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 :)

Prague, Herrnhut and Easter back in Cheb :)

So it's Easter Sunday today, and I'm definitely missing the Easter fun of home. I love coloring eggs and waking up to Easter baskets. Yes, I know I'm 20 years old, and yes, I still love Easter baskets. I mean come on.. Who doesn't love chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and Cadbury eggs?! But since only one of those was easily accessible, I decided to treat myself to a little chocolate bunny and some new music. Happy Easter everyone!

Anyways, on to an update since I didn't post one last weekend! Last, last week we had Carl Tinnion who is the leader of YWAM England and Western Europe! He was awesome, and I was definitely thankful for his teaching. He taught a lot about what it meant to be a blessing and to bring the Kingdom to earth. It truly is about loving God, loving others and teaching them about the great God that loves them. Love. Not judgement, not pushing anything, but meeting people where they are and loving on them. It's a beautiful thing.

Then last weekend we went to Prague, and I must say I've never seen anything quite like it. It is just stunning and full of so much history. We were there through Tuesday, and our speaker for Monday and Tuesday was Ludmilla Hallerova. She was such an inspiration! She's 85 years old and an incredible woman of God and missionary. She became a missionary as a teen and hasn't stopped since. She told an incredible story of an accident that happened with her two children and her faith in Gods healing that broke my heart but fueled my faith. Her kids were digging in the back yard and hit an old mine that exploded. They survived the explosion but her son had major damage to his face and her daughter had major damage to her legs. On their way to the hospital behind the ambulance Ludmilla told her husband that she had total faith that God would pull them through and all damage would be healed. While at the hospital, her son prayed and thanked Jesus that it was his face and not his sisters because she was pretty and people would make fun of her. The children both prayed fearlessly and knew God would heal them. The girl had 37 wounds that required stitches, but she eventually  healed and her legs worked just fine. The boy required surgery and sight was restored to one eye, which improved way more than the doctors ever expected. There were more details, but that's the main bit of the story. It was amazing. Truly shows the strength of childlike faith. 

Then we went back to Herrnhut, Germany for Tuesday evening through Saturday morning. It was good to see some familiar faces, sleep on the most comfortable bunk beds I've ever encountered, and have wifi from our beds, but other an that I was ready to be back to the River House. The Herrnhut base is bigger and full of more people than I would be able to handle for long term, and we've only been there when no students are around! Haha yes, there's that many staff. Thank you God for sending me to a smaller DTS! :) I love my little family here. Anyways, Thursday night we got the awesome opportunity to enjoy a Jewish Passover Seder meal, which was such a privilege and also a fun experience! Friday we hit our 2 month point and had a game night which was insanely fun. iXo youth be excited for some new games when I get home!  We headed home Saturday, and after multiple trains we were finally back in our cozy little monastery. (In case I haven't previously mentioned... our River House is actually a 600 year old monastery next to a river. We also live next to a castle. Cool, I know. It still amazes me.) 

Anyways, we have less than a month left until we leave for outreach, which also is just crazy to me, but I'm so excited!! I still can't publicly post yet where our outreach will be, but soon hopefully. I'm really looking forward to it! 

Thanks for reading! xo

 :)

Plzen!

Sorry for the delayed update, but things have been busy, busy.
We have finished week six and are already halfway through week seven! Last week we had two younger speakers that tought us basic understanding of the Bible. I think my favorite day was when we went through the gospels and learned the differences between. I guess I had the mindset of once you read one, you've read them all. Oops! Also, we did a graffiti workshop, which was super fun!

Over the weekend we went to Plzen for a youth conference, and I must say my friends back home would've been proud if they had seen me. I slept in a sleeping bag on a dirty floor in a freezing cold room. New experience... waking up shaking from head to toe even though wearing sweatpants, T-shirt and hoodie while wrapped in a sleeping bag. Oh and I survived the shower that was either hypothermic cold or burning lava hot... Needless to say I also think I broke my speediest shower record. Basically this weekend was outreach prep.  :)

We also got to climb to the top of a church tower in the center of Plzen, which was absolutely horrifying. Going up 299 (yes, I counted) narrow and steep stairs was quite scary. I have already fallen down one staircase in my time in Europe, and I definitely didn't want to repeat that on these much more fatal looking stairs. When I reached the top I experienced a mixed feeling of wanting to cry, throw up and rejoice all at the same time. Luckily, the first two didn't happen. The view was beautiful! I will attach a picture at the bottom of us at the top, and look left of my shoulder... That is the second largest synagogue in Europe! Also, while we were in Plzen, we found McDonald's! As sad as it is, I don't think I've ever been so happy to see one in my life! It was an awesome little taste of home. Oh and since they don't have drive-thru, they have "McWalk." Genius and hilarious, I know.

This week we have Carl Tinnion, the leader of YWAM England and Western Europe. So far he has been incredible, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the week! This weekend we will be in Prague then traveling back to Herrnhut, Germany for a few days! Then next weekend a few of us will be back in Prague just for a fun weekend of exploring! I can't believe that next weekend (Easter!) we will be celebrating 2 months of DTS! It's seriously crazy how fast the time goes.

Well that's all I've got for now! xoxo :)

Pieces of the puzzle..

     We just finished our fifth week, and I am feeling the homesickness I was warned of for the second month. This week I was able to Skype/FaceTime with quite a few people for the first time, which was awesome and sad all at the same time. Among that list was Sammy, Brit and my brother, all of whom I love and miss very much. Adding to the homesickness of month two is the fact that I am missing three of my closest friends birthdays all in one month (Jess, Kayla and Sammy). Even though its been tough this past week, I don't regret my decision to come here one bit. I keep reminding myself that I only have 20 weeks left with this wonderful little family that God has blessed me with. There will be tough weeks, but I am surrounded by an extremely supportive group here and also many supportive friends and family back home that continue to give me so much love and encouragement.

      This past week was not as mentally challenging as past weeks, but it was a lot of useful and practical information. The first half of the week was about discipleship, which reminded me a lot of what we teach our students back home. The second half of the week was focused on social justice, mainly human trafficking. I was so thankful for the practical information Margrit Thompson gave us about how to work with women whether on the streets or in the brothels, and that night we put it to practice! It was international women's day, so we took gifts out to the women. Two groups took the streets, and the other group took two brothels a little outside of town. I was in the streets, and I can't do the stories justice of how it went. It was a difficult but amazing night. Watching how the women reacted to just simple gifts and gestures of love and care really was heartbreaking, but it made me so thankful that God is using me for this ministry. His timing is so perfect. My favorite story from the night wasn't from prostitutes but two women that are alcoholics. We saw them a ways down the road outside of an alcohol shop. When we approached and gave them the gifts, they told us that 10 minutes before we got there they had just said, "It's international women's day, and no one gave us a gift!" Yeah... go God. The one woman immediately cried tears of joy, and before we knew it the conversation opened up and give one of our students the chance to speak a little about our great God that loves all, even them. The conversation ended in big hugs and saying they would be at our Thursday community night next week! I really hope we get to see them again. 

     I love looking back on the past few years and realizing how God has been preparing me for this. Four years ago after my first Passion conference I felt a pull in my heart to work with women who were in human trafficking, but I didn't know if it would ever happen. But God new the desires of my heart - to get to really know Him better, to work with these women, and my dreams to travel. Little did I know, He was planning to trump every dream I ever had with plans far bigger than I ever expected. So here I am now in the Czech Republic, realizing God spent the last 3-4 years preparing me to be here. My appetite for more "adventurous" foods changed a lot (thank goodness!), I went to 3 more Passion conferences, I took 2 levels of multicultural education, and then an entire semester of human services and counseling. Looking back and realizing that they were all just pieces to the puzzle is so exciting. I know that this DTS is just another piece of the puzzle, and its definitely a big piece! 

     I'm long winded today, sorry! I guess I'm making up for how little I spoke last weekend.

Lastly, we spoke about outreach this week! Our whole group will be in Eastern Europe, but we will be in two groups. We first chose regions, and this coming week we will have more definite teams and locations. The two regions are split according to the sea they border Adriatic (Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Albania) and Black (Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, and Turkey). So next time I post, it will most likely be to announce where I will be from the end of April to the end of June!

Thanks for taking the time to read this super long post!  :)

One month!

Well as crazy as it seems, I've been living in Europe a little over a month now! It's been a long and challenging week, but we made it to the weekend! Yesterday we had a party celebrating our month together! We got all dressed up, decorated the River House, had pizza and ice cream, played charades, did karaoke and somehow it turned into a dance party that went until about midnight. Hahaha! I love this crazy awesome little ywam family that God gave me! :)

It's finally "warming up" here in Cheb! And by that I mean we've hit the low 40s a few times, and the snow has started to melt. Woohoo! We are all desperate for spring to arrive so we can put away our winter coats and gloves and finally enjoy the sun, which has made two glorious appearances this week! Sad thing is that because I haven't seen the sun in over a month it actually hurts my eyes. Haha time for sun glasses!

Sorry this is a short post, but I am quite exhausted. So I will close with a photo :)

P.S. To anyone who didn't see my post on Facebook, I want to say another huge thank you to everyone who helped support me. In the busyness of moving and packing in the last week before I left I didn't get to finish all my thank you's. So if you didn't get one, I'm sooo sorry! It will be a bit delayed. But super extra thank you to all who helped get me here!!!

:)

Photos! :)

As promised in my previous post, here are some photos! This is mainly for the people who don't have  Facebook. Make sure you scroll down to read the latest update as well :)

                                                   Me being a nut in the front yard :)

 

Andreya and I in the square!

 

Week one! Our group and speaker Dan

Oksana and I


Our group up on top of a hill overlooking the city! Photo cred to Juan!

Me all bundled up on top of the hill :) photo cred to Juan!

Juan, Anna and I on the train going to Germany!

 

The water castle in Herrnhut, Germany

 

Our group going for a tour of Herrnhut!

That is all for now! Again, I will be trying to update on the weekends! xo  :)

A week in a castle...

I've been living in Europe for over 3 weeks now, and every day that blows my mind. I am living a dream that I never knew I had. Thank goodness God has bigger plans for my life than I ever had! I absolutely love the little town of Cheb and the little group that quickly became family. I will post some pictures with descriptions in another post.

We just finished our third week of teaching, and we spent the week at the Herrnhut, Germany base. Germany was beautiful! There was sooo much snow! Everywhere. It was a little too cold for my liking, but it was only a week, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing in the snow. As some of you heard, I fell down the stairs. Yes, it hurt, and yes, I have a massive bruise, but luckily I didn't break anything. My ywam family gathered around and prayed for my back, which was causing me a lot of pain, and the next day I was running down a giant hill of snow playing with my friends as if we were little kids. Thank you God! :)

This DTS is such a blessing and awesome opportunity for growth and learning. I already feel like I have learned so much! Somethings I have heard before, but it's like hearing them for the first time and actually applying them to my life. Trusting God in a very real way. Listening to God and not just talking at Him. Looking at prayer and worship differently as well. Needless to say, I'm starting to understand what everyone meant when they kept telling me that I was going to change a lot.

Last week we did a prayer walk and went through what some would call the red light district. Though there is not one specific place here. It is quite spread out throughout the town. I now understand why people say that Cheb during the day and Cheb at night are town different places. You can feel the darkness of the horrible things that happen. We prayed for the night clubs and the girls working inside and also for the girls out on the streets. It broke my heart to see girls my age and hear that they've been working there for quite a while. It's a sad and horrible reality, but we believe there is hope for this city and those girls. Again, no worries on safety. We went as a group and kept an eye out for each other.

As for our home, we call it the River House because we are right on a pretty little river. The building is an old monestery, and it is one of the oldest buildings around here. We are really close to town, so walk everywhere. My work duty is grocery shopping! So twice a week Oksana and I grab bags and head off to the store! It's not as easy as it sounds though because everything is in Czech, so it's interesting at times. But we fill up our bags and backpacks with all our groceries, pay, and walk back to the house. It has been very weird to me not driving everywhere, but I enjoy the walking.

Anyways, all is well here. I can't believe that it's almost been a month! I will try to post updates on the weekends, since that is the majority of our free time. Love and miss you all lots! Thank you for all your love and support!

:)