before Ceske Budejovice camp

Term 1 US team training, the calm before the storm: the US team from Grace (AZ), our "intern" team and 4 reps from the Ceske Budejovice team. CB camp this year is about 100 people total with several returners. Please pray for: those who have been at camp before to accept the word with gladness and grow roots...unity...protection...

Daniel, me and Ondra at training. We're like an intern team, except not.

East meets West: moving my stuff to Strakonice

Natey and the bros from Brad's intern team (Ryan, Jesse and Jozka) helped carry all the heavy stuff to Lucka's dad's trailer early Wednesday morning. What nice young men! They may look like ruffians, but it's all a facade. Mr. Zagora, Luc, Jitka, Daniela and Natka and I then made the 8 hour trip across Czech and our Westside peeps helped us carry stuff to my new digs.


Since unloading took about 2 minutes, we decided to go to the center for ice cream. Here we have the Cesky Tesin foxes, Strakonice babes, & Pisek cakes (buchty, it's what you say in Czech): Alca, Jana, Natalka, Jitka, Martina, Marta, Radka, Lucka, ma, Daniela, Lucka and Pavel (not a girl) in the back.


Hanging out at the downtown market together, pounding the slurpees--it was a super hot day. But also one of the most important days of my life. I am so thankful for all the friends (such a weak word! They are so much more than that) that God's given me, and I'm unspeakably thankful to get to be a part of His movement here.

my new apartment!

bedroom


living room


kitchen, almost ready


the shower room, with the euro swinging faucet

This beautiful apartment fell into my lap. When I was visiting Alca and Martin in the winter, they told me one apartment was free and that the owner (the famous Mr. Divis) was renovating it. I was crazy about it the first time I saw it, especially the big kitchen and the location (close to the center and the Pospisils!) And I got to know Mr. Divis through dear Ruth (who hooked the Pospisils up with living there) and he was agreeable to having me live there. It's amazing. Finding an apartment had worried me in all of this, and the Lord took care of it before I even had time to really stress. And it's so perfect!

For the time being, I'll be living alone. That's unusual. Since college, I've had 24 different roommates. Yep, I counted. 24. On one hand, I worry about living alone, that I'll get all uptight and stuck in my ways, and lonely. But on the other hand, I really want to be able to serve people with this apartment; I want it to be a place of peace and joy where people feel loved. I think that for now, living alone will give me more space (physical and emotional) to be able to do that.

So...come visit me!

Staz Graduation 2006/07

Congratulations Jitka on your successful completion of Staz!

Staz is a one-year internship program that Kam (JV Czech) provides for young leaders and youth leaders. The students have classes Tuesdays and Wednesdays and week long seminars each month. The classes are systematic theology, hermeneutics, strategy of Christ's ministry, etc. The seminars are on topics like Ephesians or worship or counselling, etc. Each group of 3-4 students has a ministry coach who encourages them in their responsibilities (memorizing verses, having a contact ministry, finishing papers, etc), helps guide them in their ministries in their churches and cares for them personally.

Staz is a great program. I was part of the 2002/03 Staz year (as half student, half coach) and it inspired me to go to Moody to take some of the same classes in English. But the best part about Staz is the emphasis on ministry in the local church: the reason that classes are less than half the week is so that the rest of the week can be spent fleshing out what they've been learning and experiencing teachable moments. They also took a mission trip to Romania, hosted a weekend training conference, and learned to live in community.

Jitka is Nate and Lucka's intern for the summer and will be joining the camp office team in the fall, as well as doing college long distance. She's also taking my place in the apartment and is a joy to have around. :)

Strakonice Camp Team 101

Jozef's video for the US church introducing the Czech team:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE29XpBZ01Q

(I'm sorry that you have to cut and paste this address, for some reason I can't put videos on my blog. I'm also sorry that I'm immortalized saying the word c-rap. Shoot.)

Zuzka and Tomas' wedding

Gorgeous Zuzka

I love it when my friends hook up, and hook up well. Tomas and Zuzka's wedding was a truly joyful event.

Why Europe Rocks: Reason #24

ROAD TRIP
...snapshots taken from our journey from Prague to Ostrava during the Amazing Race...

Traffic jam by Brno



















detail: Man-pris. At one time there were 4 guys wearing capris, shootin' the breeze, wavin' at me-s...think what you please, but ain't no shame to hem beneath the knees.


By Novy Jicin


detail: Oh, hey, castle.


?

an addendum to WER #23

Val from Ukraine's answer to "why aren't you married?"

"Because I'm ugly, stupid, and I have frequent angry outbursts."

Actually, we decided that it's better if people ask us why we're not married, rather than if the answer were somehow obvious...right?

Amazing Race 2007

Our interns are such good sports, even jet lagged they jumped right in to the insanity of Gavin and Nate's faboo adaption of the AMAZING RACE! Above, Nate and Lucka welcomed everyone at the airport and the teams split up and found their instructions for their first task: making a mosaic tile, which led them to Old Town Square for a big JV quiz, and then to a pizzeria where they got to make their own pizzas, then to hotel Krystal for sweet sleep...

The next day, the teams were sent out and had to complete various tasks: paddle boating on the Vltava, passing out free cups of Kofola, singing with a Dixie band on the Charles Bridge (CZ team Greg chose the fast forward of getting a piercing; the eyebrow looks great, David.) After that, they took trains and buses to the bone church in Kutna Hora and then to Ostrava, where they had to find a certain sausage stand and each team member had to each 3. Above, team Poland pounds the kielbasa.

After spending the night in Ostrava, climbing towers and walls and mines and whatever, the teams came to Cesky Tesin, found the Well of the Three Brothers and Jitka, then the boys' apartment, and then have to get to Lucka's grandma's poultry farm where they have a choice: they can either KILL a turkey or CLEAN a turkey. Phil, from Greg's team, chooses the former.

After that, they trained/bused/taxied to Malenovice where they found Katka. Congratulations to Trev and Cass's team as the big winners!!! But really all 6 teams were winners, because all got to know each other and bond, which is really the point, anyway. Awww...

Summer Schedule 2007

(right now it's not so busy, just messy)

WHAT WAS:
May 24-26: CBV Kam conference
May 29: Summer interns arrive in Prague and Amazing Race begins
May 29-31: Amazing Race, Prague-Ostrava-Frydlant
May 31-June 6: Intern Training, Malenovice
June 2: Tomas and Zuzka's wedding (also Agnes and Petr's wedding day!)
June 12: Meeting with Staz (Internship) leaders about next year, Staz 2007/08
June 12-13: Hiking to the top of Lysa Hora (Bald Mt.) and sleeping there overnight
June 14: Jitka graduates from Staz 2006/07
June 6-20: Packing, spending time with CT friends, saying goodbye

WHAT WILL BE:
June 20: Move things to Strakonice!!! Saying hello
June 22-23: Women's min team meeting in my new apartment
June 26-30: 1st term camp training
June 30-July 7: Ceske Budejovice Camp (with Grace Church from Phoenix, AZ)
July 10-14: 2nd term camp training
July 14-21: Strakonice Camp (with Blanchard Rd. from Wheaton IL and Soma from Tacoma WA)
July 21-24: Strakonice follow up in town
July 28-Aug 4: Cesky Tesin Camp (with Grace Church of DuPage from IL)
Aug 4-8: Cesky Tesin follow up in town
Aug 9-12: Debriefing with summer interns in Prague.
Aug 22-27: JV kid's camp
Aug 27-Sept 2: NaMax festival in Trebic
Sept 2--: Start living in Strakonice!