Our First Visit to a Jungle: Dunkirk Camp

Posted by Kaylee K on Monday, October 17, 2016 In : France 

We stop at the security check point and sign in. As we enter the Dunkirk camp, we pass many men in the mobile station charging phones and accessing WiFi. The dirt road winds right where we see the latrines and then left, leading us to the kitchen (pictured above). As we go through the tent that covers the dining area and water station, several Afghan men greet us and direct us to the kitchen. There we find a cement block building housing food donations. As we walk through we are greeted by th...

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Prayerfully, Together: The Church Can Help Refugee Children

Posted by Kaylee K on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 In : Unaccompanied Refugee Youth 
Nearly 100,000 refugee children are traveling to and across Europe without a parent or guardian. Despite their recognition as the most vulnerable population within the millions of asylum seekers on the Refugee Highway, there has been little coordinated assistance, and many challenges to establishing such assistance, to ensure their safety and care as they travel from their home country to their destination country in Europe.

Several months ago, I felt a very strong leading to research this sit...

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The Voice of God

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, August 25, 2016 In : Faith 

People will tell us, “You are so good to be doing this work.” I know they mean well and are trying to be encouraging. But, the truth is, no one can be good enough to do this work. What level of good do you need to look into the eyes of a 16-year-old whose home was bombed, brother killed and somehow she escaped the war only to be raped by smugglers as she made her way to Europe? How good should you be to console a father who is finally safe in his new home in the U.S. but cannot sleep due ...

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A Vision to Help 100,000 Children

Posted by Kaylee K on Tuesday, August 23, 2016 In : Unaccompanied Refugee Youth 


As we prepare for our work in Europe, we’ve become aware of the dire situation faced by refugee youth as nearly 100,000 travel alone to and through Europe. Our hearts are burdened for these children, some as young as 7, who are alone and scared, and often living in over-filled shelters or on the streets where they are targeted for sex trafficking and slave labor. Because of this, over these last many months we have refined our focus to that of helping the church in Europe to help these chil...

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Easter Prayer for Refugees, Europe and Leaders

Posted by Kaylee K on Friday, March 25, 2016 In : Italy 
Sad decisions; scary times….but God is bigger than all of this. Please join us in prayer for Europe – both for the citizens and for the refugees arriving there. The news in Europe continues to get bleaker and as of today:
  • In the wake of the Brussels bombings, Poland has retracted its commitment to receive 7,000 refugees from Italy and Greece. With the attacks in Paris and Brussels, there is a further blurring of lines and messaging as the media and politicians tie the conversation about th...

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Lost a Job and Found Direction

Posted by Kaylee K on Monday, March 14, 2016 In : Faith 

One year ago I lost my job. And, it was terrific! Seriously, I have been laid off twice in my life and both worked out for good. The first time I ended up being able to pay off my debt (that’s a God-story for another day) and this time I was freed up to move into the ministry role I’d been preparing for for a long time. What I learned is that situations we are quick to label as bad, can often turn out to be good if we allow them to. 

Before I get too far into how this came about, let me sh...

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A Refugee Tale: The Impact of the Church

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, March 3, 2016 In : Response 
During our time in Italy we were humbled and encouraged by our encounters with refugees who were willing to share some of their journey with us. Over and over, we learned of the impact that Christians and churches have had. We heard first-hand testimony from refugees about Christians who cared for them and led them to Christ. We heard from churches about the power they saw just by welcoming refugees into their community. And we learned that when a Christ-follower serves a refugee at one point...
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Projects for the Type-A’s Among Us (Including Me!)

Posted by Kaylee K on Tuesday, March 1, 2016 In : Italy 
While we have found that much of the fruitful work in refugee ministry truly is about relationships not projects, my Type-A personality gets really excited about plans and strategy. So, I was encouraged during our time this past month with potential ministry partners and churches in Italy as we learned about their wonderful blend of heart for the nations and mind for programs to help the foreigners in their midst. Specifically, we anticipate seeing God move resources and people toward several...

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Quotes Worth Pondering

Posted by Kaylee K on Monday, February 15, 2016 In : Response 

Here are some quotes that deserve our consideration, which I gathered during our time at the Refugee Highway Partnership European Roundtable and in our meetings with the Italian Evangelical Alliance and a church in Pescara:
  • “If God put these kind of people here, then the Lord is telling us who our neighbor is.” – Giacomo, our host in Pescara as he talked about helping refugees in Italy.
  • “Building relationships and becoming part of the local community shrinks time to normalcy [for the re...

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Just Shut Up (and listen...)

Posted by Kaylee K on Monday, February 8, 2016 In : Response 
Our realization last week was that to answer God’s call we “just need to show up.” Now that we have (we’ve spent a few days in Rome and are now at the European Refugee Roundtable in Sicily), I’m realizing this week’s lesson is that I have two ears and one mouth for a reason and I need to respect that ratio. John and I have so much to learn and it is necessary to keep our American world view to ourselves while we listen to the perspectives and insights of those native to Europe as ...

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Blog Authors


John and Kaylee Kolditz Kaylee founded Refugee Connect in 2008. John joined the work in 2011 as we investigated the refugee situation in Europe. But our faith and cross-cultural journeys have been a work-in-progress for many years. Much of this blog reflects that. ************************************************ We met in Austin, TX, while volunteering at a serving event at Gateway Church and have been married since 2002. Marriage, parenting and ministry all require a great deal of intentionality, humility and true reliance on God for strength, wisdom, and grace. It is a journey we are grateful to be on together. Ultimately, what matters to us is building into meaningful relationships in ways that, to the best of our ability and by God's grace, demonstrate the love and hope Jesus freely offers to us all. ************************************************ We bring both business and ministry backgrounds into our current work. John started a business in his 20's and helped build several other businesses. He has also served with churches in a variety of roles including as an assistant pastor, director of community development, and missions board member. Kaylee left her marketing career to become the global missions director for our home church in Austin, TX, then founded a local refugee ministry, and became TEFL certified (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) in order to prepare for our work overseas. We have led short-term teams domestically and internationally, and served with a variety of cross-cultural ministries. In 2008, we sensed a call to build into the church in Europe, which was also around the time when God broke Kaylee’s heart for refugees. Since then, God has continued to weave together this heart for refugees, desire to serve alongside the church, and focus on His call to Europe.

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