Wrapping up my time in Czech

Havlickuv Brod Camp

Camp started out a little slow. I think we were all tired being that it was our third camp. There was actually another town that joined us too, Podebrady. Usually at camp I find I connect pretty quickly with two or three students. This time I felt like I wasn't really connecting with any one certain person. But I realized I kept finding myself eating meals with the Podebrady students. Then, there was also a guy I'd met while we were visiting in June and over the course of the week at camp he and I had some really interesting conversations about politics and God. He has been going to church every-now-and-then but before camp was not a Christian and wasn't sure he wanted to be. He had a lot of questions about God and felt that he was fine just being a good person. But after camp he wrote us (the Americans) a message telling us that his life was changed at camp and that he has faith that is now his own. He thanked us for our hard work teaching English and for being there to relate to him and the other students there. Amazing!

Debrief and Depart

We had a good final week together in Prague. Eat some delicious food and just had time as a team to reflect on our summer. I loved being able to hear what God had done not only in our team but the other 5 teams. The Kingdom was advanced here in Czech.

Picking Up Where We Left Off

After Chris and Sarah left I took a small nap and then checked out of the Czech Inn and then spent the afternoon with my old friend Marek Macak and his good friend who became my friend this summer, Martin. It was a beautiful afternoon in Prague. We went on a row boat on the Vlatava and went to a really cool book store. It was so amazing to see that tho I hadn't seen Marek for 5 years he and I were able to pick up where we left off. That night I went to Hradec Kralove to go to Pavel and Veronika's wedding. Saturday night I went to Vysoke Myto and spent a couple nights with this girl Autumn who is a full time missionary here with JV. Sunday morning I was able to go to church where many of the people from my first camp seven years ago go. It was so amazing! I was so encouraged to see them still passionate about God. And I found that the same was true with them. Tho for them it had been 6 years it was almost as if it had just been last week. I left there Monday and have spent the past couple days in Cesky Tesin.

One Week

I only have one week left. Today I go to Frydlant for lunch with Mark Krupa (a missionary here who has really been a huge encouragment to me though the years. Then I go to Litomysl tonight. I will see more people from that first and second summer I spent here while there. Friday I go to Olomouc to see my friends Jered and Daniella from Boise who are now living over here. Saturday I will spend the day with the group from Podebrady and then Sunday I head back to Prague to see my friends from there that I haven't seen in 5 years. I leave next Wednesday the 26th back to Portland.

Thanks again for your support of me though the summer. Its been amazing to be here. I look forward to catching up in person soon!

The Beginning Of The End

New Family

One of the things I love most about Christianity is the way that all of us who put our faith in Christ are part of a large, ever increasing family. I love meeting brothers and sisters in Christ and knowing that we automatically have a connection, a common ground in Christ. For the camp we just finished with Prague KS we were joined by a team from Arizona. And they were AMAZING!!! I really fell in-love with each person on their team. Zach and Caitlin Moore led the team and they are both 26. The rest of the team was made up mostly of students from the youth ministry that Zach leads. I can't wait to find a way to go visit Arizona. This was their first time doing camps with Josiah Venture but you would have thought they had been doing it for years. They just jumped in and served whole-heartedly and were a HUGE blessing and help to me and our team. Also two girls from my class became Christians! So we have two new family members in Czech! It was a really incredible camp. It started out pretty rough. The kids from Prague are just more rough around the edges than those in Hradec Kralove. Its the edgy-ness of a big city. Many more students coming from broken homes and just harder back grounds. So at first it seemed maybe we'd all just have to take a deep breath and press though but it was really amazing to see the hearts of these students soften over the course of the week. And I am confident that the work that God began in the hearts of these students will continue.

Health

My health has continued to be well. I lost my voice for the first part of the camp but my throat didn't hurt. I think I was just yelling too much. The biggest health-like issue our team has been facing since I last wrote is an injury Chris got while playing soccer. At our last training we had, the day before we left for camp, they had a soccer tournament and not too long into the game Chris came down wrong on his ankle and at the same time was pushed so he had to go to the hospital. He had a cast put on it but was finding it hard to ice it with a hard cast so the nurse at the camp cut off the cast and got him a brace. Its getting better slowly but surely. Its just hard cuz Chris is a really active guy and so its been tough to have to be low action. We found out while in Cesky Raj and then through the summer Brad and Lucie have been telling more people that Lucie will have a baby!!! It was really cool that Chris, Sarah and I got to be some of the first people (after Lucie's mom) to find out. So Lucie, who is also usually really active, has also had to take it a bit more slow too.

The Rest Of The Summer

So the past few days Chris, Sarah and I have been in Sumperk where Hawaii (a guy who's real name is Josh but everyone calls him Hawaii cuz he is from there) team has been staying. Its been nice to just relax and not have much to do for a few days to be rested for our next, and final camp. This afternoon we will head to Havlickuv Brod and stay the night there. Then we will head to camp w/their youth group and Saturday camp begins. After camp our two teams will go back to Prague for debrief and we will meet up again with Brad and Lucie there. This session of camp Brad and Lucie are doing a camp with Vsetin youth. It will be a sports camp but they will also teach them English. Then Chris and Sarah take off August 14th and I will go to Hradec that night so I can go to a wedding there the next day of Pavel (the youth leader there) and Veronika. Its going to be in a castle near Hradec. Then I will see my old friends Daniella and Radek in Vysoke Myto. Then a couple days in Cesky Tesin then there's a few days I'm still figuring out and I end up in Prague somewhere around the 22nd and I will leave Prague the 26th. I am going to really really miss Sarah and Chris. I am excited tho to see my old friends from past years here. So I will try and  write again before I leave CZ but if not I will update as soon as I get back to Portland.

How to join the adventure:

*PLEASE pray for Chris' ankle. Pray it heals quickly so it can be better by the time he heads back home.

*Pray for unity with our team and Hawaii's team, that we can be a solid group.

*Pray for God to keep pursing those students who came to the Prague camp.

*Praise God for the amazing unity He gave us w/the Arizona team!

*Praise God for our two new sisters in Christ!

*Praise God for the baby inside Lucie! Pray it stays healthy.

*Pray for travel as we are having to carry Chris' bag as well as all of our bags

*Pray that God softens hearts of the students in Havlickuv Brod

*Pray for Brad and Lucie's camp in Vestin. That they will have energy to lead it and that God will work in the hearts of the students there.

Thanks guys! Love you!

Em

For the Love of Camps...

From top to bottom: Pavlina and I. She and Veronika were such great hosts to me when we visited for the weekend and for follow up too. Dani and I, Dani is a new friend I met. He is not a Christian yet. He and I had fun teaching each other our languages. Vita and I...Vita did the filming of this past camp and I have a lot to learn from him. He is a good brother. Sarah, Chris and I on top of the White Tower in the square in Hradec. And the last is of Hradec from the top of the tower.

One Camp Done Two More to Go

So Hradec camp went really well. There was potential for lots of comparisons to be made between this camp and previous years because this camp was run by a new Czech youth group leader and a new American youth group team leader. Many of the same people who had come to help in years past were not here. But the students didn't complain. They all embraced the newness of camp and jumped in. I had all girls in my class this week which was pretty fun. We had a higher level than usual in the beginning class so I had to work to make my lessons harder but it was fun in the end. My main goal was to help them use the English they already knew. One day we had a "girls day" and talked about personality and boys. Camp seriously FLEW by. It felt like three days not one week. I had a lot of fun improving my Czech language as well. I cannot tell you guys just how much I love camps! I'm sure it is because I grew up going to camp myself. So I think part of my love for camp stems from my own experiences but I think I also really love the time we get with these Czech students to share English and to share the hope of Jesus. So we have a team arriving from Arizona to help us with the Prague camp. 

It Is God Who Chooses

At the last American team training they had a couple of Czech's who are interns this summer share their stories about how they became Christians. One was really into Darwinism and thought that Christianity was just for elderly people or people who were not smart. The other used his intellect to often argue against Christians and did not want to be a Christian. He went to camp a couple times and was fighting against God and becoming a Christian but eventually found that no matter how hard he tried to resist it, there was God's love for him. Hearing these two stories before camp was really encouraging for me. And I often would remember that its not me, or my team, or anyone besides God that is going to cause these students to give up their atheism and to trust in the hope of Christ. A verse that we read a few times in the morning sessions also encouraged me in this...John 15:16 "You did not choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name." I also was really encouraged by reading again about Paul's conversion. He was chasing after Christians in hopes of imprisoning them when he was met on the road of Damascus by Jesus. So you see, I really believe that, if we were all honest with ourselves, we did not choose God. It was not on our own initiative  that we who are Christians became Christians. In each of our stories if we are looking, we will see the truth that it was God who chose US. I feel like that gives me so much for freedom in sharing the gospel. Its not up to me to save the students at camp, all I can do is share the hope and truth and joy and love that comes in Christ and then leave the rest up to God and His timing.

Time flies When Your Having Fun

The summer is about 2/3 over. In one month from today Sarah and Chris will leave. I wish I could find a way to slow time down so this month could somehow feel like a year...to somehow find a way to get MORE time with these two, who have become my summer family and my dear friends. This is one of the hardest parts of the summer, building relationships with people you may or may not see again. But it is always worth it. My life will never be the same now that I've met Sarah and Chris. They and Brad and Lucie have impacted me a lot and I am blessed to get to spend another month with this family.

How you can join the adventure...

*Praise God for my restored health!!! Thanks for ALL your prayers. I still have a small cough but its more just regular asthma cough now. So thanks again. 

*Praise God for the work he began in the hearts of students at camp! Pray He continues that work

*Pray for the health of the Ottowa team that was helping us. Many of them got sick.

*Pray for our relationship with the team arriving from AZ and the Prague youth group. 

*Praise God for the unity that we had with the Ottowa team and Bri, Amy and Breanne.

*Pray that Sarah, Chris, Brad Lucie and I can continue to go deep with eachother that we can keep building these bonds. 

*Pray for safe travels between Malenovice and the camp.

Thanks guys for staying involved and for all the support and love. To God and His glory!

Em

July Has Begun!

Czech Paradise 

Brad, Lucie, Chris, Sarah and I spent five days as a team exploring Cesky Raj (ches-kee-rye) which translated means Czech Paradise. There were lots of really cool rock formations in the forest and caves and view points. It was a really fun time of bonding and feeling adventurous. I had a bad cough most the time but I still really enjoyed myself. It felt kinda like if Arches National Park were to meet the north west. With this towering rocks and deep forests.

And Now It's July...

July equals camps. Our team is being joined this first camp by six Americans from Ottawa, IL, two girls Bri and Amy from World Harvest Missions and an old intern Breanne from Colorado and the youth group from Hradec Kralove to start our first camp. This camp is at the campsite my first camp I ever did here in Czech so its really cool to be back here.We are going to spend this evening setting up the meeting room and preparing our teaching boards then the students will all come tomorrow The 4th Of July! And we will end the evening with fireworks. I will be teaching beginning level English again and will also being doing camp motions for the songs with Breanne. After camp we will go back to Hradec to do follow up and then we will go back to Malenovice for the second American team training session. I will write more then with stories from camp. Hope you guys have an amazing 4th of July and that you take time to think about freedom and where your freedom comes from. May you find it in Christ. 

Joining The Adventure:

*Pray for the students that are coming to camp, that they will see the love of God in and through us.

*Pray for team unity between our different teams represented this week.

*Pray for english class, that we will tach useful and helpful English lessons.

*Pray for our evening talks about The Story Of God.

*Pray for my lungs to be healed. I was diagnosed with bronchitis but I am taking antibiotics and am getting better slowly but surely.

*Pray for rest, for our teams.

*Praise God that He has brought us all here together for this time and that He knows the hearts of the students that will be here and has brought us all together in His wisdom.

*Praise God for my team. I love them more and more every day.

Keeping Perspective

Top to Bottom: 1)School visit in Havlickuv Brod. 2)Dizmas show. 3)Girls and Boys in Havlickuv Brod (Sarah, Dora, Erica me...Chris, Vasek, Austin, Robert and Ondra). 4)Castle near Havlickuv Brod (this photo and the one before were taken by Hawaii who is co-leading the other team we're joining.) 5)Honza from Havlickcuv's band playing at a small community festival outside the city. 6)Chris, Brad and Lucie with the athletica soccer team in Vsetin.

City Visits

We have visited two of the three cities we are going to be doing camps with. Last weekend Sarah Chris and I joined another intern team in Havlickuv Brod. They will be our last camp and that week Brad and Lucie will be doing a sports camp with junior high students from their city. Then we will go with this other team and meet up with Brad and Lucie in Prague. But that's getting a bit ahead of schedule. We had a lot of fun in Havlickuv Brod, the youth leaders Honza and Ondra took us to a castle in a village near by which was really cool, we went bowling and saw Honza's band perform among other things! The weekend before our team went to Prague to meet the youth group that we'll be doing a camp with. While in Prague we saw a Dizmas concert. The show was in this club that is right next to the Charles Bridge. It was unreal to be back in Prague. There have been a lot of changes the past five years. Obviously some things have not changed, will never change...the Charles Bridge, the castle, old town square. The concert was really fun and the next day we met with the guys in the band and spent time with some students. While at the concert I randomly saw some friends from Lovocice which is the town Graeme, my leader in 2003 lived . So that was really fun. We will do our third city visit this weekend. Going to Hradec Kralove. I'm excited to go to Hradec. In 2003 our team often visited this city between camps because it was near where our camp was.

Learning to live with others

Tho there have been many amazing moments here the past couple weeks have been a lot harder than I had expected. I tried to go into this summer with zero expectations but I think that's honestly impossible. Especially when you dream about something for so long. So there have been a couple days the past couple weeks where I've broken down a bit. Back in Portland I got really used to my life being based on my time, my agenda. Sure, there was work at Starbucks, and church every Sunday but apart from that my time was basically spent however I wanted to spend it. So to live a life where there is a fairly set schedule and where other's needs need to be thought of too has been more challenging than I remember. But thankfully I've been put on an amazing team. Brad, Lucie, Sarah and Chris have been so patient and loving and have been really supportive of me as I process through these things. And I know that they and a few friends I've shared these thoughts with have been praying for me and I'm seeing God answer those prayers. Today was so good. We had a day to rest in whatever way we needed to. Last time we had a day of rest I spent most the day by myself just needing to recharge. Yes, I suppose I'm an extrovert but I really need time alone so that I can rest and be ready for time with people again. But today, I went swimming with Lucie and then later this evening Sarah and I went to the square to get some ice cream and we ended up seeing Chris with the couple he is currently staying with in a restaurant and so we joined them. God has met me right where I'm at. He's met me in my desire to not be so selfish, He's met me in the middle of reality looking different than my dreams, He's met me in the middle of missing Pavel, in the middle of wanting to see my friends from the past but being called to live in the present and to accomplish the things set before me and its amazing. Chris really encouraged me on the train the other day. He said that I don't need to worry about what I will do with my life. I only need to seek God and what He is doing with my life and I will be fine. Simple but true. And right now, God has me in Czech. He has brought me back to this country. He has put me on the amazing team. In His faithfulness and His timing He has led us all here this summer to love each other and the students and youth group kids we meet.

Choices

Along the same lines of learning to live with others, in a close community, I'm learning we are constantly asked to make choices. We must choose each day, sometimes moment by moment to be thankful or to complain, to choose life (which is found in God and His design and plan for our lives) or death (which is found when we choose to focus only on ourselves). There have been a few moments this summer, a couple days perhaps where I've chosen to complain instead of choosing to be thankful...where I've chosen me over God. But today, today I chose to be thankful, to choose life! And today was amazing.

How to Join The Adventure:

1)Pray for our visit to Hradec this weekend. Pray many student will be encouraged to come to camp. Pray for the Prague and Havlickuv Brod camps as well. Pray that many students from those two cities will come to camp as well.

2)Pray for our team's health. Chris has had a cold for the past few weeks (ever since the amazing race) and is just now starting to feel a bit better. However Brad, Lucie, Sarah and I all have a cough now. Pray also for our friends on the Slovakia team cuz they too have colds.

3)Pray that I keep choosing to be thankful, to keep choosing life.

4)Praise God for this team He has put me on!

5)Praise God for the ways He is at work here in the Czech and with my friends and family back home.

The Summer Begins

Pics are top to bottom: cathedral in Bratislava, our team (Sarah, Brad, Lucie, me, Chris) on top of a hill in Budapest, lion in Budapest, ferris wheel in amusement park in Vienna) and my friends in Ft. Wayne (top: Brian and Cari Foss, bottom Gabe Foss, me, Amy and Ani Foss)

A Reunion 

I spent a few days in Fort Wayne, Indiana before embarking on my summer in Czech. This trip was really fun. It was such a blessing to see my old teammates and I was so excited cuz I was able to be at church when Tony who had been on my team in 2003 got sent out from his church to go be a senior pastor at another church in Ft. Wayne. 

The Amazing Race

So a few weeks before we departed we all received an email from Sarah Bertrand the summer intern coordinator telling us we'd be participating in an amazing race so to "pack light". We all (everyone who is serving with Josiah Venture in all the different countries) landed in Vienna on May 27th. Then as soon as everyone arrived we set off. Our first clue was given to us in "Old German" and we had to find somebody to decode it for us. This sent us to a large garden and palace. From there we were sent to the main city square area and had to run all around getting different clues and taking pictures of different things to get the next clue. The final destination in Vienna was a giant amusement park. There we were handed two sheets of pictures taken from different rides in the park. We had to find the bits of picture and then write down the name of the ride. This took forever. After we finally finished at the amusement park our last clue of the night was to find a train to Bratislava, Slovakia. So we board the train and arrive back in 3rd/4th place (we got there the same time as another team). We sign in for the time we want to leave and sign in for the 3rd time slot (5:10am). The first clue we received for the morning sends us to Budapest. We again were given clue after clue to lead us to all different parts of Budapest. We hiked up some huge hills and climbed many stairs and saw a hand that had been persevered for hundreds of years. This second day ended as soon as we accomplished the task of balancing a baseball bat and passing it between members of our team. After many many attempts we complete this task and are free to either spend more time in Budapest or return to Bratislava where our hostel was. We decided to head back to Bratislava and met up with a team that will be serving in Slovakia while at the train station. So our two teams joined up and went to dinner at Slovak Pub in Bratislava. The third day sent us around Bratislava's town square and a cathedral there and then we were to board the train to Malenovice, Czech Republic for our week of training.

Intern Training

So now we are in the middle of training. We will be here til the weekend. I can't get this giant smile off my face. After five years God decided that this summer was the summer to lead me back here to Czech and I am so thankful and so blessed to be here. We are being taught by some amazing guys and learning so many things from God's word and about God's story. It has been so amazing to see my old friends, my Josiah Venture Family and to make so many new friends as well. This truly is a dream come true and I am so thankful I waiting on God's timing and His provision.

Joining The Adventure:

Praise God for leading me here in His time

Pray for our team to bond more and more, to love each other deeply with the love of Christ. 

Pray for the youth groups we will be working with this summer, specifically Prague, to be bold in inviting their friends to camp. 

This Moment In Time

Boxes packed. Stuff moved to my friends house. Backpack packed. Bills paid. Phone calls made. All the loose ends I was not quite sure would be tied up are tied up.

I will fall asleep tonight in the state of Oregon for the last time for the next three months. Tomorrow Beth will take me to the airport and I will fly to Ft. Wayne to see my old teammates. Then Monday Amy and I will drive up to Chicago and I take off from Chicago Tuesday. I arrive in Vienna Wednesday and my team and I will take part in an amazing race from Vienna to Malenovice where our stuff will be waiting and then we begin training. 

Five years in the waiting and here I go...I am SO excited. I am confident that God is going to show up in huge ways this summer in and through my life. That is the one thing I know I can go expecting. The rest, well the rest will be an adventure. I know God has prepared me for this moment in time. The Emily K. Ford of today is supposed to be in Czech. Not Emily K. Ford of last year or the year before that or any other year since I was there last. Right here and right now. This moment in time. I go meditating on Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. (NIV)" May these words be true of my summer. 

So here I go! I will update again after we finish the amazing race, when I arrive to Czech! Thank you so much for being part of this summer through financial gifts and prayers and words of encouragement. 

His and yours,

Em