Camp - Day 1

Actually, I am not going to start with Day - 1 of camp.  I need to back-up to Monday, just for a minute.

The team was praying for a way to spend the day on Monday, since school was still in session and we could not start camp until Tuesday afternoon.  We requested to visit one of the public schools, with really no agenda in mind.  We were invited to a primary school in the small village of Vishny Hagy.  The village is about 3 miles from Stola, closer to the mountains.  The school has about 40 students from first to fourth grade.  Erin Gorman was the star of the show.  She prepared a small speech, part in English and part in Slovak.  We had a small skit and answered questions.  We were very well received.  Praise God again that He can use what we thought was a set-back to gain another opportunity to build on His work.

After we spent some time at the Castle Spis (h), I took a group of teens to the DEPO in Poprad.  We had a great time of fellowship with some of the kids from prior camps and the kids from "the projects" of Poprad.  Marek Songa is the director of the DEPO ministry.  He spent some time walking me around the neighborhood and invited me to play European Football on Wednesday afternoon with some of the kids from the DEPO.  Of course I can never turn down an opportunity to play anything.  I'll let you know if I survive!

Today was the first day camp.  The first day is never without challenges, but all went very well.  Don Eade and his son Chad taught the children a great way to memorize the ten commandments.  It is a demonstration he did for our church when he was there last.  There will be a quiz when we return.  We were able to dodge the rain for sports in the afternoon.  Baseball has a lot of rules.  And it is really hard to teach them all when you have such a huge language barrier.  A big thank you to Kate Kacova for translating, playing catcher and batting instructor.

More to come.....

Shawn

Sunday in Stola

We arrived Saturday around 3:30. Ester, of course had a light snack ready for us. Then after unpacking we were invited to dinner at the Pavlikova home. This is the family of the three young ladies that will be travelling back with us. The hospitality of the Slovak people is overwhelming. I think we are all up a few pounds after only a few days.

I was really missing Walt Seligman as I dragged a group to Tesco last night. Walt loves Tesco and is usually happy to do the driving.

Alyssa, Chad and Kaitlyn found the bon fire up at the village community center and met with some former campers that aren't able to make it this year do to finances. They had a good time with them at the bon fire and came home trying to figure out if there was a way to get these children into camp.

Church this morning was in the local Stola church. Chad Eade translated for us and did a great job. I shared briefly from Acts 2 and we sang 2 songs; Mighty to Save and Worship the King. Jana's father, Jan, delivered the message from John 8:1-11, reminding us that before we judge one another that none of us are worthy of throwing the first stone, only Christ. There was an update and a lot of prayer for the camp this week.

Ian is explaining to Michael what "offsides" is in futball - they are playing Erin in a backyard game. They were winning 5-1 before I went down and played goal keeper for her. Not sure that I helped too much. As you can imagine Michael and Ian are having a great time together. Erin spent a few hours with Don Eade yesterday and is close to mastering the Slovak language, well at least closer than the rest of us.

The teens were up playing cards last night and are anxious to get out with the other teens in the village and to the Depot later in the week.

Camp doesn't start until Tuesday afternoon so we might have a chance to visit one of the local schools tomorrow. That would be a great experience!

Kathy and the girls had relatives from Eastern Slovakia vist us for lunch today. They took a day and found them two years ago, so it is nice that they can touch base again.
Keep us in your prayers - that we can keep up the energy and be prepared for camp physically, mentally and especially spiritually.

Weather update: Lots of clouds around the mountains. Huge storm last night with a lot of rain. Like us in Virginia it has been a very wet spring. It is pleasantly warm though and looks like it should be a good week with some storms here and there.

Appreciate any comments or questions that you have.

Jamie

It's All Good

Thank you for your prayers for our travel.  Linda, the boys and I arrived safely Thursday afternoon and were met at the airport by Don Eade.  We spent a wonderful afternoon with the Eade's and tried to recover from 30+ hours without sleep.  Don and I met the Gormans and the Ebenhoehs in Vienna today.  Everyone is safe, but very tired.  Pray the travel recovery is quick and we will all be ready for camp.

The Sumralls are spending the night with Eades.  Don arranged for the Gormans to stay in a house were the owners are on holiday.  Kathy and the girls are staying with a family from the church in Bernolakova.  They were so welcoming.  They are in great care.  Though, I think fellowship will be short.  I think bedtime us going to early tonight for everyone.

Don and I did a little shopping for the group at the local "Costco", called METRO.  It is members only bulk/wholesale store very much like Costco.  Its always helpful to have someone to translate.  We picked out the items we needed and went to check-out.  The cashier informed us that we were $2 short of a free gift and insisted that Don get something else.  She failed to explain what we were going to receive as the gift.  So, Don proceeded to grab two more Euro of toilet paper and we proceeded to finish checking-out.  She told us to show our receipt at the door and collect our case of beer.  We passed.  Beginnings!  You learn something new everyday.

Saturday we will make the rest of our trip.  We are leaving around 10:00 to make the 41/2 hour ride to Stola.  We are really excited to finally get to the village.

We'll keep you posted.

Time to go!

WOW...I cannot believe it is the eve before we leave again for Stola, Slovakia. It seems, at times, it was just last week we were returning from last year's trip. I think we are mostly ready to go. All the preparations for classes and assignments are complete...I think. How close to done are we Jamie? I personally will not pack until Wednesday. I know, last minute. But I cannot handle sitting around waiting for the bus to leave for the airport. I will drive everyone crazy.

Just to recap again. The Sumrall family leaves Wednesday, June 24. The Gormans and Ebenhoehs leave on Thursday, June 25. Since we used mileage points to buy so many of the tickets, we could not all fly together. Believe me, Michael and Ian are none to happy about not flying together. Its OK with United Airlines though!

We will meet Don and Cherry Eade on Thursday when we land and they will host us for the night. We pick up the rest of the team Friday and will spend the day with the Eade's and some members of their church in Bernolakova, Slovakia. Don and Cherry along with their son Chad will join us in Stola for camp. We are looking forward to a great week with them.

Saturday we will travel to Stola and meet with the Slovak team and get settled into our quarters for the week. Sunday we will be at church in Poprad and then have our first organizational meeting. Kathy's family from southern Slovakia will come to Poprad to spend some time with Kathy and the girls. What a really neat experience that will be for all of us.

English Camp in Stola will start Tuesday, June 30. Typically, we have camp Monday through Friday. This year, Slovak public schools will not end until June 29. Just a small problem. We are hoping to spend that day, Monday, in school with some of the campers from last year. One challenge seems to open another door of opportunity. Monday evening the church in Poprad is planning a cook-out for us. We are excited about spending time with the Body of Christ. The rest of the week will be typically camp for us! Classes in the mornings. Sports in the afternoons. Adult English in Stola in the evenings and a couple of trips to the DEPO as well. It will be very busy. We are looking forward to what the Lord will do this week.

We will keep you posted on the happenings. Feel free to comment on the posts. Especially keep us posted on softball!

Blessings to all. Thank you again for your support. My God be honored and glorified through ti all.