I had encouraged these boys the first couple days to try some verses, but they were having a difficult time memorizing and decided the last day wasn't worth the effort.  Instead, they were bouncing a ball back and forth to kill the time.  I went over to them and said, "I'm going to read this verse as you bounce the ball - one word for each bounce. Go."

Then I said, "Now, you say the words after me on each bounce. Go."

"Now, say the words with me on each bounce. Go."

"Say the words by yourselves."

"Great! I'll sign off on your verse."

The boys looked at me with confused faces and asked, "That's it? We did it! We really just memorized that verse?!"

They asked to do another.

After a couple verses, they were combing through their packets to find verses on their own to bounce the ball to and get verse points (as we compete against other teams in verse memorization).

By the end of the hour, both boys were ecstatic with all they had done for their team and were so proud of themselves. In the first two days, they had each received about 20-30 points and on the final day, they proudly counted 120 points or more each!  Later that evening, we found out our group had won the Bible Memory challenge, rumor says only by 30 points!  I pulled the boys aside telling them that had they not done those verses, our team would not have won.  They realized how important their work was in addition to the whole team and celebrated their win alongside others who had over 2,000 points, because they too were so proud of themselves. 

Youth Group Volunteering

As shared earlier, the group I led during the Fall Retreat is the same group of girls I get to volunteer with on Wednesday nights.  The group of girls is quite large and they keep inviting friends!  I love seeing their missional hearts already at this age and hearing their insights on the things we are learning about in our youth group series.  We just finished on the book of James and have moved into a theme about identity.  This is a great theme for any age, and especially for these impressionable young girls who are just beginning to really understand how the world wants them to fit into a standard when God has called them to be lights and stand out!  I am excited to see where this leads.  One of the questions that recently was addressed asked, "what is the most impactful moment of your life."  I listened as all the girls shared only positive moments - knowing this question lends to moments of either positivity or negativity.  One of the girls shared at the very end, "I guess it isn't just one moment I'm thinking of, but every Wednesday here with all of you guys impacts me."  I am so blessed and filled with joy by these girls.

Weekly sugar intake is met on Wednesday nights ;) especially because these girls keep winning the challenges and are rewarded with sweets!

Student Link

As the school year is now under way and schedules aligned, Student Link is beginning to pick up speed again!  I currently meet with two different Student Link groups each week as we look at the different foundations of faith and encourage one another in accountability on this disciple-making journey.  The routine meetings and connections that we make through this program pulls everyone deeper into knowing more about their Savior and sharing that good news with those around them!  

Girls from Student Link meeting up for a Women's Event together

Gathering together for Student Link before Youth Group

Joyfully meeting after finding a time again that works with the new school/work/sport schedules!