Munich

Hey Guys,

Well Ive been in Munich since Saturday and its been awesome!!!! Munich is an old City its just a little slower and Ive really liked it here , I liked Berlin but i think i Like it here more. Im staying with some friends who are on YL staff here Jim and Terri Hale , Jim is the one who set me up with my trip.
They have been so great , they have put me up , feeding me and not excepting any money from me!! There really great people , Ill be going to the Austria and England Camps with them. There are a lot of American Staff here in Munich , which is really cool althese people have given up life in the States to come over here and spread the Word. They all have came over here and most of them have learned German and are ministering to kids here.
I have had alot of time to rest and relax this week there apartment have these crazy blinds that block out every single bit of a sun , Its like your sleeping in a Dungeon!!! I have woke up at 11 a couple of days and 12 another , Im not kidding its crazy it is so dark , you could sleep the entire day if you tried!!!!
The weather here has been phenominal!!!!! It has been about 65 degrees here every day, the hottest it has been has been 70. I put a jacket on yesterday when we got out at 2 in the afternoon on July 27th. I told Jim i think this may be the first time in my life i have put on a jacket in July!!!
We go to camp Sunday in Austria , in a 700 year old castle in the Alps , it should be amazing!!!!! I will be taking a ton of pictues that week im sure!
I got asked point blank tonight if i was ready to move over here and work here with the staff. It kind of took me off guard but its something that i might not be totally opposed to at some point. Now before any of you freak out , Im not doing it right this minute or anything and its something that would take much prayer and thought before i totally committed. But talking to Jim he made a valid point , that if its something that doesnt totally freak you out then you could do it and should think about it. Honestly
it doesnt totally freak me out , but for right now my heart is with reaching the kids of Mansfield. Even if i did commit it would probably take me a year or more to fund raise the amount of money i would need , the Hale's budget is 200,000 dollars , with the amount of traveling you do and it is very expensive over here. I dont feel thats where God wants me right now , but in the future who knows , I definately like it over here and could possibly see it , but for now like i said My heart is in Mansfield.


Miss everyone
Blake

The Best in the Game

Lately Ive been blogging about my time here in Europe. I was looking at Rangers stuff and this just kinda hit me so here it goes.......

Josh Hamilton is quite an amazing baseball player i think we all see this , he is an amazing person as well. What an amazing story he has , Growing up in North Carolina being a freaky athlete growing up , playing in 11 year old baseball leauges as a 7 year old!!! No.1 Overall Pick out of High School , Most People said would have been a first round pick as a pitcher if he would have came out as that. He was looked at as a future superstar and quite possibly a future transcendent baseball player. He could do it all , Run, Hit , Throw , Hit for Average and Power. He was without doubt what baseball people refer to as a 5 tool player.
Fast Forward a couple of years and he is quickly making his way up the minor leauge ranks then injury hits....... He falls into the pitfalls of drug and alcohol use. Goes in and out of rehab multiple times , is such an addict that he hawks his wife's wedding ring to get money to buy drugs!!!!! After Multiple years of living this way he rediscovers the Lord puts his life back together and gets to playing baseball again.
The Legend goes that he stepped out just to see if he could still play again and he completely Mashed or was hitting great. Had not touched a bat or played for over 3 years!!!

He gets back in the Majors has an ok year for the Cincinatti Reds but it gets cut short by injury. Then he is traded to the Texas Rangers.......
Being a lifelong Ranger fan and a sports geek , I knew a little about his story at least the drug side of it. I was completely unaware of his Faith though. How through shear faith in the Lord he rebuilt his life and himself , restored his relationships with family first and foremost and the Lord rewarded him by not taking away his baseball abilities.
Josh had an amazing first year here , was the media darling and the new superstar on the block. His second year injuries struck again , He had a hickup , he fell short one night and went out and had some drinks , We have all had these nights and we all sin , but his was magnified because of his status as athlete. In his third season here a new season brought new hope and kind of a chance at redemption once again.....
Josh has been nothing short of amazing this year again, Leading the Leauge in Several Categories , being close in others , playing great defense just being the superstar athlete he is. in my opinion (i admit it could be biased but i can make a pretty good case against anyone!) he is the best ALL Around player in the Game , he may not be the very best at any one thing , but His combination of Hitting both for Average and Power , his Ability to Play defense both with his Arm and the Ground he can Cover and He is a great baserunner also, always taking an extra base or getting a key steal. I think you would be hardpressed to find anyone person who has a better combination of skills than Josh.
Josh is a true testament of what can happen when giving your life truly and completely to the Lord , Sure the road may not be easy every day for the rest of your life , but if you trust in the Lord he will take care of you. I truly love the fact that a guy not just with that baseball ability but with that character and that faith plays for my Hometown Team. He is a truly a guy that realizes that he shouldnt be here but the only reason he is here is because the Lord wants him to be.
I think its really awesome to have the best player in the game on my favorite team. I think its even cooler to have such an Ambassador for Christ and what the Power of Christ can do playing for my favorite team!! Im proud to say that Josh Hamilton is without a doubt my favorite baseball player and someone i really hope to meet some day. Keep up the goodwork my man and I hope to be watching you in the stands in the playoffs in OCTOBER!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Berlin

Hey Everyone ,

Well my time here in Berlin has came to an End. Its been a little short of 3 weeks , and 3 good ones! I got a stomach virus these last couple of days here in Berlin so that kinda sucked , but on the bright side thats all it was and after a couple of days im fine. We had 2 good camps here the first one was a lot of hard work but we had a great response from kids , parents and the school where it took place. So i think we definately planted seeds in the kids heads and set up Frank and the rest of the permanent Berlin crew with a solid footing in the communty around this school to hopefully with the Lords help start making some major strides.
The basketball camp was a lot more low key , there wasnt a lot for us to do , but News Release the people who put it on are good people and good at what they do , and through using Basketball they reach alot of people.
I cant believe it has only been 3 weeks , It feels like I have been gone from the states for a lot longer than that to me. Berlin has been cool , the people here for the most part are really nice , the City is really cool and German food NOT THAT BAD Suprisingly!!!! Im moving down to Munich today to stay with some friends for a week , then we go to the Camp in Austria. This camp may be the highlight week cause its a camp based out of a 700 year old Castle!!!!!!

Love and Miss Everyone ,
Blake

2 weeks in and counting........

I know weird picture but when i think of Germany and Baskettball i think of Dirk! Dont we all!!!!


Hey Hey,

Well we started our 2nd Camp here in Berlin. The first camp was great , I have a few new German Facebook friends and i think given some time we will have made a big impact in Kid's Lives over here!!! The rest of the Us Team left this weekend. We arent staying at the camp site this week , I have a bout an hour commute via subway and buses .
This camp is way different We arent actually running the camp , its ran by a group called News Release they are a basketball ministry. Players and a coach from the US come over and work through skills all day and there is a "power hour" which is basically YL Club and then a small group discussion which would be Cabin Time. Its pretty cool how they do it. Our Involvement is fairly low , we help out with power hour and other than that we are there for Contact Work with Kids being that i will be gone next week that makes my involvement pretty low. Its alright though Its still a good experience to see how Camps are run and how other people share the Word with kids. Got one More week here In Berlin than its on to Munich and kinda relaxing and seeing Jim and terri who are helped me get set up over here.
I thiink Ive decided this may be the last time i do this much time over here , but if i can make it happen I would like to come over here and it least work one camp a summer. Frank is a great guy and seems to have a really good thing starting here it would be a blessing and honor to help him every year keep it going and make it better. I told him that i think in the year between possibly coming back I think i am gonna try to learn a little German that way i can either speak a little or possibly understand it and be able to read it . Im getting to where i can read a little now already.
One of the really cool underlying Blessings to doing this was this past week , the people we worked with were some really great people from different parts of Texas , a couple of which i think will go onto to be friends long past this camp and even if we dont ever work together again. Some good guys One Youth Pastor of a church in Georgetown and two lead pastors of Churches in Georgetown and Killeen as well as my musician for the week. i expected the experience from working the kids , getting to know Frank and the other people who will be here has been good to . The added experience was un expected and really cool. Well i guess thats all ive got for now , Its weird I left two weeks ago today but it feels like Ive been gone longer than that already!!!

Love Everyone,
Blake

Its hard to believe its only been a week ive been gone , it seems like longer than that already!! Well i guess i shouldnt have been excited about coming over here for the weather. Cause it has been INCREDIBLY HOT HERE!!! It has been over a 100 here the last three days. Frank our Team leader said that with the Heat Index in the City it felt like 115!!!!! Guess where were at the CITY!!!!!!! When you mix doing alot of walking and riding subways with NO AC and the Fact that most of the buildings here have no AC , were staying in a school with none , it has made for some pretty miserable sweaty days!!! Never has showering before going to bed felt so good!!!! From the heat and all the sweating Ive battled a little dehydration even though i think i drank 3 or 4 liter bottle of waters yesterday, I have some problems with cramping and stuff , but other than that Im good.
Other than the heat Berlin is a really cool city , One i would strongly suggest visiting if ever having the chance. A couple of days ago we went by and saw one of the last standing peices of the Berlin wall and you can see the line that seperated East and West Germany , its right in the Heart of what is now Downtown Berlin. Toward the end of the week were supposed to visit a Concentration Camp which should be a cool experience. Ir is such an experience to be in this totally different culture and style of living , It makes you really wonder why we do some of the things we do back home . Now saying that I wouldnt give up my AC and you might could talk me into a Subway as long as there was a station by my house and you didnt have to walk 3 miles to the station like you do some places here!!
The Rest of the American Team got here this past weekend , there some really cool and good people , from Two different areas of texas. One a group from a church and the other is a family(talk more about them in a minute). I cant lie a little bit of Home sickness or feeling alone has set in , I have never once doubted why the Lord put it on my heart to come over here or that I want to be here , but its hard not to feel kinda like the loner or the outcast when everyone else has relationships. THey are great people they dont do anything to make me feel that way and we all get along great but The Two groups know each other , Frank has his family here , and they have more of a realtionship with Frank than I. Its alright though I know hy God has me over here , so Im fine with that.
The Mcmurray Family from Temple is here and its a Dad Mom and there three kids 13,12,9. Dave the dad is a youth pastor , but i think its really cool that he and Autumn his wife brought there kids with em . It should be a cool experience for the kids as well as a family bonding experience. That they can share for a lifetime , I think that for those of you that have kids and have ever thought about doing any kind of mission trip or anything as a family you should. I know after seeing them , Its something I would like to do some day.
Along with the people from Texas are another American Couple Brian and Joella who are my age and are good people, they are actually Young Life Internation Interns and have committed to spending 3 years in Berlin with Frank doing YoungLife here and there open to possibly permanently moving here.
Camp has been going here for a couple of days and going well, My YL Clubs have been going pretty well , which makes me feel good cause it was something i was definately nervous and worried about coming over here! THe messages are given in German so its a little dissapointing for the rest of the Team cause we dont know what's being said , but Obviously were not what its about . Its still school to see God;s word being spoke even though you dont understand it , cause you know at least a general idea of what he is talking about and you can look around and watch the room and see the kids listening. We have been told here that kids here have a real fear of being "converted" but the Lord still gets there attention.
The best way i can describe what were doing , is it would be like for the YLer's on this email or those of you with Church Ministry is if you completely designed , funded and organized your own YL Camp or Church Camp and thats kind of what youre doing to get your area or church started. Its really cool , doing this over here kind of takes me back to our first year or two in Mansfield where we were just planting seeds , 5 years later were still planting seeds but there starting to bloom!! Im sure they will here to.
Ill try to send another email out toward the end of the week after this Camp has closed before we begin next week's camp. I miss of all of you!!

Love,
Blake

Update 7/9/2010

Well its been a couple of more days and ive had some fun with people here as well as some time by myself. The German people are all for the most part really nice , most of em speak at least enough english where you can communicate with em. Its weird though they choose not to speak English untill you ask em if they can. I was alone last night and ventured out down to a restaurant and ate dinner , they set up tables in a weird way on the patio , theyre set up where you are facing the street , so if youre with another person you sit side by side facing the street looking at people walking by.
Its funny ive always been the type of person that feels like" if they cant speak the language they dont need to be here" and what do i need to know how to speak spanish or anything else for. Most people here know three or more languages they are fluent in german and french or itatlian and most of know english well enough to speak it some , some speak it very well.
We did some prep work today , which required me riding the subway again across Berlin to meet people , On the Subway i encountered a guy playing a guitar and this woodwind pipe singing something in german. Subways are an interesting experience people get on off dont speak to each other . i did alot of walking today , probably had a 2-3 mile walk to catch this certain train i needed and then a 2-3 mile walk back to my hotel. I can use , and my back held up alot more better than i thought it would , it was bothering me a bit toward the end,. Im back in the hotel now and I am worn out!!!!!!! Still kinda struggling with sleep i have woken up at 4-4:30 am every day , the first night wasnt a big deal i went to sleep at 10pm , the last two days i have only slept 4-5 hours a night. Still kinda feeling dehydrated but that could be from the walking .
We go into camp tommorrow and Im not sure if we will have internet at the school or not , So it could be a week or so till i can write again.

Berlin Day 1 and 2

Well Ive been here for a couple of days now , This might be kinda long but we go into Camp here in 2 days so it may be a few days till i send another one so here ya go!
I arrived here on Tuesday night about 6:45 , Im sure you can get it caught in Customs but i made it through customs in both England and Germany in a combined 20 minutes. One of the guys picked me up at the aiport , and we took a cab to where im staying , Mercedes's ,BMW'S, Volkswagon's are a dime a dozen here , we ended up taking a normal cab , but I have never seen a Benz or BMW Cab and i bet i saw 50 coming out of the airport. The City of Berlin is cool , its just really different , it really looks nothing like any city ive ever seen not being , out of the states other than to mexico before. All the cars are the same , there some kind of sedan of a car made over here.
My hotel is a holiday inn , its pretty nice but the room is TINY!! Ive got a couple of pics of it , I mean it is a bathroom , a bed and a desk and thats about it!!! The bed is weird its a queen or full size bed but its made out of two twin mattresses , It aint very comfortable. Either getting used to the time or the bed , I have woke up at 4 and 5 am both days , right now its 10 till 6am. Hopefully here in the next day or two i will be able to at least sleep till 7 or 8 am .
Went to Dinner here with some YoungLife people and that was interesting , Most People here speak a little bit of english , so you can communicate and they have a menu printed in english. We went to a restaurant and i ordered a grilled chicken breast , IT WAS TINY!!!! and served with French Fries , but almost everything on the Menu was served with Fries. Having water with your meal is like anything else here so most people order drinks with there out , because they charge you for water and they serve you carbonated water , which is just weird.
Yesterday i went and walked around some , i stayed fairly close to my hotel , just kinda so i was sure where i was! Its a really different feeling to be in a place where you cant read most things on the store fronts , or the street signs , I had two random people come out and get in my face speaking German , all i could so was look confused and say sorry.
Last night I experimented with the Subway system , which Ive never been in a city where ive had to do that before either. They gave me pretty strait forward directions so it was easy to follow , i just had to be able to read what i wrote down. The subway system is interesting , I payed 3.50 cents and rode like 5 different trains probably an hour's worth and thats all you pay. You have to get a certain kind of ticket or they fine you like 50 dollars if your caught on the train with the wrong ticket.
We went and watched the Semifinal World Cup Game that Germany was playing in last night at the apartment of some of the volunteer YL leaders here , watching Soccer with people that really love it , Im a soccer fan but they treat Soccer like we treat Football at home , theyre yelling at the TV they all know the game. It was weird sitting in a room and not knowing what anyone was saying , its kind of an unnerving experience. A couple of spoke english and i talked some to them , it turned out that a couple of more them spoke english and they speak dang near perfect english , two of em ended up driving me back to my hotel about a 20 minute drive and we talked the whole way , there really nice people. We ate i guess what would be the equivalent of Microwave Pizza over there that wasnt bad , it was pretty much like it was at home , there was one noticeable difference though , A pepperoni Pizza has one big peice of Pepperoni on each peice instead of little ones all over the peice.
I have kinda felt dehydrated the last few days , and it kinda started to click last night , i think its because at home were so used to Gigantic size drinks and free refills and over here everything is way smaller , last night everyone was drinking out of cups that would be considered childrens cups there. The other thing is i think you might have to ask for Ice , i drank Sprite with no ice at room temperature last night , wasnt my favorite but 15 other people were doing it so i did it to.
You walk every where here , which will be good for me , but its a little tough to get used to , last night i walked probably a mile to the subway and then getting off the subway probably a mile to there apartment.
Its really weird Im in a place where Ive met a couple of people , but I really KNOW no one , i dont know the language , it feels really weird to think how far i am away from home , but its ok , I know what im over here for and if i gotta feel a little like a fish out of water , Im ok with that . We go to camp soon

Berlin Day 1

I arrived in Berlin today and MY OHH MY HOW DIFFERENT IT IS!!!! The first thing i noticed right off the bat besides not being able to read anything!!! Is the Architecture , Things are built incredibly different , From Houses to Downtown Area to Hotel Rooms. My hotel room is tiny!!!!
Second Mercedes , BMW's , Audi's , Volkswagons are a dime a dozen over here , I have never seen a Mercedes or BMW Taxi before , well ive seen about 50 NOW!!!!!!
Restaurants are weird , you just walk in seat yourself and then you have to grab your waitress to pay the bill. You have to pay for water over here!!! But you only have to tip 10 percent!
Got a couple of days to chill , get accustomed to the time change , and do some work and Get Accustomed to Germany! More to Come