End of Outreach

Our team, after graduation on return from Albania

And just like that, two months has sped by for our team.  We have had the amazing privilege of working in two different nations, Poland and Albania ( actually 3 when one member of our team spent the last month of her outreach in Belarus) ,  cultures in contrast, rich in heritage and diverse in people. We have had some amazing experiences, but now our time has come to a close, returning to Kyiv to spend a last week with the rest of our Discipleship Training School, reflecting on the past 6 months, before heading our separate ways to begin the next chapter of our lives. It had almost finished as soon as it started..as often the case in short term missions. Often when asked about outreach it seems hard to put your experience into words the usual answer being "...outreach was good...more than good. God was good...and wow I'm really going to miss my team." How can you put into words living together, doing ministry together, laughing together, crying together, the good times, the not-so easy times...and yet time and time again seeing people's lives changed as a result of the message of Jesus.

Christmas Dinner for international students

The answer to one question makes it worth it all. This is a favorite question to ask during debrief. What happened on your outreach that only God could have done? For our team...so much. We saw time and time again how God was faithful to move circumstances, people and places for us so that we could reach those whose lives he wanted us to touch. For example in Poland through a meeting with one lady that our contacts had only met a few days before, the door was opened for us to a whole new international English club, enabling us to connect with not only with students from Poland but all over Europe, Asia and even Africa. The friendships that followed as a result of coffee trips and inviting students over for Christmas dinner enabled us to share God's love with people who has perhaps never heard the gospel before. Even one person who did not know what it was like to have a personal relationship with God and were able to pray for and answer their questions, we saw encounter the love of Jesus for the first time as they were filled with the Holy Spirit. We saw God move in amazing ways as He used our preaching and our testimonies in churches, seeing many people encounter Him in new ways, one lady even coming to the front of the church after the service and giving her life to Jesus. How great is our God!

Church Ministry in Poland

We saw God continue to create opportunities for ministry during our time in Albania as we continued to learn to hear His voice and step into what He wanted us to do, especially towards the end of outreach when we had 'faith days' , days of making no plans, living by faith and just asking God where we should go and how we should reach people. We continued to be amazed at how He just put people in our path who were open to the gospel, one person we talked to even downloading the Bible for the first time, having before never really heard about Jesus. Even when we decided to do a time of prayer and intercession for one of the cities we visited, Elbasan, and we felt like God told us to go to a park and pray for 'family' , we saw the very same teenagers we had talked to that morning while doing street evangelism. We explained what we were doing, and to our surprise they wanted to join in with us as we prayed, having little previous concept of faith. We were able to teach them about the power of prayer and hearing God's voice, one guy really being amazed as he heard God speak to him for the first time. God also particularly used us to bring light to the Roma community during our time in Elbasan, teaching kids about love and sharing, and even seeing one person come back to church after having left the faith for many years.

Kids Ministry in Albania

God has really blessed us during this time in allowing us to see some of the fruit of our ministry, but we know that the work He has done and continues to do in the lives of the people of the nations we visited is far greater than what we can see. We have put sandwiches in the hands of the homeless, handed out Christmas gifts to kids, told those who have been rejected that they are loved, worked with discipling church plants, shared the gospel on the streets and in coffee bars, and have been involved in so many more different ministries, but ultimately God only knows the impact of our outreach. It is His mission not ours, and it has been a privilege to work with Him and to be used by Him, to watch not others lives changed, but also for each and every member of our team to see Him really change us as we have stepped out in faith and developed a heart for missions, something we know will never go away. For even as this time of Discipleship Training School comes to an end, the adventure with God continues for eternity. As in Philippians 1:6 "...He who began a good work in you will surely carry it to completion..."

Resting after hiking up the mountains to pray

So as a team, we would like to thank you wholeheartedly for your support, both prayerfully and financially, and through investing in the lives of us as DTS students, in turn investing in the lives of so many in partnering with us in our ministry. Thank you also to our wonderful school leaders, outreach leaders and contact people for giving us a platform to serve, teaching us and discipling us. Thank you for allowing God to use you to impact the lives of a nation. Certainly after these 6 months, even though as a team we will be no more, we as individuals will never be the same again. Please continue to pray for us, as we move into the next chapter of our lives, to wherever God has called us next.

So for the last time Do wizdenia, Mirupafshim! Пока! Good bye!

The Poland and Albania Outreach Team :-)