There was much excitement then when "BrodFest" came on the radar. BrodFest is an extended weekend retreat for the CB (Czech Brethren) church youth groups to come together every two years in the city of Havlickov Brod. (For those of you who have made the connection - yes the name of the city is like my last name! I told my carpool to drop me off at the castle since I assumed I would be welcomed as royalty only to find that it is one of the only cities I have been to in Czech WITHOUT a castle... cue disappointment!) With over 1,000 students in attendance at the event I was surprised at how many friends I continued to run into. Our youth pastor brought a group of five kids from our youth group to BrodFest for the day of seminars. I enjoyed seeing them during the day as they moved between seminars. We especially enjoyed the worship time together as a group before they headed back home for the evening.
During the rest of the weekend, I joined up with another youth group I have gotten connected with at past festivals and events. They readily "adopt" me into their youth group gang and enjoyed meeting some of my youth students. They were quick to invite me to play a swing on their volleyball team for the competition, though we may have had the most fun chatting between matches in one of the last beautiful autumn days.
Hanging out between volleyball matches
A beautiful, warm day; though the blinding sunshine had us all sharing sunglasses between teams.
A walk in the park with all the falling leaves and Caramel Apple Suckers (from America) made for a great October day.
As I was on my way to meet up with my carpool ride at the end of BrodFest, I continued to run into friends, people I haven't seen for many years, and people who I hadn't met before. With so many people passing through the main hall with bags and teams moving chairs and tables, it was crazy crowded. While weaving through the swarm of people to meet up with some friends, I felt a small tap on my back and turned around to see a girl I had never met before. She held out a little piece of paper and said, "You don't know me, but I was in a seminar with you this week and I heard you are an American. I made you this." On the little piece of paper was written three words: God Is Good. I slipped the little piece of paper in my phone case and after thanking the girl, she disappeared into the crowd. It are little moments of meeting young believers in Czech that brings me so much joy for what this next generation will do.
(1) A little reminder of God's goodness. (2) It isn't uncommon to see Czechs wearing USA apparel, but when I run into people wearing Minnesota and Wisconsin clothes, I have to snap a picture! The friend wearing the Minnesota sweatshirt, I've known for many years, but "Packer's Hat" is a new friend... or rival... you decide ;)
I met these two ladies four years ago at a Sunday School conference. We had spent much time at the Sunday School conference together, and I can still picture the girls committing their hearts deeper to God's love during a worship night program. I had recognized them at BrodFest and we finally met up as they were cleaning the main hall. The girls excitedly told me they had been baptized this past month and are growing in their faith!
The past two weeks, I didn't have English Class with my students because of Fall Break holiday and a trip I had to make for visa paperwork. I've missed my students, but believe they were enjoying the last nice days before a cool front came over this week. Needless to say, without the English Class on Monday, I've extra enjoyed my time with the Littles and developing lessons for them. I had noticed for a few weeks that many of the Littles have been learning to bounce themselves around the room on the jumping balls and hopping seems to be a commonly practiced skill for all the Littles. With this in mind, I brought out my "Hop!" lesson, and we enjoyed hopping, jumping with the yoga balls, tossing bouncy balls, and coloring rocking frogs.
This Little found out if we put the toy grasshopper on the yoga ball and hit the ball, the grasshopper (with the "trampoline effect") bounces into the air!
Pattern frogs on the lilypads
Rocking Frogs
Autumn is in full swing and winter quickly approaching. There are a few stubborn leaves still clinging to the branches, but most of the trees are bare with a colorful carpet of leaves that surround the base of the trunk. Around the city, I see little kids holding colorful leaves and fallen chestnuts in their tiny hands as they witness the natural changing of seasons. I always enjoy bringing nature indoors to the classroom and was excited to pull out the Autumn lesson again. One of the moms has been attending my lessons for a couple years now (with her older son first, and now with her daughter). When this mom came into the classroom and saw the autumn materials on the desk she exclaimed, "Oh! We will sing 'Leaves are Falling Down' today!" The moms have always been my best students.
(1) Parachute leaves. (2) Tearing paper to place on paper bag trees and blowing the "leaves" off like the wind.
At Connect Club, we finally left Egypt! We have worked our way through the stories of Joseph and Moses, and this past week we crossed the Red Sea. As leaders, we've noticed it is a group of seven of our girls who continue to come week after week, occasionally bringing along some friends to join in with the activities. These seven girls are invested in the story and eagerly ask questions: "How long did it take the Israelites to get to the Red Sea?" and "How old was Pharaoh?" These girls are always ready to volunteer (I don't ask for "readers" anymore; I just say a page number and someone starts reading our Bible Story!). A few of the girls have even taken our music time into their responsibility. I can't get enough of watching these girls growing in God's Word!
The Plagues of Egypt
Making fish for the Red Sea
(1) Preparing for the First Passover. (2) Showing the Red Sea on the map. I asked the girls, "where do you think the Israelites are going now that they have crossed the Red Sea?" They gave me confused looks and shrugged. I tried again, "They are called 'Israelites.' Where do you think they will live?" "In Israel!" "Good! Here is Israel on the map. It is close to Egypt, see?" "Oh! That's good. They don't have so long to travel." Well......
We are excitedly moving again! Our organization, by the grace of God, was able to buy a disco-club that was for sale just down the road. It is exciting to be moving into a bigger space where we can have more activities for the kids and really grow as a youth club. Our big opening is only a month away, and we are all moving forward in full force to bring together all the pieces of the new club from painting and demolition to making the space comfortable with sofas and table games. The kids are "through the roof" excited! With all the big changes on the horizon, I am especially enjoying the normal moments with the club kids. We all dream together what we will do in our new building, and soon we will get to experience it all! I'm excited to share more about this with you all in the weeks to come.
Youth Group Fun
