Thursday, July 26

We are beginning to get in the wind down mode for our camps. One more a.m. camp and 2 more p.m. camps. Everything is going great. Everyone is healthy. Everyone is having a good time. There have been several opportunities to share the gospel and our team has been bold.

There may not be another chance to update the blog before we leave Slovakia. So this may be the last you hear from us before we get home. You can still get in touch with us if need be by calling one of the Holloway numbers.

Big News!!

SHAY: Things are going great and we're very busy. But, the BIG news today is that we have had a wedding proposal among us!!!! Guess who it was? The team went up to a castle ruin after our morning classes and there Chad asked Christy to marry her!!! And she said yes!!! We are all so thrilled! This is us after evening worship tonight (7/24) giving them the big thumbs up. All is well. We are all healthy and working hard. Hope you guys will celebrate with us!

Start of camp

Hello! Everyone here is doing well. We started our English camps today. There was a pretty good turnout... and we are expecting a good turnout for the adult camp tonight. Everyone got a much better nights sleep last night. It was much cooler during the night. The food has been good and everyone is eating well. (Chasteens- Scarlet wanted y'all to know that her skin is healing!) We are excited about the rest of the week. Today some of us chose to go to a Bratislava castle- which is where we are in the picture. Our days are pretty busy. We start in the morning around 7:30 and don't get back to the hotel until dinner. Pray that we will have energy for the rest of the week!

Sunday Afternoon

I thought you might enjoy seeing everyone's face. We did church this morning at the largest Baptist church in Bratislava. We doubled the size of the congregation this morning if that gives you an idea of how many Baptists there are around. Pastor preached through a translator on Matthew 28:18-20.

We then had lunch at a Bratislava hole in the wall. Really good food. Then we did an orientation to make sure that we are ready to roll for tomorrow and the English camps.

It was REALLY hot last night. Most of us did not sleep well so we are running mostly on fumes. It is a bit cooler today so perhaps better sleep tonight. Otherwise everyone is doing great!!

Hot Time Summer in the City

Hey folks, Tom Holloway (IMB) here to let you know that the team arrived in Slovakia on time and without a hitch. We are still awaiting the arrival of one piece of luggage that didn't make it on the same plane, but all things considered one missing bag isn't bad. Our main goal for the day was to keep the team awake in order to help with jet lag which we managed to successfully accomplish. After a quick bite to eat the team was divided up into four groups to begin exploring the sites and sounds of Bratislava. The groups were tasked with following clues and GPS coordinates around the city to learn interesting facts about the city which will be their ministry field this next week. The GPS scavenger hunt ended in a city park later in the day where we enjoyed a picnic Slovak style. Despite sleep deprived bodies and toasty temperatures (mid 90's) everyone performed admirably. After an evening devotional time we left the team tucked in at the hotel to enjoy a much deserved good night's rest.

Tentative M - F Schedule

7:00 Breakfast

7:45 Leave for camp sites (2 different camp sites - 9-14 yr old camp and 15-18 yr old camp)

9:00-9:40 Opening program – everyone together

9:45-10:30 English lessons – students are divided up into classrooms according to language ability.

10:30-10:50 Break – snacks and drinks provided

10:55-11:40 English lessons – students back in the classrooms

11:45-12:00 Closing program – everyone together

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12:30-1:30 Lunch – Ridgecrest team all together at hotel for lunch

1:30-4:00 Free time + evaluation/planning time

4:00 Travel to afternoon camp site

4:30-7:00 Adult English Camp + kids activities – Entire Ridgecrest team together

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7:30 Dinner

8:15 Evening Debriefing and Worship

9:30 Wind down time

11:00 Lights out

Team Prayer Requests

• Pray that God would do more than we can ask or imagine
• Pray for the health and safety of our team
• Pray for opportunities to share the gospel
• Pray for our team as they teach English - that they would communicate effectively
• Pray for the Holloways who will be giving us oversight and direction
• Pray for courage to move outside our comfort zones
• Pray for ongoing relationships to be established that can be used to promote the gospel
• Pray that God would use this trip to call out full time missionaries from our church
• Pray that the joy of the Lord would be our strength during the week
• Pray that God would create powerful life-changing memories for our team
• Pray that the Book of James would challenge our hearts as we study it together
• Pray for our team to see the Slovaks as God sees them
• Pray for an incredible sense of team unity during the trip
• Pray for flexibility on the part of the team as we encounter snafus along the way
• Pray that our great and glorious God would be exalted in our lives

Team Members

Here is a list of everyone on the team:

Chuckie Arundale, Ryan Arundale, Chad Batten, Dawn Bishop, Beverly Blalock, Troy Blalock, Joyce Buck, Tom Buck, Christina Bufanda, Don Chasteen, Scarlet Chasteen, Chad Ferrell, Cindy Ferrell, Eric Ferrell, Caitlin King, Robin King, Gary Massey, Reed Millett, David Odom, Donnie Palmer, Jason Palmer, Marianne Palmer, Rose Ann Palmer, Sarah Popham, Scott Popham, Christy Reyner, Linda Reyner, Shay Reyner, Tucker Reyner, Kara Scott, Nathan Spain