Hey Everybody!

Thanks so much for your prayers. We had a super busy day. We basically followed the schedule posted yesterday with a few detours. We ended up planting roses, shrubs and a tree at the elementary school in Nitchidorf. We also cleaned up the yard surrounding the school and picked weeds. We only had a little bit of time to build our blessing bags for the kids (bags filled with small toys and candy--meant to be a blessing), and then off to lunch. Lunch today was chicken noodle soup (sort of) and spaghetti. Dessert was fresh apples and plums off the trees, and some kind of baked cakey thing. Very good! Our VBS was shorter today, but we still packed a ton in. This was followed by a complete slaughtering of our team by the Nitchidorf team in futbol (soccer, for those who didn't know). : )

Austin got one goal. I was doing pretty good as keeper, but something about playing on a sprained ankle isn't a good idea. We had fun, and they were good sports (read- they really enjoyed kicking our butts). The evangelistic service was fun, and we were able to bless the children at the end with the blessing bags and a picture of themselves presented in a frame that they made on day one. We had a lot of teary goodbyes, and then left the village of Nitchidorf.

One more stop ... we took the team on a 10PM run to McDonalds--a little taste of home. This McDonalds had a slightly different menu, and the furnishings were a bit of a step up from our Richland Mickey D's.

Well that was the summary of today. Please keep praying. Tomorrow we will worship at Biserica Baptista Betel, and then we are spending time as a team preparing for the next week at camp. Thanks for all of your comments. They are encouraging!

Enjoy today's video!

Michael

hi mommy daddy and sissy :]

i miss you guys so much. i didnt think i would be homesick but i am. we went to Nichidorf and its so sad but amazing there. we had so much fun with the little kids and have kept very busy. the kids are so adorable. i want to take them all home

well just to let you know...i have been sick this whole week.......they have a lot of gluten here...i have thrown up a lot or dry heaved. its not fun...but its in God's hands and i feel a little better now. well i have to go because other people want to blog, but i love you guys so much and cant wait to see you guys!!!

love, Lauren Campbell

Heyyyy it's briii againnn. Sooo today was the last vbs day...and anyone who knows me even a tiny bit knows i generally can't stand children (unless their names are drew, noah, isaac, or default). But these ones weren't bad... i mean granted, for all i know they could have been the most annoying kids on the planet, but i would never know because i can't understand anything they say anyway. but it's amazing how much you can communicate without words. and i was actually really sad to leave them, a few in particular. anyway i'm not a fan of emotions sooo i'm going to stop talking about it before i feel too many of them.

Bri

Hello all,

So I finally got the opportunity to blog. I've been staying with one of our translator's families and haven't had blog access. What a trip it's been so far! We just finished up our 3 day VBS in Nitchidorf, and what an experience that was. As I'm sure all of you are aware, I taught the first day. That was a very exciting opportunity, but at the same time I was pretty nervous for it. Looking back on it though, I'm really glad I chose to do it. It helped me grow by leaps and bounds. The rest of the VBS was fun, just being able to play with all the kids. Then tonight came, and it was finally time to say goodbye. I didn't realize just how much I had become attached to a few of the kids, and it was really sad to see them go. Before I knew it, I found I was trying to hold back tears when I was saying goodbye. Awesome, I'm getting emotional just writing about this. Well then, I'll gather myself and try again. Okay. Looking back, I think it was the final straw that just broke open all of the stress and frustrations that I'd been holding back. A little kid named Alin, and another named Sebe. It was easily one of the hardest goodbyes that I've ever had to experience. All that I can hope for is that I'll see them again in Heaven, and maybe it'll be because of the love that I showed them these past few days. Wow, I don't know even what else to say that could make this blog and on a positive note. Well, I'll make an attempt. This week's been crazy. So much to do, everybody's tired and a little stressed out. We're going to a church service tomorrow, so that might be the reenergizing that everyone needs. After that, we're heading up to the camp in the mountains. I'm sure that will be an amazing time. Well, I'll end this blog and go to bed before I start getting really emotional again. Thanks for all your prayers. I love you mom, dad, Nick, and Meg.

In Christ,

Eric