Summer Rockets

I don't know how I will feel on the day where rockets will fill the morning sky, signaling the end of a splendid summer. I am excited to return to the familiar and assimilate again to the routines of what life presumably looks like for the year, but at the same time I am anxious that what I will find is that the familiar isn't so familiar. The taste of what I once knew will have changed because I am no who I once was.

I am less than a week away from the end of this adventure, and the start of a new one. One I hope will prove that what I experienced this summer was real and genuine. I am less than a week away from saying goodbye to a world and people I have come to fall in love with. I believe my love for it all has something to do with how I have been shaped by it.

I will be saying bye to a group of inspiring young people who I believe love God in a way I have not known before until this summer. I will be saying bye to mentors who have spoken truth and lived it out before me in ways I never thought possible in such a short amount of time. I will be saying bye to a group of a hundred young Czechs I might never see how the seeds, which have been planted, will grow.

The rockets will fly and some might never return. But I will never forget.

...Three months ago...

It was sublime to have one last grand meal together..THANKS KIM!

Final Camp: Sublime

How do I even begin to blog about this week?

All I can really do is thank everyone for their prayers. Our bodies were finally crumbling to the strain of the summer. Sickness spread. But in spite of it all, amazing things happened at this past camp.

LOVE was experienced. It was truly a gift to serve along side my home church and watch them give themselves away to students. Again, how do I begin to tell the story of this week? I can't. Not in this way. It is almost impossible to do it in a way that justify the glorious power of God and His sovereignty through it all.

I can tell you of one particular story about one of the students. He was in my English class. His belief in a God was evident from day one. He did not speak much English, but every time he spoke, it was so profound. It was clear that a spiritual foundation had been laid that was so pure and strong that our culture in America has so long forsaken. When I asked him what he thought about the idea of God using evil situations for good, he replied, "I think we all have to to experience crisis in our life to truly understand that redemption is real.".....WHAT!? Are you kidding me? And you don't know Jesus?! Later that week, he asked about suffering in world. With another Czech believer, the three of us went into a room and began dialoguing about why would God allow suffering. We got to share with him who Jesus was, and how whatever the answer for such a question was, it cannot be that God doesn't care. In fact we find the answer of human value at the cross and the victory over suffering in resurrection. It was a beautiful time. In the end he said something I will never forget. He said, "I love the atmosphere here. It is so different from the one at home. All my friends live for nothing, but here, you all are so clear...." Praise God. This week, He gave his life to Christ.

That was one of 3 stories of saved lives and one of many stories of souls taking huge leaps towards truth.

Home is coming up soon. In just a week, this adventure will come to a close, and a new one will begin...

PLEASE PRAY FOR:

1. students who gave their lives to the Lord. Pray for strength as they experience opposition and comfort in the Spirit and other believers

2. Students who are so close to embracing the Gospel

3. Students who opposed the Gospel this week

4. NCC team and Czech Church team as they follow up with the students. Many students find a home with the local church

5. DEBRIEF TIME. A good time of processing this summer and taking kingdom values home and leaving all the junk...