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