E Plurbus Unum

Trip info: for those wondering I will be returning to the states August 9th and I am currently I the Czech. The status of the tri is pre-English camp the rest of our youth group will arrive tomorrow morning. Then in the afternoon all of the camp will arrive ad we will have testing and our first evening program. The camp will run from Saturday night onto Saturday morning and we return with the students to Trebic for follow up.

This photo above is a photo of our training center called Brajlov. This is where i met with the team for the first time and got to meet some of the people i am working under for Engish camp. This training was much like other years where we would meet on the second story meeting room and talk about Czech culture, relationships, Czech history, English classes and spend time praying with our teams and bonding with some from other teams. 

The forehead at the bottom of the picture is our intern team leader (whome i am joining with) named Sarah, you will see more pictures of her later i am sure.   

 This is the view out the window of the training room where there is this fine river with rushing waters. The building used to be a mill a hundred years ago but has been transformed into a hotel and restaurant. This morning we just left this place, but for the time we were there it was a fantastic setting to reflect on what God is about to do and a good place to relax.
Below is a picture of some members of out team- the three on the left actually just joined in the last week after just doing a camp with a town called Eb and were able to stay because our trip was short staffed and short on Americans. Ashley, Sabrina, and Richie are rockstars from California and we have already had a few chances to jell together.

 On the left is a picture of the youth leader in Trebic Lukas who has been an awesome manager of our team and putting the english camp together. He is a great guy with a fantastic attitude and loves serving Jesus.

This last picture is a building that is adjacent to the hotel and has not been maintained but has a pretty cool rustic look to it.


Looking forward- we made it to camp today and started preparing thing for camp. There is much to do tomorrow as the rest of the Czech team will come and we will get to worship and pray with them before all of camp arrives in the afternoon. Pray for unity between the churches as well as rest for all the americans- especially those from california because they are doing back to back english camps. Also pray for the interns as this is their third and final english camp of the summer, that we will serve Jesus together.

Different flavor of Czech

After much planning, prayer and preparations I am finally going back to the Czech Republic again for English camps. Around February when Friendship Church started preparing their teams the dates came in direct conflict with responsibilities I had as the zone director but God made a way through it. I got connected to the English camp coordinator of Josiah Venture and he expressed such a great need they has for the time period I was able to come.
This year is going to look different I know, not traveling with a team and going to mostly unknown territory the mission will be the same but this next two and a half weeks will be stretching. I get the chance to join a team of seasoned interns from JV who have done two English camps so far this summer and go to the town of Třebíč for English camp.
Thus far there have been a handful of hiccups I'm the travel but nothing too drastic. God is good and 
He has made a way. 
There will be many more updates for oppritunities to partner in prayer and petitioning God that he will 
Be made know in the Czech Republic. 

By the grace of God alone.

anticipating letfest

Tough being in another country for the fourth pf July so in stead of boating and fireworks- we sang the national anthem at breakfast and mostly celebrated by naps to recover from jet lag along with much of the preperation that is going into letfest. The 4th of July was another great day as we had our first meeting with the youth group in which it was so refreshing to see old friends after a couple years apart. That evening we were challenged by a story of Jesus healing a leper from Luke 5 and how many things can be found in this passage regarding the obedience of the healed and the compassion Jesus has on this man. There is so much richness to be taken from this passage that can be applied to our team about what we ask for and what we do with what we are givn'. Tomorrow is the start of letfest. Months of work come down to tomorrow and I am excited to see many come and see what there is to draw this community. My prayer for this is that they will all see the love of God by how we have love for each other. Tonight was a night to get focused on the purpose of all the activities, games, events, classes and seminars which is to declare His excellencies(1 Peter 2:9) and show the love of God we have found in Christ Jesus. Pray for health, energy for the next week and spiritual sharpness for our team in the Name of Jesus.

reUnitd

Our team safely made it through two airplanes, a bus, three subways, two trains without any serious problems and arrived in the town of Letovice, Czech Republic in anticipation of LetFest. What joy I was given as I was able to reconnect with those that I had not seen in two years or more, my brothers and sisters here at the church. As training goes on I look forward to meetimg more that I have met before at previous camps and meeting new friends from here in town. Last night we had our first meeting and it was a building time of prayer and worship as we connected regarding our purpose in letfest. My friend pavlik the youth pastor whomever I have known since my first trip in 2006, shared with us the diversity of all those that will be at camp, some from neighboring cities and many from seperate beliefs about God and who Jesus is. The time was uplifting and there is no other way I would like to connect with them other than in worshiping together. Also yesterday I got to explore the skate park here in letovice, and for the first time icbrought my board. I must say they have a pretty sweet setup with some 5 foot quarter pipes and a few different boxes. Ill post some pictures later for my guys at JSAW and the guys with thrashin' Thursdays. I got to meet a few guys down at the park but things were pretty limited because my Czech is not there yet and their English was similar. So next time ill bring a translator.

Departure

Tomorrow I will be leaving for the Czech. There is much to take care of before that happens but his grace has lead me here and will bring tomorrow. This is the shortest time I will have ever been in Czech but I am still expecting great things. Some need of our team of 20 are funds, travel mercies and last minute preparations for English camp and the rest of letfest