Let’s start with the question, “What is worship?” I like the definition John Piper gives: “True worship is a valuing or a treasuring of God above all things.” Deuteronomy 6:5 states “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Never in a million years did I think that place would be Salt Lake City, Utah. I had the opportunity to travel out to SLC twice in college with the college group at Mars Hill and participate in inner-faith dialogues and immediately was exposed to some of the brokenness here. A couple of months before graduating from UM, and not having any idea what the next step was going to be, I was told about an internship in SLC working alongside a church plant for the summer.

Bosnia and Herzegovina sounds like a fair destination for tourism. It is in fact a location marked with great historical significance including, the Ottoman empire, the assignation of Franz Ferdinand that sparked World War I, and an interesting Civil War that happened there in the 90’s. There are sights to see, trails to walk, information boards to read, but, no, it doesn’t carry the same ring as destinations of other short-term mission trips. It isn’t South America or Africa. It’s Europe, Eastern Europe to be exact. Wasn’t Europe the epicenter of Christianity for hundreds of years? So, why would an American church send missionaries there?

As you may already know, Nicaragua is experiencing civil unrest. Political uncertainty has thrown the economy into a downward spiral, which will inevitably hit the small business development and the "empowerment model" of our mission the hardest. As a result, our Nicaraguan friends and the One Collective (Iteams) crew have shifted their focus, at least for the time being, from development to relief.

Because of your support we have seen stories of pain turn to joy, stories of death turn to life, and stories of despair turn to hope. God has shown us his goodness and we are grateful to work alongside you as we take part in building the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

As a thank you for being a Story Teller, we want to share four of those moments with you from 2017.