camp podgórzyn 2008!

today we had our team planning meeting for the english camp! i have been pretty jet-lagged today (i could only get 2 hours of sleep last night!), which made sitting in meetings a little difficult, though tea did quitehelp a bit. we discussed the students coming (we have 12 signed up!), the talks and discussion groups (the theme is "searching for treasure that lasts forever"), what we still have left to do (write lessons, plan games, etc), and spent time getting to know one another (which included a pizza run).

i'm really excited about this year's camp. it's definitely going to be different - we have younger students who are more advanced in english. but i'm looking forward to seeing what God has planned.

here are some of my latest pictures!
to introduce you to the people you'll see here:
ANDREA -- SEND missionary in lubin, poland. she came to pick me up from the airport and then saturday night we went to lubin where i got to visit the coffee house for church sunday morning.
REBECCA -- english teacher here at the language school. we were teammates last year at camp and have been close ever since. she's like my big sister (people even tell us we look alike!).
JOSHUA -- SEND missionary here in wrocław at the language school. we went through short term training together last summer and he's been keeping me updating on life here during the year.
SCOTT, JACKIE, & DAVY -- missionaries with a baptist mission; scott and jackie are on a two-year term living nearby. davy has been here five times and will come back in the fall for a two-year term.

my other teammates include: rebecca (another one!), beth, agniezka (my roommate from last camp), and marek (director of the camp).

please pray for us over the next couple of weeks during the camp!
* pray that the leadership team is united and that we could love and encourage one another well
* pray for STRENGTH, patience, and boldness in the leaders
* pray for the students that they will hear and understand the message with their hearts, as well as with their ears


over the past few months, God has been teaching me about living one day at a time. that lesson is becoming even more intense here. i do want my life to glorify God and i won't always know what that exactly means right away. and not strictly planning out and controlling my life and my future. i'll write more about this later, but please also pray for me as i'm wrestling with what it means for me to lose my life, for Christ's sake only to find it (matthew 16:25).

and now, it is time for me to work on an english lesson and go to BED!

public transportation.

i've been doing a lot of that lately. luckily, with gas at about $7 a gallon (we did the math this morning... it's abut 4.49zl./litre) the public transportation is pretty easy. we took the bus last night home from joshua's and today andrea and i rode the minibus to lubin. the minibus idea, done polish style, would probably not fly in the u.s. 26 people in a 16 passager "bus" - many of us standing for the hour ride from wroclaw. which is even more fun as the bus is a standard. =)

this evening, i'm going to the coffeehouse! i am very exciting to finally meet louise, a woman who came to lubin shortly after i left last year.

i'm here!

i'm in poland! right now, i'm at my friend joshua's flat in wroclow (pretend there's a line through that "l") with friends rebecca and andrea! they picked me up from the airport and have mastered the task of keeping me away to reduce jet lag. so far, not counting naps on the plane, i've been awake for 30 hours. and let me tell you, i'm TIRED. BUT i have all of my luggage! and i'm having a great time with my friends. we even went to a wonderful cafe to get coffee before, and joshua's making more now.

i'm fitting right back in. though, i've been with american's all day, but just walking around the city feels a little bit like home. i don't quite know how that works. i definitely got some culture stress on the plane and in germany (a three hour layover sitting at a gate with no access to anything familiar isn't all it's cracked up to be.)

well, i'll post more later. coffee's on!

tomorrow!

packing...packing...packing. and hoping that the cds for ted and package from SEND get here before i leave. =)

here's my travel itineray for the next couple of days:

26.6.08, afternoon -- depart for jfk
26.6.08, 5:50pm -- plane leaves jfk bound for frankfurt
27.6.08, 8:10am -- arrive in frankfurt, germany
(note: time difference. this will feel like 2:10am. yikes!)
27.6.08, 11:50am -- depart frankfurt
27.6.08, 1:15pm -- arrive in wrocłow!

and now, it's back to packing. though actually i'm off to have a picnic lunch with a friend! cheers!

two weeks!

I HAVE RECEIVED ALL OF MY FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR POLAND!!! not only that, but i've gotten a little extra that i've been able to put toward camp decorations and crafts. i found some pretty exciting things for camp, such as a cd of "pirate music" and a really cool craft decorating picture frames.

right now, i'm sitting at a little cafe in new haven drinking coffee at a table outside using their WiFi. the brick walkway ("sherman's alley") and the castle-like buildings of yale that overlook the alley remind me of europe and make my heart happy and long to be there at the same time. i cannot express how excited i am to be going back to wrocław and seeing my dear friends again.

camp update -- so far ten students have registered for the camp (last year there were 25 students). the lesser number is due to exams that are scheduled during the beginning of the camp. some students are coming late, and many are not coming at all. please pray that God would bring the students that HE wants to be there, and that He would prepare the hearts of those that are coming. four or five of those registered are returning from last year, and so i'm very exciting to see them again!

job/summer update -- i have not found a summer job (i think i'm up to 10 applications?). honestly, i am now seeing the blessing that it really is, at least for right now. i've been able to spend time with friends that i have not seen for a while and do some summer activities, like going to the beach, spending time in new haven, staying out late, and reading books for fun. i've also been able to spend time with my family and do fun things with my sister. i'm also excited about our upcoming college group at church! through doing that i've been able to spend time with believers my own age at church and make some great friends. all in all, if building relationships was a paid job, i'd be rich this summer. =)

long-term-plans update -- in my last post, i mentioned an email i received from my friend jerry, a full-time missionary in poland, asking me to pray about going to poland long-term after i finish college. jerry and i talked on skype the other night and he told me more about the ministry at new hope church, a daughter church of wrocław baptist, and his desire to see a ministry to young people grow from that church. i am continuing to pray about being a part of this, and am excited to see if the Lord would bring me there to work with him! please continue to pray with me!

continue to check back for more regular updates as june 26th comes closer!