To see more photos, below are links to 3 albums of photos.

1) Before the start of English camps
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2326207&l=5194f&id=10036145

2) Ceske Budejovice and Strakonice English Camps
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2351822&l=47780&id=10036145

3) Presov English Camp and Debriefing
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2351826&l=8d1ce&id=10036145

21 hours ago I stepped off the plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor to be greeted by the forthcoming heatwave that is known as the Arizona summer. Never before has 100 degrees felt so homely. To wrap up the last weeks worth of events, it started with debriefing in Prague with the other summer interns located in the Czech Republic. It was such an awesome time to be able to talk with and share stories about the summer with the other interns. What was even better was being able to share with each other what we learned and how we grew through the summer. With one of the interns, the change was clearly evident in comparison to the beginning of the summer and such was encouraging to see. Debriefing in general went well with paperwork to fill out in regards to our thoughts and feelings toward the entire summer and each camp specifically. Getting on to more interesting stuff, my intern team had our last dinner together on Saturday during which we spend the time going over how we have seen each other grow this summer and just encourage one another one last time before saying our good byes (at least in regards to being a team together). I am sure that this was not the last time I would see any of them.

Sunday morning at 3:30 am, the interns who were not staying longer left for the airport. For me it was not a problem waking up to say goodbye to them as I never when to sleep. After returning to the Czech Inn Hostel around 1 am, I stayed up working on debriefing paperwork and team finances (fun stuff). After seeing them off, I went to bed for 4 hours and then woke up, said my goodbyes to my team and whoever was up and I left for the train station with the final destination being Ceske Budejovice. I spent a few days in CB with my friend Ondra and his family. I am so glad that I decided to stay the few extra days as it was so great to be able to have conversations with Ondra about different issues in our lives. This time was encouraging for me and I can only hope that it was just as or more encouraging for him. Also, it was great to meet up with some of the students from camp to play pool or bowl. As for staying at Ondra's place, it was awesome. His family was so hospitable and generous towards me that I hope to be as kind to others as they were to me. I thank God for them. At 9 pm my time in Ceske Budejovice came to end as the train pulled out of the station and I said my final goodbye (for now) to Ondra. Someday within the next 2 years I hope to return to the Czech Republic.

The train pulled into the Prague train station at midnight and from there I worked my way over to the airport with some difficulty. I could not find where a certain bus stop was and so I ended up walking to Namesti Republiky to catch the tram headed towards the airport. Finally at 1:45 am I reached the airport and proceeded to stay awake for the night as had an early flight out. So walking through the airport, it came at me by surprise when I found my self in front of a Starbucks. They are like body hair, they can be found just about everywhere. Well, putting my ill thoughts of the company aside, I stepped up to the counter to order a venti caffe latte as I needed caffeine. I quickly noticed that the price of the venti caffe latte when converted to dollars was roughly $7. Ouch! After a bit of rationalizing, I decided to bite the cost (besides I needed to get rid of the currency) and order it. Well I milked that cup for the next hour while I sat and waited in Starbucks for time to pass. While enjoying my $7 cup of coffee (you in the States have no room to complain), I spotted the Prague Starbucks coffee mugs and decided to get one for my brother. In doing so, Starbucks gave me another free coffee, anything I wanted, so another caffe latte later, I was wired with no chance of falling asleep. 3 flights later, I landed in Phoenix. It is good to be home from a great summer in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Three days ago Presov Slovakia camp ended and I returned with the team to Strakonice for the very last time this summer. However, getting here was quite the trip. After spending one night in Presov, our team broke into two groups to travel back to the Czech Republic. Josh and Aubree took a route through Bratislava so that Aubree could sign paperwork in regards to her extended visa. Leah and I took a route going through Zilina with the ultimate goal of going through Cesky Tesin and Olomouc. The route was set up this way on purpose for I planned on meeting two friend from home on the train starting at Cesky Tesin and ending at Olomouc. Everything worked out well and I was able to meet with Thomas and Stephanie and spend almost 2 hours in conversation with them. Talking to them was uplifting and encouraging for me as I had not been in face-to-face contact with anyone from home since Ceske Budejovice camp which was at the end of June. I am so glad that everything worked out so well and smooth....at least up to that point. Eventually the train reached Prague but we were 10 minutes late. We then had to rush over to the bus station but arrived 10 minutes after our bus to Strakonice was scheduled to leave. With no options left in regards to reaching Strakonice, we headed over to the Czech Inn to get some sleep before continuing on in the morning. At the Czech Inn, we met some of the other summer interns who were staying in Prague for the few days preceding debriefing. After reaching Strakonice, I spent our last day there at a party during which I said my good byes to the students that I had come to know from being at camp. It was a great end to the many weeks that I spent living in Strakonice during this summer.

Looking back on the camp that just finished, I can say that it sure was interesting. Every day had a full schedule of activities and other events which left little free time for people to gain some during. However, the camp was a lot of fun. The evening program was awesome and the various speakers did an awesome job. I personally would hope that the evening programs that students ministries camps back home would be as fun and attention grabbing as those I experienced last week were. The one thing I missed at this camp though was the lack of discussion groups. I felt that it was a lot harder to bring up the speaker's topics in a one-on-one setting. I think that a group discussion might have worked better. Beyond all of that, the camp was good and it was a lot of fun. The location of the camp was on the top of a ski mountain so it had quite the view. So the last night (read as morning), I went with a group of people to the top to watch the sun rise above the trees. Two other guys and myself helped carry another intern up to the top since she had hurt her ankle and could not walk on it. Nevertheless, the view as terrific. What a great camp to end the summer on.

Today is the last day of camp. This week has been so hectic and crazy that I have not been able to sit down and write an update earlier due to time constraints and for the basic fact that it was not my priority to get an update out while at camp when I could be spending the time with students. So here I find myself still awake at 4am writing quick update of a long week.

This has been a difficult camp for reasons not typically associated with the second camp. Usually, the second camp is harder due to it being in the middle and us interns not having much motivation for it if the previous camp went extremely well (which it did). In my view, it was none of these reasons so much as the people from the states that the problems revolved around. The case presented here at this camp dealt with a few strong-willed leaders seemingly railroad the Czech team leader at different times. This created tension between the 4 different teams which could have been avoided in the first place. Also, at times I found my disagreeing with the way in which the speaker spoke. Never before have I heard a speaker be so frank in bashing the US. While yes there are things that the US has done that I don't fully agree with, to bash the US is to stereotype the people and thus cause people to have a more negative view than the one they held previously. So without dwelling on the problems faced in this camp too much, there has been a fair amount of conflict but, so far as I know, it has been dealt with accordingly.

Looking past all the difficulties experienced at this camp, I believe that God is at work in Strakonice. I think that many of the students are still wrestling with the truths that were presented here at camp and that a decision will be made in the future, but not that this current time. Who are we to decide how and when God will grow a person in understanding and fruit? We cannot and thus we have to trust in Him.

Well the next few days will be follow-up so I am hoping that a good number of students will join us in the planned activities. Follwing follow-up, we interns will be heading to Oloumoc to gain some rest before leaving for Slovakia. Continue to be praying for strength and continued unity for our small intern team.

Here we are, back in Strakonice for 2 days to relax and recoup strength before we head back to Malenovice for training with the American teams that are going to be helping out at the Strakonice English Camp. So a few things that you can be praying for is that me and the rest of the team will be fully rested before camp starts this coming Saturday. I have been told that the second camp of the summer is typically the roughest one due to being in the middle and with having another camp to compare to. Knowing that, I will be trying hard to head into this camp with the mindset of it being a blank slate that has yet to be filled out. Each camp is unique and should never be compared to another as that can cause me and the other interns to lose our focus and motivation. With all of that in mind though, I am really looking forward to being at a new camp and to meeting new people.

As much I am looking forward to the next camp, I cannot forget what I just came from. To follow up on the Ceske Budejovice camp in a few words, it was awesome. I'm so glad to have come back to the Czech Republic and meet people that I met two years ago.  It was so encouraging to see them again and see what God was doing in their lives.  I will continue to stay connected to them through the internet and hope that I may somehow continue to encourage them in all that they are doing in Ceske Budejovice and the Czech Republic.  Beyond just seeing old friends, the camp was great.

Thinking back over the past week, we did a lot in a short amount of time that seemed to have passed far too quickly.  The english lessons that the AZ team from my home church prepared were great and the students had an awesome time during class.  The daily discussion groups were also really great, they were never completely in English but they were still good and we had some interesting conversations about life, ourselves, and spiritual matters (ie: heaven and hell).  In the middle of the week, we went on a hike with the destination being a watchtower on a forested hill overlooking the surrounding area dotted with small villages.  Through all of the different events and activities, the best part of all of them was the time spent with the students.  Also, since the week was pretty crazy and I didn't get much sleep, I could see God working through all of it, giving me, my team, and the other teams energy to have fun with the students and build connections with them.  I should also mention that throughout most of the week, a lot of the leaders were sick with a cold or flu, but God was amazing and gave them the strength to carry on and not let them get depressed with themselves.

Our time living here in Strakonice has come to a close. This evening we will be leaving for the Ceske Budejovice camp and will meet up with the Grace Community Church team tonight at the campgrounds. While I might not have expressed how excited I am to be seeing them, I am thrilled to finally get the chance to talk with an old friend about issues that have come up since I left at the end of May. Oh I cannot wait to see them tonight!

For the past few days here we have been just as busy as usual. It seems that we've had at least one person, if not more, over for dinner these past few nights. This has been great as we've had so many opportunities to pour encouragement into the youth group here in Strakonice through the conversations we have had with students. Two nights ago we hosted a parents party so that the parents of students in the youth group could understand better what camp is all about and learn a little bit about the differences between Czech and American culture. That specifically was a lot of fun as we broke into small groups to act out different American cultural stereotypes. The day previous though, I got the chance to go biking with a Czech and so I took the offer. What an amazing time that was as I got to learn more about him and how he had come to be so involved in the local church. What an experience that was to be talking about our lives while riding through the Czech countryside.

As I said before, we will be leaving for camp tonight so be praying that this next week will be awesome. I believe that God will do amazing things this summer!

Most nights that I go out by my self, I am usually being driven by a need to either escape the presence of people or to contemplate different thoughts or both. As of lately it seems to be that I have been seeking to escape the presence of my teammates, whom I love and care for deeply. I cannot be around them at night for specific reasons, namely for the reason that I do not want to think negatively of them. So I leave, get some fresh air, then go to bed. However, last night was unusual. Instead of being mopey and depressed about feeling exclusion from my two teammates, I was filled with a strange sense of peace about everything that was going on and even with my own life. Standing on the bridge at 3am, overlooking the river that runs through Strakonice, gazing downriver in the full moon light, I realized that no matter what is thrown my way, God is ultimately in control. He is my comfort and my joy in both the easy going times and the hard times. Thinking through the events, situations, and issues of the past 2 weeks, I am still at a crossroads of how to handle certain things but in the process of thinking about it all, I was not holding onto bitterness. Moving on to other thoughts, namely past relationships and the affect they had on my life, I came to realize that they all played a key part in my learning something. This carried on to thinking about the future of my life. But as I got into it, again I realized that God is in control of it, always has been and always will be. And again, I could feel peace rising up in my soul and spirit, for a short while at least.

The days have been great here in Strakonice, CZ. We've been connecting with students from the youth group here through activities that we plan but also through different events the students themselves host (movie night). Yesterday afternoon we had an awesome time hanging out with students while playing different sports and games. We played some ultimate frisbee, basketball, and the game of signs. While it was fun to be with the students from the youth group, it was even more awesome to hang out with a guy that we met while playing the games. He saw us playing signs and asked if he could join in. Well, he wasn't too weirded out and accepted our invitation to come to dinner with us that night. Through conversing with him, we found out that he had been looking for people that he could talk to about different current events, issues, and even some philosophical and religious ideas. We are hoping that he continues to seek out a few of the local students to talk to about such things and hopefully through them, see the love of Christ. This is what I am here for. This is the purpose of it all. To seek out students, build up connections with them, and share with them the love that is found in Christ. Everyone is hurting in someway, yet the glory of it all is found in God's redemption through Christ's death and subsequent resurrection.

As of Monday this week, we arrived in Strakonice, our home for the next few weeks.  Ironically enough however, Josh and I left the next day to accompany Aubree on a trip to Ceske Tesin where she had to take care of some paperwork.  We spent the next 2 nights in Ceske Tesin (us guys at Nate's and Aubree at Lucka's).  At this point, I have traveled across this country 4 times now from one side to the other.  I am now very confident that I could travel to any place in the Czech Republic without too much hassle.  Major props to the czech transit system.

These last 2 days found us in Pisek, spending time at a town festival with youth from nearby cities and youth groups.  It was a great opportunity for us to meet people we will be working with in the coming month of July as well as continue to build friendships with some of the youth we met in Ceske Budejovice last weekend when we went down there to spend time with the youth group located there.  While in Ceske Budejovice, I was able to meet up with some of the people I met 2 years ago.  It was so awesome to be able to see some familiar faces again.  At the Pisek festival, the youth group was able to get some time on one of the stages that were setup so it was awesome to be there and support the group with their music performance.  The best part about it was that it was relaxing event to the end of a busy 2 weeks.  Also, I learned to not expect the sun to always come out like it does in Phoenix so needless to say, yesterday was a cold day.  So as of yesterday, we have 2 weeks until the start of the first camp, which is the Ceske Budejovice camp.  I'm looking forward to seeing the team coming my home church, Grace Community Church.  Until then though, there is lots to do here in Strakonice as well as in other parts of the country.

Today marks the end of summer intern training week at Malenovice in eastern Czech Republic. So all of the intern teams working in the Czech Republic this summer have been using the day to see the other teams off, relax, and continue to build friendships between each other before heading out on Friday morning. But these last few days have been pretty great. The only thing that has overshadowed this week is the passing of Dan, an old mentor/volunteer of the high school group. While this is a sorroful event, it is at the same time filled with joy for he knew Christ as his Savior. Dan knew where he was coming from and where he was going, to spend eternity with God and His glory.

This last monday night however, our team finally became complete with the arrival of our teammate Aubree. This did not come without stress though. She was supposed to get in at the Frydland train station at 11:45pm but that time came and passed. We ended up driving to the next three stations down the line looking for her but did not find her. After that, we get on the road to the town of Ostrava to see if she missed the train but en route we received a phone call telling us she that she had just reached the Frydland on the last train of the night at 1:45 am. We quickly made a U-turn and picked her up at the station...running over a hedgehog in the process. Finally, our team became complete. Well, its almost dinner time over here (9 hours ahead of Arizona time) so I'll throw up another update sometime next week.

To all who know me back home, I arrived safely in the Czech Republic this past Wednesday (5/28) around 12 noon. The flights went well amid running across London's Heathrow airport to catch the plane to Prague. I then spent the next few days with my teammate Josh and our team leader Leah traveling across the Czech Republic in a race against the other intern teams to reach the final destination of Malenovice, which is on the eastern edge of the country. Sadly we did not win the race. The race was awesome in that it put our team in situations that tested how well we interacted with one another and showed some areas where we are weak. Also, the race allowed us to get to know each other really well and I am excited to be on a team with them. Tomorrow, the last member of our team will arrive and then our team for this summer will be complete.

So as of now, I have been at Malenovice since Friday night and am currently in the middle of intern training for this summer. It has been a great few days getting to know the other interns and where they will be going to serve this summer. There are some awesome people that God brought to eastern europe this summer. In a couple days, my team and I will be traveling to Strakonice, which is in the southern portion of the country. In Strakonice, we will be going around to schools and promoting the english camps. Then in the end of June, I will get to see the 2-week team from Grace in Ceske Budejovice, of which I am excited for.

I am down to having 90 hours (3.5 days) left before I depart for the Czech Republic. I am excited to be leaving but I think my teammate said it best when she said "it is almost surreal." There are so many things I have yet to finish (packing and such) before I leave with not quite enough time, but on the other hand, Tuesday morning seems to be taking its time getting here.

When I reach Prague on Wednesday, I will be thrown into a race, similar to tv show The Amazing Race, with the other summer interns to reach Malenovice, which is conveniently located on the opposite side of the country.

To give you an update on new information, I will be helping to run 3 different camps this summer. Two of them will be in the Czech Republic at Ceske Budejovice and Strakonice. The third and last camp will be in Slovakia. This is going to be a busy, yet amazing, summer!