It's Hike Day!

Hi everyone,

Pictures are hopefully coming soon... but just wanted to write a quick update on how things are going!

Camp is going great so far. Students are doing an awesome job teaching English in the mornings and leading discussion groups in the evening. Camp has a different atmosphere than it has in the past few years because of the 25 new students here, but it is so good! Last night, a lot of students heard clearly about God for (maybe) the first time. Tomorrow night the Gospel will be shared and there will be a "labyrinth" set up for students to walk through different interactive activities and think about what they have been hearing. Please be praying for tomorrow - it is a big night!

We also want to ask for prayers today as we go on a day-long hike. The purpose of hike day is not just to climb a mountain and be completely exhausted at the end, but it is an intentional time for conversations to happen. Pray for boldness for our team and the Czech youth group as we talk with unbelievers, ask them questions about what they are thinking about and have spiritual conversations.

Also-- we would appreciate prayers for continued energy and strength! It's past the half way point through camp and our bodies can feel that. It's definitely been a spiritually, emotionally and physically intense week. Pray for strength today as we hike and in the next two days specifically as we don't want to burn out in this crucial point of the week!

Thank you for your continued prayers. We so appreciate all of you!!

Jess (for all)

Greater Than

Hello from Puste Zibridovice, Czech Republic!

We are into our first full day of camp and things are going great.  Relationships seem to be forming quickly with our new friends and relationships from previous years continue to solidify.  Additionally, we're really excited about our camp theme--Greater Than.  We are going to be telling the parable of the two sons (aka "the prodigal son") and unfolding it in story form throughout the week.  Through this story, we desire to show students that God is greater than what we usually think of as the "GOOD life," greater than the FREEDOM we think we have when we try to live life on our own terms, greater than the CHAOS that unfolds as a result of living for ourselves, greater than the RULES and expectations that we think we need to meet in order to gain the approval of God, greater than whatever else we choose to put our HOPE in, and ultimately much greater than living life for ME.

Through the gospel we find something much greater.  Through the gospel we find reconciliation with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Through the gospel we find true and ultimate freedom.   Through the gospel, we no longer believe that we have to hold to a certain rule or regulation in order to gain God's acceptance--Jesus already accomplished that for us.  Through the gospel we can now place our hope in something eternal--something that sin, suffering, and death can never take away from us.  Through the gospel we come to realize that the only way that sinful man could possibly be reconciled to a holy God is through sheer grace.  Through the gospel, our old selves are crucified and we are risen with Christ into a new way of life.  Our God is truly GREATER THAN anything else in this world.

Thank you so much for your prayers!  Please continue to pray for us as we enter into these crucial conversations with students this week.  Pictures to come soon!

Grace and peace,

Jeremy

We are here!

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that we have safely arrived in Czech! We got into Prague at about 9:15 yesterday (Wednesday) morning and then arrived to Brejlov around 11 am.  Brejlov is our training location this year and is about an hour south of Prague. It's a beautiful location right on the river - we love it!

By the time we went to bed last night, most of us had been awake for over 30 hours... so we are (mostly) new people today after a good night's sleep and a shower! Last night and today have been filled with learning about the JV story, Czech history and culture, how to lead small groups and how to teach an English class. Besides our tiredness - everyone is doing well!

Tomorrow morning we head to Sumperk to meet the youth group students and then travel to camp to finish preparing before students come on Saturday! Pray for intentional conversations and unity in these next two days as our different teams become one team.

Proof that we are all here and doing well (Hannah was in the bathroom)!

The boys drinking the famous Kofola

Thanks for your prayers! We will try to update again in the next few days!

Czech Team 2012

Introducing our 2012 Czech team...

Students:

Collin Brown

Michaela Bunke

Martha Engwall

Shelby Grosser

Rachel Kuelbs

Tegan LaBerge

Hannah Lindborg

Jon Nelson 

Ben Reis

Colson Wabshaw

Leaders:

Jeremy Deck

Jess Lindgren

We leave in less than 48 hours and our excitement is growing :)

Thanks for your prayers as we serve in Sumperk, Czech Republic from July 31-August 15. We'll be posting every few days with prayer requests, pictures, updates, and how the Lord is moving... so stay tuned!

Clean clothes, warm smiles, and homemade Czech food!

Here is a quick update:

Yesterday we arrived at our homes and enjoyed a night hike in Sumperk with friends from camp. We enjoyed a church service this morning and a barbecue at the youth leader's house with many of our wonderful Czech students. We will head to Prague tomorrow to begin debrief first with the other American teams who lead camps around Czech and then time to spend in downtown Prague seeing all the sights.

We may not update again so...see you in a few days in Minneapolis!

Last Day of Camp

It has been a busy week of English classes, sessions and discussion groups and afternoon free time. We have only been here for seven days, but there have been some amazing friendships started.

Last night was gospel night. One of the women from Volant gave her testimony. Then Jeremy spoke telling the historical event of Jesus' death for our sins. Afterwards the students walked through a labyrinth. They were asked to be quiet and go at their own pace. The labyrinth focused on our identity. At the end students who had questions they wanted answered were given the option to go and talk with some people. There were some really great conversations starting with questions like:

Why did Jesus have to die?

Is the Bible trustworthy?

Isn't there more than one way to God?

There will undoubtedly be more questions and conversations to come tonight as Jeremy will be talking about the life of Jesus after his sacrifice. Please continue praying for God to be stirring in the hearts here as we finish up camp and head off to homestays.

Tomorrow morning we will head to our homestays until Monday morning when we will leave Sumperk and head off to Prague. As some Volant members confirmed, some nonbelievers encountered significant leaps in the understanding of Christian faith.

Thanks so much for all your prayers!

Day 2

Hello everyone! It is a rainy Sunday afternoon and we are sitting inside watching The Blindside together (wishing to be enjoy sunshine outside).

I just wanted to give you a quick update about our English classes and discussion groups so that you can pray for specific names as camp continues. The teachers are as follows:

Lauren & Michaela M.

Colson & Natalie

Shelby

Jeremy & Martha

Michaela B.

Amanda & Josh

Collin & Ben

Last night we had our first discussion group where we introduced ourselves, discussed "collisions" we have in our life today, and "collisions" the students may have had with Christianity & Christians. Please continue to have your prayers on our discussion groups as we discuss more "collisions" and tackle questions about what we believe. Thanks for your prayers!

Pictures are coming soon!

-Amanda