it's coming...

I only need $500 more pledged a month, and then I can go back to Czech. So February seems a likely option for me to get to Czech.

it hit me on Saturday...and I flipped out! That means I only have a few weeks left with family,

with friends,

with the dog,

with my church, possibly the last times I'll see some people while on earth. My last thanksgiving with my insanely large family (for a while).

and yet, the joy. the joy. of obeying God and seeing him at work.

To give, go here: https://securegive.yfc.net/amelone

A glimpse into my Czech life.....

My every day life in Pardubice

& orphan summer camps at Immanuel Conference Center

Prague

I have been all sorts of into making movies recently. This is a short one that I made about my stay in Prague at the beginning of September.

After a long 2 weeks of camps, I was very thankful for the opportunity that some friends gave me to stay at their apartment and watch their dog. It was a little "stay-cation" for me - I got to stay in a great location in my favorite city, and I spent a lot of time with good friends enjoying the sites. 

Now you can enjoy it too - and come visit me!

the coke bottle said blogger.

The last few weeks were those of drinking coke and eating chocolate, which are two things that I very normally avoid...but camps are my time to splurge.

The other day at camp, the coke bottle that I picked up said "blogger," reminding me that I should post something on here.

I started writing this on my "afternoon off" of camp - but because I didn't actually leave camp, it wasn't much of a time off. Not that I minded, but as soon as I started this post, I had to close my computer to go figure some camp things out!

And now I continue writing this from the comfort of a friend's apartment in Prague. While they're on vacation for a few weeks, I'm vacationing at their apartment and watching their cute dog. It's been a good, restful time, completely filled so far with visits from friends which I enjoy.

Camps are over - OVER! I've spent a total of about 30 hours in Pardubice in the last 3 weeks between our youth group retreat, camps, and staying in Prague. Our last two camps went so well, the first week boasting about 60 kids from 3 homes, and the second week had 40 from 5 different homes. Hopefully we'll be able to get into some of these homes throughout the year, because I'd love to see the kids - and their leaders!

Here are some pictures to show you a little bit of what camp looked like...

Some of our team for the week - from Pardubice, Andrea and Dolek,
2 Irish friends, Michael & Megan, and another girl, Katt, from the local youth group

the dresses made a reappearance!

Water games day - my afternoon off - which meant I got wet too!

With Erika, a sweet girl from one of the homes

on a trip to the animal farm!

Loving the unlovable: why God is God and I am not

Last week was one of the most difficult I've had. I struggled with discouragement, disagreement, disrespect, and in all likelihood, some kind of spiritual oppression. I didn't want to be there from the beginning, and I wasn't prepared in any way to serve.

It was a week with orphan kids. Some of their stories and faces broke my heart: I may end up coming home with 5 kids :) As young as some of them are (even the 7 year-olds), some of them are already speaking some of the most vulgar language and showing the most utter disrespect that you can imagine. They have made themselves unlovable, mocking you to your face, spewing out curses and hatred. (Though that's definitely not true of all of them! Some of them were very easy to love)

When I've heard the phrase, "loving the unlovable," I always imagined those of the lower caste systems who were looked down upon, or those sick with some terrible disease. I didn't picture the face of a teenager who kept pushing away, never allowing love in.

And my response was not godly. I answered their anger with mine. I ignored them, too frustrated to try. And yet at any sign of vulnerability or happiness, I was consumed with joy. They're finally letting us in! 

But I am those children; I am unlovable. I curse in God's face, I ignore him, I don't appreciate all that He's done for me. Thankfully, He doesn't respond the way I did. He keeps pursuing, He keeps loving. And I'm sure that when I show those signs of vulnerability, He is filled with joy.

Pray with me for my heart, for their hearts, to be purged of "unlovableness" and filled with Perfect Love.

Life in Czech

At our training in May, we learned a lot of things. One is that at most, we'll function at 60% while living overseas. I feel like 60% would be nice to get to right now. I've been losing things which is uncharacteristically Andrea, and all the emotions of being here is overwhelming and chaotic.

My friend from the training, Mary Beth, described the paradox of living overseas on her blog, which you can read here. Life is a series of "yay ducks" and "yuck ducks" which make a "pair o' ducks" - or a paradox. A few days full of tears, and a few days full of life. Through it all, Psalm 139 has been the theme.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

 Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

I've been asking God to confirm my calling here, because it's so hard to see it when everything about living here seems so hard. And He has confirmed it, through giving me new students to meet with and allowing me to see how He's moving in Czech.

So, not to leave on a "yuck duck" note, here are some yay ducks I've had since I've been here!

Vera is a Czech who lives in Canada. She has been praying for me and
supporting me for the last three years. Our paths finally crossed,
and I brought her to my girl's group to share her story

After English Camp, we have follow up activities. I
 got to see more of the students!

Petrunda and I took a mini road trip to pick up the hospitalized
Americans and take them to Prague!

Then we got to hang out with the Americans in Prague, which is exactly what I needed,

My friends Petr & Petra let my roommate, Eliska, and I come stay at their home for a night.
It was the most relaxing, enjoyable time I could have had right
when I needed it. Plus I got to enjoy my favorite ice cream!

English Camp

Move over, birthday! Because my favorite time of the year is English camp!

This year was a perfect mix of everything awesome and everything terrible. We had a lot of new students, probably more than ever before. But the camp as a whole felt like a family, and even after camp we've been spending a lot of time together. We really, honestly (mostly) enjoy being together!

The only negative to the camp was how many injuries and hospital visits we had. One American has to have surgery because she had stomach ulcers, and another American guy was hospitalized because of a concussion. On top of that, we had about 15 bee stings (thankfully no major allergies), another concussion, a broken pinky, and lots of fainting. There were hospital visits every day, and an emergency phone call in the middle of the night. I was never so glad to leave camp because of all the medical stuff!

I got to organize a Survivor/Amazing Race activity that was totally my cup of tea. The point of this activity was to bring classes together quicker: each English class meets together in the evening to discuss the spiritual talk we just heard. It usually takes about 3 days before students will go deeper and feel more open, so we wanted to speed up the process. I think we accomplished it through a variety of silly, fun, and sometimes frustrating activities.

I brought a bunch of Salvation Army dresses from the States, and each class had to wear the dress one-by-one and go find a puzzle piece. Here's a little clip of what that looked like:

Then each team had to take their puzzle pieces and go put a puzzle together. When they were done, they had 10 different stations to complete however they wanted. Such as...

the whole class tying their legs together, walking down to the woods, and finding 6 natural things of different colors.

knocking over cans with a ball (which took way longer than we expected)

a food challenge! Bleu cheese, strawberry chocolate, onions, tuna, liver pate, milk, ketchup, mustard, and barbecue sauce blended together

The Americans on each team also had to learn the words to a Czech children's song, which had to be approved by a Czech judge. The last challenge, and my favorite, was that each team had to build a fire, put on the dresses, and dance around it singing the children's song.

a video of that here: 

And a few more pictures of some fun!

Hike Day Geocachers

Enjoying kofola at some old ruins in Czech with Terka

cooking workshop: chocolate covered peanut butter eggs

Photo booth

Breaking News!

This Just In! (not really...)

Folks, we are getting closer! In several ways...

I leave on July 21st to spend 3 months in Czech! I get to see these faces again...

The goal is to move there long-term, but for right now I'm so excited that I can return for the summer. I've been focused on the support-raising - the getting there - and not actually the being there. Now I've remembered my calling. And what an exciting calling it is! I'll get to join my youth group and different children's homes for camps all summer!

We're all jumping for excitement that I'm going back!

And we're getting closer with raising support! We're over that 50% hump! And I desperately need your help to keep getting over the hump. I need $1350 pledged in monthly support, in the next 6 months.

Pray boldly with me to get to that point.

And don't just pray - GIVE!

And don't just give - help me by REFERRING me to others who would be willing to give!

And don't just make references - keep in touch with me!


I'll be keeping you updated on how my support raising is coming along, and all about summer ministry. Here are some ways to think about giving:

3 people giving $100/month
12 people giving $50/month
15 people giving $30/month

Go here to give!

and then it all went down....

this afternoon got super real.

we watched a video last night about Corrie Ten Boom. She and her family housed Jews during the Nazi occupation in Holland, and they were sent to prison and then a concentration camp for it. One of the questions that we were asked was what the movie showed us about ourselves. my friend Ashley responded that it made her feel like she had to go through that kind of suffering to be made holy and righteous before God.

so that opened that can of worms.

what about those families who are going to closed countries? persecution for them is a real possibility. the men - THE MEN! cried to us about their fear for their wives and families.

it is sanctifying, and holy, to be called to more. to our fears. and to answer that and say, yes God. it doesn't make us more holy....but it makes our callings so special to know that they're from God and that He's calling us to trust him.



this week. it's been emotionally exhausting, overwhelming. we've dived into depths with people we've only known for two weeks. we've dealt with spiritual vitality, transitioning into our new environments, conflict styles (for 8 hours), we've learned how to not make assumptions about foreigners through a simulation that was intentionally confusing. we've worshiped together, met together in small groups to go deeper, eaten every meal together, watched each other's kids, gone shopping together, cried together, gone sledding together, shared our fears and anxieties about moving and support raising.

We got to experience this double rainbow together...and both ends of both
rainbows were on our grounds!

The same day as the double rainbow

A role play to experience other cultures - we all formed different cultures
according to some guidelines and interacted with each other

...and then we wrote down what we thought of each other

today we talked about transition. here we see a "family" and a team all tied together

they had to go over the "bridge," and we observed the individual
and team dynamics of transition

Hashtag: Crocorado

In the news: I'm at a month-long training in Colorado Springs, Colorado. We're learning language-learning techniques and strategies with living cross-culturally. Today we finished day 3...

I came here Monday - a complete rush of emotions and tiredness. For the first time ever, I rented a car  - which just so happened to be a compact. Most of the drive to Colorado Springs is UP hill, so the poor little car was huffing and puffing to make it here. Much like me when I climb a flight of steps.

So what am I doing here for a whole month? I've already lived overseas and experienced Czech culture... Why do I need to go through training?

I'm staying here, at this conference center called Missions Training International. There are just over 30 other missionaries (plus a ton of kids) who are all in the same stage of life of getting ready to take the big step and trust God as they move overseas to share the Good News. It's been so good for me to connect with them - about anything and everything. 

Along with that, a majority of the training for this week has been about language learning.

How sounds are made in our mouths

- which has been helpful to me so that I can differentiate sounds. Sometimes when I speak Czech, I'm told that I pronounce it wrong, but I can't hear the difference. Now I can determine how sounds are made by watching lips and looking inside mouths :)

I'm also part of a growth group, and I meet with 3 other girls a few times a week. We've already been able to go pretty deep as we all share the same stages in our lives.

I could go on and on about what we're doing and how it's been encouraging and helpful. Thanks for your prayers as I'm here and making new relationships and preparing for the future!

so, what do you do? [featuring...my first ever vlog!]

I realize just how bad of a job I've done in communicating what I actually do in Czech! So here are 3 ways you can hear about:
1. My first ever vlog! Just scroll to the bottom for an awkward video of me!
2. A one-paragraph synopsis for those who get bored reading any more than that (that's definitely me)
3. A long, detailed summary! Keep reading :)


My ministry in Czech is almost all relational. Czechs as a whole are not open, trusting people, and they won't hear any of the gospel message until they trust the person who's sharing it. So in short, my ministry is two-fold. 
-I work to help disciple young girls who are believers, so that they will know the Bible and Jesus well, and so that they will teach and disciple others. 
-I also have a ministry of outreach, which includes meeting with students, running an English club, and working with an orphan ministry called Hand of Hope: this includes running camps for orphans and visiting them in their homes.


And now the long, drawn-out version.

My mission and vision in Czech is the Great Commission: 

"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."" Matt. 28:18-20

I work with the local youth group in order to build up and teach young women about the love of God, so that they in turn will share his truth. I'll list what I have been and will be doing in order to fulfill this vision:

Bible Study: I meet weekly with 4-5 girls, who range in age from 16-20ish, and some are not believers. We have a Bible study in English where we read through different parts of the Bible together. The goal of this is for the girls to learn how to independently study the Bible, and to become firm in their biblical knowledge so that they can relate it to others.
Discipleship: I personally disciple my girls, meeting with them individually to discuss life and relationships with Jesus. But together with other leaders, we've been developing a discipleship program, so that the female members of the congregation can start to mentor the girls of the youth group (and hopefully the guys will start this too).
Outreach ministries
English club: Throughout the year, I hold an English club. The goal of the club is for students to learn to speak English better, but it's also a way for youth group members to maintain relationships with those who wouldn't necessarily come to youth group. We've seen a good turnout to English club, and the students have been able to hear the gospel and be loved by others.
Orphan ministry: YFC is partnered with a ministry called Hand of Hope which reaches out to orphans who reside in childrens' homes. Hand of Hope hosts several camps throughout the year, and they are also trying to visit the homes more, so that they can build up relationships with children. For a greater idea of what this looks like, check out this video: https://vimeo.com/117043239


I have the joy of meeting with students, those I've known for a long time, and new students, every week. Support from you gives me the ability to be in full-time ministry, which means I'm available to spend lots of time with students.

Thank you for being a part of God's movement in Czech!

onto the vlog!

Back to Czech

I realize that a blog post about what I'm up to is long overdue! Here I sit, 7 months after returning to the States, regretting that I haven't been to spend as much time with everyone as I'd like. Particularly, my nieces (shameless plug about how adorable they are) -

Most of you know I'm raising monthly support to head back to Czech, though this time with even more exciting opportunities! Here's a little information about what I'm up to:

I am returning to Czech with the missions organization, Youth for Christ (YFC). YFC's been around for 70 years and have spread into about 140 countries. YFC's mission is to work with local churches and other partners to raise up lifelong followers of Christ - which is great because that's my mission too!
I'll still be living in Pardubice (where I've lived the past two years), but will also be working with YFC throughout the country.

What am I doing in Czech?
The ministries that I'll continue are specifically working with Pardubice's youth group. This takes shape in a few forms:
-a girls' Bible study,
-a discipleship program where youth are mentored by members of our congregation,
-English club, which is a form of outreach as well as long-term follow up with those who come to our summer English camp

What will I do with YFC?
This part is a little more unsure. I'll definitely be working more with a conference center near to Pardubice which has a large orphan ministry. I'll probably be doing more summer camps with YFC too.

When am I going?
This is 100% dependent on when I reach 100% of my support. The goal is to return in the spring.


It is my prayer and desire that God would lead you to give joyfully to ministry in Czech. For more information on giving, you can visit this website: https://securegive.yfc.net/amelone

a long walk through the desert

i wrote the greater portion of this in september. still it remains true...

the closest i've been to a desert was when my family drove from San Diego to Idaho. as we passed through Nevada, we drove miles and miles on a straight road through the desert. and all i remember of it is the complete nothingness there. no other cars, no gas stations, no mountains. only flat morbidness and the continued pressing idea that if the car broke down, we would have no idea what to do. we would be stuck.

for 5 months i've been walking further and further into the desert - trying to find my way back, but getting lost and sucked further into the desert's lair. getting lost in the little lies and easiness of the world. calling out to God to bring me back from time to time, but ultimately relying on myself to find the way.

If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. -John Piper

you choose the most appetizing steak (or seafood, or pasta, or whatever you love) on the menu when you're at a restaurant. and then, before you see your entree - before you can smell it or taste of it, you have bread and a salad and an appetizer set before. you're filled before you can taste the best part, the healthiest part, the part that will really fulfill what you've been slobbering after. i've been satisfied with pretzels and gummy bears when i could have had a feast. i have a muffin top when i could have a six pack.

------------------

Four months after writing this, and I'm still tiptoeing the borders of the desert. trying, waiting. crying out, forgetting. backtracking, hurting.

Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
    O Lord, make haste to help me!
(Ps. 70)