This week was... a challenge. I was really anxious under the pressure of being an unworthy vessel for transporting to children the greatest Good News man has ever known. Besides the fact that I don't have a ton of experience as an engaging story teller for children, I was also aware of the fact of the importance that Christ puts on giving the Gospel to the young: "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin" (Luke 17:2). In fact, today before I went to our last morning of camp, I was reminded of the importance of children to Christ in my Portals of Prayer devotion. It was from Mark 10:13-16. Jesus' words (v.14b -15) are: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." I really zeroed in on the "do not hinder them" portion of the passage. I wonder how often well-intentioned people end up hindering faith when they falsely believe that they are trying to foster it. I just pray that I was under no delusions: when I believed I was bearing witness to Christ that I actually was doing so.
It has been a difficult week in terms of the loneliness factor again. Strange that I have the capacity to feel lonely when I'm so surrounded by people. Tonight, because of the loneliness, I finally went to my "survival kit" of sorts, provided to me by the other new LCMS missionaries. The last night of our orientation, Thursday, June 26, they threw me a going away party complete with DQ ice cream cake and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Many of them also wrote me notes that I was supposed to read here when in need of encouragement. I can't believe that I made it this long before I read them. I'm so glad that I did. Their own words, as well as particularly encouraging verses they included in their notes, made me so happy. One of the girls from the Eurasia team had folded her note into an origami frog and even included a funny joke in her note. One member of the Japan team wrote his notes to me on the back of paper he had used for doodle paper during our classes, and finding his awesome sketch of a mouse and of a gerbil on his words of encouragement made me laugh. That laughter quickly proceeded to tears of thankfulness and praise to the Lord for giving me the encouragement of His Word through His gift of these friends. I can't believe how the Lord has blessed me.
Also through His Word, prayer, and the encouragement of wise people around me, God has caused the difficult anxiety about the approaching school year to dissipate. And how thankful I'm for that! He has brought me here and He will fill my every need with His providence.
---
How did I spend my time this week when I wasn't with the kids? I've spent a lot of time this week listening to podcasts of my favorite talk radio show, Issues Etc. It is "Christ-centered, Cross-focused Talk Radio" hosted by Todd Wilken, an LCMS pastor. If you haven't ever heard of it, check out their website: www.issuesetc.org. It has been wonderful to keep up with the news in the States and with all kinds of social, political, and religious issues from a solid, Bible-based perspective. I highly recommend it for people who are into real Christianity and podcasting (or listening to the radio online).
---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray that God would continue to prepare me (and my students) for the upcoming school year. We go back on Monday the 1st!
-Pray that God would continue to remind me that He is and has provided everything that I need for life, health, and salvation.
-Pray that I would continue to have opportunities to share the Gospel with those around me, bearing witness to the Truth of Christ's once for all sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of the world.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Children's Camp in Cutlery Town
Last week I was the token 
American at a children's camp in a city about 60 miles from here. This children's camp was at Dětská Misie (Children's Mission) in Přibor. The name of this post actually comes from the meaning of the word Přibor: cutlery. I love the names of towns here...
The children's camp wasn't specifically an English camp, so I didn't have a LOT to do, but we did have three 40-minute English lessons which I led. It was wonderful to be with the children at this camp; I believe that my Czech vocabulary expanded quite a bit around these children who consistently forgot that I don't speak their language, and so they were always speaking to me in Czech, expecting me to understand. At times that was difficult and/or frustrating. More often, however, given the context of the activities we were engaged in, I could actually guess what the children were saying or asking, and I was occasionally capable of answering them appropriately out of my limited vocabulary. Another wonderful thing about this camp was the counselors at the camp. Most of them had very limited English vocabulary, but that didn't stop us from developing friendships based on our common faith in Christ, our willingness to struggle with our language barrier, and our ability to laugh with love at ourselves and one another. Because I didn't have a lot of actual English responsibilities and wasn't really able to interact with the children on a very deep level, I felt guilty being inactive while everyone was caring for the children. As a result of this, I made myself useful in the kitchen, loading and unloading the dishwasher, hand-washing other dishes a couple of times a day, helping to prepare food, tidying and cleaning in the kitchen, and cleaning up the dining room after meals as well. It was bizarre, but on Thursday evening as I was washing dishes and scalding my hands in the water, I had a realization that I was really very happy, that I couldn't imagine anything else (other than washing dishes) that I would rather be doing at that very moment. Weird.
This week we are having a children's English Camp here at the church hall in Třinec. I am helping to teach the advanced class of eight incredibly bright young boys (6-10 years). They have surpassed our expectations of them by learning in the first day all of the material that we had planned for the first two days. I am also leading the Bible story time of the camp. We are covering the Fall, the Flood, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Zacchaeus, and the Feeding of the 5,000. This is actually causing me great anxiety, as I realize that teaching or even being in front of a crowd of children between the ages of 4 and 10 is one of my greatest weak spots. I find it very intriguing that I have such difficulty in front of such young children, when I'm sure that a crowd of most any size, between the ages of 15 and 100 would cause no problems for me. I could handle that. More than not being geared toward this age group, I feel the weight of needing to faithfully proclaim the Gospel to these children. This may be the main source of my anxiety; I want so much to be found faithful to the Lord in this task.
Another thing on my mind: school starts in 12 days and I still don't know the details of my responsibilities for the year. I know that we've talked about me teaching conversation to the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. But I haven't had a chance yet to have a meeting with my school's director to nail down exactly what will be my tasks during the school year. This is a major concern for me.
Right now I'm reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It's awesome. Bonhoeffer illustrates strongly the difference between God's real grace in Christ, which is costly, and cheap grace, the grace which people appropriate for themselves when they sin, but then say, "but I won't worry, Jesus has forgiven me for that, so I don't have to be too serious about radically putting that sin away (i.e. cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye if it causes me to sin-- Matt. 5:29-30). He expounds his thesis using the whole of the Sermon on the Mount. I highly recommend it.
---
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that I would have peace about teaching and leading Bible stories at Children's English Camp this week and that I would have peace about teaching this fall. Pray that God would do away with my fears and my worries of inadequacy in these things and that He would lead me to rely on Him even more desperately. Pray that I would spend more time reading God's Word and talking to Him in prayer, lifting up to Him all my concerns. Pray that He would give me motivation to use my time wisely for Him and for serving those around me.
"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." -Philippians 2:12b-13
---
Trivia Factoid:
Přibor, Cutleryville, was the birthplace of Sigmund Freud, for those who are interested. His family lived there until he was 3, when they moved to Austria. He is kind of a big deal to that town, as is evident in the Freud Inn, the Freud bust in a little green spot near to the town square, his preserved boyhood home (complete with psychologist's couch on the front lawn), and the Freud related items that are available for purchase in many of the shops on the town square.
American at a children's camp in a city about 60 miles from here. This children's camp was at Dětská Misie (Children's Mission) in Přibor. The name of this post actually comes from the meaning of the word Přibor: cutlery. I love the names of towns here... The children's camp wasn't specifically an English camp, so I didn't have a LOT to do, but we did have three 40-minute English lessons which I led. It was wonderful to be with the children at this camp; I believe that my Czech vocabulary expanded quite a bit around these children who consistently forgot that I don't speak their language, and so they were always speaking to me in Czech, expecting me to understand. At times that was difficult and/or frustrating. More often, however, given the context of the activities we were engaged in, I could actually guess what the children were saying or asking, and I was occasionally capable of answering them appropriately out of my limited vocabulary. Another wonderful thing about this camp was the counselors at the camp. Most of them had very limited English vocabulary, but that didn't stop us from developing friendships based on our common faith in Christ, our willingness to struggle with our language barrier, and our ability to laugh with love at ourselves and one another. Because I didn't have a lot of actual English responsibilities and wasn't really able to interact with the children on a very deep level, I felt guilty being inactive while everyone was caring for the children. As a result of this, I made myself useful in the kitchen, loading and unloading the dishwasher, hand-washing other dishes a couple of times a day, helping to prepare food, tidying and cleaning in the kitchen, and cleaning up the dining room after meals as well. It was bizarre, but on Thursday evening as I was washing dishes and scalding my hands in the water, I had a realization that I was really very happy, that I couldn't imagine anything else (other than washing dishes) that I would rather be doing at that very moment. Weird.
This week we are having a children's English Camp here at the church hall in Třinec. I am helping to teach the advanced class of eight incredibly bright young boys (6-10 years). They have surpassed our expectations of them by learning in the first day all of the material that we had planned for the first two days. I am also leading the Bible story time of the camp. We are covering the Fall, the Flood, the Crucifixion and Resurrection, Zacchaeus, and the Feeding of the 5,000. This is actually causing me great anxiety, as I realize that teaching or even being in front of a crowd of children between the ages of 4 and 10 is one of my greatest weak spots. I find it very intriguing that I have such difficulty in front of such young children, when I'm sure that a crowd of most any size, between the ages of 15 and 100 would cause no problems for me. I could handle that. More than not being geared toward this age group, I feel the weight of needing to faithfully proclaim the Gospel to these children. This may be the main source of my anxiety; I want so much to be found faithful to the Lord in this task.
Another thing on my mind: school starts in 12 days and I still don't know the details of my responsibilities for the year. I know that we've talked about me teaching conversation to the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. But I haven't had a chance yet to have a meeting with my school's director to nail down exactly what will be my tasks during the school year. This is a major concern for me.
Right now I'm reading The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It's awesome. Bonhoeffer illustrates strongly the difference between God's real grace in Christ, which is costly, and cheap grace, the grace which people appropriate for themselves when they sin, but then say, "but I won't worry, Jesus has forgiven me for that, so I don't have to be too serious about radically putting that sin away (i.e. cutting off a hand or plucking out an eye if it causes me to sin-- Matt. 5:29-30). He expounds his thesis using the whole of the Sermon on the Mount. I highly recommend it.
---
Prayer Requests:
Please pray that I would have peace about teaching and leading Bible stories at Children's English Camp this week and that I would have peace about teaching this fall. Pray that God would do away with my fears and my worries of inadequacy in these things and that He would lead me to rely on Him even more desperately. Pray that I would spend more time reading God's Word and talking to Him in prayer, lifting up to Him all my concerns. Pray that He would give me motivation to use my time wisely for Him and for serving those around me.
"Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." -Philippians 2:12b-13
---
Trivia Factoid:
Přibor, Cutleryville, was the birthplace of Sigmund Freud, for those who are interested. His family lived there until he was 3, when they moved to Austria. He is kind of a big deal to that town, as is evident in the Freud Inn, the Freud bust in a little green spot near to the town square, his preserved boyhood home (complete with psychologist's couch on the front lawn), and the Freud related items that are available for purchase in many of the shops on the town square.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Children's Camp and Other Stuff
Today I'm continuing my theme of playing catch up on my blogs. Last week I started the week in recovery mode from XcamP. Because it was such a long week and because I had gotten sick, I really treasured the chance to have a few days to myself to relax and recover before moving on to the next thing. On Sunday I was blessed with an invitation to have Sunday dinner with the Samiec family. Two of the children in this family and I have become friends throughout the course of this summer, and I was excited to have the chance to meet their parents and spend the afternoon with them. Not only did I get to come over for dinner, but I even got to help in the preparation a little. Maybe eventually the women here will collectively teach this "kitchen incompetent" how to cook.
After a relaxing and fairly uneventful Monday and Tuesday (except for teaching my three English classes), I went on Wednesday to Budišov nad Budišovkou to join the last two days of our church's English camp. I took the train (my first Czech train ride!) from Třinec to Karvína by myself. In Karvína, I met with a doctor who is so renowned here that everyone simply calls him by his first name, Bendito. I actually have no idea what his last name is. He is originally from Angola, but he moved to the Czech Republic 25 years ago to attend University in Brno. He's lived here longer than he lived in his home country. Anyway, he and his wife, wonderful people both, picked me up at the train station and the three of us drove the rest of the way to Budišov. It was a very pleasant ride. Bendito and I spoke with each other in English, but more of our conversation was in Spanish as his Spanish is stronger than his English. At one point, he said a sentence to me that was trilingual. That's right, in one sentence he switched between Czech, English and Spanish. And the funny thing was, I understood him! I tried my Czech on his wife, and I have to admit that it was pitiful. But they were both patient with me, and they taught me a few new words on the way to the camp. The reason that Bendito and his wife were going to the Children's camp was that every evening, a non-Czech had been invited to speak about his or her home country. Wednesday was Bendito's appointed night, and once we arrived and the time came for him to speak, he gave a presentation about the continent of Africa with the most beautiful slide show that I've ever seen. When he was done speaking, I was dying to go to Africa and see EVERYTHING. When Bendito was finished speaking, he and his wife went home, and I stayed at the camp until Friday when it ended.
On Thursday, the entire camp went for a six hour trip to the top of the mountain above Budišov. On the way there, I was blessed to walk with so many children who wanted to be my friend and who wanted to teach me Czech. I learned more words and phrases on the way to the top of that mountain than I have learned in any other single WEEK that I've been here. More than that, I developed a couple friendships with some wonderful children from my congregation. I also had the first time in my life to pick blueberries. Parts of the mountains here are carpeted with blueberry plants under the trees, and by the end of the afternoon, my hands and my mouth were purple. It was wonderful. At the top of the mountain, there was a meteorological station where we spent about an hour learning about the machinery and equipment for weather prediction.
That evening it was my turn to talk about my home. I had been told that I should talk about Cowboys and Indians because children in the Czech Republic love the American Old West. So, I made a presentation about Plains Indians and Cowboys. It went over so well with the children that the next morning, when they were asked what their favorite part of the camp was, many of them said "Ashley!" I have a sneaking suspicion that they said that because it was the most recent event, and therefore the thing they remembered the best, but who am I to say? At any rate, the two days when I was at our children's camp were two of the best days of the last month. Seriously. It was wonderful.
The only other really noteworthy things that I have done since Children's camp include hiking up Javorovy (a local popular "mountain" hiking/ biking/ parasailing location) on Sunday with two brothers from the church. It was one of the most exhausting and fun things I've done in a long time. After we reached the summit and rested for a little while, we took the opportunity to run down the face of the mountain. That's right. We ran down the treeless parasailing strip from the summit to about 2/3 of the way down. From there we got onto a significantly less steep trail and jogged for about 10 minutes back to their home. What a rush. Another 'noteworthy' activity was a solo cycling excursion where I took my lunch and a book and went to the forest for an afternoon of reading, relaxing, and berry picking. I came home with about a half a pound of blackberries with a few raspberries and blueberries in the mix, and not a few scratches on my arms and legs. These bushes are vicious!
---
In other news, I just finished reading The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I highly recommend it, especially the final chapter, "Charity." Lewis always amazes me, at his depth of insight, and his incredible ability to draw such incredible, often funny, analogies. Also, if you haven't read another wonderful book by Lewis: The Great Divorce-- and you probably haven't-- DO. I am really excited about that book. In it he does an incredible job of painting a picture of how small and forgettable and impermanent is everything that we live for here in light of the bigness and unforgettability and permanence of heaven. It's awesome. While I'm on the Lewis bandwagon, I also highly recommend The Screwtape Letters, but enough of the book review.
---
One of the joys which I've recently enjoyed is devouring an entire book of the Bible in one sitting. Paul's letters are particularly conducive to this and every time I have finished one lately, I wonder what it is exactly that keeps me from doing this every day. This amazing letter is my spiritual daily bread, the Word from God's mouth by which a man lives. Why do we not read His Word with hunger? Because it is our daily bread, when we don't read it on a daily basis, we are spiritually starving ourselves as Christians. We often convince ourselves that we don't need to read it because it is "boring." But God's Word is ANYTHING but boring. Honestly. As they used to say on Reading Rainbow: "But don't just take MY word for it, read it yourself!"
---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for our upcoming children's English Camp (Aug. 18-22):
*1) Story-telling to children of 5-8 years is one of my decided weaknesses-- pray that God would be strong in my weakness!
*2) Five of our 20 registered children are from families that are not from our church-- pray that we would faithfully proclaim God's Word, that these children would be receptive to it, that He would create faith in their little hearts based on our faithful witness.
-Please pray for the upcoming school year, that my students would be ready and willing to learn English, and that I would be ready and willing to teach!
-Please pray for my friend Stephanie Rosburg, LCMS missionary in Poland. She's taking an intensive Polish course and has basically no time to relax, even though she just returned from a month in the US. Pray also that she would be prepared as the beginning of a new school year quickly approaches.
-Pray for the other new LCMS Eurasia team members, that they would get their visas in time to be in their fields for the beginning of the school year (Sept. 1). Also, pray for the new LCMS missionaries preparing to go around the world. Many of them are behind where they would like to be on their support raising, and their departure dates are quickly approaching.
After a relaxing and fairly uneventful Monday and Tuesday (except for teaching my three English classes), I went on Wednesday to Budišov nad Budišovkou to join the last two days of our church's English camp. I took the train (my first Czech train ride!) from Třinec to Karvína by myself. In Karvína, I met with a doctor who is so renowned here that everyone simply calls him by his first name, Bendito. I actually have no idea what his last name is. He is originally from Angola, but he moved to the Czech Republic 25 years ago to attend University in Brno. He's lived here longer than he lived in his home country. Anyway, he and his wife, wonderful people both, picked me up at the train station and the three of us drove the rest of the way to Budišov. It was a very pleasant ride. Bendito and I spoke with each other in English, but more of our conversation was in Spanish as his Spanish is stronger than his English. At one point, he said a sentence to me that was trilingual. That's right, in one sentence he switched between Czech, English and Spanish. And the funny thing was, I understood him! I tried my Czech on his wife, and I have to admit that it was pitiful. But they were both patient with me, and they taught me a few new words on the way to the camp. The reason that Bendito and his wife were going to the Children's camp was that every evening, a non-Czech had been invited to speak about his or her home country. Wednesday was Bendito's appointed night, and once we arrived and the time came for him to speak, he gave a presentation about the continent of Africa with the most beautiful slide show that I've ever seen. When he was done speaking, I was dying to go to Africa and see EVERYTHING. When Bendito was finished speaking, he and his wife went home, and I stayed at the camp until Friday when it ended.
On Thursday, the entire camp went for a six hour trip to the top of the mountain above Budišov. On the way there, I was blessed to walk with so many children who wanted to be my friend and who wanted to teach me Czech. I learned more words and phrases on the way to the top of that mountain than I have learned in any other single WEEK that I've been here. More than that, I developed a couple friendships with some wonderful children from my congregation. I also had the first time in my life to pick blueberries. Parts of the mountains here are carpeted with blueberry plants under the trees, and by the end of the afternoon, my hands and my mouth were purple. It was wonderful. At the top of the mountain, there was a meteorological station where we spent about an hour learning about the machinery and equipment for weather prediction.
That evening it was my turn to talk about my home. I had been told that I should talk about Cowboys and Indians because children in the Czech Republic love the American Old West. So, I made a presentation about Plains Indians and Cowboys. It went over so well with the children that the next morning, when they were asked what their favorite part of the camp was, many of them said "Ashley!" I have a sneaking suspicion that they said that because it was the most recent event, and therefore the thing they remembered the best, but who am I to say? At any rate, the two days when I was at our children's camp were two of the best days of the last month. Seriously. It was wonderful.
The only other really noteworthy things that I have done since Children's camp include hiking up Javorovy (a local popular "mountain" hiking/ biking/ parasailing location) on Sunday with two brothers from the church. It was one of the most exhausting and fun things I've done in a long time. After we reached the summit and rested for a little while, we took the opportunity to run down the face of the mountain. That's right. We ran down the treeless parasailing strip from the summit to about 2/3 of the way down. From there we got onto a significantly less steep trail and jogged for about 10 minutes back to their home. What a rush. Another 'noteworthy' activity was a solo cycling excursion where I took my lunch and a book and went to the forest for an afternoon of reading, relaxing, and berry picking. I came home with about a half a pound of blackberries with a few raspberries and blueberries in the mix, and not a few scratches on my arms and legs. These bushes are vicious!---
In other news, I just finished reading The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis. I highly recommend it, especially the final chapter, "Charity." Lewis always amazes me, at his depth of insight, and his incredible ability to draw such incredible, often funny, analogies. Also, if you haven't read another wonderful book by Lewis: The Great Divorce-- and you probably haven't-- DO. I am really excited about that book. In it he does an incredible job of painting a picture of how small and forgettable and impermanent is everything that we live for here in light of the bigness and unforgettability and permanence of heaven. It's awesome. While I'm on the Lewis bandwagon, I also highly recommend The Screwtape Letters, but enough of the book review.
---
One of the joys which I've recently enjoyed is devouring an entire book of the Bible in one sitting. Paul's letters are particularly conducive to this and every time I have finished one lately, I wonder what it is exactly that keeps me from doing this every day. This amazing letter is my spiritual daily bread, the Word from God's mouth by which a man lives. Why do we not read His Word with hunger? Because it is our daily bread, when we don't read it on a daily basis, we are spiritually starving ourselves as Christians. We often convince ourselves that we don't need to read it because it is "boring." But God's Word is ANYTHING but boring. Honestly. As they used to say on Reading Rainbow: "But don't just take MY word for it, read it yourself!"
---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for our upcoming children's English Camp (Aug. 18-22):
*1) Story-telling to children of 5-8 years is one of my decided weaknesses-- pray that God would be strong in my weakness!
*2) Five of our 20 registered children are from families that are not from our church-- pray that we would faithfully proclaim God's Word, that these children would be receptive to it, that He would create faith in their little hearts based on our faithful witness.
-Please pray for the upcoming school year, that my students would be ready and willing to learn English, and that I would be ready and willing to teach!
-Please pray for my friend Stephanie Rosburg, LCMS missionary in Poland. She's taking an intensive Polish course and has basically no time to relax, even though she just returned from a month in the US. Pray also that she would be prepared as the beginning of a new school year quickly approaches.
-Pray for the other new LCMS Eurasia team members, that they would get their visas in time to be in their fields for the beginning of the school year (Sept. 1). Also, pray for the new LCMS missionaries preparing to go around the world. Many of them are behind where they would like to be on their support raising, and their departure dates are quickly approaching.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
XcamP!
XcamP was awesome. Really. It was an incredible time of meeting new people, learning about God's plan of deliverance, and having a lot of fun doing it. Everyone began to arrive on the grounds of the Karmel retreat center in Smilovice on Saturday afternoon. All of the kids in attendance were assigned to discussion groups based on age, but at registration, they had the option to switch to my English discussion group. The groups were to meet in the morning and evening every day throughout the camp. At our first group meeting that evening, we spent a little time getting to know one another and talking about our first topic, the text of Joshua 24:15, where Joshua admonishes the people of Israel, now that they've been able to settle in the Promised Land, to follow the Lord, rather than turning aside to follow the gods of the people around them. This first group meeting didn't go too well. Many of the kids who signed up to be in my group weren't really prepared to have a discussion about the Bible in English. Needless to say, once this first meeting was over, I was highly discouraged and praying like mad that God would help me to do things in that group His way, because my plan (which had included some real in-depth discussion of how the Exodus foreshadowed the salvation that we have in Christ) certainly didn't look like it was going to work at all.
Sunday morning, we had a leaders meeting to talk about the goal of our groups and how the group break-down was to help keep the kids involved in all the activities of the camp, to give them each a built-in community so that they wouldn't be alone and so they would have an outlet to talk about whatever they needed to. After that meeting, we broke up into our groups again and my group gave it another try. It was again a tough time. I was so thankful for Miriam, my "assistant," a wonderful Christian young woman who spent a little more than a year in England, and who was able to do some translating when it was necessary. Following group time, we went to breakfast, and then the pastors from all over Silesia came out to lead Sunday morning worship for us in the big tent at the camp. This was a wonderful experience.
The best part of our Sunday morning worship was celebrating the sacrament together. For me it was a particular blessing for me. When the pastor with the Cup came to me, he said "the blood of Christ for you" in English to me. This was the first time I'd heard these words in English in the Czech Republic. It brought me to tears because it was the first time HERE that I really felt that communion really was something that Christ had done for me in particular, the first time it felt like the very personal gift of the Lord that it is. It was exactly the encouragement that I needed. Later that morning the regular schedule for the week began, with seminars and workshops in the morning and afternoon, sprinkled with free time and group meetings, late afternoon evangelism and evening concerts. All of these things went off without a hitch except some of the sports activities during free time and on Wednesday afternoon as the skies let loose with rain on late Monday morning and didn't quit until Thursday night.
By Monday morning, some of the people in my small group came to Miriam and me to say that they really had no idea what we were talking about in our group and that they had found different groups to attend instead of mine. They didn't want me to be upset. On the contrary, I was praising God for this. I really didn't want them to miss out on hearing God's Word because of the impairment of being in my group, so I really encouraged them to leave. At the same time, many more people began to join my group. They hadn't known that there was an English discussion group that they could join, but they heard about it very early in the week and came to be with us. Many wonderful young people with fabulous English skills joined my discussion group, and we were able to even laugh and joke around in our group as we discussed our topics in depth. I was even able to pose some of the very difficult application and connection questions that I had initially wanted to ask of my group. I really praised God for that opportunity. Also, we were able to make connections in every discussion between the Exodus that God gave the Israelites and the exodus from sin and death that we have through faith in Christ and His cross.
By the end of the week, on Saturday morning, it was so hard to believe that it was actually over. What had started for me as a discouraging and lonely week (my group was difficult and I knew relatively few people with whom I could talk, only having one or two people for translators) ended up to be one of the best weeks I've had here (even in spite of the fact that on Thursday I spent the whole day in bed with a fever of 100F). By the end of the week, God had made my discussion group into a wonderful group of fun-loving Christian friends, He had blessed me with many new friends from the youth groups in the surrounding villages, and He had also blessed me with about 5 or 6 incredible grown-up translator friends. ---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray that the youth who attended XcamP would be salt and light in a world that is not friendly, even hostile, to the Gospel and to Christ. Pray especially for those who are returning to their university campuses this fall where there is no powerful Christian network present like the one here in Silesia (the universities here don't have anything like the Christian "infrastructure" that I was blessed with at the U of N).
-Pray for the youth who returned to non-believing homes; may they be a light before their parents and siblings!
-Pray that the believers in this tiny corner of the Czech Republic would be passionate about God's salvation and worship of Him in such a way that they cannot help but evangelize those around them out of a desire for more people to come to a knowledge of the Truth and worship of our great God!
---
Psalm 65:8 "Those living far away fear your wonders; where morning dawns and evening fades you call forth songs of joy."
Friday, July 18, 2008
Two Weeks of Summer Break
It's been two weeks since English Camp (whole group from English camp shown in picture), and they've been wonderful. I have spent a lot of time preparing for my English classes on Monday and Tuesday evenings, working on my June newsletter which I finally sent yesterday, and being with the youth group kids I love so much. I am still working on uploading my photos from English Camp to a web album on Picasa (operated by Google). Once I've finished, I plan on including a link on my blog to the album. I took over a thousand pictures during EC, but Picasa places a 500 photo limit on its albums. This is for the best, as I'm sure I don't have even 500 pics worth sharing with the whole world.
There's really not a lot of news to share about what's been happening during my weeks "off," but I guess I have a few favorite things that have happened I'd like to share. I got to spend Sunday afternoon with Pastor Michal and his family (wife Sarka and their four kids). We went to a retreat center in the mountains where a bunch of families with young children were having a weekend retreat. There Michal spoke with about marriage; how to keep your marriage healthy, how to honor your own marriage and how to honor the marriages of those around you. In the afternoon, following his talk, we all went to Sarka's parent's cottage where the kids and I swam. It was great fun. I especially enjoyed the splashing game that we got into. It's great to play in the water with kids who haven't yet figured out how to splash someone effectively. I guess I had an unfair advantage, but I don't regret it. It started to rain (and practically hasn't stopped since) and we had to get out of the pool. It was a really great afternoon.
Another favorite thing of the past two weeks is that this band, made up of six young men with whom I'm becoming friends, has been practicing in the basement of the parish hall in the evenings. They are the main worship band for XcamP, a huge camp event that begins tomorrow and lasts through next Saturday. I really love to sit in on their practices and sing along with the songs that I recognize and watch them as they interact and as they jam out on their instruments. They are some of the best musicians I have ever known, and they are really tight. I think they've all been playing together for about 4 years, and so they follow one another really well. I wish that all of you reading this could have the opportunity to watch and hear them rather than just reading this inadequate description of them.
It was really wonderful to go out for coffee yesterday afternoon with one of the members of the Czech team from English Camp, Katka Konesová. This girl is incredible. I really enjoyed her and her crazy-fun personality and her energy and her love for Jesus when we were at English Camp. She isn't from the Trinec Lutheran Church-- she isn't even from Trinec-- and so I never get to see her. But we made a date for yesterday to spend time together and get to know one another better. It was just wonderful. I have hopes to build a really good, lasting friendship with her.
Another delightful thing of the past two weeks is that I have started to have some Czech lessons. One of the members of the worship band, Tomas, and I became friends during the English Camp. After camp, I knew that he didn't have a summer job, and so I told him that since he had so much time on his hands, he should help me to learn Czech. He thought that was a great idea, and so I've now had two Czech lessons with him. For our first lesson, we went to a pub and he taught me all about all of the things one finds in a pub and how to order food or a beer and things of that nature. It was a great time. For our second lesson, we talked about daily routine. I learned all about how to describe my patterns for getting ready in the morning and how to talk about what I do throughout the course of the day. Today I shared what I have learned with some of my other friends, and they were all amazed. I was kind of embarrassed and nervous that I would say things incorrectly because I didn't practice a lot, but so far everyone has been pretty impressed. I have to say though, that I don't think they are impressed so much at my stunning ability to speak a little bit of Czech as they are at the fact that I've learned anything.
So, tomorrow I go for a week to XcamP. This is a huge event for this area, organized by Daniel Chlebek, the youth pastor for the whole Silesian Church. It's a really big week of evangelism and discussion about a Bible topic (this year it's about the Exodus, hence the name "X"camp),
with all kinds of cool events like sports and concerts. It's kind of like big summer music festivals in the US in that most of the people who come pitch their tent and sleep right next to the big tent where all of the big festival activities take place. My role for the week is to be a group discussion leader. I will be leading group members in English discussion about our twice daily Bible topics. I am really looking forward to this and am hoping that the people who opt to be in my group really are ready and willing to discuss the topics in English, rather than hoping to get an English lesson. Another important thing to note about XcamP is that not all the people who come are already Christians. In fact, I understand that a really large number of them aren't already believers, and so we have our work cut out for us to show these young people through the story of the Exodus how God also wants to lead them out of their bondage to sin into the Promised Land of heaven through His Son, Jesus Christ. I'm really excited about it!--
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray that God would use XcamP as a huge tool for the spreading of His Law and Gospel into the lives of young people in this area who have either never heard the Truth before or who have heard it but never really been affected by it.
-Pray that all of the leaders at XcamP would be faithful to our task to lead discussion on God's Word and that we would be tools for God. Pray that we would be sensitive to God's movement and that we would be welcoming to serious questions and discussion about real problems or doubts in the lives of the members of our groups.
-Please continue to pray for the children who attended English Camp, that those who received faith in Christ would grow and be nurtured in their new faith and that those who are not yet believers would grow to believe what they have heard.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Fortnight in America and the Return to the Field
It's strange what a four week hiatus can do to one's ability to blog. I have been thinking for several days that I needed to get writing so that you could know what I've been up to lately. And while so much has been going on, I've been having trouble figuring out what I should say.
Summer started here while I was in the US for two weeks. That's right, I was in the US from June 14 through June 27. I spent those two weeks in St. Paul, MN at LCMS World Mission missionary orientation and training. The time I spent there was incredible and invaluable for my mission and teaching work here. More than the education I received on funding my mission, my missionary insurance, keeping up communication while I'm here, how to stay psychologically healthy while I'm on the mission field, spiritual warfare, the organization of World Mission and the Ablaze! movement, and how to be a better teacher, were the incredible friendships that I developed with the other new LCMS missionaries.
All of the LCMS missionaries that will go out this year were in attendance at our orientation in St Paul and I have to say that I was incredibly blessed by all of them. God has done some amazing work in raising up people who are willing to leave everything from home behind and follow Him to the corners of the world. Many of these missionaries are just like me: fresh out of college with nothing in life in the US holding them back from chasing God to the ends of the earth. Some are young people who do have commitments at home that they must return to after their year term overseas is finished.
An impressive number are adults (as opposed to new college grads) who have answered God's call to leave behind a very involved and busy life in the States or who are retired and who have sold everything to go overseas. Also at orientation were a number of new career missionaries who are going overseas for life. The regional directors for every world region but one and many of the volunteer coordinators-- direct supervisors of volunteers like me-- were there also. These people all answered God's incredible call and they all blessed me with their stories, wisdom, encouragement, and insight into missions. All of our pictures are featured on the LCMS World Mission blogsite. Please be sure to include these people in your prayers!
---
After two incredible weeks in St. Paul-- made even better by the fact that my parents came to visit during the middle weekend, I got to visit with my dear friend Elise and her husband Tony (who live in St. Paul) three times, I got to speak on the phone with another dear friend Emily, and even saw my friend Kyle one of the times I visited Tony and Elise-- I came back to the Czech Republic. During the trip back, I had a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam and a 6 hour layover in Prague. Because I managed to sleep for the duration of the trans-Atlantic flight, I was wide awake and ready for some sight seeing in these two incredible cities during my free time.
However, due to the time (it was 6:30AM) and the weather (cold and foggy) when I landed in Amsterdam, I decided not to go into the city, and I spent part of the time having a coffee with my seatmate from the flight. It was a pleasant 90 minutes that I spent with Mark from Germany, talking mostly about travel. I wanted so badly to talk to him about Jesus, but all conversations don't lend to a Gospel presentation. I did have the chance to tell him what my work is in the Czech Republic, but couldn't go much further than that with him.
---
When I arrived in Prague, I hadn't received an invitation to coffee as I had in Amsterdam and I was more than ready to get out and see something and do some walking after so much sitting around. So, I dropped off my carry-on luggage and asked the information desk how to get downtown. I bought a round-trip bus ticket from the airport and half an hour after I boarded my bus at the airport I was coming up out of the subway station in the Old Town of Prague and staring slack-jawed at the view in front of me: the Vltava River and Prague Castle up on the hill. I had forgotten that the view from the subway was so magnificent. When I exited the subway I was really regretting that I didn't have my camera, but I figured that I would have another chance to see the same thing again and didn't worry about it too much. I only allowed myself about 2 hours in the city because I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to get back to the airport and be ready at my gate for an hour in advance of the flight.
Because of the time constraint, I didn't see much new, but I mostly retraced the steps I'd taken in the Old Town eight years ago when I was in Prague with my grandma Effken. From the subway, I found my way to Charles Bridge and crossed the river, looking at all of the artwork on display for sale, being careful not to bump into any other pedestrians and being careful to hold on to my bag, in the event of pick-pockets.
I bought three small photographs of the city on the bridge with which I plan to decorate my room here. After I left the bridge, I went into a few gift shops and went to an information office for a map of the city. I had to also exchange some money as I hadn't taken much with me when I left for the States. I meandered over to the Old Town Square, where the astrological clock and the Tyn church are. I didn't remember ever going into Tyn church, so I decided that would be the new thing I would do. It was worth it and very beautiful.
After buying some postcards in the church, I went to the Franz Kafka bookstore on the square and bought an English copy of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. This book is the favorite book of one of my friends, and when I found out some months ago that it was by a Czech author, I decided I had two reasons that I must buy it and read it. After the bookstore, I thought I ought to find my way back to the subway. I happened to walk past a synagogue on the way to the subway. Unfortunately it was closed (it was Saturday), or I would have gone in for a look and to learn something about the history of the Jews in Prague. I plan on doing that the next time I'm in the city, if possible.
---
Upon arriving back at the airport, when I came to my gate, there was a group of about 20 or so Americans, mostly teenagers and some adults, in the same area of the terminal. I eavesdropped on them and decided that they must be Christians on a mission trip. So, I worked up some courage and went over to talk to them. It turned out that they were on a mission trip from Calvary Baptist Church in Pottstown, PA, on their way to a town in Slovakia, close to Bratislava. They were going to be in the area for two weeks. I swapped stories and contact information with them and am still waiting to hear from them. I'm not worried that I haven't heard yet, as they are still on their trip and should be back in the US by the beginning of next week. It was wonderful to be able to encourage them and to have them be an encouragement for me as I was coming back here for the "long leg" of my stay in the Czech Republic.
When I finally arrived at the parish hall here in Trinec, Pastor Michal and Sarka were up waiting for my return and they welcomed me back warmly and asked me all about my trip. Of course, since it was 10:30PM and I'd been traveling for a day and a half, I didn't want to talk too much, but it was so nice to have them so excited for my return and it was so nice to be "home." Really though, it was great to take a shower (one of the top 5 showers of my life, I'd say) and sleep in my "own" bed.
---
My favorite activity from Orientation was what we called Urban Plunge. It was an afternoon where we went out in pairs to different parts of St. Paul where we would be immersed in a different culture and have to do some common things. My partner and I were sent to the Somali Mall in Minneapolis. We wore long dresses over our jeans so that we would be able to fit in better among the very conservatively dressed women at the mall. Among our tasks were to make a friend with someone who would teach us how to do basic greetings in the Somali language, to eat a meal at a restaurant, to buy some clothing, to get a haircut, to play a game of pool with our new friend, to drink a cup of chai tea and other things.
During lunch, when I ate goat meat for the first time in my life, I interviewed my partner, Sherie about her life in missions (she has served the Lord all over Latin America with her husband, a called and ordained pastor). She had a lot of wonderful experiences to share with me from a lifetime of mission service. I greatly appreciated it as a new missionary, and was encouraged so much by her.
When we were shopping, we had a very interesting and informative conversation with a woman about religion and the state of America. This woman was a passionate Muslim and though we did not try to turn the conversation to Jesus, we did manage to find a lot of common ground with her about the problems caused by turning from God in our modern society. This was a wonderful adventure and we returned back to Concordia's campus later than we were supposed to, but we thought it was worth it to meet the people and see and do all of the things at the mall that we did.
---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for all missionaries everywhere, but especially for the new LCMS missionaries who are going out into parts of the world, committing at least a year of their lives to the service of the Lord.
-Please pray for all Christians everywhere, that they would realize that by virtue of being Christians, they are missionaries too. Pray that God would enable and strengthen them for their missionary task in the field where He has called them, whether work or school or even home.
Summer started here while I was in the US for two weeks. That's right, I was in the US from June 14 through June 27. I spent those two weeks in St. Paul, MN at LCMS World Mission missionary orientation and training. The time I spent there was incredible and invaluable for my mission and teaching work here. More than the education I received on funding my mission, my missionary insurance, keeping up communication while I'm here, how to stay psychologically healthy while I'm on the mission field, spiritual warfare, the organization of World Mission and the Ablaze! movement, and how to be a better teacher, were the incredible friendships that I developed with the other new LCMS missionaries.
All of the LCMS missionaries that will go out this year were in attendance at our orientation in St Paul and I have to say that I was incredibly blessed by all of them. God has done some amazing work in raising up people who are willing to leave everything from home behind and follow Him to the corners of the world. Many of these missionaries are just like me: fresh out of college with nothing in life in the US holding them back from chasing God to the ends of the earth. Some are young people who do have commitments at home that they must return to after their year term overseas is finished.
An impressive number are adults (as opposed to new college grads) who have answered God's call to leave behind a very involved and busy life in the States or who are retired and who have sold everything to go overseas. Also at orientation were a number of new career missionaries who are going overseas for life. The regional directors for every world region but one and many of the volunteer coordinators-- direct supervisors of volunteers like me-- were there also. These people all answered God's incredible call and they all blessed me with their stories, wisdom, encouragement, and insight into missions. All of our pictures are featured on the LCMS World Mission blogsite. Please be sure to include these people in your prayers!
---
After two incredible weeks in St. Paul-- made even better by the fact that my parents came to visit during the middle weekend, I got to visit with my dear friend Elise and her husband Tony (who live in St. Paul) three times, I got to speak on the phone with another dear friend Emily, and even saw my friend Kyle one of the times I visited Tony and Elise-- I came back to the Czech Republic. During the trip back, I had a 6 hour layover in Amsterdam and a 6 hour layover in Prague. Because I managed to sleep for the duration of the trans-Atlantic flight, I was wide awake and ready for some sight seeing in these two incredible cities during my free time.
However, due to the time (it was 6:30AM) and the weather (cold and foggy) when I landed in Amsterdam, I decided not to go into the city, and I spent part of the time having a coffee with my seatmate from the flight. It was a pleasant 90 minutes that I spent with Mark from Germany, talking mostly about travel. I wanted so badly to talk to him about Jesus, but all conversations don't lend to a Gospel presentation. I did have the chance to tell him what my work is in the Czech Republic, but couldn't go much further than that with him.
---
When I arrived in Prague, I hadn't received an invitation to coffee as I had in Amsterdam and I was more than ready to get out and see something and do some walking after so much sitting around. So, I dropped off my carry-on luggage and asked the information desk how to get downtown. I bought a round-trip bus ticket from the airport and half an hour after I boarded my bus at the airport I was coming up out of the subway station in the Old Town of Prague and staring slack-jawed at the view in front of me: the Vltava River and Prague Castle up on the hill. I had forgotten that the view from the subway was so magnificent. When I exited the subway I was really regretting that I didn't have my camera, but I figured that I would have another chance to see the same thing again and didn't worry about it too much. I only allowed myself about 2 hours in the city because I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to get back to the airport and be ready at my gate for an hour in advance of the flight.
Because of the time constraint, I didn't see much new, but I mostly retraced the steps I'd taken in the Old Town eight years ago when I was in Prague with my grandma Effken. From the subway, I found my way to Charles Bridge and crossed the river, looking at all of the artwork on display for sale, being careful not to bump into any other pedestrians and being careful to hold on to my bag, in the event of pick-pockets.
I bought three small photographs of the city on the bridge with which I plan to decorate my room here. After I left the bridge, I went into a few gift shops and went to an information office for a map of the city. I had to also exchange some money as I hadn't taken much with me when I left for the States. I meandered over to the Old Town Square, where the astrological clock and the Tyn church are. I didn't remember ever going into Tyn church, so I decided that would be the new thing I would do. It was worth it and very beautiful. After buying some postcards in the church, I went to the Franz Kafka bookstore on the square and bought an English copy of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. This book is the favorite book of one of my friends, and when I found out some months ago that it was by a Czech author, I decided I had two reasons that I must buy it and read it. After the bookstore, I thought I ought to find my way back to the subway. I happened to walk past a synagogue on the way to the subway. Unfortunately it was closed (it was Saturday), or I would have gone in for a look and to learn something about the history of the Jews in Prague. I plan on doing that the next time I'm in the city, if possible.
---
Upon arriving back at the airport, when I came to my gate, there was a group of about 20 or so Americans, mostly teenagers and some adults, in the same area of the terminal. I eavesdropped on them and decided that they must be Christians on a mission trip. So, I worked up some courage and went over to talk to them. It turned out that they were on a mission trip from Calvary Baptist Church in Pottstown, PA, on their way to a town in Slovakia, close to Bratislava. They were going to be in the area for two weeks. I swapped stories and contact information with them and am still waiting to hear from them. I'm not worried that I haven't heard yet, as they are still on their trip and should be back in the US by the beginning of next week. It was wonderful to be able to encourage them and to have them be an encouragement for me as I was coming back here for the "long leg" of my stay in the Czech Republic.
When I finally arrived at the parish hall here in Trinec, Pastor Michal and Sarka were up waiting for my return and they welcomed me back warmly and asked me all about my trip. Of course, since it was 10:30PM and I'd been traveling for a day and a half, I didn't want to talk too much, but it was so nice to have them so excited for my return and it was so nice to be "home." Really though, it was great to take a shower (one of the top 5 showers of my life, I'd say) and sleep in my "own" bed.
---
My favorite activity from Orientation was what we called Urban Plunge. It was an afternoon where we went out in pairs to different parts of St. Paul where we would be immersed in a different culture and have to do some common things. My partner and I were sent to the Somali Mall in Minneapolis. We wore long dresses over our jeans so that we would be able to fit in better among the very conservatively dressed women at the mall. Among our tasks were to make a friend with someone who would teach us how to do basic greetings in the Somali language, to eat a meal at a restaurant, to buy some clothing, to get a haircut, to play a game of pool with our new friend, to drink a cup of chai tea and other things.
During lunch, when I ate goat meat for the first time in my life, I interviewed my partner, Sherie about her life in missions (she has served the Lord all over Latin America with her husband, a called and ordained pastor). She had a lot of wonderful experiences to share with me from a lifetime of mission service. I greatly appreciated it as a new missionary, and was encouraged so much by her.
When we were shopping, we had a very interesting and informative conversation with a woman about religion and the state of America. This woman was a passionate Muslim and though we did not try to turn the conversation to Jesus, we did manage to find a lot of common ground with her about the problems caused by turning from God in our modern society. This was a wonderful adventure and we returned back to Concordia's campus later than we were supposed to, but we thought it was worth it to meet the people and see and do all of the things at the mall that we did.
---
Prayer Requests:
-Please pray for all missionaries everywhere, but especially for the new LCMS missionaries who are going out into parts of the world, committing at least a year of their lives to the service of the Lord.
-Please pray for all Christians everywhere, that they would realize that by virtue of being Christians, they are missionaries too. Pray that God would enable and strengthen them for their missionary task in the field where He has called them, whether work or school or even home.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Great Multitude in White Robes
I have a lot of "thinking time" on my hands as I live here in Třinec, concurrently surrounded by a foreign language and by incredible Christians. One of the things that I have pondered a lot lately and have been amazed by, a thing that has brought me to deeper places of wonder at our big God is described in Revelation 7:9-10:"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"
It has become dear to my heart to think about the multitude of people representing a multitude of languages and tribes and nations that will be present before the throne of God in heaven, crying and singing and shouting with great, inexpressible joy the glories of our God, the Lamb.
It has also been a fun thing to wonder about communication in heaven. What will speech in heaven be like? Will we all still speak our own languages, but be able to understand each other perfectly anyway? Or will we all be returned to one common speech as mankind was before the incident of the tower of Babel when God confused the speech of man? If so, what will that language be? I know that these questions are completely non-essentials, but they help to maintain a sense of wonder at the glories of heaven and the presence of God in my mind, and so they are good to ponder.
I can't wait to be a part of that great multitude in white robes, crying the mercy of our God through the blood of His Son, the Lamb: Jesus Christ.
---
Climate note: The weather here is INCREDIBLE! There is a light rain about every third or fourth day on average so far, and it keeps everything so fresh and green and cool. Today there was a pretty good storm lasting most of the afternoon. It was probably about 75 F before it started to rain. After the storm when I went outside, the temperature had dropped to around 60. It is wonderful. I will be able to wear jeans and a light jacket most of the summer (one of my two favorite types of weather).
They don't get "Nebraska style" storms here, as far as I have experienced. There has only been thunder two or three times in all of the rain we've had. The first time I heard it was around 2:00AM about two weeks ago. It woke me up and almost scared me with the sheer loudness of it. I thought that I had never heard thunder so loud. As I lay there and listened to it, almost convinced I'd never fall back asleep, I remembered that I had my windows open. That's right, you can sleep with your windows open when it rains and not worry about getting water inside.
I have to take a moment and explain the windows here. They are great in that they are dual function. If you turn the handle on the window up 90 degrees, you can open the window in just like a door. This is VERY handy for washing the windows. If you turn the handle up the next 90 degrees, the window may be tilted in from the top. This way, the top of the glass is inside, and the window remains connected to the pane from the bottom. This is how one may have the windows open and not worry about it raining in. When I "grow up" I want windows like this in my home. Another thing: there are no screens here on the windows-- just like Mexico! Actually, no. Here there are no screens because there are no big, obnoxious flying insects, and so far no mosquitoes (WOOHOO!). *In Mexico there were no screens on the windows not because of the lack of insects; far from it. Rather, it was because there was no heating or cooling system in the houses, but irrelevant to my blog about the Czech Republic.
To finish the story about the thunder: it turns out that when I got up and closed the windows, the thunder sounded just like middle-of-the-night thunder in Nebraska. So, Nebraska still wins in the forms of extreme weather, not that it was a competition.
In Nebraska after a big rain, the sidewalks and streets become covered with creeping earthworms. That doesn't happen here, at least to such a noticeable extent. I think I've only seen two or three earthworms. That may seem like a lot in a month, but this is the kind of thing that I pay attention to.
What comes out after a big rain are these slugs. It's incredible. I went for a walk this evening after the rain was done, and the whole time I was walking, I had my eyes on the ground so that I wouldn't have slug goo all over the bottoms of my shoes when I got home. I have seen a lot of slugs, but today for the first time I saw a snail. This was a SNAIL. It was probably 4 or 5 inches long and its shell was almost the size of ping-pong ball. I stopped walking, crouched down, and just stared at it for about a minute. It was fascinating and beautiful. I wanted to keep it, but thought that was probably a bad idea, for both the snail and for me.---
On Saturday morning I have some exciting plans! I will be getting up around 5:00AM to go to the Ostrava airport and fly to the USA. That's right, I'll be back on American soil in 82 hours. I am returning for a two-week training/orientation program with World Mission in St. Paul, MN. I will be learning how to be a fabulous EFL teacher and how to be an informed LCMS volunteer missionary, equipped with all the information I could possibly need to know about... well, I guess I'll find out soon. While I am there, my parents will be coming to St. Paul for the middle weekend of my stay. I can't wait to see them. I am also making plans to meet up with my lovely friend, Elise Probasco. I will then depart from Minneapolis on June 27th to remain in the Czech Republic until sometime in July of 2009.
---
Please pray:
- the great multitude who will stand before the throne in the robes made white by the blood of the Lamb. May they now, as they work out their salvation with fear and trembling, rely fully on God for their every need, trusting that He will bring them safely to their eternal home.
- that all believers everywhere (including you and I!) would be faithful in proclaiming the Good News of salvation through faith in Christ, that the great multitude might increase daily.
- for safe travel for me and for all of the other LCMS missionaries who will be traveling to St. Paul this weekend. Pray that I will learn everything they have to teach me so that I will be fully equipped to teach!
- for Stephanie Rosburg as she travels home for a month on June 24. Pray for health and for the ability to adjust to life in the States again, but that she doesn't get too attached. Pray against the desire to remain in the US when she has another year of service ahead of her in Poland, and pray that when she comes back to Poland that she won't suffer homesickness. Pray for a quick recovery from jet lag for her (she hates jet lag).
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