 |
| Getting over jet lag together... |
In just a
few hours, we'll be meeting our English Camp students! Ahhh!!! The past
several days have been absolutely crazy and awesome, and as we are
already nonstop hard at work, I'll need to keep this brief. The Lord has
already demonstrated His power and love to us in so many ways, I could
go on and on and on and on and on and on. BUT if
I make a habit of details, the camp updates will be novels, and ain't
nobody got time for that. Just know that He has carried us so
wonderfully, and continue to pray for His hand over us.
First of all, we're all safe! The journey was long and
exhausting, but we didn't miss any connections (and the metal in
Arthur's leg didn't land us in interrogation rooms--Huzzah!!) This bunch
are natural world travelers I tell you!
With 11 people traveling across the world, it seems
near impossible that the entire operation can go off without a hitch.
WELL, you should all be pleased to hear that only one bag..... made it.
Don't you fret now, the other 10 of us were just
fine surviving the 24+ hours without our bags. The team was prepared
with necessary carry-on essentials, and it's not like deodorant is a
staple in Europe anyways. Our bags all arrived safely to our facility
the next night and there was hardly a complaint or panic the entire
wait!
So we landed in Prague and met up with the rest of
our team! Annie and Jessica from Pennsylvania, and Rachel from Peoria,
IL. For the first time, the 14 of us were all together! I had no idea
the team could look this massive. It rocks.
We also met our Czech leadership from the Prague
church (in case you didn't hear, we're working directly with Prague, and
in case you didn't know, that's awesome.) They are some of the nicest,
most genuine, organized, and passionate people I've had the grace of
working with. For all of us, this is our first times in these roles, so
we're enjoying working and learning together.
 | |
| We stayed in the castle on the far left! |
American team training took place in this wonderful
location called Brejlov. This was three days for all the Americans doing
camps in Bohemia (that's Western Czech, folks. About 150 Americans just
for this half of the country!) to have a concentrated time of
preparation- spiritually, culturally, English-lesson-teaching-y, sharing
the Gospel, our stories, and everything else in between--like getting
over jet lag, growing as a team, and spending time in peace to connect
with God and refocus our hearts after the chaos of travel.. and before
more chaos of camp. It was also a time where we could hear from the
Czechs--the mostly-young men and women who are the current and future
spiritual leaders of this nation. To step out in leadership is not a
common thing here, but it's happening more rapidly than ever, and JV
seeks to invest in the lives of these individuals, realizing there's
only so much the Americans can do (after all, how much is two weeks
compared to an entire year?)
On a personal note, training was a
such a precious time to reconnect with dear friends from all over the
globe--JV missionaries, Czechs from past camps, former interns, the
whole package. It brings such joy to my heart to see these people I
love, to be back in a place I cherish so deeply.. and the best part is
that for the first time like, ever, my friends came with me and I get to
show all of it to them!! They haven't even seen the good stuff yet, and
already God's movement in Eastern Europe is making itself so evident and penetrating the hearts of the Americans and Czechs alike.
 |
| Preparing for camp with Czech leaders |
Training was good
stuff. Great stuff. A fantastic time to hang out and plan camp with our
Czech leaders, to explore the magical forests (they filmed the Narnia
forest scenes here, so that was no hyperbole), to climb castle ruins and
old towers, and to be trained in all the little ins and outs that will
ultimately make the sharing of the Gospel more effective in this
culture.
We traveled by bus to our camp facility-- it is
PRIME! Great location, great setup, and, wait for it-- the most friendly
and helpful owners/hosts I've ever worked with. If you know anything
about dealing with Czech hotel management and things like this, you know
that even "somewhat nice" is just.. oh man.. just a huge blessing.
We've been setting the place up, preparing lessons,
praying over every classroom, bedroom, outside room (use your
imagination), everything and anything as we get ready.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep praying for us! Camp is about to start--this is the reason we're here!
PRAYER REQUESTS
-Health and safety. Such a cliche thing to say, I know. Don't care.
We
need prayer on this. We're about to be stretched out thinner than ever,
but require the strength not only to survive each day, but to thrive in
ministry and relationships with these students.
-Protection. This
is a safe place (calm down mothers), but spiritually it is dark
battleground. This is the time where attack will come relentlessly.
-Camp! It's about to start! Pray that we will
connect fast with the students-- here we have a team who has prepared
for a long time, but this still doesn't stop the nerves-- teaching
English, discussion groups, sports.. all of it with a different culture
makes this an entirely new experience. Pray everything runs smoothly,
that this camp will be one of the best weeks of these students' lives
and that God will use it to bring many to Him.
Everyone's having a blast. On the next update, I'll
likely have some more personal requests from the individual members. For
myself, this is the first year in this role (no intern help this time!)
All logistic things are going well, but I'm still nervous as heck for
evening program.. lots of moving parts to this, and hiccups tend to
serve as big distractions. I've never done the talks before this year,
and tonight will be the first go. They're all written out, so that's
nice, but please pray that these talks will be communicated clearly and
effectively, for my translator, Paja, that she will also communicate
these truths and that the students will listen. For me, this is where I
feel most anxious.
Rachel and Annie are our only English
Camp veterans on the team. They, as well as some key JV people say (and
I agree) how impressed they are with this team. Honestly, these guys
are one of the most well-oiled American machines I've seen out here. All
are working so hard, and you would think they've done a million of
these camps before! It's incredible! So please pray that this would
continue, because we know it's by His grace that this team has even made
it this far!
We are pumped!
Justin for the Team
No comments:
Post a Comment