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

traveler or tourist

"The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see" -- G.K. Chesterton

love these European streets!

I've now been in Málaga, Spain for just over three weeks. I feel like I just got here, and yet so much has happened since I arrived! Within my first 48 hours, I had consumed two Thanksgiving meals - one of which was with about 15 Spaniards -, explored my new neighborhood, and ventured out to see the Christmas lights in "downtown" Málaga (El Centro). There may not be as many famous tourist attractions here as there are in Paris, but there is so much to see and experience here - and I'm loving every minute of it!

One of my favorite things about traveling is the opportunity to truly experience the cultures I visit. I find this more difficult if I have a "tourist mindset" - having my own agenda, seeing places and things I came to see - rather than being open to the spontaneity of going where the wind takes me, so to speak. The last time I was in Spain (this past summer), I had 5 days in Barcelona and 5 days in Málaga to "see it all." I was a tourist this summer, visiting the destinations and eating the foods people recommended I see and eat before leaving Spain. It was wonderful - I had so much fun and thoroughly enjoyed it. But being a traveler this time around is SO much better. I still get to see and taste new and exciting things, but from a different perspective. I see daily life. I see families walking their children to school, old friends meeting at a café in the morning, children playing on the tire swing by the beach.... not your typical tourist attractions. And maybe not something that would particularly stand out to anybody. But these are the things that I think make up a culture more than an iconic building might.

And it's these customs that I love to see, hear, smell and experience as I travel the world. Taking the time to slow down and watch, have a conversation, truly listen to people - these things will change a person. Being a tourist can sometimes prevent me from opening my eyes to the true beauty of the country I'm visiting - if I'm too focused on seeing the sights, I may entirely miss the culture, the opportunity to engage in conversation with a local, the chance to have my perspective transformed. So, I hope that this year in Spain will be more about seeing what I see rather than what I have come to see. 

Christmas lights in Málaga

In El Centro with Irene

I feel so blessed by how well this transition has gone. I've been able to jump right into Spanish - just need to work on my Andaluz accent ;) - and people have been so kind and welcoming. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts during this time!

Below are some pictures of a recent trip I took to Ronda - a town about 1.5 hours west of Málaga. There are so many amazing places here in Southern Spain - my backyard!

Looking out over the Andaluz countryside

Puente Nuevo - the bridge over the 390-foot-deep
chasm that divides the city of Ronda

A different perspective of the bridge

Ronda, Spain

♥ mk 

see them as they are

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking of how things may be, to see them as they are" - Samuel Johnson

Oh, how I love to travel! The new sights, aromas, languages, people... There is just so much goodness in exploring, learning, experiencing and understanding different ways of life. So much of the way I live my life today is because of the different cultures I've encountered through travel. I have seen what life is like outside of the country in which I grew up and, when I was younger, it caused me to wonder which is the correct way of doing things. Thankfully, along with age came a bit of wisdom and maturity in approaching such questions. There is no right or wrong. We are all unique human beings - so how could there possibly be one language, greeting, lifestyle, or even food? I am so grateful for the little nuances that make each culture unique.

The Eiffel Tower lit up while we
were waiting in line to go up

Whenever I arrive in a new country (for the first, tenth, hundredth time), I can't help but have a giant smile on my face. There is always so much to take in - between the signs, sounds, and smells - that it can be overwhelming. And I let it overwhelm me, but in a good way. I embrace the fact that I'm out on a new adventure, seeing new sights and meeting new people. I'm excited about the chance to practice that language - or even pick up a new one! - and go out and experience the culture through the eyes of a local.

One of the most beautiful things about all of this is that, by putting myself in these foreign places, I get to see daily life from a new perspective. It's much more than just imagining how things are in other countries and cultures; it's experiencing, understanding and knowing them. It is these different views and perspectives that shape my own outlook. I love allowing parts of each culture I've experienced to form part of who I am, how I interact with the world. The traditions, music, customs, food... 

But there is one amazing detail that it evident in all cultures, countries, places and people. One thing that makes us all unique and yet ties us all together.

LOVE.

Life is all about experiencing and knowing love to the fullest. And I'm most often reminded about this while I'm traveling - my eyes falling on new forms of beauty created for me to see, my taste buds overwhelmed with the most delicious combinations of flavors, and my heart and soul being filled with the joy of knowing I am where I'm right where I'm supposed to be.

The journey I began this Fall started with a few days in Paris, France. Here are a few pictures of the lovely sights that city holds:

♥ mk

Best way to get over jet lag:
walk everywhere to see the sights

Sacre Coeur at night

Lunch at Cafe des 2 Moulins

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

remembering the stories

Well, it’s been two weeks since arriving back in San Diego – hard to believe how fast time flies! It’s been wonderful to be back and not be in school :) I’ve been making the most of this new free time, catching up with friends, reading (whatever I want!), and enjoying San Diego. It’s been so sweet to be able to share stories of my time in Israel/Palestine with friends, family, co-workers, and even some new acquaintances. I’m humbled to be so blessed to have gotten to experience first-hand the stories I share with others.

Prayers for peace.
Wailing Wall - Jerusalem

As I continue to process through the things I heard, saw, and felt while in the Holy Land, I am struck by a strong sense of hope. Despite the deep-rooted pain and generation-old arguments on both sides, many of the everyday peacemakers with whom we met had a hope that I could not understand. How, in the midst of a conflict the likes of which most people have never experienced, can there possibly be any hope? Sure, there are daily frustrations that may chip away at the confidence they have for change – this is not exactly a quick-fix issue at hand. But the overarching themes throughout the conversations were peace and love, two very hopeful outcomes for the conflict.

Rock art at Tent of Nations:

"Peace, Justice and conservation of the creation"

"Peace and justice for all mankind"

"Never stop fighting for a better world"

Most individuals that we met with (from both Israel and Palestine) have a genuine desire to know their neighbors, engage in conversation with them, listen to what they have to say, that they might actually understand them. I was taken aback by the patience everyone has, knowing that a peaceful resolution is one that can take years, decades, even generations.

It makes me think about how impatient I am about the little things in my life. What an experience to help put things in perspective! As I continue to share the stories of these everyday peacemakers, I hope and pray that the stories impact people in such a way that causes a shift in their way of approaching conflict in their own lives.

One of the most impactful quotes from this trip came from the owner of Taybeh Brewery (the only brewery in the West Bank).

“Love not just your neighbor, but love also your enemy.”

Much easier said than done. But I do believe that love is the answer.

♥ mk