taking high schoolers on a service project has never drained me as much as I was drained last week. I think there are quite a few reasons for that and I will try to explain.
1. The first reason I was drained was simply that I haven’t done that much physical labor (or maybe supervised is a better word) that much physical labor in a very long time! The 6 students that came with us on this trip worked amazingly hard and well together! For the first couple of days they worked outside in the pouring down freezing cold rain without complaining! They cut down trees; dug ditches carried a ton (literally) of dirt and mud to and from our work site. They also demolished a 4 layer brick stage with jack hammers and pick and hammers. They help clear away lots and lots of debris, stone and mud. They did all of this without complaining!
2. The whole not understanding the language at all thing… I don’t really understand German but I can usually decipher a meaning if I pay close enough attention, Czech… not so much. Towards the end of the week our students were involved in a couple of ELS classes working with middle school students. Speaking English with them in order to help them. They also were involved with a sports competition. Which I am happy to say … in soccer the Americans got their buts kicked! But in basketball we more than made up for it!
3. It was FREEZING! And I think being cold sucks up your energy! For the 1st 3 nights there was no heat in the room which I was staying…. And it rained all day… and there was really no place to get dry and warm. The high schoolers needless to say, drank a lot of hot chocolate!
The week in general was really good! I had the opportunity to really get to know my students. I think a good sign of trust between any group of people starts to show when you can pick on the other person without the fear of really offending them. When you can laugh together over stupid things that we (as a group) have done together. Over the week I had several opportunities to have deep conversations about life with my students. They challenged me as much as I hope I challenged them. When asked the question “ why did you come?” The answers varied from person to person and I think the honest truth for coming was because last year was fun! But I also truly believe that all 6 of my students were seriously challenged about how they live their lives. The speaker of the week asked some REALLY hard questions and I watched my student’s squirm, talk and try to ignore what God was asking of them. Two of my 6 students recommitted their lives to Christ, 2 of them are fighting the very existence of God with both fists raised and the last 2 are some where in the middle. God did amazing work last week in the lives of every one involved.
Thank you so much for your prayers over the week. They were much appreciated! The pictures are all from the week, the mostly my six students. They will also be on my facebook page with captions if you would like a better idea of what’s really going on. They go in chronological order. Work mostly at our site first, then hanging out with the Czech students and helping with the street fare at the end of the week. The play structure we are sitting on was built by all of students who were working on our site last week! I hope you enjoy!
