Nate Hampton In Ostrava: Reunited And It Feels So Good

Seeing Some Friends and Family

Last Thursday morning, Pastor Petr and I boarded a city bus at 6:20 in the morning and headed for the train station in Ostrava so that we could begin our journey to Prague to meet the rest of the American team that was heading here for this summer's English Camp. We had to leave early in the morning because the day before there was a train crash involving a truck which killed several people and closed a portion of the line between Ostrava and Prague. This also required us to stay up later that evening to figure out whether we would just be taking a bus there but we ended up being able to take the train to Olomouc to pick up a van and continue onto the airport in Prague. After several hours of driving we arrived and were able to greet the team which many of you know includes my mom. It was great to see her as well as the rest of the team that I had not seen face to face in a year. After grabbing some real food, because the team had only eaten plane food for the previous several hours, we headed to a town known as Třešť. While there, the team got a chance to get some much needed rest and see this little town and the surrounding area. While going to view some of the local historical sites we ran into some unexpected friends. A woman named, Zdenka and her two children. Her family had come to the English camps the first three years but have not come as a family for the last two. I was excited but my mom was embarrassingly elated when she saw them walking up a path through the forest. Although the family will not be at the English camp again this year, Zdenka will try to come and visit at some point during the camp. It is so wonderful to see how God can orchestrate such amazing meetings with His perfect timing.

Mom with Zdenka and her two children, Martin and Bára.

Waiting for the bike ride to begin and wishing that he had shaved.

Emily and Jess trying to figure out if they still remember how to ride bikes.

Already Halfway Through English Camp 2015

It is always crazy to me how long the time is before English Camp, the months of planning, memorizing verses, growing as a team, praying, and thinking about who will be at the camp and what doors the Lord will open. Then the camp begins and each member of the team is up deep into the early hours of the morning, planning English lessons, preparing devotions, talking with some of the other team members, or interacting with the Czech campers, teaching English and Bible lessons, talking, worshiping, and playing endless games of UNO but before you know it you are more than halfway through the week and sadly you can see the end in sight. There never seems to be enough time, even for me because I know that it will be very difficult to follow up consistently with some of the people who attend because they live far away from Ostrava and this really is the only time in the year that we can see each other. There are many stories about how the Lord has been working here at the camp but I don't want to spoil it for all the people who will come and hear about it at the evening prayer meeting when the entire team will talk about their experience here. I do however have a few pictures and a few prayer requests as we have our last couple of days of camp before we head to Ostrava on Saturday afternoon. First, praise the Lord for the strength that He has given to several of the team members as they have struggled with some sort of illness off and on since arriving here. Everyone has still been able to teach their classes and attend the other main activities despite not feeling well. Secondly, please pray for the health of those who still are not feeling well or have recently begun to feel the effects of the illness. (Emily Wisler and Dawson Estes). Third, pray that there would be good discussion during the Bible times and that people would be awake enough to really think about what we are reading and have the courage to ask questions. And lastly, pray for the hearts of those who don't know Jesus yet as well as those that do know Him but just need an extra helping of encouragement, Jim will be giving the gospel presentation tomorrow and the Lord can do much through it. Thank you all so much for your prayers and the time that you take to read through and view the pictures in this blog.