Hello everyone!
Sorry about it being so long since the last post but I have been super busy preparing and doing OUR FIRST CAMP. After so much time touring and getting the word about English Camps it was finally time to start teaching English and sharing the gospel. But our camp experience started actually a couple days earlier at Team Training!
3 days before camp started all of the intern teams and American teams serving in Bohemia came to Brejluv. At a beautiful hotel (that used to be a mill) on a river we met the Americans that would be helping us do camp and just got time to bond and prepare for lessons! Our team consisted of Cooper from Florida, Tim for Germany/Ohio, Laura and Morgan from Illinois (but originally Texas!), Megan from Iowa, and Bree and Melissa from Virginia. It was fun to have people from all over the place and learning about the many different walks of life everyone was at. The intern team was also able to reconnect with the other intern that were at training. It was so cool to be away from people for about a month but reconnect instantly! With all the teams there were many great talks and lots of late night talks!
But come Friday, we all had to go our separate ways, aka CAMP. We loaded up the intern, Czech, and American team on trains for about 6 hours and finally arrived in Petrikov, our camp. Staying at the hotel and restaurant Sport Grill, we stayed up late doing final preparations and making sure everything was perfect and spending LOTS of time in prayer for the camp and especially the students.
Saturday the 7th came quickly and so did the train carrying the 70 something students! We had a nice hike back to the hotel from the train station so we all began to introduce ourselves and establish some relationships! That night we welcomed everyone to camp and introduced them to the Camp Dance and other crazy things done at camp! After 12 years being at summer camps I was so excited to get back to Theme songs and constantly yelling :)
I can't tell how much God answered my and ya'lls prayers for my English Class. Being a film student I didn't think i was qualified or ready to teach anything, let alone a language! But God provided the activities and plans for the best. We had a Texas and Sports days, and it seemed they enjoyed themselves and learned a lot. I think most importantly god showed me an open mind. I had plans set but constantly I would scracth them by seeing what they were interested in! One afternoon all we did was look at a U.S. and I answered questions and told them about the country. They also loved teaching me. Whether it was facts about the country or a nursery rhyme they loved seeing me try, (and especially fail) at the Czech. I could not have asked for a better class!
We also ate... and ate... and ate. The rumor around JV is that the place we did camp at had the best food of all the camps. After eating there for week I fully believe that! We had all the Czech foods (Svitcova, Fruit dumplings, and gulas!) and some other great meals. Meals were also just a good time to sit back and talk to the students! Relationships were built 24/7!
We had lots of fun extras we got to do during the week too!
- bobsledding (tobogganing)
- water sports
- Hradec Film Festival (film workshop I and my buddy did)
- Texas Dancing (taught them two-step and cotton eye joe)
- Capture the flag
Most importantly we got to share the gospel. Throughout the week and the summer we are focusing on the story of the Prodigal Son. Transforming the story into a more modern take, we're able to connect to what goes on in students life (in Czech and America). Building on the story we were able to share how God is great and the only thing that will fulfill one's life. It definitely made the students think and lead to some great discussions. It was awesome to see God pull one students thoughts a full 180 in matters of hours. Yay God!!
We are a day away from starting training for our second camp. Continue to pray for energy and wisdom as we set out for two more camps. Also be praying for my leader Josh's visa to come through soon! Thank all of you for the prayers and love. Couldn't do it without you!
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