There once were three girls in Czech...

Hello friends, 
Thank you so much for being here; thank you for looking into our story here. 
On Monday Chelsie, Sarah and I were able to sit in on Josiah Venture's Czech ministry team meeting. The speaker (possibly the head of the Czech ministry team, but I'm not sure because he spoke Czech) gave all the team members small notepads for the summer. He said it could be their own miracle book containing many stories of how God moved. There are enough pages to write something everyday, and I expect that this is necessary. This blog is our 'miracle book' to you - that "which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim" (taken from 1 John 1:1). 
May God be glorified in us. 
I am confident that the Lord will move, that He is moving, and I desire to tell His stories. I encourage you to tell your stories. Look for Him - He is moving everyday here and there with you. 
Recently, I have been praying for a more willing heart; yesterday, someone told me one of their stories and said, "here God taught me what He can do when we are willing." I'm sure he had no idea, but that resonated so deeply in me; I know that I will be more willing because of what God did there. It's all because of Jesus I'm alive. 


Thank you so much for your support, prayer and interest. I am so very happy to be here. I love it here - God knew that I would love it and He brought me here to take part in what He is doing. I am so thankful. God bless you all with eyes to see His presence and movement. Praise His name! 


Rejoice in the Lord! 
 Esther.

School & Church

Ahoj! It's our 6th night in Czech! Our empty apartment is slowly but surely becoming a summer home. We've unpacked and settled in to out spots. We've put together a sitting area in the room with the best lighting that provides the best spot for quiet time and rest. The location of our apartment can't be better! we are only a ten minute walk from the town square and 12 minutes from the Poland border. We've done a couple of school visits already and they've been a blast! We're getting to interact with students in their own enviroments and answering their questions. Today we were asked a couple of times about being Christians. That was a neat opportunity for us to share about why we are here. Esther took the lead on sharing about English camps and our purpose qhile Chelsie danced. We're slowly adapting to the train system... It's not the easiest to learn. On Sunday morning we attended a Czech church. It is just around the block from our apartment! It was exactly two hours long and ALL in Czech. Just to clarify... I can't understand any Czech. So here was the solution: they gave us a headphone to stick on our ear and told us to put the little radio on channel 7. This means that while Czech was overwhelming my brain, they added broken english translations into my left ear. This exhausted every morsel of my brain. Here's the cool part: We got to watch a church full of Czechs worshipping our God with tears and prayers and focus. I love that my God is truly the same yesterday and today, the same in North America and Central/Eastern Europe. I'm thrilled to be a part of the summer here in Czech. And we are beyond thankful to have you partnering with us in prayer and support! Thanks for keeping up with us! Tomorrow begins the amazing race. We have no idea what that has in store for us other than that we will be stretched and challenged. After three days of racing we will be at Hotel Malenovice for training for the dummer. We'll update you as soon as we have a chance! Cau! Sarah

Fresh cut flowers

Hey all!  It's Chelsie here. As you have probably heard we have made our landing in the wide open lands of central Europe. The clouds take over the sky and there are trees outside the place where we are staying are so cool! they are almost like pine trees with swirly bristles which almost remind me of a corkscrew tree on a really small level. We are staying at the church in the community and the inside is so beautiful in the way that when you enter you can almost feel the mood and history of the space within the sanctuary. It was really special that we were allowed to go in. Esther played the Piano...and she is SO GOOD. I dont know if she knows this but listening to her play behind her I started cry. It was a treat to be able to listen to her. She played while I was walking through. Before this day it was our first school visits! WHEW! It was AWESOME! I didnt have any prior expectations AT ALL walking in and it was so cool! On our first arrival we were set down in a what would be almost an office for the english professors there at the school. There were four stations with desks and cabinets along the walls on both sides of the room. On the back wall was a window and in the middle was arranged the chairs where we sat in between the classrooms. Two cushioned chairs were side by side facing the other two chairs facing forward and in between the set of chairs was a table. It was so awesome! In Czech, meat is a pretty big thing I'd say. They had for us when we sat down four glass cups with a huge tall water jug. (There water here is really tall...1,5 l to be exact) and also an assortment of meat(two types of salami, turkey maybe, and some other meats that im not sure of) on a plate with long skiny preztels to pair it! I remember Sarah saying that she really enjoyed the Pretzels with Salami...in fact that it was such a delightful combination. Among each gathering we would discuss the level or years of english each class had taken and figure out what kind of English we could use for them. The first class was of Ten and Eleven year olds! They were precious. The second were seventeen year olds and it was a french Class (meaning that they were learning french they were aldready advanced in English because they knew every word we were saying and the Spoke there Native Language which for me I would say Czech...They are Ah-mazing!) The third class was 18 year olds...There were probably about 15 students, all girls except for two boys and there was only one boy that day. Then for each class we would introduce ourselves! Chelsie, Esther, and Sarah. Esther would give amazing stories of Canada and its Indepence and facts about Canada that literally blew everyone out of the water. Im pretty sure, and i wont speak for Sarah, but im 99.17% sure she knew more about The United States than I did. It was awesome. I learned many things. For example its the second largest land mass in the world. Oh, okay. Also that she lives in the warmest part. One girl really liked that Esther was from Canada, she was excited. Then Sarah and I would talk about the biggest things that happen that people come for all over the world. Those things being 4th of July, and the Derby. We talked about other things too each class but those were our go to's.  We played heads up seven up with the kiddies and im pretty sure they liked it. One of the English teachers told us that he taught another class!! Cool! Then we would split into three groups and each one of the us girls would take a group and just talk to them. IT WAS SO COOL! It didnt even process for me really that they hadnt been speaking all of there life. It was so easy for me to understand them.  After our school visits we went to this restaurant!! It was awesome. I used the bathroom before this but I might as well take this an opportunity to share about the bathrooms since as humans we spend a lot of time there. They usually in some have two buttons in order to conserve water(one being for one and one being for the other one). Its really Great. The toilet paper looks like brown paper towels that you would see in a school bathroom to dry your hands off, but then its a little bit softer. Which is really awesome because I can use soft toilet paper but its sometimes puts you in some smooshy situations. But then we had the lunch special! Its very typical before every meal in Czech for them to serve soup. Soup and a meal! We all had the same soup it was a really light but creamy broccoli soup. I am not kidding you when I say that it was the most delicious soup Ive ever had. It was so good. Then with meals Im pretty sure that all three of us (Sarah, Esther, and I) had the fried hamburger meal on top of sour crout, and potatos that were boiled and just a tad buttery with a garnish of green sprinkles on top!  Recap: SO GOOD. -Chelsie

In the Smokey Mtns.

We're back!
On May 19, Sarah, Chelsie and I met up with Will, Ben, Jerri Lynn and Blake (who are all involved with Southeast Christian Church Missions) and the Mi2 Kenya team. Together we went on a four-day adventure into the Smokey Mountains. At the cabin, Ben, Will, Jerri Lynn and Blake helped us prepare for the months ahead. We reviewed each one of our top five strengths and discussed how we will use them in our internship. This was  extremely insightful.
Esther's top 5 strengths: Learner, Responsibility, Analytical, Connectedness, and Maximizer
Chelsie's top 5: Restorative, Empathy, Ideation, Connectedness, and Woo (winning others over)
Sarah's top 5: Maximizer, Woo, Positivity, Adaptability, and Empathy
We talked through the definitions of our strengths, how they are manifested in our lives, and how we will used them these next few months. Now that we are aware of one another's strengths, we will be better able to work as a team, and to encourage and motivate each other. How awesome is that?
We also discussed expectations - ours, Southeast Christian Church's, and Josiah Venture's; we talked through prayer (speaking and listening), journaling, and time in God's word; we discussed how to debrief our experiences throughout the summer and many other things. You may ask why we had to go to the Smokey Mountains to do all this discussing, and so I will tell you. That is where there are some amazing rapid-infested rivers! Sunday we went white-water rafting and Monday we went funyaking (I'm not sure if that is right, but that's what I was told). It's sort of like kayaking but the 'funyaks' are inflateable. It was amazing.
I have so enjoyed this time. Tonight is our last night in the United States, and tomorrow we will fly out to Krakow, Poland, our final destination after a series of lay-overs.
Thank you Will, Ben, Jerri Lynn, Blake and so many others from Southeast Christian Church Missions who have made this experience so full and eye-opening - I am so fortunate to be here.
A huge thank you! to all of you following this blog. Thank you for your prayer and support. God bless you with a greater knowledge of our good and awesome God.

Rejoice in the Lord,
Esther.

Welcome; the adventure is about to begin!

Hello friends! Welcome to our Mi2 (Missions internship to...) Czech Republic Blog!
You've most likely found us because either Sarah, Chelsie or I have sent you here; welcome! This is where you can 'czech' up on us! Here you will find status updates on this amazing opportunity God has given us.
As you probably know, we will be interning with Josiah Venture from May 23 to August 12, 2012. We will be preparing for and eventually engaged in 3 separate week-long evangelistic youth camps. You can find more information about Josiah Venture (JV) at http://www.josiahventure.com/people-and-places/czech-republic. The more I know about this ministry, the more excited I am to join in their vision to reach the youth of Central and Eastern Europe with the gospel!
Although we arrive in Europe for training on the 23rd of May, Chelsie, Sarah and I will meet in Louisville, KY at Southeast Christian Church on the 19th (8 days away!). There, we will be prepared and directed by Will Rogers and Ben Thornley who have carried us through our preparation so far. I am very thankful for both of them. They have answered many questions, booked plane tickets, mediated between us and Josiah Venture, connected us with team leaders etc!! Thank you! We will have much more to tell you concerning our time in Kentucky after the experience, I'm sure.
From Kentucky, we will fly out to Europe and will eventually meet up with all the other JV interns (70 more), including Ben Roberts, a fellow teammate and Jonathan Rozen, our team leader.

Yesterday Sarah, Chelsie, Jonathan and I were able to participate in a conference call together!! It was so wonderful to be able to share our excitement, ask questions and get to know each other just a little bit more. Jonathan gave us a bit more insight into what our summer will look like. He has been to Czech Republic at least 4 times now, and is now raising funds to be stay for 2 whole years!

I am so glad and blessed to be sharing this experience with you all. I look forward to the upcoming posts and I hope you do too!

God bless you with His peace that surpasses understanding;

^"20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, ²¹to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." - Ephesians 3:20-21

Esther Haveman