Zilina: the city where we held our basic training before breaking off into individual cities for camp
TC Kompas: the training center through which all Josiah Venture's camps are organized
Presov: the city where our students are from, and where we spent the last couple of days of our visit
KECY: conversational English camps; this is the reason we go - to lend an American presence at these camps
Fusion: a new project from Josiah Venture; these camps are similar to KECY camps, but focus on music instead of English lessons
E-night: "Environment night"; these are essentially themed parties or group activities, done in the evening after our long day of lessons, sports and an evening message.
halusky: one of the "national dishes" of Slovakia. Just Google it; it's delicious.
For your enjoyment...Slovakia 2012:
Wednesday, June 27
– The first day. Always I find myself excited, but this morning I woke up with
a strange feeling. Not foreboding, or anxiety, more of a realization of the
current state of things. That when I next put my head to a pillow, it will be
in a hostel in Prague, rather than the comfort of my own home.
Breakfast with the parents. Last-minute errands. Catching a
few final sets of Wimbledon, before I essentially break off communication with
the outside world. Once again, I learn the painful lesson of my reliance on
technology, my need for connectedness, and how much I resist a similar reliance
and connectedness with my Creator.
We meet at the church, and the pleasant chaotic dance
ensues. Hugs goodbye, frantic final packing, instructions and advice shouted
one more time for emphasis. Then piling into vans for the drive to the airport.
Not much else to tell today, just some final bonding
opportunities, laughter and people-watching in the international terminal. And
now, almost like a musical chord hanging across the day, I hear the resolution
of my feelings from my waking moments: a complete peace, a full awareness and
embracing of the journey at hand, a trust and joy that God has ordained the
number for this journey, has tasked and gifted us accordingly, and has begun to
prepare and stir the hearts of students in Slovakia. May we find boldness and
confidence in the coming days, that we may obey the Great Commission and bring
honor to His name. – DH
Thursday, June 28
– Today I woke up on a plane over the Atlantic. This was to be our primary
travel day: a brief layover at Heathrow, a connection to Prague, and an
afternoon to relax before a full day of seeing Prague on Friday. This plan was
soon to dissolve, and in one of those ways that make it clear that God bestows
His blessings in His own time, in His own way.
Our problems began as we approached London. We noticed the
plane beginning to bank repeatedly, in the tell-tale sign of a holding pattern.
We landed twenty minutes late or so, but hadn’t counted on Heathrow’s complex,
spacious and – most importantly – time-consuming methods of connecting
passengers. Long story short – we missed our flight to Prague! In those
moments, it was difficult to see the “good” in this situation. All of us were
thinking about luggage, how long we might be in the airport, and how many
separate flights it would take to get us to our destination.
After about an hour at customer service, the news was a
little better: Austin and Bryan would go ahead to Prague, while the rest of us
would catch a flight early Friday morning. So, all of a sudden, we had a bonus
on our trip: an afternoon in London! Anyone who knows me should be aware that
I’ve always wanted to visit England. And while we’d lose some time in Prague,
the trade-off was well worth it.
We visited Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar
Square. The busses, the accents, the streets and architecture – put me in this
city anytime. London was amazing! Add it to the list of places I’d live in a
heartbeat. Tomorrow: Prague, and a reunion with Bryan and Austin. – DH
Friday, June 29 –
Today we took an early flight to Prague, then headed straight to our hostel to
check in. Prague is a great city, beautiful and ancient. First of all, the town square and the castle in Prague are
amazing. They say that Prague avoided much of the devastation of World War II,
and also has never experienced a major fire. In short, all its old buildings
remain intact. I literally gasped on a couple of occasions. The Church of St.
Vitus must be seen to be truly appreciated. The rest of the day was spent wandering the city. – DH
Saturday, June 30
– What a day! God is so faithful. We had a quick breakfast in Prague, then made
our way (via tram and subway) to the train station. We even had 11 whole
minutes to spare! The train ride was mostly uneventful (though hot). I did get
a chance to talk with Brad about a few specific things that we felt could be
changed for future trips. Brad, Birch, Jeremy and I had a nice prayer session
right in our seats, and immediately felt better about things. I like to
encourage by nature, so I was ready to get back to that.
After we reached Zilina, we had a nice dinner and caught up
with old friends (Mike, Jany, Eva, plus the interns). After dinner, a brief
training session and, of course, a trip out for zmrzlina (ice cream)! The
highlight of the night was meeting Duraj coming back from the train station.
Love that kid!
There was a team of Norwegians also at TC Kompas tonight,
helping with Fusion, so we headed to a local hotel. Talk about weird! The front
desk guy was suspicious, the rooms were threadbare, and to top it off, the
circus was in town and camped next door. Elephants and giraffes in Slovakia!
Best thing, though, was getting to chat with Bryan. We
stayed up until 2am, just like old times. We discussed our plans, weaknesses,
and tons of other things. We even prayed for each other. I felt the best I’ve
felt since Day 1. Bryan and I needed a reconnect. Tomorrow: We get to see Anka
and the whole Presov team. – DH
Sunday, July 1 –
Ugh! A day of sweat. First, our training sessions at Kompas. These were almost
identical to last year. With a warm room thrown in, it was nearly impossible to
stay awake. I nodded a couple of times. After lunch, it was another brisk walk
to the train station – where we again got to wait about 45 minutes for our
train! Finally we boarded, and the heat was on – again.
So the thing about today was that we hiked to the station –
then cooled off. Changed trains for another train ride – then cooled off. And
took a bus for another hour. The sweat was caked on me, and I’m sure I looked
(and smelled!) as bad as I felt. Still, nothing compares to the moment of
reunion.
David and Milos were two of the first to reach us at the
car. They hugged me like I was the driest, freshest-smelling thing there was.
So great to be with people who truly love who you are. After I thought I’d greeted
everyone, I heard screams from the top of the stairs. I turn to see my little
sisters, Andrea and Monika, barreling towards me. They both hugged me so tight
at once. Katie said it was the sweetest thing she’d ever seen (but she might
say that a lot).
After a quick dinner, we had a devotional and some great
worship time, and lots of prayer. We had a lot of prep left before the kids
arrived, but the excitement and expectations were high. Time for a shower! – DH
Monday, July 2 –
I feel like I’ll combine a lot into these next few days, or at least keep each
entry much shorter. Not because there was less going on, but frankly, because I
haven’t had free time to touch a pen since our students arrived. There are a
lot of them (nearly 70!) and they’re amazing.
Today we did an intro circle video with everyone, and I was
the cameraman. I’m no Nathan, but it seemed to go well. Then I was asked to
help assess the English level for each student, along with Bryan, Tracy and
Jeremy. At the time, I was so nervous
about doing this well (although since I’m writing this after the fact, I can
tell you that we actually got it pretty accurate). – DH
Tuesday, July 3 –
Our first full day with students. English went really well, even though my kids
spoke a LOT of Slovak (I’ve got the beginners again). One of my “students” is
23 and coaches volleyball; another is the tiniest 13-year-old girl I’ve ever
seen. Could be interesting.
Tonight we celebrated 10 years of KECY. A birthday party was
the E-night theme. Fun, lots of dancing, and I’m soaked through again. It’s
going to be a gross week! P.S. Mike brought Ryan over from Kosice to give us an
extra English teacher. – DH
Wednesday, July 4
– With Ryan in camp, Katie is rolling. Hannah is right in her element, and the
rest of the team are veterans, so it’s all good. Plus Mike and Chris are here,
so everything just feels like it’s running smoothly.
Tonight was American Night, which meant doing my play.
Everyone did SO great. I was so proud that people embraced it, made the parts
their own, and really seemed to like it. I’m so arrogant about stuff like that,
but I have to be honest: between the play and the English lessons (with Tracy), I
really feel I contributed a lot this year in the planning. – DH
Thursday, July 5
– ALL-DAY HIKE!! I’ve been excited but nervous about this for two years, mostly
because I’m so out of shape. And parts of it were definitely tough. But there
were stations and activities throughout the hike, and it wasn’t so bad. Tiring,
but healthy. And even better: my team clicked! Oh, it was like magic. Today,
they all started trusting each other and me. Over the course of the day, I
spoke one-on-one with Lutia, Maja, Miro, Alzbeta, Vika, Ivka and David. David
had NO English background, so it’s really
hard with him. But man – everyone wants to talk now! What a pleasant
breakthrough day. Other notes: Natalka arrived from Japan (love her!). And E-night was
blah (Roman theme). – DH
Friday, July 6 –
Not a lot to report from English and sports today, other than my group being
vibrant and connected. We are the “Smurfs” (from our assigned team color of
blue), and we do an amazing team chant which includes the Smurfs’ song! We have
also created an invisible pet dog named Sarik and an invisible “water pig”
named Pixy. (No, no one knows what a “water pig” is: translation error!)
Tonight, Maruska shared the gospel. We had the “Labyrinth”
set up for students to walk through and think about things, then come in to
pray with us. I was again fortunate to be included in the prayer room (though
many would end up praying outside with Hannah and others). I was fortunate to
pray with two students: Thomas and Jozef. Thomas had a lot to say. Jozef just had questions, lots
of them, and no Bible to look for the answers. (quick note: he had one before we left!) All in all, a tremendous night!
– DH
Saturday, July 7
– Last day of English. We hit it hard, lots of vocab and talking about it. I
really feel like I’ve never had a small group like this one. I’m going to miss
them like crazy. Miro and Maja, who were the two most on my heart, both went
into the prayer room last night, as did Lutia. This was also my night to give
testimony, along with Bryan’s talk. I think I did okay, although it’s weird
when you don’t have a “dynamic” testimony. Afterward it was “boat night” –
fruity drinks and dancing. I ended up lying in a circle with Ivka, Addy, Mims,
Dominika, and Zuzka, singing until almost 2am. It was peaceful, touching, and
beautiful. Unforgettable last night of camp.
– DH
Sunday, July 8 –
Last day in camp. One morning “big group” meeting, then it was picture time and
packing. But this year, we actually took the busses back to town with the
students. And knowing that we’d see most of them at the farewell party made it
much easier.
Tracy and I stayed with Duraj and Vika, who live with their
mother and grandparents. What a nice family! They fed us wonderfully (brinze
halusky!) and toasted us with champagne. Then we took a little walk through
their village (Zdenov). Jany Simocko and Daniel Harcar are both from there as
well. We watched storm clouds roll in across the huge green hills and we had to
cut our walk short. Not a moment too soon. As soon as we got back home, the
heavens opened. Wind, rain, lightning – this was one of the more intense storms
I’d ever seen. As we headed into town, there were dozens of downed trees, and
the power was out. Vika told us this kind of weather is extremely rare here.
We spent a fun evening with several of the students at
McDonald’s (I could actually eat this year!), just relaxing and talking. We got
back to the village at a decent hour, then drank Coke by candlelight and stayed
up a while longer, talking and laughing. An early bedtime was a welcome change,
and needed for the busy and painful day ahead. – DH
