Třebíč Camp and on to the finish

As I wrote in the middle of the week, the final push to the end was exhausting. But we made it! Camp was good: it was a smaller group, about 40 people total, and the students learned and interacted a lot. As an intern team, we went into camp tired, but came out feeling accomplished, relieved and thankful. 

Fun things from the week: friendship bracelets, a hilarious talent show, a tasty "grill" outside, and the antics of some funny youth leaders.

Great things: a student's decision to follow Christ, many ears hearing the gospel, and learning to praise God even through exhaustion and sadness. 

Today we leave for a time of de-brief in Prague. We will meet with the other intern teams and process through our experiences from the summer, as well as have some time to enjoy the city together for a couple of days. We are all really looking forward to it, but it is the strange feeling of realization that the summer is coming to a close. 

After Prague, I have the opportunity to go visit some family friends in Germany! Sonja knew my parents when they served with Malachi Ministries for American youth on military bases. She was around my age then, and was a precious blessing to our family when there were three young kids under the age of 2 in a place far from home. Now I will get to meet her own family. Another beautiful example of how life can come full circle.

Please pray:

- that de-brief would be helpful in the process of re-adjusting to life back home, as well as a good time of reflection. 

- for safety and smooth travels after Prague

- for the students who are now home from camp, that they would continue to think and maybe even pray about what they experienced.

Thank you all!

Brianne

so I am stealing a very rare few minutes alone to do a quick update.

Third camp is underway. As an intern team , we are feeling pretty emotionally, spiritually and physically drained. After of a summer of being stretched and poured out... it almost feels like we have nothing left. Culture shock hits at random, unexpected moments, as does homesickness. We feel the weight of our task- to pour into students, love them, dig in and and have good interactions with them- but we really know we are at the end of our own strengths.

But where we are weak, He is strong.

Christ is overwhelmingly showing all of us how our strength to act was really never our own.

The love is His. He is the source.

And that is reason enough for praise.



Please continue to pray. Good things are happening in hearts.

Brianne

Camp #2: Havlickuv Brod

Camp number two is complete! We had a great time with Havlickuv Brod.

It was cool to see God move in the hearts of the students this week. On Thursday night, the Gospel was shared. Afterwards, they had the chance to go through the Labyrinth, which includes different stations that create a cool time of reflection. Afterwards, everyone had the chance to come back to the main room where there was a tea and quiet music. This created a great atmosphere for contemplation and discussion, and many great conversations went on. Lots of good questions.

It was beautiful to see kids go through this experience, really soak up the stories from Scripture, and be willing to ask and answer questions. For some, this was their first time asking themselves deep questions about what they believed. Super cool. It was a privilege to speak with a few of them during this time. 

Our intern team was also thankful for the group from a church in Alaska who came out to do this camp. 16 fresh Americans really boosted our energy in games and English teaching! They were a great group.

Here are some pictures from the week! 

goodbyes at the train station... these were a little hard.

Hradic Kralove Camp

Camp! 

The first two days were pouring down rain and cold. it was a test of faith and endurance for sure.... wondering what we would do with 50 students for a whole week if the weather continued as such. but God was faithful even in that.... the third day cleared up, and was cool and breezy enough to play sports. hike day was warm and sunny, and water sports day was hot and perfect for our water balloons and slip and slide. (pictures to come soon!)

It was a great first experience with English camp. The students were enthusiastic and fun, and my class had a great attitude towards learning. I personally was super blessed to have an expert helping me, an awesome guy Caleb who has grown up as a missionary kid here in Czech. He chose to come help us because of our small American team, and he was quite literally a rock star the whole week.

(Also, he and I may or may not have sung an acoustic version of Dynamite for the campers, just for a good laugh... :)

It was really cool to see how through the week of songs, dancing, games and English lessons, walls began to come down. Conversations were rich with discussions of God, beliefs, culture and change. I was encouraged by the students' willingness to consider tough questions, as well as their ability to ask them. 

The young Christian leaders here blow me away with their courage and willingness to serve. Our conversations and time together were mutually encouraging. Most of their Czech leadership team was comprised of people my age, yet they certainly set an example in their speech and love. 

Story of the week:

I spoke with a few really sharp and insightful girls about Czech culture. I got a better picture of perceptions of Americans who come here. According to their thoughts, people of my generation (born around the time communism here collapsed) generally appreciate the Americans who come here. They like speaking English with native speakers, and are surprised at US interest in Czech Republic. Some people from older generations may have a more negative view of obnoxious Americans, but this is honestly not the outlook on the whole.

This sentiment has been echoed from other sources as well. It is encouraging for sure.

We start a new camp tomorrow! More to share soon. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Brianne

Pictures are now here:

hike day! 

                                                           yes, even a camp dance party. 

 English lessons. 

You choose what the funniest thing about this picture is... 

                     (I think it's the man in overalls who is unhappy about our overly-enthusiastic picture taking)

A crazy week.

It's been a good week!

We spent a week doing two visits in one to meet our groups in Hradic Kralove and in Havlickuv Brod. It was a great time to visit more schools and to meet members of the youth groups in both cities.

Hradic Kralove we stayed with a lovely family  and ate SO much great food prepared by Lanka, Meruska's (below, far right in the blue) mom!

The group here has a young, but strong leadership team. After a couple days, a long day hike, and bunch of delicious meals together, I found that I didn't want to leave. 

Havlickuv Brod, the second we stepped off the train and met Robert, Honza and Jonathan, we were laughing. They are a fun and goofy group. We enjoyed great conversations and laughter together, and we're looking forward to camp with them in a couple of weeks. 

I have met hundreds of people in the past 3 weeks. And though it's been a short time, I know I've made some friends. Initially, being in a new place is overwhelming. But each time we leave a city and the people we've prayed and talked with, I realize that the craziness was worth it. 

These initial connections with the leaders and students are amazing.

In normal life, it makes no sense.

We have a common bond deeper than being young, educated, Westerners etc.

If it were only those things, we would be able to have polite conversation.

This is something different.
We have different backgrounds, different cultures, different languages. 

We have never lived on the same continent. 

We've spent such limited time together.

Yet there is love.

It is only in Christ.

Next week we will do training with a small team from Florida, and then along with them start our first camp with Hradic Kralove.

Prayer Requests:
-for the Florida team as they prepare, and for their safe travels.
-for the leadership team from HK, that they would have the time and energy to finish their preparations
-for the students who will come to English camp, that the Spirit would be moving in their hearts and be preparing them to hear the message of Christ's offer of redemption
-for our team, that we may finish all our English lesson plans with excellence, and be spiritually prepared for camp

Blessings to you all!

Brianne

trains and more trains

Our visit with the youth group from Trebic was fun and so good! They are passionate and kind young people who are playing important roles in theirs schools and community as young Christians  and growing leaders. We spent a couple days with them on a mini-retreat complete with lots of talking, games, songs, and strawberry picking.

This is Annie  (with the camera) and Maria (with the puppy). They are 15 and twins, and we stayed with their family while in Trebic!

We also visited 3 schools and taught 5 English classes in one day! It was an exhausting but very worthwhile experience. The Czech teachers and students were very gracious and excited to have us visit. It definitely gave me a new appreciation for language teachers. 

Our final day in Trebic was Sunday. We attended church and met the kind people there. After saying goodbye, climbing the famous clock tower, and eating some of Czech's best pizza, we hopped on the train again to head to our "home base" in Vysoké Mýto. It is the apartment of JV missionary Autumn, and our home in between visits, camps and training times!

here's the view of Trebic (roughly pronounced trey-beach) from the clock tower: 

We will spend a few days here resting, catching up and planning English lessons for camp. We very quickly have learned of the necessity for good rest as our days are so intensely packed with relational, spiritual and emotional things, as well as being physically draining. I never imagined being tired so quickly! But God is good to give us the gift of rest in the midst of that.


Please pray for our team as we spend this time together re-energizing for the next week of visits and teaching. It should be great!


Blessings!


-Brianne

Tomorrow we really begin.

Please pray for my team please as we set out for our Trebic visit. We will spend about a week meeting students from schools and the youth group there, promoting English camp for later in the summer, and staying in family homes. It is a great opportunity to start getting to know the students we will spend more time with when they come to camp! 

Thank you for your prayers!