Our Little Czech Souvenir

over the summer minda and i were able to acquire some awesome gifts and keepsakes for family and friends. without a question though our favorite thing that we brought back with us from the Czech this summer is:

OUR BABY!

as most of you probably know minda and i are pregnant and so excited! it was not something that was planned by us, but we are extremely excited that we are able to be a part of God's plan for our lives! there is actually a really great story that may, or may not of ushered in our little Kumquat (the baby's current size 09/12). don't worry this is a story that you can bring the kids around the computer and read to them.

our first camp of the summer (Trinec) was nestled in the valley of a mountain range inside the town of Horni Becva. the owners of the hotel were very kind and loving to our team. in Czech everyone takes off their shoes before entering a home; the owners wanted us to take off our shoes before going into the hotel, but none of us had house slippers. so they went out and bought 30 pairs of slippers for all the Americans. these owners were really, really nice! they also had 6 children, 2 of which we invited to be a part of the english camp. the owners continued to be very friendly to us throughout the week. well one day, about the middle of camp they were talking with minda and i through a translator. they realized that we were married and proceeded to ask us if we were planning on having kids and how many we wanted. well we laughed and told them that we would love kids , but we weren't sure when.

the mother turned and looked at Minda. she pointed at a crib in the corner of the room, about 10 feet away from us, and she told her that if she wants a baby to go and rock the crib and we will get pregnant within a year. Minda "jokingly" hopped over to the crib rocked it a few quick times, turned and looked at me and  with a crazed look in her eye giggled. well according to our due date we got pregnant at this camp.

God has an amazing sense of humor! seriously, He is hilarious. we have some other cool news and updates, but we will put those up after a little while! thanks for "keeping up with the Walborns"!

Please keep us and our little baby in your prayers.

Love

Nik and Minda

our third and final camp: Zabreh

our last and final camp, and definitely the most unique camp this summer. we did this camp with a town called Zabreh, which is a very difficult name to say for me.....o well.

this camp was unique because of the fact that this was the very first camp for this town and youth group! it was a very exciting endeavor, that everyone was very excited for. it was also different because not only did we not have an american church team, but we were also missing Melissa from our team. she was at a different camp with the czech town that she has been working with throughout the year.

this was the smallest camp of the summer for us and one of the smallest camps in Josiah Venture's history! we had a total of 22 people at camp, and it was a blast!! this camp was extremely fun, and it was a much more intimate setting, that i loved being a part of!

i felt much more comfortable giving the evening talks this week, and my translator (Alca) was top notch; i was truly blessed to be able to work with her this past week and it was a cool thing to see her grow in her abilities to translate. and not only translate words, but to also translate the emotion and expression in the words, it was so cool!

Katka was a great camp leader to work with. she has amazing drive, and her worry for things at camp to go really well, made sure that they did! she is a really creative person, who was able to tap into her teams talents, gifts, and passions to be able to use them to their full potential, and really make their first camp something to be remembered! we had a pretty rag tag camp with 7 guys total including myself and Tom, (Katka's father, pastor of their Church) who turned 50 years old while at camp! we had a great camp facility, with our first practical sports field/area for the summer!

because we did not have an american team for this camp, we did follow up with Zabreh.

follow up is the day that camp ends (saturday). basically it is a time to really connect students with the church and youth group! it was really tiring, but so rewarding! the youth group had a mini amazing race planned that took place around town. we had great weather, and the race was a perfect length and another great opportunity to talk with students. after the race we met out behind the church for a picnic/bbq. we are really praying that the Lord will continue growing and working in relationships that were made at camp.

look out for the next post that will talk about our time in Prague for debrief!!

Zlin Camp

we just finished camp and now we have two camps under our belt. wow! i cannot even believe how fast our summer has gone. i mean we will be home in almost three weeks, unbelievable!

click on picture to open a much bigger size!

Zlin has a stellar youth group who were all eager to serve the students from their town. it really amazed me watching these students talk to, spend time with, and minister to their fellow students. they really were on top of every task that they had been given!

we had 63 people total at this camp.

• 6 Americans from intern team
• 4 Americans from american church
• 2 Americans from a military base in Germany
• 10 Czechs from the Czech team
• 41 Czechs from Zlin or from surrounding towns

i was pretty nervous going into this camp, because it was my first time teaching all the night talks. i love speaking in front of people, but (being extremely honest) i get terrified when it comes to communicating the Word of God to a group. the week went very well though. there were no major problems, and i felt like i was able to really connect with some of the students. the theme of camps for this year is: Collision. 

the main theme of the week is about people in the Bible who have had collisions with Christ, and how those collisions have changed them.

we have seven talks during the week:

1. Christ is different than you think
2. Jesus and the adulterous woman
3. Jesus and Zacchaeus 
4. Jesus and the rich man
5. Jesus and Pilate
6. Jesus and the two thieves 
7. Jesus and Peter

this theme and the talks are meant to challenge students to (re)think who Christ is, and who Christ is in relation to their life.

it was a really successful camp! and i use the word successful in a way that may not make sense to the world. 

we did not have anyone (to my knowledge) give their life to Christ.

we did not have anyone (to my knowledge) want to join the local church.

we did not have anyone (to my knowledge) promise to change their lifestyle

BUT

we did have students ask for Bibles

we did have students tell us that they were interested in learning more about God

we did have students tell us that they had never thought about God, Jesus, or the Bible in this way before

we did have students that looked physically distressed in their wrestling of where they stood with God



in man's eyes i am sure that this camp would be deemed completely unsuccessful, but i know for a fact that in God's eyes this camp worked out perfectly in His master plan. and that is all i need to know.

we will add more soon telling more about his camp. stay tuned!