Every summer, Heidebeek empties out a little. Beds are stripped, backpacks appear in the hallway, and teams of wildly ordinary people leave for places most of them could not point to on a map a year earlier. This is the Go Teams season, and this year's report is worth telling.

Four teams, three continents

This summer we sent four teams. One served alongside a children's ministry in Eastern Europe, running day camps for kids from families under pressure. One joined long-term workers in North Africa, mostly learning, listening and praying through city streets. One partnered with a church plant in the south of Spain among migrant communities. And one stayed closer to home, serving in Amsterdam with The Vine.

Small stories, real Kingdom

The stories that come back are rarely dramatic. A boy at day camp who asked, on the last afternoon, if God also sees him when the camp is over. An elderly woman in Spain who wept because someone sang in her language. A team member who discovered that evangelism, it turns out, mostly looks like friendship with a direction.

We believe those small stories are the point. The Kingdom of God has always advanced at the pace of a shared meal.

Next summer starts now

Go Teams are short — two to six weeks — and open to anyone who wants a first taste of missions without a year-long commitment. Preparation weekends for next summer begin in the new year. If you read these reports every year and feel something tug at you: that tug has a name, and it is worth following.