Hey friends and fam -
We are now in Prague. Train was very nice, but a little early wake-up for deboarding. We found a place for luggage, a very nice and cheap place for breakfast (some czech omellettes), crossed Charles Bridge (with its many talented musicians) and climbed up Petrin tower for an overlook of Prague. We spent 2-3 hours in this park overlooking the river and city debriefing, a little alone time, and sharing with one another (this is such valuable time for us at this point). We are now "czeched" in to our apartments (3 overlooking the river right next to the famous "Dancing House") and have showered and are heading out to the Old City Square for some shopping and dinner and some more debrief together. Since we finally have internet acesss for the computer (not the phone), I'll now post a couple blogs already written a couple days ago while we were still nestled in the Transylvanian Alps with some of our favorite Craiovan people (we miss you guys so much - we have received your posts and are grateful to hear from you - and hear that camp follow-up in now underway - wish we were there for it!!!). Now for the blogs. I think we'll post a few more yet to be written posts from students too - within the next 6-7 hours. peace and love, Lief and the team (from the boys apartment on the 5th floor)
Hey everybody! It’s Charlie coming to you from Romania. Well, after six days of nonstop action at camp, we are finally enjoying the rest and reflection on our debrief time. Right now, we’re at a hotel that’s walking distance from the camp and spending the last hours we have with Daniel’s leadership team from Craiova. Camp was an amazing experience in so many ways. In the mornings we held our English classes, all of which sound like they went really well. Many of the campers made really positive comments about the classes, which is really exiting because most of us were unsure about how they would go. In the afternoons, we had free time and large group games, and on Friday we actually spent the afternoon walking several miles to a lake where we swam a little bit. In the evenings we read and heard the ‘Story of God’ and later discussed the stories in our small groups. The evening programs became deeper and deeper and the final night (Saturday) was simply amazing. Lief and Daniel shared the Gospel as the topic for the night, and Nate shared a personal experience and talked about how the topic of the night changed his life. Then, to end the night, I was part of a drama with six others that spoke no words yet sent a message (the story of God's love for humans and victory over evil) that seemed to be understood by the majority of those watching. Small groups followed, and then a big bonfire finished the night (which ended almost at dawn for some). Yesterday after saying goodbye to all the campers, we (our team and Daniel’s team) shared with each other the responses from the campers in our small group. Many of the non-Christian campers said they accepted Christ, and many others said they felt very close to making the step but hadn’t yet. So all in all, this camp was an unbelievable experience, and our team is looking forward to debriefing the next few days in Budapest and Prague. However, today is a sad day as we must say goodbye to Daniel’s leadership team whom we have come to know so well. I hope all is well back home, we miss you guys -Charlie
Hello friends and fam, it’s Maren!
These past few days have been bittersweet. It was rough saying goodbye to all our new friends yesterday when they got on the bus; there were so many tears. On the other hand, it was awesome to get to know so many Romanians. I felt like they inspired us and we inspired them in ways that we probably didn’t even realize. Some of the people that had a tough exterior were showing a softer side and I know that God had a hand in softening their hearts; it was truly touching. I also took place in the drama that Charlie mentioned and I know that it not only affected me and changed my life, but it also touched the hearts of a lot of the campers. Many of them said that they could see themselves in the situations that were portrayed throughout the drama and that they wanted to get to God. In a nutshell, camp was awesome. This is why it was so hard to leave that atmosphere. Last night, we had a little debrief with the Romanian leadership team. It was truly incredible to hear the different ways that God has made his presence known throughout the camp experience. We read through a couple camp evaluations and learned that some campers came to Christ- how amazing! Also, it was obvious that seeds were planted in most of the non Christian campers hearts which is also amazing. After many tears and stories were shared we ended the night with a couple intense games of catchphrase. This ended in a complaint from the owner of this resort telling us he was going to get “the boss” (Daniel and Lief) if we didn’t quiet down. Little did he know, Lief was probably the source of a lot of the noise! Oh well. Today is going to be difficult because we’re saying goodbye to the Romanians that we became closest with including Daniel. I can already feel the tears coming! Anyways, this trip is rapidly coming to an end and it’s sad. Luckily, we’ll be seeing all our family and friends soon!! Love you all and miss you. Your prayers have been greatly appreciated. Love, Maren
