Hello Ruth, By no menas would I ever think that you could intrude on my visit to Dachau. Rather, thinking about how much mental pain you've endured in your reseaarch is an inspiration to me. I knew very little of Dachau untill going there, and so everything was a little overwhelming. It was overcast as we walked through the camp, which added to the somber mood.

As you mentioned, there were about 2,700 clergy that were imprisoned there (mainly Polish priests), and they were housed in barracks 26, 28, and 30, seperated from the rest of the inmates. For about 6 months they recieved better provisions and wine from the Vatican for communion, untill those privileges were cut off and then only the German priests recieved better treatment. I can just imagine some of those priests feeling the terrible internal conflict of wanting to pastor the other inmates, but also wanting to survive themselves.

I remember my grandpa talking about how cigarettes were used as currency, and he even gave me a glass ash tray that he exchanged for a cigarette once (which seemed ironic for him at the time, because usually the ash tray would be worth more)

Even though in one of the documentaries that I watched there was a lady who was interviewed that said that when she was liberated she was too numb to feel anything - one of the moments when I started tearing up out of gratitude for what my grandfather and other troops had done was when I saw the pictures of the freed prisoners with smiles on their faces, rejoicing that they survived

The importance of my grandpa's work I uderstood as being even more significant than before, by realizing there had been a typhus epidemic that had broken out before the liberation, which still needed to be combated even while the doctors were caring for the 60,000 survivors.

The death marches before the liberation were horrible - done just to kill more people before the nazi's imminent defeat

It was also sad to realize that the camp was later used to house immigrants after the war

To stand in the middle of the place where the inmates would have stood for hours during role call and to think about what may have been going through their minds was so depressing and terrifying... "I'll probably die if I try to flee, and I'll probably die if I stay."

I loved seeing this book, in which the full names of those who were imprisoned at the camp were given - remembering that they were actually people and not just numbers.

The best part was hugging my German friend (my wife's cousin's husband) after having lamented and wept together for what took place there.

Unfortunately I couldn't find any of your books at the store... This one was the closest to your last name that I could find

Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words as Alejandra and I are back here in Colombia, serving the Lord and his church. Though it's important to look back and remember the past, it's even more important to be faithful to what God has called us to in the present... Still, just like my grandpa would frequently emphasize - we can never forget.

Your friend, Sam

Family Update/Beautiful Juxtaposition

Hi - Visiting 2 of my cousins this last month was really special. It made me realize how much I've learned and grown since the last time I saw them. They both live in Germany now, and one of them is like another sister to me since we grew up together.

As I saw Valentina I couldn't stop thinking about where the Lord took me out of at the age of 19. Now we're both married and we're raising children, something that was never part of the things we talked about.

For me, everything changed when I came to know Jesus. He restored the way I view family and people, and now I get to enjoy that in my own life.

Being with my cousin made me realize that as Christians, people are always looking at us as examples, and we shouldn't forget that. It was awesome to be an encouragement for her since she is going through a big transition with her new baby and I can understand a little bit of that.

-Alejandra --------------------------- In 2021 as we were shepherding the Cúcuta church, an awesome friend was working with Samaritan's Purse in the same city. Her name is Elena.

We know the Lord brought her, and she wasn't just an encouragement for us (Sam and I) but to the whole church. She was always very kind and intentional with all our friends, which is something we highly appreciate in our work as missionaries. We also got together to drink some coffee, get our nails done and cheer each other up in the work we were each doing every once in a while. We kept in touch from the moment she left and even visited her in the States when she moved back, after working in various other countries. It was really special to be invited to her destination wedding in France, where she wanted Sam to share from the Word and also have us lead all her family and friends in worship during the ceremony.

-Alejandra ------------------------------ Friends are what makes ministry fun, and right now my mom and dad feel a strong pull in two different directions with where to serve... On the one hand we have so much that we can do with our church in Duitama where we have an awesome team of friends (and thus we could make a bigger impact)

But we also have a good group of friends in San Cristobal, Venezuela where we could get some good momentum going, if we were to start a church from scratch.

Back across the border in the Colombian city of Cucuta, it's super cool to spend time with our good friend Harry

And we also have the approval of the owner of a chain of barber shops to put on a weekly Bible study with his employees... I (Jackson) broke my Nazarite vow recently, when I got my first hair cut by the owner of the franchise

I suppose we could also go back to the United States, but according to president Donald Trump, that may mean I can only have 2 or 3 stuffed animals

-Jackson ----------------------- Hi - I took a screenshot of this map a while back, and I just can't stop looking at it:

As we were in the States a couple months ago, Alejandra and I got to spend time with friends from 3 of the 4 Latin American countries that are highlighted in red. Namely, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela:

And just a couple weeks ago, we had the privilege of going to an awesome Christian Brethren Missions conference where Alejandra and Jackson and I met a godly couple from the 4th country on this map that is highlighted in red... Angel and Orfelina are amazing Christians from Cuba who pastor and visit over 20 assemblies on the island, and it was wonderful to eat breakfast with them and hear about how God is bringing real freedom through His Son to those who have suffered under the country's government's oppression for decades... Along with them, we also had the company of our dear friend and colleague in ministry Bill Loudon who, along with his wife, also pastor and work alongside various Venezuelan immigrants... Thank you IBCM for putting on this amazing conference and letting us attend; thank you Gilberto Vanegas for coordinating it; and thank you CMML for giving our Cuban friends some nice used clothes.

In theory, we all agree that freedom is extremely important, and especially in the United States, even from its inception, it is a principle that is embedded into our very essence. Few people like visiting countries that have a low state of freedom, and it hurts us to feel that our own country may lose some of its freedom at any point. Especially in the United States, for better or for worse, many of us have been trained to say what we think and defend what we believe and stand up for injustice whenever we see it... Some would even go so far as to subconsciously consider that people like my friends from these countries above who immigrate to the US in hopes of finding more freedom, almost don't even deserve to do so, because they should stay back home and fight against the system...

Easier said than done - and when you understand just a tiny bit of the enormous sacrifice people make to depart their own country, you realize, "hey, if they're willing to go through all that just to leave - it must mean that to stay would cost even more..."

...Alejandra and I had the joy of visiting Alejandra's cousin and husband and baby in Germany recently, and since we were in Munich, we had the sobering opportunity to visit the Dachau concentration camp memorial site.

Perhaps the cruelest lie you could ever imagine that was written in capital iron letters on top of the gate at the entrance to the death camp was the grotesquely false hope "Arbeit macht frei" (lit. '"Work makes free"', or "Work shall set you free").

Obviously, the 41,500 prisoners that were tortured and killed in the camp experienced no such freedom, no matter how hard they worked, or how closely they followed orders.

What was the only thing that truly brought freedom to the thousands of Jews, Poles, Romanians, homosexuals, clergy, and communists who were treated so horrendously for, in some cases, years on end?

...The allied troops who went in there and defeated the Nazis...

In a similar way, I believe that Satan has captured millions of people with sin, and while he's at it - he tries to feed us that subtle yet terrible lie that "work will set us free" (Romans 5:12-14)... It won't. Only Jesus can, through the gift of eternal life (v. 15-20), and he has called people like us to proclaim that freedom to everyone we can (Romans 10:8-15; Matthew 28:18-20).

My grandpa Major Jack Killins was a medical doctor that helped those who were still alive at the time of the liberation of Dachau on April 29, 1945.

...As I walked through the exhibits and saw/read what took place there, I started weeping in gratitude for what my grandfather had done.

It is a beautiful juxtaposition that along with me, was the German husband of my wife's cousin, who was weeping as well.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). -Sam

USA Here We Come/Refuge Churches

Hello - While international travel to the US has been down recently - Alejandra and I are traveling to the States today along with our baby boy Jackson.

My mom is also coming with us which is amazing, because she hasn't been to the States in 5 years! ...We'll be dropping her off with my sister on our layover in Atlanta, and then we're heading up to the Midwest (my dad will be arriving to Atlanta shortly thereafter).

It'll be fun to travel with little Jacks, and hopefully we'll be able to figure everything out along the way. I confess that I haven't done a good job of figuring out where we're going to stay and how we're going to get around and everything, but if anyone is up for helping and receiving us, please just let me know. Especially Alejandra has mentioned that she finds a lot of inspiration in thinking about Mary the mother of Jesus, and how she was so flexible in adapting to such awkward situations, especially when Jesus was just about to be born, as well as when Joseph and Mary had to flee with him to Egypt.

This next picture is just hilarious, which was what my sisiters and I looked like when we were traveling as kids:

Even though I'm not a part of the movement of boycotting travel either to the US or Venezuela as a form of protest against any particular government - I love it when my family and my friends and I are treated with dignity and respect wherever we go. Thanks especially to the churches and families who have welcomed Alejandra and I better than what we deserve, and who have encouraged us to use and develop our gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ. Let me know if there is any church in particular who would like for us to visit in these next few weeks.

Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary profile: https://www.cmml.us/m/702 -------------- Hi - Here's an update about what God has been doing recently in Refuge Church Parkway, Refuge Church Duitama, and Refuge Church Cucuta:

The leaders of Parkway Church have been meeting every week to clarify our mission and vision and coordinate our different ministries and pray.

Within the past few months we've invited several Christian artists to sing and share the gospel

Every Friday night we go out to the Parkway to give out hot drinks and share the gospel with anyone we can. Simultaneously we also have a Bible study at a house near by, and we sometimes share a meal together.

Refuge Church Duitama is growing steadily and besides meeting every Sunday morning to worship, break bread, and learn from God's Word - every Friday night they get together to pray. Recently they also baptised 8 new believers including a couple of Alejandra's and my friends from Bogota that we met at the hospital when Jackson was born, and we've been discipling ever since.

Refuge Church Cucuta continues to work with a fair amount of street vendors and street musicians as well as Venezuelan immigrants. Whenever I make it out there I've also been sharing the gospel with barbers and victims from the violence in the Catatumbo region.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! (Ephesians 3:20). Thanks for your prayers and support, Sam and Alejandra Killins Missionary Profile: https://www.cmml.us/m/702