“The Original” Blog Post Archive

What an amazing day at camp.  Today we started our first day of English Lessons as well as had an afternoon water day.   After dinner Pastor Andrew gave his gospel presentation about “I am the light of the world”…

In one of my previous international travels I saw several pieces of art that changed their appearance based on the position that you viewed them from.  For instance, what appeared to be a statue of a car from one direction, looked like a horse and buggy from another…

Humidity hangs in the air of my hotel room as a palpable reminder of the steady afternoon rain that we received today.  Although the weather cleared several hours ago, the clammy feel of fabrics, paper, even the keyboard of my laptop computer speak to the earlier downpours and the lingering summer heat…

Luke 10 is an amazing passage about Jesus sending out 72 messengers to proclaim good news about the kingdom of God.  These were people who had followed Him, and presumably heard his message, but there is no indication that they had advanced training in evangelism.  They were regular people commissioned by Jesus to do the extraordinary…

Spending over 20 hours in transit and traversing 9 time zones plays tricks on the mind and I have seen most of the team struggling to make sense of the huge difference between what our body clocks say we should be doing though all our senses tell us otherwise.

“He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

Outside the lonesome call of a morning dove and the occasional crow of a rooster signal that the day has already begun.  Soon the house will be full of commotion as we hastily stuff toiletries in bags and travel to meet the rest of the mission team at church.  Today will be filled with moments of intense activity: airport check in, security, plane transfers.  It will and also be filled with long periods of inactivity… 

“I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 (NASB)

This week for me has been a blur of activity for Jesus. In addition to helping at Bible Base Camp for Vacation Bible School, I have been spending a lot of additional time in God’s word preparing for the month that I will be gone in the Czech Republic. This has included two camp talks (Jesus is “The Way, The Truth, and the Life” and Jesus is “The vine”), four Sunday School lessons (evangelism, “kingdom thinking”, “our heavenly country”, and “Jesus our king”), and one devotion in Czech from Proverbs, chapter 22. With three days left between now and our departure, my pace will slow down a bit, with only two devotions and one blog left to go. Admittedly, there have been times this week that I felt a little bit overwhelmed by the volume of teaching material that I needed to produce, but it has also been good for me as well.

“For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” 2 Corinthians 2:15 (New International Version)

In 11 days the mission team will be heading to the Czech Republic and we are all engaged in a frenzy of last minute preparations.  For me, this period of preparation always takes on a specific smell.  It is barely noticeable as I enter the house, but it gets stronger as I approach my office.  Inside the my “mission headquarters”, boxes filled with supplies for the trip are sorted and stacked as they wait to be packed into duffel bags.  The aroma of chocolate, candies and marshmallows is unmistakable and would be quite pleasant if it were not for one simple fact: cardboard.  The acrid stench of cardboard permeates the entire atmosphere bringing to mind a Frankenstein concoction of musty wet leaves and sour milk. I fight the urge to hold my breath every time I enter the space.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise Him up on the last day” John 6:44 (NASB2020)

The time to leave for the Czech Republic is almost here! I cannot believe that in just 3 short weeks, I will be getting on an airplane to fly to the place and culture and people that I have been praying for, for two years.

Up to this point, my main involvement in Czech ministry has been leading the prayer teams for the short term trips. I have been unable to physically go to the Czech Republic for the first two years because of nursing school and starting my job as a nurse. But I am so thankful God provided me a way to still be a part of this ministry even though I could not physically go, and He has taught me so much about the importance of prayer through this! And even though I am now able to physically go to the Czech Republic, I still want to remember the importance of prayer in this ministry as I go on my journey.

(Written by: Holden Carson)

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” Exodus 34:6b NIV 

WOW! Two years ago, I remember reading the blogs for the first Czech trip and not wanting to get too involved with our ministry in Czech…And now, here I am writing a blog post! We’re less than four weeks away, and I am about to go where God has laid my heart to be for a MONTH this summer — the Czech Republic! God has made a way for this to be possible even amid many factors that might have prevented it. This is what HE has done, and it is amazing!