North Global Directors Summit 2025 + Sweden Global Impact Vision Trip

My first trip of 2025 is in the books! I am still trying to wrap my head around all that God showed me and allowed me to experience.

This trip was two-fold. We first needed to go to Sweden to make some plans for our 2025 Global Impact interns. I have 8 interns coming from the Great Lakes as well as one from UNLV, plus 4 shepherds (FCA staff leaders). This is an incredible number because last year Great Lakes only had one participant and we ended up not having any interns from UNLV.

We visited a few places to try to figure out where we wanted to do our ending retreat– a time when the interns rest from the month and plan for the upcoming year. We found an amazing place, that you can see below, and I’m really excited to welcome the team to Sweden!

We got to do life with Johan, who is the director of Sport for Life (FCA) in Sweden, while we were there– eating dinner at his home with his family and other staff and also getting to see his oldest son play hockey.

It was extra special to me, since I have now known Johan and his family for over 3 years. It’s really fun to see his kids grow up and remember me when I come back.

After Sweden, we ventured to Poland for our 2025 North Global Director’s Summit. We had 12 countries represented for a time of training, leadership development, and relational refreshing. I got to meet many of my teammates that I have only seen on Zoom calls every week.

Many of our teammates in Poland are Ukrainians displaced by the war. Every week I have life in prospective, but hearing from them in person is even more sobering.

Many of our staff have to work ministry around bombings & blackouts. Others had to flee in general with their families and have lived in multiple countries.

When I think on their experiences it just blows my mind of how blessed I am. I am able to sit in my home without fear of a physical enemy. I am able to leave my country, my state, my town, whenever I want without question. I am able to safely return to my home whenever I decide to come back.

Their resilience puts my problems into prospective. If they can restart their entire lives and leave behind family without knowing when or if they will see them again– I can conquer anything that comes my way. God can use anything to bring his good into my life, even if it’s devastating.

We also had the chance to visit Auschwitz concentration camp. I will have a full blog on this later, but just know that it was a place to be reminder of the evil that exists in this world. We have a real enemy. We have an adversary that wants to steal, kill, and destroy and he will use any means necessary to do it. However, we ALSO have a God that is greater than all of the schemes of the enemy who is FOR us and loves us more than anything.

It is difficult to understand why this evil happens, but God knew that we would struggle and he’s there for us when we need to go to him with our questions. Doubt doesn’t mean we have weak faith, it means that God is growing you in an area that needs more trust in him.

Overall, this trip was a reminder of that, and a reminder of just how global and unifying the gospel is no matter where you live or language you speak. I encourage you to take some time today to pray for the nations and for all that is going on in the world. God is good, and he is near.