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.

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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)

English Club

apology upon apology for not updating my blog in almost 3 months! there are many reasons, the main 2 being that 1. i suck at remembering to take pictures, and 2. i killed my computer (accidentally) and so have no way to upload any pictures :)

but enough boohooing and on to the good stuff.

what's the good stuff?

one good thing is English Club. i started up this group in October, and we meet twice a month or so. we've had some pretty fun activities and meetings, and we've also seen a lot of new students joining us, which is exactly our mission. here's what we've been up to.

the first meeting of november we talked about fashion (a huge hit with the fellas, let me tell you...)




we started the evening with a fashion show. the four you see here with me (L-R: Mihin, Radek, Eliska, Anca, me) are all members of the youth group who i persuaded to model for me. then the students had fun labeling us with as many clothing words as they knew.

after talking about different clothing words, we spent some time making our own clothes out of masking tape and newspaper. the students got really creative, and even made themes for each of their own models.

these are the finished products...they got to present to us what they were all wearing. from L-R, we have a baby, a scotsman, a knight, and...something.

also in november we celebrated thanksgiving.

eliska and a few other guys from the youth group helped me with all the cooking (an all day affair). this is the second turkey i've made without the help of my mom :) (and i think it was ok!)

we had 22 students at this club, and i had expected a lot less. but there was enough food (i think). wes, sheri, and jenny shared their thanksgiving traditions, and then in true andrea fashion, i made everyone make a leaf and stick it on the thankful tree.

at the beginning of December we had a christmas party. the students got to participate in their first white elephant gift exchange which was fun.

we talked about american traditions and then our own traditions in small groups.







how to pray for english club:
-for students to come out and become engaged with youth group members
-for me to prepare well
-praise for other americans being involved!

oops.

well the diet's done, because:
1. i'm a quitter to the core
2. it was stupid of me in the first place.

but on with the show!

here's what's been going on...

jenny works with orphans sometimes on the weekends. i got to go with her to an event for them about a week ago. one of the little girls seemed a bit scared about being there, so i pulled my camera out and let her snap away. she took this picture out the window.

this past weekend i went to a big christian festival in havlickuv brod. there were a bunch of youth groups from all over the country that came, so it was awesome to be in a big group of believers. not so awesome was sleeping on the floor for 3 nights, but that was all worked out today when i got a massage :)

sports! unfortunately we lost volleyball

there was a relay race, and pardubice won!

 as soon as i got home from brodfest, i turned around and went to english club at church. we had a costume party, where we talked about the traditions and history of halloween and carved pumpkins.

jenny's working on getting her visa, so we spent the day wandering around hradec with our friend/translator, Katka. it was rainy and nasty, but i found a place that has chai lattes and bagels! a huge surprise.

and then this morning i got to hang out with my long time friend, lucie. we got massages and went out for coffee.

day 5: dance lessons

taking it day by day now. i don't like thinking that i have 25 days left (or maybe only 9...maybe we'll do  2 weeks). have to just say, today is one day on this diet...and i can't think about the long-term future with it or it's discouraging.

breakfast: smoothie and coffee
tragedy: tummy grumbles while teaching. i resorted to eating nuts in front of my students.
lunch: salad and ratatouille
dinner: fajita

ugh how terribly boring.

one of my girls, terka, is taking dance classes. the tradition is that anyone can go along and watch, which we did tonight. i didn't get to show off any of my amazing dance moves, but i did get to dress up :)

unfortunately i'm too tired for captions, but you get the idea!

day 4 - the good, the bad, and the hungry

if you're reading this, you either really love me, or you have no life. because i'm gonna go on a rant again about this diet. but first: breakfast.

look familiar? it's because I EAT THIS EVERY MORNING. "omelette" with spinach, garlic, broccoli, and tomatoes, and a fruit salad. and of course a good cup of joe (with 2 additional cups).

i put off eating breakfast because i didn't feel like prepping for everything and was tired of eggs (dare i say it?), so i let my tummy growl until 11:30 when i decided enough was enough. i also finally changed out of my pajamas in the early afternoon (let it be known that i was doing work all morning :))

then i met up with this chick for lunch at mcdonalds:

checking out eli's food

she hates this shot

eli ordered a burger, fries, and a salad. i ordered a salad with casesar dressing and then realized that the dressing had added sugar, so used a few squeezes for flavor before giving the rest to eli.

jenny's sad because she can't eat anything

then after teaching, i went home and started on the fajitas, sans tortillas. i neglected to read what was in the fajita seasoning, so it's possible that it's full of gluten and added sugar. honestly, i don't really care :)

fajitas!

so here's the good, the bad, and the hungry.

the good: i'm eating lots of healthy veggies and fruit!
the bad: as one who tends to try to not eat too much meat, i feel like i've been going overboard with it. i mean, don't get me wrong, i love bacon as much as guys do, but i feel like i'm eating too much of it! and i don't think too much meat is healthy.
the hungry: ok, think about how many carbs (bread, pasta, rice) you ate today. i ate none. carbs fill your belly up, and my belly hasn't felt full in days!

the good: i'm ridding my body of extra sugars
the bad: prep work for eating so specifically takes a long time.
the hungry: you can hardly snack on anything. after only a salad for lunch and almonds for a snack, i was pretty hungry.

the good: i focus a lot on food. i consider food one of my love languages. that's why i'm complaining so much. it's good to remove myself from food a bit i guess
the bad: i'm tired. i complain all the time about how i hate this diet. i'm drinking TONS of coffee! i feel like my feet are hurting more easily
the hungry: oh man. it's weird going to bed hungry.

food food food.

day 3....it's only day 3?

so i know that it may seem kind of dramatic to be complaining about how hungry i am when i'm still eating (a lot), but truth be told, my belly feels absolutely empty without any carbs helping it out. i've heard it'll take 2 weeks before i'll transition completely.

other side effects apart from a constant feeling of hunger:
-we are literally losing our minds. jenny just took 15 minutes deciding what to wear. i've been staring off into space.
-we could both fall asleep at about 8pm
-we basically come home and complain to each other about this stupid diet.

so what's on the menu for today?
this was breakfast...bacon and eggs. actually, i had bacon and eggs for my second dinner as well.

i don't actually think i ate the banana.

i had dinner with my friend monika. i had told her about the diet, and told her that i could bring my own lunch which she could eat too. she said she'd try whatever i brought, and then secretly eat her own food. it's true, she hid chocolate under the table and shoved it in her mouth when i wasn't looking.

so, i chose to make ratatouille. completely vegetarian and yummy...completely not filling when you just want something of substance.

nonetheless, it was delicious (yes i'm tooting my horn)...here's how it went.

ratatouille is also supposed to have eggplant and yellow squash, but i didn't feel like buying any. the first step is to chop the onion and sautee it in olive oil, but i forgot to get a picture of that step.

then add some thyme, zucchini, and red peppers

chop those tomatoes! i think that chopping them yourself gets it more juicy.

then add basil, parsley, salt and pepper, and the tomatoes, and let it simmer for a few minutes. surprisingly easy and delicious! 

after my ratatouille lunch and monika's chocolate lunch, we went for a walk with her daughter vanesa. monika is my "tragedy partner in crime." our tragedy from today happened right after this picture was taken...monika and i went on a see-saw (a kind that you have to stand on), and Vanesa tried to start climbing a rope ladder unsuccessfully. a lady went over to her to help her while Moni and i were see-sawing away, and she told us it was ok, she could help Vanesa - that we didn't have time to. we felt like a bad mom and aunt :)

then i met up with anca and ate my apple snack.

here was the meal plan today:
breakfast: eggs and bacon
lunch: ratatouille
dinner: salad & ratatouille. oh my gosh with the ratatouille.
second dinner (which was literally right after first dinner): eggs and bacon again.
snack: banana, apple, almonds and raisins, carrot sticks. monika literally laughed at my vegetables.

Lord help us.