Thursday, July 18, 2013

Line Dancing, Wall Breaking, Summer Nights



Panoramic view from Bohdan's house

There is only one full day of teaching left and I can't believe how quickly this second week has gone. Thursday morning brought my turn for daily devotions and after some prayerful thought, I had my devotion set. Only at the last minute, a song I had heard countless time before, came on and I heard it like it was for the first time. Tenth Avenue North, Healing Begins. Every word spoke to me and I realized that while I had come on this trip expecting to be helpful, to teach, to share God's love and to share my love for Jesus with others, I was also receiving help and healing in ways I didn't think I would, especially not in Slovakia, halfway around the world from my personal struggles. I changed my devotion at the last minute, going off the cuff and shared the healing I had experienced on this trip with the team. My hope was to inspire them and to let them know that their support, guidance and prayers on the trip had been pivotal the start of the healing from my personal struggle.
The Advanced Group- Jennifer, Arianna and Breck

Pastor Randy and Joyce's Beginner Group

Priska and Pamela's Beginner Group
Sara and Erica's Intermediate Group (being silly)

Charlotte and Sarah's Intermediate Group

The teaching day began with a great round of singing and the second day of the electric slide. Our students are basically professional electric slide dancers now. Today's theme was all about recreation and holidays. It was a joy to learn about what our students did for their holiday celebrations as well as what they enjoyed doing in their free time. Our group spent a good part of the afternoon preparing for our final presentation tomorrow. We are doing a classic campfire skit with a Slovak twist. Other groups were also excitedly preparing for their performances as well.
We had a bit of extra time today so we were able to play telephone pictionary as well as return to a few conversations from earlier in the week that we did not have time to complete.

After class let out, I was introduced to Andrea (sorry for any misspellings) who interned at St. Johns for a few months this past year. Pastor Randy was able to catch up with her over coffee while a group of us to a short adventure to the square to find parachute pants, play croquet on a roof and drink coffee with two students, Katka and Michaela. It's not every day you get to go on such adventures! The coffee shop is located on the roof of one of the buildngs in the square of Martin and has a grassy area with croquet and a monoscope for looking at the surrounding mountains. For the record, Arianna and I played two rounds of speed croquet and we may have neglected a few rules but we were laughing the entire time. This coffee shop is one of my favorite places within Martin. I could easily spend an afternoon sipping coffee, reading a book, playing croquet and catching up with friends there. I'd like to transport it back to the U.S. with me!
Rooftop Cafe with Monoscope and Croquet

View from Rooftop Cafe
By 4:30 we were all gathered at the Bible School again to travel to Bohdan's house for a BBQ dinner with the Vancouver group. The beauty of the area still amazes me and the view from Bohdan's backyard did not disappoint. The whole Bible School crew was there and it was great to reconnect with them outside of the office day to talk about our experience the past two weeks. I had the opportunity to chat with several people from the Vancouver group as well as from the Bible School. It was a great evening for all as the sound of jovial conversations danced between the open fire and the grill and kids yelps and playful shouts paraded around the tables.
Breck enjoying the view with Adrian BBQing in the background

View from Bohdan's backyard
Priska inspecting the sausages! :D


After enjoying a scrumptious dinner of sausages and a wonderful secret sauce stew, we toured each of the houses (Bohdan and Beba's, Katka and Michal's, and Adrian and Natasha's). All too soon it was time to say good night and head back to the hotel. Another amazing day of sharing our vision and teaching. Tomorrow is one last opportunity for now to share our message and God's love. I feel so honored to have experienced this trip and to have met and worked with all the people here. Until the next time, Erica

Enjoy a few extra picture from the past few days of adventures!

View on the way to Bohdan's house.



Flowers outside of Adrian's house



Lunch out with Sara and Erica's group-Danka, Brano, David

Kristina, Erica, Sara, Danka


Joyce, Martin and Eva enjoying lunch out

Marek, Pastor Randy and Adam playing with the coaster

Playing soccer at the summer camp during our visit on Wednesday afternoon.


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