Leaving today

Hey everyone we are leaving africa today. We went to play with little elephants and fed giraffes already today. Our flight doesn't leave until 11 tonight so we are doing last minute shopping and eatting dinner at java house. We get into indianapolis on tuesday at 5. Have a great day!

Fun Fun Fun :)

I know this is a day late, but I thought I would tell you about what we did on Friday/Saturday. On friday morning, we headed out to Sweetwaters Tented Camp, a "camp ground" in the middle of a game park. what it is exactly is a ground where they have a lot of big tents set up. These tents are a bit different than just regular ones. They each have a shower, toilet, sink, 2 regular beds, a closet, and a desk. I got pics, so I will put them up on facebook, and maybe here. It is right on the equator, so you walk from your tent to the dinning hall and you go from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern Hemisphere :)

After driving around all day, we went on a night game drive (7-9pm) on Friday night and we found a pride of 7 lions! We drove right up to them, but they got up and started walking away. So, we followed them ((off the road)) and into the bush. We got pics, don't worry!! Then the next day we went on a morning game drive and found a pride of 8 lions. We drove right up to them. Then, they started getting up one by one and circled our cars. One stoped and just watched us. The way he was standing, he looked as if he was going to pounce on our car. But, he didn't.


I have had so much fun being back in Africa...I don't want to leave. I knew it would come to this, but I didn't want to believe it was real. We are leaving tomorrow night (Monday) and ariving back in Indiana on Tuesday afternoon.

Those of you in Kenya: I love you all!! I will miss you, but you know that God will provide a way for us to meet again if that is what His will is.

Those of you in America: I will see you when I get back!! <3

Those of you in Europe/Asia/Canada etc: I love you all too!! See you sometime...I don't know when though. lol


<3 Ayla

Merry Christmas

Thought I would say Merry Christmas and hope you have an amazing day!

Don't forget that today is not just a holiday, but it's the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today for Christmas, my mom is going to take Shauna and I to New Life Home, an orphanage here in Nairobi that I used to volunteer at all the time!

<3 Ayla

Hello :)

We just got back from the coast today and we are all sunburnt...what a nice feeling!! haha My sister got an email from her teacher saying that it is basically a blizard in Brownsburg...I'm glad I'm not there!!

It doesn't even seem like it's Christmas Eve. But, I knew it wouldn't seem like it.


The number 124 means something...Can you figure out what it means?!


Merry Christmas :)

The Beack :)

Today we spent the day resting (God did say that Sunday was the day of rest)! We layed out on the beach (nice and warm), I got a free lesson on how to wind surf, and had a lot of sawa sawa!!! Sawa sawa is a drink here. It's sooo good!! I think it's a mix of Mango juice and orange juice, but I'm not quite sure. All I know is that it is the BEST drink ever!! :)

Wind surfing was hard...You must be really strong to be able to do it. I could hardly hold the sail up.

Ohhh, and I got a free camel ride today too!! The camel's name is George. Everytime we come here, we always ride him. And, he is still alive :) It was so much fun! Usually it's equivilant to about $10, but since it's close to Christmas, it was free :) He was all dressed up and everything!! haha :)


Anyways, I can't wait til tomorrow. We are going snorkeling and more chillin on the beach!

<3 Ayla

ps...the funniest thing just happened.I am sitting in my parents room and my mom and younger sisters are giving each other foot massages and Erin just popped my moms toe. I looked over and my mom had the funniest face ever!! I was laughing so hard that I was crying.

ahhh good times!!

At the Coast :)

Yay for the beach :) It has been a good day! I got to sleep in, which was really nice!! But, our flight out of Nairobi was delayed about an hour, but that is not a shock. We are in a city called Watamu, which is still in Kenya, but on the coast. There are many different places that we could stay, but we have been coming to this place called Turtle Bay for the longest time...longer than I can remember.

We got checked in and got ready for dinner. (You have to dress a bit nice for dinner's at this place). Then after dinner we were at the disco for 3 hours! It was a lot of fun...Even my parents were dancing :)

Can't wait to actually lay in the sun and try to get a tan :)

<3 Ayla

Update

Here's Africa for you...

1. No Power
2. No Water
3. No water = No shower
4. No water = No Flushing of toilets
5. No water = No Washing dishes
6. No water = Wearing hats all the time
7. No water = Smelling bad
8. No water = Using lots and lots and lots of Deoderant

<3

Safely arrived!!

I wrote this blog out today during a time that my friends were taking a test. It tells about what has happened the past few days, so enjoy :)

<3 Ayla


"Ahh I am finally here! I’m finally home  I have never been more excited to be in Kenya!! Erin and I got in last night (Sunday, December 14) at 8:30pm (12:30 indiana time…around lunch…). When we got to customs, we each had to pay $50 for our visa and they wouldn’t accept one of our $50 bills because it was a 1996 series. So, Erin and I had to find a kind american to trade money with (even the bank wouldn't trade with us). We found a nice lady who understood and graciously traded with us. We got back to customs and was waiting in line when Kathi Ward showed up(The family we are staying with for a few days). They had let her come through to get us because we were uncompianed minors (since Erin is 14, we had to go into the unaccompanied minors rooms at the airports and the one in Amsterdam was way nicer than the one in Detroit.). We got our customs slip, found our luggage and headed out! To my amazement, Kristiana, Bekah and Esther (my 3 best friends) were waiting outside for me!! It was sooo exciting!! We all ran at eachother and exchaned many many many hugs!!

When we got to Krisiana's place, Erin and I were exhausted, but excited at the same time!! We were running on less than an hour of sleep over a 2 day time period. We got to bed around 11:30pm (3:30pm Indy time). I woke up a few minutes til 2 and couldn't get back to sleep...I was wide awake!! After about 15-20 minutes I went into the room that Erin was in to see if she was awake. Not supprisingly, she was awake, so we talked for a few minutes then I went back into Kristiana's room and I thought that I would never get back to sleep! Finally, around 4:15am, I fell asleep!!

When we got to school this morning, I saw so many people! I have had so much fun in school today!! Everyone has grown up and it's cool to see what people are like now a days!! My friend Micah was always my little buddy. He is 2 years younger than me and he has been like a brother to me my whole life....HE IS A SOPHOMORE!!! And, he is taller than me!! YIKES!

Right now I am in Kristiana's science class. They are taking a test right now. Oh my gosh! It's so hot here ((sorry to brag)), but I have been sweating all day!! But, I love it!! I could have gone swimming 2nd period, but I didn't really want to worry about getting my hair wet and having it wet the rest of the day. So, I just talked with people. Anyways, that's all to say."

Wating

Hey all!

I'm just siting here at Mike Berry's place watching 'Zoey 101. The kids are in bed "sleeping". Kids don't go to sleep that fast, but you never know :) haha

I'm so excited about Kenya....only 2 days away..acutally, a little less than that!! More like a day and a half!! I'm so excited about it!! I can't believe that I am going back! I am still trying to let it all sink in!

I'm going to try to blog as much as I can while I'm over there.

Just fyi, I will be at the best for a few days, so I won't get much internet access there, but I will try!! :)

<3 Ayla

5 Days Until Kenya

Kenya is approaching quickly!!! I can't even believe that I am going back to my home!! I can't wait to see everyone again...Esther, Kristiana, Bekah, Micah...and everyone else!!! AAAAHHHH I'm so excited...can you tell?

Here's just a few reasons why I love this place...

God is AMAZING!!

The title says it all. He is truely 100% amazing! There is no other way to explain it. He provides when needed and teaches us throughout the process!!

The Andy Project is going through some pretty sweet processes right now. We are becoming a Non for Profit organization and there are many things that we need to be doing. For example, we need a board. Alex, Lydia, Lindsey and I had talked about our options for our board and we made a decisson. So, we invited them all to Alex's house for a little "party". We had dinner then sat down in Alex's living room and discussed with them what our ideas were. They agreed to go onboard with us and be a part of The Andy Projet's board! So as of tonight, November 13, 2008, The Andy Project has our very first board consisting of the following 9 members: Alex Holt, Lydia Wohlenhaus, Lindsey Hill, Ayla Sartoris, Danny Mulvaney, Brian Stegmoller, Jackie Holt, Tim Holt, and Nate Reeves. We had a great talk about anything and everything ((including squirrel man..lol)). I am so excited that God is providing us with what we need to further His Kingdom.

As we stood in a circle holding hands, listening to Nate's prayer, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with the love of God. I looked at everyone individually and prayed that as we further God's Kingdom, we would always lean on Him to provide for The Andy Project. I can not wait to see whatelse God has in store for us.

Check out our website..It's updated every other day. :) www.theandyproject.com

God bless you all!!

Halloween Time

So, halloween was pretty amazing this year. I had a lot of fun. Although I didn't get to give out candy :( I had a fun day anyways.

Here's some pictures to prove it:








Be checking back everyday this week. I'm planning on doing a little "ode to friends" type deal. It'll be cool ((if I have time to do it every day))!!

<3 Ayla

God amazes me!

So, many of you know D and R and their kids P,B,J and S ((yes, it's PBJS!)). Well, little S was born a preemie, and It's amazing how God keeps people safe through rough times. Well, I was looking at D's blog and she just posted a picture of little S (who is 9 months now!! crazy!!) I remember when she was really really small and I saw the picture of her standing up holding onto a chair. I was again reminded of how amazing God is. He reminds me in different ways, and he has reminded me A LOT lately that He is amazing. So, this was just another one of those "Duuhhh" moments :)

I took D's picture and "pimped" it up a bit! Hope you enjoy it!

Cowabunga Girls

So, I was looking through old pictures and came across this picture. I was reminded of my friend's comment today, "The no longer existing cowabunga girls..." There were 6 of us who called ourselves the Cowabunga Girls ((Since August 2006, beginning of our sophomore year)). We were best friends, and we would have parties at my house every few months!! It was so much fun hanging out with them. Now that we are seniors, it seems like we have fallen apart. And, we have (unfortunatly). But, they are still all my best friends, even though a few of them don't like each other anymore.

This picture was the night that we decided to be called the Cowabunga Girls, the first night we had a party at my place. And yes, we had just gotten done with a silly string fight in my kitchen! So, here's to late nights swimming in my pool, eatting doritos, drinking Vault and Mountian Dew, and having a blast while it lasted!!

Oh the memories

So, I was at the elementary school today, like usual, and helping the kids out with math when one of the little boys comes up to me. I ask him what he needs and he says with a great big smile on his face, "Devon likes you! He likes blondes!!", then scurries off to his seat. I roll my eyes and get back to helping the little girl again. I glanced over and saw him telling Devon that he told me. Devon didn't react in any "silly" way. ~I remember the days when my friends and I would do that to guys in my grade. What memories :)

Another memory I had was when I was looking through my pictures a few minutes ago. I came along this picture. It made me smile, so I thought I'd share it with you all!! It's a picture of Paige and Ryan E. at the Purity Banquet a few years ago. Paige was ((and still is)) a beautiful young lady and I am so glad that her and Ryan went to that banquet! She's like a little sister to me!!

Kenny Chesney

Hey All!
So, on Saturday we were downtown in the morning doing The Andy Project (for those who don't know what that is, it's a homeless organization a few of my friends and I started. go to www.theandyproject.com to get more info). We were in front of the new Lucas Oil Stadium (the new football stadium). There were a few people selling tickets that they had won the night before at the Hard Rock Cafe down the street. They said they wanted $25 per ticket, but I ended up buying them for $30..TOTAL! I called up my friend and asked her if she wanted to go (of course she did cuz Kenny Chesney is her favorite! We had wanted to buy tickets online but they were really expensive). So, we got to go to the concert and we had a blast! It was in the Lucas Oil Stadium. Our TShirts were more expensive than the tickets. lol There was Leanne Rimes, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, and others. (It was a country music concert, if you didn't know!)

First week of teaching

This week has been so much fun!! We had Monday off ((YAY)) and on Tuesday I had my first day in the Classroom. I'm in a 3rd grade class and the kids are so cute!! They (sometimes) refer to me as "the high school student"!

There is a little girl who has become really attatched to me. She always wants to hold my hand! But, pretty much all of the kids have become attatched to me. They always have something new to tell me!! I was a bit overwhelmed on Tuesday because I was thinking about all that the teacher has to do to prepare, and it scared me a bit. But, I have been praying about it and I know that if this is what God wants me to do, He will give me the stregnth to. And, I know that He is always going to be with me!!

hello all :)

Hey Everyone!

Again, I'm really sorry about not blogging much since I've been back from Poland. I've been kinda busy.

However, I am planning on blogging ((hopefully)) everyday for at least this semester. During the day, we have 7 class periods (like usual), but for 7th period, I'm doing a class called Cadet Teaching! It's a class where I go to an elementary school and help teach a 3rd grade class! I am super excited about it, and we start going to the classrooms on Tuesday! So, I'm sure I'll have many stories to talk about :)

Have a great LONG weekend!!

This is for my sister, Erin!

Here's your boyfriend :)

heyy

School starts in less than 2 days...blegh!! I am getting really nervous, but excited at the same time! It's my senior year, which is extremely exciting! But, I am for some reason, extreamly nervous!! My family and friends have been supporting me, but please be praying for me in the next few days especially! I can use all the prayer I can get!!

I got to work at 11am this morning and got off at 2pm, but was asked to come back in from 5-c. So, I had a 3 hour 'break', which I spent most of my time at the dentist! But, Andrew and I went to the park for a little bit. These guys who were wearing the same outfit and same red hat, were driving around in their little black convertable! It was so funny! They drove around probably 15 times or so. I was laughing histarically about it! So, we jumped in Andrew's car, and followed them, but, they realized we were following them. So they stopped, and we stopped. Then they went again, so we went again. They finally got out and played bball with their friends. And, we went around one more time, just for fun! Then went to walgreens to see if my friend was working. As we were walking out, the guys walked out at the same time as we did!! They turned around, gave us a weird look, then we ran to Andrews car and rushed off!! haha It was the funniest thing ever!! I said that they were going to stalk Andrew tonight! Hopefully he will be alive in the morning :p

It's almost 1am and I have to work again tomorrow in the morning. So, I'm off to bed!! Night!!

<3 Ayla

Senior Year Schedule

Semester 1

1. US History -- Neylon ((cuz i dropped out of AP last year))

2. Psychology -- Stucker

3. Bel Canto -- Stainbrook // Prather

4. Advanced English 101 -- Tincher

5. Study Hall -- Mundell ((new teacher))

6. Anat. & Phys. -- Walter

7. Cadet Teaching -- Byrnes



Semester 2

1. Anat. & Phys. -- Walter

2. Econ -- Comer

3. Bel Canto -- Stainbrook // Prather

4. Sociology -- Comer

5. Advanced English 102 -- Armstrong

6. Study Hall -- Rector

7. US Gov. -- Smith

Home Sweet Home

Hey everyone!
I know it's been all week since i've written, but I just wanted to let you know that we are home safely now! I'm getting ready for school, which starts on August 20th! I can't believe that I'm going to be a Senior! It's crazy :) But, I'm really excited about it!

Plane ride home

So, it's now 11:21pm in New Jersey!! We are stuck here for the night.

I wrote this on the plane earlier today:

"Halo!
I am stuck on a plane right now. We have been flying for about 6 hours now. We are right above Canada right now.

Dad, Jt, Alex and I were told last night that we would be getting up and leaving Sunday morning at 3:30 am. Now, the airport was only an hour and a half away and our flight was leaving at 1:30pm. They wanted us to go early with all the other groups that were flying out early so they wouldn't waist gas. We weren't too happy about that, but we knew we had to live with it. Alex, Jt and I were going to stay up b/c there was no pointe in sleeping. But, when Daniel got back from Gorskis (an amazing resturant we went to twice), he said that he would personally drive us after breakfast to the airport so we wouldn't have to be there 7 hours in advance. So, Alex and Jt went back to the fish huts, and I just stayed in my dads room b/c he had an extra bed in his room.

We got up at 8am, got breakfast, and at 9:30 loaded up all 8 of our suitcases and 2 carry on's each, into Daniels tiny statyion wagon (what an experience that was...lol)! We got there around 10:45am and said goodbye to Daniel. We got through secrity and everything and was at our gate by 11:45 after doing a few last minute souvenir shopping at the airport! It was around 1:45pm when they announced that the plane was having "technical difficulties" and had to switch planes. So, we didn't get off the ground until 3:30pm.

Alex and I watched 'Dodgeball', what a funny movie! I had never seen it before! Then I watched 'Everything is Illuminated' with my dad. Then Alex and I played some cards and are just waiting for food to be served! Hopefully we land in the next 3 hours!!"



We were supposed to be home tonight (sunday) but the flight from poland to New Jersey was delayed 3 hours, so we missed our connecting flight. so we are stuck in a hotel tonight. which isn't that bad!! i have my own room :) my dad has his own room. and, Alex and Jt are sharing a room. i was just up there with them hanging out, now i'm chillin in my room :)

we arrive in indy monday around 2:30. It will be nice to be home :)


I know that this is just Satin trying to mess with us, but we are doing ok!! God is with us all the time and I trust him completely!! :)


<3 Ayla

Last part of Saturday

Hey everyone! I can't believe that camp is over and that we are leaving Poland in 14 hours!

At 3pm, we went into a little town right outside of where we are staying at and did some souvenir shopping. There weren't many booths set up when we got there, but I got what I needed and wanted. Which was good :)

After shopping for a bit, we headed to an old German Bunker. It was really neat. It was only a few minutes from where we were shopping at, but it was way out in the forest area. It was covered with moss and trees! It was so neat! We went in and it was huge!! It was around 1100 feet long and I would say 30 feet tall (tall enough for a train to fit in with extra room). On the inside, there were tables with different devices they used during the war. We walked all the way from the beginning to the end of the bunker, then turned around and went back (it got colder and colder as we got farther back in in). In the middle of the bunker, there was a tunnel that we could go in. We walked down a ladder about 10-15 feet. It was really narrow, and only one person could go down it at once. As soon as you got into the tunnel, you had to duck down for a few feet, basically on your hands and knees. But, once you got past that little part, you could stand up straight. It was long, cold, wet tunnel that had rooms off of it. Jt and Pawel (the guy who was helping us out today getting us places) went ahead of me and hid in one of the rooms. As I walked by, they jumped out and scared me to death! It was really funny though :) We walked through it and saw different rooms that were huge and some that were small. When we got out of the bunker, Alex and I decided to ride one of the motorcycles with the little "cars" attached to it. He rode in it first, then I got to go. Pawel had told the guy, in Polish, to go really fast!! It was so much fun!!! :)

When we got back to the camp, we found out that we had to leave the camp at 3:30am with the other groups who were going to the airport (Our flight doesn't leave until 1:30pm). We weren't really excited, but we went along with it because we had no choice. So, we went to dinner and went to get packed up. Ola had left earlier today, and she called during dinner and said she would call back later. She called while Agnieska, Marta and I were in my room packing up. We chatted with her for a bit, and finally had to say goodbye because she had to go :( But, it was nice talking to her on the phone!!! ~~I had brought little snack packs of Chips Ahoy, Macaroni and Cheese Crackers, and Ritz Cheese Bits. (Ola had tried them earlier this week, but didn't like them so much). I gave Marta, Agnieska and the other girl the rest of my packs and they sat on the bed eatting away. Marta liked the Mac and Cheese crackers, but Agnieska didn't like them so much. When Agnieska was reading the bag of Chips Ahoy, she said "Chips Aloha"!!!!! HAHAHA It was SOOOOOO funny!! They all liked them and I said that most people in America do :) And, they all liked the Ritz Cheese crakers, especially Marta :)

After packing up and hanging out for a while, Daniel came in around 11pm and talked to us about leaving tomorrow. (Alex, Jt and I were just going to stay up and watch movies and chill). He said that he would take us seperatly, so we wouldn't have to be at the airport for 7 hours before we left. So, we are now leaving after breakfast!! WOOHOOO!!

So, I am going to sleep now. I am excited about seeing everyone again and I have many more stories and pictures to show you :) Just ask and I'll share :)

Mwah!! <3 Ayla

Friday and Saturday morning

Oh my gosh! I can't believe it's already saturday :( It's only 11am and I've already cried. Ola left about 30 minutes ago. I can't believe it! This camp has been one of my best experiences so far!!

Yesterday we just edited our film. It was the parable of the good samaritan. The girls did an amazing job of editing. I went through it in the end and helped out a bit, but other than that, they did amazing!! I had so much fun just chillin with them as they edited. I loved those girls this week! I am going to miss them so much!!

Agnieszka reminded me of some of the girls at school. Ola was so funny. she made me laugh a lot! Joanna was a sweetheart. She had an amazing heart. Marta was kinda quiet, but she was sweet. Her smile is one that I won't forget.

It's going to be hard to leave tomorrow, but I knew that it was going to happen when I came here! I can't explain my feelings right now because they are everywhere! I'm excited that we are going home to see my family and friends, but on the other hand, I don't want to leave! I really don't want to leave these people. But, God has a plan for each of us, so I am trusting in Him 100%.

Thursday....coming to an end :( I'm really sad!

Today, again, was AMAZING!! For the morning workshop, we just went through the video that we would shoot later. That only took about 30 minutes, then the girls and I went to the beach!! We hung out there for a bit, then came to dinner (they call 'lunch' dinner). After that, we just hung out! Then at 3, Joanna, Ola, Voytek and I came to shoot the video. It took about 2 hours to shoot it, but it was worth it. It was a production that the Drama workshop made up. It was the Parable of the Good Samaritan! They did an amazing job. (We definatly have some up coming actresses!)

After the shoot, the girls wanted to go back to the beach, so we headed over there. I didn't get in the water this time, but just sat on the side watching them goof off in the water. Joe came down to the beach, but didn't want to get in the water either, so we just chatted. Jt ended up asking Ola to go with him to the big banquet. (It was his birthday yesterday by the way!)

After he asked, she and the girls headed up to get ready for it. They had an hour and a half, but they needed all the time they could get! I went up and changed, then went to their room and talked with them as they got ready! They all looked gorgeous, although they were just wearing a nice pair of jeans and a nice shirt. The banquet was enjoyable. It was outside, so we sat on blankets on the ground. After we ate, they had a time to worship outside. The worship leaders sang a variety of songs, english and polish! I was running the camera, but Joanna and a couple of other people came and stood by me and worshiped.

After all the kids (teens...whatever) went to bed, our group from America went to Gorskies! It is an amazing restaurant here. We had gone the first night we got here, but we couldn't stay away! They have amazing polish food there! Since it was JT's birthday, Tomak (the guy who has been helping us a lot here) got him 2 authentic birthday cakes. One had strawberries in jello on the top, and the other looked like a long tube and had chocolate in it! It was so good!

I was writing to someone back in the states last nigh, and I told them that I was going to cry when I say goodbye to my girls, and I started to tear up. It's going to be really hard, but I know has a reason why we came and has a plan for me and all of them in the future!

Wednesday!!!

Each day just gets better and better!! Today, we watched some short videos (5 minutes or so each). Then, during the afternoon workshop, the girls and Voytek and I had a meeting with the Drama group and talked about what we are recording for them.

Our group got to get out about 45 minutes early from our workshop cuz we didn't have anything to do. (We are just waiting on the drama team to finish up the script!) So, Ola, Marta, Aqnes and I went down to the beach and just layed in the sun chatting. All of a sudden, these guys came and picked up Aqnes and threw her in the water. They came and got Marta and did the same thing. Ola and I looked at each other with terror in our eyes and ran!!! hah We ran and ran, until I decided to take a different path than her, but it was a dead end, so I was caught and they threw me in the water!! Ola had ran back to her room and finally, after about 5 minutes or so, came back to the beach! It was so much fun just hanging out with a bunch of polish kids, although I didn't know what they were saying half the time.

Earlier today, those 3 girls had taught me a cartoon song that goes a little like this... "Pat i kot. Kot i pat. Pat i kot pchiachela ob at". :) we were singing it all day long!! It's cool :) They also have taught me a little polish, "Gene Dobre" means "good morning". Alex said that to them yesterday when he meant to say the word for thank you. lol so, we make fun of him for it! "Dobre" means "ok". So, when they are talking in polish, I just randomly say "Dobre". Another word for "ok" is "Dobre Gem". I know I'm not spelling these right, i'm just trying to put them in ways you can pronounce it...kinda! hah

I love the girls I work with and it will be sad when I leave.

Monday maddness

Monday was amazing...like usual :) We got in our groups and started talking 'video'. I ended up with 6 girls and one guy. Thankfully, they all speak english. However, some are not as good as others. So, sometimes they have to translate what I say, but it's not that often :) I love my group!! During the day, we had 2 workshops. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. Worship service, of course, was great! :)

Amazing Song!

Yesterday at Church, a lady sung a song and it was called God of Justice. It was an amazing song! It talked about going out into the world and just loving on people! It such a great song! It's by Tim Hughes. It is such an encouraging song. Alex and I were trying to figure out a song to use for a promo video for The Andy Project, and we were just praying that God would show us a song. And, like God always does, He answered our prayers!! It's amazing how God works :)

Here are the lyrics:

God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give


Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

Saturday and Sunday

SATURDAY

We went to a town about an hour and a half away and we went to the longest shopping road in Poland! It's only for pedestrians and bikes. It was really long and we walked down most of it! We stopped for ice cream and shrimp at McDonalds and a little ice cream shop. Then we went to the 2nd largest mall in Europe! IT WAS HUMONGOUS!! Seriously, I've never seen anything like it! On the outside, it had a beach volleyball net set up and a bunch of open space! (I'll get pics up sometime!). Also, it had a race car place set up. It was the coolest thing ever!! I could have spent the whole day there and not get through everything...it was that big!


SUNDAY

This morning, the last of the groups from last week left the campus, Belarus and Ukraine. Which means Pasha left. It was cool talking to him while he was here. In the short time we talked, I could tell he has a real heart for God and I know that God is going to use him in so many different ways. I was sad cuz that means a whole new group of people would be here, but it will be cool having different people here.

We went to Church and just hung out the rest of the afternoon. Then, campers got here and we had our first Media Challenge meeting! Finally, we get to teach people how to use cameras, lights, sound and editing to make movies!! I'm really excited about it!! Can't wait for this week to get going :)

Mwah!!

Ayla

Pictures from the Rap video

I blogged the other day about the rap video we shoot.

Here are some pictures that I took! Alex has some up on his blog too!

Our Video

Here is a video we made today. We went down to watch the finals and decided to shoot a video! I shoot all of the footage and Alex edited it! We edited it all and translated it in less than 3 hours!! Pretty sweet, eh? :)

Friday // the last day of basketball camp!

Today was the last full day of basketball camp. They had their tournaments. We started off by doing 3 one minute long interviews. They were not the big set up interviews, just a camera, microphone and some headphones. It was easy. We did them outside, so we didn't have to worry about lighting or anything like that.

Since we haven't seen any of the games since we've been here, we went down and watched the finals after we did the interviews. It was a lot of fun!! But, being the techno weenies as we are, we decided to shoot a video! So, we got "The Best of PROeM Basketball Camp". I had the camera and got shoots of 17 different BEST's. ((Abs, hair, farmers tan, Vin Diseal look-alike, ladies shorts, most coordinated outfit, most vertically challenged, female head gear, best looking female ref, best individual supporter, laziest reff, "hottest" score keeper, sunglasses on the court, nails in the WMBA, fans, and tecnno weenie bball player aka. Alex!! haha)) I'll try to get it up online if I can! We are editing it and hopefully showing it at the last service tonight!! We have only 2 hours left, and we still need to eat dinner! aaahhh craziness!!

Mwah!!

Fun Times!!!

So, I blogged at 1am this morning talking about the rap video we were shooting! It went on for a while after that. Finally, by 1:45 we were all done and torn down and put the chairs back!! It was one of the coolest things ever! :)

After that, around 2am, JT, Archie (one of the workers here), and I went around to the cabins waking people up with flashlights! We would go into people's rooms and shine the light in their faces and wake them up!! I was in charge of the camera. We recorded everything that happened!! It was so much fun!! I got in my bed at 4:15am and got up at 7:45am.

I've already been stopeed by multipul people asking me if I was in their rooms last night. haha I play it off as no, but they have all seen right through me. haha One girl said to me, "You better watch your backs! haha

Can't wait to do it again next week :)

Belarus Rap

I'm in the middle of a Belarus Christian Rap video shoot. It's 1am here and we have been here for hours working on this!! It's soo cool!! I think this is the best part of my week so far!!! I'll get pics up later, maybe tomorrow or something. I am loving it!! Everyone is complaining about it being late, but since we are working on this, it doesn't seem that late to me. But, oh well :) I will try to get a copy of it on here!! They will get it up on youtube and maybe i'll link you to that!!

Mwah!

Tursday-in town!

Today we went into Tomaszow, the town 10 minutes from the camp were at. We went to the TOMY Center (the place the church is at). We shot some footage of the kids there at the English Camp (a week long activity at the church where kids are helped with learning english). After that, we went to a pizza parlor. JT, Alex and I shared a huge pizza! It was so tasty!

After lunch, we went throughout the town shooting more footage of the town. We then went to their new church building, which is being renovated at the moment. It should be ready to open in 2 months! (Be praying for the Church as they start moving in!!)

We then came back to the camp and just hung out until dinner (which was only about an hour and a half). We climbed the rock wall, which was a lot of fun! Dinner tonight was out at the campfire, with sausages and sourcraut! It was really good!!

At the moment, we are just chillin' here in the office, myspace-ing, facebook-ing, blogging..etc!!

Hope you all are having an amazing summer!! Can't wait to see you all again :)

Andrew's Twin && Greg

I have 3 pictures to put up tonight :)


So, there is this kid here named Brandon. He is here with another group from America, actually from Colombus, Indiana (what a coincidence)! I think he is the same age of me. He is here working with the basketball camp!

Anyways, I have seen him around camp a lot and he reminds me of my friend, Andrew Wong :) He looks like him at a glance. But, once I look at him more, I realize it's not him and that he is back home, not here in Poland with me. But, the other night after worship, his group was hanging around the chapel and we were finishing up cleaning up the tech stuff. So, I went up to him and asked if I could get a picture with him. I explained that he reminded me of my friend back home. So, he graciously agreed to get a picture with me. (thanks buddy!)

Then, yesterday I was walking to the office to finish up the video that I was making, and he stopped me and we talked for a few minutes. It turns out that he is 50% chinese, which is why he reminds me of Andrew, who is 25% chinese!! (pretty sweet, eh??) haha




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Another person I'd like to tell you about is Greg (can't pronounce his full name!), a polish intern. I kinda mentioned him in my blog from Monday or Tuesday night! I haven't talked to him much, but he's a pretty cool kid! And, he is extremely tall!! he's like a whole 2 heads taller than me (you can tell in the picture!! :)


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Here's a picture of me as I was typing this blog! I'm having an amazing time here and I can't wait to see you all in 10 days!

Sour Cream anyone?

ok, funny story!! So, we got to Poland last saturday and we were hanging out around town. We went to dinner and I wanted sour cream for the Perogies (my favorite polish food!). Stephanie, one of the missionaries here, said that sour cream was really good with Perogies, so I tried it. We had to pay for it, and we had to pay for ketchup for french fries. haha So, we got it and she said that I probably wanted to mix salt in it cuz it wasn't like regular sour cream. so i was like, ok sure :) So, I took the bowl that was in front of me and put some of it in my sour cream and mixed it all up! I put some on my Perogies and tasted it!! I said "This is really sweet". And, she asked if I had put salt in it and I said "Yea!". I showed her the bowl that i had taken it out of and she said "Ayla, that's not salt!! That's sugar!!" HAHA I was like, "ooohhh" hahaha it was hilarious!! :)

:)

Tuesday afternoon/Wednesday

Sorry again. I didn't have time to do anymore yesterday!

All we did yesterday was edit. I shot a video for Jennie (as you see below). I edited that all day. It was a lot of fun doing that! Jennie, I'm glad that you loved it!! :) I spent hours and hours shooting and recording! By the way, the three girls near the beginning said "Happy Birthday". Then, I got the whole camp (150 kids from around the world) sing "Happy Birthday" in polish (but only the polish people knew how to sing it! haha).

We finished a few interview's and it was a long day! Some of us went to bed around midnight, but Alex, JT and I stayed up til after 1am. What fun times :)

I am loving the food they serve us here!! In the morning they have cold cut sandwiches and cereal. Then for the 2nd round, they bring us something else; eggs, sausage, or something like that. Then for lunch they have a traditional meal (it's their biggest meal of the day, like dinner for us). They have soup on the table when we get in and after a few minutes, they bring the main dish. We have had everything imaginable! Tuesday, for example, they served a pasta salad type of thing. It was amazing.

Today, I spent the day with Archie (one of the guys who works here). We went down to the courts and I shot some footage, then got everything on the computer and edited all day (again). I made a 2 minute long video. They showed it at worship tonight!

I'm having an amazing time here and I am so excited that I have a whole 10 more days here! That's amazing to say because we were planning on only being here for 10 days, but it's extended! I love it :)

Miss you all lots!!

Mwah~Ayla

Special Birthday Treat

Hey Jennie!! Happy Birthday dear!! I'm really sorry that I can't be in the Burg for your birthday. But, I hope your having an amazing day!! I can't wait to see you!! Only a week and a half left :) Mwah

Happy Birthday!

Hey Jennie!! Happy Birthday dear!! I'm really sorry that I can't be in the Burg for your birthday. But, I hope your having an amazing day!! I can't wait to see you!! Only a week and a half left :) Mwahh!!

Monday Activities/Tuesday morning so far

Sorry I didn't get to get any blog done yesterday. It was a crazy busy day!! We did a lot! I don't think that I have told you exactly what we are doing this week (if I did, i'll tell you again!). We are at an inernational camp here in Poland. Our group is doing video shoots and interviews for this camp, and at some point for the local church here.

We got up Monday and did the usual: Shower, Breakfast, Worship! As soon as worship was over, we got to shooting. We did 5 interviews throughout the day.

The first lady was from America. We had a lot of fun shooting with her and the whole set was beautiful! She told her story about she had to drop out of college because she got pregnant. She told us how she loved being here cuz she could be herself; take showers, wear makeup, and her nails were still gorgeous! haha We asked her how she played basketball without breaking them, and she said "I'm just careful!". She had such a sense of humor and it was great talking with her.

We interviewed 4 other people, including 2 polish men who work here and two other American counselors. It took up all of our day, but it was deffinatly worth it! I'll get a video up sometime this week of one of our productions!

We had time to relax for a little bit, so in that time we played some frisbee and cornhole. After dinner, Jt, Victoria and went to play some more frisbee and two interns came and played with us. One of them, David, is from the USA and has been here off and on for the past year. He is going back in December for a year, then moving back to Poland to live. Another guy is a Polish guy. His name is Gorgeschkie...or something like that! haha he sad to call him Greg! He had some pretty sweet frisbee moves!! :)

We got to bed early last night! It was really nice and we got to sleep in this morning about an hour!! After worship today, I went with Gordo and his wife to go do some B-roll (basically just extra footage) of the people we interviewed yesterday. They were on the basketball courts, so I got to see some basketball :)

I'll write more later tonight!!

Ayla

Sunday

Aloh!!

We got up this morning and got on a charter bus to get to Church. There were a bunch of english speaking groups on the bus with us. We got there and our group got to video taping. Joe, JT and I got shots of the worship service and during the sermon. While Alex and Katlyn went upstairs with the little kids and got some shots with them. We met them outside around the middle of the service and hung out with the little kids learning some Polish. They laughed at us as we used Katlyn's polish book to try and say things to them. They could all speak english, so they were helping us out! Alex and David (one of the little kids) became best buddies. It was really cool seeing the two of them talking, David laughing at Alex, and Alex being completely confused. haha It was a lot of fun!!!

Once we got back, we ate another amazing polish meal. Lunch time is their big meal, like Dinner is our's. So, we had soup, meat, and potato's. It was really good, but the soup was really tomato-y...however you say that!! lol

After that, Alex, JT, Victoria, Joe, Katlyn and I toured the camp we are staying at (we haven't been here during the day the whole 2 days we've been here). It's a really nice campus. (by the way, Joe, Victoria and Katlyn are the other teens in our group..they are from Arizona. And JT is someone Alex and I met last summer at the St. Louis Media Challenge we went to!) We played some Volleyball, team Indiana verse team Arizona. Then we jumped in the river. It's the longest river in Poland. It was nice and warm, when the sun wasn't behind the clouds!!

Now, Alex, Jt and I are being Techno Weenies on the deck doing computer stuff...editing, blogging, facebooking..etc! Tonight is the first worship service at this camp. It will be fun seeing a bunch of European basketball Christians worshiping the One who made us!!

Hope you all are having a great day and week!!! I love and miss all of you!!

Mwah!!

Ayla

First Full Day In Poland!

Hello Friends!!
I am loving Poland! It is a beautiful country! Today I had a lot of mixed emotions!!

We got up and left by 6:45am to go to Auschwitz. It was a long 3 hour drive there anticipating what we would see. JT, Alex and I ended up falling asleep on the way over there. (They had missed their alarm, so we had to get them during breakfast). We got there and watched a 20 minute video on the history of Auschwitz. Then we had a tour guide take us around the camp. It was a 2 hour guide, and very emotional. There were times where I cried and there were times where I just looked at everything and prayed. It was hard to imagine that thousands of people were tortured there.

We saw rooms filled with human hair, glasses, luggage, shoes, and other valuable things. There was a prison in the camp where they would make 4 people go in a little room, a yard square. They had to stand there all night. People would die there because of lose of oxygen, but if you didn't die, you would have to work another 12 hour day shift the next day. They wouldn't be able to sleep cuz they had no room to be on the ground. It was emotional to see those little rooms. Then we went to Birkeneau, the one they use for the movie Schindlers List. It was emotional too.

After that, we went to Krakow and did some souvenir shopping. We saw some pretty interesting characters! There were about 20 men dressed up as Fred from The Flinstones, at an outside bar. Then they walked around the square in Krakow. It was really funny!!

Well, It's one in the morning here and we gotta get up for Church. So, enjoy back home in Indiana. And, don't forget to comment and let me know how your doing :)

Mwahh!!

Ayla

Traveling to Poland!

Hey Everyone!!!
I am in Poland!! It is 11:20pm Friday the 18th here, but 5:20pm in Indiana. It has been a long two days! We flew out at 6:30pm on Thursday the 17th and went through Chicago, where we met the rest of our group. We then flew 8 and a half hours over to Warsaw, Poland. As I sat between Alex and JT, I realized that it was going to be a long flight! haha Not saying that's bad, cuz they know I love them mucho :) I didn't sleep well at all. I was up all night, tossing and turning on the little thing they call a seat. (Oh, flying is fun!) I finaly got to sleep and slept for about an hour or two I would guess.
We arrived at 2pm our time, 8am Indiana time. We spent the day with our host, Thomas and his wife. We spent the day touring Warsaw, seeing sites, eatting amazing polish food and of course, being exhausted. We had so much fun getting to know the other people in our group and walking around like tourists :) The camp we are staying at is two hours away from Warsaw, so we had a long drive after touring all day.
Alex, Jt and I are now sitting in the cafeteria here at the camp on Wi-Fi. Thomas calls it Wee-Fee!
Well, there is probably more I could tell you about, but I'm exhausted and I think we might be getting back to our cabins soon.
Love and miss you all a lot!!
Ayla

Leaving Tomorrow

Hey Everyone!

I thought I would say a quick hello and let you all know that I'm leaving for Poland tomorrow! I'm really excited! I found out in the last 24 hours that I will be staying for an extra week. So, I'll be there until August 3rd! I'm so excited about it! 

Check out my blog everyday cuz I should have a blog or two each day :)

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