When I think back on our mission trip to North Macedonia, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the word “connections.” Before we ever stepped foot in Skopje, we knew we were going there to pray, to encourage, to share the love of Christ, and to be available for whatever the Lord wanted to do. But as the week unfolded, it became very clear that God was not only leading us to places, He was leading us to people. Everywhere we went, it seemed as if the Lord was opening doors for conversations, encouragement, prayer, and relationships that we could have never arranged on our own.

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Some of those connections were with local believers, pastors, and ministry leaders. We were blessed to worship with a church in Skopje, to sit with brothers and sisters in Christ, to hear their hearts, and to encourage them in the work God has called them to do. There was something incredibly powerful about singing the same hymns in two different languages and realizing that we were not strangers at all. We were family. We were one body in Christ. Those moments reminded me that the Church of Jesus is much bigger than our own town, our own ministry, our own language, or our own culture. God is working all over the world, and He allowed us to step into just a small part of what He is already doing in North Macedonia.

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Other connections were with strangers we met along the way. Restaurant workers, shop owners, drivers, people walking through the city, and others we encountered during our daily steps became opportunities for ministry. Sometimes it was a full conversation about faith. Sometimes it was a word of encouragement. Sometimes it was simply handing someone a card that reminded them that Jesus loves them. But again and again, we saw that small acts of obedience can carry great weight when they are placed in the hands of God.

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One moment that will stay with me happened while we were visiting the monastery near Lake Ohrid. Coria had placed some blessing cards around the monastery, and at one point I went back to take a picture I had forgotten to take. As I walked back, I saw a woman notice one of the cards and pick it up. She began to read it, and then she held it tightly in her hand. I watched as she looked upward, almost as if the words had reached something deep inside of her. Then she placed the card carefully in her purse and held onto that purse tightly. I do not know her name, her story, or what she was carrying in her heart that day, but in that moment I knew the Lord was speaking to her through that simple card. It was a powerful reminder that God sees the one. He knows the heart. He can use even the smallest act of obedience to reach someone at exactly the right moment.

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This trip also impacted me through the way our team grew together. Mission trips have a way of revealing both our strengths and our weaknesses. Long flights, missed connections, language barriers, exhaustion, heat, health concerns, and unfamiliar surroundings all stretch you. They challenge your patience, your flexibility, your attitude, and your dependence on the Lord. But those challenges also became part of the blessing. We prayed together, walked together, laughed together, adjusted together, encouraged one another, and kept moving forward together. By the end of the trip, I believe we were not only a team that traveled together; we were brothers and sisters who had labored together in the work of the Lord.

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I was especially blessed to watch each person on the team step into their own part of the mission. God used different personalities, different gifts, and different moments of courage throughout the week. Some were bold in conversation. Some were steady in prayer. Some encouraged quietly. Some brought joy and laughter at just the right time. Some noticed things that others may have missed. That is the beauty of the body of Christ. We do not all minister in the same way, but when we are surrendered to the same Lord, He uses each part for His purpose.

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Personally, this trip reminded me again that ministry is not always about platforms, programs, or large crowds. Sometimes ministry looks like walking through a city and praying. Sometimes it looks like sitting at a table with a new friend. Sometimes it looks like encouraging a driver, blessing a waiter, praying with a believer, or speaking the name of Jesus to someone who has only known religion but not relationship. The mission field is not just a place on a map. It is wherever God places us with people who need to know His love, His truth, and His grace.

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I came home from North Macedonia thankful, encouraged, and expectant. I am thankful for the team God formed, for the people He allowed us to meet, for the conversations He opened, and for the support of everyone who prayed and gave to make this trip possible. I am encouraged because I believe we saw the beginning of relationships that may continue to grow in the future. And I am expectant because I do not believe this trip was the end of a story. I believe it may have been the beginning of one.

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Above all, my testimony is simple: God was faithful. He guided our steps, strengthened us when we were tired, protected us through the challenges, opened doors we could not have opened, and reminded us again that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for every nation, every language, and every person. I am grateful that we were able to go, grateful for what God allowed us to see, and grateful for what He did in us while He was working through us.