It has begun!

The students have arrived for LCC's Summer Language Institute (SLI) and we have found ourselves running in high gear ever since.

Students gathered for the opening ceremonies for SLI 2012.

The camp, which focuses primarily on high-school-age youth, has a lot of similarities to the English camp we helped staff in the Czech Republic a couple summers ago. Main differences are a more structured academic approach -- actual English courses and homework -- staffed by actual English teachers from the United States and Canada. Our job is to help facilitate the "camp" aspect that allows the students to come away with a very educational and fun experience.

So, yes, we bring the fun.

The SLI theme is the Olympics and, appropriately, today was the "opening ceremonies." Alisha was the MC and did a great job getting the students pumped up. Afterwards, the first round of classes took place.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) will be the first Soul Outpost -- a chance for Josh and new friend James to play some music for the kids during their lunch break and tell stories about radical love and redemption.

For you praying types, we could use some prayer for help as we seek to create boundaries so that we don't burn out too quickly. Living in the dorms and being on call can be a combination for getting exhausted or, worse, losing focus and missing opportunities to connect with these awesome young people.

If you have any group games or activities that you think might be fun for us to introduce to the SLI students, please let us know in the comments!

Eight litas earned = the start of a future date night!

Aside from SLI, we had our first Lithuanian busking experience a few days ago. Street performing is something that we've fallen in love with the last several years we lived in the Phoenix Valley and played with The Ragamuffin Stampede. There's a local folk art festival happening in old town Klaipėda this weekend...I think we might steal away and give it a shot down there. If so, we'll definitely include some pictures or video if we can get them.

They either watching ping-pong, tennis, or Alisha as she gets them pumped up.