The Last Supper

Our team just ate our last meal together......It was a dinner mixed with heartfelt love, anguish, and excitement. We ate dinner on the roof of questionably the nicest restaurant in prague. We had a breathtaking view from our table of the Old Square, the Astrological Clock tower, and Prague Cathedral. We looked at each other as the sunset with eyes that showed happiness that we were together, anguish that we were soon to be separated by hundreds and thousands of miles, and excitement that we were all going to take our experiences to build ourselves and others up in Christ. It might have been the hardest dinner I have ever eaten, the food and company was incredible, but the stark reality that "real life" is just about to creep above the horizon.The last picture of our Intern team taken...

Debriefing is Such Sweet Sorrow!

Our awesome Intern team: Team Hotness!

So the past two days have been such an amazing time of learning and growing. We have had a couple scheduled times where we have met as a whole group to debrief and talk about our summers. It has been an awesome time to process thoughts and the good, bad, and ugly things of the summer. We have done a ton, and sometimes everything seems to be a blur of a memory, where everything is remembered and forgot at the same time. Nate, the leader of all Czech camps, has helped prepare us to integrate back into american culture and american life. I really don't think it will be too hard, but it is something that seems like I will appreciate knowing what he has to say later rather than sooner. After our meeting today our team got to explore prague together. It was nice because all of us have been to prague before and so we got to skip the normal "touristy" spots of the city! Although we still did stuff that was a little "touristy", paddle boats are not fun unless you jump from one to the other, FYI!

Yeah, there we are!

Dan and I getting ready to board the USS COX!

Leah commanding her vessel!

Off to Prague We Go!

So after a couple`of hours of traveling and lugging all of our things around for a while, we are safe and sound at the CzechInn a famous hostel in Prague. All the Interns ate together for the last time at a really modern restaurant inside of a hotel.........it was really interestingly decorated, but I don't have any pictures of it! Above: is a reflection of most of the interns, I am in the front left!
Below: is a picture of our table at the restaurant.

Free as a Bird

I am sure you are all waiting for the conclusion to the epic cliffhanger I left you at with my last post. Well our landlord Mr. Davish ended up being outside in the garden courtyard of the apartment building. I shouted down to him from a third story window in broken czech if he could come up and help me. Well he did, and he wouldn't stop laughing at me when he realized what was wrong, and after he opened the door.

So I guess what happened was there was two groups leaving at two different times, and each group thought I was with the other, and no one bothered to look down the hall into my room where my door was open to check if anyone was left. Anyways I made it out and down to the field where follow-up was taking place, just in time for the sports part to end........o my! All in all the follow-up night went pretty well, it was a good time to re-connect with the students and get them plugged into the local youth group and Church.

Locked Inside

So camp has ended and the true hard responsibilities of my team have ended. We can finally take a huge breath of relief now that the only real task ahead of us is to spend two more days with the students of strakonice and then head to prague for debriefing. Well I guess my team really feels like they can relax and have no more worries. Currently I am writing this entry from inside a locked apartment that I cannot get out of, I will tell you the series of events that led me to my prison. We got back from Church this morning and we got back to our apartment. We had about 1 hour until we needed to leave to start our follow-up program for camp, so I decided that I would read a book until we had to leave. I went into my room laid down on my bed and started reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, next thing I know I woke up to a silent apartment, I look at my watch and realize we should have left a half-hour before. I started calling for my teammates asking why we haven't left yet......no reply. 'That's okay' I think, 'maybe everyone is at the apartment across the hall'. Well they might be, but to my surprise the apartment door is locked, what is the big deal you might be thinking? Well the lock can only be locked/unlocked with a key. Each side has a keyhole and only a keyhole. So hear I am, I am not sure how I will get out, but I hope I will soon!

Strakonice Hike

The hike day for Strakonice camp was a little wet, it had just rain all night and the morning of, but thankfully it stopped in time for us to start it. Dominik, a local student from strakonice, planned and led the hike. It was an awesome experience for everyone! The hike round trip was 9 miles long. At the half-way point we ended up at the peak of a mountain where there was wild blueberry patches all around. We rested, took pictures, and ate blueberries for the better part of an hour before we headed down. Once again the hike is used as an avenue to bond with students so that we are able to invest in their lives in a deeper way, and I believe that this trip really conquered that goal!

Arrrrrrrrgh Strakonice Camp

The team from Christ Community Church came so well prepared..........to say the least! They had an entire afternoon planned that took the place of sports, and the theme was Pirate Day! They had games, activities, and a costume contest prepared! Below are some of the best outfits!



It was a really fun time to have fun with the students, and connect with them and show them the weird nuances of american's views of pirates.

Class of 09

My english class is an awesome group of students, from left to right: Me, zuzie, leni, martin, lenka, mark, and juraj! The really special thing about this group is that I knew all the students except one, prior to camp! It is really exciting for me to continue spending time with students and investing in past relationships! Mark was my co-teacher from CCC and Martin was my translator during the night teaching sessions and also a helpful resource during class. This has been a class where I was able to use 2 camps worth of training and experience to create the best learning environment for the students, and I hope they are getting as much out of class as I am!

The Final Countdown

So our last camp has started and honestly I don't really want it to start, because I know it will end way too soon! I am leading this camp and their are some extra responsibilities that I have to take upon myself like: teaching every night, leader meetings, making decisions that affect camp (leader voting), and organization of entire night program. I am so excited about this camp, I know many of the student very well, some of which I met when I camp with Moody Bible Institute in March of 2008! One other exciting thing about this camp is that there is an Ostrich farm directly next door. Now I am not sure if you have ever been closer than 5 feet to an Ostrich, but they are really scary as you can see from the picture below.

When is rains, it pours............

For once it isn't raining, but I guess it might as well be raining right now! Our american team is actually a team from Christ Community Church in Illinois, who was supposed to go to Brazil, but they could not get their Visa's approved; so they decided to come to the Czech Republic instead. We needed an american team for strakonice camp because the other group that was supposed to come dropped out. So the team from CCC decided to come, but their first flight was cancelled so they had to come a day later, and then they had to split up in france and get on two different flights to the czech, and then the bus to bring them to camp was cancelled (which never ever happens), and a couple czechs had to drive all day to pick them up. We knew that satan was attacking, but we stayed in constant prayer that God's hand would be in everything that happened/happens. The team got to camp, and after a few hours I taught them how to facilitate small group discussion, and really how to make their small group into a dialogue instead of a question and answer session. They are very tired, but we are praying that God will provide energy and strength for everyone!

Down Day

Camp and follow-up for ceske tesin is officially over and we have made the 8 hour journey back to strakonice back home safe. When we got to prague which is about 1 1/2 hours away from strakonice we met up with noah and haley ellenwood (students and Hannah's siblings), gina, and aubrey. They are going to be helping with strakonice english camp! We are so excited to have them and to see God use us together for His glory! We are going to use our one day of down time to get our things prepared to come home. After strakonice camp we will have two days in left in this town and then we will leave for prague and have a few days of intern debriefing and time just to relax! I am just packing up all my stuff that is strewn around my room and reading the Word to try and fill myself spiritually for our last camp! Here is to one last camp!

Ceske Tesin Follow-Up

Camp is now over and we are in ceske tesin for follow-up for camp. This is a time where we invite the camp to hang out with us at: Church in the morning, games in the afternoon, and food at night. This is just another opportunity to get to spend more time connecting with students and get them hooked up with their town's youth group and church. This means that hopefully when all the americans leave, that the czech's will be able to truly connect with their peers. Our afternoon activity was a miniature 'Amazing Race'. Because the town of Tesin is actually split down the middle by the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, one half of the town is called Ceske Tesin and the other half is called Polski Tesin. During the race instead of being a part of a team of students, I was able to be a checkpoint on the race with Hannah Ellenwood. She is a missionary kid and has lived in the Czech the majority of her life. Also during camp she co-taught my English class with me in the mornings and she also led a few of the disscusion groups at night (when I gave the talk). The picture is from the race, Hannah and I were spies! With all the fun stuff aside, we had many student come to church in the morning, most of which have never been to Church before, it was an awesome time to get students connected with the Church and youth group.

Lysa Hora

Our hike this week was to the famous mountain Lysa Hora, this name literally means "Bald Mountain. It has this name I found out after 2 hours of hiking because at the very top of the mountain it is barren from any vegetation or wildlife. At every camp there is a hike sometime during the week, the purpose of the hike is to give Christians the opportunity to talk with students and to hopefully break down some initial relational barriers so that the Holy Spirit may use us to speak truth into the lives of students and bring them closer to the Lord. As you can see from the picture, this is one of the highest mountains in the area and as you can see from the picture the view is utterly breathtaking.

New Challenges

It is mid week and this camp has proved much different from ceske budejvice camp. I knew that each town and camp would be different, but I wasn't exactly prepared for a difference as great as I am seeing now. During the night sessions before teaching we have music and it is like pulling teeth trying to get the majority of the guys to do motions. ceske budejovice camp was nothing like this, but I know that I shouldn't compare. Honestly there has been some awesome parts about this camp that really make up for some shortcomings in participation. Andrew an american team member put together a carnival night for the first night of camp, truly it was one of the best put together and organized "programs" that I have seen put together. For the carnival there was a ring toss, dart through, ball toss, and a few other games; there was even prizes for students after they played all the games. It was an awesome way for students to have fun and gave the americans plenty of opportunities to talk and break the ice with students! The picture is from my first night of teaching, Martin Kabat from my intern team is my translator. I am giving two talks this night, the first is about the fall of Satan and 1/3 of the angels, and the second is about God creating the earth.

Ceske Tesin Camp!

Ceske Tesin camp has come and it has been such a great experience so far! The picture above shows our extended intern team, the american team, and some of the czech team! I will list them from left to right starting with the top row: andrew, dan, ryan, aubrey, nik, martin, lisa, gina, terka, naomi, lydie, hannah, leah, eva, and tyrel. Our teams have really connected and it is looking like this camp will be a great follow up to ceske budejovice camp! Dan is leading this camp as an intern and we will be co-teaching every other night during the week. I am also really excited because in my room for the week is Viet, who is a student on the Czech team. I am really looking forward to investing in his life and getting to know him more. (I previously met him during our previous visit to ceske tesin.