Final Day of Ministry
Tuesday, August 6, was our last full day of ministry with SEE, and we were placed with a few other teams near an old opera house.
Alyssa stayed back at our lodging to work on a summary video of the week’s activities. This video captured all the highlights of our outreach and was shown to the entire group that evening. It was a wonderful way to reflect on all that God had done through our team during our time in Paris.
I spent most of my time on the streets interviewing people from our team, asking them to share about their experiences with the Olympics outreach efforts. The interviews revealed amazing stories of divine appointments and Gospel conversations that happened throughout the week. Each person shared how God had worked in unique ways through their interactions with people from around the world who had gathered for the Olympics.
As our ministry time came to a close, we couldn’t help but feel grateful for the opportunity to be part of this global outreach. We had seen God work in expected and unexpected ways, bringing people from all nations together and using our team to share His message of hope.
Even though our time in Paris was ending, we knew the impact of these Gospel booklets would continue long after we returned home. Seeds had been planted that would continue to grow in the hearts of those who received them.
Bittersweet Farewells
On Wednesday morning, I drove several people to the train station for their early morning flights. Later, I took our youth group kids on the train back to the airport so they could fly back home.
It was bittersweet to bid farewell to everyone, just as I had experienced in Brazil back in 2016 when I first participated in the Olympics outreach. Most of these people I may never see again on this earth. But for 10 days, we were a team with one focus and one mission, and we were a family.
For those of you who prayed for us and asked how things were going, we greatly appreciate your care and interest in our ministry there. We have since heard of at least two more people who have been saved as a result of that ministry, and we look forward to finding out about more when we get to heaven!
The 2028 Olympics are in Los Angeles, and we are already planning to participate once again. We would love it if some of you would join us, so please contact us if you have any interest, and we will tell you everything that you need to know!
We also want to give a special thank you to those of you who donated funds toward our trip. We were able to use points for our flights, but the other expenses were still significant, and many of you were a blessing to us by helping to offset our costs. You were part of the ministry that we had there, and we do not take that for granted!
What special moments have you experienced during outreach or ministry trips?
A Team Member Goes Missing
The next day was also a day of relaxation. We brought our youth group kids to a water polo event and then went to visit some of Alyssa’s relatives in another part of the city. We decided not to attend the water polo event ourselves because we would have had to pay full price for each of our kids, and we knew they wouldn’t enjoy it enough to justify the cost.
Distribution at the Seine
A Reminder from God
We were a bit discouraged as we walked back toward the train station, especially since we had not had the success that the other groups reported earlier in the week.
We are in Paris! It is such a surreal experience to be in the city of the 2024 Olympic Games. The city is full of visitors from all over the world, with spectators and Olympians and their family members.
For right now, we wanted to show you the amazing booklets that we are going to hand out in France! If you have a few moments, take a look to read them and then pray for those strangers who we will meet that God would give them receptive hearts to the Gospel.
We have some exciting news!
Our trip to Ghana was two firsts for me- first international trip with my husband (awww <3) and first visit to the continent of Africa. My new friends were so excited that Ghana was my first African experience! So what was Africa like? Let me tell you…
Food- The food was definitely unique! We were there during the tomato season so tomatoes were in everything we ate in some form or another. We had fufu, cassava, banku, jollof rice, redred, and gari (just to name a few things :). The flavors and textures of Ghanaian foods are so unique that I don’t even know how to describe them to you… you’ll have to go and taste them for yourself! They also use lots of ground nut (American translation- peanut!) and plantain and cook with palm oil as their base for many dishes.
Church- Wooden benches, simple structures, open windows- these were the common denominator among the church buildings that we visited. But the church isn’t the building- it’s the people. The people greeted each other warmly and sang each song with all their enthusiasm, rejoicing in what our great Savior had done for them.
“You are welcome!”
Ah! Fresh air with a hint of diesel. Riding to the Mapes’ home in an open-air vehicle was such a refreshing way to wake up. It was also a nice contrast to the bus we had just disembarked.
Thank you for praying for us! We have returned safely from our trip to Ghana and have jumped back into life here in Minnesota.
We are excited to share our first big update with you today as we are currently en route to…Ghana, Africa! We made a video to explain why we’re on this trip and what we are doing over the next two weeks. You can access it