What We've Been Up To!

It has been way too long. Why have we taken a long time to update? Because we have been anticipating a transition and haven't quite known how to communicate…but more on that in another blog coming soon. First, let’s recap what we’ve been up to!

In January we were able to attend the Young Life conference that happens every four years in California. We went to our first one just before Covid hit in 2020. This time we were able to attend the International Pre-Conference, it was amazing to sit with other Young Life staff people from around the world. Young Life is now bigger internationally than it is in the US! To hear from and interact with people from all over the globe who have the same heart for Jesus and teenagers was well worth it. Shout out to Meg’s parents for joining us so we could have some time baby-free.

Our German colleagues in California (so fun to share with them!), Sam at Disneyland on the Winnie the Pooh ride, and Chase with a kid-now-man he led on Work Crew who is now on staff! We love the "small world" of Young Life.

Soon after we got over jet lag from our trip, Sam began to crawl and fully explore everything! We were not prepared for this and no matter how baby-proof you think you are, you don’t know what constitutes as dangerous until your child is eating, licking, poking, or hitting it!

We put our travel experience to the test by going to our dear friends, Annie and Rodolfo's wedding in Guatemala. Sam loved the lack of safety restraints in boats, TukTuks, and taxi trucks. We loved seeing up close the transformational work Annie and Rodolfo are doing providing employment opportunities for adults with disabilities through Eden por Salud. It was a blast and Meg still dreams about the coffee.

In March, we celebrated our anniversary by spending the weekend at a monastery in France…with our baby! How romantic! You might be familiar with Taize as its contemplative worship services are popular in the USA. Taize’s heart is for young people and it was fantastic to meet pilgrims from all over the world joining in contemplative worship.

Another pilgrimage that I (Chase) have been wanting to do since we got to Europe was to go to Mt. Athos in Greece. They say Mt. Athos is the last place where the Byzantine Empire still exists. It's a cluster of Eastern Orthodox monasteries that have been around for a very long time. Sometimes it is compared to Vatican City for Eastern Orthodox folks. It was a great time for reflection for me and I was able to experience a different strand of Christianity that I haven’t interacted with much.

As we prepare to wrap up our time in Germany (more on that later), our boss assigned each of us a project. Meg had the opportunity to facilitate a prayer retreat for Young Life volunteers and staff from around Germany. She did a great job and even incorporated part of our experience at Taize. I got to run the Program (the funny skits and activities) at a day camp in Munich–it was an English day camp for German students so I got to speak English! Woo! My character was Xavier from X Kwon Do, the X stands for eXtreme (Grunt grunt grunt).

In the past month, we met up with Heather and Alan Kruse (church friends from our Issaquah days) and Megan Casian (an old SPU friend), Meg’s parents for a week, and Sam’s Korean uncle and auntie, Toms and Jimin came to visit--we met up with our other SPU friends Scott and Giselle! Fun reunions all around!

Finally, we were tasked with training new Young Life leaders in Berlin. We shared the DNA of Young Life, including how to execute a Young Life club, how to give a club talk, and how to be a relational minister. Ironically, no one in this crew was actually from Germany! It was an incredible experience being in a room of refugees and transplants from all over the world who want to help young people in the city and give them the hope of the Good News. The week culminated with us putting their new knowledge to the test by putting on a Young Life club for refugee teenage boys (Xavier got to make a guest appearance). Humor, fun, and love are universal languages, and we were reminded how teenagers are teenagers no matter their life experience–they all long to belong.

We also got to prayer walk through the neighborhood where our colleague Tilli does ministry with teenagers growing up in poverty and violence. She is a woman of deep care and conviction and we admire her commitment to show up where the kids are.