Germany and the Czech Republic

Ok.... So I have a few minutes and wanted to share some of the stuff we did on outreach in Cheb, Czech. One of the awesome expriences we had was being able to work in the ghetto with the Gypsy (Roma) people and children. Some of our leaders from the YWAM Herrnhut base had been there before and took us there to hang out and play with the children. Gabriella, our main leader, told us to just play with the kids and get to know them. The language barrior was not that hard to deal with because the language of love speaks beyond culture, language, and dialect. The kids just needed love. They were hurting inside and just needed someone to hold them, to show them worth. One of the spiritual strongholds in Cheb is worthlessness and apathy. The people there do not care for each other, and the Gypsies especially are not treated well by any means. So, we got to hang out and play with the kids in their dirty, sad envirnment and show them that someone really does care. We took our guitars and djembe and played music with them! They loved it; they are really good at beat boxing too, so we got to do that with them. The last day that we were in the ghetto we gathered around as a group and prayed over it before we left. And when we did leave, some of us girls (Amber, Sarah, and I) had one or more of the gypsy girls hanging onto us, not wanting us to leave.
Eric went out later that afternoon to get something at the store and the girls were outside the store waiting. They followed him back to where we were staying and peered through the windows looking for us. Amber and I went outside to the front steps and took the girls in our arms. They sang us songs and hugged us!! They asked with pleading in their eyes if we were coming back the next day (by that time we had learned a few words and could make out what they were saying). They cried again when we told them they needed to go and that we had to go back inside. The connection we made with them will forever be in my heart! I hope to go back one day and see them again.

(I will post pictures of our time in the ghetto later... I am at school right now, and don't have my computer.)

So.... That is one of the stories! I loved my time there and really do hope to go back.

Hoping for His Best in my Life,
Lindsey <><