Farewell lecture phase, hello outreach!

Tonight is our last night in the River House, and I must admit it's pretty sad. We found out this week that we wouldn't be returning to this monastery when we get back from outreach. I've learned to love this place and call it home for the past 3 months, so it will be weird to walk out the door for the last time tomorrow. 

Speaking of tomorrow, we leave bright and early to start our 12 hour journey to Budapest where we will stay for two nights. Then continue our journey through Serbia and down to Bosnia! I'm very excited for the change in location, temperature, culture, and much more! It will be awesome to see some new countries and meet new people. From the beginning I've been dreaming of outreach. How we will see God move, how we will experience new things, and how we will grow. I think it's going to be an amazing two months, and I couldn't be more excited!

So in case you are curious, I'm living out of a little back pack and an equally small duffle bag. Those two bags will carry all my necessities for the next 9 weeks of travels through Eastern Europe! I also have one of the best snack bags ever thanks too all the delicious snacks sent from home for my birthday including lifesavers, beef jerky, gummies, pretzels, goldfish, and a family size pack of chips ahoy. Delicious, I know. 

On a random side note, I will say this now because this feeling might change after how much time we will spending in trains during outreach, but I love traveling by train. I'm going to miss it when I get home because its not as common, but it really is quite nice. I also really miss my car! Haha! It's been so weird to only be either walking or traveling by train. 

Anyways, I will update you all as soon as we are settled in, and I have wifi! 

Oh and side note... I will be home in 90 days. It's crazy how fast the time goes by.

xoxo  :)

Group Bonding & Wilderness 101

So as many of you read on my Facebook, Wednesday through Friday we went to Hainichen, Germany for 3 days of team building. It was an eventful few days so I will mainly write about that, then a little about our last week here before outreach.

We arrived Wednesday by train early afternoon and started with a few group rules and games, then we loaded up a trailer with our backpacks strapped with sleeping bags, mats and giant water bottles. We got into a van and were driven to an unknown to us location. That was where the journey really began. We would walk a ways then stop to play a team building game then walk some more. I knew there was a really good chance we would be spending the night in the woods, but I was talking to God all day just begging for something similar to a camp ground that had bathrooms! After about 3 miles of hiking with our heavy bags we entered a city and inside I was jumping for joy thinking "Thank you Jesus I won't have to sleep or pee in the woods!" Well premature rejoicing on my part. Next we played a game where we were blindfolded and had to hold onto each other. We each had 30seconds to look and run to the end point which had been described to us. We finally made it up the hill, under a metal railing and further up a hill. We finally got to the top and low and behold, we were back in the woods. We loaded our bags into the trailer which was waiting for us and had brought us our camping equipment. We also had a fun situation of the van and trailer getting stuck in mud, but after that was all done we were off to our sleeping location for the night- a big chunk of woods in the middle of a huge field! We gathered firewood and started tying up tarps for tents and for a somewhat private "bathroom" aka a hole in the group. I must say the biggest challenge for me that day was that we had to pee in the woods. Anyways, after we had made a fire, a "bathroom" and a huge tarp tent to cover the ground where we would all be sleeping, we made food. Ham and cheese sandwiches toasted over the fire! I was so hungry that it was like having grilled cheese for the first time. I basically inhaled them. The next fun situation was sleeping on an incline. I woke up to the side and below my sleeping mat. It was freezing cold though so at least I still was curled up in my sleeping bag with my towel covering my face. I think I only got about 4 hours of sleep that night, so the 6am wake up was not exciting, but we laughed and continued to try to wake up. One of our leaders sat up and said, "Did someone get the number of the car that hit me?" At first we were all confused, then we got up and realized that we all felt like we had been run over by something. Later it was announced that we were packing up everything, so again I was thinking "PLEASE God let us be going back to the base." Sure enough we walked less than a mile, and we were back at the base. We were then shown our rooms and the bathroom and shower- hallelujah! Don't get me wrong, the camping was really quite fun, and we all had some great laughs, but I was ready to be clean and warm. 

We had a little break and the for the remainder of the day we did the low ropes course, which was super fun! It was definitely challenging, but so fun. The trick was there were 10 sections that were all connected, and team A and B (according to outreach teams) started on opposite ends. If you fell off, you got a blindfold for your team, which makes the course way more difficult. Our team was doing great and made it through the first half without any blindfolds, then of course I fell off the rope swing. That moment sucked. The guy in charge then said to the team "Who is going to take the blindfold?" I thought it would automatically be given to me, but it was first offered to the team which sucked even more. I didn't want anyone to have to take it, but I also knew that if I was blindfolded I would probably fall again. So luckily, Juan took the blindfold since he was pretty well balanced and good at holding on. It was a humbling moment, and I was thankful for my leader being willing to take my blindfold. By the end, a few more people had blindfolds which meant slower movement and clearer communication was key. I was the first one to the very end and was standing just helping another blindfolded teammate off when another fell. Luckily, I was able to take the blindfold then hop down and finish. Thanks to Luke and Mark who did an excellent job of guiding the team through the course. Everyone stuck together, and we finished happily as a more unified team.

Later we did two parts of the high ropes course. I wasn't able to do the first because I had injured my shoulder during the climb and had a big swollen knot that couldn't take anymore pulling. So I cheered as my YWAM family climbed up a tree and across a wire holding only onto 5 little ropes each hanging quite a ways apart. Second, we did a giant swing which was super fun. You are harnessed in and they pull you up, then you release the pulling rope and go flying! It was awesome.

The last night we made some awesome fresh pizzas and ate way to much! We were all so hungry and tired. We cleaned up and went to bed for probably the most needed sleep ever. I don't think I've ever fallen asleep so quickly in my life. The next morning we got up and the base had made us an incredible breakfast! There were some delicious scrambled eggs, rolls, hot chocolate and more! After that we made our lunches, did a final team building time, then loaded back up onto the trains to go home.

Back in the River House we quickly unloaded our smokey clothes and started the dash for the washer. This weekend was a busy one. Lots of laundry, cleaning and trying to figure out what we need to preplan for outreach packing. Last night Mark and I cooked "American dinner" of grilled chicken, potatoes, fruit salad, and apple pie! It was delicious and so nice to be outside!

Anyways, this is our last lecture week! Crazy, huh? Our teaching is on destiny and calling, which I'm super excited for! I think it's going to be a great final lecture week here! Plus my birthday is on Wednesday, so that is really exciting as well! I already have a couple packages from home that came today and another that should be here tomorrow. I'm super thankful for friends and family back home that sent me stuff! It's nice that it will still somewhat feel like my birthday even though I'm on the other side of the world far from my family and friends celebrating the big 21. I must say it feels somewhat silly to celebrate my 21st in Europe where I'm already legal and pubs are totally casual, but oh well. I'm looking forward to a great day surrounded by my YWAM fam!

Last but not least... outreach! Please be praying! Last minute visa stuff is still not quite finished for some and others are still waiting on finances to come through. We know God will provide! As of last week over 3,000euro was shared amongst our group all supporting each other as best we can! It's awesome to see how God is blessing this DTS, and we trust that He will continue to do so. We leave next Monday morning, which is scary but also extremely exciting! So please also be praying for safe travels for both teams. Team A (my team) will be traveling by train, and  Team B will be driving a van to Serbia, so prayers of smooth travels and no car problems would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, as always! Y'all are awesome! 

See you all in 3 months! XO

:)

Location, location, location...

Hello! I'm so sorry that two weeks have flown by without a post. Things have been busy as can be around here preparing for outreach and doing our usual daily schedule. Last, last week we had Derek Dodd who spoke about healthy relationships and forgiveness. It was a bit of a tearful week, but full of growth and good conversation.

Then last weekend Andreya and I went back to Prague! It was a nice little break from community life. I love my YWAM fam, but I think most of them would agree that you start to learn that constantly being in and having to keep up with a group can be exhausting. I was excited to have time to relax and get lost in the beauty of the city. We arrived on Friday evening and went for some delicious burgers at an American Diner with our friend Katri, who was super sweet to open up her apartment to us for the weekend. The next morning we slept in til almost 11am.... It was a beautiful thing! Neither of us had slept like that in months, so it was quite refreshing. We picked up Andreya's friend Daniel from the airport and back into the city we went. The rest of the weekend was spent exploring and hopping from metro to metro. Sunday afternoon came to quickly and after a wonderful breakfast (I had a bagel for the first time since leaving the States) with Katri's church group, we had to run for quick pictures on Charles Bridge then hurry home for our bags then to the train. This is when we became "those people" the ones running to the tram stop, down the escalator, through the metro stations, panicking/praying on the metro, running up the escalator, through the train station, up the stairs and down the platform. I don't exaggerate when I say the conductor blew the whistle right as we got our feet on the train. We made it from the apartment to the train in 15 minutes, which in my book is basically a miracle. Thank you Jesus! I really didn't want to wait 2 hours for the next train. We made it home around 8pm and were happy to be back with our little fam.

Then this past week was week 10 and was labeled as "surprise" on the schedule. It was an interesting and fun week. Monday we got randomly paired and given two YWAM principles to act out. As most know, acting is not  my cup of tea, but it was quite fun! Then we were given the afternoon to each prepare a 5 minute message from Matthew 13, to be presented the next day. Yet again, not my cup of tea, but Juan was kind enough to sit up late that night with me and help me organize my thoughts and practice what I was going to say. So Tuesday morning I was nervous as can be, but went first to get it over with. Tuesday was also the beginning of a bad belly week. I had a lunch that made me extremely nauseous, and I stayed nauseous for about 3 days. Strong smells and just the sight of some foods made me feel so sick. I'm still trying to be super careful with what I put in my stomach, but honestly I think my stomach in general is just tired of being fed such different food. I miss food from home so much! Wednesday was a day of silence and fasting, which I think most people would expect to be something I would dread, but I was actually quite excited for. Everyone enjoyed wonderful naps, Bible and/or book reading, and just resting. It was a great day, and we ended it together around dinner time with group worship then a surprise BBQ out on the front lawn. It was just so nice to be outside enjoying food and each others company. Thursday we had an American couple here talking about their mission work here in the Czech Republic. They were so sweet and open, so it was really nice to hear their story. Friday we had another couple come, and he spoke about spiritual warfare, which is always an interesting topic. He will continue his teaching through tomorrow, then we are spending Wednesday-Friday doing outreach team building in Hainichen, Germany! It's a ropes course, so that should be fun! I'm a little nervous though because it sounds like we might be sleeping outside... Eek!

So the final announcement that I'm super excited about! Drum roll please! :) We leave in exactly two weeks for outreach!!! I am on Team A which will be on the Adriatic Sea side of the Balkan Peninsula. We will be going to Bosnia and Montenegro! Woohoo!!! I couldn't be more excited for this change in scenery and focus! I can't wait to see what God is going to do in this time. It's going to be an incredible journey, and I'm so thankful for this opportunity. 

And to my church family back home, thank you again so much. I know this past weekend was tough, and I so wish I could've been there. Dana and Beth, thank you for everything. Your love and support means so much to me! I look forward to coming to visit you hopefully sometime soon in Cali :) And to everyone else, I look forward to seeing you all in just a few months! 

xo :)