I sometimes feel so numb. Numb to the deep pain surrounding me, wether that be psychical, mental, or spiritual. I remember the first time I arrived in a Tibetan Buddhist town in China earlier this year. I remember how I felt such a burden for these precious souls who were deeply lost, not just lost but unreached. Almost all of these people had never even once heard the good news of Christ!!! I remember almost weeping for these people as I stopped to pray for them. Just a few days ago I found myself back in this town only this time it seemed it didn’t phase me as much. I still felt burdened for them but not like that first time. Now I’m sitting on plane looking back on some pictures of this area in China and was reminded how easy it is to grow cold towards the dire needs around me. I have the great opportunity to travel the and see the world in so any different ways... but with that I can almost become complacent towards all the pain, suffering, and oppression I see because I’ve seen it thousands of times. I hate that! I never want my heart to stop breaking. I never want to become comfortable. I never want to stop caring. I want my heart to break for each and everything that breaks my Father’s heart. I want to live broken. I want to live with eyes open and turned towards the need. I want to live with my hands and feet moving toward the pain, suffering, and oppression. Oh Lord, may my heart never grow cold. There is a world of oppressed people who need us to stop, who need us to care. Take these Buddhist as an example, here they are fully committed to their religion. They spend hours a day walking around their shrines, going through their prayer beads, and spinning the prayer wheels. They do this because they want to earn their way to heaven. They do this because it’s all they know. They do this because they haven’t ever even had the chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ! They are in such spiritual bondage and they need someone to come and tell them of the one true God who can set them free!!! This is just 1 need, in just 1 small town, in the middle of just 1 country. Join me in asking God to break our heart’s for what breaks His. It won’t be easy but it’s sure better then turning a blind eye to our neighbors. Let us never grow numb to the needs around the world, instead let’s rise up and serve Christ radically!!!!!!
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Hello from here in China... Yes, I’m still in China I was booked to be here until the 9th which would have been just a week but God had other plans. The brother leading this team unfortunately wasn’t able to enter the country which left the team to be run by two 20 year olds so after a bit of prayer and God providing a way I decided to stay to help “lead” the team. It’s been a crazy 2 weeks already and time has flown by. I’ve been doing lots of driving as my teammates go out onto the streets at night distributing Good News! I still don’t even have a ticket booked out of China but that should be done soon. There has been a lot on my mind and I’m having some trouble understanding the next steps God has for me so your prayers would be so appreciated!!! Also please be praying for all the people that are waking up to Good News on their doors which is likely the first time they are REACHED! God is worthy to be praised! Oh these pictures are of these three little chums that followed us all around today even down into a grocery store haha...
UPDATE for anyone that’s wondering... I’m back on the road. It’s been an interesting few weeks. Traveling around the world has its risks I guess but I sure never imagined that I’d be forceibly mugged by multiple men in broad day light on a busy street in South African just a day after arriving. Being stripped of my main backpack, phone, and wallet along with being in great pain and shock I had to head back to States. The day that the mugging happened I wrote a very quick post explaining a bit of what happened and asking for prayer. I’m going to rewrite all that happened but I’ll save posting that until some other time but I do want to share just a bit more of the story.
Right after I got up off the ground on that bustling street in Joburg I told myself “this is it, I’m done, I’m so done!” Nothing in me wanted to keep going, thoughts of giving up on traveling even entered my mind as I tried to find my way back to the nearby train station. But just seconds later as I stood at a traffic light at the end of the street, Christ put those thoughts to rest as I looked down to find that I still had most of cash then even realized I had my back pack with my most valuable things in it. Right there I went from mad about want just happened to almost smiling at how awesome God is! As I crossed the street I also thought of how I was even walking as just a minute before I thought that for sure I would die! My thoughts of completely giving up on this trip quickly left as I realized that God had other plans. I knew that I just temporary had to return home and that for some reason it wasn’t yet time travel around Africa. I waited the longest hour of my life for money exchange places to open before being able to head to airport. I couldn’t stop feeling like I was being watched but used this time waiting to pray for the guys who stole my stuff. After almost two hours I was on the train heading towards the airport and everything just felt so surreal yet I found myself singing this line over and over in my head “I’ll praise you in the storm, I will lift your name.” On that train ride to the airport I felt so thankful for all that Christ has done for me time and time again. Sure, I wasn’t smiling and I still kept on wondering why this happened but nonetheless I was finding peace in Christ. After what seemed like the slowest wifi connection I was able to call my dad online using my laptop that wasn’t stolen. It was only 4am back in the states when I called and my dad answered concerned and even more concerned when I told him what happened. After 7 hours of trying to figure out the best way to get home I got a ticket booked for 7pm. I went through security with just myself and my small backpack and sat at the gate until boarding. 27 hours later I landed back in the states Being back in the states again so soon felt so odd. I got my throat checked out and they said everything was fine. Well I ended up in hospital a week later with concerns about my throat and swallowing. After 5 days of eating nothing solid it felt a bit better but even as of now it’s still not quite right. Being back in states I was glad to be with my awesome family but I also spent a lot of time trying to get everything back together. I decided to book a ticket to Taiwan then back to China for my 7th time. My time in Tawain has been nothing but refreshing. Now I just arrived in Beijing. I’m set to fly out of China on the 9th to Maylasia which is meant to just be a transit onto my next countries. I’m still praying about my exact next plans that could take through some middle eastern countries and onto Africa from there. I always deeply appreciate prayer as I’m on this journey! Prayer for my time in China is always really appreciated as it’s seemingly becoming harder and harder for many brothers and sisters here. So yeah that’s a little update. I’m not sure if anyone really wants updates but Incase there are a few that do I’ll see if can do better keeping y’all updated. PEACE OUT!!! ✌️ Praise God Alway This update is way too long but if you happen to read it PLEASE let me know… otherwise I need to find away to shorten myself so y’all can see just how GREAT GOD is.
As a lot of y’all probably know that I was mugged about a week s ago in Johannesburg, South Africa. I’m doing ok, I’m back in states but want to hit the road again. As much as I want to be traveling again I had to come back because without my wallet and phones it’s a bit impossible to travel especially since I do all my filming on my phone. I’m super blessed to have insurance as I travel so hopefully things will be covered but I’m still not sure. But with that update out of the way I really have been wanting to share with y’all the incredible things God is doing and how He has been blessing and providing for me especially in the Caribbean a few months ago. I never just want to post the negative things that happen to me such a muggings, theft, delays, and just any problem in general because thats like .01% of the stuff that happens to me the rest is soooooooo super awesome! So without any more delay here is my LONG update but I hope it’s worth the time and it blesses you… God provides always but for some reason He really guided my trip throughout the Caribbean. I honestly was wanting to skip the Caribbean island nations until the end of my world trip because I knew that there was nothing cheap about them and I’ve been traveling on a tight budget. Since I was in South America and needed to be back in the states for my sister’s wedding it didn’t make any sense to not island hop my way back to the states. I probably spent a combined 20+ hours looking into flights and the cheapest ways to get from one country to the next for. The night before I was going to book all my flights I got a phone call from my mom saying that we got the OK to travel to Bulgaria to adopt my new little sister. Since I had been able to be in Bulgaria when my parents visited her for the first time and film all of that… I really wanted to try come on this trip as well and film and document it as well. Well, my parents agreed to me coming and helping with my flight back from Bulgaria since I’d be able to make another adoption film. With all of that I had to completely change my travel plans in the Caribbean from spending 2-3 days in each country as I traveled to to states, to now spending just about 1 day in each country on the way to Bulgaria. I had to rework my entire made up itinerary that I had lots of spent time making sure it was the cheapest. Once I made top my new plan getting all the way to Bulgaria the price actually ended up being slightly less then what it was to cost to just get back to the states! Wow, just wow. I was now able to not only visit all the Caribbean countries but also be apart of bringing my little sister home from Bulgaria for about $50 - $100 less then it would cost to just get back to states in my original plan! But that’s far from the most awesome part of this leg of my trip, haha that’s just the beginning. I had just spent more money on plane tickets all at one time than ever before. My money had just dropped to an all time low. I was asking myself if I’d even be able to leave the states after the wedding with how little I had but that didn’t last for long. Just a few days after placing this HUGE “order” of flights I got a message from mom with a picture of a check somebody had made out to me for right around half of what I had just dropped on flights!!! It was like God gently telling me “I have it all under control. I’m really dumb and forgetful it seems… God has been providing for this entire trip BIG TIME and some how I from time to time seem to forget that. Like I sometimes forget that the God who created this entire universe and cares about little mini sparrows CARES about me! That should never leave my mind not even for a second and little by little I’m learning to never let it slip my mind ever. So yeah it was now like I basically had only paid half of the price of the flights which was HUGE!!!! But still that’s just the start… I somehow hadn’t lined up any contacts for the Caribbean. It’s not that I wasn’t trying, its just that this region of the world isn’t super heavily populated by Christian ministries and missionaries at least not ones that are found on Google. I also had been reaching out to people very last minute and was letting them know that I would only be in their country for like 12-30 hours. I heard back from some people online but some countries I didn’t hear back from anyone. From the time I left South America until my flight to Europe I had 8 countries to visit in just 8 days, rushed I know. Now, I want to just go through each of the 8 countries and briefly explain how God provided and a few ways I was able to see Him at work in this region!!!! Soooooo here we go….. Guyana is technically in South America but is very much part of the Caribbean along with Suriname. When I was in Guyana I was mugged but had gotten my phone back (with the help of some locals dudes but all through God’s GRACE) which was super super EPIC!!! Just a day after I was mugged I was at the airport heading out to Trinidad but I had a very early morning flight so I had spend the night. I arrived to the airport at about 8pm for a 6am flight so I had plenty of time to sit around and just for a visual this airport was small, like real small. There were no shops in the Departures and Check area so I was so grateful for the snacks I was given by my hosts but even more happy by the cold tacos they snuck into my bag, I LOVE TACOS!!! I was just chilling on the airport floor eating my super yummy tacos, feeling so blessed. The few seats that the airport had were taken by a group of foreigners. I got up to throw out my trash and felt like I should ask were these people were from. I asked them and they were from the states and had been in Guyana for 2 weeks, we talked for a quick minute the I sat back down. After a few minutes one of the guys from the group came over and sat down on the floor next to me and we just started talking for awhile. Come to find out this group from the US were believers and came to Guyana to serve! I then talked to some others from there group and we had a great little time of fellowship. I had told them a bit about the trip I was on and they loved it. It was soon time for them to check in for their flight so I went to take their seats and sit down as they were just about to leave. One of the guys from the group who was the last to leave came over to me and slipped some cash into my hand. I was super surprised but thanked him and he walked away after saying how he felt like God told him to give me that gift. I was shocked as I had just met these people and even more shocked to look down and see it was a 50 dollar bill, thats a lot of money!!! I felt so incredibly blessed! The next day I arrived in Trinidad and Tobago which was my first country in the Caribbean and wow it was a great way to start! I had just messaged a random missionary family online and asked if I could connect with them when I came. I reached out probably just 2 days before to these people I had no connection too at all and they said yes and offered to pick me up from the airport and even let me stay overnight in the church. I had such an awesome time in Trinidad seeing the awesome ways God was at work on the beautiful island. I had the opportunity to meet and hang out with some youth there which was really neat. I also got to be apart of the church and even visit some homes! What was crazy though was the fact that from the time I arrived in Trinidad until the time I flew out I hadn’t spent a single cent on anything!!! That’s right, NOT EVEN 1 CENT. The missionary I was with was so incredibly kind and wouldn’t let me pay for anything but even went a mile further by giving me money for dinner at the airport!!! I flew away from this country in awe of God even more. The next country I headed too was Grenda. I had such a short time in this country, I arrived in the late night and would have leave before noon the next day. A very kind local man with an HUGE heart for God and broken people picked me up from the airport to drive me to a YWAM base on the total opposite side of the island. We had over an hour drive but it past by fast as we shared about the journeys God had each of us on. We got to the missions base very late and went to bed. The next day I woke up early and had great fellowship with the base leaders who so kindly made me breakfast before I had to leave again. I just felt so welcomed again, it was just such a great sense of family. I was taken back to the airpot by my new friend who picked me up the night before. Even though I was there for such a short time I had a free place to stay, awesome fellowship, great breakfast, and they even gave me Grenda chocolate which is soooo good!! I had such a little glimpse into how God was using this small country for His kingdom but its was super! I then flew to Barbados which I didn’t have any contacts for but that was fine because it was just a 7 hour layover. I was able to leave few gospel tracts around and check out a simple but stunning beach before hopping on my next flight. My next country was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and I had no contacts planned for this country either. I was arriving at night and was just planning on sleeping in or right outside of the airport all night because I couldn’t connect with anyone and could not justify paying crazy high prices for a hotel and a taxi to get to one. Well… my brand new friend in in Grenada had reached out to someone he knew in St. Vincent and I connected with her on the phone and she told me that she would be finding me someone to stay with or would be willing to put me up at a place for the night. When I arrived this sweet older lady and her grandson pulled up and told me that she would be taking me to a hotel to stay because she couldn’t find anyone to host me last minute. She drove me to a very nice hotel and paid for it. I kinda felt bad because I’m always willing to sleep anywhere even if that’s outside, on a beach, in an airport, or wherever… But this sister in Christ who had never met be had already decided that she wanted to bless me with a safe and comfortable place to sleep. I was so grateful and was able to get some much much much needed rest! I felt way way way too blessed like WOAH JESUS IS SOOOOOO GOOD kind of blessed!!! The next day I went into the main town/city via mini van/bus. Just a minute or two on the street I saw I lady who was clearly high asking people for money and food. I asked if I could buy her something and she said yes very quickly and took me into small shop that was serving food. I told her to get whatever and once she ordered I gave her a gospel track. I felt so ready to help anyone that morning after having been so provided for. I know its wasn’t much that I did but I just felt so free to help without thinking even once about the money. I was then able to meet a christian brother who happened to be in town and was from the same area of PA as I’m from. He met with me for a quick minute and greatly encouraged me and even prayed for me before parting ways. Again I got a small glance into how God was moving in this small country!! I then headed to Saint Lucia which I did have contacts in at a YWAM base were I was planning on staying for just a small donation. I arrived on the island and made my way to the base were I would be staying and was greeted by the lovely couple who ran it along with their young son. They put together a dinner for me and we then had a great evening of fellowship and I had the blessed opportunity to help them with 2 videos that wanted to put together. The next morning I woke up early to catch a ferry to Dominica and they gave me some breakfast and sent me on my way. I went to give them a donation for my night’s stay but they would not let me give it to them at all. I walked away from another country without paying for a night’s stay… oh what a providing God I serve!!!! I took the ferry to Dominica and had one contact that I had just gotten in touch with that morning. I had asked if he had any ministry opportunities for me during my short stay and if he knew of anyone who could host me for a night or anywhere that was a cheap place to stay. He gave me a contact for a Christian brother who ran a guesthouse but it was far too expensive for me justify instead of the much cheaper place I saw online. I arrived but on the way listened to a very convicting sermon about prayer. I decided to sit down somewhere safe and pray that a place would be come through before going out and booking something online. Almost right after praying I got a text from my contact saying that I had a place to stay for FREE oh my goodness I was ready to cry with just HOW good God is! A few minutes later I was picked up by this very kind local brother who had arranged this place for me. I dropped my stuff off and then found out that some of the churches had come together to pay for this place for me. I had offered to at least pay some but they wouldn’t let me again it was this incredible sense of family I felt right then. I was on island that just a few years ago had been almost completely destroyed by a hurricane and was being slowing built back up but was by far seemingly the poorest Caribbean country I had been to so far. But here I was with the local believers welcoming me, a complete stranger with huge open arms… so humbling. I was able to walk around the depressing downtown passing out gospel tracts and even talking to one guy for over 30 minutes about Jesus! Just like my time St. Vincent I felt so ready to help people and God let me do just that both psychically and spirituality that afternoon. After my great time in Dominica I headed to Antigua and Barbuda and whoah it was LIT! I got picked up by a super awesome missionary family who used to live just down the street from me in PA but I didn’t even know them. I had just contacted them the like 2 days before coming and they worked a bunch of stuff out to let me be able to connect with with them! I spent the entire evening with them and got to be apart of their church service before being taken to the place I’d be staying for free which was at a nice apartment at a christian school! The next day I was able to connect with a ministry doing outreach in HUGE ways. I had to head to the airport to catch a flight to to my last country in the region but God had other plans. I have never had a flight canceled on me like this before but when I was at the airport already checked in the flight was canceled and moved to the the next morning. I didn’t really care because I knew everything would still work out. The family that picked me up at the airport just the night before was back at the airport picking someone up as I was supposed to be in the air but God worked it out perfectly because I had help and a ride. They also had asked their friend who I had briefly met the night before if I could crash at his house which was 2 minutes drive from the airport and He said yes and that was such a huge GOD THING because we had an out of this world time of fellowship together sharing about just how amazing CHRIST is!!! He fed me a huge and delicious meal for dinner after I had not eaten for almost 24 hours and we spent the night praising God together! God’s timing is ALWAYS better!!! The next day I flew to Saint Kitts and Nevis which was my final country in this region before heading to Europe. My flight was so epic as I was in a 12 seater mini plane! A couple who I had just gotten in contact with 2 days prior from my hosts in St. Lucia had heard I was wanting to come and serve however I could. They called me asked if I had enough money to get to the ferry terminal and I told them yes, they then told me that the rest of my trip would be paid for to get to the island of Nevis and back to St. Kitts the next day!!! I was picked up from the airport and taken to the ferry terminal where a brother in Christ paid for my ticket. I then arrived in Nevis and was greeted by this awesome couple who would be hosting me. They showed me around their quiet yet stunning island and then took me to their place. They had literally moved to a spare bedroom upstairs just so I could have privacy and comfort. After a nap they brought down a HUGE HUGE meal for me! I then was able to spend time resting in Christ by reading the Word in quiet and spending time in prayer which was just so needed and refreshing. In the evening I had the awesome opportunity to speak with a bunch of local youth about Christ, Missions, and my trip. We had an AMAZING time together and I sure wish I could have hung with that group longer. The next day I was given a huge breakfast before being taken to the ferry terminal to catch my flight towards Bulgaria. My hosts were so kind not only to pay for my ticket but give me cash for a taxi and food at the airport, I offered to just give them the US cash equivalent but they wouldn’t let me! My final country in this region was yet again all paid for…. AHH HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!!!!!!! Sooooo yeah I hope you see from all of that just how much God provides!!! I could leave it at that but I REALLY want y’all to understand what all of that meant for me… I spent 8 days across 8 countries and had spent less then $80 cash out of my wallet but out of that $80 only $20 was cash even I had before getting to Guyana!!! I spent just 20 bucks just 20 BUCKS across 8 countries!!!!!! That just doesn’t happen. This was in the Caribbean where they don’t have 5 dollar hostels but rather a the cheapest place is often far over $40 for the most basic of places! Even if I was trying really really super hard and only had gotten one basic meal a day and the most basic place to stay I would have had to pay at the very minimum of $400 over 8 days if not far more. As you can see everything from a small taco to a huge check donation have blessed me in great ways! This is just 8 days of my journey around the world!!! If I could share of all the ways He provides my fingers would no joke fall off by typing so much!!! As much as I typed up this insanely long post to show y’all how much God provides I also typed it up to show myself JUST HOW MUCH GOD PROVIDES!!! Even just the other night I was thinking about all the money I lost in flights to South Africa and having to turn right around after being mugged, and how I might not get the money back from the cash and some things that were stolen from me… But I have no right to be thinking that way, none at all. I’m a child of the KING, how dare I worry about the money I might never see again. It’s quite hard some times to not think about things like money but I need to be even more trusting my Father who cares for me every need! I have seen Him do the impossible time and time and time and time again yet somehow still catch myself every once and awhile not remember the GREATTTTT WAYS HE HAS PROVIDED. Look, I shouldn’t be here right now even typing this, at the very least I should be hospital room in much pain if not dead! It’s only by the grace of God that I wasn’t in much more physical harm or dead from being choked out while being mugged! To look back and see how God has not only provided for more than my every need but has also spared me is so insane!!! Life isn’t promised to be easy and trusting God doesn’t just make our life a piece of cake. Trusting God actually isn’t that easy but the comfort and peace that come with trusting Christ to protect and care for you is so worth everything. I’m nobody special, I don’t have tons of money in bank, but God is somehow wants me to travel the world and serve Him. If you are a believer you are child of the one true God so please never forget that and PLEASE join me in learning to TRUST GOD more and more!! Ok now well this was way too long and I’d be surprised if anyone actually read the whole thing but what I’m trying to say is GOD PROVIDES for His children!!!! God. Provides. Peace out y’all! IT HAPPENED AGIAN!!! I guess today cloud have been worse but definitely could have been better. I didn’t wake up thinking that I would be back at the Johannesburg airport heading back to states just 1 day after arriving here. I’ve had a 3 week break from travel as my family was adopting my new little sister from Bulgaria and the my oldest sister was getting married. I just hit the road again the other day coming to South Africa and planning on traveling quite a bit of the Eastern African countries. Today I woke up early planing to catch a bus to Eswatini/Swaziland I took the very nice city train into downtown and started going in the direction I believed I was to head to find the buses leaving to Swaziland.
As I walked out of the train station I asked a few people which direction I would find the buses and they pointed me in the direction that I though was right anyway. The area I was walking definitely wasn’t the nicest area but it was close to the nicely kept train station area. As I walked I kept a very strong eye out for anyone looking at or following me especially after having been mugged at the end of July. Suddenly I sensed someone seemly to lurk behind me on the busy sidewalk. I quickly looked back and then kept walking but maybe a bit faster. I then quickly looked back again and in less than a flash a tall man sprigged his arms around my neck and started choking me. I must have been 15 seconds or less but he was choking me so hard I was blacking out and thought that I would be dead. I figured this would be the way I died and quickly thought about how it was a terrible way to die and as I was thinking this and blacking in and out I saw the 5-7 men surrounding me helping to strip all valuables off of me. I wanted to scream but couldn’t because my throat was being crushed harder and harder. I thought maybe someone would come and help stop these crooks but nope. Finally these men ran off and by the time I got up off the ground I couldn’t even see where they went not that I would have ran ofter them. I got up to the many people on the streets just staring at me. I couldn’t even talk yet alone scream for help. I ran back to to the train station area because I knew I would be a bit safer there. I felt my pockets and they were completely emptied. I then realized I somehow escaped with my small backpack which has all my expenses things in it like my drone, laptop, and hard drive with all my photos. I also realized I somehow also had my money belt with my hard cash and passport in it. I’m so grateful to God for that. They stole my very expensive iPhone, international phone, my wallet with 100 bucks cash and all my credit and debit cards, and they also stole my big backpack with all thy clothes and kinda less important items in it. So yeah I was mugged yet again and this time I thought I was doing to die or at least suffer a few injuries but PRASIE GOD I didn’t. I walked away with nothing more then really bad pain in my neck/throat. I have been praying for these thieves that they would turn to Christ and stop stealing. It would mean a lot if you could pray for them and also for me to know what the next steps are as I return back to states to restock and figure out where and what I do next. It’s been a bad day but God is great. Now to hope on my 8 and 14 hour flight in the middle seat :( haha HEY, meet my new little sister Vali!!! I’m the most blessed big brother in the world!!! Today my mom, sister and I picked up my Vali here Bulgaria!!!!! I now have 11 awesome siblings and wouldn’t change that for a single thing, each one of them are such an extreme blessing! Please pray for her to keep on adjusting to her new and AWESOME normal of being in a family! Vali you won’t ever have to set foot back in that orphanage ever again!
And I’ll use this to say to y’all that you should totally adopt! Don’t let silly little things like finances get in the way of loving your neighbors who are without families and love! God is sooooooooooooo good and worthy to be praised! Peace out y’all! THERE GOES MY PHONE..... for a second time.... Well today was just another day in the life of Conner. This time I found myself in Georgetown Guyana walking away from the US embassy where I had just gotten a new passport since my other one is almost full of stamps in its 51 pages. I was just less then 2 blocks from the embassy as I was on the phone with my mom about my new passport... as a man comes up behind me and violently tries grabbing my phone. I’m NOOO match for any thief but I have a bracelet-type thing connected to phone that I loop around my arm whenever I have my phone out especially after having my phone stolen in Cambodia. So ha the thief didn’t have my phone, well he kinda had it but so did I since the bracelet was still in my hands... well that is until this super angry faced man flashed his 6inch or so knife. And just like that I faster then lighting slip that bracelet off. My heart was beating probably at least 1000000000000000000 miles per hour. All of this happened in probably no more then 5-7 seconds! With my heart going so fast I start screaming like a freaking maniac yelling “thief thief thief yooooo that man wearing all black and the white hat STOLE my phone!!!!!!!!!” Within 2 seconds I got like 5 or more rough and though street dude chasing the little mugger man down. More and more guys came to my help and as we were running in the thief’s direction they all assured me that whatever would be gotten back immediately! Well they sure weren’t lying as less then a minute of my phone being stolen it was in safe hands and within eye sight. I came running up to the thief in the grip of super strong dude. Around the thief were probably 20+ dudes yelling at the crook about how ashamed he should be and saying how glad they were he got caught. Ha I wished they could know just how HAPPY I was but in the moment everything was crazy and my heart was still going way to fast to think straight. I kept on thanking everyone but it just didn’t seem enough for how amazing they were for chasing him down and saving my phone with thousands of unbanked up photos. A random truck passing was chosen for me and one of the dudes who chased down the robber to jump in to go to the police station. Meanwhile the crook and the strong dude rob in the bed of the truck. Even an after 30 minutes of sitting the police station my heart was still pumping way to fast but it finally settled down after seeing the Bible verse on the police station wall... Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. - Psalms 37:1. Woah it hit me just how good my father God is!!!! He has my back ALWAYS and I never have reason to fret the evil doers! The police reports took nearly 3 hours as they were super super slow but within that time I found myself praying for the thief who I could see across the room handcuffed. I prayed that God would set him free from his spiritual chains of sin and let him of a super incredible story of salvation. At one point the thief had gotten my attention from across the room and had said something to me but between the distance and the super hard to understand English of Guyana I couldn’t really understand what he was saying even after he repeated it. I thought he said something about sorry but regardless of what he said I wanted him to know that I forgave him so I shouted it twice and he look at me kinda confused but with smile of sorts and said “you forgive me?” I told him one more time that I forgave him and that was it. I so badly wanted to speak with him for even a minute to tell him how he could find freedom in Christ but they wouldn’t let me. So yeah just another day in the life of Conner. It seems getting stolen from us becoming apart of my life as this is the 5th time this year I’ve been stolen from. But this is also the 1st time that I got my stolen thing back. Things are things and really they are worthless but I sure do feel blessed that not only I got my phone and photos back but that I wasn’t harmed at all! Learning that everything I have is God’s really so holding onto those things with opens hands is really a good way to live. So with all of that this thief is now behind bars for at least a bit, I sure do pray that God will bring this precious dude to Himself and His saving grace! Like how awesome would it be to get to meet the guy who tried to steal my phone in heaven one day!? I also pray that this dude would really know that I forgave him and Christ literally DIED the worst death and came back to life to forgive him and ME!!!! Wow wow wow just WOOOOOOOOW God is like literally sooooooo GOOD!!!!!!!!!! My life sure isn’t dull y’all and I hope it never gets dull because living each day with Christ is an epic adventure even during the scary or though days!!! Please praise God with me and pray for this thief! Peace out fam! !
The other day I had $80 stolen from me. Honestly I don’t really even care this time I’ve been trying to dwell on all the ways I’ve been blessed and not things like been stolen from. Sometimes it’s the smallest things that I see as an awesome blessing from God like today here in Suriname finding one of my favorite drinks in the world that is from South East Asia! Suriname is so rad because it’s so diverse with such massive mix of people from Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe! So yeah I’m pretty ecstatic about this pink chewy lychee drink that was originally introduced to me by a little street boy in Manila Philippines!!! God is soooooooooo good y’all! I’m so blessed!!!
A few months ago I found myself in a small city in Bulgaria along with my parents and one of my littler sister’s. It was a cold Monday morning as we pulled up to an old Soviet concrete building. We walked up some stairs to enter the old building. We then waited a few minutes then were taken down a flight of stairs to a small room about the size of an American bathroom. A few minutes later my world changed in a HUGE way yet again... through the door my newest little sister shyly walked in. I’m not going to lie I was actually about to cry. I couldn’t believe that this princess of person was in the same room as me. But I also couldn’t believe she was abandoned by her mom and dad. I couldn’t believe she has had to spent her entire short life in a orphanage. But none of that is as hard to believe as the fact that she is just 1 out of millions.
I’d only ever seen a few pictures of Vali but at that moment there she was in “real” life. Truth is that this wasn’t the first time I’ve had this experience. In the past I’ve gotten meet 3 of my other siblings in a similar way. It’s pretty hard to explain that feeling of meeting someone you know almost nothing about but love so much. It’s also hard to explain the feeling of pain in my heart knowing what my siblings have been though. This time around it was even harder and more painful. In the past once I met my new little brother or sister they were at that point just a few steps away to being legally and actually in our family and home. See my parents, little sister, and I got to visit Vali for a few days then we said goodbye seemingly juts moments after saying hello. It was just a visit, a visit that seems as long as a flash of lightning. It’s been months since I saw this precious little girl and with each day that passes my heart hurts for her more and more. Saying goodbye meant weeks and weeks added to Vali’s life without a family to love her. Day in and day out she sits in that old, lifeless Soviet orphanage. It also could mean months and months of potential abuse and almost definite neglect in some way. The thing about my little sister Vali is it’s just a matter of time before this present pain is over. My family hasn’t forgotten her but rather we impatiently waiting for the final steps until we can rush half way around the world to scoop her into our arms forever. Within no more then 3 months Vali won’t be surrounded by brokenness any more. She will live a life surrounded by unconditional love and care. What pains my heart far more than not having Vali surrounded by love yet, is the millions of children just like her that have been forgotten. MILLIONS. I really want that to sink in. Literally MILLIONS, like a number with SIX zeros after it... 000,000 The problem is that our mind just sees all those numbers and not the actual little human beings behind those numbers. Behind those numbers are countless stories of complete neglect, abuse, and pain. Behind those numbers are scared faces, broken hearts, and tired eyes. Behind those numbers are children, children who have been forgotten and left behind by their own parents and family. Each of those “numbers” is a little human enduring pain of some kind. I have been in dozens and dozens of orphanages and children’s homes all around the world. I’ve been in a few fantastic children’s homes but sadly most of places I’ve been even if they are ok or good aren’t actually good at all. Children don’t belong in dorms full of other dozens of other kids. Children belong in families full of love. The sad reality is that there are millions of children who have been abandoned, neglected, or taken away from their families because of abuse that are now without a family to care for them. Most are placed in prisons, yes prisons. A place where they can’t escape, an institution called an orphanage or sometimes a “children’s home.” These places are all around the world even right in the USA. There are 8 year olds the size of a toddler because of extreme neglect, fully functional 15 year olds who are suicidal, 2 year olds being sexually abused, and well children of all ages going through hell. Even when these children are in “good” places being treated well they are still living a nightmare of a life just trying to cope with the trauma of being separated from their parents. They are the orphans, the fatherless, the motherless, and even the rejects of society. They are hidden away in four walled buildings while you and I close ourselves in four walled “church” buildings. When the Bible talks about the least of these, the oppressed, the poor, the needy, the fatherless it’s taking about these kids trapped in buildings and systems. It’s taking about that group of siblings in foster care who were taken away form their drug addicted parents. It’s talking about those extremely disabled kids tied to cribs in Ukraine. It’s taking about those hard teens who are about to age out. It’s talking about those children left on the side of the street in China. It’s taking about all of them and the millions more who all have insanely sad stories. To me what hurts my heart more then children without families is the family’s without love towards these children. Like those families who live in states, in a comfortable house, surrounded by hundreds of churches. My heart physically feels like it gets shot when people tell me that they can’t afford financially to adopt, that they can’t do foster care because they would have too much love to let the kid go, that they can’t adopt because they are too young or too old, that they can’t foster because they would have to let their foster kids go to public school, that they can’t adopt because there home is too small, that they just aren’t called to adopt and on and on the list goes. What kind of excuses are these?! Are these kids not worthy of love and a family not matter the cost to you physically or financially? Aren’t these children made in the image of God and considered our neighbors whom we are to love unconditionally? My mind flashes back to Vali my little sister who is on the other side of a vast ocean who is just months away from a family. But my mind also flashes back to hundred+ kids in her orphanage who don’t have anyone. In my head I can see the faces of hundreds if not thousands of kids I’ve seen in past few years who are completely forgotten who have no hope unless the church steps up. I know that not everyone can adopt and the fact is that if the people that could and should adopt, there would be FAR FAR FAR less waiting children and maybe even non!!! Oh brothers and sisters especially those of you who live in the US I plead with you to show the of Christ to your fatherless neighbors! It might seem like I’m obsessed with this topic and it’s because I am. There are so many children who need us to care! I’ll end with this. If you found yourself trapped in an institution or system with no family to care for you, wouldn’t you want someone to rescue you!? I think the saddest thing is that while the church remains basically silent about adoption the lgbtq community is running towards these already hurt and abused children with open arms!!! Shouldn’t we as believers of the God who adopted us be the FIRST to rush into caring for the lives of these precious children and teens!? These are some questions to really and seriously ponder. Ok y’all I’m out, I’m always willing to talk with anyone via messenger about how you can help the oppressed children of the world. The other day I made a Facebook post asking people what they thought it costs to travel around the world to 97 countries in a year. There were many guesses from 8 thousand to MILLIONS. For quite a few years now I’ve really hated money as it seems to get in way of things at least from a human perspective. When I set out to visit every country in the world I knew it wouldn’t be cheap. I also started this trip with literally zero bucks to my name as I had spent it all to fly to China on last minute missions trip and came home completely broke.
Usually when someone finds out about my trip around the world the numeber 1 first question is always HOW DO YOU FUND IT? Like no lie the first question out of 99.99% of people’s mouths are about money when I’m telling someone about my trip. It’s actually kinda cool because I get to use that question as a platform. Everytime someone ask’s be about money I get to give glory to God and God alone! Since starting this trip I haven’t had to ask for a penny all because I serve a God who loves and cares for His children! People are shocked to find out that I don’t fundraise, don’t have an income, and that I’ve already used up the money parents gave towards my trip. Yeah my awesome parents at the start of my trip gave me a decent amount of money to get me started but that only lasted less then 6th months. They told me that I’d need to find some other way to support my trip once their gift was used up. I’ve fundraised in the past and will always be willing to do it again but God keeps on providing without me having to ask anyone for funding which literally rocks my world whenever I think about it... because the fact that He keeps on providing in such huge ways make be feel so at peace that I’m supposed to be on this crazy trip! It’s so comforting knowing that I’m in the will of God! It also teaches me to lean on Him even more! Sometimes I feel bad or others make me feel bad for spending so much money on traveling the world knowing that there are people who could use that money more than me. It’s a struggle sometimes but I keep on going back to knowing that this is where God has me and for a reason. I’ve been able to minister in some pretty neat ways over the past year but I’ve also been able to see so much that has given me even more passion towards helping the many people in need around the world. If at any point God doesn’t will for me to be on this journey I know He will make it clear but for now I’m trying to reach every country in the world for His glory! With all of that say I’ll finally get around to the answer some of y’all have been waiting for. When I first started this trip I knew I needed to stay on tight budget in order to visit the max amount of countries with limited money. I gave myself a $30 a day budget for everything from meals to trains but only thing I wasn’t going to fit into the budget was flights since they can really add up. $30 a day for 365 days is almost $11,000 but after a few weeks into my trip I knew that I needed to try to keep all my expenses including flights into that $30 a day budget which proved to be hard from the start. I minimized every cost that I could and have been playing it rough this whole trip. Within the first 3 months of my trip I probably spent more than a month’s worth of nights sleeping on the street, in train stations, on buses, under park benches, and on trains which most weren’t even sleeper trains. And that’s just the first 3 months over the past year I’ve spent plenty of nights in more airports, parks, and even beaches to try to cut down on hotel costs. I always go for the overnight bus, train, or plane to catch a few zzzs and not have to pay for a place to sleep. I usually limit myself to just 1 meal a day while traveling solo. Actually the last 5 days I’ve only eaten a meal once each day which I usually make dinner by favorite meal haha. I say all of this not to complain but rather just explain my reality. It’s really not fun to be waken up at 4am by police in the Maldives after not haven fallen asleep until close to 1am but it’s worth not spending $30-$50 for a basic place to stay. Actually 2 full days in the Maldives which is super expensive country where many people spend over $1000 a night on world class resorts I limited myself to $20 to leave the airport, get water, food, and around the area. Just the other day I was in The Bahamas and slept out on the beach where there where drug dealers roaming around and I was woken up at 2am by super surprised cop telling me it wasn’t safe for a tourist to be outside that late... It didn’t end up being a problem I actually got to share the gospel with a local Bahaman homosexual dude for over an hour that evening. God protects me time and time again and I’m so thankful for that!!! Ok ok now with all that to say here is the answer to what it’s costed me to travel to 97 countries in a year... no more than $15,000. To be completely honest I don’t have the very exact numbers because the first 6 months I lost a piece of my budgeting info but I can say confidentially that since starting this trip on June 19, 2018 I haven’t spent more then $15,000 on every single expense. That number is super disappointing to me because it’s a little over $40 a day which is just soooooo much money! I try to be a good steward of the money God has given to me always finding the cheapest way from A to B even if it’s huge inconvenience. I never take taxi’s from airport but rather walk or take a bus probably doing that alone has saved $700+ but yeah you get the point. The number 1 biggest cost is flights and flights alone as they count towards probably 50% of my budget. I fly as little as possible always trying to cross land borders but sometimes I have to fly and regardless of how hard I try I can’t make flying cheaper. Being flexible always makes flying cheaper and I try to be as flexible as possible but sometimes I have to pay the price in order to keep going. I also want to make it super CLEAR that this trip would have ended after just a few months if it wasn’t for the kindness and hospitality of believers from around the world!!!! That $15,000 would be at least $30,000 if it wasn’t for the dozens and dozens of people who slipped money into my hand, who won’t let me pay for a meal, who have picked me up from and airport or station, who have welcomed me into their homes, who have fed me delish home cooked meals, who have took me around, who have written checks or put money in my PayPal, who have given me snacks for the road, who have driven me in their car, who have paid for a taxi, and on and on! If it wasn’t for these people who have treated me as family I wouldn’t have ever reached 97 countries so far. I praise God for every person who has invested even a minute of their time into my life and trip! It’s incredibly humbling being blessed by believers of all different backgrounds some poor and some rich. Like wooooooow just freaking WOW I’m so incredible blessed beyond measure and God is to be praised for that!!!! I think one of coolest examples is that I spent over two days in the most expensive country in the world Qatar and didn’t pay a single penny not even one because of the kindness of hospitality of the believers there and that’s just one example of hundreds of how people have blessed me on this journey! I’m not really worried with how much this trip costs and honestly keep reminding myself to not look at the financial stuff but rather press on in serving God to the fullest. Serving God is and getting to travel the world for His glory is priceless. God has been providing for me this far and as the last 3 months have been the most expensive with flying so much I’ve had to trust and lean even more on Him! God is the great provider y’all!!!! Never forget we serve the same CHRIST who made water into WINE and feed thousands with a few pieces of bread and fish!!! Yeah we serve the God who cares for the sparrows of the air and how much more us, His children!!! It’s so awesome being a son of God like it’s super exciting!!!! So yeah that’s the very long answer to the question I asked y’all the other day about how much my trip costs. Blessings and peace out! This update is SUPER LONG but I feel like I need to share of the awesome ways God is at work in a few countries that I’ve been too so far. I would REALLY appreciate if you read it because it took me over 3 hours to write...
Ever since going to China for my second time back in 2017 and getting to reach unreached Muslims with the gospel I’ve had a deep love for my Islamic neighbors. Before that trip I honestly knew almost nothing about Muslims besides that they mostly reside in the Middle East. Fast forward to 2 years later I found my self entering many Islamic nations as I try to visit every country in the world. As I traveled across Europe in the summer of last year God kept on giving me opportunities to meet and love many Muslims. I had a few super awesome divine appointments and it almost felt like God wanted me to minister to people from Muslim backgrounds the most as I traveled around Western and Eastern Europe. I entered a few majority Islamic countries such as North Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey. But it wasn’t until this year 2019 that I entered even more. In the last 6 months I’ve had dozens of opportunities to share the name of Christ and show His love to Muslims around the globe. Starting this year off in China I was co-leading a team reaching out to Islamic areas of China where the gospel isn’t even known. A few countries after China I found my self in Maylasia getting to see a country with Muslims from around the world. I even got to stay with a family from Iran there. After Maylasia I was in many majority Buddhist countries but that didn’t stop God from putting more Muslims in my path. I was in the capitol of Cambodia, Phnom Penh and got to hang out and meet dozens of little Muslim kids in an Islamic neighborhood where the ministry I was serving with recently started going too. Not to long after that I was in Myanmar walking around another Muslim neighborhood. Right after Myanmar I was in Brunei a majority Islamic country that actually just put Sharia law into my place a few weeks after I left. Funny enough I didn’t get to minister to any Muslims in Brunei but rather a Catholic from Philippines. When I entered Indonesia that’s when I got to really minister to Muslims in a pretty awesome way. I got to visit a Christian Bible College and the day I left I went out onto the streets with some of the students to share the name of Christ with people hanging out in public areas such as a park. Before even getting to the park I sat down in the back of a local bus next to an older man and lady along with one of my Indonesian friends. Being the only foreigner on the bus I stood out I guess and the man sitting next to me asked where I was from in broken English, his simple question spring-boarded into an entire conversation about Jesus until we had to exit the bus! God is sooooo good!!! We then went out and got to share the gospel with dozens of people sitting around at a big park in downtown Jakarta. Indonesia isn’t entirely Islamic and it’s pretty easy to see who is and isn’t a Muslim but we didn’t avoid them but instead went up to everyone trying to tell them about Jesus. There were quite a few Muslim families who told us to leave as soon as we started sharing about Jesus but there were more who had never heard about who Jesus actually is and were intrigued. It was so epic to be out on streets with my Christian Indonesian friends getting to share the wonderful name of Christ to probably over a hundred people many of whom had never heard of the Salvation found in Him! I think one of things that made this experience so cool was that Indonesia is rated the 30th most persecuted country for Christians in the world, meaning it’s quite a closed country to put that in perspective China is 27th. Soon after going to Indonesia I arrived in Maldives which many know as an expensive and tropical island resort country where many people go on their honeymoons. A place where one can easily spend over $800 a night. But this country is one of only a few entirely Islamic countries in the world meaning its 100% Muslim. It’s rated the 14th most persecuted country in the world to put that into perspective Iraq is 13th. It’s highly illegal to even be a Christian yet alone share the gospel. Only Mark and Acts are translated into the local language and most missionaries to have come to the Maldives have been kicked out. While there I had the best opportunity of getting to make a few gospel tracts using verses of the Bible that had been translated into their language. I have a small little photo printer that used to print these tracts out and leave them in place I knew they would be found. It’s the very least I could do but how my heart was so burdened for this precious people who many haven’t even had the opportunity to hear of His great name! Almost a month later I arrived back into Islamic country which was Azerbaijan I was only there for about 12 hours but I got to meet believers who God is using in big ways to spread His word. After that I flew over to Kazakstan which is in Central Asia. After arriving I got to meet believers from Muslim backgrounds and here their incredible stories of salvation which greatly encouraged me. These believers were so down to earth and had a deep love for Christ and the Word of God. I traveled around Central Asia going to Kyrgyzstan, Tajistan, and Uzbekistan and in each of those countries getting to meet with believers on fire for the Kingdom. I didn’t have as many opportunities to share the gospel as I would have liked but I feel like God wanted me to spend my time meeting the saints serving there long term by encouraging them and listening to how God is using them for His kingdom! After having a lovely time in Central Asia I flew over to the Middle East for the first time on this trip. Arriving into United Arab Emirates started a week long heavenly experience. As the plane landed I awoke from my sleep to a welcome to Dubai from the cabin crew over the speakers but also a warning/reminder that it was the start of Ramadan and that drinking and eating in public is illegal. I had no idea what I would be doing or even if I had a place to stay. Before I bordered I messaged a guy who someone else I reached out to gave me. I got a message from him when I landed saying that I could meet him at an international church he works at. Not wanting to spend $20+ for a 8-10 minute Uber drive I decided to take the bus and walk in the hot sun to hotel where this international church met. Once I arrived I found this guy named Ron who knew nothing about me other then what I sent him in short text a few hours before. He led me to the room where the gathering was and I sat through a very great and encouraging sermon about how we need to be urgently sharing the gospel with everyone because if we don’t they will go to hell as enemies of God! After the service Ron told me I could stay at his place and that I could spend the day with him tagging along to the two other services that this huge international church had. I met some great people from around the world who told me they would love to get me in contact with believers from other countries. I was super encouraged by the youth group that I attended in the evening as there were youth my age who stood strong in their faith and gave me wisdom on how to share the gospel with Muslims, like woah that was super encouraging! My short time in Dubai/UAE was super awesome but as I was leaving just the day after arriving things got even cooler! I boarded a bus heading to Oman the neighboring country to UAE and after getting settled in my seat a Muslim man dressed in the traditional white rob looked over at me from across the isle and asked where I was from. I told him I was from the states and he hopped up and sat right next to me wanting to talk. Well this turned into a long conversation between not only between him but us two Muslim men behind me. I ended up getting to talk with and share the gospel with these three Muslim men from Oman, India, and Pakistan for almost and hour! It was sooo awesome! The crazy thing is I didn’t do anything I didn’t go out of my way to share the gospel but rather God placed this huge opportunity right in my lap! Ahh isn’t God’s plans so coooool!!! After getting a few hours of sleep on the bus into Oman I got off at a bus stop where I was to meet my tour guide... yes I Conner Haines just said tour guide. If you know me you’d know I’m not a very touristic guy and I’m on tight budget so having a tour guide is something I just don’t do... but God planned for this crazy opportunity to have a private tour guide for two days to show me around the country of Oman. It’s kinda a long story but in short a brother in Christ who I’ve never met has a tourism business asked me if I’d like to go on tour under two conditions... 1. Make a video of my time in Oman to promote his company and 2. Openly and boldly share the name of Christ with my guide. Of course I agreed to this once in a life time offer! Before meeting my guide I had been praying that God would allow for the perfect timing to share the gospel with him. I didn’t want to share the gospel with him just because I had told the guy who put me on the tour that I would... I wanted it to happen naturally without me just randomly springing the powerful Good News on my guide. Well God sure answered my prayers because as my tour guide who’s name is “Super” (not his real name) and I were driving from one place to another I had asked him some question about Ramadan which turned into an hour plus conversation of how Islam is works based and explaining the beautiful gospel with my new friend. The last 20 minutes of our conversation were powerful as we had parked and I could make eye contact with him since he wasn’t driving anymore. I was explaining to him that we can never do enough good to earn our way into heaven, that we can only be saved by the blood of Christ. He was quite speechless as I gave him the example of him committing a murdered and going before a judge in court telling the judge that he had done so much good and that he shouldn’t be punished. I explained to him how Islam can’t save him and that salvation is through Christ and His grave alone. By the end of our time going back and fourth about Christ verses Islam I was even more burdened for Super. I so badly wanted him to have the peace of knowing where he would go when he died that I have. We ended up getting out of the car and then later we had another hour plus long conversation about marriage and unconditional love. He was explaining to me about how he wanted another wife and I explained to him how that’s sin. This conversation also went into how abuse is wicked, how women are created equal and how Christ shows us unconditional love despite our sin towards him just like how he should unconditional love his wife and children. It was pretty dang deep and I praise God for such an opportunity! Super dropped me off at the place I’d be staying while in Oman which was with a brother in Christ who I had almost no contact with besides a few texts that we exchanged regarding what time I would be arriving at his place. I had gotten this brother’s contact from the guy who put me on tour who also set me up with staying with this guy. Well me and N instantly hit it off and within and hour or so we where crying out to God together for the Arabic and Muslim world! I haven’t felt that close to God in along time it was an intense time of being filled with the Holy Spirit with a longing to see Muslims set free from their dead religion. Like seriously it was such a powerful time with a brother I had just met who shares the same heart for the Kingdom of God to be made known through out Islamic countries! The next day Super and I also had and over hour long talk about prayer and how I can pray to God whenever and wherever I want and how he actually listens and does miracles! And the end of my tour Super told me that we were friends and he would love to have me in Oman anytime I want to visit. Before leaving I gave him a gospel track in Arabic and sad goodbye as I had such a great time with him over the past two days. While I’m Oman I got to hear my new friend N and another brother share with me incredible ways that God is moving through out Oman! Their stories are so incredible and powerful of how God is drawing Muslims to Himself! Oh how I wish I could share them all! After Oman I went to Bahrian and wooooow is their huge OPEN doors there for the gospel! The believers I met there were super epic and had come to the Middle East from South America and the Philippines! The lady from the Philippines invited me to go with her to the public hospital to minister to the people there. We were just planning on being there for an hour but let me tell you we didn’t leave until visiting hours where over which was 3 hours! Oh how God was moving in such huge ways in that hospital that night! At first we were met with a spiritual warfare of sorts as we entered the first ward and the nurses went out of their way of making sure we didn’t minster to anyone. After that we just prayed harder and once we did God opened so many doors for His Good News to go fourth as well as opportunities to pray for many people from all over the world! Yup there were many people from India, Nepal, Philippines, and even countries like Pakistan, Iran and Iraq who have never heard the message of salvation before! We sat down with some people to share the gospel with then but others we only got to pray over which was still incredible. It’s very hard to access the local Bahraini people in the hospital as often times they are in private wards or the nurses won’t let you visit them well that night was different because we got to pray for quite a few of them in powerful ways! The last patient we visited was a sick very conservative local Muslim mother who had all of her very conservative family visiting her. We asked to pray for them and we did and we prayed for them to know the name of Jesus and have dreams and visions of Him! They were actually thankful for us coming in and praying for them. It was such an incredible night of getting to see God move in mighty was in a public hospital in anIslamic country! Oh He is soooooooooooo worthy!!!!!! After Bahrain I found my self in Qatar meeting some incredible believers who are passionately serving Christ and they sure encouraged me in huge ways! I then headed to Bangladesh where I got to sit in muslims homes visiting them along with my local contacts who has a huge heart for reaching them. It was precious to get to meet the humble Muslim family’s who lived in the slums of Dhaka and pray for them. A few weeks later I found my self in similar situation but this time in Lebanon sitting with Syrian refugees. They loved having us and of course served us their fantastic Arabic tea! I think what really got me was when the mom of the family we were visiting broken down in tears because of the mass murder that happened just less than 24 hours ago in the area of Syria that she was from. She showed us the video and it was so saddening and graphic. Getting to be there and weep with them was special and a reminder of how precious life is. Oh how I desire for them to know how Jesus can save and comfort us. Fast forward to a couple weeks after being over in the Middle East and Asia I was in Cuba. If you know anything about Cuba is that it’s definitely NOT a Muslim country a quick google search slows that FAR LESS than 1% of the population is Muslim. As I was walking around Havana with the pastor I was staying with his daughter and wife who all knew no English I was shocked when the pastor took me into a building that was a mosque! Yes a mosque in Cuba it’s the only one in the whole country and was just built in 2015 it was quite a decent size. Well God had a divine appointment for me that day because I found my self talking with and trying to share the gospel with a Muslim man who knew English but not Spanish!? What a completely random and unexpected thing to be doing in Cuba. The last place I thought I would be standing in mosque for 30 minutes sharing the wonderful good news of Christ would be Cuba but obviously God guided me to talk with Isack to tell him about the only way to be saved!!! I think this showed me just how awesome God is and how much He desires for Muslims to come to Him!!! So with all that to say God has been doing some pretty epic things and I’m completely honored and humbled that He would let me get this pinch of a glimpse into how He is bringing those of Islamic faith into His huge diverse family!!! What an awesome Father we get to serve!!! Oh how I love how HIM!!!!!! Please understand that all these stories would have never happened without God directing me so all praise to Him and Him alone!!!! One last thing I want to say is that if you are someone who has hate towards Muslims I’m calling you out! Yup you who are ok with the US starting wars and killings Muslims in the Middle East. You who don’t want Muslims to come to the US seeking refuge. You who hate Muslims and wish for them to die. You who are afraid of Islam. You who think Muslims are terrorist. Yeah you... I’m pleading with you to repent of your hate and fear!!! I’m asking you to examine your life to see if you actually love Christ and your neighbors!!! Please understand that if you call your self a Christian, a follower of Christ you MUST love your neighbors and YES many of your neighbors are the 2 BILLIONS Muslims in this world who need to be shown the love of Christ both physically and spiritually! Like I’ve said in this post God is moving in massive ways throughout the the Muslim world and you can be a part of it if you LOVE your Islamic neighbors as yourself!!! You have millions of brother and sisters in Christ who have come from Muslim backgrounds and have suffered much persecution from even their own families!!! God tells us to love ALL our neighbors and preach the Gospel to every Nation so if you have any hate in your heart now is the time to get right with God and to start loving! It’s not time or building walls around your self but rather be reaching out to the people of this world, many of whom are hurting. Please brother and sisters be praying for your Muslim neighbors and those who people I talked about in this post. God is sooooooooooooooooooooooooo WORTHY and I think that through Him we can see the Islamic world flipped upside down for His glory! Come one lets make a big fat dent on this world for CHRIST!!!!! I just landed in Cuba which is country 96 so far! I set out today June 19th 2018 marking exactly a year ago!!! This journey around the world has been incredible and I can’t wait to sit down soon and write of some of the amazing ways God is at work in the countries I’ve been too! Now just 101 countries to go as long as God wills and provides!
Last week I flew back home to surprise my siblings for a quick visit. They had no idea I was coming, it was so much fun surprising them! I had been away for 6 months traveling all around Asia, a bit of the Middle East, and the rest of Europe. To most people 6 months isn’t that long but I can’t explain how much I missed my awesome family! I always tell people the only thing I miss about states while traveling is my family and of course Chick-fil-A and Wawa too haha 😂 Sadly my visit already came to end on Monday night. Like look how could I NOT miss these two beautiful princesses?! I can’t wait to see my family again, now let’s see what God has in store for South America!
Yesterday was my 19th birthday and wow I feel old haha. I wanted to take a minute say that God is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
awesome and worthy! This past year has been actually insanely incredible in so many ways. Just the other day I arrived in Nepal which is my 90th country in a bit less then a year! It’s not everyday you get to visit 90 countries by the age of 19! I have had some coolest opportunities to serve Christ during my travels. a lot of stories that are just to much for a Facebook post that you’ll just have to wait to talk to me in person or until I find the time to write it all down. Sooo yeah it’s been a great year of being 18! Birthdays are very present reminder that life is passing by fast. Oh how I don’t want to waste this life, that good old quote is so true that only what’s done for Christ lasts! Life is short I want to live it well! With all of that to say I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. I woke up late and chilled for good while working on making connections and contacts for countries I’ll be going to next. I had some yummy food for breakfast and lunch. In the afternoon my friend, some other brothers, and I went over to a slum area of Kathmandu to pass out New Testaments to the people there and many people took them. This one sweet little boy with the Nepal flag on his face told me in English he would go to his home and read it. We weren’t able to stay out too long because it’s started raining like crazy so we took shelter under a tin roof outside of little shop and talked to the people there. It then started hailing pretty decent size ice balls actually the biggest I’ve seen in real life. So after that we headed back to house. We then had some super delicious dinner. My friend Daniel Stephen Courney and his family who is so kindly hosting me here in Nepal and allowing me to minister besides him has taken in 18 orphan girls. After dinner they all sang for me and had even gotten me a fantastic cake! I felt so blessed! What great day. I couldn’t think of a better way of celebrating then with a bunch of orphans here Nepal along with my very radically awesome brothers and sisters in Christ! It was though kinda odd not being around my epic family who I miss so much but lord willing I’ll see them in August which actually isn’t too far away! I thank God for my awesome parents who have brought me up in the ways of Christ and have literally given me the world as platform to share the name of Christ! Now let’s see what God has in store for my 19th year of life! Maybe just maybe if it’s his will I’ll reach those remaining 107 countries There are a lot of people in the world who think travel is about visiting famous sites and touring around. Those things aren’t necessary bad but for me that can get real boring. I like to walk as far away from those tourist sites and put my self in places where I’m completely out of place. Often these areas have never see foreigners and don’t get to interact with them. For me I know I’m in the right place when everyone is staring at me. Not an angry stare but rather a friendly questioning of why I’m there. I get to exchange a simple smiles with the locals and see them going about there daily life. I buy things from their little shops and sometimes we get to talk and sometimes we even connect on Facebook or Instagram. Walking the side streets of Calcutta, India today for 8 miles I didn’t pass a single tourist but I did pass some very welcoming and friendly locals!!! Next time you find yourself in another country please do yourself a favor and leave those tourist sites and walk to the side streets or outskirts and actually experience those the place. You won’t regret it and you never know how God will use you!
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