Camp Adventures!

Today we woke up to the sound of a sick rooster, which sounds a lot like a person dying. Yesterday, right after Thadeus' blog, we drove up to the mountains to a summer camp that we are helping out at. The director of the camp gave us some history about the camp, we ate breakfast, and got to work. We hiked up a steep incline and were already winded. We started gathering firewood for them to use throughout the summer. We would cut the wood, bundle it up, drag it a ways down the mountain, and then go back for more. Then Josiah, Aaron, and I followed Preston, one of the camp's interns, up even higher in the mountain to find downed pine trees for building material. We would find the tree, cut off all its branches, and then drag the whole thing down the mountain. Some of the others also dug out a fire pit and stumps to make a place for a picnic pavilion to be built. God stretched us a lot as we worked throughout the day yesterday, with being physically tired and also with pictures of Him in the scenery.
Thanks,
Warren

*An added note from Christina, since Warren ran out of time to finish his blog post*

The group has been up at camp, working hard! What a great group of youth this is. It has already been such a blessing to be around them; for me and for the couple that runs the camp. They have been positive and eager to do whatever needs to be done. Thanks for sending us your kids!

They will remain up at camp for another 2 days, building a much needed covering for campers and families to use during rainy seasons. It has been a lot of digging, hauling trees, and other manual labor. The team is loving their time up there, not only cuz they get to serve, but because the view is simply breathe taking!

-Christina

Some prayer points:

- God to keep opening the youth’s eyes to who He is and how He is working here and in their lives.

- The weather to clear up a bit. It’s been raining off and on most of the time we’ve been here.

- Positive attitudes and a strong bond of unity among the group.

- God to prepare the youth’s hearts and the children in the clubs they will

be reaching out to in the villages.

- Lives changed and transformed for HIS glory- Amen!

The team is still on the mountain, so I, Christina, took these pictures in the past and am posting them just so you can see a glimpse of where you kids are staying... Jealous? ;-)

the start

After we got off the bus this morning and said our good byes, we started the process of getting everything checked and tagged.
This was my first time on an air plane and I was a bit nervous, but after a bit of taxiing we finally started our flight. It was a nine-hour trip from here to Frankfurt, Germany and as soon as we landed we had to run to catch the next plane. Thanks to some problems with the tickets the Edmunds and my bro and I only had 1 ticket so we had to fix that before we got on the plane.
I met 2 people on the plane named Marko and Lucko they were from Canada. It was nice talking to them.
After we got off that plane we went to go make sure some of the luggage would go to Pristina, our last stop. We had a little bit before we had to leave so we sat around but soon we were off.
The last flight was 1 hour long and I slept through all of it but when we showed up we thanked God that all our stuff got there :)


In faith, hope and love,
Thadeus

We Are Here

Praise God for his faithfulness to us. We made it to Kosovo with all our bags! We are a little tired from the travel but excited about the new experiences we are already encountering.

And We're Off...

We leave today at 4:20 for Kosovo. Keep us in your prayers and check back here for updates.

Wide-Eyed Willing Witnesses

One of the things we challenged the teens with as we embark on this trip is to be Wide-Eyed Willing Witnesses. This is what we want to be while we are on our trip:

Wide-Eyed: Aware of and sensitive to the culture as we meet people and see the country. Also to be aware of how God is working in that culture and in us.

Willing: Willing to be used by God however He sees fit. Recognize His sovereignty in all circumstances and seek to glory Him in all we do. Willing to be stretched into total dependence on God.

Witnesses: Boldly proclaiming the good news through our actions and our speech and witnesses to the mighty things God will do in hearts and lives.

Please be in prayer for us about these things. As we are on the trip, we hope to update this blog daily as we have opportunity. Each day a different member of our team will make a post to the blog so check back daily so you can be in prayer for us and so you can rejoice along with us as we are Wide-Eyed Willing Witnesses for our great God.

-Jeff

Preparations

We have less than a week to go before we leave for Kosovo. We are in the final stages of making preparations and packing. We are buying supplies for Christina, making Zaccheus pop-up books for our kid's club, and practicing loading pictures to this blog.

T-Minus 14 Days...

God has graciously provided above and beyond, the team members are set and now we are ready to go. In just 14 days, our team of 9 will leave for Kosovo. Please be in prayer as we finalize our preparations.