first phase of saying goodbye

We had the time of our lives serving along side some of the greatest people here in Slovenia. Spending time with them outside of camp is such a treat. Here are some more pictures from fun outings.



Sasa, Meta, Mary and I had some fun together before Neja's birthday party. We got ice cream and chatted... I'm gonna miss these girls. For those of you who don't know Sasa (sasha) is in the yellow and Meta (may-ta) is in the floral shirt.

this is our very own Neja (Nay ya) celebrating her 21st birthday :-)



I wish we had some better group photos but we'll have to settle for some individual ones.

Gasper (Gah sh per)



Sasa and Mateja (Mah teh ya)




This group is just so much fun!! Last week we all got together and went out to drinks (non alcoholic- don't worry mom). We enjoyed just being with each other... again no great group photos...

Naja (Nai ya) and us



Miso (Mee sho) and us



These guys are our peers and our family. In their everyday lives they face rejection and have to fight for their faith. They are our heroes.


Don't forget to pray for them! Many of them are attending Theological school this week and will be learning lots of great things about our Lord. Pray for the spiritual warfare that they may face.

-Lindy for the team


Like Lindy was saying we love these people so much. We love them for many specific reasons because of who they are. We love them because we've seen how they serve God and because we have served with them. We love them because we see the love of Christ in them. And we love them because they are our family here.

As I think we've said before, for most of our brothers and sisters in Christ over here, the church is the only supportive family they have when it comes to the most important thing in their lives which is Christ. Because of this there is a deep bond between believers. We were privileged to be invited into this family too and we are so blessed to be considered as that.

We have so many dreams for Slovenija and our futures here, most of which are still too elusive and scattered to write about. But as our heart for the needs here grows, the most exciting dream by far is the one where we get to serve with our amazing peers in Slovenija. Can't really explain how awesome that could be. Anybody want to join us in dreaming that way?

Mary for the LindyMary team

our flight info

so, lots of people are wondering- when do mary and lindy arrive home?

well, I've got some answers

Our flight info goes as follows:

We're flying on US Airways, our flight number 0261 and estimated arrival time is 8:30PM but that's subject to change so check it out online (www.usairways.com)

-Lindy for the marylindy team

Best team ever!

So last week was extremely rough in a lot of different ways.. don't worry Mary and i are terrible at keeping surprises so we'll have 2 nice, long, very detailed reflections to come.

Our team in Cakovec was fondly called the "Slovenia team" we consisted of 4 people: Christina (JV missionary), Miso (Slovene intern), Mary (you should know her), and Lindy (sound familiar?). Over the course of camp us four became extremely close. We had to lean on each other for support and look to one another for hope. So many times the team was full of encouragement... love(ly) notes were sent back and forth and random acts of kindness were done throughout the week. Words can't adequately express our deep bond. Hopefully you'll enjoy these pics and they will give you a glimpse of the depth (and some of the humor) behind our "Slovenia team"

Hawaiian night



Us in all our glory



We're not exactly sure why...



Western night- giddy up



and this is just for kicks and giggles... *cough cough... makes up story* What I really mean is that it actually got SO hot that we were told to wear protective head gear... inside... It's obvious that Mary let the sun get to her...



think what you will

Cakovec Camp

So, consider yourself warned...

First off pictures are worth a thousand words... so lets save you some time and get to those pictures



so, all of last week was warm.. HOT even. We hit an all time record for hottest day ever in Cakovec 108!!! To add to that we never had a day under 95 degrees... Can you say sweaty!?! Despite the heat we still played sports and had fun

Mary's Class:



this picture captures the heart of camp- fun :-) We didn't let the heat thwart our enthusiasm.

...Although we DID resort to some inside games... I can not count how many rounds of UNO I played last week :-) I even won some games!! BOOOYAAAA




It was so encouraging to us how this camp was lead by students. Peers were leading peers.

Hvasi:


This picture is of Hvasi (and Mary :-P) He had such a desire to share the Lord with his friends. He really stepped up at camp and was a spiritual leader (especially in evening discussions)

Ninoslav:


Nino (the one on the left :-P) was in my class. He is 35 and has a heart of gold. Two of my fondest memories of camp are: Watching him enthusiastically share his testimony and then him dancing to Michael Jackson during our talent show.

Sandra:


This girl was actually a huge source of encouragement for us in seeing her reaction to camp once it was over. God is so good- he totally used camp to change her and her heart. I can hardly keep from jumping for joy when I think about her and what God taught her.

The Lord continued to bless us this week. Through out the week I got to invest my life into relationships... with 3 girls in particular... (one is not pictured)



Jasmina is on the left and then Martina is on the right. These girls were in my class but couldn't speak any English. It was cool how God opened up ways for us to communicate :-) I'm comforted to find that hugs are universally understood :-) These girls were also a source of joy for me through out a really tough week.

God also brought along some other really encouraging people to Croatia:


that's right, our Slovenia team/family came and visited through out the week:-) What a blessing to know that there are people loving you and supporting you!

By the end of the week both Mary and I had made connections with various campers:


Danijl was one of my best dance partners (such a ladies man) and Jasmina was so thoughtful... Mary and I are still touched by their acts of kindness toward us.

This one is for Niall. He probably hates me for this photo... but he took it :-P


Actually, I just wanted to make a small dedication to Niall. He brought his family to Cakovec and invested in the lives here at camp. It's sad to see him leave but God has big plans for him else where- May God richly bless you and your family Niall.

Lindy for the Marylindy team

Sustained

We are home and done with camp. There is a long post coming... for now we're having an all team fun day :-) We love our Slovenia team :-)

bring on another camp!!

which one of these things doesn't belong?



I'll give you a hint: Our bathroom is much more spacious without this in there.

... yep.. it's the toilet.

A week ago before camp I (Lindy) was in the shower and Mary receives a phone call from David (JV missionary) to turn off the water. So I'm finishing getting the shampoo out of my hair when Mary knocks yet again at the door saying "TURN THE WATER OFF WE'RE FLOODING THE OFFICE!!" (The office is located right below our apartment)

so, I finished my shower in the kitchen sink :-) OH they joys of our apartment :-)

Right before we left the handy man (not sure what his real name is) and Josh Patty visited us to check out our now ant infested, non functional shower.

All this to say, when Mary and I came home yesterday from camp we were tired and were not so overjoyed about not having ANY running water as well as a toilet in our kitchen. Thank the Lord that Anna and Christina brought us a key to the church's bathroom. Both Mary and I wouldn't have lasted another 10 minute walk to their apartment to use the restroom (we made this journey twice yesterday).

hope you enjoyed the picture... it is rather funny to us.

On a slightly different note Mary and I are heading to Croatia today until the 24th. Pray for endurance- last camp took a lot out of us! God is so good though. Working with Jr. highers can be so draining yet so rewarding. It was so rewarding to share God's love with these students who are searching for acceptance and love. We were both shocked at how much these kids have to deal with at such a young age and at how deeply they felt for one another. They were such deep thinkers. It was evident to us that their hearts are and were being softened. It was also cool to see how God answered specific prayers. This lady Mirijam prayed for 6 years that God would send someone to reach the youth in Radovlica. Her prayers were answered with Glorija and Sebastian. The Lord worked through Seba and Glorija on numerous occasions. It was especially cool to see how the younger slovene leaders (anna, Sreco, Sabi) were used to reach out to specific kids as well.

thanks for sharing in these experiences with us.

-Lindy for the team

lake bled

our team spent the day at Lake Bled. We got some sweet 'tan' lines.. here are some pics of the day














And now we're heading into a 2 week camp marathon..

you can thank Mary for the Thunder story and Lindy for the pictures/ explinations

us for the MaryLindy team