It never Stops

So we have been home from the Czech for about a month now (don't worry we will send out the updates shortly) and so much has happened. We moved out and in with Amys parents for a variety of reasons. but I will not get into that now I will just say that I believe God has called us there. I will be heading back to seminary in the fall which I am excited about yet anxious because it seems to be the hardest semester yet. While I wont get into everything that is happening in our lives right now because it involves other people and I do not want to betray a trust or slander I will say that God seems to have us in a season where he has taken everything we hold to (cars, careers, home) away and made us rely entirely on him. As the pastor at SBC said on sunday preaching on Ruth 1 " Follow God even if your bitter and empty" because thats real. Sometimes its nothing more than a choice but even then its still a choice and if you seek his face you will find him as James 4 says. Thats about where we are. We are seeking Him. We will let you know when we have found Him. He is faithful even when we are faithless because he cannot deny himself.

We are back more soon

We missed you all

Debrief time we are in Prague

We are now in Prague. It is a gorgeous city it is one of my favorites in the world. The last time I was here was in 2004 after a trip to Russia. We also debriefed in Prague. On that trip I can't explain it to well but God grabbed my heart and I knew that I would be back some day. It is incredible to see how faithful God is.

Camp is Over

It was a long but wonderful week... we must have only gotten about 25 hours of sleep the entire time. Our internet service was in and out so we were unable to get a lot of posts up... I wrote one the evening before camp started and lost internet service right before i was able to post it.

Camp was amazing. God was really at work in many of the campers lives. About 90% of the country is Athiest, so to have 4 students come to believe that Jesus is their Savior is pretty wonderful.

Today we left for Zlin and arrived at our home stays around noon. We are staying with a young Christian guy from the youth group at the church here, who was also at camp. When we got off the bus we had to walk a little over a half hour carrying all of our luggage which was a little bit of a challenge to get to his house. When we came in his mom was cooking for us and it smelled delicious... most of the meals have been very good, but I think this one was the best of all. She made something like chicken fried steak with some pan fried potatoes and vegetables on the side. After lunch we all sat down to watch a Czech film which was actually pretty good, and his mom brought us chocolate and made coffee... with the grounds in it... and I fell asleep because I was so tired.

Some of the differences are really challenging me in ways I didnt expect. Their house is very small and so is everything in it... yet they are content. It causes me to analyze what I hold as important. Do I need all the things I have- What about the things I dont have but want- its crazy to think about how I dont NEED anything at all yet there is so much I want because it makes my life easier, or because people around me have it. I dont know. Life seems to be much simpler here and I like it.

We need to get to bed... we are going to church in the morning, zoo in the afternoon, then a BBQ in the evening. Well try to do a better job of keeping up.

We are here.

We are now at the english camp and it has been exhausting. But it has been really a incredible time. to give you a run down of what the day is like here it is. Wake up at 7 get dressed take a shower. Then be at a meeting at 730 with the team, pray worship have a bit of a quiet time. Breakfast is at 830 till 915 and then a english class at 930 till 1215 lunch. 1 PM there is free time 2 pm there is a meeting of just the U.S. Team. 3-5 is sports dinner at 6 then night meeting at 7 then night game at 915 then bed at midnight. Its crazy Im exhausted but I know that God will pull me through because I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

What the Czech!

We are now flying over Canada on our way to London. I have never been to London and in many ways I am very excited to go however it will only be for a very short time, as we connect to Prague shortly after that. As you read this you already know that we are on a mission trip and I am leading High school students. You also know that I am a transparent person. So I must be honest with you. I feel a bit of anxiety. That is a lie I feel more than a bit of anxiety. I can only guess why but to try to make sense of it—I am getting older maybe wiser. I am not as ignorant to who I am as I was before. Let my try to explain further even though it may only complicate things more. I am a dreamer a lover of life better understood as idealistic I have an idea of what life should be like, better yet I KNOW what life should be like. At least in my own eyes. I know I am not the only one there are others like me and ironically I am following in their footsteps going to the Czech with SBC. Jon Kelley and Jared Reasy are to of the most idealistic people I know. This is not to exclude the current generation of youth in which most fall in the idealistic category than realistic category. I would venture to say that it is pop culture and technology that is to blame for that, but I digress. Both Jon and Jared have had to face their ideals this past year and I am no different I would venture to guess that it is because of the stage of life that we are in, newly married entering into careers and responsibility. All three things of which are nearly universal for guys in their 20s. Even with the company it doesn’t make it much easier. I feel like I should know what I am doing and it seems that everyone else knows what they are doing yet I feel a bit lost. To clarify—ideally I should have a grasp on this trip – emotionally, physically spiritually. Ideally – our blog should be full of deep insights about God, global evangelism and our ever-evident passion to change the world. May be even add something that is the cliché and trendy about how Christ was not an American and how I hope that God would stretch and shatter my worldview and a witty reference to the travel maybe an analogy to the ocean and how vast it is or the tiny world below. Realistically however I use this post as an emotional and mental catharsis as I barely even know which way is up. Ideally I would be prepared for this trip mentally physically emotionally and especially spiritually. Realistically—emotionally I am so backed up I have to dig deep to be sensitive to my wife. Mentally I am concerned more with home—where we will live how my brothers and parents are doing. What my job will look like when I get back. Physically I haven’t eaten 3 meals in one day since I don’t know when. A friend of Amy’s told me that I looked sick and needed to eat. One month ago I weighed 178 and had lost four pounds of fat and put on 4 pounds of muscle thanks to my trainer Nate. I now weigh 167 and haven’t seen Nate in 3 weeks I have slept one full night in 1 month. Spiritually—temptations have never been greater. The temptation to fail my wife, to betray my wife is always around the corner. the temptation to be a weak man because its easier. I am doing very little in my relationship with God and yet I am seeing him at work daily in my life I have never done so little and received so much. 2 Tim 2:13. It is a constant reminder that it is not because of me but because of him who is inside of me. Ideally I would be the best leader and best husband and change the Czech students lives forever and bring a few to Christ and bring honor to all of you who have prayed for us and supported us. Realistically it will be by the grace of God that I do not mess this up. And because of that grace i know i will not fail.

A Very Long Night

We left Monday night around 7:30 and got into Malenovice (or however you spell it) this Wednesday morning around 6AM... this is where our training will take place before we go to lead camp in Zlin. We had a 9 hr plane ride from Phoenix to London, and only about an hour or so to catch our 2 hour flight to Prague where our team lost 11 bags! Luckily the train station held our train about 20 minutes for us... otherwise we would have had to wait for the midnight train. We took a 4 1/2 hour train ride only to miss our next train by about 5 minutes. We had to wait over an hour at the train station to be picked up and taken to our hotel.

Needless to say we haven't gotten much sleep at all. We've been in training since about 9:30 this morning and don't want to go to sleep in fear of staying up all night. The food has been different but very good! We'll keep you updated as often as possible! Much love.

getting ready to leave

It's the night before we leave for the Czech Republic and we are getting very excited! We feel a little bit anxious due everything that still needs to be done... we've barely started packing. We feel very confident that it's in God's plan for us to be going on this trip. We were having a hard time raising all the funds we needed, but about a month ago we were blessed with an anonymous check for $2,000! The very next day we received another anonymous check for $1,000 and people have continued to give generously. We feel very blessed for everyone who has supported us. Thank you.

A few prayer requests are:

1. Unity among our team

2. That God would prepare the hearts of the Czech people to both receive us as loud and outgoing Americans, (contrasting their reserved Czech culture) and receive his word.

3. Safe travel across the Atlantic, and that we would catch our 5 hour train ride to Zlin (we only have 2 hrs!)

4. That God would give us energy to get through nearly 3 weeks of waking up at 7 and going to bed after midnight.

5. Any troubles that might persist due to the language barrier.