Vienna

Our last day before leaving to come home, we took a train to Vienna to see the city. It was so beautiful there - I especially loved the architecture. 

This is the top of St. Andrew's Cathedral

And here's the inside... so beautiful!

And of course, we all stopped at a stand to try the kasekreiners. 

They were really yummy (as you can see!)

There were horse carriages all over the city

We really enjoyed our day of exploring such a beautiful place. 

It's neat to see how much history is there!

On Tuesday morning (reeeeally early) we left for the airport to come back home. We are now back safely after an awesome trip. Thanks again for all your prayers and please continue to pray for Slovakia, the Holloways, the Palmers, and the ministry and kids at the D.E.P.O.

Last Day at D.E.P.O, Market, and Movie

Yesterday was our last day working at the D.E.P.O. We did more of the same things we have done throughout the week, and we also had an "American" style cookout for the Slovaks - including hamburgers, hotdogs, coleslaw, pasta salad, and cookies.

The iron bead crafts were a big hit for all the kids...

...even the big kids!

Friday was also Juliane's last day at D.E.P.O. She graduated from high school in Germany and has spent the past year volunteering at D.E.P.O. with the kids. She was such a sweet girl and it was great getting to know her this week. The kids made her a farewell sign and all signed a t-shirt for her.

We decorated with streamers and balloons.

There was TONS of food!

Playing more fun games!

Here's our group with the D.E.P.O. kids and volunteers

Today the guys went to play soccer with some of the boys from the D.E.P.O. while the girls got to go to the market. It was super crowded at the market and there was lots to see!

Tonight we all went to see a movie at the Palace Cinemas. What a fun experience!

More D.E.P.O. Days

The guys have been working hard clearing the pile of dirt and trash behind the D.E.P.O., and it looks great. This is what it looks like now that they have finished:

We have also been playing more fun games with the kids, including this one where you wear a pair of hose on your head with a tennis ball attached and try to knock over soda bottles. The kids were so cute doing this.

More fun on the trampoline!

We played another fun game like you may have seen on the TV show "Minute To Win It" where you have to get a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands. They loved this game, and their faces were so funny to watch.

Today, we started early making sandwiches and filling bags with snacks to hand out to the homeless. We were faced with an unexpected obstacle today... lots of rain!! But we didn't let that stop us from going out to share and give out food.

We bundled up and went to some common areas the homeless people hang out.

We found some guys in a parking deck and gave them hot coffee and sandwiches, and shared why we were there and had some good conversation with them.

We played another group game today called "electricity" which was also lots of fun. We had even more new kids come out to the D.E.P.O. today, which is a huge praise! Thanks for all your prayers. Our God is good!

Work at the D.E.P.O.

Yesterday and today were our first two days working at the D.E.P.O. The D.E.P.O. is like a community center where a lot of the local kids come to hang out. We have been working on some service projects in and around the building in the mornings, and then having fun activities and games for the kids that come in the afternoons.

--------------------Day 1--------------------

One of our service projects is cleaning up this pile of trash beside the D.E.P.O. The guys started to work on this and are making great progress. I will make sure to include an "after" shot when they are finished.

This is the D.E.P.O. building

Charity and I cleaning off the existing D.E.P.O. sign so we can have a new one made 

Donnie and Tom were working on putting a trampoline together for the kids to play on in the afternoon. It ended up being a whole group effort!

Me and Charity working on a new sign

We also had this really neat "water soccer" inflatable that the kids (and Ben and Kevin ;) enjoyed playing in.

Hanging up the new sign

We played tons of card games, including Phase 10

------------------------Day 2-----------------------------

Getting ready to catch the bus!

The guys hard at work clearing the pile

The ladies cleaned out the kitchen at the D.E.P.O

The pile is looking much better already

They filled up this whole dumpster in just one day!

So far everything is going great, so thank you so much for all your prayers. We had 8 new kids who aren't members of the church come to the D.E.P.O. on the first day, and today we had 14 new kids! We are hoping for even more tomorrow, so keep praying we will have kids show up and that God would use our work at the D.E.P.O. for his glory.