To Serve or To Be Served?

Posted by Kaylee K on Wednesday, August 12, 2015 Under: 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 are mostly not wanted by the communities they arrive in -- and, more so, why we sense it is so important that we do this work alongside the Church -- than those spoken in this lesson Pastor Burke shares.   

Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy this video (and if you listen closely you'll hear a fun lil' tidbit about the early days of John's and my journey). You never know what this one step -- watching a video -- might have on the rest of your journey:

  

You Are Here - Do Something from Gateway Church on Vimeo.

In : Faith 

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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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