Czech 2011 - BMA, JV, and the travels home

Pearl and I now find ourselves in our living room still in our sweatpants and lazy shirts. After roughly 26 hours of travel we made it home and are now recouping before jumping back into the normal pace of life.

Over all our time in Czech was wonderful. The relationships and conversations enjoyed with NGO's (non-government organizations) and the local church was priceless. Lubo (the local pastor who's a wonderful leader) said as we were parting that our time of dwelling together was rich and exactly what was needed. He was right. The art of simple sitting around a table together sharing stories, looking into someone's face as they express their dreams, meeting students who are doing extraordinary things and creating new stories through shared experiences was worth the time and travel.

Here are the remaining pictures I feel capture our last days there and our travel home. There's a lot of pictures. Hope you enjoy.

But first here's our awesome team. From left to right, Myself, Pearl, Lubo, Andy and Teri Martin, Brad and Beth Steele, and Katka Vlnova.

BMA (Beskydy Mountain Academy)
In Czech you have to apply for High School, much like we have to apply for collage in the states. Each High School has an area of focus. So your high school might be a art school, mechanical or trade school, business school, or if your BMA a Language school. They specialize in foreign languages, but English is their main focus. Their teachers are a mix of Czech and American. One thing that makes them very special to me is they not only are testing as one of the top language schools in the nation (excellence matters!) but they are a Christian school. Students interact with teachers who follow Jesus and over their 4 years of high school they slowly get to see what it means to have faith. The stories that come from this school are inspiring and make me proud to be friends with Jonny, who is one of their main teachers and core heartbeats of the academy.

This kid had some guts. Most Czech's would never talk to a stranger, much less ask one to do something for them. Jonny introduced me to classes as a photographer from the States documenting for the school. After class this kid walks right up to me and ask for a photograph of him and his girlfriend. Jonny and I was shocked with his guts so I gladly took some pictures.

We were able to join some of the class discussions.

Pearl and I stayed with Jonny and Lisa Lobel for the week. In three words, "We love them"

JV (Josiah Venture)

JV is the organization that originally connected LCBC with the Czech Republic. JV stepped into East Europe over a decade ago and God has used them to shaped the lives of thousands of teenagers across East Europe. We partner with them mainly for English and Sports camps in the summer but their umbrella of ministries include drama, music, leadership development, television productions, and a host of other things. They have introduced the concept of youth ministry to the churches of East Europe, are training a majority of their leaders and are being used to shape the lives of Europe's youth. Their headquarter is in Frydlant. We visited their office, prayed with their staff, and had lunch at their conference center / hotel. We also received a sneak peek of some cabins they are building as mini training centers. They asked if I could take some photos of their new space, so I was able to spend a little extra time in them.

The bench at the table folds open to a regular size bed. Very cool use of space. The cabin can comfortably sleep a team of 12 adults. Soon the property will have 3-5 cabins and a rustic lodge with a conference / training room to host 80-100 adults.

Krakow, Poland

Our fight home left early from Krakow Sunday morning. After some warm and heartfelt goodbyes our team drove to Poland to spend the evening before boarding our plane in the morning. We were able to spend the a few hours walking the streets of Krakow before bed. Every Europain city I've been in has a magical air to it and this one was no exception. We strolled the streets, looked at amazing architecture, watched street performers and simply relaxed from a busy and full week.

Paris, France

Lay overs are bitter-sweet, mostly their just bitter, except when it's 8 hours in Paris they become pretty sweet. We had 7 hours between arriving and departing to spend in the Paris airport. We shared this with Jonny and he mapped out what he felt was the best way to see the "heart beat of Paris" in 4-5 hours. So as soon as the seatbelt light was turned off the 6 of us where working our way to the Blue RER train to get into the city. We dashed like we were our own mini episode of "the Amazing race" through Paris. In less then 6 hours we managed to see Notre Dome, eat Paris' famous ice-cream (famous to Jonny at least, but still amazing), the Louvre, Walk through the gardens of Tuileries and see the 3,300 year old Obelisque do Louxor from Egypt. We crossed the Pont Alexandre iii bridge and made our way to the Eiffel tower, and ended with a quick look at the Arc De Triomphe before a mad dash through the airport and to our flight home.