Day 4: trainers--work--nails--food--friends

Madison and I were ready with our scarfs and shade for another adventurous day in Pristina as we prepare for camp on Monday!

We had a great day exploring and enjoying our new team members that arrived today! It was so great to see my good friend Bledi again and we are so happy to have him with us for camp this year 

Marku was easy to catch wearing my hipster shades at the statue! We had a fun time laughing today!

We had a great time exploring and I wet to three places today that I have never been! We explored the cathedral here they are building and got a front row seat to see the whole building. It is going to be absolutely amazing. I took pictures in my other camera so those will come later! Now it is around 11:30pm and we are printing a few things for the week!

Camp is so close and we are so exited! More tomorrow 

Day 3

I suppose today counts as day three with two days of travel under our belt. We all slept great and woke up around ten this morning. I got a good shower and right as I walked out the power went out, so jan and Maddie had warmish showers!! 

We will be meeting with two students today who are going to take Madison and I around town and help us buy supplies. Three more of our staff trainers are coming in this evening and then the rest will arrive tomorrow! 

We are feeling refreshed and renewed this morning, although jan is upset because she says she hasn't let her hair air dry and not be curled in quite a long time... Oh the joys of power outages! 

The journey over

 As we begin our trip, we are all sitting in the same row together on our way to Newark. We have a 59 min layover so I am just praying we can move as quickly as possible and make it where we need to be in the right amount of time. 

Maddie and Jan are already asleep and I am just sitting here with not much to do on the first flight! I feel a little bit like I can just breathe for a little while. Books are finished. Name tags are made. Shirts are printed. I will try to enjoy these flights and enjoy the calm before we are literally go go go for the next 17 days! 

I already have outings set up with several students and I can't wait to get on the ground in ks and start running! 

Madison is so excited to be coming this year and I am glad she is here! We are about an hour and a half into our long flight to Istanbul and it took off about an hour late. Just finished with some tiny itty bitty pretzels and will see soon what we will have for dinner. 

This is my first united flight over dead and it has been wonderful so far! We have currently flown 704 miles and we have 3498 miles left to go! Wow about one fifth of the way in! 

Turkey was absolutely beautiful to fly into:

Well we made it to turkey and once we found out it would cost 20$ each to get a visa to spend less than three hours in the city we decided to just head on to the gate. 

We used the time to work on documents for this week and double check our schedule: 

We had a great smooth flight into kosova. It was the absolute best timing getting through the kosova airport. We got off the plane, got throught the passport check and got our bags in less than ten min. We even beat mark outside!

 

As we arrived in Pristina, we were greeted by beautiful new trees and flowers and a brand new fountain in the city center! Maddie got an awesome pic so be on the look out for that! 

Ended te night with a chopped salad... My fav:

Getting through the air port

My sweet Keith got the taxi role this year! We drove to the airport and met jan and Maddie. After about 20 min of switching items between bags we got everything under 50lbs and we were ready to go. Here we are with our sea of bags... Literally

Then we got through the line quickly and had time to eat at Atlanta bread company. Thanks to GG who sent money for us to get a good meal before we started

I finally had to say goodbye to sweet Keithy. I wish he were coming with us this year, but I know he will be just fine. 

Love him!

Day 7: The Goodbye

As we prepare to depart the bubble I am reminded of where our group was just 6 days ago. Shy,not knowing anyone, not knowing if they were going to make friends or what to expect from the week. 

Now they are outgoing, knows many other student and leaders, and were overwhelmed by what all happened this week.

It has been a jam packed week. The things and friends that they have made will last a lifetime.

"Will we come back next year?"

Only God will know. But I'm going to try my hardest to make it happen.

I am encouraged in so many ways for these students and look forward to seeing the disciples they will not only become but make.

From the heart of Keith Davis 

Day 6: The Hike

The view from the top of the mountain. Was called a hike but was in actuality a mountain climb.

Everyone went up half way and had a devotion time there. For those that wanted to they went up the rest of the way. Which was a trek to say the least.but it was great to see the students push through the obstacles of the mountain.

The last day is always a hard one, knowing that tomorrow will be the end. But we make the best of every moment. 

From the heart of Keith Davis 

Day 5: The Food

This seems strange to have a post of only food but if you have ever been to camp this is sometimes the talk of the students...in a bad way.

This is not the case here. Since we got here, it has been great. I tell the students 

"it's like mom used to make"

They are being fed in many ways. 

Physically, emotionally, and most important spiritual. I have already seen in the short time we have been here a maturing of what they believe, how they believe and why they believe. 

The focus at this camp of course is leading the lost to their savior and building towards discipleship for the saved but it gets a little more deeper then that.

I am encouraged many minutes of the day of how that is accomplished here through games, team building, devotional, and relationships.

"We are thirsty for more of you"

From the heart of Keith Davis