You Know You Work in Ministry When...

Well it's finally happened. I've been expecting it for quite some time and it has been happening slowly until now... my room/ home office is becoming overrun with craft supplies, equipment for games and books to help me write Bible studies and study Slovene. The picture shows only a small part of the problem...

I have a slight confession to make. I always quite enjoyed the craft sessions at youth groups and camps etc. I may have also wanted to go and play games and pretended I found the craft boring but really I enjoyed it. This week for the first time it's been up to me to work out what craft we will be doing and how to actually make the things. It's been a steep but fun learning curve trawling through pintrest and other internet sites. It's also taken creativity on my part to try and merge ideas together to make what I want. Nothing online quite worked and so I've decided on my own versions. Time will tell if they actually work... (if they do I'm sure I'll share pictures, if not, you'll never hear about them again!)

You might be able to tell that I've been completely occupied with camp preparation this week. I've been doing everything from choosing and practising songs to writing studies to trying to make a kaleidoscope. Thankfully I think I am almost there. I only have the resources for the crafts to prepare and since these aren't needed for another month, I should have time to worry about them later.

Next week, on Monday, our youth camp starts. At the moment we have 21 young people coming between the ages of 10 and 18. The youngest will have their own separate group for the studies so that it is more appropriate for their age. The weather is due to be very hot which is great as we'll be camping next to a river. Please be praying for this camp, not all the youth are Christians or come from Christian homes. Pray that God would be working in all of their lives and that they would be growing in knowledge of him. The theme of the camp is the cross as the solution. Please be praying for those teaching and leading the sessions that God would be giving them the words to say.

Camp is a great time to build relationships with the young people. Please be praying for me and the other leaders as we try to get to know them better and to help them understand what is being taught on the camp.

Pray for safety but also for lots of fun. Camp is meant to be a time that everyone enjoys and does fun stuff together. For example, one day we will be travelling to Croatia to do rock climbing. I was tempted to sign up for it but I don't trust myself not to get injured...

I'm looking forward to having a great time on camp and then after that I have two friends coming to visit me in Ljubljana. I had another friend last week and it was great to be able to share some of my life here with her. I love having visitors and being able to show off the country of Slovenia so I'm looking forward to my friends coming. It will also be a good time to rest and relax after the exhaustion of camp...

I also just want to quickly share this video, if you want to know more about the work and the challenges in Slovenia it is very helpful, and short!
https://vimeo.com/338605562?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR2Yhym03tKMqFjf5QvQDxKkFIF9CNwMtmC87VfBEXH4pEkosEI2r9-es6c

Preparing for Camps...

This time last week I was in Austria visiting some lovely friends in Eisenstadt, near Vienna. On Sunday they took me to a lovely restaurant with this great view across Vienna. It was a good time of relaxing, talking about my work in Ljubljana and mentally preparing for all the work that is to come over the summer. Of course, as it's me, I didn't quite have a smooth journey to Eisenstadt. I survived the 6 hour coach journey and even had some people collect me from the bus station to take me to the train station and help me buy my ticket to Eisenstadt. Unfortunately, although I suspected my train would split in two, I don't understand German and yes, I ended up in the wrong section. Fortunately I realised almost straight away what had happened and was able to get off at the next station. At that point I was tired, hungry and pretty fed up! I am so grateful for the invention of phones that can access the internet even in different countries! I was able to phone my friends and look up the train schedule. I did have to wait 45 minutes at this tiny station in the middle of nowhere but when I arrived at the next stop I was able to get onto a train for Eisenstadt immediately and was actually only about an hour later than I'd planned! This is a warning to all of you who might possibly want to travel from Vienna to Eisenstadt, the train splits! (Just so you don't think I'm the only one who's done this, it also happened to my sister and brother-in-law several years ago!) It's an easy mistake to make.

It's that time of year again when the big things on the horizon are the summer camps. I've you've been following my blog or reading my prayer letters, you're probably aware that I have three camps to prepare for this summer. No big deal right? My roles are quite varied in each of the camps which means that the preparation involved for each is quite different. The first camp is the youth camp. We'll be camping again in the south east of Slovenia along the border with Croatia. I'm hoping to use my hammock again as it was so much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. I've decided that's a sign that I'm getting older, 10 years ago I had no problem sleeping around a campfire in Maine in just my sleeping bag, now the thought fills me with dread! I'm also in charge of the music and leading the singing again. I really can't complain when my job is to listen to Christian music all day to choose the songs.

The second camp this year is the church family camp. I have a lot more work to do to prepare for this one. I'm in charge of all of the sessions for the 10-13 year olds. The topic of the camp is the image of God, looking specifically at creation, the fall and salvation. Although I won't be leading all of the sessions I need to prepare all of the material. If anyone has any ideas for games or crafts related to these ideas then I am completely open to suggestions.

The third (and final) camp this year is in England. We'll be taking some of our teenagers to help out at a Holiday Bible Club. It's a really good opportunity for them to experience Christian work in another culture and hopefully train them in ways they can put into practice when they return to Slovenia. Although my main priority will be to look after our teenagers, I will also be helping out during the week and I've been asked to lead the story on one of the days. The story is of the healing of the paralysed man and I was asked if I would prepare my talk before Wednesday this week so that I could give it at the weekly meeting for practice. I think it went well, people were very encouraging afterwards so I'm praying that God will use my words when I give it again in August.

Please be praying for all of these camps and for all the work that is being done in preparation for them.