http://poland09.posterous.com/

The Poland team has made it safely to the H2O project work site and have settled in. The only small thing to worry about is a ton of mosquitoes and as well as a lot of spiders. In fact, I have a spider that makes a web across the door frame of my cabin each night so I need to remember to duck upon leaving or entering. In a few short hours the work will begin and our tasks will be defined. I will put up another post tonight or tomorrow describing our work better (need to wait to actually experience it before I write about it). Also, we are working alongside two teams, one from Belfast, Ireland and the other a team of Polish youth from a nearby city. This week is going to be good. We have a lot of work to get done, but I know this team is up for the challenge.

It is the 31st of July and I am back in Prague. Yesterday was so bittersweet. Today is even worse as I have time to think about yesterday. Spending time in Strakonice and České Budějovice was so good. I look to the horizon in hopes of seeing my self back here but all that is ahead is haze and what dim shapes of the landscape that pokes through does not seem familiar.

While I was here though I tried to make the most of it. From cooking a true Mexican style dish to going to concerts (punk rock at one, folk music at another), I would say the time I spent with friends from past English camps was well spent. Even went to Obi once (Czech version of Home Depot, orange color included) to get some last minute supplies for the work I'll be doing in Poland in the coming days. Also spent a couple of hours one night at a tea house which had seating on the rook akin to a Japanese garden (or at least that was what I think they were going for). The sweetest times however, came from the small hang outs at cafes or the long walks back to the flat. If only it were easy to hold on to such moments and make them last.

I hope to return sometime in the future and I'm sure I will, but the question is "When?"....

I have seem some of what good this visit to Strakonice has brought but if there is more, then I suspect that I will never know to what extent it has meant to the few people I have interacted with. If anything, I would hope that my time in the Czech Republic this summer is more valuable to others than it is for me. At this moment I have a few slim hours to rest and relax, alone with my thoughts....which is something I have been craving, not feeling as though I have to be doing something with someone. It is moments like these that I treasure.


In a few short hours I will take a train to Ceske Budejovice (from Pisek) and spend time with a few more friends from two different summers. This I will treasure too, just in a different way. I feel as though my time in the Czech Republic is coming to a close, not in reference to this week, but in reference to the coming years. So the time I spend with those students from camp who I have grown close to means a lot to me.

So I just found out a few days ago that the poland team had a blog. The web address is http://poland09.posterous.com. Keep tabs on that site in addition to here!

Its interesting. Walking...actually more so flying home last summer, I was expecting to be unable to come back to the Czech Republic this summer. Yet here I am. This time around I am not doing an English camp or an internship with Josiah Venture in CZ, but rather a work project in Poland starting a week and a half from now. However, that does not define what I am currently doing in CZ. Much of the time I have been asking myself why I am here. The surface answer is that I wanted to hang out with people I know here from camps and visit. Maybe encourage them in someway. The deeper answer is still unknown. What does God want me here for? I am sure there must be some reason. Deep in side, I feel a part of myself saying that this will be the last time for a long time.

I do not know what to make of that...

....only God in His timing will tell.

For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

I feel at times that I am merely a foreigner in my home country. I dare to be different and thus am viewed as such. Being a college student actively seeking God and serving Him, I find that I do not have the time to watch TV or play video games for hours on end. It is possible that I could rearrange other priorities in my life to make room for the aforementioned entertainment but of what value would such an effort be to me? Christians need to move beyond the shallowness of the mire of entertainment and dive into deep and close relationships with those around us. Don't become complacent with the American dream of less work and more pay but instead go for the opposite. Work harder at your interactions with people, invest time into them. Do not take your relationships for granted. I know that in large, this is a "me" centered society in which we are conditioned through media, peers, and even our own flesh to seek after the things that bring the most benefit back ourselves while minimizing what those around us get. The intent of the flesh throughout the span of the creation has remained constant since the fall of humanity. Only by God's grace are we able to be freed from sin's bondage.

Let us make the most of the time that God has given us rather than wasting it on empty pursuits. We will never again live this day over.

This coming summer holds within its grasp many things to be treasured and remembered. On July 20 I will be leaving again for the Czech Republic, but this time I will also be going to Poland to work on the H2O project with a team from Grace Community Church. I am excited for this and look forward to the time I will get to spend with new college freshmen during that week of renovation work! Looking forward to next fall I am seeking to be more involved in the college group at church and may focus on the incoming freshmen for the next year!

However my heart still yearns to know about the unknowns of the next 2 years and the subsequent year following graduation. I really want to know the unknown but I must be content in God, which is one of the hardest things for me as I like to know what is going on around me. I need to have faith in God with where He is leading me as I know that He has a plan for my life. I need to trust Him in all that He does in my life.

.....this is so hard and I alone cannot not accomplish such a feat under my own power. God, you are my strength and my breath!

One thing that has been on my mind these past few months is that of the subject of suffering. This is not random by any means as these past few months have been quite difficult for me (in my eyes). I plan to make a post about what God has been teaching me but until I do that, I wanted to place a link to a sermon given by Mark Driscoll on suffering and how we are to live our lives during the midst of it. Enjoy!
Suffering to Serve