Neighbor Project

As I was engrossed in my notebook while sitting at a table in the Roma airport, Susanna asked to sit at the free chair in front of me. It took me some time to actually get my nose out of my pages before asking her what her name was. She had a peaceful and kind presence, and I noticed a big backpacking bag next to her. It turns out, she just finished a 26 day “Camino” - or pilgrimage from Lucca, Italy all the way down to St. Peter’s Basillica in Rome. (For context that would take 4 hours by train).

“They stamped us along the way, and even gave us a certificate of completion!” She excitedly pulled out a crisp white envelope that remained wrinkle-free somehow in this hiker’s backpack.

“I wanted to walk with God. He put it on my heart and confirmed it through many ways. I asked for four months off from work and they gave it to me!”

I have always thought how cool it would be to do one of those Caminos, but have always been apprehensive about needing to lug around a giant backpack everywhere. But this 70-year old Czech woman from Australia inspired me that truly, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. She hurt her knee the last week of the trail but refused to end early and take the train there, and simply kept going.

“I don’t think God cuts corners, and I don’t want to either.”

Wow- truly such an inspiration that age and physical limitations do not need to stop us from what God puts in our hearts to accomplish.

Thank you Susanna for stopping to sit at my table and choosing to journey with Jesus, not letting age or life circumstances to stop your walk with Him, and inspiring others to do the same along the way :)

Fun fact: Janine’s last time in New York was to interview with Starbucks in the running to become one of the top baristas globally. Although this German by blood but American in heart has the work ethic and skill to be a globally ranked barista, she laid it down in order to follow Jesus. This led her to Kona, Hawaii where she completed a discipleship training school that radically changed her life. Since then, she’s been serving the Lord all over the world, reaching the lost and the least in the pacific islands, Eastern Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. In many of these places she’s also gotten to serve as a barista in a cafe! Shes now not just a globally acclaimed barista but a woman of God who is a living example of how the warmth, depth and richness of Christ can transform someone’s life. Like the coffee making process: from bean, to roast, to brew, to pour to service, Janine cares deeply and has the skill to walk with people in order to be developed into their greatest potential in Christ. I was so thankful to get to see her on a layover in New York for a quick little reunion, until I see her somewhere else around the world. Love you girl!

Erin is someone you can’t help but feel blessed when you are around her. Her creative, spunky spirit and hunger for the Lord has led her to Europe and beyond in faith that Jesus is the creator and sustainer of ALL things in her life and beyond. I admire her courage to pursue the gifts and dreams God has given to her, especially in the realm of photography and entrepreneurship!! She is truly going after it in faith over fear. From the streets of Milan to streets of NYC I can’t wait to see where she flys off to next and where we get to cross paths again, cameras in hand ;))

Maya is a beautiful human who delights in adventure, beauty, and the mysteries and wonders of God. Her heart is for holistic care of the human being: soul, body, spirit, and one conversation with her can twist and turn in so many different directions. She is deep but also playful and fun, and never fails to laugh at her own mistakes, or yours either ;)

Maya has struggled with health issues for over ten years, but has consistently sought after the Lord in various healing methods. She is aware and open to the supernatural just as much as the natural, and recognizes God’s hand in both. I am amazed at her perseverance and determination along the obstacles that have arisen on her journey. As she continues her own pursuit of a healing process, she invites others into one as well, simply as a natural overflow of who she is. A natural community builder and encourager, Maya is a friend that loves deep and puts her all into anything she sets her mind to do and doesn’t let anything get in her way.

Love you miss Maya!!! Ci vediamo dopo :)
goodyear

As a young twenty-something from Thessaloniki, Greece, Elias was depressed and hopeless to the point of literally pulling the trigger on himself twice in the stomach, intending to end his life to escape the pain he was going through.

Despite all of his intestinal organs coming out of his body, he survived the shooting and after some time to physically heal he was sent to a mental institution for mental healing.

“It was hell - I was living hell inside of me - I couldn’t even kill myself”

So he then began attacking others. At one point he was put in chains for a month due to his violence towards his nurses. His next plot was to murder the doctor who put that order on him.

“I know I was an evil person - I was really not good”

One day while he was in a period of freedom from the hospital, he met a man in a coffee shop who was sharing about God. Elias went up to him and bluntly asked “Who is God!?” Wondering why he was still even alive at this point. The man gave him a free Bible and “that was the beginning.”

While reading the Bible, Elias began to change his mind about murdering the doctor. Reading the word slowly but surely began to heal his mind, however even after almost 10 years of reading he never got to the point of actually following Jesus, thinking “one day (in the distant future) I will…”

That distant future came quickly when he got into a freak accident riding his bike to the hospital to go visit his father. As he was trapped underneath a truck seeing the wheels about to run him over, he prayed a prayer to God promising to follow Him for the rest of his life if he survived. He said he heard a response saying “you will live.”

The wheels rolled over his pelvis and he heard the crack.

As his consciousness remained, he realized that although he was still alive, he would be paralyzed for the rest of his life.

Encouraged by the response of the first prayer, he prayed a second one asking to not be paralyzed.

He was rushed to the hospital, which ironically was his intended destination that day, and placed in a bed right next to his father.

The doctors were stunned to find no need for him to have surgery

**CONTINUED IN COMMENTS**