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.

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I can't believe how close I am to leaving! Time has flown by and in FOUR DAYS I will be getting on a plane. OHHH my packing anxiety has gotten bad, I've been waking up every morning from a nightmare where I have left behind something of importance, I only ended up packing two outfits, or I wasn't allowed to bring my suitcases for some obscene reason. AHHHHH. thinking about packing just gets me nervous....other than a slight case of the packing terrors and worried about all the flying I could not be more excited. I said goodbye to some people at work yesterday,and tonight is my last shift :] then to cram in family time, friend time, and packing time all before I leave!!

In other news I was checking my email today, and I learned some more details about the amazing race which will be the first thing we do upon arriving!! It will be from May 30th-June 1st,  we will be going straight from the airport, splitting into our countries and starting from there!? I know our plane lands in Krakow, so I'm guessing it will be around Poland and other surrounding areas????

If you have been keeping me in your prayers I ask that you continue to pray.
Right now that I can calm my nerves about packing and the stress of flying
And above all, full hearts, healthy bodies, and safe travels


I'll keep everyone informed as much as I can and try and update when I get free time

in love,
Megan

OVERWHELMED

 If you know me, you know that I'm a rather emotional/ sentimental person, I'm very in touch with what I feel, and I  am frequently overwhelmed with some sort of feeling.  For the past few weeks I have felt completely  humbled and blessed with a love for the people in my life.  This trip to Estonia was a leap of faith for me, and really the only thing I have been concerned with is how the money will come together. In such a short period of time God has provided, friends, strangers, coworkers have donated. These are the people that are helping my dreams be realized, and I am so greatful for that. And then my family came along and not only were they excited for this opportuinity, but they have stood behind me, and supported me in a way that just breaks my heart with appreciation. They have surprised me with their gifts, and I feel so overwhelmed with the love I have for them and pleased as a plum for the  unique relationship I have with each one of them. I'm grateful for where we have been, I don't look negativiley on the messy part of our lives where for a period of time all I felt like I knew was dissension, anger, and brokeness, but I look at that time and now all I can say is thank you God, for although I could not control it, I got through it. For although it was not pretty, nor fun, it has taught me so much about love and grace. Holding on to the negative, or deciding to shut off will never do you any favors, but its only when you accept your circumstances that your heart and your capactity for love will grow.  I have yet to find anything more beautiful or satisfying in life that  than being truely in love and to feel the same love reciprocated. This experiece so far has been a reminder to me, that I am loved beyond measure. So thank you to my family. I will be in Estonia because of each one of you. My life will change and you are helping me change other peoples life because of your generoisty.

AND i WANTED EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT YOURE ALL AWESOME.

aw shoot, I've got a tear in my eye now.

The start of a new Journey

May 29th I will be boarding a 7:00 am plane (ew) leaving Atlanta, Georgia. Three stops, and 13 hours later I will be landing in Krakow Poland, the place where my adventure will begin. This is where I'll be starting training for my internship along with 73 other Americans. After training, and our own version of Amazing Race, we will be spreading out, all over Eastern Europe for the remainder of our Summers. The unknown can sometimes be intimidating, stepping out into an unfamiliar land, with unfamiliar people, most of which don't speak the same language, living, breathing, eating in a foreign land. And as I sit here thinking about all of this my heart is starting to beat a wee bit faster, not out of fear, but out of such great excitement. I say BRING ON THE UNFAMILIAR.

I am still having a hard time believing this is actually real life, how do I even begin to wrap my head around all that I will experience and learn over this summer. Ever since my first mission trip to Estonia in 2007 I've dreamt of being an intern, but I've always given myself an excuse, or something to hold me back; for the first time I have jumped in head first, setting my fears aside and just trusting in God's plan for me. It's beautiful how this opportunity has come together, and how incredibly lucky I am to have such a supportive  family and group of friends. So I'm making this blog for YOU, all the homies I love out there, for every person that has supported me financially, or in prayer, and for all the peeps that just want to know what I'm doing. if you know me, then you know how much I enjoy sharing my thoughts and feelings and although I semi hate writing because I feel like my writing skills suck, this will be one of the only ways I can share all that is going on while I'm overseas. So don't mind my lack of proper punctuation, sometimes choppy sentence fragments and RANDOM thoughts, because I'm sure there will be many to come :]


 keep me in your thoughts in prayers
and I'm excited y'all will be taking this journey with me.

your homegirl, daughter, friend, random stranger's blog you just so happened to stumble across
Megan Allen


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