my english class's favorite parts of camp...

blueberry dumplings!

my favorite czech meal...

camp #2...

Vikyrovice English Camp = great week!!

part of our 'story of God' discussion group (adam, liz, grant)...God showed Himself to the students in my group in so many cool ways this week! they hadn't really heard much at all about what the bible says God has done, but once they did, their hearts were so ripe...it was beautiful.

goodbyes at the train station

our team eating blueberry dumplings...an amazing czech meal

denny, me, misa at the top of the mountain we hiked

ondra's newest slang

last summer i made a video of ondra saying all the american slang he learned at english camp. it was well loved, so i had to make another one this year... : )

Sumperk English Camp!

my english class/discussion group

dora, wendy, me, lenka on the hike

our camp: Penzion Later

evening program: every night, everyone at camp would come together to listen to the 'Story of God'--a narrative and interactive discussion about who God is and what He's done.

ilona & me at the after camp party

getting on a train...

our team leaves in the a.m. for training with the american team that's coming from new hope, mn to do camp with the Sumperk youth group and us. english camp #1 starts saturday!!

dates of camp 1: July 4-July 11

so excited when i think about the students that are coming to this week of camp...so excited for God's story to be told and heard and embraced...please pray for us!

worship in czech at our pre-camp weekend

como se whhaat?

havlickuv brod from Erica Davis on Vimeo.

letters

"Dear Erica and Josh,

I'm planning to go to the camp because I think it will be very good, funny, and I would like to meet new people and I want to be better in english. Love, Zaneta"

after visiting an english class at a high school in Sumperk last week, we got a stack of letters from students. this one was great, i love the picture of the girl playing futbol with us under the czech flag : )

team!

everyone working in czech this summer!

our intern team!

(L to R: austin, dora, josh, babu, erica, vasek)

my big fat greek (i mean, czech) wedding (i mean, update)

(babu, me, dora)

our 2009 intern team!!!

Babu-Sumperk, Czech Republic

Vasek-Sumperk, Czech Republic

Austin-Maple Grove, Minnesota

Dora-Rochester, Minnesota

Josh-Hawaii

Me- Edina, MN

picture with the boys...um...to be continued...but here's some more goodies for now...

weekend with Vikyrovice youth group! 

(sarka, bara, me, babu)

         day at the lake with Vikyrovice youth group

(this past weekend we spent time with a youth group we'll be doing english camp with in july. we had such a blast with them! dora and i stayed with the loveliest family from their church for the weekend...and discovered some new czech delicacies! today we did school visits to promote camp and i'm so looking forward to doing camp  for the third year in a row with this group!)

czech intern teams' party at Lucka's farm!
babu & vasek
our "amazing race" day in budapest

jsem tadi (i'm here!)

Hey everyone!

I'll be back in Czech in about 7 weeks! 

Please pray for me as I'm raising support right now and will soon be preparing some other team stuff for the summer. Thank you to those who have already supported me!

Here's a recent and really cool update from Dave Patty, el presidente of Josiah Venture : )

can't wait for more students to know God this summer...

"Next week I will be meeting with Bedrich, a young Czech pastor who wants to talk to me about how to grow a healthy church. Twelve years ago I knew Bedrich as a high school student-a non-Christian rebel far from God. 

He attended an English camp that almost didn't happen. The youth group in his town of Vsetin felt like the camp was too much work. We had a difficult time finding a team from the States, and up until the last minute there were hardly any students registered. Only the faith and perseverance of the youth leader, Dan, kept the whole event from falling apart. 

 

At that camp Bedrich put his trust in Christ. Now he is a seminary graduate, married, and just became, in a crazy turn of events, Dan's pastor. I'm grateful for Dan-and for you, when you faithfully invest in the work of God despite the difficulties, knowing that the long-term fruit is worth it." -Dave Patty, President of Josiah Venture

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.