Showing category "Faith" (Show all posts)

Repaying Evil with Love... Crazy Love

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, February 15, 2018, In : Faith 
In the wake of the Parkfield, FL shootings it is again challenging to watch the news. It's challenging even to be on Facebook and see the polarized conversations. Or, honestly, for me it is sometimes more challenging to see selfies and trivial minutia posted when I know of the serious condition of our world. But then again, social media really is more a means of escape than a place for answers. So, where do we turn? How do we respond?



It seems to me that any human-offered solution is limited. ...
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Why have hope this Christmas? Jesus was a refugee.

Posted by Kaylee K on Wednesday, December 14, 2016, In : Faith 

With all the “wrong” going on in this world, it is hard to imagine that any one of us can make things “right”. Watch the news, look at social media, accidentally get pulled into a political conversation at the office, and before you know it you’re lost in a state of ‘how can our world be this dark?’ and ‘what can lil’ ol’ me do about it?’ 

Believe it or not, that is where the good news dwells. When we look at the millions of people displaced by war, persecution, starvatio...

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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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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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Just Show Up

Posted by Kaylee K on Wednesday, February 3, 2016, In : Faith 
It has been an interesting journey these last eight months. In June, we moved out of our apartment in Jersey City and in with my father in Maryland for the summer as we sensed God was confirming our call to Italy that we heard 8 years ago. We applied with International Association for Refugees and were accepted as full-time missionaries in August. And then we launched into a three-month road trip that took us to training in Minneapolis with our organization, visiting our sons at their college...

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To Be Satisfied

Posted by Kaylee K on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, In : Faith 
As we are traveling, we have had the opportunity to worship at several churches across Middle America. In Austin, we have been impacted by a church whose pastor is leading them in 40-days of prayer and fasting (http://www.acfellowship.org/). While he is doing an actual fasting from food for 40 days, he has instructed that this fast can look different as each person discerns -- perhaps it is 40 days without social media; maybe fasting 1 day each week or 1 meal each day during the 40 days; or t...

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A Desire for Home

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, October 1, 2015, In : Faith 
John and I have had quite an interesting journey since giving up our apartment in Jersey City in early June. We spent this summer living at my Pop's place on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to save funds so we could begin to prepare for ministry in Italy. In late August, we began what will be at least 10 week road trip, of which we are 5 weeks into. These travels have taken us to see family in the north east and mid west. We've gotten to see two of our three sons at their respective colleges. W...

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To Serve or To Be Served?

Posted by Kaylee K on Wednesday, August 12, 2015, In : Faith 
When I joined the online venue to watch John Burke, Lead Pastor at Gateway Church in Austin, TX, share this lesson during a service in May, I thought, "Yes...that's why we're doing this." I don't think I could provide better words to answer why John and I feel so certain of our call to work with International Association for Refugees to serve refugees and asylum seekers who have been persecuted and abused, who had to flee their homes and risk their lives to reach the shores of Europe, and who...
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Action:Reaction

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, November 17, 2011, In : Faith 
Often when God nudges us to take an action, I think our tendency is to hesitate and request that He make the first move or perhaps first show us the full plan, on paper, laid out, so we have no doubt about where this will lead. But, in my experience, no matter how much I ask for it, this is not how God works. I could definitely use examples from our refugee ministry work to support this theory, but I’d like to share about my work life in this blog entry….

In early August, I left my well-pa...
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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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