A Week of "Lasts"

Waterfall Group,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Today we took a trip to a waterfall, which is about a 30-minute bus ride from Tallinn. You can see the group that went in the picture! Kameron (the Banks' nephew), Keri Banks, Peeter, Tandy, Jason, and myself made up the group. It was a very nice relaxing trip, and there was a yummy restaurant where we ate afterwards. If you check out some of the other pictures you can see what Jason's hamburger looked like...he enjoyed it regardless of its looks (ha,ha).

Keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our week of "lasts". We have made some amazing relationships here, and I'm sure that saying good-bye will not easy.

Farewell to Kera and Adam

Hangn in the Hallway,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

With the right motivation, I am an excellent speed walker. I just got back from the park where we have our Wednesday night volleyball/devo. I had to go to the bathroom soooo bad after devo was over that I made the rounds and said goodbye as fast as I could. Then I proceeded to walk home as quickly as my short little legs would allow. I made it without an accident, thankfully!

Tonight we decided to split the guys and girls up so that we could have a bit more discussion time during the devo. I knew Tandy and I would enjoy this setup because so many times the guys are in charge of devos. The girls here are so amazing. We basically just asked them to describe to us what being a teenage Christian female is like in Estonia. We also asked them what role church plays in their lives. Some, of course, were shyer than others about sharing their experiences. But I think they were encouraged by our time together. I know I was. We read Philippians 2:12-14 and Romans 8:37-39. Check them out if you have a chance.

According to my clock Adam and Kera are officially back in the United States of America. They left Estonia yesterday and had a 15-hour layover in Germany...ugh. I was very sad to see them go. I group will not be the same without them. Kera brings fun and energy with her everywhere she goes. Her empty bed is one of the saddest things I've seen in a long time. I thank God that we were able to spend this time together. We have grown much closer on this trip and I'm excited to get back and see what great things God has planned for our school year at the good ol CCC. Adam in many ways served as the leader of our team...so as you can imagine its a bit disconcerting to have him leave. Adam has this misconception that I hate him...and I am now officially clearing that misunderstanding up, because hate is a very strong word and.

Just kidding. I like Adam a lot and his leadership was much needed and appreciated. It WILL be missed, no doubt about it.

I know each and every one of you miss our beautiful smiling faces. So, I decided to share our hallway picture with you. At the time this picture was taken there were 17 people living in this house that has 2 bathrooms. Waiting outside of the bathroom for your turn has become a common pastime. The three of us decided to lie on the floor in the hallway that leads directly into the bathroom until Jason came out. I don't think he was quite as amused with the whole thing as we were.

HELLO SHREK.

IMG_0290,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Need I say more? :)

Tere! ("hi" in Estonian...be sure to roll the R)

I really wanted to add post a breath-taking picture or 2 from our little trip to Saaremaa, but I haven't found the time to download them, so you'll just have to use your imagination this time.

Oddly enough, I continue to have chance meetings with Jonuk, one of the guys that Esteban has been studying with. I saw him on the bus one day, and he was on the fairy yesterday. He was going to the island for a wedding; a friend of his was actually getting married in the castle that we were going to. We also saw him later that day in town at the grocery store. I just keep thinking that God has a hand in all of this. Why else would we keep running into the guy?

We had a good time on our trip. It rained most of the day, but the town is very small and we didn't have far to walk. I've learned to carry an umbrella everywhere I go because the weather forecast is simply NOT to be trusted. We milled around the castle for a while and then wondered into the "dormitory" which had some stellar acoustics. We stayed there for about an hour and sang devo songs. It was really amusing to watch people walk in the door, our singing caught people off guard. Some would stay in the room to listen and clap when we finished. I think some people even took pictures of us. It took me back to my good ol chorus days. As soon as we'd arrive at a concert location, Uncle Phil would be walking around the room clapping randomly in an effort to test the room’s acoustics. He would have had a hay-day in this place. The room would just ring for several seconds after we quit singing. It's times like this that I ponder being a nun, like on sound of music. Thankfully, Churches of Christ don't have an order of nuns. ha ha

I have reached the point where I miss everyone back home quite a bit. Talking to Dad on the phone the other day didn't help (thanks a lot dad!!). I do funny things to help me feel like people from home are around, for example: I sing alto at church (mom), laugh loudly at inappropriate/random times (jake), eat lots of veggies (celeste), critique everyone’s hair-do's and window shop for shoes (jenny), say I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream (merce), drink lots of coffee and watch sports with the guys (dad)...and the list goes on and on.

The Princess Travels

Botanical Gardens 1,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

We had another successful "Friday Fun Day". This week was much easier than last because we knew exactly what to expect. Overall we had a good turn out. As a team we try to keep our Friday afternoons open in case any of the teens want to hang out after FFD. Today we went back to the guy's flat and watched THE INCREDIBLES...and several of us ended up crashing out with a little afternoon R&R. Naps are a good thing.

Tomorrow we are going to an island called Saaraman, or something like that. We're currently in the midst of a Lord of the Rings viewing (somewhere in the middle of The Two Towers) and the name of the island sounds like something strait out of those movies. But it's possible that I'm completely confusing a movie with reality, which at this point is entirely possible. By they way Jake, I was the only person laughing when Golem said, "We swears on the precious." FYI-I have no idea how to spell Golem. Back to the island...there is supposed to be a fabulous castle there. We were talked about buying our return bus tickets early so we don't get stranded there. But I assured everyone that it would be okay because I'd get to spend the night in the castle, which is okay because I'm a princess. They all got a big laugh out of that. I'm sure you can tell we're getting to know each other very well.

We attended a Lets Start Talking party last night. They host parties every week for their bible study students. It was a Canada party. I actually learned the Canadian anthem, and a few other tid bits about our Northerly neighbor. As I met several of the Estonians who are currently studying with the LST team I couldn't help but think of the possibilities that lie in each of them. I realized that God has a plan and purpose for each of them. It was a cool experience.

Please continue to pray for our team as Kera and Adam prepare to return to the great USofA. It will be an adjustment!!

Raise your hand if you love small group meetings...

Tartu Town Square,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

Amazingly enough Kera and Adam are leaving Estonia in 6 days! Our team will not be the same without them. It's like somebody is dying, only not really because we know we'll see them again in a matter of weeks. Although we've made some really great memories on this trip, I have a feeling that we won't be spending much time together as a group anymore...and that is SAD to me! But alas, nothing lasts forever.

Our trip to Tartu went well. Can I say that I'm not a huge fan of bus travel? Well I said it! But the trip was very cheap, so I really can't complain. On the way home there was a really cute baby sitting a seat in front of us, so most of the ride home was spent making crazy faces at him. I was able to see 2 of my campers named Evelin and Riina. It's really good to see them, but strange at the same time because I know I may never see them again. The girls stayed at Brandy and Penny Kendall's flat. They are the missionaries there. They've only been in Tartu for about 6 months, and in that time managed to have the roof of their apartment building torn off. They are still in the midst of repairs, but they welcomed us into their home anyway.

We've been spending a lot of time planning lately. This morning we worked out a schedule/lesson for the teen's Sunday morning class. It's a lot of fun trying to get the whole group involved in planning and ultimately agreeing on a finalized lesson. It's definitely a learning experience!!!

In all honesty, our schedule is not that hectic. There are times when I feel like I could or should be doing a lot more here. Yesterday the Banks family set us down and thanked us for all that we've done. They said that we have really paved the way for the rest of their year as they work with the youth. It was very nice to hear the say that. Often times it'd hard to see the good you're doing when you’re standing right in the middle of the action.

I found out a few days ago that my great grandmother died. Her funeral is today. I'm assuming my parents are traveling to the funeral, so please keep them and the rest of our family in your prayers.

This is an official shout-out to my little bro!!! Mark your calendar for Oct 14-16 and come with us to our CCC retreat. I already told Eric all about you!

Tartu

This morning we are going to catch a bus to Tartu. Brandy and Penny Kendall are the missionaries that work there whom we met at camp. The plan is to spend the night there, which will hopefully give us enough time to mill around the city a bit, and to see all of the kids from camp. They also just got an LST team at the beginning of this week, and I think we might be helping them out a bit. I'll let you know how all of that goes when we get back. This is also the city where all of my campers are from!! I'm excited to see them.

Yesterday was a day full of church services! We had church at 10:30am, 3pm, and 7pm followed by Titus' 7th birthday party at the Banks' house. It was a full day, but it’s the only day that we see so many church members at once (duh).

Friday Fun Day went well. We had a good number of kids show up. I feel like, at least for our team, the average age of the kids was a bit older than we expected. The majority of our attendance was teenagers...so we may have to rethink our curriculum a little bit, but ultimately that is up to Mrs. Banks who is in charge of FFD.

We had Eric (our college minister from Denton) with us last week. He left of Friday, and we were all sad to see him go, but had an awesome time with him here. This trip has, and I'm sure will continue to fly by. Kera and Adam leave on the 26th, which is a little more than a week away. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue our personal team building, and attempt to encourage the churches here in Tallinn and Tartu.

I think Tandy will post eventually...

Last, but not Least

Guys Sunset,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

And here we have the fellows. Eric didn't know his ear was tucked in his hat. And for those of you who don't know (right to left): Jason, Eric, Esteban, and Adam.

Hey Ladies!!!

girls sunset,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

We took advantage of the beautiful sunset on the boat ride home from Finland. This picture was taken somewhere around 11pm. Crazy, huh?

Nap Time

IMG_0160,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

We don't always get enough sleep at night, so we tend to nap whenever possible.... well, some more than others there...

This was on the fairy ride over to Helsinki. I think Tandy was drooling.

Guys, we didn't come to Finland to look at produce...

IMG_0163,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

The vegetables were gorgeous! Eric and I just had to take pictures. Jason, on the other hand, felt that the produce was not worth our time and urged us to continue on. I personally think this is a fabulous photograph.

We just got back from our second Wednesday night volleyball/devo. We invited a lot of the kids from camp and had an awesome turn out. Many of the kids who go to camp each year don't attend church regularly. So, for now we're doing the best we can to bridge the gap between camp and church. We've been trying to spend a lot of time with them encouraging them to become more active with the church. They're all really great kids and they've got good hearts. But many of them lack authority...their parents let them do whatever they want. Many of their lives have little to no structure. I'm sure you can understand how attending church clashes with such a life style.

The park we went to tonight was full of teenagers. Many of them were out drinking and having a good old time. While we were singing songs several of them came up and sat at the back of the group to listen. Now, I have no idea why they stopped or what they were thinking, but I was glad that they did. They didn't stay very long, but it was interesting none-the-less.

Tomorrow we are planning for Friday Fun Day, which is basically VBS. I'm in charge of registration and will be designing the nametags. The way I see it, VBS cannot exist with out me! Thankfully I've had plenty of experience designing nametags. Every year that we had Erin as a counselor at Blue Haven I took some part constructing unforgettable nametags. Everything I know I learned at camp.

I tried out the panoramic feature on my camera tonight at the devo. I'm going to mess around with it and hopefully I'll be able to post it to the blog.

Did I mention that today is Esteban’s birthday!? Welcome to the 24 club buddy!

Strange Sign

fart,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

I'm not sure what the first word on this sign is, but if you read the 2nd and 3rd line together it's quite humorous.

I Feel So BEHIND!

Due to my inability to post to the blog while at camp, and the malfunction of the Internet in our room, I've fallen a bit behind on daily updates. I have this desire to describe camp in great detail. So that each one of you can feel like for one moment you were transported to camp with us: sitting on the benches at singing time, eating Pluff in the dining hall, playing volley ball on the beach in near perfect weather... But, I've come to the conclusion that a blog with such detail would teeter between the lines of blog and novel, and that would be ridiculous. Therefore, I've decided to make a bulleted list of some of the highlights of Camp Balchiyoca 2005

-warmer than usual weather aka perfect
-meat and potatoes every meal is never a bad thing (dad taught me that)
-you can never play too much soccer, frisbee, volleyball...
-sand EVERYWHERE=dirty, but well exfoliated feet
-anybody can learn to deal with community showers (no curtains)
-not all Russians use the phrase "Mother Russia"
-coffee IS my best friend
-a cappella sing is a gift to and from God
-love translates...jokes do not
-passion for God can be expressed through our words, but it is made effective by our actions
-God gives us exactly what we need at exactly the right time to do his will

I wish everyone could have been a part of camp. It was a life changing experience. My world has grown by leaps and bounds, thanks to God. The camp photographer compiled a slide show, and each of us will get a copy... so EVENTUALLY each of you will get the opportunity to see a bit of camp yourselves.

More pics asap... we went to Helsinki yesterday and got some fabulous photos!

Kera, ve are waiting vou! (again, insert THICK Russian accent)

WOW! I feel like I always use that word to describe my thoughts about Estonia, but it is SO fitting! We were at camp all last week and it was amazing! It was really nothing like camps in America (in my point of view) but, it served the purpose for the youth that attended. Man, I felt the language barrier quite a bit this week though, so Peeter is teaching me some Estonian... I now officially speak 5 words in Estonian. Camp was a life experience and it makes me know God has some HUGE plans for me this trip... met some cool people that want me to stay and possibly go to Tartu, Estonia. Thinking about it but I am definitly praying harder. Alright, I'll post later but, remember that Emily's blogs are WAY funnier than mine so read hers!

Sidenote: RON JON I MISS YOU! No Starbucks but some really good coffee...

-KERA

Ve Vill Find Buried Treasure!! (insert Russian accent)

Camp Balchiyoca, as expected, was an amazing experience. My campers were awesome...more to come about them later. And the camp its self...what a set-up! For all you CBH alum...same lush green surroundings, except if you walk back behind the cabins, through the woods for about 5 minutes there is a beach...the Baltic at you back door. The weather was unusually warm and there wasn't so much as a drop of rain (which is very abnormal).

I have never experienced anything quite like this. Every lesson, prayer, announcement was first spoken in English followed by translations in Estonian and Russian. As you can imagine it was a bit of a challenge at times, especially considering the children's non-existent attention spans. On the other hand, there were times when the mixing of cultures and languages became an emotionally overwhelming experience. On the first day of camp, we sang "I am Mine No More". Nicoli made his way around the room as he sang the song. We sang one verse in English and one in Russian. On the last verse he stood at the front of the room moving his gaze from face to face in the audience, arms out stretched, singing with no hesitation. It was an awesome display of praise. It also reminded me that the church does not fit in a box...

I'm really tired. I'm having trouble focusing, so this is the end.

p.s.--more about the title later

We're Out

Evalyn, Me, and Trin,
originally uploaded by emilyJean.

I just took my bag outside and set it by the car to be loaded and shuttled over to the church. We are riding the bus to the church building where we'll meet with the rest of the camp staff and get on a charter bus to camp. I think I went to bed at about 4:30am and got up at 7am...I'm a bit out of it.

The theme for camp is "Hidden Treasures". 2 Corinthians 4:7 is what I would call the key verse for the week, which is appropriate on soooo many levels as I am definitely feeling the jar of clay analogy this morning :). Evelyn and Trin will be my junior counselors for the week. I've spent some time with Trin, and meet Evelyn for the first time at the staff meeting. They are both really great girls and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them and my campers from Tartu better.

So, this is it for a week. Thanks again for your prayers. The word on the street is that this camp is nowhere near as structured as the camps in the states, so once again Ron, I'm sure that whole flexibility thing will come in handy!!

I love you and miss you all!

I LOVE comments

One of the highlights of my evening, and sometimes morning, is ready all of the comments people leave on this blog. It's great to hear from everybody and to be encouraged by everyone from home.

Megan- I did the set up for this blog while I was in Denton, so it posts at Texas time. For example right now it is 1:26am... and this blog will say something more like 3:26pm. I could change it, but its more fun to make all of you figure out the time change!! Have I mentioned that this is the week of white nights in Estonia? Basically that means its only dark from about midnight until...oh, about 2am when the sun comes up again. We always stay up way too late because it’s so light outside. I've bought one of those eye masks to sleep in.it works fabulously, but Tandy and Kera always laugh at me when I have it on.

Chanelle!! Great to hear from you. We miss you. Thanks for keeping up with us. What's new in Denton?

Steve added this web address to the Grants Church of Christ online bulletin, so I've heard from several people who might not have know about this blog otherwise (thanks for the encouragement Celeste Green, Rob, and Darla). Thanks Uncle Steve, for helping to get the word out!

THERE ARE NO SMALL COMMENTS, ONLY SMALL COMMENTATORS.

On another note, we had our camp staff meeting tonight. I thought I was excited about camp before, boy was I wrong. Nicloli one of the leaders of the Russian speaking congregation, and the camp director, did an awesome job of motivating the group. Camp Balchiyoca here we come...

My Traditional European Caffeine Addiction

It never fails...I come to Europe, I drink coffee non-stop. Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration. I'm only on my second cup for the day and it’s about 2pm or 1400 as they say here. Most days I'll only have one cup and its not so much the coffee that's the problem as it is the monstrous amounts of cream and sugar that I add to it. This has happened to me each time I've come to Europe, but the first 2 trips I was addicted to Coke not coffee. It's some good stuff!

Tonight, we have a staff meeting for camp, which will be next week. The camp is only about 45 minutes from Tallinn and I'm told it is very close to the beach. I think they actually expect us to go swimming in the Baltic, and I can assure you that is one expectation that I do not plan to meet. If I've had trouble adjusting to anything it’s been the cold. As far as I'm concerned Estonia is the Tundra, and I see no need to submerse myself in sub artic waters. The past few days have been chilly and rainy. The forecast looks better for next week, so hopefully I won't freeze to death at camp. I'm hoping that this camp will be like the one we went to in Germany with Best Friends. They give you all of your bedding which includes a down comforter and pillow, which makes me believe that I was roughing it all those years at good 'ol Camp Blue Haven. As far as I know I'll be counseling high school girls from the church in Tartu. Tartu is a city south of here and we haven't met any of the Christians from that church yet.

We leave for camp on Sunday morning and come back on Friday. I feel pretty sure that my access to the Internet will be nonexistent...so all of my faithful blog readers may have to wait in great suspense for a whole week for our return!! I'm telling you this a few days in advance so that you can mentally and emotionally prepare for the coming days without my words of wisdom.

For those of you who don't do a whole lot of traveling abroad I suggest you try it out. When traveling far from home I'm always struck by the insignificance of my own existence in comparison to this vast world that God has created. I'm also reminded that in spite of my itty-bitty-insignificant-ness God still cares about me. When I'm in some crazy country that most Americans have never heard of, where I'm completely out of my element it is easy to constantly be aware of God. God is my one thing. In a world of mass chaos where nothing really makes sense, I have one thing to hold on to. When I'm far away from my home and those that I'm closest to, I have one thing to remind me who I truly am. When nothing goes as planned and there is no positive outcome in sight, I have one thing that allows me to put one foot in front of the other. Traveling abroad and mission work reinforce this truth in my life, God is my one thing…if you haven't experienced that then I think you should.