The final stretch...

It's been a couple weeks since I updated, so I will attempt to catch you up. Apologies, it's gonna be a long post...  :)

Our week after debrief was "student led" which means we were paired up and put in charge of the schedule for a day. My team went Friday, and I think it went pretty well if I do say so myself. Haha We focused on praying for Cheb and ways that we can be a blessing before leaving (giving away clothes or giving time/money/etc.). In the evening we did street ministry, and it was probably one of the most emotionally difficult nights for me. It's the "season" for street work, and that night we saw many newbies out. They were super young and all being closely guarded by their "boyfriends" aka pimps. Many of them couldn't have been out of high school, yet here they are being sold on a street corner. It was so tough to see because you just want to talk to them, but they are so closely guarded that there was no way to even get close. So we would keep our distance and pray that God would rescue them, that someone would tell them that they are precious and not something to be sold on a street corner. It happened three times that night that we saw young girls, all guarded. I know what they will look like in a few years, and I pray that they get out before they hit that point. The bruised faces, glassy eyes and underfed bodies are heartbreaking. We had a small break through that night though right before going home. We stopped to speak to a woman that one woman on our team, a local, had spoken to many times before. Both of her eyes were bruised, but her face lit up when she saw us. She knew we had a gift for her. So Jana and I talked with her for a little and for the first time ever she let Jana pray for her and after every sentence Jana prayed, she agreed. She also took the card with the help number. Now we have to pray and wait. Every rough night is worth the beautiful moments, glimpses of hope. 

On a lighter note, last weekend was a lot of fun and we enjoyed a visit from 2 Prague friends! Saturdays plans slightly fell apart, but our awesome leader Ira decided to take Andreya and I on a little adventure! We even were loaned a car for a day from a local pastor! It was such a great day. We went and visited a castle! Then had drinks out on the lawn. It was beautiful and so relaxing. Then we headed back to town where we stopped in some shops and did a little graduation shopping! I didn't know that people had brought special dresses for graduation that they had saved through the last 6 months, and since most of my clothes are looking a little shabby these days, I treated myself. Luckily I found a really nice dress for just $17, which in my books is a great deal! So now I've tucked it away, only to be revealed for graduation. I'm quite excited :)

This week has been our "Tour" week, which means we've been traveling around to different church's and sharing testimonies and stories from DTS . Monday through Wednesday was a little rough because we were changing location every morning, but all the churches we went to in that time were awesome. Thursday we got a much needed day off, and while most of our team decided to climb 6 miles uphill, I decided I didn't need another Lukomir day.  ;)  So Andreya, Karoline, and I walked down to the pool and enjoyed a super relaxing afternoon! Also, there was a cool slide and a big whirlpool.... SO. MUCH. FUN. I had never been in a whirlpool before, so that was awesome.

Friday we arrived in our final stop along our tour, and I think that night was the best. We were speaking to a Christian run youth program, but most of the youth who attended were not believers. So we all sat on the floor, drank tea, and shared our stories. Funny side story, Oksana (who is from Ukraine and speaks Ukrainian, Russian and English) was asked if she would speak and her response was  jokingly "Only if it can be translated from Russian." Well you say things like that and God shows His sense of humor... Sure enough the pastor speaks fluent Russian (something that none of us knew before arrival) and was more than happy to translate Russian to Czech. Next up was Andreya, and her testimony that makes me want to cry every time. She also got to share a story of Gods humor, which I will share as well. A year ago she was working in South Korea teaching English, and one night her and a friend were in some back alley cafe chatting about their future. She had very little hope and had been through a lot in the past years. Her friend asked, where do you want to be in a year, and her response was I don't know... Europe. There was a large European looking picture on the wall behind her. She said though that she never though it would actually happen though. But that night her friend took a picture of her sitting in front of that picture and posted it on Facebook. A week ago one of our leaders commented on that picture and said, "Oh this is our favorite town in the Czech kingdom!" Turns out the picture behind her was of a beautiful Czech town only a few hours from where we currently live. I think God was laughing when he saw her reaction that day, I sure know I was! Lastly, for the evening was Juan's testimony, which I can't even begin to explain other than its basically miracle after miracle. I loved hearing his again because I always feel so encouraged, and it renews my hope. I think the students we spoke to were also encouraged because they were wide eyed and listening intently. Afterwards it was great to just sit and continue chatting with them. 

Saturday we did street evangelism and then had a BBQ with another local church. It was really fun, we ended up doing some music and dancing (one of our students in an Israeli dance teacher), which was hilarious and so much fun. Sunday morning we spoke at the church service and prayed with people afterwards.  Then back on the train we went! It is a 7 hour trip from one side of the Czech Republic to the other! Karvina and Cheb are both border cities, and it's a straight line from Cheb through Prague to Karvina. 

It's so good to be back in Cheb. It's insanely surreal though that we are down to our very last week. Literally a week from now I will be on a plane home. I can't believe that. Here's what our week looks like... 

Monday: day off! Celebrating Karolines BDay poolside then picnic.

Tuesday: lecture > re-entry/ going home prep

Wednesday: lecture > re-entry/ going home prep

Thursday: GRADUATION

Friday: say goodbye to more than half of our group, day trip to Loket & Carlsbad 

Saturday: Andreya and I travel to Prague!

Sunday: Prague! See Niki off at the airport

Monday: awake by 4am, airport by 5:30am, flying by 8:30am... Home by 3pm. (The first 3 times are Europe time, the last is EST for the US... My body will be thinking its 9pm when I land. Hello jet lag!)

CRAZY.CRAZY.CRAZY.

The end of Outreach and the road towards home...

Well outreach has already come to an end, but I want to catch everyone up and tell you about our last week. Croatia was such a blessing to our team. I couldn't think of a better way to have ended outreach. It was a week of early mornings, exhausting but awesome moments with the kids, beautiful afternoons by the sea and great team bonding throughout the week. Everyone was just so happy with not only where we were but also what we were doing. The kids camp was so much fun! Seriously... Those kids. Haha they were awesome. As for my specific part.. I helped teach English, which was great! Towards the end of the week we found out that we came in quite a but under budget, so we got to do two really awesome things together. First we got to eat seafood... SEAFOOD! Seriously, it was the first in 5 months, and it was delicious. So yeah, we went out for a really nice dinner right on the water. It was beautiful and also a great night of just encouraging each other and laughing together. That night it really hit me how much I will miss my family here when I go home. We really are a family. Second, we got to go sailing! It was incredible! I've always thought it would be so cool to go on a sailboat, and it was.  It was an great way to end our outreach. 

Friday morning at camp ended all too quickly, and it was time to leave Croatia. Some awesome things happened that day, but first I will share a slightly funny moment. I was checking my bag in, and they rolled it away... Then the phone rang and my bag came back. I was told I had to go through a different security check in. So I nervously went to the other check in and asked the guy, "Excuse me, but why is my bag getting searched?" His answer... "You are carrying ammunition." WHAT. Haha, yeah well I bought some bullet key chains in Sarajevo, and apparently on the scan the bullet showed up but not the key chain portion. So I dug them out of my bag, showed him, he laughed, I laughed, and he sent me on my way. 

Next came our luggage miracle. We had been told anything over 15 kilos would be charged a 30€ overage fee, which none of us wanted to pay. All but two of us were good on weight, the other two put their heaviest stuff in one bag so that only one would get the charge. Well that morning after we were all packed up, we had prayed that we would get through the airport without any problems or extra charges. So up went the heavy bag, and it weighed in at 23 kilos (which was also the max before having to pay a second overweight fee). In that moment we were all praying, please God just let it go through! And that is exactly what happened! It was awesome. 

Our next airport fun came in the form of Lahja walking for the first time! She had taken a few steps in the past months, but now she was really walking! All by herself. I turned around, and she was just walking away. It was such a precious and exciting moment. 

Then came a scary moment personally. I went to grab some last minute souvenirs, and when checking out discovered that my debit card was missing. The last time I remembered using it was the previous Friday in busy Split after withdrawing the last bit of outreach fees. I could've sworn that I put it directly back in my purse, but it wasn't there. I panicked because there would be no way for me to get more money out or to get a new card in time, plus I was scared that I had possibly dropped it which meant that I could also have lost all the money in my account. So after crying for a few moments, Magdalena came and talked to me. She helped me to calm down and give it to God and to remember that He is bigger than any missing bank card. So we prayed that I would find it, and two days later after multiple searches, I found it. Thank you Jesus! 

So that Friday night, we arrived back in Cheb! It was so great to see our whole DTS back together. I was especially excited to see my dear South Africa. Haha Andreya and I were super close during lecture phase, so being apart for those two months was tough. It's so great to be back in Cheb, and I must add that this town is so much more beautiful in summer than it was in winter! It's so green and flowery! This week was our outreach debrief and presentation work. So far, it has been great. I'm thankful for debrief because it really helps us see what we did and what happened in those two months. I was talking to Anna while we were walking home the other night, and she was saying its so weird because it feels like we are back in lecture phase and that outreach is just a dream, like it doesn't feel like we were really gone for two months. I couldn't agree more. It's such a strange feeling. 

I can't wrap my mind around the fact that we graduate in just 3 weeks, and then just a few days later, I fly home. It really is such a weird feeling. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited to see everyone back home. I have missed y'all like crazy! But I'm also super sad to be leaving my YWAM family. There is also some nervousness over the adjustment of coming home. I've heard many people say that they were depressed after coming home from DTS because they had such a hard time adjusting, so I'm just praying that doesn't happen. I want to stay busy so that I don't dwell on the struggle of the adjustment. 

So to all my awesome friends and family back home... Plan it up! I'm so excited to see all of you and catch up on life! I fly home the afternoon of the 29th, so yeah. I will hopefully be able to send out a message that evening to meet whoever wants to come at Starbucks & Tutti Frutti! Until then, love y'all! See you in 25 days!

xo  :)