The Joys of Jihlava

I'm finally back to blogging! My apologies for my long absence. I've been without a computer for the past week in the village of Jihlava, working with an Athletes in Action sports camp. It's been an incredible week, difficult but rewarding. There's so much I wish I could say about the whole experience, but I'll at least attempt to capture small bits.

Our team was half American, half Dutch....the Americans being myself, Lindsay, Michael, and Will, the Dutch being Annemarie, Kirstie, Joyce, and Chris. We were all instantly thrown into several different types of culture shock:

1) the village of Jihlava. It's utterly different than what we were accustomed to in Prague, just like any small town in the US is different than a big city.

2) the Czech church. The church that hosted us for the week literally had only six members, and very limited ability to communicate with us in English. It was a beautiful experience to sit an a worship service, singing in English, and hearing the same song sung in Dutch and Czech on either side of me. What a taste of the multi-ethnic beauty of heaven.

3) the Czech youth culture. I can't even begin to describe Czech teenagers. Hip-hop culture is very popular in the Czech Republic...so we would have these guys show up to play basketball wearing do-rags and baggy jeans and American jerseys and trying to do crazy street dribbling moves they had seen on MTV. They all love American rap and R&B music. It just made me laugh so hard sometimes....there are virtually no African-Americans here, and these kids have no idea what actual American street culture really is like, yet they all imitate it. When I would tell teenagers that my university is over 50% African American, their mouths would literally drop in shock. They can't even imagine what that's like, but they think it's absolutely amazing.

4) the Czech language. The language barrier was intensified immensely from what it is in Prague. Most Czech children learn English in school, but they are all highly self-conscious and unwilling to practice their English with foreigners. I was so incredibly thankful for my eight brief Czech lessons this past week. I would throw out anything I knew to just try and talk with them, even ridiculous phrases and random words. A lot of the teenagers were very willing to try and work with me, to teach me as I would throw out a verb and start guessing at endings, to teach me new words, to laugh with me when I completely butchered their language, to translate my mixture of sign language and words. They seemed so greatful and excited to even have someone attempt to speak with them, and they were so incredibly complimentary of my limited Czech, even though I know its horrible. I kept telling them their English was much better than my Czech, and they never believed it. I can't tell you how hard it is to want to carry on a conversation with someone and be so completely limited. All we were there to do is build relationships with these kids....and how do you do that when you don't speak the same language?


5) the Dutch. There are no words to even describe the Dutch. All I can say is, I wish I could move to Holland! We absolutely loved our Dutch teammates, and formed a really quick bond across cultural boundaries with them that was such an unexpected blessing. They all had impeccable English, and were so gracious to use it all week with us. Even in one-on-one conversations with each other, they chose to speak in English so that we would never feel isolated. The Americans felt so incredibly humbled by their decision to not use their own language for our sake. Each one of them was so incredibly cheerful and energetic and funny....I think Holland is ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world, and now I understand why! They introduced us to several Dutch desserts (I will never forget the chocolatey goodness of Knoppers) and we introduced the concept of American breakfast to them. We ate a typical Dutch breakfast almost every morning, which consists of bread, butter, cheese, and salami. So to me, it felt strange eating lunch foods in the morning, but they were shocked to hear the sort of things we eat for breakfast in America. After we described typical American breakfast foods like muffins, bacon, eggs, and pancakes, their eyes widened and one of them exclaimed, "Now we know why Americans are so fat!" We explained that we're also an obese nation because we drive our cars everywhere. In Europe, you just walk all the time and use public transportation. The Dutch were also surprised about some other American things....like the fact that we own guns and the fact that we have to pay to go to college.

Another thing I loved about the Dutch was hearing them pray. I never really thought about cultural differences in terms of prayer before. Their prayers almost entirely consisted of questions....it would sound something like this (imagine it in a beautiful Dutch accent): "Lord, do you want to bless us? I want to ask you if you want to give us good weather today? Do you want to help us reach the kids? Lord, I want to ask you if would like to unify our team?" I realized that our American prayers were almost entirely declaratory statements...."Lord, we want you to do this," not "Lord, do you want to do this?" Although there is certainly a place for boldness and authority in prayer, it was refreshing to hear such an attitude of humility in speaking to God.

As for our week....
Things were difficult:

-The Americans spoke very little Czech, and the Dutch spoke none. There were moments when I just got so angry at my inability to communicate the things I wanted to say so desperately.

-Half of our team members got sick and couldn't play sports.

-The weather was cold and rainy most of the week, so it was hard to get kids to come out and "sport with us" (as the Dutch would say). Surprisingly, we got far more teenagers than children.

-Our accomodation was remarkably sketchy. Have you heard of the horror movie "Hostel?" That's basically where we were. We were in a sort of dormitory called an "ubytovna," which we later found out directly translates to "less than a hotel." The first couple of days were nice...we had nice rooms, communal showers and bathrooms, a shared kitchen and living room. Then we got some neighbors. Around Tuesday, a bunch of Slovakian construction workers filled the other rooms on our hall, and that's when things started to get crazy. Apparently in Slovakian construction worker culture, common behaviors include walking around mostly naked, smoking multiple packs and leaving your ashes in other peoples dishes, watching porn in a communal living room, and drinking homemade rum straight from the bottle. It was the weirdest culture shock any of us had ever experienced. There was one night me and my American teammate Michael were fixing some food around midnight in the kitchen, and we see this old Slovakian guy stumble out of his room down the hall, wearing only tight spandex underwear, holding a bottle of rum. He staggers to the bathroom, and proceeds to deliver a drunken sidekick to the bathroom door. All we could do was double over laughing and say, "Where are we?!" Really, it was the most bizzare experience of my life.

Things were also really great:

-I got to lead volleyball. My friends who have seen me play volleyball will understand how hilarious that concept is....but it definitely taught me a lot about humility. The theme of my week was the ability to laugh at myself. I had to make myself comfortable to make the kids feel comfortable around me. I laughed with them at my inability to play sports and my inability to speak Czech, and tried to dive wholeheartedly into both weaknesses.

-I also got to teach street dance. Yes, an English speaking ballet/modern dancer trying to lead non-English speaking teenagers in hip-hop moves. What a ridiculously hilarious experience. Going into the week, I assumed there was going to be a professional street dancer on the team, and I quickly realized that everyone else assumed I was going to be the street dance expert. So my Dutch teammate Joyce and I quickly choreographed an awesome little number to some TobyMac's "No Ordinary Love," and the girls we taught it to seemed to love it. Joyce was so incredibly sweet, and kept telling me that I should star in "Save the Last Dance" (a movie about a ballet dancer who learns all these street moves at an inner city school).

-My heart was broken for Czech young people. I can't even describe how much these kids touched me. They are so unbelievably old at such a young age. There were 12, 13, 14 year olds that would smoke and drink alcohol on the sidelines of the fields as we played with them. A lot of them have this dark, hardened sense about them that you just don't see in mostAmerican teenagers. The girls are incredibly sexualized from a very young age. The first day we were out playing sports, a 12 year old girl showed up with cuts all over her arm. At first I thought they might be accidental, but the closer I looked, I realized the cuts formed a name, and it was obviously self-mutilation. Sometimes I just wanted to break down crying in the middle of a game of vollyball. I realized that our simple gospel presentations through our skits, testimonies, and actions would be the most that many of these kids would ever hear about God's love for them. There's just nothing for them here....there's such hopelessness. I think the concept that Jesus loved them and extended mercy to them was utterly foreign to these teenagers. As the week progressed, the Czech girls with whom I had begun to form friendships would ask me eagerly when we would be performing the drama for the night. I began to realize that some of the teenagers were more excited about seeing our skits than playing sports....some of them would come and sit on the sidelines the whole time, then gather with the other kids to watch our gospel presentation. I could see the longing for hope and truth in their eyes as they carefully watched simple skits that many American teenagers would just laugh at or shrug off. It was beautiful to be able to tell them my testimony through a translator on the last night we were there, speaking words of light into the darkness, proclaiming the love of God in my brokenness against the glorious splendor of the setting sun. I will never forget their faces and my desperate desire to see their lives transformed. We held an outdoor worship service on the Sunday morning after the camp week, and one of the teenagers from the camp who attended asked me if I was coming back next year to their village. I sadly told them that I wasn't, and she said in a sorrowful voice, "I wish you would come back. There is nothing like what you do here. No one tells us the things you have." It made me so sad and angry.....the fields are ripe for the harvest, and who will go? Who will tell that girl again that she is loved and beautiful and precious?

So pray for Jihlava. Pray for the struggling church there. Pray for Jakob, Katka, Tereza, Daniel, Eva, Domenika, Ana, Marketa, Taneka, Libor.....just a few of the kids that touched my heart this week. Pray for all the kids who might never again hear the truth of the gospel.

Alright, my hands and my brain are exhausted from typing. Thanks for allowing me to process my week in words. Now I need to go do some late night packing....yet again. I'm off to Krakow, Poland tomorrow afternoon with my fellow interns for a much-needed spiritual retreat until Monday.

AIA Camp Week

As in Vienna, there are too many pictures....I will try to give you a small taste of my Athletes in Action week before I write about it....there's just too much for words.

Week 5 (and a preview of Weeks 6 and 7)!

This is our Vacation Bible School week, so from 9:00-1:00 every morning, the interns get to lead some very adorable little kids. I don't think I've ever sang "I'm In The Lord's Army" so many times in my life. Apparently, songs that involve saluting, riding horses, marching, and making artillary noises with your hands are very appealing to small children. My hand-motion making skills from camp have suddenly come in handy! I'm also suddenly remembering how tiring it is to entertain and control preschool age kids! We've really had a great time with them, though.

Tuesday night was great....Jeremy loves Christmas, so for his birthday, we threw a surprise Christmas in July party. We decorated a small tree, listened to Christmas carols, and reminisced about our favorite Christmas traditions. Joanna whipped up a full Christmas dinner, with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, gravy, and some sort of yummy corn pudding. To top it all off, we had a homemade coconut birthday cake for dessert...it was the best cake I've ever eaten.

After Christmasing, we raced off to enjoy the Bohemia Jazz Festival for the second night in a row. Monday night, I was front and center to see John Scofield play (my friends and I got to be famous on the jumbotron a couple of times), and then Tuesday night, we went to see Victor Wooten, one of the best bass guitarists in the world. You can't beat listening to free live jazz as you're surrounded by gorgeous Prague architecture.

Life here is about to change yet again in a very big way. We will be leaving 6:00 AM this Saturday to work at sports camps in different villages in Prague. We are joining two teams of Dutch atheletes who work with a group called Athletes in Action, a sports ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ. Michael, Will, Lindsay and I will be serving in a village about two hours from Prague called Jihlava, while Hannah and Jeremy will be working in Pribram. We'll spend our days playing sports with children and teenagers, such as volleyball, basketball, soccer, and street dance (don't ask me what street dance is, because I'm not sure yet myself....but I'm excited!). Our team is highly non-athletic, but I think the most important element of this whole experience will just be loving the kids and hanging out with them, not our athletic abilities. I'm excited to work with young people again, and I can't wait to get to know Dutch Christians and see experience a taste of that culture through my teammates. Pray for our time away from the city to be fruitful and for our teams to be quickly unified across all cultural and linguistic boundaries.

So I'll be gone until next Sunday....then we have two days in Prague, and we leave that Wednesday morning for Krakow, Poland for the rest of the week. After Poland, we'll only have one week left here. Things are really speeding up and life as we know it here is changing. I'll be away from computers for the next week, so no more blogging for a while, but please keep me and my team in your thoughts and prayers.

P.S.....the best part of my day were these two letters. I truly have wonderful friends. One beautiful homemade one from my dear friend Sarah, and another letter signed with tons of encouraging messages from all my wonderful staff and CIT friends at New Life Camp. I miss you guys!

Thanks for all the love!

A Tale of Two Cities

I gave you pictures, but no details on my trip to Vienna. I'm in the midst of a crazy week, but in what little time I have, I'll try and give you a quick runthrough. Also, let me please apologize....I have gotten so many kind Facebook messages from friends at home in the past week, and I just haven't replied to any of them...life has been a whirlwhind since returning this weekend. If you have not gotten a reply, I promise you aren't the only one!

Vienna was amazing. This was the one free weekend for the interns, so we were allowed to travel on our own, using our own resources. Five of us chose to go to Vienna and stay with some other World Harvest missionaries, the Hunter family. Brad, Stacy and their wonderful children graciously let us all stay in their beautiful apartment, and served as our tour guides for the whole trip. Brad led us around Vienna as we prayed for different parts of the city, and it was amazing to see the passion he and his wife have for reaching this city.

My favorite time of prayer was an individual one, inside St. Stephan's Cathedral (Stephansdom). You can see this incredible building on my previous picture- it absolutely took my breath away, inside and out. It was magnificently ornate, enormous, full of stunning architecture and sculpture.....and somewhere in all that beauty, my heart was pierced. The glory of God was reflected in this place in a way that touched me deeply. In the midst of crowds of tourists, I wondered into a quiet prayer room inside the cathedral, filled with people on their knees in between stately wooden pews, bowing torwards the alter and the crucifix, crossing themselves after dipping their hands in water as they came in and out. I joined them on my knees for a few moments, soaking in the stillness and the beauty. I looked across the faces bathed in colored light as the sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows, wondering how many of them truly knew the love of the God reflected in the icons and the ceremonial ritual. My heart broke for the city, the way it has for Prague, knowing that these people have a deep thirst for love and transcendence that can only be satisfied with the living water of Jesus Christ.

Vienna is remarkably different from Prague, in ways that I'm not sure how to articulate. It seems a little more modern, more Western, more glamarous and wealthy, far more international, and much larger. Prague has a very Eastern European feel, heavily rooted in tradition and nationalistic Czech pride. It was good to see the differences, to take a step back from my time here, even if it was just for a weekend. It helped me to reflect on my time here and my thoughts about Prague, and to see some of the ways I've grown personally since arriving. Arriving in a new city, I felt excited to explore and find my way around, confident in navigating a metro system in yet anther language I don't speak....then I remembered the way I felt when I first set foot in Prague, helpless and confused, fearful and discouraged by my own incompetance. A mere month has transformed the way I look at myself and the world in so many small ways. I was excited to be walking in a new boldness, to feel independant and not helpless, to feel my fear replaced by a simple peace. God has shown Himself to be infinitely strong in my most crippling weaknesses.

The most striking thing I felt when I arrived in Vienna was the fact that I was not home. I was in another foreign culture, but I didn't know how the transportation system worked, I struggled to convert the currency in my head, I didn't know where to walk to down a street to find the best coffee shop or the closest grocery store, I couldn't even say basic phrases like "Excuse me" when I bumped into someone or "Thank you" to a server. I do know those things in Prague. Admittedly, pride in my level of city knowledge is like a child learning the alphabet and believing she has mastered Shakespeare......but it's something, no matter how small. I knew, with a sense of deep joy, that Prague was indeed my city. As our bus pulled back into Prague at the end of the weekend, my heart lept up as we zoomed past the familiar terra cotta rooftops.....I was back home. I walked into church that afternoon, out of the rain and the cold, warmed by the sight of people who have grown to feel like family. The benediction spoken out at the end of that service, adapted from Jeremiah 29, is still ringing in my ears:

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, to those He has called into Prague: Build yourselves houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat the fruit of them. Marry and have sons and daughters, increase in number there and do not decrease. Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

Amen.

Vienna!

I promise will write about our wonderful trip soon, but you can just enjoy a few pictures for now! I think you should be able to click on each one to make it full size....

Substantial Grace

Tuesday was one of those days you are sure you'll laugh about later, but in the moment, laughter is furthest thing from your mind. I think it was the closest the group has come to a public emotional breakdown since we've gotten to Prague. To make a long story short, what we thought would be a simple trip to buy bus tickets turned into a several hour ordeal of being snubbed by various rude employees, waiting for half an hour in several wrong lines, and traveling to multiple ticket offices around the city, only to find that bus tickets to Vienna were sold out (that is, according to employees who don't want to bother with the hassle of working with someone who speaks English). Czech customer service can sometimes be culture clash at its worst. Train tickets were possible, though very expensive, and for a while, it looked like about only half the team could afford to go. Thinking about money is so stressful, and the combination of everyone being sick and sleep deprived served to escalate the emotions of the day. I was overwhelmed, but my day was redeemed when I spent some time alone up on the Stewarts' rooftop, finally taking a moment to breathe and allow the peace of God to wash over me.
I wish I could give you a panoramic view of what I saw up there, but this one angle is the best I can do.













The story does have a happy ending....the interns took Mark with us the next day, and after another hour long wait, we finally got bus tickets to Vienna! Five interns are headed out at 8:00 Friday morning, and we're coming back 8:00 Sunday morning.

Wednesday morning, I worked at Nadeje.....this time, a homeless man came up to me and said in broken English, "You are an angel, and when you die, I want you to go to God for me and tell him I did only good things." After thanking him as I told him I wasn't an angel, I asked him if He believed in God. When he replied yes, I explained, "I can't tell God that you did only good things. Only Jesus can take away the sins from your life." He sighed wistfully, "I know this Jesus, yes. I know Him in my head, but my heart, it is cold. I wish I could know with my heart." I said, "I will pray for your heart. God loves you, He really does." A smile broke across his face as he said "You are an angel, in secret. A hidden angel. God sent you to tell me He loves me."

Today I wondered alone around Prague most of the day. I tripped up two seperate staircases (completely fell all over the stairs in the midst of a multitude of people), slipped and fell as I walked in a store, and almost got hit by a tram...twice. Who made up that myth that dancers are graceful? This is why I shouldn't be let out alone too often.
In the midst of my wonderings, I went to several coffeeshops to read, and discovered my new favorite quote painted on a wall.

Maybe my amount of coffee today was a bit too substantial.... hmm





Prayer needs: Our trip to Vienna, that it will be a much-needed time of rest and relaxation... our physical health, that we will be well by the time we start teaching Vacation Bible School next week.....our team unity, as week four is known as the breaking point, where interns become quick to see the faults of others while overlooking our own, now that our "honeymoon" period here is over. Pray that we will be unified and show one another grace.... quick to listen, and slow to speak....quick to love, and slow to judge in anger.

I should be sleeping, not writing...

I'm exhausted and about to fall asleep as I type this, so bear with me if it sounds like a five year old composed my thoughts....

On Sunday morning, Mark took the interns to a Czech-speaking Protestant church. He calls it "the Prague megachurch," which translates to roughly 200 congregants on a good day. Considering that it was Jan Hus Day, a national Czech holiday, about half the congregation was gone from the hotel conference room where the church meets. It was amazing to hear worship songs sung in Czech, and to listen to an entire sermon in another language. We were blessed to have two translators who sat behind us and whispered the sermon to us in English. After attending an English-speaking, predominately expatriate church body for the past few weeks, it was wonderful to visit a thriving church that is filled with Czechs.

Sunday afternoon, back at Faith Community Church, we suddenly found ourselves scrambling to find room for people to sit when our small sanctuary became packed with a visiting group of 41 American high school girls. This might not sound like a large number, but in our tiny building, this meant that people were sitting on the stairs to the entrance and standing along the sides of the room. The regular pastor and his family just left for the United States, so Zach was preaching his first sermon of the summer, and as God's sense of humor would have it, 41 girls came in on the day he had to preach on 1 Corinthians 14 (which includes touchy topics such as prophecy, tongues, and of course, women being silent in the church). I thought this was pretty hilarious divine timing.

Monday, we had our last Czech lesson with our wonderful teacher Lenka. This lesson also included some delicious dessert....about a week ago, Jeremy and Lenka made a bet on a soccer game, and Jeremy lost, so he gave Lenka a homemade apple pie! We have all enjoyed these lessons so much, and I know we will miss them immensely. Even just the knowledge of basic phrases has enhanced my time here so greatly, and I wish I knew much more. If God chooses to lead me back here, I know that I absolutely want to learn the language if I have the oportunity.

After language lessons, Joanna took us to do one of the things she loves in Prague...pottery class! Lindsay, Hannah, Will and I tried our hand at pottery, all with varying degrees of success. Joanna kindly referred to my mishapen clay box as "cool and funky," but I think this was possibly a tactful way of saying "the ugliest creation ever formed by human hands." Despite my utter lack of talent, I did have a great time. The lumpy blob of a box you see in the picture is what I painstakingly made in an hour and a half, while the lovely flower candle holder is what Joanna whipped out in about fifteen minutes....sad, I know.

Monday ended with dinner and Vacation Bible School preperations at the Syvertsons (have I mentioned that Chris Syvertson runs the Czech Inn, which is rated as one of the top hostels in Europe?) The Syvertsons have this incredible view from their terrace, which happens to overlook the gigantic Prague "baby tower" (it has these odd, sculpted metal babies crawling up the side of it), so I decided it was a good photo opportunity. What you might not be able to see is the dangerous, gigantic drop-off into space behind the fence I was sitting on....ahh, the price of fun pictures.

Please pray for our health over here, as sickness seems to be striking us once again....at the moment, I think Mark, Jason, Lindsay, Hannah, Jeremy, Mike and I are all sick, and we would like this to be as short-lived as possible!