Czech Trip

I never really wrote much about my trip... It's really hard to summarize something so powerful in a few words. I will try.

Ten of us from ABC went, and I think we had a really great team. Some of the people on the team I knew quite well, and some relationships were new. We had younger and older, married and single, and I think we all balanced each other out nicely.

We went to work alongside Brian and Jill Dagen and the Czech church they had been ministering in for years. (They are just recently moving to a different city and getting involved in a new ministry.) The pastoral intern and his wife (Blajo and Stepanka) and the older youth of the church are instrumental in running the English camp, especially this year when the Dagens were on furlough and just returning to the Czech Republic as we arrived for camp.

We spent a couple of nights in Prague before we went to Trest, the town where the camp was held. We all lived together for a week in a school building; it's a trade school where some high school kids actually go and live, so it was kind of like being in a college dorm.

My teaching partner's name was Cory; he and I are pretty much the same age. We taught an upper intermediate class of 18-20 yr. olds. We were in class all morning, and it was divided into different sections--vocabulary, grammar, activity time, discussion, Bible lesson, etc. In the afternoon, there were various things to participate in--sports, art class, a ladies' tea, and a discussion time. After dinner we had an evening program with worship music (led by the Czech youth) and a main event. These ranged from watching The Chronicles of Narnia to having a Czech pastor come in and speak to a concert done by a Christian alternative band from Slovakia... After that there were usually some CRAZY games led by a Czech guy named Honza (one of the youth from church), and then there was just hang out time or bed time (for some!). As you can see, the schedule was non-stop, and I was exhausted by the end of each day and the next morning when I got up (and I even went to bed by 11 or 12, not like some others...).

Even though it was exhausting, it was definitely worth it. Cory and I were really blessed to have a GREAT class; we had 8 students--4 girls and 4 guys. The Czechs are very intellectual people; they value education very highly, and they are much smarter than we are! :) I was amazed at the conversations that we had. We talked about so many LIFE issues like religion, morality, right and wrong, dating and marriage, the purpose of life... You name it; we talked about it.

They were very open to discussing Christianity, although they made it clear that they do not believe it to be true. Still, we had some discussions that I believe planted seeds in their minds and hearts. There were 2 students in particular, a girl named Denisa and a guy named Libor, with whom Cory and I had some very deep conversations about God. I pray that through my friendship with them, they will continue to see Christ in me and be drawn to Him.

It was a wonderful trip; I would love to go back and see the people again. I really fell in love with them, especially the students in my class. I had my birthday while I was there, and 2 of the girls (one of them was Denisa) surprised me with a cake made from scratch; they presented it to me in the cafeteria at dinner infront of everybody... AHHH!! (For those of you who know me well, you know this frightens me. :) Anyway, I have some great memories to hold on to and some special relationships to keep up; Denisa and I clicked right away. If we lived in the same place, I'm certain we would be inseparable.

Well, that's a FAIRLY short summary... :) I will attempt to post some pictures, if this thing decides to cooperate.