Dobrý den, přátelé!
(hello friends!)
It's hard to believe my missions trip to the
ended just over month ago!
(& it took me forever to get this post together)
It was one of the greatest experiences
I've ever had..for SO many reasons.
I was able to serve with a unique group of students as well as leaders.
Which in my opinion made this trip all the more amazing!
Our team of 16, left our church in Lancaster, PA
to travel in vans to fly out of JFK on July 7th.
Who knew all the amazing things we were about to encounter..together..
We flew into Prague & stayed there for two nights:
[this was a ticket for all day transportation. we used it to the max!]
[strolling through the city to get dinner]
Prague is absolutely beautiful. I feel like that doesn't do it enough justice.
Being there & being able to take in all the charm it had was priceless.
[tanner & zoe]
waiting on the bus from the airport to our next destination:
this place was INCREDIBLE.
The view overlooked the local town of Frydlant.
So once we got to Malonovice, we started our training
with a handful of other churches from the states.
We were serving with an awesome organization: Josiah Venture.
breakdown:
> we all came together for training for 3 days
> teams traveled to parts of Czech to lead their camps-11 total days
(we were lucky enough to stay at malonovice for our camp)
> we all met back in Prague for debriefing for 3 days
[morning worship: led by a team from Cali] [learning the camp dance]
[team training]
[team bonding]
[thankful LCBC brought us together. <3
time to kickoff for camp!
we had about 70 kids total in our camp
including our team & the Czech youth group we got to serve with.
together as a group of about 70
we hiked up: Lysa Hora.
(the second tallest mountain in all of the czech republic!)
We left at about 6:00 & didn't get back til almost midnight..
[see that point at the tippy top- yeah, we hiked to there..and back]
the home stretch & the steepest part of the trek.
We made it to the top to watch the sunset.
It felt so rewarding to be at the top of this mountain
with God's beauty completely surrounding you.
It was a very spiritual moment for me & others on our team.
totally, one of my favorite moments of the trip.
Each of us got to experience Czech in a host home.
It was an opportunity where our students got
to stay with local families from the church
at the end of the week when camp was over.
at the end of the week when camp was over.
Sloane & I stayed with this super sweet family of 5.
(Who the mom was originally from PA & the dad was a native of the Czech)
(Who the mom was originally from PA & the dad was a native of the Czech)
czech chocolate= amazing!
Sunday night we went with our host families to
their church in town. it was small, simple,
and full of love of for others & Christ.
after church we had our last meal all together:
our team, czech youth group, kids from camp,
host families, and leaders ate by down by the river.
**kofola + pizza**
(& silly hannah!)
I didn't think leaving Frydlant would be so tough,
but boy was I wrong. It was hard to leave a place
where God allowed you to open your heart fully to others
(who you only knew for such a short time)
That little town full of these amazing folks
will always be so very special to me.
As we left Frydlant our entire team was rocked.
We left some special relationships and friends there.
We thankfully had a few trains to ride &
some time to process & pray about our expriences.
Next stop:
[debreifing with all the us teams!]
[eating like kings our last night before going home]
oh hotel krystal....
[last selfie with emily in europe.]
Needless to say this trip was completely amazing!
It brought forth new frienships, grew others,
and it allowed me to focus on loving & serving those around me.
God works out these amazing (and sometimes a little scary) adventures for our lives.
I'm incredibly grateful for all these experiences
that this missions trip had in store for me & my team.
The czech republic is a place that I will forever
hold very close to my heart. <3
more photos HERE
