Saturday and Sunday Update

I apologize for the delay in updates. The last two days have flown by.

On Friday, we continued band rehearsals, but this time combining the choir with the band. Everything was sounding great and we were making great progress on all of the songs.

Friday night was the talent show. It gave a number of students and leaders a chance to show off their talents and skills separately from the concert. There were songs, skits, dance, and comedy. A few members of our team participated with students in the talent show, and a portion of our team did a song with some of the members of the team from Christ Community Church in Chicago. It was a great night, even though it finished about an hour later than it should have. :)

Saturday morning included packing our bags, and moving out of our rooms. We also packed all of the instruments and sound equipment to move it to the outdoor concert area near the cottages. Lunch was our final camp meal together, and then we walked to the cottages to prepare for the concert.

The concert was well-attended and went very well, with no major issues. Hopefully some videos of the concert will be available on YouTube in the coming week. After the concert, it was nice meeting the students' families. We started the process of saying goodbye to the students who live in other cities and would not be able to join us for church on Sunday. We then left to go to the homes of some of the students and leaders for home stays.

On Sunday morning, we met at ESK church in Havířov. We had time for worship, two Fusion band and choir songs, and a message from Ondřej (our amazing camp leader). The church was the fullest I have even seen it, and there were a number of students' families who do not normally attend church at ESK (or for some, anywhere). It was a great morning.

We then had pizza together with the students, and a few more goodbyes. Then a group of us went to help unload equipment at Kevin and Daniela Dickson's family home near Třinec. They live in a beautiful country area about 30 minutes from the city. Kevin gave us a tour of their amazing property that has been in Daniela's family for 4 generations. He told us some of the history of the home, including how the large rock for the foundation was quarried by Daniela's grandfather and carried via wheelbarrow 3/4 of a mile to the home site.

In the afternoon and evening, our team went with about 20 of the students to a reservoir near town, where we swam, ate, and visited with each other. It was a great afternoon, and it was nice to cool off in the water because the temperature outside was about 90 degrees.

More goodbyes, and final dinner with our host families followed in the late evening.

On Monday morning, we met at the train station for our train ride to Prague. The final set of goodbyes with Czech students and leaders was prolonged by a train delay of about 15 minutes.

We now sit on the train, processing and thinking about the whirlwind of events over the last week. We look forward to being back at home with our families, but find ourselves missing the Czechs with whom we had established (and renewed) strong bonds over our time here. I have no doubt that at least a few members of our team (myself included) will find themselves back here at some point in the future, continuing relationships that were started or strengthened this week.