a glorious adventure

In less than 24 hours i will be leaving this country accompanied by three other guys to embark on what promises to be an exciting an probably interesting adventure. The four of us will be helping to run an English/Sports camp in Zilina, Slovakia where we will have the opportunity to present the gospel through our actions and our words to the youth from this city. I wish to tell you a short version of how this trip came to be.

Many months ago i was contacted by Ed Rumbold with an email requesting that i participate in an internship through Josiah Venture in Slovakia for three months of the Summer. Due to previous engagements i was unable to accept, however, i did desire to put together a team to do a short term trip. After discussing it with several people it seemed as though that desire was going to be left to itself. That is until a particular day at the Stahlke residence in Ohio at a prayer breakfast. Around a dozen of us had eaten breakfast together and then spent the morning lifting up praises and requests to God. I had stated at the beginning that my Uncle Todd and several others from his church would be attending a conference in Eastern Europe and that prayer was needed for their travels and the success of the conference. We proceeded to pray through the morning for many requests including this particular one.

Later in morning after we had finished, my friend Jon Dech asked that i tell him more about this organization that was holding the conference. I began to tell him of the work Josiah Venture is doing in Eastern Europe and particularly Slovakia. He seemed interested so i decided to throw him a curve ball. I told him if we wanted we could actually go over this Summer and help run one of the camps. Now for those of you who know Jon, when he hears something he likes you can almost see the wheels start to turn in his head and he gets a look in his eyes that truthfully, is kind of creepy. I was only halfway joking when he said, sure that'd be awesome! He looked over at two other guys Scott and Jon Clevenger and they agreed to as well. So in a matter of five minutes we had put together a team to help run a Slovak camp. This is but one of the miraculous ways Christ has already worked in this trip. From there i needed to contact Ed.

Several days later i had the chance to skype with Ed and talk with him about the possibility of helping at a camp. We were about a month or two too late for signing up, but it just so happened that one camp in particular had had an American team back out. There was miracle number two. And they just went on from there. As we've grown closer to the day of actually leaving for the trip Satan has not missed an opportunity to attack us. Every nitch he sees he attempts to get ahold of which has been a challenge for us as a team. But praise God he has helped us overcome those and though we're not even in Europe yet, we've already become closer and stronger as a team because of it.

Now in less than 24 hours we will be on our way to carry out what we feel the Lord has called us to do with part of our Summer. We ask for prayers of strength, wisdom, and boldness and that our hearts would be right before God as we make our way into Europe. For the hearts of the Slovak youth that we will be interacting with. And that the Lord would bless us with opportunity to minister in our travels as well as at the camp. If you wish to keep up with what we are doing while we were there you can check back with my blog. I will do my best to post at least once a week, but no promises.

a new chapter

For those of you reading this, you undoubtedly know that i am now living in Ohio. As my plans changed numerous times over the course of the past 6 months i hope to give a more clear idea of what i am doing currently and what i plan to do.

I decided to move to Ohio ultimately for schooling purposes. I plan on attending either the University of Akron or Ohio State University next Spring. Both schools have great business programs, OSU having the eighth in the nation. Until then i am working full time, taking classes online, and living with a family in Bellville, Oh. Bellville is about ten minutes south of Mansfield. The Lord has already blessed me tremendously and has made it clear to me that this was the best decision for me to make.

In the time that i have been here, which as of now is just over two weeks, i have already received a full time job, found a solid friends base, and am involved in a college and young adult ministry that is just beginning. In these two weeks God has already begun to show me and make clear to make some pretty amazing things. One thing stands out above the rest. In making this move to Ohio, many people were confused in my reasoning and wondered why i didn't just find a school in illinois. I didn't have great reasons but i had a few good reasons. In my own heart, the reason was because i felt this is where God wants me. And yet, i still struggled myself to understand why. But through this struggle God is showing me some pretty incredible things. I've begun to see the tip of the ice burg of what happens when we die to self and live a life sacrificed for Christ and the furthering of his Kingdom. Our minds are so limited by our human tendencies that we are incapable of seeing God's plan as a whole and how our simple little actions day by day can play out into a much larger picture. But when we have faith that God is guiding our lives, then those little footsteps that we take day by day, turn into an incredible story of God's Love. He has already blessed me with opportunities to bless others that i may not have been able to see had he not pulled me from the comfort of my home and placed me in a different and sometimes uncomfortable situation.

I've been here in Ohio a mere two weeks and this is already what God has begun to show me and i am bursting with excitement to see what else he has in store. The purpose of this blog is to keep those of you back at home up to date on my ventures and experiences here in Ohio. I ask that you pray for me that God would continue to ground me in Him, that i would make lasting friendships here, and that i would simply enjoy my experiences away from home.