You Raise Me Up.

The title of this post has nothing to do with anything really, but it's been stuck in my head because Märt has been singing it all week.

I leave for camp tomorrow.  Märt, Innar, Tarmo, and I are going to a place called Pala to host camp for the youth from Jõgeva while Chris and Liina (my surrogate family/hosts) Brock, Brett, Evelin, and Kati are going to Sihva to host camp for the youth from Pärnu and Elva.  We also have two American teams coming to help us--the Ohio team will be with us in Pala while the North Carolina team will be in Sihva.  I'm excited, and I think the rest of the team(s) is

 excited.  We need your prayers, though.  We're all more than a little tired, and we really need

 energy as we head into a full week of activity.  

The great thing has been seeing how God is completely in control.  Things have not gone according to plan (like the North Carolina team getting stuck in Illinois), but the so-called "problems" always end up being blessings for us.  It's been a very long week as we've been working hard at the office, trying to prepare everything for the start of camp, and by the end of it we were all feeling a little loopy (hence Märt's singing and whatnot).  Just to show you what I mean, here are some pictures I took at the office that past few days...

This is Märt.  

I was trying to drape my scarf in a way that would've protected me if I were Eve in the Garden of Eden.  It didn't quite work out.

Evelin has no excuse.

To prove that this week was more than just a costume party, here is a glimpse of the set I designed and painted with Brett and Ev's help...it wasn't finished at this point (I think this was about hour 9 of my 1o hour workday on Wednesday), but I'll put up pictures of it once we have it hung at camp.  It took forever, but I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement.  I'm having an incredible time here, and I know that God is going to do HUGE things in everyone's hearts this week.  I can't wait to tell you more about it.  I will be out of contact for the next week, but I'll be in Tallinn on the 4th (for what is apparently the world's greatest song festival) so I'll try to post some sort of update next weekend.  

One more thing, tonight when I was on my way home I was stopped by a bus full of men...well, actually one man stopped me.  He was wearing a white tutu.  In broken English he explained that it was his bachelor party and one of his "dares" he had to fulfill was to pick up a woman and take her somewhere on the bus.  Even though I was only a couple hundred meters from home, I agreed (after lots of begging on his behalf) and let the bus take me across the street.  It was hilarious, and I was shocked at how many times they offered me a drink in the minute-long bus ride.  Don't worry (Mom, Dad, or Granddaddy), it wasn't shady or anything.  Just thought you might enjoy that little story.  Okay, ciao!

Peace and Love,

Lo B.