Growing in Greece!

Hey family!

It’s been about a month since my last blog, and wow, what a month it’s been! God is so crazy sometimes.

Over the past month, while most of our schedule has stayed pretty consistent, there’s been so much growth and so many unexpected moments that I just have to share. I’ve had the opportunity to get involved in some truly unique ministries, each one teaching me something new. One of our newer ministries has been working at CEF, a Christian camp just outside Thessaloniki. It’s a refreshing escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and has quickly become a highlight of my week. The camp is under renovation, so it’s a mix of old and new, with construction everywhere—which totally reminds me of home! We’ve been doing a bunch of random tasks like cleaning rooms, making beds, raking leaves, and even brushing a horse. The past two weeks have been especially fun for me, since I’m task oriented. We worked on a big gathering room, covering furniture, scrubbing mold off the ceiling (not a highlight, haha), and then cleaning up after the ceiling was repainted. Seeing the before-and-after transformation was so rewarding (check out the pics below)! The camp owner, Christos, is such an amazing guy—he actually reminds me a lot of my dad! He told me to come back some summer to help out, so who knows, maybe God will have me back in Greece someday…

I’ve also joined a running club here, which was started by Philip, someone I met while helping at the camp. He’s 25, super kind, and invited us to join him on Saturday mornings and Wednesday nights. I’ve gone five times now, and we usually run a 5k. It’s been such a fun way to connect with the local community (and to try and stay active, heh). You can check out the club’s Instagram (@orme_skg) to see our runs!

Another random ministry we got to experience was helping at the Topaloglou (our host’s parent’s) family’s clothing business. We were asked to come to their factory one Saturday. My whole team was put to work cutting threads, folding, and packaging high-quality clothes. It may sound simple, but trust me, it was way harder than it seemed! After a few hours, one of the ladies we were working with noticed how drained we were looking and said, “It’s not as easy as you thought, is it.” We all agreed, and then she added, “Only the Chinese make it look easy, we don’t know how.” 😂

We’ve had some incredible conversations during our ATL (Ask the Lord) time. One memorable time was when Alleah and I spoke with one girl named Maria and a group of Muslim university students via Google Translate. Antonis, our host, had said that we were the ones who could make a difference between heaven and hell for these people, and that really hit my team. Up until then, we’d been focused on building relationships, but this time, I went straight into sharing Jesus. It was such an encouraging day, and it was amazing to see everyone becoming bolder in how they share the gospel.

Let me tell you about January’s “leader vacation” week—definitely a week to remember! With Lucy away, we were on our own when Emery, one of the girls on my team, had an accident while riding an electric scooter. She broke her ankle in two places and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. Despite the chaos, God gave me an unexpected peace through it all. That week turned out to be one of our most bonding experiences yet, as we pulled together to help Emery and manage things without a leader around. By the time Lucy returned, we were definitely closer. Praise the Lord! You can be praying for Emery as she hasn’t been able to join us for ministry lately due to her injury. It’s been tough for her not being able to serve alongside us. Please pray for her healing, patience, and strength as she continues to recover, and also for all of us as we prepare for upcoming travel!

Learning Humility and Serving Others

Now, in the midst of all this change, we’re still visiting the refugee center on Tuesdays and Thursdays, sharing meals and building relationships with people from all walks of life. It’s been such a meaningful part of our ministry, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many different people. Some days, instead of heading to the center, we head over to meet with Antonis at Moses Coffee, and wow—my last few conversations with him have been life-changing! No joke, I’ve been learning so many different things, and I even have a crazy personal story I’d love to share—it’s led to so much personal growth! 🎢

One of our conversations ended with Antonis challenging me to make a covenant with God. Honestly, it was a bit difficult because I wasn’t sure what it should focus on. But a few days later, I returned with my idea, only for Antonis to call it “self-centered.” I was honestly shocked, but as we kept talking, I started to realize something I hadn’t fully faced before—how prideful I was. I had been living as a “narcissistic Christian”—doing the right things on the outside but driven by a desire to impress others rather than simply serve God. It was a hard pill to swallow, but a necessary one. Antonis used some crazy but powerful examples to help me see my pride, and that night, I went to bed asking God to make me like a tree—always focused on His face and allowing Him to prune me. I want to be deeply rooted in love and humility, not pride! 🎉🌳

Since then, I’ve been learning what it truly means to take every thought captive—asking myself, why am I doing this? Is it truly to serve others, or to make myself feel/look better? It’s so easy to convince ourselves we’re doing things for God, but the real question is: Are my motives pure? Something that really hit me was when I thought about Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. He is the perfect example of humility—and He was the only person who could have claimed to be “better” than everyone else, yet He never thought that way. Wow. That kind of humility is what I want to reflect—not serving for my own satisfaction, but out of genuine love. This has been a major wake-up call, and I’m learning more every day how to serve my team with love and uproot my pride.

All in all, this month has been full of growth, challenges, and new experiences. From working at the camp and refugee center to the clothing factory, helping out at the coffee shop, and meeting up with friends I’ve made along the way, I’ve had the privilege of seeing God move in unexpected ways. Greece has stretched me—whether through bold conversations, fasting, or personal reflections on my motivations. It’s been a season of transformation, and I’m grateful for every moment. I’m so grateful for the lessons I’m learning, and for the amazing team I’m walking alongside. It’s been a season of pressing forward in faith, trusting God with the small and big things, and leaning into His love and humility.

A BIG Thank You to Everyone Who Supported Me!

I just want to take a moment to say how incredibly thankful I am for EVERYONE who helped with my fundraising to make this missions trip possible! I truly feel so blessed to be on this trip, and I know that it’s because of the people who felt led by to support me! 🙏 Whether you’ve prayed for me, donated, or simply sent words of encouragement, you have made a huge difference! God has been revealing so much to me through this journey, and I couldn’t have done it without your love and support. 💖

One last thing, I’m so excited to tell you that we’ll be traveling to Athens on the 26th, then meeting up with our whole squad (YAY!) on the 28th to fly out to Guatemala! Once we get to Guatemala, we’ll spend a week doing ministry, and then—drumroll please—our parents will be joining us for a week in Antigua!! I haven’t seen mine for around 6 months, and I’m looking forward to spending time with them!! 🎉😊🎉 After they leave, we’ll head to a beautiful area near Lake Atitlán for a debrief week before settling into the AIM (Adventures In Missions) base in Guatemala.

I’ve got a pretty busy month ahead, but I’m learning time flies… Thank you again to everyone who has supported me—your prayers and encouragement mean so much!! I look forward to sharing more soon! Love you all so much!!

~Jaylynn K

Our before and after pictures!

Animals at the camp, Philip, and the run club!

Out doing ATL!

The clothing factory!

The refugee center!

The Topaloglou family!

Church things! (We made lasagna and cookies for a church lunch.)

We went to a symphony on Valentine’s Day!

The views go CRAZY!