Hey y'all!! (Nobody here understands y'all, it feels good to use it again;) )
We are halfway done with week 2 of camp here in Czech Republic. As my dad said, this camp in Semily has been vastly different then the previous camp in Oldrichov. Last week we really bonded with the kids, and while we have bonded with the kids here the biggest thing for me has been the community with the leaders. We are like a crazy international family :) there are 9 Americans, 2 Russians, 6 Czechs, 1 Israeli-Palestinian, 1 American missionary kid living in Czech. It's been so fun to get to know everyone and hear their stories. We decided to do our own "World Version" of How Great is Our God tomorrow night with the 7 languages represented among us (English, Czech, Russian, Spanish, ASL, Arabic, Dutch).
I am so thankful to be here with all of these wonderful people. I'm realizing how we're really all brothers and sisters in Christ and how sweet the fellowship of fellow believers is. It's also making me thankful I live in the age of the internet so I can stay connected with all of them!! This trip wouldn't have been the same without them and I'm so thankful for new friendships!
How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live togetherin unity! Psalm 133:1
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Half Way Through Week 2 of Camp
A new week and a new camp. Last week we had about 40 campers and about 14 leaders. This week we have 20 campers and about 20 leaders. And as different as that sounds, the camps are definitely different.
Last week was a 3 day camp with the focus being English, crafts and camp songs. This week is a 5 day camp with the main focus being the performance of a musical. For those reading from Grace church, the kids are doing a modified version of "No Phibbin", which the kids choir did last Christmas. The theme of the camps has been Christmas in August.
While this trip hasn't been overtly evangelistic, we have been able to talk about and share Jesus via the Christmas story.
We have been blessed to serve with some great Christian folks from around the world. We have 2 newly married couples, Malorie (Colorado) and Nash (Israel) and then Ondre amd Pavlina (Czech Republic). We also have Tomas and Jana (to be married later this year) from the Czech Republic, Lena and Eysa, 2 young ladies from Russia. It's been awesome to serve and even more so to pray with people from around the world. Hearing people pray in their own language is AWESOME! Our God knows no language.
We really appreciate your prayers as the trip winds down. A few members are dealing with a long lasting cold, others are tired and others have concerns at home. Spiritual warfare is alive and real but we serve a God who is bigger and conquers!
(I wrote this on my phone so I apologize for grammar mistakes! )
Last week was a 3 day camp with the focus being English, crafts and camp songs. This week is a 5 day camp with the main focus being the performance of a musical. For those reading from Grace church, the kids are doing a modified version of "No Phibbin", which the kids choir did last Christmas. The theme of the camps has been Christmas in August.
While this trip hasn't been overtly evangelistic, we have been able to talk about and share Jesus via the Christmas story.
We have been blessed to serve with some great Christian folks from around the world. We have 2 newly married couples, Malorie (Colorado) and Nash (Israel) and then Ondre amd Pavlina (Czech Republic). We also have Tomas and Jana (to be married later this year) from the Czech Republic, Lena and Eysa, 2 young ladies from Russia. It's been awesome to serve and even more so to pray with people from around the world. Hearing people pray in their own language is AWESOME! Our God knows no language.
We really appreciate your prayers as the trip winds down. A few members are dealing with a long lasting cold, others are tired and others have concerns at home. Spiritual warfare is alive and real but we serve a God who is bigger and conquers!
(I wrote this on my phone so I apologize for grammar mistakes! )
Friday, August 14, 2015
Thoughts on Week One
Here are some random thoughts, musings and pics from our first week here.
Favorite line I've heard many times: Don't worry, I have it under control (even if the person isn't quite sure how to accomplish the task)
Love seeing the team work together in areas that aren't in their wheelhouse, in the name of getting the mission done. And it's done with enthusiasm and laughter.
We were struggling for a nickname for Alicia and Alex but that was fixed on Thursday. As Laura was helping Alex and Alicia stretch, it was quite apparent that one of these ladies wasn't quite flexible (looking at you Alex). During the camp, we had these 2 rubber chickens that we used as rats for the camp group that was most enthusiastic, one is a soft rubber squishy chicken named "stretch" and the other is a harder rubber chicken named "stiff". It was deemed that Alicia is stretch to Alex's stiff!
This trip is definitely NOT an overtly in your face, preaching at churches, handing out tracts, neighborhood evangelism like some trips are. This has been a "Preach the gospel and if needed use your words" type of trip. It's been fun to let our actions speak volumes and when an opportunity arises; we tell people about our relationship with Jesus.
On Wednesday night we had the much anticipated international volleyball match. Czech Republic vs Texas. Apparently our memo was lost in the mail, as we learned that this match was happening AFTER we arrived in country, but the Czechs were practicing for a long time to prepare. Sooooo it was only correct and polite of us to allow them the dignity of beating us...multiple times! We hear that the results will go into the villages history books :)
I mention this as a testimony to what God has done through this team: one host family said their guests "inspired them", our Czech leader, Jana (pronounced Yana) was incredibly moved by the Texas team's work and encouragement, many of the children were crying at the end of camp wanting it not to end. God was loving on these kids and adults and I'm so grateful that we get to be a part of it all!
Favorite line I've heard many times: Don't worry, I have it under control (even if the person isn't quite sure how to accomplish the task)
Love seeing the team work together in areas that aren't in their wheelhouse, in the name of getting the mission done. And it's done with enthusiasm and laughter.
We were struggling for a nickname for Alicia and Alex but that was fixed on Thursday. As Laura was helping Alex and Alicia stretch, it was quite apparent that one of these ladies wasn't quite flexible (looking at you Alex). During the camp, we had these 2 rubber chickens that we used as rats for the camp group that was most enthusiastic, one is a soft rubber squishy chicken named "stretch" and the other is a harder rubber chicken named "stiff". It was deemed that Alicia is stretch to Alex's stiff!
This trip is definitely NOT an overtly in your face, preaching at churches, handing out tracts, neighborhood evangelism like some trips are. This has been a "Preach the gospel and if needed use your words" type of trip. It's been fun to let our actions speak volumes and when an opportunity arises; we tell people about our relationship with Jesus.
On Wednesday night we had the much anticipated international volleyball match. Czech Republic vs Texas. Apparently our memo was lost in the mail, as we learned that this match was happening AFTER we arrived in country, but the Czechs were practicing for a long time to prepare. Sooooo it was only correct and polite of us to allow them the dignity of beating us...multiple times! We hear that the results will go into the villages history books :)
I mention this as a testimony to what God has done through this team: one host family said their guests "inspired them", our Czech leader, Jana (pronounced Yana) was incredibly moved by the Texas team's work and encouragement, many of the children were crying at the end of camp wanting it not to end. God was loving on these kids and adults and I'm so grateful that we get to be a part of it all!
Natural water slide and swimming pool.
Chad handing out certificates to his group
Laura handing out certificates to her group
Alicia handing out certificates to her group
Alicia got stung by a bee and one of her girls was taken care of her
A knucklehead and 5 of the boys from his group
Just 2 grown men talking to rubber chickens
Alex and Laura playing games
Skit!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Host home
Lanka and Jorkin (sp?) were amazing. Their house was an add-on to an existing house built in the 1780's. One of the original outside walls still exists. Most Czech homes (the majority!) do not have A/C. Ours was no exception... We slept with the windows open, except the skylight. They warned us that the cat might jump on our heads in the middle of the night. The food was Czech, but not traditional. Our hosts lead a very healthy lifestyle. Traditional Czech food is high in carbs - bread, dumplings, sauces. However, we did have homemade jam, jam filled cake, and bred with jam for each breakfast. Did I mention that they didn't have A/C?
The first camp
Camp setup went well. The place really looked like it was Christmas Eve. The first day, the kids were unsure of us Americans. We were being silly and singing with motions. As the day went on, they began to warm up to us. Eventually, they sing and doing the motions with us. Even the teen-aged boys!!
Camp In The Eyes Of The Music Guy
"Be flexible" they said...
Three days ago, I didn't have a clue of what God was going to do between then and now. At the time, I was frustrated, unprepared, nervous, and clueless. My co-music-leader Moriah was taken away and moved somewhere else, and I was left to do music all on my own. Not long after, I blew the stereo system that I brought, so I didn't have a way to play the music. Instead, I was going to have to share the guitar amplifier (that we used to amplify the mic) with the mp3 player in order to play the music. I was completely unprepared. Not only that, but my housing assignment was changed, and many other things went into destroying all of my confidence for the camp (that was starting the next day). I was scared.
Then camp happened. It wasn't professional, but we weren't here to perform. It wasn't stress-free, but I wasn't promised that it would be easy. I ended up changing just about everything that I had originally prepared, and went in a new and different direction than I had envisioned.
But God had it all prepared before I even had a clue. In the midst of my unpreparedness, God knew exactly what He was doing. In three short days, He turned a seemingly uninteractive group of kids into and a group of kids singing all the words to songs not even in their native language, while doing the motions.
The relationships that were built over these three short days drew tears. It is amazing how easy it is to grow so attached to the kids. I will definitely miss them. I am absolutely amazed at how three short days can be so impactful.
Three days ago, I didn't have a clue of what God was going to do between then and now. At the time, I was frustrated, unprepared, nervous, and clueless. My co-music-leader Moriah was taken away and moved somewhere else, and I was left to do music all on my own. Not long after, I blew the stereo system that I brought, so I didn't have a way to play the music. Instead, I was going to have to share the guitar amplifier (that we used to amplify the mic) with the mp3 player in order to play the music. I was completely unprepared. Not only that, but my housing assignment was changed, and many other things went into destroying all of my confidence for the camp (that was starting the next day). I was scared.
Then camp happened. It wasn't professional, but we weren't here to perform. It wasn't stress-free, but I wasn't promised that it would be easy. I ended up changing just about everything that I had originally prepared, and went in a new and different direction than I had envisioned.
But God had it all prepared before I even had a clue. In the midst of my unpreparedness, God knew exactly what He was doing. In three short days, He turned a seemingly uninteractive group of kids into and a group of kids singing all the words to songs not even in their native language, while doing the motions.
The relationships that were built over these three short days drew tears. It is amazing how easy it is to grow so attached to the kids. I will definitely miss them. I am absolutely amazed at how three short days can be so impactful.
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Pics and Lot's of Love!
Finally got back on the world wide interweb! Looks like folks have posted some great updates, so I'm going to just post some love and then some pics.
If you don't know how much of a Rockstar Moriah and Matt are, please understand this: Moriah and Matt are the picture of Rock Stardom.
Moriah got handed the project of actually teaching English. After some much needed internal freaking out, she knocked it out of the ballpark.
Matt has been on stage, having equipment fail, changing directions and some kids who aren't really engaged at times...Matt has been up there doing his thing, laughing, having fun with it all.
I am VERY proud of both of them. Our team motto is be flexible and these 2 were the definition today!
It's been awesome to see Alicia get more comfortable and nothing on this trip has made me smile more than hearing her belly laugh. I didn't know Alicia before this trip but I'm grateful I'm getting to know her now.
Chad and Laura are the perfect "adults" for this trip. From traveling pharmacy (Laura) to chicken man (Chad)....this trip wouldn't be quite right without their excitement, demeanor and temperment.
And what can I say....nothing brings a dad more pride and joy then seeing your kid serve with excitement and joy despite exhaustion.
Ok....enoughof the ooey gooey love fest...here are some pics
If you don't know how much of a Rockstar Moriah and Matt are, please understand this: Moriah and Matt are the picture of Rock Stardom.
Moriah got handed the project of actually teaching English. After some much needed internal freaking out, she knocked it out of the ballpark.
Matt has been on stage, having equipment fail, changing directions and some kids who aren't really engaged at times...Matt has been up there doing his thing, laughing, having fun with it all.
I am VERY proud of both of them. Our team motto is be flexible and these 2 were the definition today!
It's been awesome to see Alicia get more comfortable and nothing on this trip has made me smile more than hearing her belly laugh. I didn't know Alicia before this trip but I'm grateful I'm getting to know her now.
Chad and Laura are the perfect "adults" for this trip. From traveling pharmacy (Laura) to chicken man (Chad)....this trip wouldn't be quite right without their excitement, demeanor and temperment.
And what can I say....nothing brings a dad more pride and joy then seeing your kid serve with excitement and joy despite exhaustion.
Ok....enoughof the ooey gooey love fest...here are some pics
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