Showing Tag: " unaccompanied" (Show all posts)

When Strangers Become Family

Posted by Kaylee K on Friday, May 24, 2019, In : Unaccompanied Refugee Youth 
It's been a while since we posted a blog post. In February, a young lady named Esther from the Democratic Republic of Congo moved in with us. She is an unaccompanied asylee and was aging out of the Office of Refugee Resettlement youth system. She needed a home and wanted to be part of a family. After a quick Zoom chat and some prayer, John and I invited Esther to live with us. She agreed and moved in on her 18th birthday.

We've had ups and downs together and lots of learning. Most days we lau...
Continue reading ...
 

Responding to the Biblical Call

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, February 22, 2018, In : Response 


With almost 2 months behind us in 2018, not much has changed for the situation of unaccompanied youth in Europe. It doesn't seem 2018 will be much different than 2017 as borders remain closed and governments seem more focused on ways to reject asylum claims rather than help people in desperate need. However, we do recognize that the call to help "the least of these" or "the orphan and the widow" or "the foreigner" is a Biblical one not a political one. This is why we continue to focus on the ...
Continue reading ...
 

To App or Not to App, That Was the Question

Posted by Kaylee K on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, In : Response 
One of the objectives of our summer visits with ministries in Europe was to vet out the smartphone app that we had been hoping to develop with a goal of connecting unaccompanied youth with ministries that could help them along their travels. We achieved this, but with different results than we expected as we realized that this is not the timing for such an app.
Unfortunately, as many countries across Europe have closed their borders, movement between countries has dropped down to just a trick...
Continue reading ...
 

What Does the Future Look Like?

Posted by Kaylee K on Thursday, August 10, 2017, In : Response 


As we sit in a flat in Paris watching the rain and listening to the sounds of the city, we're struck by the ups and downs of our travels this summer. We have met with a variety of ministries and individuals who are helping unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth as well as refugees. We’ve had some opportunities to spend time with the youth themselves. And, we’ve continued to learn about their ongoing challenges, the heartache for those left behind and the trauma resulting from awful situations...
Continue reading ...
 
« Back to posts
 

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.

Make a free website with Yola