Timothy David Pratt!

   Timothy David Pratt is the newest member of the family, my very first nephew. Three weeks ago today, this little guy became a part of this world, and he's already making it a brighter place! He is a blessed child who has been born into a loving family that takes great care of him. My older brother, Aaron, is the father with his loving wife, Sara, as the mother.

   My brother met Sara while they were attending Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe. Sara is from Finland, and so when they got married they moved to Finland where my brother leads worship for a Calvary Chapel in Turku, Finland. They now have three children: their two daughters, Emily and Isabella, and now their first son, Timothy!

   So, we set out on our little adventure to Finland to visit Timothy. We packed up the car and left Ukraine on Friday, at four o'clock in the morning! From there we set out to Poland, the first country that we drove through. After about three hours at the border, we were into Poland and on our way into Lithuania.

 

   Our trip through Poland was relatively uneventful, with one exception...the car died. While we were parked next to McDonald's, the car battery died and it wouldn't start up again. We gave it a little bit of time, and then tried to start it again, with no success; the battery was really dead. Eventually, we found the owner of the car next to us and we hooked up some jumper cables and then we were back in business.

   We continued along with no more difficulties as we arrived in Lithuania. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We even stopped at a gas station to have a small family picnic. After our picnic we packed up, took some pictures of the bison, and we moved on to the hostel where we stayed that night.

  

    Our night in Lithuania was amazing! We parked and unloaded our baggage at the hostel where we were staying, and then we went out for a nice evening walk through the center. We just walked around, observed the people, and kept our eyes open for neat cafes, or anything unique that we don't have at home. The weather made it very enjoyable as there was just a soft breeze blowing through as we walked around the street.




   Along the street were many interesting monuments, such as the large chair that I'm sitting on here. There were many statues and even an old-fashioned looking movie theater. There was also a very beautiful church which is in the picture above. We enjoy any opportunity we have to get out of the car and just walk around, take pictures in front of fountains, or do anything to stretch our legs after the long car ride.

   We got up in the morning, got some breakfast, and then we took off. However, we did have a slight complication leaving Lithuania...our GPS broke. So before we could leave, we had to find a mall, go to the electronics store,and buy a new GPS system.

   We got the GPS installed and then we were back on track. Another lovely day with great weather, not a cloud in the sky. We drove through Lithuania and arrived in Latvia. You know you've had too much experience with this kind of lifestyle when someone has to ask, "What country are we in again?"

   While we were going through Latvia we ended up driving along the sea and decided to stop there and have another little picnic close to the water. The sound of the waves along the beach was an amazing sound, very refreshing and peaceful. Yet again we took some last minute pictures, packed up the van, and drove on to Estonia.

   Estonia! Traveling through this country was definitely an experience. We arrived at the hostel that we had reserved and it wasn't exactly what we had been expecting. The room was very small; in fact there was hardly any room to fit all of us and our luggage. However, the size was not the only problem that we observed in our room. Some of the lights didn't work, part of the ceiling in the bathroom was falling apart, and last, but definitely not least, someone had left a pair of underwear on the heater next to one of the beds! So, it was definitely an experience. But we have stayed in worse, so we stayed there as was planned.

   

    Before we went to bed that night we went out into center to see the city. The city was definitely a fabulous sight; the architecture was stunning. Many of the buildings looked so medieval that I constantly felt like we were in a Robin Hood movie or something. So, the city was beautiful and it seemed like there were many nice restaurants for people to chose from. Estonia had many people out and about that evening.





 We all agreed that we hope to visit the city again on our way home, during the daytime, when most likely there would be less people on the streets partying. While we were walking around the city the emotions I felt were bittersweet; on one hand, the city was amazing and I wanted to see everything. But on the other hand, there were many people out who were drinking and some of them were even very loud, making it harder to completely relax, as it is important to be aware of everything that is going on in those situations.


 
   We all had a great time and I look forward to going back through Estonia, and all of the other countries that we traveled through.

  So, Sunday morning arrived, we grabbed our luggage and left our hostel first thing in the morning. We then boarded a large ferry and began our last leg of the journey! Glad to be almost finished traveling, we relaxed on the short ride over on the ferry. Before we knew it, we looked up and we were pulling into the harbor. We had arrived in Helsinki, Finland; all that was left was a short car ride to Turku.

   

   Finland at last! I had been here five years ago when my first niece, Emily, was born. I really enjoyed the time I had here and I've been hoping to return ever since. The country is beautiful and I find everything here to be very fascinated. I would be interested to learn more about the culture and hope at some point, to spend at least a summer here.

   So, after three days of long hours in the car, a ferry ride, and lots of snacks on the road, we were finally at our destination, and I got to meet my amazing new nephew, Timothy David Pratt!

God bless you all,

~Alex R. Pratt

Camping Trip!

   Well, as you can probably guess from the title of today's blog, I just got back from a camping trip! We went to the beautiful Carpathians Mountains and camped out there for about four days; four days, away from the city, without any Wi-Fi, just enjoying the fresh air and the amazing water. We actually had a fresh water spring that was very close by with the most refreshing and delicious cold water that I've ever tasted!

   So, who all went camping? Well, there were about thirteen of us that went and most of the people were from our youth group. With a group that small it was really an amazing time to draw nearer to God, and to draw nearer to each other. Over the few days that I was there I really felt like the friendships that I had have grown even stronger than before. It was truly an amazing time and God moved in all of our hearts during those few days together.

   We had been praying for awhile that the weather would be in our favor, and God blessed us abundantly with the weather! There were hardly any clouds in the sky the whole time we were there. On the very last day, as we were packing up, we saw some clouds coming in, but even the clouds that we saw didn't look very threatening.

   For the most part, everyone was very healthy during our stay. My younger brother, Josh, hurt his back on a trampoline a few weeks ago, and ended up hurting it again at camp, but other than that, nobody really got hurt. We were also blessed that all of the food was good and no one got food poisoning or something bad like that!

   Of course, with four days in the Carpathians Mountains, we really took advantage of all the opportunities we had to do things together. We managed to teach the Ukrainians how to play Ultimate Frisbee and they absolutely loved it! We also played other games like volleyball, or UNO.

   And, of course, we took advantage of every chance we had to get wet! The first day that we arrived we decided to go creek stomping. We also went swimming just about everyday that we were there. The water was absolutely freezing, but that didn't really stop us from trying. As you can see here we had a small waterfall and, of course, the natural reaction for a guy when he sees a waterfall is to see if he can stand under it...so I did! The water was freezing and so powerful as it pounded me with all of its strength, but it also felt amazing and I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment after doing it.

   Well, what would a camping trip be without a campfire? Just about every night we gathered around a bonfire and cooked something. Unfortunately we didn't have everything that we needed for s'mores, but we did roast marshmallows over the fire. Which actually is a rare treat and a new experience for most Ukrainians, because you can't buy marshmallows here and most Ukrainians have never even heard of s'mores. So, everyone loved the marshmallows!

 

   We also had a great time playing games around the fire. We played several games, but the game that we played over and over again while gathered around the fire was Mafia. We stayed up until midnight one of the nights while we were there, just playing Mafia! It was really great to see everyone having so much fun!

   Honestly, one of my favorite things about that camping trip was seeing our youth group out there. I currently teach our church youth group, and almost all of the youth kids came. I really felt like the whole time that we had together in the mountains really knitted us together like a family. We even had an opportunity to have a little youth group Bible study along the creek. It was a just great time when we talked about what God is doing with our youth group, and about how we can draw closer to God, and about how in times of weakness He gives us the strength that we need to go on. 

   

   So, God really blessed the whole time that we had in the Carpathians! The weather was amazing, the food was great, the fellowship was a major blessing; in the end, the whole trip was a blast and everyone left the camp feeling very blessed! I wore a particularly big smile on my face as I watched everyone, working together, helping to take down tents, or washing dishes, or serving in whatever way they could.

   I love the kids that I teach at youth group. I pray for them constantly, praying that God would shape their hearts as they are growing into the young men and women that He has called them to be. They were all so blessed by camp and I can't wait for the next big opportunity that we'll have to bless them. As you pray today, please pray for these young teenagers, as they continue to grow in a knowledge of the Word, and in a love for God!

   So, after a few days of camping, we packed up and headed home. We were all happy to be going home, but at the same time, sad that we had to leave. But it was very evident that everyone felt completely blessed and filled with encouragement as we got packed up and got ready to go. God has new and exciting things to do with the youth in L'viv too, and I look forward to seeing that!

   

   Well everyone, that's it for today. I hope you guys enjoyed this and are encouraged by it!

God bless you all,

~ Alex R. Pratt

Hey Everyone!

   I just wanted to say hi to everyone and to welcome you guys to my blog! This is a new blog but the purpose behind it is a dream I've had since I was about thirteen years old; that's when I visited Calvary Chapel Bible College Europe for the first time. I was still a little kid and I wasn't really thinking too much about college at that time, but the more I was at the college, the more I dreamed of studying there.

 

 

   And now, here I am, getting ready for my first semester at the Bible college! I am currently still in L'viv, Ukraine, where I am staying with my family and serving with the church here until I leave. It is always a bittersweet feeling, getting ready to move away from your family, but I can't wait to see what God is going to do with the next few years that I'll be spending at Bible college.

   If you want to know more about the Bible college I'm going to, or what my goals are for college, feel free to read my About Me or My Mission pages on this blog.

God bless you all,
~Alex R. Pratt