Czech Reflections – Kalene Kelly

Dear Friends and Family,

What a wonderful ten days in the Czech Republic! I want to thank each of you for your prayers and your financial support. The trip was a great experience for me and the Hillside Church Youth Group and we consider our activities throughout the trip a big success.  This was a very different kind of trip from last year’s Mission’s Trip to Newark.  There was less manual labor and more building relationships with people.  It was a wonderful experience to spend time with people from a different cultural background. Although there were differences we bonded through our influences on each other and our discovered similarities. It is interesting to see the world through a different cultural lens .We built friendships with the people in Czech and within our own youth group. I couldn’t wait to get home and friend all of them on Facebook to keep in touch!

Some of the Czech kids shared stories about being the only Christian in their school and being teased for their beliefs.   Being back home and reflecting on the trip, I realize how blessed we are that we can talk freely about our faith without having to worry that we’re going to get teased for being Christians.  More importantly, that we don’t ever have to feel alone because we always have other Christian family and friends we can go to for support.  I hope that my youth group and I can be those Christian supporters for all the new friends we made in Czech. If they are ever feeling alone in their faith they would be able to reach out to us. We don’t have all the answers but no one does. People don’t need to be given the answers they need someone who will help them find them out for themselves.

The day at the Orphanage will leave a lasting memory with me. It was great to see how happy all the kids were while we were spending time with them, but it broke my heart to see how sad they got when it came time for us to leave.    Although these kids had difficult life situations with special needs you could see their joy while engaging with us throughout the visit.  Even in this situation I could see God at work transforming lives.

During this trip the leaders all wanted us to out of our comfort zones. I believe that my entire youth group, myself included, didn’t only step out of our comfort zones but expanded them. I got to witness how this trip changed the lives of my youth group and the people in Czech. I am very grateful that I got to have this experience. So once again thank you for helping make this trip possible and keeping us in your prayers.

I wish all of you a fun rest of the summer!

God Bless you all

Kalene

Czech Thoughts – Loana and Alexej

We want to say thank you for all your support. We really appreciated every single donation and prayer. Our group couldn’t have done it without you.

During the trip we learned a lot about how different cultures and languages can affect the way relationships grow. In the beginning the Czech people were very shy and quiet, which made our goal of the week very hard. We were supposed to talk to a lot of people and let them see that there are other people their age, who are Christians too. At the end a lot of the Czech youth opened up to us and shared their feelings about their beliefs with us. It was amazing to see how we could be a good influence and give hope to the teenagers there. A lot of the people came up to us and asked why we were carrying chairs around every night. They were really surprised when we answered that we were in Czech to help and support them.

Another great part of the trip was that we could help the Immanuel Conference Center. We did a lot of work like painting a dumpster and a dock and a few boys from the group were trying to get a tree out of the lake. Although it doesn’t sound like we were making a big impact there, we could notice how important it was to the people in Czech. We are so thankful that you helped us to make this trip happen. It changed us and the people we met so much. God bless you!

-Loana & Alexej

Washington Highlights

Words to sum up today: chaos is fun. We painted faces, made animal balloons, and made bracelets for kids at the pool. Ok some more words: kids have tiny brains. No, im not talking about us. For instance, kids can’t make decisions. I was painting a girls faced and asked her if she wanted a flower or a butterfly, her answer…”YES”.  So I gave her a flower. I asked her what colors she wanted, red, blue, purple, or pink, which one? Her answer…”YES”. Who knew it could be so hard. One kid wanted to have a map of the United States and the entire solar system on his face. So Megs drew a square and the earth. An interesting something that happened on this trip was something that happened yesterday. What are the chances of walking behind some fountains behind the largest hotel you have ever seen 6 hours away from home with your youth group and seeing someone from your youth group running through the fountains? About 0.000000000000000001% to impossible. Well apparently it’s possible because we saw Alexa from our youth group running through the fountains right as we walked by. Crazy, right? That’s all I have! Peace out peoples

-Mikayla J

Today we went back to Lincoln Heights to weed the sidewalk again. It was hot and sweaty but we managed to eliminate all the weeds on the sidewalk. We heard a loud noise that sounded like a bank alarm, but it turned out to be the ice cream man. Later we went to VBS but only teens showed up so we had an opportunity hear a missionary story about a child in India.  That night we got to go to the National Harbor on Potomac River. The national harbor is right by the Gaylord Hotel. We had a chance to walk around and at the hotel pool we saw Alexa (Who wasn’t on the trip) from our Church youth group. We were all in shock that we saw her it’s amazing that we were in the same place at once. Also we got to go into the Gaylord Garden. On the harbor there was a massive sculpture, ‘The Awakening’ It was so big that we could climb on his head, and limb. We took a lot of pictures. I am adding this line because I want my post to be longer than Mikayla’s.

Narrated by: Mark

Typed by: Hannah

Hey what’s up? Having tons of fun in D.C. never knew that I could learn to make balloon animals in 8 min. I was able to make this sick helicopter without any help (check picks). All day I had kids swarming me asking for balloons. Overall, great day.

–Devin

Drugs,Needles, and Vodka…OH MY!

Today we went to the District of Columbia and helped clean up around the area. There were three jobs, pick weeds of the side walk, pick up trash behind buildings, and put mulch in flower bedding. Everyone was picking the weeds and mulching but only a few people like myself picked trash. When we went behind the building there was trash EVERYWHERE!, but most of it was behind a metal fence. Me and a couple of people went behind the fence. A few minutes later Al (the leader of a church from Maryland) started to tell us to be careful because there might be needles back there. Just after Al said that Hannah found a needle under something (which we decided not to touch). After that vodka bottles, drug baggies, and dirty diapers started popping up everywhere. But as the day went on everything that we thought was exciting started to become a routine. Cant wait till tomorrow to do the whole thing over again!

–Meg

Czech Reflections – Michael Mrugalski

I want to thank everyone who either gave money or supported us through prayer. The mission trip to Czech was an incredible experience. I feel like everyone in our group grew closer to each other and to God as well. Going to another country was also a big eye opening experience. Seeing how other people live really let me know that I have it too easy. In some areas they didn’t have electricity or there was extreme poverty. So to see that made me realize I’m blessed to be in the situation that I’m in. I also believe that we made a really big impact on the people that we met. The usual Czech mentality is to be distant and quiet, but at the end of the week they were all laughing and being loud. I’m not sure if this is positive or negative though because if some of them go back to school and act like they did they might look a little odd. I was also really impressed with their faith and courage. With the country being 90% or so atheist, it made me happy that they could keep their faith in the midst of all that darkness. One person there told me a story about how he was in school and one of his classmates threatened to burn his bible. Which is pretty dark, and also another reason why I like America, religious tolerance. Going on this trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far and if you ever get a similar opportunity I advise you to take it.

- Michael Mrugalski

Czech Reflections – Isaac Jang

First of all I’d like to thank everyone who supported our trip through thoughts, money, or prayers. Everything we did on this trip would not have been possible without your help.

We came across many new, different and exciting things during our trip, such as the cultural differences, or just seeing the Czech teenagers open up to us. We were asked to talk about the best parts of the trip, and what we took away from it. For me, the best parts were the following: I enjoyed being able to walk around without worrying about what other people were thinking of me- everyone was staring at us anyways, so it wouldn’t have made a difference. I also enjoyed the conversations I had with everyone- meeting new Christians around the world leads to some interesting topics. Working through the language barrier was also fun- more amusing then frustrating. I also began to notice my doubts slipping away and being replaced with confidence- I felt sure that God was using us to do great work.

I also enjoyed noticing the small details- Our van had headrests! A ceiling high enough to stand in! along with the many “Pozor” (danger) signs along the road, the huge stainless-steel pool we swam in, and an old farmer working his fields in just a speedo (bleagh).

So what are some things we will take back with us? I’m bringing back the knowledge that God can work wherever we are, be it a school, grocery store, or a drug awareness show in the Czech Republic. I’m also bringing back the confidence I had and the love and kindness I felt from everyone. I want to share that with as many people as I can. I also want to preserve the memories I have of people for as long as I can.

Once again thank you to all our sponsors and everyone else who supported us. You allowed this trip to happen, along with all the experiences we had there. We greatly appreciate it, and many blessings on you and your family.

A Year and a Half in the Making

After planning our trip to Czech Republic for over a year and a half, it’s hard to believe that it’s already come and gone.  But what an amazing ten days we had!  From the time we arrived right up until our drive back to the Prague airport, our team worked hard.  We were up every morning by 7:30 and didn’t finish until sometime after 11:00 each night.  Sure, there were some breaks in between, but for the most part, these guys were asked to give everything they had for the entire trip.  And it wasn’t just to perform mindless tasks.  There were some clean up and construction type jobs around the camp; but we were also asked to teach, lead discussions, work with special needs kids in an orphanage, organize games and activities, and plan for the infamous “American Surprise” which was a surprise even for our group as we led it!  On top of that, we were asked to engage with the 120 high school students from Czech who attended the conference at every opportunity we had.  Constantly trying to communicate with people separated by a language barrier is no easy task, yet our team did an amazing job of interacting with the Czech students and building relationships that will hopefully encourage and strengthen their faith.

In talking with some of the youth leaders who organized the Kristfest Conference, we found out that Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic countries in the world.  There are no concrete statistics, but the percentage of those who don’t believe in God is somewhere over 90% of the country!  We discovered that many of the students are the only Christian they know in their school.  They’re constantly picked on and made fun of for their faith.  One guy told us that his classmates threatened to burn his Bible if he didn’t leave it at home!  Because faith is so uncommon, most attend a church where there are only 2 or 3 other students their age!  Talk about discouraging.

The idea that things are impossible is a common theme found throughout the country because of it’s recent history.  The youth are being brought up in a society that hinders their ability to dream.  That tells them if something seems impossible; don’t try it because you will probably fail.  So how do you think that impacts their faith?  How can the youth dream to become the men and women that God has created them to be?  And that’s where our students come in.  If there is one prayer we have leaving the conference, it’s that our group, through our presence, would have inspired each student we met to not be afraid to dream.  To not be afraid to trust God for the impossible in their lives.

This week I saw each of our group members step out of their comfort zone and do something that at some point in their lives would have seemed impossible.  Maybe it was something as simple as praying in front of a large group, or leading a discussion group.  No matter what it was, every student made me proud this week to be their Youth Pastor.  One night I was sitting with another leader watching a group of our students playing soccer together.  I remembered that the World Cup final was on at that very moment, but it was as if that didn’t matter at all.  Because what I saw was better than any sports game.  If you had asked me a year ago if I would have thought that group of students would be in the Czech Republic laughing together on the soccer field, I would have said it’s impossible.  Yet, there they were.  The impossible had happened and at that moment there was nothing in the world I would have rather been doing than sitting there watching the physical evidence of how God has been transforming the lives of our students.

So thank you to every sponsor who invested in each of the lives impacted by this trip.  It was through your prayers and financial support that this trip was possible.  Raising over $24,000 was no easy task, but it happened.  And our group now has the stories and memories of those 10 days which will shape them for years to come.  The 120 students from Czech Republic who interacted with our group will leave the conference inspired and hopefully continue on in their faith because we cared enough for them to be there and share our lives with them for that one week.

-Dave

TUESDAY

Today our missions team went to a local orphanage. We saw many kids from about ages seven to thirteen.  It gave us great joy to see their smiling, happy faces. However, when we had to leave them all, a few of our hearts broke. We sincerely pray that God will care for them and give them a promising future. Our group has to exercise faith in knowing that God has a plan for each of those young children, and that we must trust that He has the best in mind for them.

On Thursday there will be a “musical talent show”, and Loana, Kalene, and I have decided to sign up! (But I am INCREDIBLY nervous—I’m microphone-shy). So just hoping for the best!

Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts,

Kirsten Sawyer  :)

P.S. Kalene, Loana, and I will be singing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the LION KING! <3

Dream The Impossible

Thank you for reading the blog today. Started off like every day, sunrise, shower, breakfast but over the course of the day we started to notice differences in a couple things.  One of the events that conspired today was the “English workshop” run by the hillside church group.  About 15 of the guests staying at the Immanuel conference center attended our workshop. The topic was dream the impossible. Under that topic was connecting faith in god with impossible situations. When we first started all the people were shy and quiet but as we shared some of our personal impossible stories they opened up and communicated with us. Which is odd because the normal Czech mentality is to be closed off and more serious most of the time. By the end of the program everyone was playing games and having conversations so that was very productive for us. In the afternoon we did another event called the American surprise and it was such a surprise that we didn’t even know what we were doing until 5 minutes before hand.  It didn’t go as well as we would have hoped but I believe we still affected people’s lives. It was a very good day of bonding for the team as we spent several hours playing spoons with some of the other guests.  Last notes, several of our group has signed up for a soccer tournament ( Alexej P., Isaac J., Mike J., Mike M.) and tomorrow we will be going to an orphanage for the whole day.

Snakes, Mosquitos, and Rocks

Hey this is Mike , today John made us work, we took a tree branch out of the lake that had snakes, mosquitoes and dirty water and it took several hours and made us smell really bad, painted  some houses and got sun burnt, and went for a long hike in the woods and rock climbed over a whole bunch of different rock formations, and in the afternoon we set up a tent with some of the Czech people who didn’t understand us and we still have a long week of work to look forward to. Some of the people here don’t speak English so we have to use gestures so they can understand us and tomorrow we have to greet them and show them where they are staying so it is going to be a long week.  Czech is an awesome place without all the work we have to do.