Another trip, a roommate returning and finances...

I haven't been able to catch up on all my Krakow stories (more coming after this short text entry), and I'm already leaving the country again. This time, I'm traveling with ÖDÉ (Emese and Gyüri and an incoming volunteer) to Transcarpathia, Ukraine. This is significant because I will cross REAL borders for the first time since arriving (compare it to the Mexican/US border) as the Ukraine isn't part of the European Union, which has countries without borders. It's also a free trip, which is always good. And, I'll get to see another culture for a couple days. So, I won't be around Sunday morning until Monday night :) As always, the computer stays home during travels.

My roommate, Silke, will be returning on Monday. Doctors have decided to postpone surgery on her ACL until August, when she returns to Germany after her volunteer year. She can't walk as well as she used to, but at least she can walk again. I'm looking forward to her return, for sure.

I want to give you a brief update on my financial situation. Many of you know I came here needing to raise $12,466... and hadn't raised all of it before stepping on the plane. As the time ticks by, I'm realizing that I'm only going to be here for 3 more months and I still have $1,451 to raise. Here in Hungary, for your taxes, you can donate 2% of your taxes to a charity. For those of you who received/are receiving tax returns, can I challenge you with something? What about donating 2% of your tax return to global missions? There are a lot of us out there who are just trusting that God will provide and He always has provided through people like you. To invest in a global missionary is to invest in the lives of many many people. If you're interested in giving to the RCA or to my fund, please visit www.rca.org/volunteers - click on ‘donate’ and if you wish, you can select my name from the list. Otherwise, you can send a check to the following address - just put my name/or another missionary's name in the memo section and it will get to me. Thank you, in advance, for helping to advance God’s kingdom. Together, God is using us to do His good and perfect will. Checks should be made payable to “RCA Mission Volunteer Program” and sent to:
Reformed Church of America
PO Box 19381
Newark, NJ 07195-1938



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Adventures in Krakow

A building in the old Jewish Quarter in Krakow. It was strange to walk those streets and think that 60 years ago, people were pulled out of those buildings to their deaths.


This is the Church of St. Joseph of Podgórze in Kraków, built in 1909


your average street in Krakow - it's so cute and "European!"


The main square - it included a market, a Polish guy singing country songs, moving statues, and all kinds of other things to just watch. it was great!


these guys were making music in the street - quite possibly some of the best street musicians I've ever heard. Plus, they look cool :)


this is how far away from two homes that I am... 7400km to Rochester, NY... 295km to Budapest.


and of course, the best discovery in Krakow: Mountain Dew. Many of you know that I was an avid Mtn Dew drinker before leaving... and I had yet to even find one here in Europe. Well, mission accomplished. However, I probably won't be drinking another one from Poland. It was like pure sugar water (more so than American Mtn. Dew)! Ewww! Plus, it creepily glowed. Um... no thanks!