Return Visitors!

Hurray!!!  Our first return visitors!  This return visit of my mom and dad was an absolute blessing to our family!  We all love having them around, and love the concentrated time with them!  This year they came for two weeks, and brought my Aunt Mary with them...as I blogged about in the last post.  They came at this time in order to return to our Bardejov English camp for a second time.  We noticed that the Slovak youth from our church as well as the students at camp were thrilled to see Dad and Mom back at camp!  The students often hear Americans at camp tell them that they will come back to Slovakia to see them again, so when those people actually do return, it means so much to them…understandably!  Dad and Mom have an incredible ministry at our camp, showing the possibility of a good, long-term, Godly marriage, which some of the students have not seen in their own homes.  The students loved to sit and talk with my parents, and they listened well to the advice and wisdom offered. 

My Dad once again was the camp magician!  He brought some new tricks and wowed the students with them!  The best part of these tricks was the spiritual application he added that went along with the theme of the evening program, always speaking clearly the message of Jesus Christ being the only way to a relationship with God the Father and an eternity in heaven.  He also clearly taught them of abundant life with Christ now, and the freedom from sin that is found only in Him.

My Dad and I taught an English class together, which was really fun!  Besides Dad and I, our green team was made up of 5 students, 2 interpreters, and a Slovak team leader in charge of nightly small groups.  Every one of them was kind, eager to learn, and ready to laugh and enjoy the activities we did together.  I loved the times spent with this group, and really loved co-teaching with my dad!  While we were teaching, Mom, Mary and Ed were watching the kids.  Ed was overseeing the camp, and during English classes each morning had some free time that he was able to spend with our kids.  When he was busy with something, Mom and Mary had charge of the kids, and that was a huge help to us, freeing us to have time to spend getting to know the students.  The students from this camp are from our town of Bardejov, or one of the nearby villages, so we love the fact that the friendships we make at camp can continue after we all return home.

My parents and Mary were here for 2 weeks, so we had some time at home before and after camp to spend with them.  We love to see them enjoying our kids, and to see our kids loving time with them!  You’ll see in the pictures some of the fun things we were able to do together.  One of my favorites was the time that the girls went for coffee at one of our cafes in the town square.  I love spending time with my mom, and truly appreciate her counsel and wisdom.  I have been blessed with a mom who is an incredible example of a Godly wife, and I love times to talk with her and be encouraged by her face-to-face!

Ice cream in the town square!

Practicing the magic tricks for the kids.

Teaching our English class

Making lesson plans

The Green Team!

Green team leaders

Mom did a skit with the kids during camp skit time.

Performing the magic tricks

Mom and Dad's camp friends

My mom actually rode this tire zipline!

So, thanks to you again, Dad and Mom, for making the return trip to Slovakia, and for planning it around the camp time, so that you were once again a great testimony to the students we work with.  Camp week is an intense time, so we know that you are making a great sacrifice to give up relaxing vacation time to spend it with us during camp, speaking into our lives, our kids’ lives, and the lives of so many Slovak students and youth leaders!  Thanks also for what you brought to us and to our kids.  We love you so much!