update #13 - stories

"I am interested in personal stories because that's when people become expressive, spontaneous, and heartfelt." -- Anna Deavere Smith

I stopped on the corner of the street and asked my friend how he was doing. He's someone my co-worker and I first met while serving lunch at Amfremar (the local soup kitchen in our neighborhood) and have since gotten to know at our English club. He's been looking for work since the end of the summer. Without any family nearby, he has been forced to find alternative housing (read: living in a tent in the foothills just above our neighborhood). He makes a valiant effort, though, dressing in nice, button-up shirts during the day and selling birds of paradise flowers on the side of the street to make ends meet.

Every time I see him, I stop to say hello and ask how he's doing. He's quite a positive person, given his circumstances, which often reminds me of what's truly important in life.

It's not so much about the things we have (beyond our basic needs), but the relationships we have - and how we can share the things we do have with other people in our lives.
It's not about noticing what we have (or lack) compared to other people, but more about coming together as a community and realizing what we all have together.

It's a joy to be able to work in community development because most of my weeks are filled with stories like this that make me pause, re-focus, and re-center on what matters most. I honestly believe that if each of us opened our eyes to see the people we pass on the streets every day and took a moment to listen to their stories, we'd all have weeks filled with encounters and stories to shift our perspectives back to people, relationships, and community.

Who can you talk to this week?

There's a chance it could make their day.
And an even greater chance it could have a lasting impact on your heart.




♥ mk

update #12 - perspective

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

In the last five weeks, I've spent the night in 6 different cities spread out between three countries on two continents.

I'm back to living out of a suitcase.

Enjoying the snow in Sweden

It's difficult to feel settled when constantly traveling. And even more difficult when the place where I want to feel settled isn't my home culture. I'm still adjusting to life in Spain. Then I go and explore Sweden (which was just wonderful) and come back to Spain for a week and a half and then jump on a plane to Morocco for a coaching training.

Three drastically different cultures. All within two weeks.

Visiting the souk in Casablanca

I think I'm just now recovered from all that travel and have registered that I'm actually back in Spain and here to stay for the foreseeable future. And you know what's amazing? All that travel, despite the fact that I was living out of a suitcase and constantly on the go, ended up helping me feel more settled here. 

Spain feels more like home to me now. My piso is a restful place that I come to take a break in the middle of my long days meeting with people, volunteering, and helping run our English club. I'm recognizing more and more of the faces I see in my neighborhood. My teammates are my extended family. I look forward to going to the soup kitchen and serving my (homeless) neighbors I often see on the streets selling flowers or asking for spare change. I'm excited to build relationships with the people in my neighborhood, investing in them as leaders, entrepreneurs, community members, and global citizens.

Maybe this feeling of being settled would have come eventually without all the travel this past month. But I'm grateful I got the best of both worlds - visiting one of my favorite places, exploring new cultures, and then coming back "home." 

Sunset on the Mediterranean

There is still some unfamiliarity to this life in Spain, but it's becoming more and more comfortable. And despite the frustrations that are part of adjusting to a new culture, I'm happy to be right where I am.

♥ mk

update #10 - holidays and families

"the love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth or privilege."  -- charles kurah


This time of year always makes me miss my family. In the United States, it's a time when extended families come together to share a meal of Thanksgiving. It's a time when some families begin decorating for Christmas. It's time when college students come home to be with their families. A time when a lot of young adults take time off work and make their way back home so they can celebrate and spend time with their loved ones.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with some of

our Spanish neighbors and friends.

Feliz Día de Acción de Gracias!

I'm thankful to be in Spain right now, even though it's the most difficult time of the year for me to be away from my family.

I'm thankful I get to experience my favorite time of the year in a different culture from my own.

I'm thankful for the wonderful friendships I've been given here in Spain that make home not feel so far away.

I'm thankful that I'm able to feel at home here in Malaga.

I'm thankful for this unique experience to live abroad and immerse myself in a new culture.

I'm thankful for the new perspective I've gained from living here.

I'm thankful that Spaniards truly value families.

This past week, as I've been missing my family a little more than usual, I've started to notice the emphasis on families here.
When kids have a day off school and their parents have the day off work, it's almost assumed that the family will spend the day together. I went to the mall on such a day a couple of weeks ago and it was packed with families - moms, dads and kids all together. Crazy. That's just not something I normally saw in the States.
Then I started noticing things my Spanish friends would say about going away for the weekend with their parents. Because, evidently, that's a normal thing.
Even the way a traditional Spanish work (and school) day is set up to include siesta is designed so that families can spend some time and share a meal together every day.

What a beautiful thing it is! A value so important to this people group that it has shaped their culture.

Right now, living halfway across the world from my family and close friends, it's obviously impossible to share a meal together everyday. Or even have a conversation most days. But that certainly doesn't mean I love or value them any less. It just makes me wonder how this time in Spain will impact my own personal culture I'm developing as I take bits and pieces of cultures to which I'm exposed.

I'm grateful for this time in a culture that treasures family. In some ways it makes me long to be with my family and friends even more, but it also makes me want to be more present here. What other beautiful aspects of this culture will I get to discover over the next few years here?



♥
mk

update #9 - loving my (homeless) neighbors: Spain

"great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." -- sally koch

The last couple of weeks have been very full for me. Full of places to be, full of things to do, full of new cultural experiences (good and frustrating), full of wonderful conversations, full of people. Being an introvert, weeks like that have the potential to be very exhausting. But, while I did feel very tired at the end of most days, it was a truly fulfilling couple of weeks.

Filling bags with food to hold people
over between lunch and breakfast.

Now that I'm a bit more "settled in," I have the energy to be able to meet with more people during the day, which has been so great. The time I've been able to pour into new friendships has allowed the relationships to grow deeper, which, in turn, has helped me feel a bit more settled. It's amazing how much of a difference it can make to feel known in a foreign place. Even just to feel heard can be quite helpful.

In the last couple of weeks, I've been able to spend some time volunteering at Amfremar*, the soup kitchen in our neighborhood that serves breakfast and lunch to my (homeless) neighbors. Before leaving Spain last year, I had the opportunity to serve there for a couple of months and have been really looking forward to being back there, tangibly loving my neighbors.

Since going back there, I've started to recognize more faces on the streets as I walk through my neighborhood. People I never would have guessed might be struggling financially. People who have a story. People who have something to share.

I can't fix their problems, but I can offer a listening ear. I can give my time to help prepare and serve lunch. I can treat them with respect. I can tangibly love my neighbors. All of them.

The video below is a news story about Amfremar:

(For those who don't understand Spanish, the story shows and explains that Amfremar serves between 30 and 40 people two meals a day and sends them with a sack dinner at lunch. There is one cook in the kitchen, so during meal times, volunteers and a couple of office staff will come help serve the food. Amfremar also offers a place to sleep for up to 10 people, as well as counseling services to help these people get back up on their feet.)


*Amfremar stands for Amigos Malagueños de Familias Rehabilitados y Marginados (Malagueñan Friends of Rehabilitating and Marginalized families).



♥ mk

update #4 - loving my (homeless) neighbors: Seattle

"we think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked, and homeless. the poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. we must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty." -- Mother Theresa

Last night I went to a local shelter to serve dinner to some of my homeless neighbors. Since it wasn't raining, I decided to walk down to the shelter, which is always helpful in clearing my mind, slowing my thoughts, and preparing me for the experience and conversations I'm about to have.

And I had no idea just what I was in for.

Before the meal, we all sang some Christmas carols together and it was such a beautiful sight, looking at all of these people who are visibly hurt, broken, struggling to make it another day opening their mouths and singing. It's amazing what a little bit of music can do to lift spirits. And to see a room filled with men and women desperate for hope, finding some joy in the moment as we all sang together, gave me an overwhelming sense of love for these people I'd just met.

It keeps things in perspective, really, to meet people who don't have a house or apartment to call home, and yet can smile, finding joy in the midst of such pain. My heart broke for my neighbors there, but I also felt so much hope for them because of their outward demonstration of hope, joy, and peace.

The conversations I had with a couple of them after the meal were such a good reminder to me that these neighbors of mine are just as broken as I am, because we all share in our humanity. And they can also have just as much joy and hope as I can.

And so I gladly and humbly plan to return to that shelter to not only serve my neighbors, but also listen to their stories. There's so much I can learn from them. But, more importantly, when I slow down and actively engage in conversation with my homeless neighbors, it gives them a chance to regain their sense of humanity, feeling valued and loved again. And what greater gift is there to give than sharing in Christ's love with one another? 'Tis the season, after all. :)



♥ mk

update #1 - what's next?

"the journey is my home" -- Muriel Rukeyser

I haven't been so good at updating this blog regularly, so I've taken the advice of a friend and decided to commit to writing 5 days a week - focusing on a different topic each day of the week. Yesterday, I wrote a review of a Spanish tapas restaurant I'd visited while in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago.

Today I'd like to write a (somewhat) brief update on where I've been and what's next. As you may know from having read this blog over the last year, I moved to Spain last fall to apprentice with a team through CRM Empowering Leaders. Our team focuses on community and leadership development, both of which are desperately needed because of the current economic situation in Spain. There's still a high unemployment rate (about 56% among people ages 18-35) with no real hope of it improving soon, which means there's a huge population of educated, but un-experienced and unemployed people throughout Spain.

My neighborhood in Malaga

This past year, my position on the team with CRM allowed me to put to use my passion to train and disciple leaders, the skills in sustainable & economic development I gained from grad school, and my Spanish language abilities. My primary focus was to assess the need in our neighborhood in Malaga and the results were not at all surprising, though still difficult to bear. One thing became very clear, though: there is work to be done and God has blessed me with the heart and exact skillset needed to address the situation.

Over the last several months, I've gone through the interview and assessment process to join CRM full-time in Spain. I will be serving with the same team, assisting to build up local leaders by providing them training, meeting their needs for English learning and practice, and giving them opportunities to both make a difference in their neighborhood and add volunteer experience to their resumes. It's an exciting time, thinking about all the opportunities for growth that lie ahead!

So that (roughly) brings me to today. I'm currently in the States (based out of Seattle and traveling a bit) as I work on my visa application and raise support to return to the field full-time. I would greatly appreciate prayers during this time - for safe travels, ease during the visa application process, and that God would provide financial partners who desire to be part of what He's doing in Spain! If you would like to be part of my support team by giving financially to CRM, please see the DONATIONS section on the sidebar of this blog or go straight to CRM's giving page and enter "Mikaela McGee" in the search bar.

Being with family is awesome

Since arriving in the States this summer, I've been enjoying the extra time with family and friends, just soaking it all up because I don't know the next time I'll get to be around for this long! What a gift. :)

If you would like to hear more about what I'll be doing in Spain, please comment below - I'd love to share more stories!


♥ mk

with all my heart

"wherever you go, go with all your heart" -- Confucius

It's been over four months since I first arrived in Spain. In some ways, it's hard to believe it's been so long because I feel like I just stepped off the plane. But when I slow down to think about the experiences I've had, the people I've met, the beauty I've seen, the love I feel for the Spanish people and their culture, I'm amazed that it's only been four months.

This love is not just a fascination with all the new and different things I'm experiencing daily. While Spain hasn't yet become "home" to me, I am constantly finding myself more comfortable with the language and more easily able to adjust to cultural customs. But what I've come to realize is that this comes not from an attitude of obligation, but rather a deep sense of love.

Making sandwiches for our homeless neighbors

I can't explain this love with words because it is too vast, too extraordinary, to out-of-this-world. I experience this love through an un-explainable ache in my heart for people I don't yet know. Compassion. My heart actually pains for the poor, the hungry, the lonely, the broken in this world. It hurts me so much that I can't just stand by and watch or hear stories; I feel an overwhelming need to do something, anything, that might bring love, joy, hope to these people. Because that's what love does. It acts. It listens. It cares.

The more time I spend here, the more my heart aches, and the more I love these people. I deeply desire for them to know love and to be loved and known. We, as a community, have begun going out in our neighborhood to sit down with some homeless people to have a conversation over some coffee and sandwiches.

The idea behind this is simply to give them back their humanity. They are first people, then homeless. They are no different from the rest of us just because they don't have a building or room to call home. We are a community of human beings.

It's time we all start acting like a community. It's time we open our hearts fully, allowing us to receive love and give it more fully, to be love, and to act on that love. It doesn't take a special person to do this. We are all capable of loving our neighbors, whatever that looks like. But do we love them? Do we open our hearts enough to allow ourselves to love more fully?



Wherever you are, may you love with all your heart.

♥ mk

a foreigner in every land

"There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign." - Robert Louis Stevenson

The more time I spend in Spain, the more I notice that I don't fit in. I may have known Spanish before coming here, but I was not well-versed in Castilian (the Spanish of Spain) vocabulary, much less the local Andalusian Spanish. I don't look anything like the "typical" Spaniard. I'm still adjusting to the late-night lifestyle and fully embracing siestas. This slow-paced lifestyle is not how I am used to living... The list goes on - there are countless ways in which I am different from the people, culture, etc. here.

And it's those very differences that, in an odd way, make me feel so at home. While I don't exactly blend in here, there were many times I felt equally as foreign in the United States, where I grew up. Maybe "belonging" somewhere is just something that takes time. Or maybe there won't be any one country in which I don't feel foreign. I feel that the more cultures I experience - not just visit, but try to understand through long-term stays and investing in the people - the more foreign I become to any one country. I am becoming a mix of so many different cultures with each new city and country to which I move.

I am a foreigner in every land. 

It's a beautiful thing, really. But it also fills my life with the tension of wanting to belong and yet not wanting to be tied to one country or culture.

Despite - or maybe because of - all of this, I am becoming increasingly aware of how unimportant it is that I fit in or not. As I meet and am in conversation with more people here, it's so evident that we are all fundamentally the same. We are all on a journey, all seeking one thing in life: love. I can try and separate myself from a person (or people group) because we don't speak the same language, have the same cultural practices, value the same things.

But I would never be able to succeed.

There is something so deeply rooted in human nature that bonds us, whether we recognize it or not. Together we are on this journey through life. In spite of not culturally fitting in here in Málaga, I know that I do fit in with the people of my neighborhood, this city, this country because we all share this need for love in our lives. So I am living more intentionally every single day, letting my life be full of love by seeking out the need and actually doing something about it. Because, by loving others, I become more full of love. It is an incredible, more purposeful, difficult and super-rewarding way of life.

I hope that I am forever a foreigner on this planet, always searching for ways to love and serve my neighbors, whoever they might be, and wherever life takes me.

♥ mk

Spain: the need

Did you know that over 50% of Spanish youth are unemployed? (Here's an article from The Guardian that describes the severity of unemployment in Spanish youth.) It's difficult to grasp a number so huge. How can unemployment get so high? And what do the youth do with their "free" time if they aren't working?

It is for reasons such as this that I am particularly drawn to Spain right now. And bonus: I get to put my skills as a Master of International Development to use! I cannot even begin to express how excited I am to be part of this team that will be launching a community development site in a place that so desperately needs it.

As part of this team, one of my main roles in Málaga will be to listen to the needs of those in the community, particularly the (unemployed) youth. It is not my intention to go over there and tell them what is wrong and how to fix it. Rather, I hope to come alongside the individuals in the community and empower them to feel a sense of ownership and take on leadership roles within their neighborhoods. 

This is not a short-term fix to the current economic problems, but I do believe that the relationships I build with my soon-to-be neighbors in the coming years can lead to a long-term solution.

This will have a ripple effect on the generations to come - in communities throughout Spain, Europe and the world. It starts with the change of one person's heart, perspective and attitude. I believe that the work I'll be a part of next year will have lasting effect. Would you consider partnering with me in transforming lives one community at a time?

I have two weeks until I need to be in Spain and I've still got a ways to go with raising enough funds. Because I am not a resident of Spain and can therefore not have a job, I cannot live there without YOUR SUPPORT. Please consider giving a monthly, quarterly or one-time donation to my fund through CRM. 

Below are what I need to raise:
$1300 each month for 12 months
$4600 one-time expenses
No gift is too big or too small. Every penny counts!


♥ mk

the next destination

"To travel is to take a journey into yourself" - Danny Kaye

Well, I've lived in beautiful San Diego for over 2 years now. Which means it's time for a change. ;) But really, I am so grateful for the last few months I've gotten to spend in San Diego NOT in school. I am leaving this city on a positive note - with so many incredible friendships and even more great memories.

So what's next?

To recap: I graduated with my Master's in International Development from UC, San Diego  in June. A week later, I flew to Tel Aviv to spend a couple of weeks learning from peacemakers throughout Israel/Palestine. On my way back to the States, I stopped in Spain to meet the Moens, a couple that is pioneering a community development site in Málaga. I had been put in touch with them a few months before graduating and was really drawn to their vision of empowering young Spaniards to be leaders through the context of community and community development. This was something that not only lined up with my heart for Europe, but was also in direct relation to what I had been studying.

Exploring Málaga with the Moens

Through much prayer and several intentional conversations with the Moens, and friends and family who know me best, I have committed to joining their team for one year, with the potential of serving with their team longer term. During this time, my ministry role will involve serving alongside them, being coached/mentored, and exploring and pioneering new ministry endeavors. I will also be living with the Moens, and helping with their children as they continue language study. My personal vision is to see Europeans reached with the gospel by empowering local leaders and encouraging them to engage in their own neighborhood. I’m excited and thankful God is opening the door for me to pursue this vision in Spain.

But I can’t do it alone! In order to see this work happen, I need a committed team of people behind me who also want to see this vision come to fruition. The main ways you can partner with me is by committing to pray for me and supporting this work financially. My greatest need is for people who feel able and willing to commit to a monthly contribution. I need to raise $1300 per month, as well as $4600 in one-time expenses. You can donate here.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions!

♥ mk