I The past couple months have witnessed a great de. of miles covered by team-wide activities and travels. In mid-August we hooked up with our friends in the Prague church for a day split between girls’ and guys’ activities. The girls traversed Prague in style, soaking up opportunities for shopping and leisurely touring, while the guys rode a series of train and buses up to Ceské Svycarsko (Czech Switzerland), a quaint little ‘tourist town nestied right on the border with Germany. ‘And even though occasional rain showers hung persis- tently over our paths, they didn't inhibit us from traips- Ing all over scenic tralls that led up, over, and through the mountains, valleys, and rivers that wound alll over the landscape. For those of you who have seen The Chronicles of Narnia, much of this region of the Czech Republic lent its natural beauty as the setting for the children’s travels. We even found a few bottles of Dr. Pepper, which we toted home like conquering kings.ll After our weekend at Ceské Svycarsko, we returned to Olomouc with our eyes already set on our next dest- nation. Without even skipping a beat, us guys simply dumped out our bags and refilled them with fresh clothes, food, and outdoor gear for the camping trip we would set out on the very next moming. Invited by several of the members from the church in Bratislava, we took off for three days to the mountains in Western Slovakia, surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery we have experienced since our arrival in Europe. Soaring peaks, lush valleys, ruinated castles at every turn, and a perfectly located stream near our ‘campsite set the stage for a wonderful few days of fel lowship with our Slovak brothers and sisters. Despite Corey's sudden eye infection and a tent whose name can only be applied loosely, the trip went as smoothly as we could have hoped, and we look forward to making this an annual event.After months of planning and preparation my parents, Mike and Shirley, flew over in August for an epic family vacation. | met them in Vienna before escorting them back here to Olomouc, and aside from a few laughable hiccups with luggage we were able to storm Vienna, Prague, and much of Italy in an astonishingly rapi of weeks. Armed with Rick Steves’ guidebook and the sum of my years of experience between Italy and the Czech Republic, we had a wonderful trip punc- stair climbs up church towers than | can begin to recount. So with a final coin toss into Rome's Trevi Fountain and a prolific meal of Thai food, we parted ‘company with a rather sleepy farewell at 4:30am in Rome as | caught a series of planes, trains, and buses back to Olomouc and on to the Central European Retreat, the annual event at which Team Olomouc were the keynote speakers.Adapted from a worship service one us had engl- neered a couple months earlier, our rather unorthodox series - “Why Not To Be a Christian” — at the Central European Retreat laid bare the clear objections that et in the way of a person wanting to fully embrace the Christian life, such as feelings of personal inadequacy, unchosen situations in life, unworthiness because of past mistakes, or simply not wanting to resist a worldly lifestyle. But to dispel initial uncertainties as to how our topic might be received, we were met with overwhelm- ing affirmation from our audience. According to the ‘comments people kept making to us, the disarming and confessional ways in which we spoke about the very real challenges to faith touched a great many hearts, and we enjoyed a number of conversations throughout the weekend that delved deeper than they might have otherwise, even with some people we had never before met!Address: nehandhigh@gmail.com Graham Kervin Mozartova 33 Websites: www.teamolomouc.com Olomouc 779 00 wwwgrahamkervin.net Czech Republic wwwlickr.com/photos/onehandhigh Ph.: (+420) 607 967 055 The Fairfax Church of Christ in Fairfax, VA, is curently overseeing Graham's work in Olomouc. Any questions, concerns, or financial ‘support may be directed to the Distance Missions Committee at: Fairfax Church of Christ 3901 Rugby Road Fairfax, VA 220331 Hiking along the immaculately-kept trails at Geské Svycarsko with our friends from Prague 2A beautiful morning in the woods in Slovakia 3 While still technically a tent, I've seen bigger back- packs; my head is against the back wall here! 4 Mitch and | enjoying the finest in trail mix technology along our hike in Slovakia 5 The Slovak crew, keeping us entertained during a lunch break in the woods: 6 Corey showing off his Czech singing abilities to Jarmila during our biggest worship service to date 7 The Kervins soaking it all in during a lazy gondola ride in Venice 8 In loving service to her teammates, Sarah writes out several copies of discussion questions at the C.E.R. 9 Christie and Branyo, a Christian from the church in Bratislava, chatting during some down time at the CER