Long Overdue....

 I cannot believe how long it has been since I last sent a newsletter!! My sincere apologies for not making this a priority. So much has happened these past months and for that reason this one will be a bit longer than normal, but there are so many wonderful things to share!

 

Ukrainian ministry

When Miri and I returned to Czech in the middle of April, we jumped onto a train that was moving very fast. We had about 50 Ukrainians living on our campus, and they continued to come and go until the end of May. Altogether we had around 200 Ukrainians that stayed on our property and were rehoused in the surrounding towns and villages. These three months of caring for people in crisis was extremely exhausting and mentally and emotionally draining. At the same time, it was incredibly rewarding to share their burdens as much as possible, provide for them in small and big ways, and to ultimately share the Gospel with them. Every single person that came through our doors heard a clear Gospel presentation at least once, if not four or five times while they were here. Throughout the entire time, God moved in mighty ways every day. So often we needed something very specific, and it was donated within hours of that need being known. The community around our campus came together and basically buried this place with donations – food, clothing, toys, shoes, toiletry items, etc. People drove hours to drop things off, not thinking twice about gas prices. By God’s grace, we found more permanent living situations for all our guests before the end of May. We couldn’t continue housing people beyond that because of camp season, but our work with the Ukrainians continues – we are still involved in a weekly gathering that local churches started to connect Ukrainians to Czechs and to the church, and we did a week of camp specifically dedicated to Ukrainian children. This was and is such a very difficult thing to live through, and I cannot accurately express all the emotions that we all felt and still feel as we remember all the stories that were shared with us.

Summer Camps

Rehousing all the Ukrainians by the end of May gave us only a short respite. We jumped right into camp preparation, most of which had been neglected during our time caring for the Ukrainians. We filled up our volunteer roster, replaced and repaired things on campus, planned menus, organized program, decorated, and so much more in the span of four short weeks. It was only by God’s strength we were able to do so much in that brief time! Despite such little time planning, we had a wonderful four weeks of camp – kids, teens, tweens, and then Ukrainian. God continued to work in some really powerful ways, and we saw many decisions made throughout the summer: over 60 decisions for salvation, and 39 for dedication. I was one of the Crew Leaders for this summer, which means I was directly involved with all the volunteers who work “behind the scenes”. We had many new young people this year and it was so encouraging to see how God brings people together and the things they were learning during their time serving with us. I was also overseeing the mentorship program again this year. We make sure that every one of our volunteers has a personal mentor who meets with them a couple times a week, a part of camp that we have been developing and strengthening for three years now. This year, our volunteers came expecting that as part of camp and were looking forward to it. I am so thankful for all the testimonies we heard of how much they want the mentoring. Discipleship is something very close to my heart and I love seeing our volunteers desiring to grow in their relationship with the Lord. 

I taught two workshops during our summer camps this year – knitting during teens’ week and cooking during Ukrainian week. The knitting one was especially fun, we all made little bunnies out of a square and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing my beloved art with the kids (and even some of our volunteers).

 

 Ukrainian Week

This deserves a part all its own. Our God truly is a God of the details, and He gets all the credit and glory. Before summer camp started, we had about twenty kids registered for this week, and no volunteers. During the summer camp, one of the missionaries from Word of Life Ukraine that was here helping us, worked tirelessly to find volunteers and let Ukrainians here in Czech know about the camp. Most of us didn’t even know how many kids and volunteers we would have until just before this week of camp, and we were still thinking it would be small. In the end, we had more people here than a normal Czech week!! We had 88 campers, and around 70 volunteers (I never did get a good count, it felt like no one stopped moving long enough for me to count them!!). People came from all over – Czech, Germany, Romania, Austria, and even Ukraine!! Two big vans came with kids from Western Ukraine, some more of the missionaries from WOL came, and a pastor and his family that works with WOL in Ukraine. One of the evenings, we had devotions with the girls, and I opened it up for anyone to share. It was so sweet to hear about how the Lord brought so many of them here to help and several of them shared what a joy it was to choose to leave their country and to be able to serve others after they had been given so much help since the war started. We had a celebration dinner with the volunteers at the end of the week like we normally do, and we heard over and over this was the happiest they had been since the end of February, that this week felt like a slice of home, that they saw God move and work in their lives and in the campers’ lives. This was not a ministry that we ever thought to have, but it has brought so much joy and growth to us as a team here in the Czech. 

Fall Ministry

After some much-needed vacation and our annual staff retreat, we have begun our fall ministry. There were four adaptation courses here on property during September, and this past weekend was our annual Chill party for the summer volunteers. Some of you will remember when we started our adaptation program last year with only one school. This is a normal part of the Czech curriculum when new classrooms in 6^th and 10^th grade work on team building and getting to know their new classmates. The same school returned for our program and one other school brought three different groups of their students. Connecting with the local schools is a great way to be involved in the community and build relationships with the kids and the teachers as well. The Chill party is one of my favorite events of the year. We always have some special meals, including a big brunch, and lots of fun chatting and catching up with the volunteers.

 

Language studies

I have also restarted language classes. I will be able to apply for a 5-year permanent residency in January, but I must pass the A2 level exam, so this fall is very important for my Czech. I haven’t been able to take classes since before our trip to the states, but I have still learned a lot during camp and daily interactions. Now I need to buckle down and work on a few specific things before I take the test in December. This is both exciting and nerve wracking for me. Many people have assured me I will pass with no problem, and I can tell I have improved, so I am trying to be confident! Sign Language classes are going well, and I can tell there is progress there as well. A couple weeks ago at church, we had a deep conversation about righteousness, about the meaning in English, Czech, Czech Sign Language, and of course the Bible, and how we explain it and how it connects to our salvation. It is truly fascinating to discover how different languages communicate the same concepts and how they are understood differently based on that language and on the context and culture surrounding it. And it’s extremely exciting to be able to have these deep conversations in a different language!!

 

Thank you all for your support and prayers for myself and for Word of Life Czech Republic. You are a vital part of the work God is accomplishing here and I wouldn’t be here without all of you!

Love from Czech Republic,

Adele