The D word...

Divorce. The very word conjures up images of courtrooms and custody battles. It is not a pleasant subject and not something to be looked at lightly. The divorce rate in America is awful. But why am I telling you this? I have my reasons...

My parents finally made their divorce official. Even though I know it had nothing to do with me, it still sucks to have it happen. I know that they are both happier now, but now it seems like I'm in the middle of a "pick me" war. They both try to sway me to their side despite the fact that I love them both and will not take sides on this. They both have many strengths, but they also both have some weaknesses. To be honest, I'm not even sure if they really are happy or if it's just a show to make the other one feel bad. For being adults sometimes they both act like children. I mean what am I supposed to do when my parents are acting like children? I all of a sudden have to be the adult why they run around playing mind games.

Parents should come with a owners manual! They say that they just don't love each other anymore, but when has love ever been easy. When has love ever been an emotion? Love is a choice. You have to choose to give all that you are to someone else for the rest of your life. The book of 1 Corinthians has a great chapter (13) on love. It lists a multitude of actions that describe what love does. These are all actions that you have to choose to do.

Now don't get me wrong, I know that there are powerful emotions that go along with love such as joy, passion, intimacy, but what happens if these emotions fade away? That is when real love steps in and says that even though some of the emotions are gone, I made an everlasting covenant, a choice, to love this person until I die and I intend to keep that covenant no matter what. That is what love does! I just wish more people knew what true love was. I think if people had a better idea of what love was then the divorce rate and the marriage rate would both decrease. I pray that everyone learns the true meaning of love and ultimately who is Love.

God is love. The Bible says that God loved us (that means me and YOU!) so much that He sent His only son, Jesus, to take on the sin of the world. Not just the sin of a few people in that time period. Jesus took the sin of every man, woman, and child in the entire history of the world! He then died for us (Yes, me and YOU!) so that we would not have to endure an eternity separated from Love (God), but so that we could know the true meaning of love and life and all that is good and spend eternity with God in Heaven. But to show even more love Jesus didn't stay dead. After 3 days He came back to life as a sign to all the nations that He is the true meaning of love.

God is love. It is impossible to know love if you do not know God.

You may be asking yourself, "What is this guy talking about?", or "Yea, I've heard all that before, but why is it important?". If you do have some unanswered questions or some doubts, then I pray that you would be courageous and ask me, email me, send me some smoke signals, or something! Life is short and unfortunately, so are some marriages, so what are you waiting for? You don't even have to let me know who are! No question will go unanswered and there are no dumb questions either. Maybe you are having marital problems? I'm not an expert, but I know some and would be happy to help you in any way I can! My email is caleb_n_g@yahoo.com.

Half - Marathon!

As we go throughout our lives we often see people jogging on the side of the road, signs for gyms, and the occasional weight bench that is not being used; and up until a few weeks ago I was only a spectator watching it all go down. Not anymore! About a month ago a friend of mine introduced me into a whole new world! The World of Running! We all remember running in high school and how much we hated it, but recently the fade of running is becoming quite popular.

I got sucked into the world of running when some friends of mine asked me if I wanted to run a half-marathon with them. I have always enjoyed running and physical activity, but the thought of running as a sport has never really entered my mind. I was intrigued by the idea and I'm always up for trying new things so I decided to do it. Caleb Godfrey is going to run a half-marathon!

I like to do research on things before I just jump in head first, so I went online and started looking at different training plans for people gearing up for a half. I found out that the half has really become quite popular recently and there are many to choose from. The one we are running isn't until next March so as least we have time to prepare properly. I looked high and low trying to find a good FREE training program and was coming up empty. I was starting to get discouraged and then a good friend Miranda enlightened me on a fantastic site that literally has everything you could ever need for running. That little nugget is called runnersworld.com! It seems simple I know, but whatever. I checked out the site and was amazed at how in depth running can get. I learned about pronation, stride patterns, different types of training, gear, and awesome tips for new runners. As an added bonus, I found a great training plan for FREE!!! YAY!!!

Since then, I have logged over 27 miles in shortly over 2 weeks which I think is impressive, but I still have a long way to go. I usually run a 5K which is 3.2 miles. A 5K is pretty good, but I need to go over 4 times that distance! A half-marathon is 13.1 miles. 13.1 MILES!!! I have a lot of running to do! To date, I have gotten to where I can run 5 miles without stopping. That is almost half way there! It turns out I'm pretty good at running. I just hope I can keep up this training pace. At this pace I will be able to run a half-marathon in about a month, but I know that it will get harder as the miles get added.

Well, I gotta run! ...literally :)

I'm Still Alive!!!

Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated my blog. I have been busy and lazy. I am back in America and life is pretty much back to normal besides some new life experiences that have forever changed my outlook on life. Before I left from Prague we did manage to go to Vienna, Austria which was great! I had the best ice cream of my life and saw some pretty cool stuff.

Vienna 1

Vienna 2

Vienna 3

Also while in Prague we took a trip out to Terezin which was a Nazi work camp. It was quite an experience that gave me a new respect for the people that lived through it.

Terezin 1

Terezin 2

I was sad to leave Prague because of all the awesome people I met while there. I miss them all dearly, but have managed to stay in contact with most of them! It is good to see what everyone is up to now that they are back in the real world.



I spent the summer so far working at my church, Trinity Baptist, as a Youth Ministry Intern. This was my third year doing this and I loved it! It is always rewarding to me to see how the youth grow and respond to tough situations. Even though they can be a huge pain sometimes, I love them all! I was joined this summer by JC Nash and Becca Stonecipher who both just graduated from high school. It was a joy hanging out with them and cutting up!



I'm sure that I am missing a lot of information, but I will fill in the gaps later. This post was mainly to update everyone and to let them know that I'm still here and God is still in control!!!

HERE IS A PHOTO JOURNEY OF MY LAST FEW WEEKS IN PRAGUE!!!


Letna Park

Concert in the Square

Prague Castle at Night

The Narnia Tree

Dinner and More

Stromavka Park

Ambiente!

Karlstejn and Camping in Srbsko

Camping and Beroun

Zoo Praha 1

Zoo Praha 2

Zoo Praha 3

HandsOn Crew

Sunset at Vysehrad

Steph's Birthday Party

My Last Night in Prague

(I know, I know, I take a lot of pictures!)

Berlin? Sounds Good!

So, here's the scoop on my last few days here...

When someone comes into the Czech Republic, they are only allowed to stay for 90 days without getting a visa. My 90 days was up last Wednesday, April 22nd (Also my sister's birthday!). When we were doing our orientation in Kiev, someone told us that they were working on getting us visas so we didn't need to worry about it. So, we didn't. Then as the time inched closer to our 90th day here and still no visa, I started getting worried. So, I asked some of the IMB staff here and nobody knew anything about it. Slipped through the cracks I guess. So, we made a couple calls and get some people working on it. Steve Warren came to our rescue by calling his contact at the Czech Embassy, Petra, and having her send us some visa applications that we promptly filled out and sent back. So, then we got a call saying that on Friday morning at 5:30am, Petra's driver would pick us up and take us to Berlin, Germany where we would get our visas. Berlin? Sounds good! I have always wanted to go to Berlin! It would only be a day trip, but I didn't care because we would have a few hours to take in the sights.

Friday morning came earlier then I would have liked(4:30am). I got up and took a quick shower and got ready. Shortly before 5:30am, Petra called and said that her driver was outside in the silver Mercedes van. So, Daniel and I got our stuff and our passports and headed out. Our driver was a Czech guy that didn't know much English. He was a good driver though. When we got outside, he already had the door open and was waiting on us to get in! So, we got in and then rode to Whitney's house where we picked her up and then headed to another location where we picked up a Mormon guy that was nice, but didn't really talk much. From there we went to one final location, picking up a guy and his mother. Then we were off to Berlin. The ride was pretty uneventful with some chatting and getting to know one another.

When we got to Berlin (which is huge!!!) we got out at the Czech Embassy where we met up with Petra. We went inside where we signed some visa papers and then Petra said that we have 2 1/2 hours to go sight see before we would be heading back to Prague. So, off we went. Steve Warren had told us that the Embassy was near some good tourist spots like Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate. We went first to Checkpoint Charlie which was designated as the crossing point for foreigners and Allied Forces from East Berlin to West Berlin during the Cold War.



After that we got lost and separated, or rather I just kind of wondered off. I then wondered around the city for a while eventually finding the Holocaust Memorial which is pretty cool. I know how that sounds, but it's a monument designed to produce an uneasy, confusing atmosphere that is what Jews felt during the time. After that, I went to the Brandenburg Gate which is pretty cool and to the German Parliment.


(Holocaust Memorial)


(Brandenburg Gate)


(German Parliment)

By the time I got finished looking at everything it was time to head back. I gave myself some extra time to get back though because I had no idea how to get back to the Embassy. I figured that might take some time because I've never been in Berlin and I don't speak the language.

On the way back though, I heard shouting and saw a big commotion. Instinctivly, I headed in the direction to all the fuse to see what was going on, all the while taking out my camera to capture anything interesting. It turned out to be a demonstration by Sri Lankans to make people aware of the otrosities that are going on in there country by the LTTE. They were marching through the main streets and there was a ton of polizei (police) around them in full riot gear. It was interesting! So, I took some quick pictures and then headed on in the direction that i though the Embassy was in.



I finally stopped and asked a cop who speak some English where the Czech Embassy was. He thought I was talking about Checkpoint Charlie. So, I just thanked him anyways and continued on my way. I somehow found myself at the front of the demonstration by the Sri Lankans again, so I took a few more photos and then asked another cop where the Czech Embassy was. This one understood more English and after a little confusion and radioing some other people, he gave me directions back. It turns out I was a block off. Man, so close! I thought I was going to be late getting back, but it turns out that I was the first one there.

We waited for everyone else to get there and then made another uneventful trip back to Prague. So, even though I only got to stay for a couple of hours, Berlin was awesome!!!

Berlin

Sri Lankan Demonstraion

Český Ráj

Český Ráj, or Czech Paradise in English, is a popular vacation spot for Czechs and is a beautiful place filled with amazing rock formations and castles. It has been seen in movies such as The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings.



I recently got a chance to go to Czech Paradise with Daniel and Will and Cail Robbins. It was a bit of a reward for making good head way on the video. We left out from Wills house last Saturday (April 11, 2009) and drove north for about an hour. I had heard Will talk of Czech Paradise, but I did not expect it to be so big! It is huge and has a bunch of little villages in it. First up on our adventure we went to visit Kost Castle.



Kost Castle is beautiful and a really neat place to visit. We went on a tour of the castle and then had lunch at the bottom of the castle. Lunch consisted of a Euro Dog which is a hot dog in a hollowed out bagette. They are good. And Kofola to drink. Kofola, or Communist Cola as I call it, tastes like over-caffeinated Coke with a licorice taste. Not very good. So, after lunch we drove to Prachovské Skály.



Prachovské Skály was amazing! We walked through all these different rock formations and even did a little climbing! It was a blast! Many Czechs come to Czech Paradise to go rock climbing because there are so many beautiful rock formations to choose from. We climbed around on the rocks for a while and even Will got into the action! So, after we had our fill of rock climbing (yea right, we were just wanting to head to another place! I can never get my fill of rock climbing!) we got back in the car to drive to another place. We were heading towards the place when Will realized that the car was on empty and the E light was on. Shortly thereafter, the E light started blinking! No sure why, but it wasn't good. So we headed to a nearby gas station to fill up before heading to Trosky Castle.



We hadn't planned on going to Trosky Castle, but to a place where we could continue rock climbing. The only problem was that we didn't know where the other place was and after a failed attempt and help from some Czech bicyclists, we ended up just going to Trosky Castle. It looked pretty awesome from the outside. Too bad that's all we got to see because it had closed at 5 and we were an hour late. Oh well, we snapped some pictures of the outside the the surrounding countryside and then got in the car to head home. It was a great trip and I thoroughly enjoyed myself! It is amazing to me how Czechs can have a place that nice and not believe in God. He is revealed in creation and this is some of His best work yet!

Kost Castle 1

Kost Castle 2

Český Ráj 1

Český Ráj 2

Obama at Prague Castle

So, last Sunday morning before church, we decided to go to an historic event! The newly elected president of the United States, Barack Obama, came to Prague Castle to speak to Czechs about the economy and about nuclear disarmament. It was really crowded, but a lot of fun! A Czech bluegrass band started things off and then the president gave a speech. Simple. The security was intense, but that was expected seeing how it was the president!



I know for me personally, I liked the snipers the best!!!

Exploring Toulcův Dvůr

So, in the beginning, I thought that the place I lived was a small collection of houses. Boy was I wrong!!! Here is a photo journey of my exploration of my residence!



Exploring Toulcův Dvůr

A Day in Karlovy Vary

Last Saturday, the 4th of April, we went to the small spa town of Karlovy Vary. It is about 2 hours outside of Prague by charter bus. We met up at Florenc metro stop at 10am. Well, everyone else did. Daniel and I thought we were going Hlavní Nádraží which is the main train station in Prague. It's a good thing we left early because we barely made it to Florenc before 10! We had to run! So, we were not off to a great start, but the trip went smoothly to Karlovy Vary.

We got to Karlovy Vary a little after noon so we ate lunch at a McDonald's and then went on our way.

(Notice the apostrophe)

Karlovy Vary is known the world over for it's natural hot springs and many spas. There are at least 12 natural mineral springs throughout the city. The mineral water is said to have medicinal properties helping with digestive problems, mineral deficiencies, etc. The only problem is that the water doesn't taste very good. We first went to the Park Colonnade. It is a walkway attached to a building, but that's like saying that the Mona Lisa is just another painting. It is placed in the middle of a beautiful garden setting and is very ornate.


(Flowers outside Park Colonnade)

After that we went to the Mill Colonnade which has its roof supported by 124 Corinth-style columns that shelter an orchestra pit and five mineral springs. A little side note here, some of the springs are hot springs as I found out the hard way... Live and learn!



From there we walked through the city center following the river that divides the city down the middle. We ended up at the Grand Pupp (pronounced poop) Hotel. It might look familiar if you have seen the movie the Last Holiday with Queen Latifa.



After that we went up to the top of a big hill that overlooked the whole city. There we climbed up to the top of Diana Lookout Tower to see a great view of the city! After that we climbed down the hill and went to the Market Colonnade to get some dinner. We ate at a little cafe and I had a traditional Czech meal consisting of Roast Pork and Bread Dumplings in a sauce. After that we headed back to the bus and home we went. The movie on the way home was an old Czech fairy-tale that was hilarious to watch! I didn't know what it said though because it was in Czech. It was a delightful experience!!!!



Karlovy Vary (Part 1)

Karlovy Vary (Part 2)

Vyšehrad, Lunch, and Dinner!

Last Friday (April, 2009) was a pretty fun day! The day started off with us (Daniel, Steph, and I) meeting up with Whitney and Sam at Vyšehrad, and then walking across a huge bridge to find a place to eat. The walk was long, but the views were worth it!



We ended up walking quite a ways before Steph told us of a place that had really good authentic Italian food! She said it was a little pricey but worth it, so we decided to give it a try. It turns out that Steph was not the only one who liked the restaurant. As we walked down the stairs the wall was filled with the pictures of celebrities who had eaten there. Some of the more notable ones were Sean Connery, Matt Damon, and Morgan Freeman! I ordered the lasagna because Steph recommended it, and it was the only thing I could pronounce because the menu was in Italian. It did not disappoint!



So, after that we went to the park and played Frisbee for a while before leaving to go to Pastor Gareths house. Usually on Friday nights we meet at the IMB office to have a International Bible Study, but since it was near Easter, we all went over to their house to have a Easter Celebration! There was a lot of food and a lot of people! It was soo much fun to be around that many International students!



Pics From The Day

Happy April Fools Day!!!

I got a pleasant yet slightly annoying April Fools Joke today when a tried to watch a video on Youtube.com...



The page layout was all the same, but all the text and the videos were turned outside down! It was funny at first, but then I didn't like it anymore after I had to hold my laptop upside down to watch a video. After looking at the page for a minute I noticed the blue box talking about the "new" Youtube layout. I clicked on the text that read, "tips for viewing the new layout".





Happy April 1st! Way to go Youtube! I love that even though Youtube has grown into a huge company, it still has a sense of humor! So, I went back to the page and in the same box I noticed that written smaller and in parenthesis at the bottom was "I prefer the old-fashioned layout". I clicked on it and everything went back to normal!



Just another one of the reasons why I love Youtube!

1955 Lubitel Camera

I made a purchase a couple of days ago, an old Russian Lubitel Type 1c camera. I bought it from a antique camera store between Můstek and Národní Třída metro stops. It was only 180 Kč which equals out to about $16.50 US. It came with a old looking camera case and instructions on how to use it! Original from 1955! There is even some old Russian writing in it that I have no clue what it means. It also came with an old light meter that is in Czech! I love it! After some fiddling with it, I found out that on the side there is a little door that swivels out of the way to reveal a small compartment for storing lenses. And to my surprise there was a yellow lens in it! Pretty cool! I found out that Lubitel in Russian means Lover. I Lubitel this camera! I have yet to get some film for it to see how the pictures turn out, but I plan on it soon!



My Lubitel

Happy Birthday Moses!!!

Last night I had the privilege of going to the 24th birthday of Moisés Abdou, a Brazilian student that I met at a Bible study out in Dejvická. I got a Facebook message from him telling everyone to come to Nevinny, a local pub near the National Opera House. I'm usually not a big fan of pubs or bars cause I don't drink, but since that's where they were going. I figured why not. So, Daniel and I got directions and headed out. I wasn't sure how to get there because I had never been there before, but luckily we met up with Moses and his Brazilian roommate on the metro platform. It turns out that the directions they sent to everyone were wrong anyways so I'm glad I found him.

We walked to the pub and on the way we met up with Antonio, a friend of Moses' from Spain. We went into the pub and down a concrete winding stairway to a small room with a bar and a few tables. We pulled some tables together and started talking while we waited on the others to get there. the bartender came and got drink orders from everyone (Coke for me). we made small talk as the others showed up. In all there were 5 Brazilians, 3 Americans, 2 French guys, a Czech, a guy from Finland, a guy from Estonia, a girl from Portugal, and Antonio from Spain. It was quite the multi-cultural experience. We had a great time and talked about where we were from and the differences in each culture. Then we took "spontaneous" pictures of each other. It was great!



I had a blast despite the strong smell of cigarette smoke and all the alcohol. Which brings me to another topic. Alcohol is viewed so much differently in other parts of the world then it is in America. In Prague, for example, Czechs view beer as liquid bread. They don't abuse alcohol like we do in the states. They just have a few with their meals and not much more unless they are partying. But regardless of this, my view of drinking remains the same. I don't want to do it. Anyways, the night ended with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and a round of shots for those who wanted them. We went our separate ways after a lively night tram ride where Moses and his roommate tried to get Whitney to sing by singing to her. Awesome night!



Moses 24th Birthday

Boneless Saddles Of Rabbit Please...

As many of you know, I'm a pretty picky eater. I can't help it so don't judge me! Haha! Trying new and weird foods has never really made me excited, but I'll try anything once. Well, last night I decided to put that theory to work. The place: Café Louvre (a popular tourist destination with patrons the likes of Franz Kafka, Karel Capek, and Albert Einstein). The food: Boneless Saddles of Rabbit in a sauce made of white wine, cream, French mustard, bacon, and thyme served with wild rice. Well, I usually like all types of meat so that was a plus, and there wasn't anything in the sauce that I didn't like, so I decided to go for it!

I'm not sure where the saddles are on a rabbit, but they are tasty! I don't think I've ever seen a rabbit with a saddle on it? Anyways, I took the first bite and it was different, but it was good! I really liked it! It was a little gamey tasting which I expected, but not enough to ruin the meal or overpower the senses. The wild rice was good and worked well with the sauce and the rabbit saddles. Overall, I was very pleased with my choice of meals! I rounded out the night with some tiramisu and a scoop of home-made chocolate ice cream. It was delicious! I hate to say it, but it was the best ice cream I have ever had. Sorry Mayfield! All in all it was a great evening with great friends and great time!

Soccer Success!!!

Over the past couple of weeks we have been going out to Řepy to prayerwalk and do some sports ministry. So we would prayerwalk until kid's got out of school and then we would get a basketball or a soccer ball and hit the courts that we had been mapping out while prayerwalking. The first couple of times we went out, nothing. Kids would walk by without paying any attention to us at all. Then, we found out from Will's daughter, Lauren, that even though most of the courts have basketball hoops, most of the kids don't really know how to play basketball. So, we decided that maybe we should just focus on something they are familiar with, soccer.

Up until yesterday, we had only had a small crowd to walk me and Daniel play soccer. The only ones who would play with us were Cail and Lauren, Will's kids. Then Yesterday, we headed back out to Řepy for some prayerwalking and soccer. We finished up the prayerwalking maps (an awesome feat!) and then headed to go play soccer presumably by ourselves. But as we rounded the corner to the field where we had seen the most kids, there was a boy of about 10 or 12 with a soccer ball. He was by himself so I asked him if he wanted to play. He didn't speak any English, but using body language he figured out that we wanted to play. To my surprise, he put the soccer ball down and kicked it towards us!!! HE DID IT!!!! We finally got a Czech kid to play soccer with us! It was great! He was pretty good for his age, better then me! We kicked the ball around for a while, and then he picked up the ball and said something in Czech, which we took as a good-bye, and he was off.

I think he knew something we didn't though, because not 3 minutes after he left, we got destroyed by a snow storm! The wind had been really strong all day and it blew the falling snow in a sideways direction. It all happened so fast! Within 5 minutes the ground was covered with snow and we were freezing and wet. The only problem was that we had no where to go. Will and Rachel had left to go somewhere and Cail and Lauren were still at school! So, we did the only thing we could, we just kept playing soccer. It didn't last long though because Daniel said that he couldn't feel his face, so we knew it was time to go. We walked back to Will's house and luckily we only had to wait about 10 minutes before Cail and Lauren showed up and let us in.

Welcome to a normal day in Prague, if there is such a thing....



Řepy

Beautiful Feet

Prayerwalking is an idea that was lost on me for many years. I never saw the reason why you had to actually be somewhere to pray for it. I mean, can't you pray for a specific place from anywhere in the World? Short answer: yes, you can pray for anything from anywhere, but how can someone 1000 miles away really pray for an area unless they have been there and seen what the people are going through and what they struggle with on a day to day basis. I had to learn this information the hard way, just like all good lessons in life.

Since we are making the video in Řepy, it is important to know the area where you are ministering. So, in order to do this it means that we take to walking. To help us do this, Will printed off some maps of Řepy I and Řepy II for us. He also gave us an assignment while we walked around. Pray. Pray for the area, the people we come into contact with, the different situations we face, everything. So, over the past few weeks we have been prayerwalking through Řepy. It has really changed my outlook on prayerwalking! Now, I can see how much more effective prayer can be when it's specific and direct instead of general and unconnected. And as an added bonus, we have all the playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields, and schools mapped out for Will to use in the future for different outreach events, and we have even found some cool places to shoot!

Being in Prague has vastly increased my knowledge in many areas from language to cultural differences, but one of the most valuable lessons that I've learned has been the lessons I've learned about myself.

Divoká Šárka (March 14, 2009)

We got to Will's house last Saturday and I opened my package from the states! And then Will said that plans had changed today because the sun was out and in Prague, you don't waste a sunny day! So, we packed up in the car and headed to a place that I have only heard of...

Divoká Šárka is a nature reserve on the outskirts of Prague. It is named Wild Šárka after a mythical female warrior and you can really find peace and quiet out there even among all the huge buildings of the city center. We parked at a McDonald's and walked into another world! It is completely different then what I expected! I was expecting a park feel with buildings surrounding it, but what I got was a huge expanse of woods and mountains that I never expected! It was great! We walked into the valley on a concrete pathway and followed it around. It didn't last long though because in no time, we were climbing up the side of the mountain heading for the top and a better view! It took a little while, but we made it! It was beautiful! We walked around on the top for a while before walking to another part of the ridge that was the real top! But when we made it there we realized that even though it was the top of this mountain, the one next to it was taller. So, There was only one thing to do.

We climbed down the side of the mountain we were on, making a trail as we went. We had seen a trail from the top of the other mountain that would take us to the top of the taller one. So, we started climbing of the trail and in on time we were exhausted (partly from trying to fun up the side) and found on outcropping in the rocks to sit on. We sat and caught our breath for a while then we were off again! We climbed all the way to the top and to our surprise, there was a guy with a bike up there! It turns out that there was a trail going the other way that was a lot easier. So, we took it down and found a small village in the process! So, after walking around the village we headed back down the mountain. But not before we decided to run, laughing down the side of the mountain with complete disregard to trails! This ended with us on the wrong side of the river and having to walk till we found a place to cross! So, after all this we were tired and decided to head home! What a day!

Divoká Šárka (Part 1)

Divoká Šárka (Part 2)

A Sweet Smellling Aroma... (March14, 2009)

Being in Prague is great, don't get me wrong! But there are certain things that are not in Prague. Some of these things being family, friends, and food! Even though it would be better to have the first two, they don't travel well through the mail. The last however, has no problem at all traveling through the mail! Let me tell you a story....

I woke up to the sun shining! For those of you who have been to Prague during the winter know that this is a great feeling because the sun likes to hide here for weeks at a time. So, that put my in a good mood to start out the day. I got up and showered and got ready to head to Řepy where we would be ministering with Will. We got on the bus to head to the metro stop. We took the green metro to the yellow metro, and then took the yellow metro 3 stops to Anděl. Then we got on a tram that would take us all the way to Řepy. (It takes about an hour to get out there!) The whole way we rode on the tram, I had a smile on my face. Maybe it was the sun shining or random little events that made laugh, but none the less a smile was on my face. I was just in a genuinely happy, good mood!

So, we got off the tram and walked to Will's house. We knocked on the door and Will answered with a smile on his face. We exchanged heys and then went inside. That's the news came...

"Hey, a package came for you!", Will said. That was all I needed! I knew immediately what the "package" was. It was a care package from my friends and family in America!!! I eagerly tore into the big brown box, while being careful not to mess anything up! In all my eagerness, I had forgot to document this wonderful event! So, I carefully put everything back in the box so I could take some quick pictures before opening it all again!


Grits for Will, DVD of Hellos from the Youth, Skittles, Reese Cups, Snickers, York patties, a Pecan Log, Cheetos, Flaming Hot Cheetos, Mountian Dew, Doritos (Cool Ranch & Nacho Cheese), Pocky Sticks, Cracker Jacks, Peanut Butter, Chef Boyardee, Kool-Aid Singles, Blow Pops, Chicklets, an Insurance Card, New Julian Drive CD, Tortured For Christ book. Ahh!

I want to thank everyone who had anything to do with this!!! This has made my day for several days in a row!!! I miss you all and love you! See you soon!

The Package

Let The Filming Commense!!!

I just wanted to update everyone on the status of the video. And for those of you who are completely lost, I'll do a quick recap...

The reason that I'm here in Prague, Czech Republic with the HandsOn program, through the International Mission Board, is to make a video showcasing the ministry of Will Robbins, a IMB missionary. We (Daniel Anderson and I) are making a video that shows all the ways that you can come and help his ministry out in Řepy and be ON MISSION for God.

So, now that everyone is caught up, lets continue! Up until yesterday, most of the video work we were doing was on paper. We were making out the storyboard, which means that we talked through the entire video and had to write everything out on paper and go over and over and over it until we were all happy with the results. We were doing some filming however. But before we could do any filming, we had to find out what equipment we would be using and how it worked. We are using a Panasonic HD video camera that is pretty sweet! We are also using wireless mics which make our jobs a lot easier! So, once we learned how to use everything we went out to Řepy to do some test filming just to see if we would need to incorporate any lighting into the mix. At this point in production, I don't think it will be necessary.

So, yesterday we finally started to film something that will be in the video! We met up with Will and went over everything one more time and then headed to Charles Bridge to film the first part of the history segment. It was cold, but things went relatively well. We had some trouble with hecklers, but nothing major. It took a little longer then I thought it would to shoot the segment, but all in all it went well! So then after that, we went down in the yellow part of the Můstek metro line to film the introduction. That went a lot smoother and we got more then enough good footage! Since the first filming session took longer then we expected and the days are still pretty short, that's all we were able to do. But we are off to a great start I think! We have to go through all the video to see if it's what we want or if we will have to film it again. Well, there is the update on the video! Hope you enjoyed it!

Kutná Hora

This is my trip to Kutná Hora!!! It was awesome!



I recently had a great opportunity to get out Prague for a day. I'm not getting sick of Prague, rather that I'm curious to see what else is out there in this big, wide world. Natalie informed Daniel and I that she was going with Lindsey and Natalie's dad to Kutná Hora, a village city outside of Prague. I was in! Kutná Hora is a popular tourist destination 2 hours by train from Prague. We met at the train station early Saturday morning and purchased our tickets. The ride out there was pretty uneventful, but it was cool to see the Czech countryside.

Train Ride to Kutná Hora



We finally arrived in Kutná Hora and set out towards our first stop. First up on our journey was Kostnice Ossuary Beinhaus (translated as the Chapel of All Saints) or as it is more commonly referred to "The Bone Church"! It is quite an strange place, but beautiful in an odd sort of way. To find out more about the history of The Bone Church CLICK HERE!!! It was an interesting place... I'll leave it at that and you choose for yourself....

The Bone Church 1

The Bone Church 2

After that we were getting pretty hungry so we decided to go get some food. We had planned on going to a Medieval themed restaurant, but apparently someone had reserved the entire restaurant! So, we decided to go a place called Restaurace V Rutharoce ( V Rutharoce Restaurant). It was absolutely amazing! I have had some pretty delicious meals since I've been here and that was definitely one of them!!! I actually got 2 entrees, one was a pork chop with Tarragon butter and the other one was breaded broccoli and fried potatoes! It was amazing! For dessert (yes, I did get dessert) I had Honey Cake, which is a traditional Czech dessert and is absolutely amazing! If you are ever in the Czech Republic I suggest that you make the trip out to Kutná Hora and eat at V Rutharoce!

V Rutharoce


After we ate we decided to go to St. Barbara's Cathedral! It is one of the largest Cathedrals in the Czech Republic! It was actually being worked on when we were there. They were repairing some of the top on the front, left side. For more info on St. Barbara's Cathedral CLICK HERE!!!

St. Barbara's Cathedral

After the Cathedral, it was getting late so we decided to head back to the train stop cause it would be there soon. We did however make a few more detours before we headed back to the train station and made our way home...

Kutná Hora

Ice Skating!!!

Ice skating! Just the words conjure up fond memories of long ago.... or if you're me then it's a exciting new adventure! I have only been ice skating twice in my lifetime because I'm from the South and ice skating just doesn't usually happen there! So naturally when the opportunity presented itself I was definitely on board! There was a place that Lindsey knew of to go. She is a Journeymen working as a school teacher. So off we went!

We all met up at Staromestka metro stop and headed into Old Town. After a little walking we found the rink located behind a wall in the Jewish Quarter of Old Town. It was 100Kc to skate with a 500Kc deposit. So, we got our skates and went to pay the guy, but he didn't have any change and all I had was a 1000Kc bill. So, with Karen Pearce translating, we just told him to keep it as a deposit and then give it back when we finished. (It was an ordeal, but I got it all back)

So, we all strapped on our skates (which were unusually uncomfortable) and hit the ice (some of us literally!). Well, it turns out that I'm actually pretty good at ice skating for a beginner! I really only fell once and that was because I tried to go in between Lindsey and Stephanie. It was a lot of fun! We played tag and raced and laughed! We had quite a group to go with us! In all there were 13 of us: Stephanie, Daniel, Karen, David, Whitney, Lindsey, Lauren, Jessica, Josh, Andrew, and Me with Natalie and her Dad showing up a little later! We had a blast! I would love to do it again, so I think I will....

Fat Tuesday Czech Style (Feb. 24, 2009)

So, last Tuesday as you all know was Fat Tuesday! It's a time of celebration even in Prague! So, to celebrate it, some of us(Daniel, Natalie and her Dad, Stephanie, Lindsey, Samantha, and I) went to Kampa Island beneath Charles Bridge to go to Bohemian Carnivale! On the way we went by the place where they filmed some of the movie Mission Impossible! We also went by the Lennon Wall (photos at the bottom) which was really cool! We made it to Kampa Park where the celebration was going to be, but we were early so we went to a nearby art museum to goof off. There were these guys dressed up in huge 12 foot tall costumes with really long arms that looked like clowns! They were funny!

Then it was time to start the show. It started off with some guys on these cool looking stilts doing some jump tricks and then there was a fireworks show! We were all hungry after the show we went to Red Hot & Blues, an American Cajun restaurant in Old Town Square. They always have live Jazz and Blues bands playing, not to mention the great food! So, we all hung out there and watched Jimmy Bozeman with The Lazy Pigs play. They were awesome, so I bought their Cd! It was quite an experience!

Lennon Wall
Bohemian Carnivale
Bohemian Carnivale and Red Hot & Blues

MWS (McDonald's Worship Session)

Last Sunday we met up the Russian believers again! The cast was a little different this time though. In our group we dropped Whitney (She wasn't feeling well) and picked up Natasha, a girl born in Russia, but that has spent a lot of time in America. On the Russian side, almost all of the previous cast was there, but they had added about 8 more people to their lineup! It was awesome! We sat in the same spot and started singing songs and teaching each other songs in different languages. We were having a good time! I noticed though that one of the McDonald's employee's kept checking us out and staying near where we were. I wasn't the only one to notice it because before I could say anything, Natasha got up and went and started talking to him. It turns out that he is a Russian living in Prague. He is also a musician, so us playing got his attention. So, we invited him over to play us some songs. So he did! He played 2 songs for us. They were both Bob Dylan covers and he did a pretty good job! He even asked us for some information, so we gave him some information about the Russian Baptist Church. I am curious about next week so I can see if he showed up or not. I hope he does!



This whole experience has got me thinking. This random group has only meet twice and without doing anything we have already reached out to someone for Jesus. I think this has great potential to go somewhere. I hope it grows into more then just worship and fellowship, into a full-blown ministry!

McDonald's Breakfast...

I don't know about you but I am a huge fan of McDonald's for breakfast. Yea, I know it's bad for me and all that stuff, but I love it all the same. I haven't had a McDonald's breakfast since I've been in Europe so I think it's time! So, a couple of days ago, Daniel and I decided to get up early before church and go! It was everything I could hope for! I had a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit and a hash brown! It was delicious! It was a little different though because the biscuit wasn't like the ones in the states. It looked like wheat bread almost, but it tasted like a biscuit! I enjoyed myself and so did Daniel! We will have to do that again!

Feb. 14, 2009 (V-Day)

Happy Valentine's Day or Singles Awareness Day in my case! Daniel and I spent V-Day in our room watching Season 2 of Heroes. For those of you who don't know about Heroes, It's a TV show that is awesome and you should watch it.

Not a whole lot has gone on in the past couple of days so I'll just hit the high points.

Thursday morning we got up early to go hand out free Bible Cd's at Náměstí Míru. Náměstí Míru is a popular metro stop and in a dense part of town so we figured this would give us the best chance. We handed out 25 Cd's in about 45 minutes. The CD had different Bible stories on them that shared the Gospel. After we handed out the 25 Cd's we went around to the trash cans in the area because I lot of people will take them and then immediately throw them away. Some people will even throw them down right in front of you and laugh. Luckily, this didn't happen to us and some people even got 2 Cd's!

Then after working at the office, we went to The Pearce's for dinner. They had graciously invited us to come and we never turn down a free meal and good company! It was a blast! We had a burrito buffet that was killer! I ate a ton! We even had cheddar cheese! That is considered a delicacy here and is pretty expensive, so the gesture was greatly appreciated. Then we had banana bread for dessert and just hung out talked and watched funny YouTube videos.

Friday was pretty normal at the office. Scott gave us a video project to do for Richmond (as in Virginia, as in IMB Headquarters). We have to do a quick promo video including all the Journeymen and ISCer's for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It should be pretty fun! We get to use the big HD video camera! That means that we are carrying around about $3 grand worth of video gear. We finished up one of the promos today and we will do the other 3 on Sunday after church.

And on my blog is caught up!!! Sorry it took so long!

McDonald's Worship Session

We had already finished our meal and were just sitting and talking when a group of Russian-looking college students came in and sat near us. I thought nothing of it at the time because in Prague there are so many different nationalities. Then as we went back to our conversation, we heard music, worship music! We looked around to find where it was coming from. Sure enough, it was coming from the group of Russian-looking college students. One of the guys had a guitar out and was playing worship songs while the others sang along.

Whitney and Stephanie decided that they were going to go talk to them, so they did. It didn't take long before they called Daniel and I over too. It turns out that they are Christians from the Russian Baptist Church that meets in the same room as the International Baptist Church! They were from all over! In their group, 2 were Russian, 2 were Ukrainian, 1 was from Moldova, and 1 was from Kazakhstan! It was awesome!

We sang praise songs for a good 2 hours, each person singing in their own language! Sometimes we would sing a song in English and then do one in Russian, it was nuts! Right in the middle of McDonald's! It was definitely a God thing! A good time was had by all and we are planning to meet them again next Sunday night for another McDonald's Worship Session!

Feb. 8, 2009

We went to church today, which was good. We talked about Jesus being the ONLY way to get to God using John 14:1-14. The pastor is also the one who leads our International Bible study. His name is Garreth and he's from Wales. Cool guy with a heart for the lost.

Then we went to Flora and ate lunch. I ate McDonald's which is pretty common. =) Then we went to Natalie and Stephanie's apartment to hang out. Their apartment is the usual hang out place because they are awesome and like having people over. We went to hang out with Brian and Anna one more time before they left. They were heading out Monday to back to the states.

After that we went to English Club to teach the Czech kids English using Bible stories. I admire these kid's because they are much younger then me and can already speak 2 languages.

Then we went to McDonald's for some dinner.... To Be Continued...

Feb. 7, 2009

I woke up at 3pm today. It's cool cause it was Saturday. I woke up cause Natalie called me to see if Daniel and I wanted to come eat dinner and watch a movie. We accepted and got ready. We headed over to their apartment at about 5:30. We ate and hung out while we waited on everyone to get there so we could watch the movie. It gave me a rare opportunity to Skype my family. My whole family was in the same place which never happens so it was good to see everyone. Then Brian and Anna got there and we watched Juno and then looked at pictures from their travels through Europe. They have been all these amazing places like the pyramids in Cairo, Hitler's Tea House, and all the surreal, beautiful places.

I hope to travel like that one day. It would be nice to have a wife first that also loves to travel. I just think it would be so neat to travel around Europe and share the Gospel with people. Just looking at their pictures I get a sense of God's attention to detail and just the beauty of it all! I mean how could all of this just happened. It didn't! God created it! Random chance is crap! Intelligent design by a Holy Designer!

Feb. 6, 2009

Today was my first official day of work an a IT guy for the IMB (unofficially). The day went by pretty easy. Nothing major. Then after work we headed home and heated up the left over lasagna from dinner at Steph's. Since we don't have a microwave, we just had to heat it up in a skillet on the stove(aka a heating element). We just mushed it up so it would cook evenly. We ate our delicious mush on the leftover garlic beard Steph gave us. They were like like little Italian sandwiches! Awesome! I think we should patent the idea and start our own chain of restaurants.

After our great dinner, we went to the International Bible Study. It was really good. We talked about suffering and how God uses it to grow you. Powerful stuff and makes for a great discussion. After Bible Study, we went and met up with everyone at Flora(a big mall with a food court where everyone always goes) and hung out for a little while. Then we went to Nat's and Steph's apartment to watch The Fountain. It was a good movie, but kind of weird. We went to leave at 2:30am (that's because Daniel had to go back to our apartment to get his laptop that the movie was on). Public Transportation stops running at midnight. Luckily for us, there are night buses that roam the city at night. The problem is they only run once or twice an hour. This means waiting a lot, but we had no choice. We left their apartment and walked 5 or 6 blocks to the hotel to pick up the 58 night tram. We took the 58 to Biskupcova. When we got off the bus we had to walk around till we found the Biskupcova bus line. (They really should put them closer together) We found the 509 night bus stop, but had to wait for almost an hour until the bus came. Luckily for us, we were sitting right next to an electronics store that had TVs in the window! So we watched women's downhill skiing till the bus came. Finally the bus came and we rode it till our stop and we were home. The time was 4am. For the record, the night transportation all smells like alcohol and the people on there all look dead or close to it. Motto of the story, don't ride the night transportation!

Photos from our Night

Feb. 5, 2009

We woke up early today to track down the ever elusive washing machine that has been giving us the slip ever since we got to Europe. We had gotten a tip from Natalie where some were so we headed out armed with laptops (rumors of a free wifi connection) and dirty clothes. WE FOUND IT!!! It was a bit pricey but we didn't care! It was 60Kč which is equal to about $3 US, but it also came with free wifi and a free cup of coffee! And then when you throw in the fact that the lady running the place spoke great English (for a Czech), the price didn't matter! It was awesome! We got all of our clothes clean! We will definitely be going back there!

No sooner did we got our clean clothes packed up and got home, I got a call from Will asking me why I wasn't with Hawk to learn IT stuff. Oh no! I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to come into the office today! Hawk was leaving for an International IT conference in Thailand, so he left me in charge to the IT work at the office. So, I ate a quick lunch that Daniel had made me, awesome, and headed out. I got there and Hawk gave me a crash course around the network because he was leaving in the morning. Gotta love ministry! As a wise man once told me, Flexibility brother!

Feb. 4, 2009

Today, we had our weekly Bible study with Matt and Valerie Beasley. It went well. We are going to be reading through Colossians for the next week and then we are going to come together next Wednesday and discuss it. We are also still memorizing different verses. We also talked about using the time we have here to meet International believers to learn from them and use them to reach out to non-believers.

After the Bible study we stayed there to use their Internet and hang out. Then at 6:30 we went over to Natalie's and Stephanie's apartment because they were fixing dinner for some of the remaining Journeymen and we were invited too. It was absolutely amazing! We had lasagna and garlic beard! I was in Heaven! I'm sad to say that I made a little bit of a glutton out of myself by having 3 big servings and then eating dessert too! Speaking of dessert, we had brownies and these chocolate chip cookie bars! Great!!!! I was beyond stuffed! Stephanie and Natalie offered to feed us every Wednesday night too, so I get to experience more of this awesomeness!!!

Feb. 3, 2009

Location: Prague Czech Republic

Yesterday was our (Daniel and I) first official work day at the IMB office. Are are supposed to go in on Monday's and Wednesday's to learn about how to make videos and storyboards and just all the ins and outs of the job. We showed up at noon because of the Super Bowl party (we went to bed at 4:30am). It didn't take long for them to find out about my IT background so I was put in charge of fixing a laptop that wouldn't boot. Well, it didn't take long tinkering with it to find out that the motherboard was shot and there was nothing I could do. Sorry Scott! It is his daughters laptop. Then I researched the rest of the day on different filming techniques, and watched videos seeing what shots I wanted to try and incorporate in the video.

Today, we (Daniel, Whitney, and I) went to Řepy to do some prayerwalking and goof off with the video cameras. It ended with us going to Wills house and then to eat at Jerry's. It's a restaurant modeled after a fifties diner. Cool place. Who would have thought to do a fifties diner in Prague! The ride out to Řepy is about an hour ride so when we (Daniel and I) got back to the house we got our laptops to track down some free wifi. We were also scouting out a laundromat that Will told us about, but we never found it. Besides socks and underwear, I haven't washed clothes since I've been Europe. It's been almost a month! We found free wifi at a place called Motor Café. It had Ducati motorcycles everywhere! We stayed there for a while but unfortunately the place closed at 8. Everything here closes earlier then in America. So, we decided to go towards Old Town Square and the tourists district to see if we could find another place still open. We got off at the wrong stop so we walked around for a while and eventually found ourselves at Matt and Valerie Beasley's house. They are a young married couple with a baby on the way doing missions here. We watched the TV show Heroes and goofed off on the Internet and then headed home.

Moving Day!!! (Feb. 2, 2009)

Location: Toulcův Dvůr - Room 1

Well, We moved in today! We are living in a Czech Western style apartment. I can look out the window and see girls taking horse riding lessons with the city as a backdrop. Our room is small. One room. No kitchen, no bathroom, just a room with 2 beds, a table, a dresser, and a closet. The kitchen and bathroom are community at the end of the hall. There are no washers (as of yet) to do laundry. The biggest issue/blessing in disguise is not having an Internet connection. It stinks not having Internet, but on the other hand I do have more time for reading and journaling. The Super Bowl was last night! We watched it at the IMB office at 12:30am because we are 6 hours ahead of the US. It was Super Bowl 43 and the Steelers won it after a great ending!

Earlier today, we went to a tower way up on a hill that had a great view of the city. We went with a girl named Samantha. She is here studying language and teaching English. The tower proved to have a great view of the city and I got some good pictures! I've really gotten into photography since I've been in Europe. I never even knew I liked it until I bought a digital camera to bring on the trip.

A couple of days ago we went out to eat with a girl named Romana. We met her on a bus because Daniel and I were butchering the Czech language. She was sitting next to Whitney listening to Daniel and I destroying the language when she had enough and decided to say something to us. I think the line that pushed her over the edge was when Daniel asked in Czech if he could dance in here. She just started laughing and then we found out that she is studying to become an English teacher. She is only 21 and already knows 5 or 6 different languages! So, all that to say that we talked for a little while and exchanged numbers. Then tonight we all went and hung out. We went to the Pizza Colosseum which is a ritzy little Italian place near Old Town Square. Afterwards, we went to a nice little place to get coffee and ice cream in the third floor of a random building we found. We talked for a long time sharing about our lives and ideals about the world and religion. Then we parted ways. Hopefully we will all hang out again.

Toulcův Dvůr

Photos of The Overlook 1
Photos of The Overlook 2