Snow Day: BCM Colorado Mission Trip

Hello, all. Here is an update on @BCMVT’s #SpringBreak 2014 Colorado mission trip.

Sky Corral Lodge

Patrick getting ready to run the chainsaw.

We began this morning by continuing more of the work that we started yesterday. We loaded a large majority of the firewood that we have cut thus far into a trailer so that it could be taken to someone who was in need. After that, we split into three groups (each with a chainsaw operator), and continued bucking downed trees - piling up the logs that could be used as firewood, and putting the rest of the debris into slash piles. Today was a cold day, but our team made sure to wear several layers, and, as a result, was able to stay warm.

Matt, Joe, and Patrick.

Around midday today (while we were eating lunch), a snowstorm rolled into the area surrounding Sky Corral. The storm dumped enough snow to cover the ground, be a hinderance, and keep us from going back outside to work. We did not get the four inches that are required before we could burn the slash piles, but we most likely would not have been able to burn anyways, since the wind speeds today were high.

Kim and Greg.

This afternoon, we completed a variety of mostly indoor chores. We moved furniture in the rec hall and began to shampoo the carpet in that building. We also moved a heavy ice cream chest from the rec hall to the barn. We also helped Mallory clean a few of the guest bedrooms.

We ate diner fairly early (red beans and rice), and enjoyed some time hanging out as a team. Joe, Patrick, and Kim went for a short hike while Matt, Greg, and I played a couple of rounds of pool.

Please pray for our team as we work for two more days here. Pray that we would have the strength to do the work that we need to, and that we would have a joyful attitude in doing so. Also, pray that the Lord would direct our plans regarding who we will be helping on those days.

The view from above.

Clear-Cutting: BCM Colorado Mission Trip

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you all a quick update on the Colorado mission trip.

Today, we spent the large majority of our time clear-cutting part of a ridge on the Sky Corral property that had been burned by the High Park fire in the summer of 2012. The High Park wildfire burned more than 80,000 acres, and was the third most destructive fire in Colorado history, in terms of the number of houses that were burned. The flooding that followed also wiped out many of the roads in the area.

Clear-cutting the burned/dead trees on the ridge.

Greg and Joe surveying the area.

The way we worked today, Joe, Patrick, and Jim (one of the Sky Corral staff members) ran the chainsaws, felling dead trees and bucking them (cutting them into manageable pieces *read* “small enough to be carried”). Matt, Greg, Kim, and I worked on creating “slash piles” of excess branches and debris that would later be burned. We also carried the logs that had been bucked to the wood pile, where Joe cut them into firewood sized chunks, and Kim used the hydraulic log splitter to split them into firewood. Near the end of the day, the log splitter stopped working! Kim made it very clear that this was in no way her fault. Apparently, one of the critical pieces that transfers force between the engine and the hydraulic piston decided to give way. Jim’s son Luke is now in the process of trying to find a replacement part so that we can can get the splitter running again.

"Do you want to build a snowman?" One guess as to which of our team members created this.

Patrick "exhausted" after a day of work.

Today’s work was harder than Saturday’s due to the wet, muddy ground produced by the snow melt. The temperatures have been in the 60’s the past couple of days, and the snow that was on the ground here when we arrived now only exists under shade trees and in large piles. However, the forecast does call for more snow during the day tomorrow… anywhere from three inches to one foot of accumulation is possible. That should make things interesting.

Matt and his helpful footrest.

This evening, we had a delicious dinner (made all the more savory by our work-induced appetites), prepared by Sky Corral staff members Jon and Mallory. We also had a good time of testimony as a group, and played a couple of rounds of Spades before heading off to bed at an early hour - since all of us were worn out. Tomorrow, depending on how much snow we get, we hope to burn the slash piles that we created today. Colorado regulations require that four inches of snow be on the ground before you are allowed to burn a brush pile. They probably have a really good reason for that, but I’m not really sure what it would be off the top of my head.

If you are praying for our team, please continue to pray for us as we eat, work, and live together. Pray for the continuation of the sweet spirit of fellowship that has formed. Pray that we would be able to get the rest we need, and that we would have the energy to do our work to the best of our abilities in order to bring honor to God.

BCM Spring Break 2014 Colorado Mission Trip

As some of you may know, since transferring to Virginia Tech, I have gotten involved in the Baptist Collegiate Ministry on campus. I have joined a small group Bible study there, as well as helping out with audio/visual production during their 6:33 worship services on Tuesday evenings each week. Several months ago, I took a step of faith and applied to go on a Spring Break mission trip through BCM, despite having no idea what my homework load would look like at this point in time. As I filled out the application, I prayed that the Lord would either clearly open or shut the door, in order to show me what His will was. To make a long story short, it appears that His will was for me to be on this mission trip to Colorado over Spring Break with these awesome people from BCM!

Our team, from left to right: Kim, Greg, Patrick (center), Matt, Joe, and me.

This mission team consists of five current and one former Virginia Tech student(s) There are five guys and one girl on our team: Matt (Junior), Joe (graduate of Virginia Tech), Patrick (graduate student), Greg (Senior), Kim (Freshman), and me (also a Junior). We are working at Sky Corral Ranch, a Christian family camp located in the Rocky Mountains, north-west of Fort Collins, Colorado. Devastating wild fires and floods have swept through this area over the last couple of years, and we are helping with repair and cleanup work, both at Sky Corral, and in the community surrounding it.

Our trip certainly started off with some excitement. Our first flight was supposed to go out of Roanoke at 06:00 AM on Friday morning. However, as Thursday afternoon rolled around, an ice storm was forecasted to hit Blacksburg. Darrell (our campus minister at BCM) was concerned that we would not be able to make it to Roanoke the following morning to catch our flight, and he suggested leaving Blacksburg that evening and staying in Roanoke, making it easier for us to get to the airport the next morning. My parents offered for us to spend the (short) night at our house, instead of our team getting a hotel near the airport. We agreed on this, and Matt, Joe, Kim, and I left for my house at 8:00 PM on Thursday evening. (Both Patrick and Greg had separate flights to Denver out of different airports, due to scheduling conflicts.) I waited until we were in the car on the way to my house to remind (or inform for the first time, as may well have been the case) my fellow team members that I am the oldest of eight children. At this point, Joe made the comment that he had "Only brought enough rope for one." Ha-ha.

We arrived at my house and had dinner, and afterwards, Matt pulled out his phone to check on our flight. It had been cancelled. Joe immediately went into rescheduling mode, calling the airline only to find out that we had been booked onto another flight leaving Roanoke at 7:00 PM the next day. This would not work, as we had several other connecting flights to make, as well as a bus to meet on the other end in Denver. After spending over an hour on the phone (most of it on hold), Joe was able to find another flight out of Richmond International Airport at 7:30 AM the next morning that had four seats available. We immediately booked the tickets, loaded into the car, and drove through the night to Richmond. My dad drove part of the way, swapping with Joe and then dropping us off at the airport and driving back home.

Headed to richmond #ihatesnow
— Kimberly Combs (@KimberlyCombs14) March 7, 2014

Finally made it to richmond international! #yaysnow #notreally
— Kimberly Combs (@KimberlyCombs14) March 7, 2014

Richmond International at 07:00 AM.

We went through security at Richmond International at 4:30 AM in the morning. Once we were through security, we picked the spots on the airport floor that looked the most comfortable and proceeded to take short naps. At 7:30 AM, we boarded the plane, and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for over an hour, waiting for the plane to be de-iced so that we could take off. This delay made our connection in Chicago O'Hare (to Denver International) very tight. With a little bit of running, however, we were able to catch it. After an uneventful flight to Denver, we met Patrick in the airport, and proceeded to board a bus for Fort Collins.

Welcome to Sky Corral Lodge.

From Fort Collins, we were picked up in a mini-van by Jon, a Sky Corral staff member. He warned us as we started out that it was possible that the van wouldn’t be able to make it up the mountain to the ranch, because of the large snow storm they had recently gotten. He assured us, however, that they had a backup plan. We got about halfway up the mountain before the mini-van started sliding. At this point, our team split into two parts. Joe and Patrick joined Jim (another Sky Corral staff member) in his four wheel drive pickup truck, and continued up the mountain to the lodge. Matt, Kim, and I rode back down to town with Jon to make a second attempt in his smaller, front wheel drive car. We were much more successful this time, making it up all but the last half of the driveway with the car. From there, Matt, Kim, Jon, and I hiked the last mile or so in the snow to Sky Corral.

That evening, all of us were pretty tired… a result of traveling for 24+ hours straight with very little (if any) sleep. We met some of the staff from the camp, ate dinner, and then went straight to bed. The next morning, we began our actual work in and around the ranch. We began by traveling down to the local fire station, where we will be doing light construction work. We did some planning, and decided to come back on either Tuesday or Wednesday, during another forecasted snow storm.

Greg and Kim chopping firewood.

Also, about halfway through the day on Saturday, Greg, our other team member from BCM, arrived at the ranch. He showed up just as we were finishing lunch and getting ready to start the next items on the to-do list. Matt shampooed the carpet in the dining area while Patrick sanded and refinished a door. Meanwhile, Joe, Greg, Kim, and I went with Jim up into the mountains to begin cutting down, moving, and chopping trees that had already been felled into firewood.

This morning, we attended Stove Prairie Community Church - a church that meets on the grounds of Sky Corral. After the service, we took a group to a guy’s house who needed help moving two gun safes. These safes were nothing to be laughed at. One of them weighed six hundred pounds, and the other one ONLY weighed four hundred. Both of these, of course, had to be moved up a flight of stairs. Thankfully, we accomplished this with only minor incident.

Patrick enjoying the view.

After lunch, our team took advantage of the opportunity to hike up into the mountains and spend some time enjoying God’s creation. After throwing quite a few snowballs at each other on the hike up, we split up to be by ourselves and spent some time reflecting, praying, and (in Matt’s case) singing. This evening, we went to Old Town Fort Collins (near the campus of Colorado State University) to have dinner. We ate at Moe's Barbecue, and then returned to the lodge for a time of sharing testimonies.

So far on this trip, I believe God has taught us all a lot about his providence and power over every detail in our lives. The biggest example of this was the way in which He orchestrated our travel details after our first flight was cancelled so that we were still able to make it to Colorado at a decent time. It also struck me as I was standing on the mountaintop today, looking at all the of the area around Sky Corral that had been destroyed by the fire, that if He is powerful enough to direct this massive fire and keep it from destroying the ranch, He is powerful enough to handle the small details of my every day life.

There are a few ways that you can pray specifically for our team. First of all, pray that we would work together well as a team and have a spirit of unity, both with each other, and with the staff at Sky Corral Lodge. Pray that our bond would grow stronger as a group, and that we would build relationships that would last a lifetime. Pray that we would be able to bless the people that we are ministering to, both with our words, and with our actions. Finally, pray that we would each somehow grow in our relationship with God this week.

On the mountaintop: Matt, Kim, Greg, Joe, and me. (Photographer: Patrick)

The "Redeemer" Skit

  I just wanted to take a moment and throw up a quick update with some video that I recently finished editing from the Poland/Slovakia 2012 Mission Trip.
  As many of you know, one of the common issues on any foreign missions trip is the language barrier. It significantly increases the difficulty of sharing the gospel, because every phrase has to be passed through a translator. One way our church has overcome this barrier is through the "Redeemer" skit. This skit has no words, but vividly depicts the gospel message, all the way from creation, through man's fall, and Christ's death and resurrection. The "Redeemer" is a powerful skit that has allowed many teams from our church to overcome language barriers in countries all over the world. In Poland and Slovakia, we performed the "Redeemer" skit multiple times, and after each performance, one of our team members would present an explanation of the events in the skit through a translator, and would share the gospel. The following video is of our team practicing and performing the skit in Poland, Slovakia, and the USA. If you have 10 minutes, please take a look at this skit. Hopefully, it will give you some insight into one of the ways our team ministered while on the mission trip.

Poland and Slovakia Mission Trip Reflections

       
            First of all, if you haven't already, check out the recap video above, and the slideshow video below.

            So, after having a week to reflect, here are a few of the major themes that I saw on this trip, along with a few things the Lord showed me throughout the week.

            During the week, our team (along with the translators) studied the book of Ephesians. We would read a chapter each day, and then discuss the chapter as a group before breakfast each morning. Several of the lessons I learned during the week were directly related to the passages we were studying.

The first major theme I saw throughout the week was the incredible unity of the church surrounding us. Not any one particular church, but THE Church, the body of Christ. The first Sunday we were in Poland, we had the privilege to worship in a Polish church in Nowy Targ. Not only were there Polish people worshipping in this church, but there were also several Roma from the village of Szaflary where we worked during the first part of the week. Knowing the history of discrimination against the Roma people by the Polish, it was a blessing, and a testimony to the difference that Christ can make, to see the Polish and Roma people worshipping side by side in both the Polish and Roma languages. I thought it was also interesting to see the loving way in which our Polish translators interacted with the Roma. It was evident that the love of Christ, and the “unity of the Spirit,” was there. Also, one night, the pastor of the local Polish congregation drove to our lodge to join us for our evening lodge worship service. I was particularly touched to see him there, knowing a little bit about the Polish history, and the fact that he had given up his evening to spend time with the Roma.

Another aspect of unity I saw was the way in which the believers in Szaflary helped our team in its outreach to the Roma village in Slovakia. Our team faced a major obstacle in Slovakia. Namely, we had no Slovakian translators, and, even if we did, we were not assured that the Roma in Slovakia would speak Slovak. Fortunately, we were blessed to have several of the believers from the village in Szaflary travel with us to Slovakia. To communicate, one member of our team would speak in English to a Polish translator, who would then translate into Polish, and from there, one of the believing Roma who had traveled with us would translate from Polish into the native Roma language. This was a huge help to us, and, over time, the Roma from Poland (and the Polish translators as well) began to share with the Slovakian Roma without the need for any of our team to say anything that needed translating.

Second, I want to talk a little bit about the important role that prayer and flexibility played on this trip. Doug always talks about how important it is to be flexible while on a mission trip. And not only flexible, but fluid. If something is only flexible, it will break if it is flexed enough times. A fluid however, will adapt and take the shape of the container (or in our case, the situation and the circumstances) in which it is placed. On this trip, we really saw the need for flexibility fleshed out, especially during our two days in Slovakia. Having an organized and well ordered plan is nice, but in some situations it is impossible. Jerry told us from the very beginning that he would not take us anywhere he really thought was dangerous, but that we needed to be very careful. There were approximately 1700 Roma in this village, and only 30 of us. We didn’t want to do anything that might upset the general mood of the village. We were the first evangelical group to ever enter this village, and probably the first Americans that most of the Roma in this village had ever seen in person. We didn’t even know if we would be accepted when we arrived at the village. Jerry had tried to contact his “person of peace,” but had been unable to reach her on the phone. So, before we left the lodge, we gathered in small groups, asking the Lord’s protection and guidance for the day. Then, not knowing what would happen, we loaded into the vans and began our trek into Slovakia. When we arrived, Jerry instructed us to stay in the vans until he had made contact with the person of peace, and had a general handle on the mood of the village. As it turned out, we couldn’t have had a better reception. This really demonstrated to me the power of prayer. We had prayed for protection, and the Lord had granted it.

Finally, during this mission trip, I was stretched beyond my comfort zone. Those of you who know me, know that my interests do not exactly fall in line with those of other teenagers. I’m not musical, I don’t play sports, and I don’t enjoy being in front of other people.

One of the primary ways our team ministered while in Poland and Slovakia was through sports – particularly soccer and volleyball. I would do my best to participate despite my dismal level of sporting ability. I think I managed to make a few kids laugh through a couple of my comical attempts.

Another way our team ministered during this week was through music. There were many times when someone would pull out a guitar and begin singing as song. I would do my best to hum along, but knew that this definitely was not the area of ministry I was called to.

I knew God must have had some specific purpose for me on this trip, because he opened many doors for me to go. I believe this purpose was two-fold.

First, on the last day we were to be in Slovakia, Doug asked me if I would share the gospel after the Redeemer skit which we would perform several times each day. Now, speaking in front of people is normally outside the bounds of my comfort zone, but I had prayed about this beforehand, and had decided that, if Doug asked, I would do it. “Plus, you’ll be speaking through two interpreters, so it will be easier,” Doug said. Despite these words of encouragement, I was still very nervous as I shared. But, I do think the Holy Spirit moved as the team performed the skit and the gospel was shared.

Finally, I truly believe that this blog and my “media ministry” have been vital pieces of my God-given purpose on all three of the mission trips I have been on. I hope it has allowed people back at home, and around the world to feel as though they are a part of the trip, be able to pray more effectively and specifically, and maybe even interest them on going on a short term mission trip themselves. The viewership has been awesome, and if you read this blog I would love to hear from you! Sound off in the comments below, or contact me via:

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/MrZchuck

Twitter:

www.twitter.com/MrZchuck

YouTube:

www.YouTube.com/MrZchuck

As you can probably already tell, I took lots of panoramas while we were in Poland. You can check them all out on Photosynth here.

Thanks for reading!

Poland Mission Trip Wrap-Up

Homeward Bound

            So, we’re back, the trip is over, and I’m close to recovering from the post trip haze that comes from my body adjusting back to a different time zone and American food.

            I’ll do my best here to recap the last couple of days.

            First of all, check out the message that Pastor Holland delivered to our combined group on the last day we were together.

Auschwitz

Bus Ride

            On Friday, we packed up, said goodbye to several of our translators, and left to tour the concentration camp at Auschwitz. It was a long two and a half hour bus ride with Jamie sitting in his habitual place… right next to me. When we arrived, we realized that we didn’t have the three hours required for a guided tour, so we entered with a Polish tour group, and then broke away to experience the camp for ourselves. We could have spent days there, looking through all the stark reminders of the depths of depravity to which the human mind can sink when left unfettered by the bonds of basic morality. It was a saddening and thought provoking experience. We saw the execution wall, the gas chambers, gallows, and execution cells. We also toured a building dedicated entirely to the memory of the attempted complete extermination of the Roma people group – a people with whom we had spent all week working.

Saddening

Donovan

            We left Auschwitz, and began our drive to Krakow. Doug informed our group that the bus to the airport would be waiting at the sidewalk at 4:00 am the next morning. After a second or two of contemplation, Donovan declared, “If I have to get up at 3:30, we might as well not go to bed at all! Watch out Krakow!” After we arrived out our hotel, we settled into our rooms, changed clothes, and prepared to descend on the city.

            Doug, Cathy, and Pastor Holland went to dinner with Jerry and Brenda. The rest of us made our way into Old Town Krakow. We had barely made it half a mile when it began to poor the rain, forcing us to take shelter under overhanging shop doorways and awnings. There was a crack of lightning louder than I have ever heard, and Jamie jumped three feet in the air, yelled, and scared the poor shopkeeper out of her wits. After a while, Mark expressed the general feeling, “You know, who cares? I mean, really.” and started out in the rain, with the rest of us following behind. We all went to find something to eat. McDonalds fit the bill for some of us, while others preferred more traditional Polish food; for example… falafel. After we ate, we continued on, with Dillon sliding here and there on the wet concrete. At one point, we took refuge under a restaurant’s outdoor seating umbrella and were assaulted by a young man who wanted to sell us ice cream. Donovan spotted his cross necklace, and asked him “Do you know Jesus? Do you know what he did for you?” After a few minutes of conversation, we figured out that this man was catholic, didn’t understand much English, didn’t have much of an idea what Jesus did for him, and was only interested in selling us ice cream.

Karakow

Fun in Krakow

            Donovan had several interesting conversations throughout the night. Once, a man with a brochure came up wanting to give us a tour of the city. “No, I’m from ‘round here, so we’re OK.” Donovan intoned in his thick Tennessee accent. He told me later, “Sometimes, I think of something to say, and it’s out of my mouth before I can stop it!” Ha-ha.

            We ended up staying out till about 1:00 am in Krakow before deciding it would probably be a good idea to acquire some semblance of rest in order to trick our bodies into and through the next day. We grabbed our two hours of sleep, and then got up and went outside of the hotel. The bus that arrived was a seven-passenger bus (instead of 14 we thought we had reserved), but after a few minutes of broken Polish and English traded between Cathy and the bus driver, he agreed to let us all pile in.

First Flight

            We arrived safely at the airport, and at this point our team officially split. Karen, Cathy, Pastor Holland, Jamie, Tyler, and I began our journey homewards, and Doug, Donovan and the Andersens began their journey to Ukraine.

            After three uneventful flights, and roughly 24 straight hours of traveling, our half of the team arrived safely at the Roanoke airport. Despite being the last flight into the airport, we had a quite a greeting party waiting for us when we arrived. Tyler began a countdown as we walked towards the terminal “Thirty more feet of Jamie. Fifteen more feet of Jamie.” Jamie decided to make the most of this time as possible, and set off every one of his noise making key chains, which he had bought in the Charlotte airport.

Jamie's Attire

            So, safely home, I’ve had some time to reflect on the trip. God taught me a lot of things on this trip… leaving my comfort zone, flexibility, the unity of the church, the body of Christ. But, that is a topic for another time. Continue to watch this blog, as I will make an occasional post from time to time. 

Final Day in Slovakia

            I hope everyone enjoyed the blog from yesterday. For those of you who have asked, the video was the same one that was shown in youth group at FHBC on Wednesday night. Also, if you click on each of the pictures on the blog, you can see them in full resolution. This includes the group shot at the top of yesterday’s post.

Camouflaged Jamie

            So today was our second and final day in the village of Podhorany in Slovakia. This morning, we loaded into the vans, and began our trip to the village. The drive to the village is absolutely beautiful (Tyler says “Hey”). We drive to the southern border of Poland, and then drive over the Tatra mountains and into Slovakia.

Waiting

Mark's Group

            We had many young kids waiting for us when we pulled into the village today. We told them yesterday that we were coming back today, and they were right there waiting for us. For safety reasons, Jerry had a quick word with the person of peace before he let us get out of the vans. It was clear, so we hopped out of the van, and began setting up for the Redeemer skit. I had a chance to play some music as we waited for people to gather for the skit. I chose my songs carefully (sorry, no dubstep Alex and Joseph), and our playlist included “God of this City,” “God’s Not Dead (Like a lion),” “Your Love Never Fails,” and “Forever Reign.” In case you’re unfamiliar with these songs, three of the four of them came off of the Newsboys’ latest CD, “God’s Not Dead.” “God of this City” is the only song that didn’t, but I thought there was something very powerful about being able to play this songs as several hundred Roma from the village gathered to hear the gospel message preached. Truly the Lord God was/is the god of this city (or village), just as he is anywhere else; Poland, Slovakia, the USA, etc.

Frisbee

            On this particular day, I was with Mark’s group, and we started playing Frisbee with some of the kids. Towards the end of the game, Mark asked a Polish interpreter to translate from English into Polish, and another translator, who then translated what he said from Polish into Roma. Mark shared with them the story of the gospel, and related it the best he could in terms a child could understand.

            We then went back to where the vans were parked, and performed the skit one last time before we left. This time, it was my turn to give an explanation of the gospel message presented in the skit. I was a bit nervous to start with, but managed to make it through my gospel presentation.

            After the Redeemer skit, Jerry was going to try to hand out copies of the New Testament in Slovakian audio book form (most Roma can’t read). But as he opened the back door of the van, a lot of village kids wanted the three balls that they could see were in the van. No problem right? We were planning on giving the balls away anyways. Except for the fact that there was only three, and every kid wanted one. Donovan and I were packing up the portable sound system when we saw Doug waving our team to hurry to the vans. We decided against opening the back door to put in the sound equipment, and went straight to one of the vans. Donovan told me to hop in, I did, and he cleared the way for Jerry to back out his van. Once we were sure we had everybody in the van, we quickly left the village. We appreciate your prayers this morning while we were in this village. The Lord kept us safe, and we are grateful to Him.

One of our translators (with a translator) sharing

            Tonight, we had our last time of sharing with the Roma. Doug played a bluegrass selection on one of the hotel guest’s fiddle, and there were worship songs by Katie and Melissa, and the Roma. We also had an ethnic celebration hosted by the Roma.

            Tomorrow, we leave for Krakow, and would ask for your continued prayer as some of us stay in Poland, and some of us continue on to join the Ukraine team.

 *Editor's Note: Unfortunately, the following text has been given a rating of less than 50% in terms of historical accuracy. Besides the part about Jamie. That part is completely true.

            Well blog fans it is with great sadness that I tell you that this will be my last blog. It seems that Mr. Z Wymiotowac is heading back to the states the day after tomorrow, and insist on taking his computer with him. I am sorry but will promise to fill you in on the rest of our great adventures when I return home from the Ukraine.

            Today we went back to Slovakia to share with the people there. We had a great day and all of Ezras food only went down and not back up. What an accomplishment!!!!! Tyler however is now married to a beautiful polish lady, in her lower 80’s and is happy as could be. Karen was not sure of her son getting married while here, but then found out he was worth 3 goats, and an area rug (that we are pretty sure was once a live animal). So good trails Tyler and blessings to a block house full of young soccer players. Jamie has made the record books by being told his is crazy in more languages than we can count. He has however tried his best to find a wife, with no success. Doug, as always, has been our fearless leader. He has honorably sampled every polish sausage served to us and then explained its flavors with extensive detail before we subject ourselves to it. Thank you Doug. (Future note: Taste just like a Vienna Sausage with something else. Is not a good description, so do not eat this one.) On the other hand Pastor Holland has been a REAL trooper. The kids here love him and he has a blast telling them how old he is. They do get quite confused when he keeps flashing 10 fingers over and over and over and then holds up 3. They seem to think it is some kind of American game with the same answer every time.

            Well fans so sorry to make this short but it is nighty night time and we have another big day tomorrow. Will update you on the rest of the group when I return. Love you Chug Bug….Love you Hot Rod…..and Daddy will be home to take care of mommy real soon…till then you know what to do……D

Sunsets continue to be amazing.