Changed by LOVE.

Hello everyone from Viljandi!! Its been exactly one week since I’ve been in Estonia! After the amazing race, a few days of training, and then a 20+ drive from Czech I can finally say I AM HERE. My first few days were spent in the town of Tartu, which is where half of our team will be serving, and then as of Tuesday me and one of the other interns MK arrived in Viljandi which will be our summer home along with two other interns who are joining us later.  About an hour outside of Tartu, Viljandi has about 20,000 residents, and is a beautiful small town with a lake, and castle ruins. While we are here we will be spending time preparing for camps but we are also spending a majority of our time getting to know the youth in the town. Last night was our first night meeting everyone and we had a game night at our house, and then today we played some ping pong. I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students and ask them if they would be coming to English camp (so far we only have about 6 people signed up) and one of the things I realized while talking to them was that money is a major concern. The camp cost for an entire week is $45 Euros. When I heard that this is the reason students wouldn’t be at camp it began to weigh very heavy on my heart; I have been in that position before when I was growing up. I often felt so guilty about asking my parents for money, because camps were expensive, and I  thought the answer would be no, or if they did pay for it I felt like it was money that probably could have gone other places. Whether it was church camp, or the 7^th grade trip,  it was something I always dreaded asking for and there were a few times I had to miss out. But its not the few experiences where I wasn’t able to go on these trips that I remember the most, but it was when God provided a way for me. It was when my best friends family offered to pay for an entire Disney trip and that same family would take me out to weekly dinners, or even help me buy my homecoming dress, it was also the times when my church gave me a scholarship so I could attend camp, or even when our old neighbors would leave anonymous care packages on our porch with grocery or gas gift cards. It was a reminder that God’s hand  was and is always on me, and that there are many people out there with selfless hearts.   This has left a HUGE impression on me, and I am constantly grateful for all these people who poured out  love to me, where they saw a need (not even necessarily a need, but a want) and they knew they could  fill it. My life has been changed, and ever since then I have seen my duty to be the same light to others. So when I heard that some students wouldn’t be able to go to camp because of money, I knew that somehow I could help change that. I want to do what I can, but I’m also asking YOU to do the same. If you feel lead to donate any money it is 46 Euros is about $57 US dollars. I’ll be posting a link up on my blog later on. But you can also email me at Mkallen401@gmail.com

Thank you
To everyone back home, I love and miss you
Megan Allen

Adventure Time

The last few days have been a WHIRLWIND. Go back to Wednesday when we land in Krakow Poland after about 13 hours of traveling and MAYBE 6 hours of sleep in the past 30+, we THEN have to start the amazing race. I've heard from my other friends that have been that it is incredibly tiring, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but wow, was I wrong. When I say we went all around Poland, I mean we traveled EVERYWHERE, on foot, from morning until night, competing in challenges that tested us in so many ways. Team Estonia, however spirited was not the best with maps. We had a tendency to get incredibly lost, or mislead by the locals giving us directions. For example on the first night we wandered about an hour out of town in search for a statue that turned out to be the wrong one. Team Estonia came in last place two out of the three nights, but while other teams were complaining about their members, how they didn't carry their weight, or being overly competitive, we were enjoying ourselves. We were a unit, a team working in harmony Every challenge ( well other than a few challenges we had to repeat five times) we did them with  a smile on our faces, and we enjoyed where we were and what we saw. We grew incredibly strong in three days time,  we laughed probably more than any other team and although we came in 15th place I feel like we won in the long run. We discovered valuable attributes of each team member, and were really able to see each other shine in certain situations.  There was probably no greater feeling than crossing the finish line and getting to Hotel Malenovice in Czech. A hotel set in the mountains, a truly beautiful place to bask in the glory of God., which is where I am writing this from. Since arriving in Malenovice we have been worshiping, training, and  preparing our minds, and hearts for our summer of service.So far it has been a beautiful experience, and I can't wait to see what God has in store for this summer.

I ask that you all continue to keep me in your prayers. That God continues to prepare our hearts and open our minds what He has to offer.  For health, I'm already sick, and I'm hoping that after this I will have a healthy summer. Also be praying for the hearts of the students that will be put in our paths this summer, that they come receptive and excited for the experiences they will have.


From Czech, in love

Megan.