Showing Tag: "faith" (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...
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Hope and Community for Refugee Youth

Posted by John K on Friday, March 30, 2018, In : Unaccompanied Refugee Youth 


Last month, during my week volunteering with our MUM network partner, The Sanctuary, in Newport, South Wales, I had opportunities to work with a variety of youth – who are in this case all boys. These young guys come to the center after arriving in Wales – many under 18, with no or limited English, and having traveled without family across many miles and sometimes many years. At times helping them is quite serious work, as they try to learn language, access services or prepare for their a...
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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 ...
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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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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...
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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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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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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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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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And We're Off....

Posted by Kaylee K on Friday, July 31, 2015, In : Italy 
I feel like a horse at the gate at the Kentucky Derby! I'm chomping at the bit. My ears are perked. I'm digging my hooves into earth. I whinny as the I see the other horses get set. And...I wait for the starting gun to blast. This is actually where we were "at" in Oct. 2011 after returning from Italy. "Send us, Lord," we thought. But we waited for His timing. "Send us, Lord," we whispered. But we didn't have a plan or really a sense of the what, when or where. But, we did know (and still know...

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Update from John and Kaylee

Posted by Kaylee K on Sunday, August 12, 2012, In : Italy 
Wanted to share a quick update. It has been 10 months since John and I traveled to Rome and other refugee hubs in Italy last fall.We came home with a sense to pray for direction regarding:

1.     Are refugees the people we are called to? (We had sensed confirmation that they indeed are)
2.     Is Italy the stop on the Refugee Highway we are to work? (We continue to learn and seek discernment and opportunities to explore further)
3.     How soon do we go? (It is tough not to just dive in...but we...

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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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I can't even imagine...

Posted by Kaylee K on Friday, October 7, 2011, In : Italy 
Prepare my heart, O Lord. There really is nothing worth doing in this world apart from God. The ways of man are empty without a bigger power behind us. Our vision is small without a Universal perspective. But, when God is on our side, look out!!

4 years ago, Lord, you said “Italy”. Now John and I get to see what you were talking about. As we prepare for this journey, please prepare us, Father. Who is it you want us to meet? What is it you want us to do? For only those things will matter i...
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What to pack?

Posted by Kaylee K on Friday, September 16, 2011, In : Italy 
How do you prepare for a vision from God? As Joh...
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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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