More than a business, Niteo is a journey in faith. When God gave us this vision to start a company that would sustainably help promote His cause in the world, He also began a process of teaching us to depend on Him. So, the Niteo team prays (a lot) and we see so many answers.
Our team was talking recently about how we could pause to chronicle how God has helped us in big ways and small ways in our business. We desired to cultivate and maintain the awareness that God has to be involved in this vision and His purposes have to remain our goal. We also wanted to establish a habit of thankfulness.
It was in this discussion that we decided to start a travel journal. It’s not a book to jot down our favorite restaurant or the new Italian words we used. It is the record of our journey from God’s promises to His provision.
Here are 10 of our entries from the 2017 journal:
Weather: Ok, so I know that some people might not believe in praying for weather, but we do! Much of travel experiences depend on it. We praise God for the pleasant and even miraculous weather patterns we enjoyed this year.
Growth: This year we added a new destination to our offerings. That means more options for our travelers, more cool experiences and relationships, and more ministries to bless.
Connection: The world is more connected than ever. And God’s world? It’s supernaturally linked beyond human comprehension. This year we saw some pretty amazing “coincidences” in relationships across thousands of miles! Besides the WOW factor, God had plans for these encounters.
Sharing Inspiring Ideas: When you join a small group tour of believers, the conversations are life-giving. We marveled at how God put two businessmen on the same tour to share ideas about how to implement mission and giving into their workplaces.
New Beginnings: We love to see a traveler try things that were closed to them previously and enjoy it! This allows people to imagine their lives in a different way. One of our travelers decided after a trip to Italy that he’d try a short-term mission trip with a team this summer.
Ministry Abroad: A family took a Niteo Tour this year and were introduced briefly to a ministry Niteo supports that serves young people with after school programs. The traveler’s son (who wasn’t even on the tour) decided to donate several months to teaching in this program.
Close Bonds: So many of our travelers reported that they made close friendships while on their small group tour and some of them are already in discussion about traveling together again!
Ministry Dollars: Through just taking a vacation, our travelers helped to support missionaries, pastors, Christian businessmen and women, and local people in need.
Unity: Mutual encouragement and shared worship experiences between North American travelers and believers in the countries they traveled to left a lasting impact.
Reignited Passion: A missionary shared that returning to guiding through Niteo, after years away from the profession, brought fresh invigoration to her life.
Traveling with God is a great adventure! We are looking forward to 2018!
