the cutest Christmas greeting from Sumperk!!

merry christmas/vesely vanoce!! from Erica Davis on Vimeo.

i made this awesomely high quality video on my laptop today during the last girls' bible study before i leave (only 2 1/2 days left...ahh). aren't they all SOOOOO cute? i think so! 

english weekend!

this past weekend was our english weekend with several students from around Sumperk! we had so much fun in the snooowwwyyy mountains. i love these friends! three of the students who have pretty recently become believers shared their testimonies and it was beautiful to see their peers reacting to what they heard about how God has made a difference in their lives.

                  babu and me

 playing the game of 'life' in english class
 snowball fight! [thanks josh for the picture]

my little tribute to czech trains...

sometimes i like you. sometimes i have to pretend.


Fredrik - '11 Years' from Iris Piers on Vimeo.

czech in the fall...

bobbing for apples

halloween english club

bible study.

last week we started a girls' bible study in sumperk. pray for us [babu, ifka, sharkie, pavla, magda, cassie & myself] as we meet every tuesday to talk about what it really means to worship God. it's now one of the best parts of my week to meet with these girls and study scripture together [even when we come across strange words that are super hard to translate]...i just love them!

girls' party!

Josiah Venture Vision Night!!

Next Generation from Josiah Venture on Vimeo.

Novemeber 10th will be a really cool night in MINNEAPOLIS...and you're invited! several Josiah Venture missionaries and nationals will be visiting to share what JV is doing in Eastern Europe! i'd love for each of you to be able to go...really, REALLY! i know sometimes what i am doing here might seem a little abstract without seeing it first hand, but this vision night on the 10th is all about giving the big picture of what God has done in all JV countries (a great encrouagement to see the fruit of your support!) what God is doing, and JV's hopes for what God will do in the near future!

so, here's what you do:
1.go to www.2X3campaign.com
2.click RSVP for the Minneapolis Vision Night on the evening of Novemeber 10th!
(all the details are on the website)
3.come, eat dessert, and see cool people tell cool stories.

you'll hear GREAT stories and see really cool videos with students here talking about how God has changed them through what JV is doing in Europe! it's pretty exciting stuff in my opinion, so i'd love it if you could go and hear specifics about what God is doing amoung youth here and Josiah Venture's desire to continue in that.

if these videos stir your heart even the tiniest bit...i'll think you'd love to be a part of this event!!


One Percent from Josiah Venture on Vimeo.

wednesday english club!

cassie, klara, kuba, sharkie, babu

lenka, kuba, radek, honza, premek, trevor

playing the word game "in a pickle"

sometimes i struggle with guilt...

like when i see things like this: an add for Paris Fashion Week on the side of a New York Times article about the horrible situation in South Africa.

and then i feel twice as guilty about my own life, like i should be on a plane headed to feed starving orphans rather than whatever i happen to be doing at the moment.

i care about starving orphans. i really do. but more recently that 'guilt' seems to be blocked by one thing: actual HOPE.

remember the Oklahoma City bombing? i remember thinking that was simply CRAZY. isn't it sad how small that seems now in comparison with everything else? 

our world is so sad. i'm becoming more and more convinced that there's nothing or no one but Jesus Christ that can offer ACTUAL HOPE. maybe that's why i've yet to get on a plane headed to Africa, because it's no longer easy to overlook the desperate and lost in all places. 

Jesus said, "The [devil] comes only to STEAL and KILL and DESTROY; I have come that they may have LIFE, and have it to the FULL." 

 


i think it's a lot more about reality than it is about compassion [i learned that word in kindergarden in the context of being nice to people on the school bus. ha.] my point is that in reality, i can be on the same level as someone dieing in africa, or someone diamond studded in downtown minneapolis. i either have TRUE, ACTUAL, REAL hope and life, or i don't. 

i want young people in czech to have true hope. i want you to have true hope. i want to remember more often that i have true hope.

a generation waits...

here's a link to a great video clip that really gets to the heart of the need here:

generation waits video

vysoke myto camp reunion get-together

a big part of my fall is staying in touch with students from our summer english camps. though i live right near 2 out of 3 groups from camps, another group lives a little farther away. so last friday we traveled to their city to have a camp reunion party. it was SO great to see klara, lenka, miriam, anicka, zuzka....etc... again! pray for them as they were challenged to continue thinking about the things they heard about God this summer. 

girls' party!

party with girls from Sumperk camp : )

sumperk [volant] youth group

i think i stole this picture from trevor, but i couldn't resist...

i love these people.

so i thought i'd share their cute faces with you. 

and i also realized i maybe have never put a picture up of them all together. 

so, you can pray for them. pray for them as most start back to school...that their lives would be marked by knowing Christ, showing Christ, and sharing Christ. 

[top L to R: trevor, radek, ivos, krusty, ervin, ondra

bottom L to R: cassie, ifka, wendy, babu, vita, sharkie]

just a bit of what's going on for me in september...

[9.3] first english club of the school year! (rotating between beginner and advanced english levels every other wednesday, we'll be having conversational english club in Sumperk. i can't wait!)

[9.5-6] Jizda 316 training in Pardubice, CZ (training for youth groups on how to use a Christian TV show as an outreach tool)

[9.8-14] NAMAX festival in Trinec, CZ (evangelistic festival...i'll be teaching english in schools during the morning, hanging out with students in the afternoons...more i'm not quite sure of yet!)

[9.22-27] Josiah Venture's fall conference (week long conference for JV missionaries in all countries throughout eastern europe...this year's topic: the church. yay!)

cute little people that help me learn czech language...

Jesus, my passion in life is to know You. all other goals bow down to this journey of loving You more...above all else, give me Yourself. 

r&r

the past few days included a lot of quality r&r in krakow, poland for me with wonderful friends

the past few days...

sharkie, babu, and me

camp follow-up bbq (with the most glorious bowl of salad ever)

lunch with ania and aubrey

prague.

i spent the last few days in prague with the summer interns before they flew back home yesterday. it was really hard to see them go after 2.5 months together. i realized how long it's been since i've been on the other side of a 'goodbye'...usually i'm the one being dropped off at the airport. i'm really thankful that i have more time here though! after they left we [everyone who is staying until december like me + full time missionaries here] went back to our hostel for a meeting about the fall. sitting there i was reminded of how much i loved this group of people and how thankful i am for the community i have with them...for how they continually say 'yes' to God and embrace His transformation in their lives. bring on the fall!

camp #3

my amazingly fun english class--not because of my english teaching skills, but because of nikol, lida, amanda, sharkie, honza, and ondrej

our evening discussion group

i LOVED spending the week with these students!

pray for the students from this camp who are SO close to believing and accepting God...

english camp #2: Vikyrovice Camp

hello.

old friends 

one of the best parts of this week of camp was that there were so many people returning from last year [czech students, czechs from the youth group, american youth group]. this is pretty much a recipe for a great camp relationally...and it was. two things left a mark on me: a greater appreciation for how czech's process thoughts and ideas [i was asked many interesting questions this week]...and a beautiful picture of the intellectual process [though often long] of coming to accept God [and how it ends up not even being answered by our own intelligence].

new friends 

pavla, krista, terka

art with eva

goodbye.

one thing i've been loving at the end of our weeks of camp...being able to say "i'll see you in the fall!" thank you so much for your support. know that i am so greatful to be able to stay here and do ministry beyond the summer. i can't believe there is only a few more weeks of our summer ministry left, but i'm so looking forward to spending more time with these students in the coming months!!

haggai

i've been reading/studying the old testament book of haggai this past week and half after hearing someone refer to a certain verse as a way God led her to leave america to do ministry in czech...

haggai 1:4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?"

haggai is a book about delayed obedience [that of the Jews at the time, in rebuilding the Temple, to be exact] and about making your own life cushy while "the house of the Lord" lies in ruins. something i was feeling as i prepared to come to czech was this looming expectation as a young college grad to go and "make a living"...go and find success...go and create security for myself. these things aren't bad necessarily and i couldn't even tell you where these expectations really came from. but what i DO know is this: the LORD who made this whole world fulfills ALL my needs for security and success. and i know this: there is a country that is filled with darkness and a deep need for God to restore them and bring them hope...and God is in the process of doing just that.

so, here i am. even though sometimes i really do want my silly paneled house, i ask God to keep reminding me that one day in His house is better.

yes? no?

language barriers can surely be frustrating...but i try to be amused by them as often as possible : )

one great one in the conflict between english and czech language is the word "yes". in czech, yes is "ano". sometimes though, people choose to not use the "a". it's true..."no" now means "yes". this past week at camp, i taught a beginner level english class, so this became really interesting as sometimes they would answer in english, sometimes in czech. a few times, one girl would get nervous [understandably] if i asked her a question without a translator around. i would ask something like, "did you like the food?" she would answer "no." i would usually just smile and nod, not really knowing which answer she was really giving. sometimes though,  she would correct herself... "did you like the food?" "no...no, uh... yes? yes." [cue the nervous hand gestures and dash to the other side of the room]. i love it and totally understand [for example, every time i forget to put a price sticker on my apples at the supermarket and then panic  when they say something to me at the register--cue majorly nervous hand gestures and a dash to the other side of the store].

camp pictures!

   me, lucka, and paja. (one of my favorite parts of the week= talking with lucka on our hike...reminded me of why i'm here and why i love czech students)
autumn, aubrey, jen, me, and cassie in front of an old church
   cute little nelly during face painting
       my english class of all girls on "hollywood" day...wearing awesome wigs so we'd be ready    for the red carpet!
                                                          our camp location

please continue to pray for the students that heard about God this week. pray that they'd continue to connect with the czech christians...

vysoke myto english camp

saturday morning we're off to our first english camp!

pray pray pray pray pray. thanks!!

GYMPL

 

This is a new czech film that I watched last night. It's kind of a commentary on Czech youth and the family culture here. The main plot surrounds these two boys and their friends that are really into the art of graffiti. Even though there aren't subtitles on this clip, I would recommend watching the whole thing. Unlike american films where they paint a shiny picture of high school life, czech films and humor are much more dark and raw. Anyway, maybe you'll get a taste of the need here among teenagers : )

we all love billy crystal...

but only in czech can you find...

bily krystal 

translation: white sugar : )

youth groups!!

the past two weekends our team has been visiting the czech youth groups we will be partnering with for english camps this summer. these weekends have been both really fun when it comes to building relationships, and encouraging when it comes to spreading vision for what God will do at camp this year in the lives of czech teenagers that don't yet know Him...

  Katka and Zuzka from Vysoke Myto youth group. they're really fun as you can see : ) 

a few of my favorite things during our weekend with the Sumperk youth group:

-simplicity. the first hour we were together the 13 of us just stood around throwing frisbees around the circle. i LOVED this... not because the activity was thrilling or anything, but because i just love the group of people i was with!  

-hearing Babu pray in english. Babu is an 18 year old girl in the youth group that became a christian at camp last summer. she's wonderful, and wonderful at english. even if a czech person is good at english, it's rare that they would pray in english. maybe it's too hard not to focus on if you're using the right words or not? i don't really know, but at one point this weekend, we were praying in smaller groups for english camp and Babu said "okay, i'll pray in english..." i said she didn't have to, but she still did. boy was i glad she did. i can't even say how beautiful is was to hear/UNDERSTAND her genuine prayers to God, while only a year ago she wasn't following Him. 

when obtaining a visa gets a little more complicated than planned and when a nocturnal animal lives in my bedroom walls, i sometimes feel like this...

aubrey and i were talking today while we made lunch about how sometimes among christians, being a missionary can be be idealized. especially when you're a missionary in europe. i mean, goodness...do i really get to call hanging out with teenagers in a gorgeous european city my job? but the thing is, glamour rarely has anything to do with it.  you can spend all day speaking in baby-english (or czech) in order to communicate with a student that can easily learn some silly game in english class, but maybe has no interest in knowing God. you can think "if i was in the states i could be connecting on a way deeper level with someone"...or even "if i went to africa, i could be feeding starving people." but the thing is, if this is where God wants you, in this beautifully melancholy country, all your efforts add up to be way more than if you were elsewhere. in the words of aubrey "i want what is honest. not idealized."

our summer intern team (josh, paul, me, aubrey, chris)!!

here we are, stranded at a bus station in Melnik. our solution...take artsy pictures!! i love these guys!

you can be praying for us as we leave tomorrow (saturday) to go visit one of the youth groups we will be doing english camp with. pray for us as we build relationships with these kids and the youth leader, and that we would be able to encourage them as they go into leading english camp where their friends will hear about God! our goal is to empower them as they invite their friends to camp that don't know Christ.