Greg in Czech

JV Kids Camp

After a summer of English camps and traveling for 3 months the last thing you would thing I would do is drive 13 hours to another camp.  But, that's what I did for my vacation this year.  I just got back from a week on an island in Croatia with all the kids of my Josiah Venture coworkers.  Even though it was another camp, it was with people I loved (my JV coworkers and their kids), it was in English, and I wasn't in charge of the program.  My only responsibility was to take pictures and hangout with kids.

Missionary kids are a wierd, but incredibly cool breed.  They grow up in a home with the culture of their parents (in our case American culture), but the country they live in is a second culture (Czech, Slovak, Polish, etc.).  Because they don't fully belong to either culture, they create their own kind of 3rd culture.  These kids have world views that are light years beyond "normal" kids their age.  These kids so deep, interesting, mature, and fun. Each of them attends the public school system and have learned the local language.  Throughout the week I would hear siblings talking in Czech or Latvian as a "secret code language."

We spent the week learning about the work of the Holy Spirit.  26 kids ages 8-18 gathered around one teacher learning the same thing.  Hats off to you Andrea for teaching with skill and effectively communicating God's truth to this audience.  The dynamic was so different than anything that I've ever experienced in youth ministry.  All these kids have solid families with good parents. They have all professed faith in Christ. This was the first camp I'd ever been to where there were no trouble makers.  These kids all wanted to grow in Christ.  I don't know who benefited more from being in this environment, me or them.  I've posted some pictures and stories in an album on the left titled "JV Kids Camp 08" if you would like to read and see more.

A Visit from the South

Sunday morning my alarm went off at 3:15am.  I had to go with my interns to the airport to see them off on their 6:15am and 7:55am flights.  After saying goodbye and watching them go through customs us fulltimers and the 6-month interns headed back to the hotel for a morning of meetings.  At about lunch time it was over.  I cried the annual shout of freedom, and before the depth of my freedom sank in I was off to the train station. My friends Eric and Julianne Wildgen came to Prague for a couple of days on their way back from a summer in Kenya to the US.  I've been good friends with them for a while int he US and have visited Eric in Africa, but I've never hosted them on my own turf.  In spite of my exhaustion from a summer of ministry (and theirs as well), it was a privilege and blessing to tour them around.  There was a whole lot of 2nd-culture bonding going on.  Thank you for being a breath of fresh air and honoring me with you visit, Wildgens.

Random End-of-the-Summer Thoughts

This week and last week are the hardest and weirdest time of my year.  I go from living with a team of interns, craving time by myself to being alone in my apartment craving time with anyone.  My summer is so filled with goodbyes that I think to myself "what's one more?"  Then my interns go home and I wonder why it was so hard to say goodbye to them.  The summer is hard, good, exhausting, rewarding, and effective all wrapped in one.  The last week of the summer I will be saying that I never want to do another English camp again, and then I will have a conversation with a youth leader that makes me cry.  I had one of those conversations with Pavel, the leader of the Bohumilice youth group, last Tuesday. God blessed me with a glimpse of the fruit He is producing through me.  This time of the year is when I struggle most with my own sin. I go from hardly having time to think to having all the time in the world to think.  That's when I struggle with thoughts, emotions, and attitudes and making them obedient to Christ.  Here are a few random pictures of my last two weeks.  The first is of my intern team getting all album-coverish after our third camp.  The second picture is a self-portrait with the church in Bohumilice.  After the last camp of the summer was done my team and I headed to Prague for a few days of debriefing.  While there I got to hook up with the team from my home church. They were in Prague for a day after doing English camp with the Church in Letovice. Karen Gold, the lovely lady on the left, has been bringing teams to Czech for English camp since I first led the Friendship Church team in 2000. Thank you, Karen for loving this ministry and the kids here as much as I do.  This next pic makes me ready for another 15 years of youth ministry.  I first met Jonathan 6 years ago when he was a chubby little 7th grader.  Now he's a high school graduate following hard after Jesus.  What a cool thing to listen to him talk about sharing with Czech students at English camp.  I'm proud of you Jonathan.  This last pic is of my girls (Lena, Bethany, Bonnie and Julie) the evening before heading to Prague for debriefing.  Like I said above, this week is hard for me.  I make a point of spending time one on one with each of my interns during the week.  I want to make sure that all of the things that need to be said get said. All sorts of encouragements, apologies and exhortations happen.  It's a time of reflection and celebration. Some of them I will never see again.  Some of them will end up being my coworkers.  In the end I am grateful for the privilege of a summer with Andy, Bonnie, Bethany and Julie (and Lena for a couple of weeks).

Free Hugs

One morning at the Tábor English camp I threw on a music video about some dude in Australia who walked around public places carrying a sign saying "Free Hugs".  Everybody at camp loved it so I declared the day "National hug day."  After camp while spending a few days in Tábor some of the students put together a few "hug" signs and hit the streets.  We went all through down town, the old town square, train station, bus depot and back to church.  In a culture where people only talk to those they know the responses were pretty fun.  One lady kept saying that we didn't want to hug an old lady. After a couple of minutes she gave in and hugged Lenka.  Some just attempted to ignore us and walk by (which was a pretty hard thing to do).  While others smiled in disbelief.  One older gentleman got off the train to be greeted with about 5 hugs from teenagers he didn't know.   He walked away with a smile on his face.  For some it was like flipping on a light switch.  Their characteristic Czech scowl turned to a radiant smile ready to embrace their hugger.  Whatever the response, it was a fun way to share the love of Christ in an appropriately counter-cultural way.

Blueberry Fields Forever

One of my favorite parts of English camp is being in the mountains and forests of Czech in July.  That's when wild blueberries are in season.  This year there is a bumper crop.  When we go hiking the kids (and me) come back with blue mouths.  After our first camp this year with the youth group from Pardubice we went on a hike in central Bohemia.  We stopped for lunch by some rock outcroppings and ended up in the middle of blueberry heaven.  Camps this summer have been good so far.   My team and I just finished our second camp and have our last in one week.  I sat down with them on Friday, the last day of camp.  I was the only one who wasn't sick or injured somehow.  We're hitting the second camp slump I think.  Camps are an exhausting ministry.  If you are doing one camp you can pour yourself into it and spend the next week recovering with the knowledge that life will be normal until next year's camp.  But, when you do three in a row your body really suffers.  Not all camps have the best food.  People usually don't sleep that much while at camp.  Those of us doing camps all summer long take a beating.  On the right hand side of this page are a couple of photo albums from our first two camps of the summer.  In them are some stories of what makes this ministry worth the physical pain.  I would love it if you would take some time and pray for Andy, Bonnie, Bethany, Julie and I.  We're pretty tired, but want to finish the summer ministry well.

34...And still darn good-lookin'

Last Friday was my 5th birthday in a row on the road in a foreign country.  Even though I'm away from home each year, someone always seems to pick up on or remember that it's my birthday.  My team made me a cake for breakfast, two of my former interns gave me a bag of vegetables, and the youth group in Tabor threw me a surprise party.  And I also got some birthday blessings from Mom and Dad.

June is the month that I hit the road with my intern team and visit all of the churches that we will be doing English camps with this summer.  So far we've visited the churches in Pardubice and Tabor.  Pardubice is a church that I've worked with in the past, so it has been great to reconnect with old friends.  My former intern, Jerry will be leading the camp while I mentor him through the process.  This will be his first camp that he's led.

Tabor is always a blessing for me to visit.  It is especially sweet this time, because I will be moving here in a few months.  So far this weekend I've learned of 3 new believers in the youth group.  Continue to pray for my team, the youth group from Good Shepherd Church in Portland, OR and the youth group in Tabor as we team up for camp in 4 weeks.  Check out the photo album in the upper right hand corner of this blog formore stories and pics.

School, Interns, and Control Issues.

I just wanted to write a bit of an update about the summer so far.  I'm having some technology issues, so I have not been able to get out an update email in the last couple of weeks.  Hence, a blog update.  This last Saturday, by God's grace, I completed something that most of my middle school and high school teachers never would have guessed.  I completed my master's degree from Bethel Seminary.  When I was a kid I hated doing homework.  I ended up graduating high school 6 months late with a 1.5 GPA.  My last trimester of HS I had 2 A's and 5 F's.  Being able to complete this degree is proof that God loves to take silly things and do something with them for His glory.

While finishing three papers and studying for a final exam I welcomed my summer team of interns.  We spent our first couple of days running the 3rd annual JV amazing race.  It's a bonding event we put on for the interns every year to give the leaders a glimpse into their teams' personalities under stress.  This year it was more of glimpse into my personality under stress.  While racing my phone stopped working, I lost $500 and two train tickets, found an unknown naked woman occupying our hotel room, missed numerous buses and trains, all while studying for my last final exam and preparing for a seminar.  God stripped me of every form of control on my life: technology, money, and the ability to care for my team. I'm still sorting through what God is teaching me through this event.

For the rest of this week we are at Josiah Venture's training center/hotel in the mountains of eastern Czech getting ready for our summer of ministry together.  I have no homework for the first time in 5 years.  The program is not my responsibility.  I only need to get to know my team.  Pray for Julie, Bethany, Bonnie, Andy, and me as we prepare for a summer filled with English camps, school visits, youth group parties and discipleship.

Maple Blessings

This weekend I visited my church in the village of Bohumilice.  Normally when I go there it's for work, I have an agenda and people to see and meet with.  This time, however, I just went to spend some time with friends.  David and Desneige have become good friends over the past couple of years that I've been working with their church.  While in MN last month for my brother Brian's wedding I received a gift of homemade maple syrup.  This is a rare treasure here in Czech, So I wanted to share this blessing with friends who would appreciate it.  I thought to myself, my friend Desneige is Canadian, Canada has a maple leaf on their flag, that's a winning combination.  So, I made David and Desneige a deal, "Make me pancakes and I'll share my syrup with you."  A wonderful breakfast was had by all.  It's funny how little things like syrup can enhance friendships and make life more enjoyable.

A note for readers in the Czech Republic: I still have more syrup, so the deal still stands for anyone who has a hankering for pancakes or waffles.

Elusive Yellow Fields

When I first came to the Czech Republic the summer of 1998 I was enraptured by these bright yellow fields.  They were incredible.  The rapeseed plant is grown to produce oil and biofuels.  But I just wanted a picture of the yellow magic.  For the last 10 years I have either not had my camera with me, arrived in the country after the blooms had fallen, or not had transportation when the fields were in bloom.  But, finally this last Sunday I had the winning combination: a camera, a bike, the sun, and a magnificently bright field in full bloom.  Here are a couple of my favorites.  Nothing spectacular as far as photography goes, but I like them.

Strocknich Wedding

This last Saturday I had the immense privilege of being the officiant at my baby brother Brian's wedding.  He and Jen Oknich tied the knot at Wild River State Park next to the St. Croix River.  I've got more pictures in the upper right hand corner.  I'm not ordained so I didn't do anything legal, they did all the legal stuff last October.  We just had the public ceremony in the wild.  I made it through the ceremony ok, but when I laid hands on them to pray for them I lost it.  I cry when I pray anyways, so nothing new.  Brian and Jen were gracious in planning the wedding when I would be in MN, so we braved the chilly early May air.  The two days prior to the wedding were torrential rain showers with forecasts for more rain through the weekend.  But, Saturday morning we woke up to sunny skies.  God was very gracious to us.  The day culminated in a unity bonfire which Brian and Jen lit with drip torches lent by the state park.  It was such an honor to be asked by them to do this.  Now I can say "Always the groomsman, best man, photographer, pastor, but never the groom."