Big Sky Expeditions 2006

"Big Sky Expeditions" is the name of the Chi Alpha group that has been doing this trip to Central Europe for the past 4 years. This years' team - mine! - went first to Krakow, Poland and then to two different towns in Slovakia: Banovce and Banska Bystrica. Here are a few pictures from the trip. To see more Slovakia pictures, you can go to my flickr.com photostream. Eventually I'll have all my Poland pictures there, too. Enjoy.







Our first morning in Krakow, we found out that the city was greatly anticipating the arrival of Pope Benedictus XVI the following weekend. These posters, the first outward signs of Krakow's preparation, were found all around the city and reflected the hope that this new pope will "walk in the footsteps" of their beloved John Paul II.












Here is the picture I mentioned in my first post from Krakow.






We spent most of our time in Krakow working with University students. Our first Saturday in Europe we did the tourist thing with some of the Polish students as our guides. I took this picture of my group - three Poles and four Americans - in the Ryneck in front of the Medieval Linen Building.












the Pope, the Polcja, and a lot of cameras









After leaving the hustle and bustle of Krokow, we settled in lovely little Banovce, Slovakia. Our three days there were packed with activity, including minstry among the local Roma kids.














My friend la falda with "her kids". She's spending her whole summer there. So cool.

We finished our trip with five days in Banska Bystrica, a small city in central Slovakia. The team picture above was taken there in the city square, which I was told is the most beautiful in Slovakia. Our time there was spent doing some outreach and some work projects. The latter included cleaning out some rooms that a local church is renting. After removing a dumpster-load of trash that was under years - decades? - of dust, the team painted the room that will eventually be the new sanctuary.





My last picture in Slovakia. We left Banksa Bystrica, Slovakia at 3:00 in the morning on June 5 to catch a flight out of Vienna at 8:00.



Back in the States the next day, I finished up my last roll of film with some shots of Montana on the eight hour ride home from Bozeman.

Boston dreaming on a sunny Boise day

so i am looking at flights to Boston for my sister's wedding and suddenly i'm imagining flying into Logan and seeing my friends and my family and the ocean and going to RoL Church the next day. i'm getting all itchy with anticipation just thinking about it and it's 5 weeks away. i guess i'm just gonna have to visit boston.com to tide me over for the day.

i'm so excited to be going home.

Mission Trip Story

For all you folks who keep asking to hear more, here's a taste. Because I don't know how to say it better than this, here is what Curt and Sara Hobbs, the missionaries we worked with in Krakow, Poland, wrote on their blog. Some brief background info: the Hobbs hail from Wyoming, where they were campus ministers with Chi Alpha before going to Poland about 4 years ago.


Bucking Broncs + Jesus!
May 28, 2006

This past week we finished up our time with the Chi Alpha team from the Big Sky Region. God showed His amazing love and the way He draws people to Himself. Maria was one such person He drew to us. She is a lady in her mid-late 30's like us. She had left Poland and traveled, checked out Buddhism, and New Age stuff. She has mixed it all together with the Catholicism of her childhood. But she saw our group praying and worshipping in the Blonia (field/meadow/park) near the student hotel. She said she saw "white light" around us and joined in. She showed up the next day even though the rain kept us from doing "devotions" in the Blonia.

Then several days later I was waiting to pick up the kids from school and I saw SOMETHING straight out of the Cowboy State! Across the street I see an automobile that had a WYOMING bucking bronco sticker on it So being the rude, loud and brash American that I am not, I went up to the car and knocked on the window to a surprised woman. I tried to assure her I was not going to hurt her or rob her.

I asked her where she got that wonderful bucking bronco WYOMING sticker and during the conversation, Maria came up. She was as surprised to see me talking to her friend as I was to find out that someone in Krakow has even been to Wyoming and liked it so much that they'd buy such a sticker.

So that was an exciting confirmation for her that God is indeed working and drawing her to Himself. They joined the group for our last outing with pizza and waiting to see a glimpse of the Pope. Please pray that we can connect her with some Poles in the next couple weeks before we go [on furlough] so that God can continue to work on her.




Waiting for the pope after eating pizza, Maria and her friend chat with members of the Big Sky team.

quiet weekend

so i'm back, in Boise and just about adjusted to the time zone, the new apartment, and my new roommie who likes to keep our suite at about 65 degrees fahrenheit year-round. these days i am really enjoying tall glasses of 2% milk and Boise sunshine and sleeping in my own bed. but i miss my "team" and Europe and the red-tiled roofs and green rolling hills. i think that the hardest thing to get used to now is how quiet it is. for three weeks, i was hardly ever alone. i was part of a family of 22 and most meals and bus rides were accompanied by chatter and laughter. we were almost always loud enough to broadcast "We are Americans!" to all the folks around. more often than not, this was quite embarrassing, but now i miss that, too.
okay, enough melancholy. i have a full summer ahead of me and the trip to Poland and Slovakia got it off to a wonderful start. up next, working at BSU's week-long chamber music camp for junior high and high school kids. and soon my 7 rolls of Poland/Slovakia pictures will come and i can have a blast remembering and sharing the memories with folks. so i'm off to enjoy the quiet of my own, somewhat chilly, room. :)