I’M GOING TO
I am so excited to be part of a ministry to children in Romania and Zimbabwe this summer! Please read this page for more info on the team I am traveling with, why I am going, and how you can help.
Why am I going?
I’m going to Romania and Zimbabwe with Global Encounters!
We will be working primarily with children, sharing the gospel with them in fun and exciting ways at VBS-style events and camps. We will be running a camp in conjunction with a ministry that helps kids from poor families stay in school and church. The camp is the highlight of their summer! I am so thankful to have the opportunity to support the local missionaries and churches in Romania and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe will be my sixth time going back, and over the years it’s become so much more than a mission trip—it’s relationships, names and faces I know, kids and translators I genuinely love. It’s a place where I’ve seen God move again and again, and I feel a deep pull to keep showing up. At the same time, He’s opened the door for me to return to Romania for the second time—but in a new role, helping lead the team. It’s something I didn’t originally plan, but I truly believe He’s leading me back not just to serve, but to grow in leadership and pour into others. I’ll be spending about 7 weeks this summer between both countries, building relationships, pouring into kids, and reminding them they are seen, known, and deeply loved by God. This isn’t about taking two trips—it’s about being faithful to one calling in this season. I’m trusting God to provide $2,000 through fundraising to make this possible. If you feel led to be part of what He’s doing, you can give here.
More than anything, I would love your prayers—for the kids, for the teams, and that God would move in ways far beyond what we could plan. Thank you for being part of what God is doing in Romania and Zimbabwe!
Why does Romania need missions?
There is a picturesque side to Romania, with centuries-old castles dotting the landscape and even Roman ruins, if you know where to look for them. However, there is also a dark side - aging communist-era factories and apartment blocks, few employment opportunities for young people, abandoned children (whose parents have gone to other countries to look for work), despised gypsy minorities, and human trafficking of vulnerable women and children.
My team will be working with many of the overlooked, forgotten, and often unwanted children. They desperately need the love and sense of belonging that come from being God’s child. They also need the motivation to stay in school so they can get jobs and be less of an easy mark for the pimps and traffickers who would take advantage of them.
Sharing the gospel in Romania is a slow process. It often requires many years of haring the gospel before a child gives their life to Jesus and trusts him for salvation. However, the long-term results are so worth the effort!
Why does Zimbabwe need missions?
Zimbabwe was once the “breadbasket of Africa,” the most prosperous sub-saharan African country. Now it is deeply mired in poverty, since their economic collapse in 2007. Hyperinflation and corruption cripple the economy. In addition, Zimbabwe has one of the highest AIDS infection rates in the world and very little medical care, which has resulted in millions of orphans and tens of thousands of child-led households. These children desperately need practical help to meet their basic needs and people who will love them and show them the love of their Heavenly Father.
Global Encounters partners with Hands of Hope, a ministry that has established feeding stations for orphans all over Zimbabwe. These feeding stations keep the kids alive physically, but also provide community, mentoring, and discipleship. Each feeding station is run in connection with a local church that helps take on the responsibility for caring for the orphaned kids.
Hands of Hope also owns a camp facility. Global Encounters teams have been going each year to run summer camps for the kids at the feeding station. We bring them to camp in groups of fifty to sixty at a time to be loved, trained, and fed (physically and spiritually). Because the kids at each camp come from the same feeding station and village, we get to see the real life relationships. We help the older ones learn to be protectors rather than bullies and teach all the kids to work together rather than fighting. We are praying for salvation for any kids who come who are not saved yet, and for opportunities to disciple each of them in the Lord. I’m excited about sharing the gospel in Zimbabwe and loving the kids who will come to the camp.
How can you help?
How can you help?
Please pray for our time in Romania and Zimbabwe. It is an intense spiritual battle to reach the kids there. Pray that the children we work with would know that they are valued and loved by God. You can keep up with our team’s ministry activities through the Global Encounters Instagram and Facebook pages.
You can also help financially! My expenses are about $3500, including flights. You are welcome to share in this opportunity in large or small ways! You can use the link below to donate and it will be put towards my trip. Thank you so much for your generosity and your help!
