The Greatest Adventure of our lives!

Linking Czech Churches Together

2012-02-04T10:46:00.001+01:00

One of our hopes for the Církev Reformovaná is that we can help her make connections to other likeminded churches in this country. We took a “baby step” in that direction earlier this week by hosting a visit from the pastor and one of the leaders of Faith Community Church. These men are missionaries with World Harvest Mission who are planting and nurturing an international church in Prague. If you are ever in the neighborhood, please visit them.

We really enjoyed the long talks we had with Phil Davis and Bob Kinney. We’re hoping this is just the beginning of a fruitful relationship.

Visit from Serena

2012-02-04T10:29:00.001+01:00

In the first few weeks of January, we hosted Serena Long. Serena is the daughter of Mark and Marge Long and a missionary to Costa Rica. Our connection to this family was through the crisis pregnancy center in Birmingham where Annette and Marge worked together for many years. Serena has felt God calling her to missionary life in Europe, so she wanted to visit missionaries in this part of the world to explore how she might be used here.

She helped us prepare for the upcoming move at our ministry center, taught one of our children’s Sunday School classes, and helped us reorganize our library. We really enjoyed her visit and hope the Lord will use it to give her some direction for the future. Please pray with us that she will understand God’s call and respond in faith.

Something New

2012-01-13T17:15:00.003+01:00

As the New Year begins, we are starting a new project. Please take a look at the column to the rightto get an idea of what we’re hoping to accomplish in the early months of2012. We are excited about thepossibility of publishing this excellent book in the Czech language.

As many of you already know, the print resources availableto Christians in our country are pretty limited. It is also true that the need for help in the area family and marriageproblems is great. The divorce rate hereis one of the highest in the world. Thisbook could really help – both Christian and non-Christian families.

Please consider helping us start out this New Year in afresh way, by enabling us to help our friends and neighbors here in the CzechRepublic.

Many Blessings on all of you!

All I Want for Christmas is a Long Stay Visa

2011-12-12T17:47:00.001+01:00

The Czech Republic changed their immigration laws in January2011, making it more difficult for foreigners to enter and stay in theircountry. Stricter health insurancerequirements, a biometric ID card, and a shift in the ministry responsible forissuing the visas all added up to a much longer process for us this year.

We started the process back in March by applying for arenewal of our work permits. That wentpretty well, so we assumed the remainder of the steps would fall in place asthey had in 2010. With our renewed workpermits (and all the other papers) in hand we set off for the Interior Ministryoffice to apply for and hopefully obtain our visas. A young man greeted us and looked through allof our papers. He asked us if we had aCzech health insurance card. No, wereplied, we have US insurance. He toldus we needed to have Czech health insurance. (We have found out since this event that weprobably are required by the new law to have Czech health insurance.) Nonetheless, he graciously took all of ourpapers and told us that they would call us in about a month.

Before that month was up, we once again went to the officeto check on the visas, having heard nothing from them. Our old visas were to expire soon and we wouldneed a temporary extension. Theygraciously pasted a temporary visa into our passports. They told us they would call when the visaswere ready, hopefully before the middle of October, when the temporary onesexpired.

So, on the first of October, having heard nothing from the InteriorMinistry, we once again visited to check on the visas. Still our new visas were not ready and ourtemporary visas were about to expire, again. The woman helping us looked at our paperworkand asked several questions. There seemedto be some sort of problem with the information they had in our files. It appeared that she did not understand whatit was, and we certainly did not know. Inthe end, she put another temporary visa in our passports. It was good until the middle of December.

At the end of all this visa drama, we are very happy toreport, we received our new visas just last week. Thank you for praying with us about this!

Church Retreat

2011-11-21T13:44:00.001+01:00

We just returned from our second church retreat. Since there was a Czech national holiday onThursday of last week, many of our church members had the opportunity to spendan extra-long weekend together. Thefellowship was awesome!

We were also introduced to a Czech filmed titled “Občanský průkaz“, or“Citizen’s identity card”. It told thestory of four Czech families living in communist-controlled Prague in thewaning days of the USSR. Our Czechfriends wanted us to see this film because they believe it accurately depictsthe conditions under which Czechs lived at that time. It would be difficult to survive such adepressing environment and remain unscathed. Sadly, many were deeply affected and the wounds are not yet fullyhealed.

We went on a couple of hikes to the nearby Catholicpilgrimage site on Hostýn hill. The hoarfrost on the trees there was truly beautiful; some pictures are included inthis post.

We enjoyed several wonderful times of singing, praying, andstudying together; and we returned very much refreshed.

A Good Beginning

2011-11-05T17:06:00.000+01:00

One of the doors God seems to be opening for us here is theopportunity to help develop and teach a small part ofa training program for Czech church leaders. We will be working with the Czech Republic branchof Martin Bucer Seminaryand an evangelical church near Prague to create and test an on-site, Czechlanguage program that will include courses in theology, Bible, and counseling.Mentoring will be an integral component of the program, too, and theparticipants will be challenged to find other men to mentor during the timethey are active in the program.

The men from the evangelical church are currently serving aselders. They are aware that they arealso the “guinea pigs” for the first trial of the training program. On Friday, Johnny traveled with René Drápala to a small village nearPrague to begin the work. Veteran missionaryMarshall Brown is also a leader in the development and testing; he and hiswife hosted the entire group (picturesnearby).

It was a delightto spend time with these men, both in the classroom and just sitting around thekitchen table talking about life. It isa privilege to be involved in such a needed work. Please pray with us that we will beguided as we seek to develop the curriculum and as we test the good ideas René and Marshall already have; and prayfor these men that they and their church will grow, and as a result, God’s kingdomwill grow and he will be honored.

Ephesus Was…

2011-09-30T16:38:00.000+02:00

Scale Reconstrction of Temple of Artemis

Originally founded as an Ionian colony in the 10^thcentury B.C., Ephesus became an important port city and a center of worship forthe goddess Artemis. After theirmembership in the Ionian League of city states, Ephesus was ruled by the Cimmerians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, the ByzantineEmpire, the Seljuk Turks, and the Ottoman Empire.

Ephesus was the second largest city in the Roman Empire –and second largest in the world - second only to Rome in importance to theEmpire. When the Apostle Paul planted achurch there, the city’s population was more than 250,000. During the rule of the Byzantine Empire,Ephesus retained its status as the second city of that empire. When its harbor silted up and an earthquakestruck in 614 A.D., the city began to decline.

Facade of Library

Today there is a modern town (Efes) nearby the ancient ruinsof Ephesus, but it is small and relatively insignificant in comparison to theonce-great port city. The ruins ofGreco-Roman Ephesus have been partially reconstructed and are truly beautiful.

Amphitheater

It was a privilege to be able to visit this city and walk on the streets and through the markets where Paul probably walked.

Summer is Past, A New Season is on the Way

2011-09-13T18:19:00.000+02:00

There are not really too many hot days here, even in the“heat” of the summer. The crisp morningair over the past few days has hinted that there won’t be any more hot weatherfor the next six or seven months. Thedays are shortening dramatically, too.

So, what’s coming next? Fall, of course – it’s one of our favorite seasons. But what else is on the way? Hmmm… We have fall and winter plans thatinclude helping with a morning mom’s group, teaching Czech church leaders,leading bible studies, hosting prayer groups, starting one or more small groupsin homes, meeting with people to do one-on-one Bible reading, publishing abook, and more. Will God show up in anyof these things? We sure hope so. As much as we have thought and prayed aboutthese plans, the real power needed to move hearts toward Christ is supernaturalpower.

So, we need you to keep praying with us that God wouldeither further these plans and ideas or show us where he wants us to be working. Thank you for all the ways you do prayfor us. We believe the Lord hears.

Camp’s Over

2011-08-08T12:02:00.000+02:00

I know there has been a lot of conversation about the value of short-term mission work. The very first short-term mission trip I took was heavily criticized - by a member of my church - as a waste of time and money. It could easily be argued (and it often is) that the money used to send short-term missionaries all over the world could be much better spent by just giving it to the native Christians for their work. There is some truth to that; but, any consideration that focuses primarily on the financial aspect of such mission work will come up short.

So, how much can be done in a one or two week mission effort? Well, I have personally seen buildings built, classes taught, people’s hearts changed, and lasting friendships begun through these short-term works. So, those who are seeking for tangible benefits from short-term mission trips can find them pretty easily. There are other benefits, too.

One of them is the gospel passion that short-term missionaries take home to their sending churches. Most pastors I know would give their right arms if the majority of their members would begin to see themselves as sent people. Reporting short-term missionaries can convey this truth in ways that pastors never could. After all, my pastor is paid to say stuff like that to me and I can tune it out pretty effectively. But when the lady who sits next to my family in Sunday School comes back from her mission trip on fire for what Jesus is doing in Ecuador, I have a much harder time dismissing the message.

Another benefit is that God frequently uses these short-term missions to call people into full time mission work. We are living proof of that.

Some Fun and Games

2011-07-27T09:56:00.002+02:00

During this second week of camp Annette is working with the 8-10 year olds. They are enjoying Czech-lish, reading Matthew 6 and 7, playing games like Apples to Apples and sight word bingo. Today they worked on a macramé project and once everyone caught on it was a little difficult to get the children to quit.

Later, they had another fun adventure waiting for them. They were handed a list of clues of things to find in Bystřice Pod Hostýnem with the directive that they also had to return with a picture of the group in front of each object. To say the least, they enjoyed the outing and so did the teachers. Although, I think their favorite part was the zmrzlina (ice cream).

Don’t stop praying now

2011-07-26T10:24:00.000+02:00

Have you ever wondered if you were just wasting your time when you were praying? Has it ever felt like the prayers you were praying didn’t get much higher than your living room ceiling? Does God really listen to us when we pray? This is not a new question. David asked in Psalm 13, “How long O lord? Will you forget me forever?”

God DOES hear. Our prayers are really an admission that we can’t do for ourselves what we need – we must have God’s help. Even though God may delay in his response or answer in some way we didn’t expect or desire, he is tenderly disposed to hear our cries and help us just like a loving mother hears and responds to the cries of her baby.

Sometimes God’s answer is so startling that it shocks us back into the place he wants us to be – that place of assurance that he has always been listening and has already designed an answer that perfectly fits the situation in every way.

So, don’t stop praying for the Czech people. We have seen beautiful evidence of God’s work in several hearts these past two weeks. Some have been slowly awakened to the reality of Jesus’ love; others have begun to seek him. They all need our prayers.

No-Talent

2011-07-25T10:10:00.000+02:00

Years ago, my home church would occasionally host a no-talent night at which anyone who was willing could present a poem, skit, song, or whatever they thought would amuse the audience. The basic idea was that you didn’t need to have any talent to participate. Some folks took that literally and so the presentations ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. I’m not talking behind anyone’s back here. I personally scripted and participated in some of the worst offerings that ever appeared in that venue.

I was reminded this morning that Jesus isn’t too concerned about the quality or quantity of our talents; he’s a lot more interested in what we do with them. Jesus calls me to invest my talents – whatever they are, small or great – in the expansion of his kingdom. I really don’t have much to offer the Czech people. I don’t speak their language well, I am a stranger in their culture, I have not lived their history; but God is both willing and able to multiply the tiny offering I bring. I am very encouraged by that.

Say What??!!!

2011-07-21T10:58:00.000+02:00

The claims of Jesus are so counterintuitive, so radical that they often catch me off guard; I’ve been a Christian for almost 40 years. One of the most amazing things that he ever said was, “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” To help me grasp the meaning of this, I need to put it in simpler terms – maybe something like this: If we believe in Jesus, death cannot kill us. What?! That doesn’t even begin to make sense – until we consider Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

To understand the amazing claims of Jesus, we MUST have the help of God’s Spirit. Apart from his help, such statements of eternal truth just fly over our heads. Please pray with us that the Spirit will work in the hearts of all those who have come to English camp this week to enable us to hear and believe.

Like the Wind

2011-07-20T11:09:00.001+02:00

Jesus once told a curious visitor that the Spirit of God is like the wind. You can’t understand exactly where the wind is going and you really can’t see it, but it is known by its effects. The Holy Spirit operates in similarly mysterious ways. His direction is not always clearly discernable, but you can tell where he is at work by the things that are happening.

For the last three evenings, Dale VanDyke has been speaking to our campers and staff about the truths found in the Beatitudes. His short messages have had an impact. Some of our friends have been moved to consider the claims of Christ. Such stirrings are the work of the Spirit, and we are blessed to be able to see them.

Please pray with us that these good beginnings would continue in the hearts of our friends and bear fruit to eternal life. Please pray for Dale, too; he has had a big struggle with jet lag.

The Big Garden

2011-07-19T11:35:00.002+02:00

The Czech Republic is a beautiful country. Many Czechs have gardens, either around their homes, or at their chaty. A chata is a small retreat. Many Czechs own one. It is usually a very small cabin – many times little more than a shack – in which there may not be any electricity or running water. These little houses are especially desired by those who live in crowded city housing. They provide a quiet place and a patch of ground to tend. The gardens around these tiny retreats are exceptionally well tended and full of flowers, vegetables, and berry-bearing plants.

The entire country resembles one of these beautiful gardens, but on a larger scale. We often thank God that we are so privileged to serve in such a beautiful place. Nearby is a view from the front driveway of the Penzion at which English camps are held, and some pictures of Czech gardens. The whole countryside is manicured by loving hands. Pray with us that these gardeners would begin to see the beauty of Him who put us in that first garden long ago.

Camp is HERE!

2011-07-18T09:57:00.000+02:00

The summer English camps have been one of the highlights of our year for a long time now. We so look forward to seeing friends from home and from around our new country. This is the only time during the year when we will see most of them.

So, we were thrilled when the team from the US arrived in Zlin on Friday. Saturday morning we drove from Zlin to the little Penzion where camp is held each year. With the arrival of each carful of folks, the level of noise from the joyful chatter rose higher and higher.

On Sunday, the Zlin church joined us for worship in the chapel. Our speaker this year is Dale VanDyke of Grand Rapids, Michigan. He spoke Sunday morning from the Beatitudes about how God, in Jesus, blesses losers and rebels. It seemed to me that God was present and pleased to use Dale’s words.

Please pray with us for our campers, our classes, and our hearts as we seek to serve our friends and as we seek them on Jesus’ behalf.

Missing the Air in the South

2011-07-05T14:12:00.002+02:00

Alan and Sally

Sometimes you don’t know how much something is worth until it is taken away. Living in the “Bible Belt” it was relatively easy to find spiritual nurture. Yes, it still required work to get up early to read our Bibles and pray each morning, but the soul food that we got from Christian radio, our small group meetings, sermons, and Sunday school classes was sort of like air – it was just there all the time. When we moved to the Czech Republic, the “air” was all gone!

Yes, we do still go to church on Sundays, but the messages are all in Czech, there is no Sunday school, and no Christian radio. We have started a small group, and those relationships are growing deeper, but many times the conversation and the prayers are in Czech. “Don’t you guys already speak Czech?” you might ask. Yes and no. Our Czech skills are still at a pre-school level. We often don’t get much from the prayers or conversations of our dear Czech friends, and very little from the sermons in church.

So, we are really appreciative of the ministry plan that MTW has in place to send PCA pastors to visit mission teams at least once each year. We are doubly blessed by this plan since the pastor assigned to our team happens to be Alan Carter, the pastor of our home church in Birmingham! In May, Alan and his wife Sally came for a long weekend and went with our team on a two day mini-retreat to the nearby city of Olomouc. There are some pictures from the retreat posted nearby. We enjoyed some English worship, times of extended prayer, and several encouraging messages from Alan. Alan and Sally also took time to be alone with each of the missionary couples here to nurture and to encourage them. It was a blessed time.

So, the next time you are bored by your pastor’s sermon, or distracted in Sunday school, or weary of the regularity of your small group meetings, please think about losing all of those things. They are more valuable than you might imagine.

The Slavic Epic and Moravský Krumlov

2011-07-04T14:05:00.003+02:00

Throughout this year we have heard so much about the Slavic Epic that is located in the small village of Moravský Krumlov. Last year during camp there was a Mucha Exhibit at the zámek in Holešov. Many of the campers went to see it and I had the opportunity to go with them. The exhibit was comprised almost entirely of Mucha’s posters and advertizing art. But, while there I saw a video about Alfons Mucha. That is where I first heard of what he considered to be his greatest accomplishment, The Slavic Epic. I was struck by the emotion of the faces he painted in his Epic, that I longed to see his paintings in person.

Interesting symbol on the wall of a building

Moravský Krumlov

In the yard of the Zámek

Entrance to the Exhibit

So, knowing that Erin loves art, and desiring to also see this great work that we have heard so much about, we took her to the town of Moravský Krumlov to see the Slavic Epic. Alfons Mucha painted these masterpieces depicting Slavic history between the years 1910 and 1928. This is a series of 20 huge –gianormous- paintings portraying the most important events in Slavic history, at least according to Mucha. He is known throughout most of the world for his Art Nouveau style, seen mostly in posters designed for advertisements. He gained much of his acclaim and popularity when actress Sarah Bernhardt hired him to design all of her posters. The posters are unique and beautiful, but simply nothing to compare with the emotion the Slavic Epic draws from the soul. The faces of the people in Mucha’s Epic display a wealth of human emotion: sorrow, fear, uncertainty, dismay, pain. One of the greatest emotions that can be seen in the Epic is the powerful force of hope.

You can see from this picture just how large the paintings really are; the artist is sitting in front.

The Printing of the Bible of Kralice in Ivancice

The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia

I hope that you will take the time to look at some of the others for yourself.

To read more see: http://www.pricejb.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ follow the gallery link to the pictures, the link is at the end of the page on the Slavic Epic.

A Sweet Treat ~ Erin’s Visit

2011-06-25T10:44:00.000+02:00

What a sweet treat for Johnny and I to have our daughter Erin visit with us for two weeks in May. We picked her up in Vienna on a Tuesday morning and soon after settled into a nice coffee, chocolate and sandwich shop for a little needed caffeine-picker-upper. We did many of our normal life activities while she was with us; Wednesday evening prayer group, Sunday evening worship, and Czech lessons. We spent time just being together, seeing some of the local sites and visiting with friends.

One afternoon we went to one of the small villages just down the road, about 10 kilometers away. The town is home to a glass factory, and the famous Czech slivovice factory. We did not visit the slivovice factory! There are also several small shops with handcrafted Czech items.

Our Czech teacher, Jana took us to the Shoe museum that is here in Zlin. There is quite a large collection of shoes from all over the world. Some shoes that neither you nor I would ever wish to wear! Many seemed to be almost in style even though they were decades old. You know they say fashion repeats itself. Solomon himself said that there is nothing new under the sun. I’m not sure that he was referring to shoes, although it fits….

Visiting in Znojmo

2011-05-23T19:03:00.000+02:00

If Znojmo (pronounced ZNO-yee-mo) were located anywhere in the United States, it would receive millions of visitors every year. Its gothic cathedral, town tower, and picturesque squares would be plastered on postcards, calendars, and tourist brochures. Situated in Southern Moravia, near the Austrian border, this little city does entertain thousands of visitors each year; Annette and I recently added to that number when we went to visit our friends Jarek and Ema Chudobovi. We have included some pictures of the town in this post. The main reason for our visit was that I had been invited by Jarek and the other elders in his church to preach one Sunday in April.

We really enjoyed our time with Jarek, Ema, and their little daughter Anežka. In many ways, their struggles and joys would be familiar to any young Christian family trying to live out their faith in a secular culture. One thing that makes Ema and Jarek a bit unusual is that they have several close relatives who are also Christians. Most evangelical Czech Christians we know are first generation Christians with few, if any, other Christians in their families. So, most evangelical Christians here have grown up without the benefit of the example of Christian parents, without the understanding of church life that comes from being raised in a church, and without the solid foundation in God’s word that comes from years of learning in Sunday school. As a result of these disadvantages, evangelical churches often struggle to deal with parenting issues and marriage problems.

So, it was no surprise when Jarek asked me to preach on some topic related to marriage. I was encouraged by the Spirit to speak from Jesus’ parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. God was gracious and helped me deliver a simple message about how God’s forgiveness of us empowers us to forgive. After church, we enjoyed lunch with our hosts and another young couple from their church who work as shepherds.

Please continue to pray for Czech Christians, and especially for their pastors. They are fighting the same battles you are, but with a lot fewer resources.

On a Bit of a Different Note....

2011-04-23T17:06:00.000+02:00

Our visit to Edinburgh Scotland was so very encouraging. It is a beautiful city, and history lines the streets. The great song writer, Horatius Bonar is buried there at the Cannongate Kirk. We visited the Grassmarket, and Greyfriar’s Kirkyard to see the Covenanter Monuments. Johnny traveled to Dundee to visit the Church where Robert Murray M'Cheyne preached. Part of the conference was held there.

Chaplins and Johnsons at the Castle

During the conference Johnny was able to spend valuable time with many of the men who have so much practical experience planting churches. We both were encouraged by our time with Carl and Becky Chaplin. They were in the Czech Republic for many years before God called them to Latvia. We had a thousand questions for them about ministry and the way we see God leading us. We were encouraged by the many ways God is using them in Riga, Latvia. Oh, last but certainly not least, they speak English in Scotland. I can appreciate that!

Monument in the Grassmarket

Covenanter Monument in Greyfriar's Kirkyard

There is lots of great information on the Spiritual History of the Royal Mile at the following web site. http://theroyalmile.org.uk/reformation.html

Mission to the World in Europe

2011-04-21T19:50:00.002+02:00

Statue of John Knox

We attended a conference in Scotland last month at which most of the MTW teams in Europe were represented. It was very encouraging to hear about the different ways God is working in such varied cultures as Greece, Bulgaria, Latvia, Scotland, and Germany. Although these cultures are widely separated by language, history, and tradition, they share much in common spiritually. They are all places in which Christianity has been more prominent at some period in the past. Today, only a very small minority in each of these countries has any interest in Christ and his kingdom. Like the Czech Republic, several countries where MTW is working today were dramatically affected by National Socialism and Communism. During the long period of moral scorched-earth policies in the 20th century, the Eastern European conscience was purged of gospel ideas and is still largely sterile today. Freedom has returned, but to an empty house.

The messages at the conference were delivered by Neil Macmillan, mission development officer for the Free Church of Scotland. Neil spoke about rebuilding the temple from the book of Haggai and applied that to rebuilding the church and our personal lives. Although the church in Europe is a faint shadow of what it was in former times, it is nonetheless God’s church and we must give careful attention to it. Just as God was very interested in the smaller, less-glorious temple that was being built in Haggai’s day, he is very interested in the struggling European church that is emerging from the ashes of physical and spiritual warfare in this part of the world.

Velikonoce (Easter)

2011-04-21T19:04:00.000+02:00

Easter is a major holiday in the Czech Republic, but not because it is a religious one. Under communism the holiday was one of welcoming spring. It seems to us that little has changed in that regard. The decorations, candy eggs, Easter arrangements with chicks and lambs, and special baking molds for traditional Easter cakes shaped like lambs have filled the stores for over a month. On Ugly Wednesday or as they would say in Czech, Škaredá středa, the traditional Easter market arrived in the Zlín square. The market is filled with booths offering traditional Czech crafts of pottery, glass, jewelry, candles, and the beautiful hand decorated Easter eggs, called kraslice. The food booths are the ones that seem to be the busiest. They sell potato pancakes, sausages, mulled wine, beer, cheese and - seemingly everyone’s favorite - the Easter cukroví or sweets.

Every day of the week, except Tuesday, is given a specific name throughout the Easter week. There is Ugly Wednesday, and Green Thursday. On Thursday, we are told that traditionally the boys walk through the village with homemade rattles to chase away Judas. I read that this is to be repeated on Good Friday. They are to go again on White Saturday, only this time they stop at the houses and rattle until they collect money. Easter Sunday seems to be mainly a day to prepare the eggs and to make the pomlázkas.

A pomlázka is made by twisting or braiding together pussy willow branches. Colorful ribbons are tied on the end, although we are not sure why. It is thought that they will bring health and youth to anyone who is whipped with them.

Easter Monday is a very big deal. On that day, boys young and old go to visit friends, bringing, of course, their pomlázka to whip the women. Sometimes they are required to say an Easter poem before they are rewarded with eggs and candy. Frequently the men are rewarded with a drink of slivovice, a potent plum brandy. Our friend René says that it is a good day to go visit friends and family.

The Czech name for Easter is Velikonoce, which comes from the words great night. Truly, for those who believe in Christ, Easter was a great night indeed - the greatest of all nights. For on Good Friday Christ suffered and died so that the wrath of God against sin would be appeased and the righteousness of God upheld. But on the great night of waiting, on the third day, Romans 4:25 says, Jesus was “raised for our justification.” This Christ did so that the righteousness of God might be revealed. We have great cause to rejoice in the One who died for us and for our salvation. In spite of all our rebellion, in spite of loving, delighting and longing after everything more than God, He by grace through faith declares all those who believe to be the righteousness of God in Christ. His great grace causes my heart to rejoice! Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Veselé Velikonoce!

Spring is Here!!!

2011-04-10T19:46:00.001+02:00

We have noticed in the last week or two that the birds are back. We’re not sure where they went, but they have returned with sweet songs that lift our hearts as we walk through the park or sit at home in our office studying. There are other signs of spring’s return that are all over Zlín. The daffodils are blooming, along with the forsythia. The saucer and star magnolia trees have burst forth abundantly displaying their pink and white flowers. We have gone out to sniff them all, enjoying not only the smell but also the beauty of them. They are lovely reminder that the dark days of winter are over and new life has come. The glory of God’s spring brings hope and light to the eyes, heart, and soul. It reminds us too, of the ultimate resurrection that is in Jesus Christ, for He has brought us from death to life, an abundant life. We feel somewhat like the Pevensie children and all the good creatures in Narnia when at last the long season of winter was over. The darkness of winter (and never Christmas) issued forth into the glorious days of light and the joy of the coming King.

Is the Church Shrinking?

2011-03-24T20:18:00.001+01:00

A recent article posted on the BBC’s website reviews a scientific paper about the trend away from religious affiliation. To read the paper go here. In their research, the paper’s authors put forth the hypothesis that sophisticated mathematical tools can be used to analyze social phenomena, among which is the trend away from religious affiliation in Europe.

No one I know would say that the church in Europe is healthy; most would recognize that European church attendance and affiliation have declined markedly, and nowhere more so than in our new home country, the Czech Republic. I have no argument with the BBC or with the original scientific study in their statement of these facts. My problem lies with the conclusion they draw from the facts. To quote from the paper, “The model indicates that in these societies the perceived utility of religious non-affiliation is greater than that of adhering to a religion, and therefore predicts continued growth of non-affiliation, tending toward the disappearance of religion.”

My problem with their conclusion is simply this: the growth of God’s kingdom is not dependent upon regional or even worldwide trends, but on God himself. In the second chapter of the book of Daniel, the story of King Nebuchanezzar’s dream is told. The king demands of his wise men that they tell him what the content of his dream was before they give him their interpretation of the dream. No man is able to know the mind of another, so all the wise men fail and fall under the king’s threat of death. God reveals to Daniel that he has given the king a sweeping vision of future history. The most significant aspect of Daniel’s God-given understanding is found in verses 34 & 35: "You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel later interprets this “stone that becomes a mountain” as the indestructible kingdom of God (see vs. 44, 45).

It is true that the observable growth of God’s kingdom has historically appeared to be in doubt – sometimes over wide regions and through significant periods of time. But the long term prospects and the final results are not in doubt at all. Although the present prospects for growth here do indeed look bleak, there will one day be a number that no man can number shouting with great joy before the throne of God. We are sure that there will be Czechs among those who shout that day.

How Pickpockets Change Your Priorities

2011-03-19T20:37:00.000+01:00

Last week on the final day of our vacation, a pickpocket got my wallet. It was a classic rip-off: I was tired, distracted by trying to validate some bus tickets, and in an area with high tourist traffic. There were at least two, maybe three guys that pretended to be getting on the bus at the same moment I was; they crowded around me so closely that I could hardly move and in an instant, my wallet was gone. I didn’t notice until several bus stops later.

We were rocked back on our heels – dazed by the sudden change in our situation. The money we had gotten from an ATM to pay for our hotel was gone; all the credit cards were gone along with my driver’s license and all the myriad of stuff that gets into a wallet over 10 years. We had to make new plans, find some more cash for the hotel, call the banks, and rethink the remainder of our day.

There are some pretty obvious lessons that grow out of an event like this: don’t travel with a wallet in your pocket; watch out in big cities where lots of tourists are found; be more aware of your surroundings, etc….. While these practical lessons are good to consider, there were some other thoughts that came later, after the panic and sense of being violated had subsided a bit. Why do I imagine that I am in control of things, even the things that I call “mine”? Why do I try so hard to manipulate people and events so that things turn out the way I like them? Why do I worry so much about everything? When I give myself to worry, or when I manipulate the people and events around me I am saying to God: “I don’t trust you to take care of these things. You probably won’t handle them the way I want them handled. So, I’ll just do it myself, thanks.”

So, God let me “take care of things” that day. In doing so, he helped me understand that he is far more trustworthy than I am. Maybe, just maybe, I can turn over to him some of the stuff I fret about so often. Maybe I can start putting my trust where it really belongs, and not in myself.

Here Comes the Sun!

2011-02-22T14:43:00.000+01:00

After several weeks with little to no sun, we experienced a sunny Saturday. We were so desperate to see the sun that we bundled up and headed across the street to the park to enjoy a few moments of direct sunlight. It was the first time in months that we have needed sunglasses. Of course, it was all of 30 degrees outside so our outing did not last long, but it did lift our spirits.

We enjoyed another sunny day today. The temperature went all the way up to maybe 22 or 23. Burrr-r-r-r-r that’s cold for us Alabama folks! With our big “duck puffy” coats it is not too bad.

Sandpaper

2011-02-15T16:35:00.000+01:00

Have you ever wondered why God sent a certain person into your life? Did you try to make sense out of the struggle you had to relate to him, only to discover that you really could not craft a satisfactory explanation? Have you met someone who just didn’t fit comfortably with the rest of your life? Most of us have had these seemingly disconnected, confusing encounters. You try to make these people fit some familiar pattern to help you understand them, but they don’t really match any of your existing categories. Instead, they grate against you, challenging your assumptions, pushing you into uncomfortable territory.

Our life in the Czech Republic has brought some of these uncomfortable, ill-fitting sorts of encounters to us. We have met people that make us uncomfortable. One is a blind man who lives in a town about 45 minutes away from Zlín. He is a believer, but has no home church in his town. He lives with only his guide dog for a companion. His mother is in a state institution and no longer recognizes him when he visits her. Yet, he tells us that he relishes the solitude, even the loneliness, because he is with God in those times. This does not “compute”.

We have met several people here who seem eager to spend time with us, in spite of the spiritual gulf between us. They are very comfortable hanging around with us, and we’re very grateful for these non-believing Czech friends. The uncomfortable part is that many of them are kinder, more generous, and more willing to sacrifice for others than we are. Ouch!

Last month a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses came to our door offering us their literature and an English Bible. We let them in and spoke to them briefly in our living room. After a few minutes of conversation about why it is crucial to our salvation that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, we offered to pray for them. Their strained faces and nervous body language made it clear that they were uncomfortable even with that. As they departed, we wished for God to bless them, as in our hearts we mourned over their blindness. Most sources to which we have access claim that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have between 15,000 and 30,000 followers here; that makes them one of the largest religious groups in this country. How has this cult made such an impact here when good evangelical churches are struggling on so many levels?

We don’t have good answers to the questions these encounters raise. We don’t always like the issues or feelings that they raise in our hearts. But we believe that our God is shaping us with these sandpaper events – for our good, to reflect him better.

The "Live" Americans Go to School

2011-01-23T19:13:00.000+01:00

Earlier this month we visited our friend Vendula Jaskova in Trebic. She had asked us if we would come to her school and speak to her students. Vendi teaches English in a village school with about 120 students. Her classes include students from around 10 up to 16 years old.

Apparently, she had told the students about her American friends some time ago. Some were skeptical and asked her if we were really alive! When we finally showed up at school many of them were shy and didn’t want to use the English Vendi had taught them. However, we found that there were some in each class who weren’t afraid of the “live” Americans and we had some interesting conversations.

Annette decided to create a presentation based on things that are common in America, but are unusual or can’t be found in the Czech Republic. This turned out to be a great idea and held the children’s attention during the entire presentation. We showed them pictures of our family, wildflowers in Alabama, tornadoes, the Rocky Mountains, huge waterfalls, and a rattlesnake. In each class, we got lots of questions about our pictures. My personal favorite was from a boy who wanted to know if you could get inside a tornado by dropping in from above.

Vendi had assigned the classes questions they could ask us to help start conversations. They used these questions with us in small groups after the presentation was over. They were really modest about their abilities in English and very rapidly reverted to speaking Czech when the conversation went beyond the most basic information. We can honestly identify with them. We told them that in order to learn to speak a foreign language you must be willing to sound foolish and make many mistakes.

It was a very enjoyable day. Like many other experiences we have had here, we aren’t exactly sure how this one fits in with the mission we are on - but we are sure that God knows. For now, that will be enough.

The Weatherman Says…

2011-01-03T16:12:00.001+01:00

The Road to Vysoké Pole

The picture on the top right shows a lovely mountain road scene in winter. We’re not too sure, but would guess that the cumulative total of all the snow we had experienced prior to living in Zlín was around 30 inches. A few more inches of snow here this winter and we will have experienced more snow in a couple of months than we had seen in all of our lives prior to moving here. The other picture in this post shows the view from our balcony this afternoon - a day that was predicted to be a “clear” day.

Having lived in Alabama for most of our lives, we realize that weather predictions must be carefully interpreted in order to be properly understood. For instance, if a certain Birmingham-based weatherman – who will remain safely anonymous in this post - uses the “s” word in his forecast, it means that you’d better get your boots on and boogie over to the local grocery store if you ever want to eat bread or drink milk again. Based on this knowledge, and a few months of interpreting the local forecasts here, we offer the following interpretations of Zlín weather predictions:

Clear – Enjoy your 60 minutes of sunshine

Partly Cloudy – Enjoy your 20 minutes of sunshine

A "Clear" Day

Trace Amounts of Precipitation – Anything from one flake to 6 inches

30 cm of snow – Prepare for a new Ice Age

Cold – If you stay outside for more than 30 minutes, your nose will be an icicle

Very Cold – Your nose will freeze and fall off before you get to your car

We hope your New Year is blessed,

Johnny and Annette

Just Catching Up

2010-12-14T22:18:00.002+01:00

We truly have been blessed over these last several months by all the events, people, and grace the Lord has shown us. We enjoyed 3 whirlwind weeks in the states with countless highlights. We were able to meet with many friends and enjoy sweet fellowship. We had the joy of being with our children and grandchildren. We were especially blessed to be able to give a report to our home church.

Many of you know that we went to the states primarily to attend the MTW Missions Conference. We know that God touched many hearts during this event. We set up a table, put out brochures and had many visitors stop by, ask questions, or just visit for a while. We were encouraged by the preaching and the seminars we were able to attend. Please continue to pray with us that God would bring others to His work here.

Our Weekend Retreat~

We returned to Zlín and the next weekend attended the church retreat. It just so happened that the retreat fell on Thanksgiving — the American Thanksgiving, as the Czechs do not observe the holiday. The Czechs were gracious enough to allow the MTW team to serve several traditional Thanksgiving foods. So, we prepared good ol’ Southern cornbread dressing, sweet potato casserole, and apple crisp to go along with the dinner meal. Renata created some beautiful paper leaves with Scriptures written on them, like 1 Chronicles 16:8-12:

Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced.

After the meal the church gathered to sing, read the Scriptures, and give thanks to God for His many blessings over the past year. Some later told us of the impact this had upon them and how God used it in their lives.

We shared one of our family traditions with our church friends and neighbors last Saturday when we invited them to our tree decorating party. We were delighted when 25 or 30 people showed up, including several of our neighbors whom we had never previously met. Many of them stayed for quite a long time, not just the obligatory ten minutes. Everyone seemed to have a great time. One of our neighbors even expressed an interest in visiting the church. Our church members expressed a desire for more of these events. Please pray with us that we will open the doors of our flat and our hearts on a more regular basis. Pray also that the gospel would not only be heard, but seen.

Zlín Town Square

We were walking through the town square recently and saw a manger scene and next to it a pošta. The pošta is a box for mailing letters to baby Jesus. How interesting we thought. I asked Renata, our pastor’s wife, about it. She said the children here write letters to the baby Jesus asking for their Christmas gifts. It is baby Jesus who brings the gifts, not Santa Claus. He often comes in the late afternoon on December 24th. We don‘t see people dressed up a baby Jesus, since no one knows what He looks like, or so we have been told. All of this is very interesting in light of the extremely athestic culture in the Czech Republic. Only a very small percentage of the population would even consider that there is a God. Baby Jesus, it seems, has been minimalized and turned into a myth. How tragic it is that the true, great gift of Christmas is present in the culture and yet not seen at all because of blindness and unbelief.

The Baby Jesus Pošta

Winter In Zlin

2010-12-05T20:03:00.001+01:00

Nearby are some recent pictures from our little city. In the past week or so, winter has delivered about 12 inches of snow and lows in the single digits (fahrenheit). We are very thankful to have warm clothes and a very cozy flat. We read in the news last week that 30 homeless men died in Poland due to the harsh onset of winter. The days are pretty short now. The sun doesn't rise until after 7:00 a.m. and it sets before 4:00 p.m. Even at noon, the sun doesn't make it to 45 degrees above the horizon.

Almost everyone goes around bundled up in heavy coats, scarves, gloves, hats, and boots, but some of the Czechs will brave the weather with bare heads. We saw a man run into the post office last week in shorts and a T-shirt! Surely he wasn't planning on staying out too long!

Another of the photos in this post shows something new to us. The traditional manger scene is accompanied by a small post box so children can send letters to Baby Jesus requesting the gifts they want for Christmas. Czechs tell their children that little Jesus brings the presents at Christmas. The role of St. Nick (Svatý Mikulaš) is to visit children on his special day (the eve of Dec. 6th) and talk to them about their behavior during the previous year. He is accompanied by an angel who rewards good children with a small gift and a demon who warns children and gives a lump of coal or a potato to those who have misbehaved; especially bad children might be bound up in a sack and carried away by the demon, although I understand this rarely happens today. Parents here usually find someone known to the family to play the roles of these traditional characters.

Weakness

2010-10-23T13:17:00.000+02:00

A fellow missionary and friend buried his infant son earlier this week. I can't imagine a more debilitating event. Undoubtedly, this sucked all the emotional oxygen out of his life, making it almost impossible to breathe. This set me to thinking about our weaknesses.

Weakness is defined as a lack of strength, a frailty that could give way under pressure. Weakness is not something we would recognize as a viable strategy. We would surely not pursue it as a means of victory. Yet it is precisely the strategy that Jesus used to conquer his and our enemies. Jesus’ disciples and his enemies both expected that he would seek to employ the “ordinary” means of gaining victory for his cause – connecting with the wealthy and powerful people, gathering a large following, leading an insurrection, overthrowing the cruel Roman oppressors. Satan, in his temptation of Christ, tried to lure Jesus into showing off his power by making bread to relieve his suffering and to show off his connection to God by jumping off the temple building; he also offered him the opportunity to rule over the earth; these offers display a fundamental misunderstanding of Jesus’ plan to use weakness as the means to achieve victory. Paul says in II Cor. 13:4 that Jesus was crucified in weakness.

We would never think to employ weakness as a route to victory, but our leader did exactly that. If Jesus is our example, should we not at least consider how our weaknesses might become the strategy and the means of our victory and God’s victory through us? In II Cor. 12: 9,10 Paul says: “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” This seems to me to say that God is better seen in our weakness and frailty than he is in our strength and power.

I don’t know about you, but I normally don’t go around thinking about how my struggles with sin, my difficulties in life, how my infirmities might be the very thing God would use most in my life to show his power to others - at least not until recently. As of today, weakness is about all I’ve got to offer. I once had (or at least I thought I had) some skill, some facility in teaching and training people, some place of power in God’s service that he might be able to use. That’s all gone. I am standing at the threshold of a new understanding: my weaknesses and struggles are not something to be managed and to get beyond as soon as possible, they are the essence of God’s strategic plan – first in Jesus, now in me. If God can use a bumbling weakling and struggler like me to help break down the gates of hell, it will be to the eternal frustration and defeat of our enemy and to the eternal praise and glory of our God.

The Town That Baťa Built

2010-10-10T20:16:00.001+02:00

The 21 Building

View of Baťa Housing Development

Although Zlín has been in existence since the early 14th century, it was a sleepy little village until the Baťa (pronounced Batya) family shoe business began to thrive around 1900. Like many European families, the Baťa family had a trade they had practiced for many generations – they were cobblers. Tomáš Baťa was born in Zlín in 1876 and started his own shoe manufacturing shop in 1894. The population of Zlín was around 3,000 in those days.

Typical Baťa House

Baťa traveled to America and studied the manufacturing methods of Henry Ford and other mass manufacturers. He returned to his home town and applied these principles to his shoemaking factory. From very humble beginnings, he built a worldwide empire that still employs over 50,000 people in 70 countries. Baťa was also far ahead of his time in his concern for his employees and the environment in which they lived and worked. He built over 2,000 modern houses for his workers, a large hospital, a technical college, and an award winning factory (see nearby pictures). He paid wages that were around 50% higher than the prevailing wage at the time. When Tomáš Baťa died in a tragic airplane accident in 1932, the population of Zlín had soared to over 26,000, almost entirely due to the employment offered by his company. Sadly, during the communist rule of this city, the factory declined and the Baťa company has only a small presence here today.

The views we enjoy from our front windows are of the well-known 21 bulding, one of the first central European skyscrapers. We are growing to love this city, so we appreciate the excellent things that Mr. Baťa built. So far, we have found no record of his spiritual life – perhaps that will be another story.

A Nearby Street with Baťa Houses

Changes in Latitude

2010-10-10T08:52:00.000+02:00

We awoke this morning to the first light frost of the fall season - just another reminder that we're in a very different place! I checked the weather for Birmingham and the predicted high for this afternoon is 90° F; we'll make it to 56° F here, if the sun stays out all day. On the street, we already see heavy coats, scarves, hats, and boots. It looks like most folks here have closets full - ummmm.... make that wardrobes full, there's no such thing as a closet here - of serious winter gear. There are a few homeless people living in Zlín. We see them hanging around the bus terminal and in the parks. The winters here must be very harsh for them.

In God's good providence, we have some pretty serious winter gear ourselves. From the looks of things, we'll get to use it soon.

Uherské Hradiště

2010-09-18T19:13:00.000+02:00

Library

The tiny city of Uherské Hradiště is a little gem with a very long history. Located in southern Moravia, about 25 km southwest of Zlín, it was settled several millenia before Christ. The oldest remaining structures date from the 15th century A.D. It was officially founded as a Czech city in 1257, although it had served as an important fortress in the great Moravian Empire (9th and 10th centuries A.D.) Like many places in Eastern and Central Europe, it has a beautiful Jewish Synagogue that now serves a different purpose than its builders had originally intended; sadly, there aren’t enough Jews left here to maintain a synagogue. The pink building in a nearby picture was once the town's synagogue, but is now a lovely library. There are hundreds of beautiful towns and cities like this one all over the Czech Republic.

We spent a day earlier this month exploring this city. It provides a cameo of Czech history and culture; it is a beautiful place with a long history of struggle and oppression. It’s people are intimately connected to this history, making them strugglers, too.

Ancient City Wall

And the Czech goes on….

2010-09-13T15:20:00.000+02:00

Well, we passed a tiny milestone last week: we have completed eight full weeks of Czech language study. A typical weekday for us includes two hours with our teacher and two to four hours of study at home. The learning process has been slow, but we can see definite progress. We like to compare it to having a large glass vase filled with clear water and a heavy layer of silt at the bottom. As long as you leave this arrangement as is, the water is clear and there is something pretty solid at the bottom. However, when you add more stuff to the vase, the silt quickly clouds the water with the result that nothing is clear and the solid layer at the bottom is all stirred up. This process of clarity followed by confusion is a pretty good description of our learning progress. There have been some humorous moments. Our favorite one is a recurring statement from our dear teacher that, “... well we don’t say it that way because it would be too hard.” To illustrate how funny that is, we have a simple example. There are many Czech words that end in the letter “d”, like “bod” and “had”, their words for point and snake. They don’t like to pronounce the “d” at the end of words, so they de-voice it to “t”. Our teacher insists that it would be too hard, or wouldn’t sound right to say the “d”. That goes over like a pregnant pole-vaulter when you realize they say things like “chtvrt” or “shtvaachsky” or “przhetrzheekat” (don’t forget to roll all the r’s and pronounce EVERY letter).

Czech is a beautiful, but complex, language and we are still in the very early stages of learning it. We still marvel at the fluency of most three year olds. Many of you have written to say that you are praying for us to learn Czech. We need and appreciate that.

Visa Hallelujah!

2010-08-18T21:50:00.000+02:00

We received news this week that our Visa applications had been approved and our visas were ready to be picked up in Bratislava, Slovakia. We had an appointment today at 1:30 p.m. to pick them up. There is a limited time for Visa pick up — 30 minutes. So, early this morning we headed to the train station to catch the train to Bratislava. We wanted to be sure that we had plenty of time, allowing for late trains, bus waits, and any other hindrances. The good news is that God has been so gracious to us and, as you can see, we have visas in hand! We give thanks to our great God for all He has done in opening so many doors for us, and to Sid for all of his hard work and help.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers for us and this visa. Our hearts just want to sing Hallelujah to the King!

We are including a few other pictures of Bratislava for you to see. The city is filled with lovely squares, statues, and embassies.

The Blessing of our first Czech Wedding

2010-08-16T18:12:00.000+02:00

Having only been living in Zlín for only 10 weeks now, it is actually quite amazing that we would be invited to a join a Czech wedding celebration. Usually only the closest friends and family are invited to attend. The wedding was to take place about two hours from Zlín. Saturday morning we were up early and on the way. We were very excited, as we had been told that these events are so special. The day promised to be especially wonderful for us as the couple to be married are new believers and sweet new friends. We were privileged to be invited to join them.

We arrived at the bride’s house in Karolinka and were welcomed by family and friends to a breakfast of goulash, sausages, bread, chips, chai, and kava and other assorted food and drinks. And yes, the famous Czech liquid was available too. Around 11:00 a.m. it seemed that all the wedding party had arrived, the bride and groom were dressed, and it was time to leave. The wedding procession was about to begin. Little did we know at this point that we would be held hostage until we paid a ransom of sorts, to get out of the apartment building. It seems that one Czech wedding tradition is for friends of the bride to dress up as the groom’s ex-wives. The exit to the house or apartment is blocked, and money is demanded to support all the poor children of the groom, since they are being left destitute. All of the money collected is later given as a gift to the bride.

Before the procession, all of the cars are decorated with simple ribbons across the front of the car. The bride’s car follows all the others and is decorated with a big bouquet on the hood of the car. So, with the cars all decorated and lined up we set off for another drive, this one up to the Beskydy Mountains, approximately an hour away.

Decorations for the cars in the wedding procession ~ and the bride’s car

The wedding itself was beautiful, the setting glorious, Eva and Michal, radiant. It was such a sweet joy to see her walk down the aisle to the song, “I Trust In You.” This is the English translation.

My times are in Your hands, I trust in You.

Your love will never fail, I trust in You.

Even though the mountains fall into the sea, I trust in You

Even if the stars should start to fall

And all the world is shaken.

When I can't see the way, I trust in You.

I believe the things You say, I trust in You.

Even when I'm sinking down beneath the waves, I trust in You.

I know that You will lift me up And put my feet on solid ground

Every day you're faithful, new mercies from above,

Like a tree in your temple, surrounded by the strong walls

Of Your love.

A beautiful setting for an outdoor wedding.

The couple had asked Rene to preach about the marriage covenant; we were told he did a beautiful job. We pray that God will use the message to change hearts and lives.

We were truly encouraged by the some of the comments by the bride’s friends. They said they noticed a difference in Eva and her brother, Roman. They said they wanted to have what they have. (Roman and his wife, Martina also are believers and attend the church in Zlin.) Others showed an interest in coming to visit the church. Pray with us that God will not let them go and that the difference they saw will draw them to Jesus.

After the beautiful wedding, we headed up to the dinner meal. But first the proprietor of the hotel came out to the front steps and handed the bride and groom a broom and dust pan. Then he threw down and broke a plate for them to clean up—together. Some of the wedding party did not think that the plate had been broken into enough little pieces, therefore “extra” help was given in breaking the plate. There was more than one interpretation regarding the broken pieces. Czechs say that the working together in the clean up process—or not, is a precursor of how well a couple will work together in the marriage.

With the steps swept and clean we went in to lunch. I’ve included a few pictures so that you can see the beauty and even the simplicity of the meal. Another of the interesting Czech tradition is feeding each other soup. The couple is tied together and each may only use one hand to feed the other one the soup. This is much more difficult than our feeding each other cake. We have even been told that sometimes the task is made even more difficult by giving the bride and groom a spoon that has a hole in it.

An hour or two after the meal, we gathered again to cut and eat the cake. The rest of the afternoon was spent simply visiting, talking, dancing and enjoying one another. All the guests were invited to spend the night. This also seems to be a standard Czech wedding tradition. As you can see, it was a glorious day.

English Camp ~ Week 2

2010-07-30T16:12:00.000+02:00

Wow! It is hard to believe that the second week of English Camp is drawing to a close. The days of camp are always so full. We are up every morning by 6:00. Team devotionals are held at 7:15, they are a sweet time of singing and praying together. It is always a joy to have some of our Czech friends join us for this time together. It is hard to imagine what it would be like to only have Christian fellowship during one week in the year. It causes my heart to rejoice when I see that they come, listen and watch attentively. How we pray that God will cause them to see the light of Christ through words and actions.

It is hard, once again to think of these dear friends driving off. I gather that it is just as difficult for them. As we began packing up today, many asked, “Are you leaving now?” Often on Saturday morning, many linger until the last moment, before saying not good-bye, but see you next year or see you later. It seems that this year I came thinking about the long conversations I would be able to have with so many, and yet here on this last day of camp I am wondering where all the time for those conversations went. Fleeting are the moments.

The Lord has been at work here. Hearts have been softened toward the gospel. Those who are hurting, broken, full of sorrow and pain have been encouraged, strengthened and helped through the ministry of camp. One of the sweetest things that happened last week at camp was that on Friday evening after all of the closing activities, skits, songs and acknowledgments one of the struggling campers asked us to sing “In Christ Alone.” It was the absolutely best way to close out a week of camp with our dear friends.

Monday Monday

2010-07-26T10:30:00.000+02:00

This week's team is made up of folks from several different churches~

David and Stacy and their daughters,

Eric and Denisa and their children are from North Shore in Chattanooga.

Dean, Leigh and Tina from StoneBridge in Charlotte,

Sandy from King's Chapel in Carrollton,

Pattie, Ruth, Jared and Robbie from our home church Faith in Birmingham.

It is a blessing to pray and worship with them as we see their labor of love for our dear Czech friends.

We can tell you guys are praying for us! We are excited to wake up on Monday morning!! We have had several encouraging discussions with the campers who are attending the second week of camp. Many of the campers who are here this week have been attending MTW-sponsored English camps for eight or nine years. Some of them have made a lot of progress toward Christ. The most amazing thing to us (and to the Czechs as well) is the transparency and love that characterize the conversations.

Last night, we had a two hour discussion of forgiveness and the problem of evil. Even though our opinions about these things differed sharply, the discussion concluded with expressions of respect and concern for everyone. This morning, Johnny greeted one man who had brought some of the most difficult questions into the discussion last night; he expressed great delight in the openness and respect he was shown. We think he is seeking answers to some of life’s most troubling issues – and that he purposefully came to this Christian sponsored camp to continue his search.

It is such a privilege for us to be able to be your hands and feet.

First Week at Camp

2010-07-23T17:28:00.000+02:00

It is hard to believe that it is Friday already. The shortest week of the year made up of the longest days of the year is now drawing to a close. It has been wonderful, challenging and heart rending. We are thankful for God’s great and all sufficient grace and His Spirit which have permeated our time with our dear friends. (Thank you so much for praying.)

Once again, Johnny and I spent the week teaching the little ones, the 2’s and 3’s. It seems most of our time was spent simply keeping them happy. Vendi, our dear friend helped to teach, entertain and translate. It all would have been impossible with her. This evening for the evening program we will be singing our song, The Wheels on the Bus. The parents will be singing and children watching. Our best student was a little girl who would often repeat everything.

We are so thankful for Alan’s talks each evening. They have been sweet soul food. After his first evening talk on finding rest for our souls, one lady asked us “How can I find this rest?” Please pray with us that she will find it soon. Another dear Christian friend told us during camp that she has cancer. Please ask the Lord to bring healing.

Thank you to all who have so faithfully prayed. We know the Lord was present in this camp.

Bratislava Here I Come

2010-06-21T21:01:00.000+02:00

Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia, about 25 miles east of Vienna and about 90 miles south of our new home town of Zlín. One part of the complex new rules that govern visas for the European Union countries is that one must apply for a visa at an embassy of the host country and NOT within the country itself. So, we had to travel to an embassy of the Czech Republic to file our application. Bratislava happens to be the closest city in which the Czech Republic has an embassy; so, off we went. A photo nearby shows one of the beautiful squares we had to traverse on our way to the embassy.

Since our appointment was at 9:00 a.m., we left our flat at 4:15 a.m. to catch the bus to the train station. The trains in the Czech Republic are a mixture of modern and communist era equipment; the train schedules include express trains (usually between major cities) that only stop once or twice, regional trains that only stop a few more times, and Osobní (personal) trains that stop every 15 feet to allow farmers and their small goats on board.

We were accompanied by Sid Anderson who has worked very diligently on our visas and work permits. In a nearby photo, Sid is sporting his Czech sack; virtually all Czechs carry some sort of sack/bag/backpack/purse/large wallet when they're in public, men and women alike, so Sid is just "going native" here.

In one photo, you can see the front of the Czech embassy in Bratislava. God was gracious to us in this encounter. The lady with whom we had our appointment was kind and spoke good English. Although she threw us a few curve balls by asking for documents that we did not have, in the end, she stamped our passports to reserve a place for our long term visas! She told us we would hear from them in about 60 days. Thanks to all who have prayed for this process! Please continue to ask the Lord to see us through the final steps.

Worship In Zlín

2010-06-21T18:08:00.000+02:00

Sunday morning about 10:00 we walk from our flat through town to the office building where the Církev Reformovaná Zlín gathers. It is our third official Sunday here. Greetings of “Dobry Den” and “Ahoy” meet us as we arrive. We give similar greeting to others as they arrive. Hugs, smiles and questions about the week are exchanged. A fairly normal Sunday morning, except that it is in Czech.

Tables and chairs are arranged, the projector set up, and instruments tuned, the Lord’s Supper set out as preparations are made for Worship. As everyone settles into their seats, we begin with a call to Worship. I must say that other than knowing that it comes from Scripture and recognizing a word here and there, it is mostly unintelligible to my mind. We sing several songs. All lovely, and sweet harmony and praise fills the air. One of the songs we sing in Czech first and then in English. (We are fortunate that so many of the church members speak some English, though not all. I think that otherwise, we would feel shut out and very isolated.) As we sing several of the little girls come up to the front and dance, smiles wreath their faces and many in the congregation smile as they watch.

There are many here that we have met before through summer English camp or at the Sunday services held at camp. Some we have met for the first time. Michal and Eva -- new believers, they are a great encouragement to the church that God is continuing to open eyes and hearts to see the beauty of Christ. Their lives have been and continue to be changed - radically and dramatically - by our glorious Christ. Another young man who has been attending English Plus (the English Language School) has attended church the last two Sundays. We are encouraged by that.

We all come –looking –seeking to see and be filled with the Spirit of Christ. His presence is among us. Attention is given to the Word. (The church has two Sunday school classes for the little ones.) This morning Rene preaches using the text from John 4. When I ask one of the members what he talked about, she said it was about finding our joy not in our circumstances but in our Savior. That is our ever present struggle, finding our joy in God alone and nothing or no one else.

Each Sunday after the preaching, there is a time for the giving of offerings. Sometimes I think that we most clearly display God’s character and grace through giving—giving joyfully. For surely He Himself gave His very own life for the joy set before Him. It was in His giving (or loosing) that He gained—a glory—a crown—a throne—a kingdom and a people. After the offering, the Lord’s Supper is served; the simple passing of the bread and the wine, partaking together as one body of believers, a visible representation of the great, incredible mercy of our Lord. We sing “Králi Můj” (My King) taken from Zalm 42,6. The worship is closed with the Lord’s Prayer or a confession of faith, and a pronounced blessing. Many here hold their hands out as they receive the blessing.

Fellowship after Church

As the service concludes people begin to talk. Some greet the visitors who slipped in toward the end of Rene’s sermon to sit on the sofa. The tables and chairs are re-arranged, this time for a light snack or meal. Each week one volunteer brings some sort of spread or pomazanka for bread and another some sort of sweet. It is not unusual for the visiting to last for two or more hours. It is good to see this desire for fellowship with one another. Because of schedules and distance of travel, this is the only time that the church gathers during the week. When it is time to go, tables are put up, chairs lined up for the next week, all the dishes washed in the kitchen area. (There is no sink, only dishpans of hot water that are carried to the kitchen.) One is used to wash and another two are used to rinse the plates, cups and silverware.) Everyone pitches in to help. At last, with everything in order, goodbyes are said; hugs and handshakes are given as the church leaves the small rooms that serve as the place of worship in downtown Zlín to go to the greater, wider field of communities in Moriava.

Exploring Zlín

2010-06-11T20:34:00.000+02:00

We ventured out to the street market this week. It is only about 2 blocks from the flat. We have found several local post offices at which we can mail letters, met with our new Czech language teacher Janá (class starts Monday at 9:00), experienced several trips to the grocery store, shopped for a pračha and sušička (that’s a washer and a dryer) and we have been to the Lékárna (pharmacy to buy sunscreen) and the Nábytek (to look for wardrobes, there are no closets in any apartment here for holding and hiding stuff.)

After a visit with our landlords, we have decided that our mailing address is Březnická 5565/ 41, 76001 Zlin CR. We are now the Johnsonoví. Johnny is still Johnny Johnson (actually they call him Johnnyho), and I am now Annette Johnsonová.

Today we are going back to the market for more fresh veggies, to the bank to open a Czech checking account, and to the Obchodní Dům later this afternoon to purchase the pračha and sušička, with the help of Šarka and Honsa.

A Moving Update- Our First Days

2010-06-07T10:05:00.000+02:00

The last two weeks have been wonderful, intense, full of grace and the love of the saints. We have experienced many sweet times of prayer and words of grace. Truly you have loved us well. I pray that Christ will strengthen us and enable us to love our Czech friends even as you have loved us.

Tuesday morning found us stuffing pillows and pajamas into the suitcases as we prepared to leave the house we have lived in for over 33 years. We loaded 5 full sized suitcases, 2 carry-ons, a backpack and a large “purse” into the car. We headed over to Process-Barron to pick up Joel and meet Alan and Sally. With the cars full we drove to the airport, checked in and said quick good-byes. We definitely needed help with all of the suitcases! The flight was about 16 hours from Birmingham to Vienna and totally uneventful. That’s a good thing. We did have to go through customs in Munich, but did not have to gather all of our bags and recheck them. (Yeah!) We had an hour or two in Munich and enjoyed sitting in a café with a nice cup of coffee to help us wake up. I’m not sure that it was really effective because as soon as we were seated on the plane to Vienna we both promptly went to sleep.

Looking weary after our long trip

After our arrival in Vienna, we gathered all of our bags on a cart—they all were together on the baggage carousel! We walked through the “nothing to declare” door to meet our team members. Sid and Louise Anderson, Hans and Gretchen Deutschmman and Rene Drapala all met us and after many hugs and a few pictures, we headed to the cars and the road trip to Zlin. We arrived in the apartment around 6:30 p.m. tired and excited. The landlord has left all of the furniture in the apartment so we are not sleeping on air mattresses as we thought we would be.

With the team in our new apartment

We have spent the last few days getting settled in. The first order of business was to report to the foreign police, so Thursday morning Sid took us there and we were able to register. The gentleman was very gracious to us—they were actually closed but allowed us to enter and registered us anyway. Sid said that the man seemed very impressed with our papers and what we had done to prepare. We think that when we go to Bratislava to the Czech Embassy to apply for the visas that the papers will be sent back to the very office we have already visited.

The other events are not as exciting. We went to the OBI (kind of like a Lowes) to purchase a toilet paper holder. I’m not sure if it is customary here to have to buy your own for an apartment or not. We have ventured out to buy some groceries, gotten our internet connected, and walked through the local “farmers market” that is only two blocks from the apartment.

fresh produce from the market

The more exciting things of the past days (besides simply being here at last) have been in connection with the Zlin International children’s film festival. The first morning we looked out our window, we saw lots of animals walking across the street to board a bus. Well, actually they were people dressed as animals and other characters. We ran to grab cameras to take pictures. The next morning people in front of the auditorium were filling up a hot air balloon. We enjoyed watching them launch and sail into the sky. Then, Saturday night we were greeted by fireworks.

All the Animal Characters

Watching the balloon lift off

Thank you all for praying for our trip. We are truly grateful.

Report to Faith Church

2010-06-01T14:34:00.000+02:00

Thank you dear friends, family, congregation, Alan and Sally, Elders and Deacons, Czech mission team, and all those we have loved and been loved by for the past 33 years. God has used you to train, correct, nurture, and prepare us for the work that we are now going to do. We treasure the time we have had with you. It has been a privilege to serve the Lord with you. It is a great joy and privilege to be sent by you to the people of the Czech Republic. It is not an easy thing to leave your warm embrace.

Nearly all of our Christian lives have been spent here. The story of our call to missions started here with a series of short term mission trips to teach English in the Czech Republic. God made it plain to Annette in 2006 that we should go to the Czech Republic as missionaries; it took me a couple of years to understand that she was right. God is able to work with those who catch on quickly as well as those who take a good while longer. We have seen God’s hand in every facet of our walk toward the mission field. He has provided excellent training for us through Mission to the World. He has raised up financial and prayer support for us from people and places that we would never have thought about. He has used this congregation to encourage, supply, and bless us at every step.

The Czech people have a rich Christian heritage. After Jan Hus was martyred in 1415 for his bold reformist stand, the Czechs established a powerful nation in which the Gospel flourished for over 200 years. In the early eighteenth century, the Moravians established the first significant protestant missionary movement in history and held a 24 hour prayer vigil that lasted 100 years. Sadly, these things are largely forgotten, or simply ignored, by 21st century Czechs.

God has birthed in our hearts a great desire to see Him raise up another Jan Hus, another Moravian missionary movement, another 100 year prayer meeting. Please pray with us for the Czech people. Today, they are one of the most atheistic nations on earth, and proud of it. Pray for revival there. Pray boldly and regularly. Please pray with us for the tiny Reformed Church in Zlin. Pray for the Pastor and leaders of the church. Pray for the vision of the church members; they need to be stirred to action and prayer for their lost nation. Pray for the missionaries who are there; they have labored long with little fruit. Pray for us as we go; we will need God’s strength at every step. Please pray that God would raise up a new generation of missionaries to take our place.

One of our MTW trainers challenged us to consider that most of us have a very small vision for what God wants to do in His world. He asked us to think about the greatness of God and how our vision should match his glory. For God has said the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, even as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

Instead of desiring to see God convert our next door neighbors, why not our whole neighborhood; instead of our neighborhood, why not our entire city; instead of our city why not our nation? Instead of a healthy little church in Zlin, why not a Christian Czech nation? Our vision is that on the last day, that great day of the Lord, when the LORD Christ asks “Who is here from among the Czech people?” we want to hear a thundering shout, and we want the whole Czech nation to be shouting on that day.

We love you so much.

Moving Day Pictures

2010-05-15T16:32:00.000+02:00

For those who have asked, there are a few pictures of our moving day nearby. Enjoy!

The Time Has Come

2010-05-13T01:00:00.000+02:00

The time we have longed for has now come and we are overwhelmed by God’s sweet grace to us through you. We have seen God’s amazing grace shown to us time and time again. As we began this journey, the Lord clearly called Johnny and me - in different ways and at different times. Now, that call has been confirmed, not only by Mission to the World, but by you. Time and time again, we have seen God’s gracious confirmation through you, His people, for God has wooed and drawn your hearts to give sacrificially. Praise be to God our glorious Savior! Thank you for all the grace you have shown us in this journey.

The sweet lessons of grace we have learned from God’s hand will stand us in good stead as we move to another culture. Our God remains the same, even though everything else in life changes. He is steadfast. As I read this morning, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”

As we prepare to leave our hearts are torn in two. We leave so many who are dear to our hearts. Experiencing community with so many of you as we sing and praise and wonder at the glorious provision God has made for us in Christ Jesus is a precious and holy time that we will miss. The Lord’s Supper was especially sweet as we rejoiced in the beauty, glory and supreme sacrifice of Christ; that He who knew no sin was made sin for us that might become the righteousness of Christ.

We have been warned of the emotional turmoil we will face in the days and months ahead. So we pray that God will give us His grace and strength to sustain and up hold us. Only by His enabling will we be content and even thrive as we experience a greater dependence upon Him and a deeper contentment with all the He is for us.

Even though we are torn at leaving you, our hearts long with great expectation at what is set before us. We pray for revival within the Church in the Czech Republic. We long to see our friends, and those we are yet to meet, come to see Christ as their all in all. Oh, that God’s Word would run and be glorified throughout that beautiful, but spiritually dark land. Please pray with us that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ will break forth and shine as the noon day sun upon hundreds—thousands—even millions of Czechs.

Please give thanks and pray with us:

Johnny passed his licensure exams at Presbytery
We have 1 day to finish all the final packing/sorting before the shipper comes on Friday, 5/14. As my daughter-in-love said, we need help.

For safety, as we have purchased tickets and will fly out June 1, Lord willing

God will lead in ministry and ministry opportunities

We plan to travel to Arkansas to see Annette’s mom May 17th – 20th.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers.

Not Pretty!

2010-04-11T04:10:00.000+02:00

So, what does it look like to sort through 39 years worth of accumulation in an attempt to decide what to leave and what to take? The title of this post says it all: NOT PRETTY! As you can see from the pictures nearby, our house is a wreck. Although we wouldn’t describe this part of our journey as “fun”, the process has had some significant benefits.

Giving away and leaving behind stuff that you thought you were attached to is liberating. Some wise man once observed that as much as we think we own our stuff, it also owns us. We have enjoyed the memories of friends and family that have popped up as we sifted through old pictures, books, and things they gave us.

Since our new living quarters will have a little more than half of the space we currently have, the culling process needs to be severe. In addition, the electricity in the Czech Republic is 220 Volts, so nearly all of the appliances, electric tools, and electronics we now own will not work there without a large transformer (a block of metal the size and weight of your car battery). Our thanks to all who have prayed with us through the decision making process about what to take and what to leave; it seems a lot clearer today than when we last wrote.

Our situation regarding our visas is unchanged from last month, but we (actually our MTW teammates in Zlín) have been hard at work gathering official documents. We are still trying to obtain work permits prior to applying for a long term visa. Based on the last correspondence from the MTW team in Zlín, we are very close to getting our official work permits. Afterwards, we must choose the best place at which to submit our visa application. The choices are: submit the application in the U.S. and wait about 90 days until the visa is returned to us, or move to Zlín as soon as we have the work permits and apply at a nearby Czech embassy (either in Austria or Slovakia). Please pray with us and our team for wisdom in deciding which of these courses is wisest for us. There has been some confusion about this due to contradicting information we have received from various government officials.

As most of you know, we had hoped to be on our way to the Czech Republic by now; but God had better plans. Due to the delay in our visa application process, Annette was able to be with her Mom during the recent cancer surgery she had. The reports from the surgery were good, and both Annette and her mother were very thankful they could be together.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and your generous financial support. God has met us above and beyond our wildest dreams and expectations, and that through you. We are blessed beyond measure. Thank you for the joy of serving together.

Amazing Answers to Our Prayers!

2010-03-23T01:35:00.000+01:00

Many of you have been praying about our visa situation. Thank you!! We wanted to give you a brief update on what's been happening.

We have prayed specifically that Sid Anderson would find someone helpful and kind when he went to the Labor Office in Zlin. We received an email last week from Sid saying he had gone to the Labor Office on Tuesday only to find it was closed. As he pondered his next move, a lady came up to the heavy glass door and began to talk to him. When he motioned that he couldn't hear what she was saying, she opened the door and let him into the office. After hearing his explanation of what he needed, she took him to someone who "just happened" to be in the closed office. They assured him that the recent ruling by the Czech Labor Minister, a ruling that no new work permits would be issued to non-EU citizens, would not be an issue in our case. They gave him the correct forms to fill out to post our job, and promised to help him with the remainder of the process when he returns this week. The Lord was definitely with Sid, and he heard our prayers!

Thank you Lord!!!

Expect the Unexpected

2010-03-13T20:03:00.000+01:00

Well, today is the end of the second week of March and we thought that we would be in the throes of packing and shipping the worldly goods that we are planning to take to the Czech Republic. But that is not the case. It is like we are on hold. We did have the moving company come out and give us an estimate on the size of container we will need to take and the cost. Even so, there are still plenty of things to be done. Johnny has been studying diligently for the English Bible Exam. We are almost through all of the Dave Ramsey tapes. (If you have not seen them, they are really helpful. We have previously gone through the Crown study, but Dave covers all kinds of things Crown does not.)

The reason that we are on hold and will not be leaving the first of April as we (I especially) had always hoped is because of the Visa application process. Apparently, the rules have changed recently and it is not quite as easy to obtain as it once was. To begin with we thought we could bring our documents with us, go to a Czech Embassy in another country and voila! Visa! We could still do that but, if we were not able to obtain the Visa within ninety days we would have to leave the country, and any other EU country, for ninety days before we could re-enter. Therefore, it looks like we will be applying from this side of the pond. So, we are not sure how long we will be here. We are praying that God will quickly move all the hands, hearts and papers to bring the needed Visa soon.

In the mean time, there are a thousand details to be taken care of in preparation for the biggest move we’ve ever had. Plus it looks like Johnny will have time to actually get licensed to preach. Once we turn in the Visa application forms, we will wait and pray that God will expedite the papers. None of this is a surprise to our God. This too, is part of His good, great plan. So we wait and pray, some days patiently, but always seeking to trust God.

Looking Ahead

2010-02-16T20:27:00.000+01:00

The month in Brussels was challenging, stimulating, and very helpful. We have returned home to begin final preparations for moving to the Czech Republic. The work that we need to do in the next two months looks like a tall mountain, but we believe God is going with us over the top.

We need you to pray specifically that:

• 100% of our monthly support will be pledged to MTW by the end of February. We have received many gracious promises which, when they are all fulfilled, will complete our monthly support needs. We are so thankful for your generosity!

• We will be able to finalize our moving plans, including what we should take, how we should dispose of the things we leave behind, and what we should plan to buy once we arrive.

• We will be able to wrap up our Financial Peace Seminar and preparations for Presbytery exams.

• We will be able to say goodbye to family and friends.

• We will be able to handle the myriad of details surrounding the move.

• Give thanks with us that our language training situation is established.

• Give thanks that we have been invited to participate in two missions conferences in February.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and financial gifts. May the Lord give to you as you have given to us, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.

Looking Back and Looking Forward

2010-02-16T20:25:00.000+01:00

One year ago, we had completed our initial evaluation with MTW and were headed into a year full of unknowns. We were told during the evaluation week that MTW was not certain they wanted us to go to the Czech Republic, so we didn’t know if we would really end up in the country we felt strongly called to serve; we didn’t know if we would be fully and finally accepted as missionaries with MTW; we didn’t know what the training under MTW would look like; we didn’t know what it would feel like to quit our comfortable jobs and start raising funds to support our new work; we didn’t know what we didn’t know.

Quite honestly, the situation is little changed today. Yes, we know the answers to and outcomes of much that was unknown this time last year, but today there are new questions, different unknowns, more stuff that is out of our control, and so, more stuff for which we really need to trust God. In this aspect changing careers and moving to a foreign country mirrors ordinary life. How so? Well, our lives are always full of unknown things that are beyond our ability to control. Our lives are always full of things that invite us to depend entirely upon God and his wise providence. But we are experts at glossing over these things in favor of an illusion that appears to give us power and control. So long as we can maintain our busy schedules and keep our comfortable routines in place, we feel that we are OK and really don’t need God’s help all that much. When a crisis arises, the thin gloss of our illusion is stripped away and we are required to face the monolithic reality that we can’t really do much, and so, we are truly dependent on God. Although we wouldn’t describe our circumstances as a crisis, they do tend to keep the “I’m-in-control-here” illusion suppressed.

During our month of training in Brussels, one of our teachers remarked to me that she thinks missionaries are such special people. I have a response to that thought; I’m pretty sure it is true in my case, but not sure yet that it is universally true. I think this missionary is special in the sense that he could not learn to trust and depend on God as he should in any other way. So, God has arranged for these special lessons for him.

Johnny

Church and a Little Language

2010-02-07T19:40:00.000+01:00

First I feel like we should apologize for not posting this past week. So please forgive us. We really want to keep you updated on the situation here, but time and tiredness seem to have ruled the week.

This past Sunday was a full day for us as we began our day with worship at Saint Andrews, the church we were assigned to work with when we first arrived. It has been a real joy to be with the pastor, Andrew Gardner and the congregation. They are so very warm and welcoming. We feel like we have made many new friends from all over the world here. The worship at St Andrews is very traditional, but not staid. There seems to be a sense of joie de vivre riding just under the surface. We have loved our time with this warm and welcoming body.

The Church of Saint Andrews

We stayed in Brussels after worshiping with St Andrews to go to yet another service. This one meets in the downstairs hall gathering of Saint Andrews and has an all together different tone. The Ghanaian church is made up of people, as you would expect, from Ghana. This service was also traditional, but not as we would know it, it was traditional Ghanaian. The service was lively, loud, and Worshipful - Rejoicing in our great and glorious God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thought we might be in trouble early in the service when one of the Elders stood up and invited the congregation to dance like David did, until his clothes fell off! Fortunately, all stayed on the clothing, and all the dancing was honoring, just another way of worshiping the Lord.

Dancing Before the Lord at the Ghanaian Chruch

I did find that Ghanaians are a lot like Alabamians in their love of and support for their football team. Their service was over early (it lasted from 2:30-5:00) so the members could go home early and watch The Game.

On Friday we finished our week or language learning techniques. It was a full, busy, brain stretching, yet extremely encouraging week. We were given many ways of learning languages and even spent two mornings practicing the techniques in Farsi (the language spoken in Iran). We were blessed to have two Iranian Christians come work with us. It was such a joy to meet them.

Thank you for your continued prayers for us.

Brussels is Multi-Everything

2010-01-25T21:24:00.000+01:00

Chocolate shops are everywhere!

If Europe has a capital, it's probably Brussels. NATO and EU headquarters are here. There are more ambassadors and journalists in Brussels than in Washington DC!

The Grand Place, a large square in Brussels

About 60% of the population of Brussels is non-Belgian. There are people here from all over the world. To add to their multi-cultural confusion, the native Belgians are divided into two ethic groups: the Walloons (French speakers, but not French) and the Flemish (Dutch speakers, but not Dutch). Furthering the difficulty, the nation is divided into three parts: the Brussels-Capital Region, Wallonia, and the Flemish Region. Someone has rightly said that Belgium is not a country, but a compromise.

Team mates working on our project - we won, by the way, surprisingly.

Since arriving in Brussels, we have talked to Turks, Algerians, Koreans, Scots, Ugandan, Brazilians, and others. One of the first challenges that the MTW staff gave us was to gather enough information to create and present an introduction to Brussels. We scattered across the city in search of demographic, historical, and cultural information, we also had to find and interview Muslims and Christians.

Some of the more interesting things we found: The first recorded ruler of the region was a guy named Clovis in the 4th century AD (probably no relation to Clovis Ledbetter from Amite County, Mississippi once made famous by Jerry Clower). Brussels is widely known for its waffles, and this is well-deserved reputation, the ones we sampled were absolutely the best we have ever put in our mouths. Ditto on the chocolates. Muslims here are very friendly and approachable. One young man, whom we will call Hakim, told us that he had been raised in a Muslim family, but had walked away from his parents' faith during his years in a Roman Catholic school. He now believes in "spirituality".

Wonderful Waffles!

Thanks for continuing to pray for us!

Residents of Zlin, well.... almost

2010-01-18T17:13:00.000+01:00

The past few days have been very rewarding, but very hectic. Among the many exciting things that have happened since our arrival in Belgium is the news that we are now renters in Zlin. We had originally hoped that we would be able to travel to Zlin at the end of our training time in Brussels to seek for a place to live. Due to the commitments we have made to attend missions conferences in late February, the trip to Zlin was cancelled. This didn't stop the Lord from finding a place for us to live.

During the Christmas holidays, the Andersons (some of our teammates in the Czech Republic) sent us some pictures of an apartment that they thought would be suitable for us. We thought and prayed about it, and we came to the conclusion that we would be very satisfied with the apartment; but we thought there was plenty of time before we needed to commit. The day after we arrived in Brussels, the Andersons wrote us that we had to make a commitment on the apartment immediately since the owner was about to rent it to someone else. With a lump in our throats we agreed that we were ready. The lump came, in large part, from the fact that this commitment makes our move a very concrete thing. We're leasing an apartment in a foreign country; now we really are going to live there.

The apartment is located very close to the city center of Zlin. We will be within a mile of the Church and the language school. We hope to be able to walk as much as possible. The university is several blocks away and there is lots of green space nearby. We think it is in a great location for ministry.

It takes our breath away--all that God has done to bring us to this point. Thank you dear friends for all you have done through your prayers and support to make this happen. May our constant cry together be amazing, amazing, amazing God!

The Future Office

Our New Living Room

Our Kitchen

Another View of Our Kitchen

A Wild Cross-Cultural Ride

2010-01-17T23:16:00.000+01:00

“haggis, bashit neeps and champit tatties”

We have been in Brussels for only five full days – and boy have they been full – but we have had many new experiences. Probably the most interetsing of all was the Robert Burns Memorial Supper we attended on Saturday evening. As part of our training here, we have been assigned to work with several different churches in the Brussels metro area. We were assigned to a Church of Scotland in the Louise area of south Brussels. The pastor asked us to help prepare the vegetables and serve the meal. The supper is a fundraising event for the church – one of their largest in the whole year. The funds this year will be sent to Haiti for earthquake relief.

So, we spent an enjoyable evening with the members of the congregation peeling and chopping potatoes and turnips; these are transmogrified into “bashit neeps and champit tatties” before the supper starts. The following evening, we served tables and were allowed to partake in the supper. The opening prayer, called the Selkirk grace was:

Some ha’e meat and cannot eat,

Some can eat that want it;

But we ha’e meat an’ we can eat,

Sae let the Lord be thankit!

The “main event”, as well as the main course, was the haggis. When the cook declares that the haggis is ready, a bagpiper plays and leads a procession around the room. A Scot recites Robert Burns “Ode to a Haggis” and stabs the haggis with a sharp knife. Then the haggis is toasted with “a drap o’ the Cratur”. Speeches are given that memorialize Mr. Burns and his poetry; the lassies are toasted, the laddies are toasted, and several of Burn’s songs are sung. A rousing version of “Auld Lang Syne” caps off the event.

The piper, leading the haggis parade

The Address to the Haggis

Thanks for praying for us. We are being stretched and challenged in some very good ways. We will need all the tools we can get our hands on to tackle the mission God has given us.

2010-01-12T17:22:00.000+01:00

We are here! A little bedraggled, well may be not, since we did not really have a bed. The trip was mostly uneventful with arrival this morning at about 8:30. It was dark. We are staying about 10 minutes from the airport, in a hostel called Operation Mobilization. (Their main purpose is to house and feed groups that are being trained for missions.) We took a walk this afternoon into the small village. Our new puffy down coats were great! We were almost toasty.

We have been told that today and tomorrow will be somewhat easy days, but the days following will be packed. We will be given the schedule tomorrow.

Our New Living Space for the Month

The View from Our Room

Just Down the Street

We are Off! Well, Almost.

2010-01-11T18:45:00.001+01:00

Well, we are off, sort of. The bags are packed . . . and unpacked . . . and packed again as we went through the check in process. We sort of wondered why we bothered to get dressed before we arrived, but, oh well. We are now sitting in the Birmingham airport waiting for our plane to Atlanta and then on to Brussels.

As we are set to leave our hearts are swelling, full of emotion, and our eyes fill with tears at the thought of you. We feel so loved and blessed by you. Thank you for the many prayers and notes of love and encouragement you have sent. We are overwhelmed. In you we see the true love and beauty of the Church displayed. John wrote to saying that we should love one another. You have loved us well. We are so blessed that you would love us and support this call of God upon our lives through your prayers and gifts.

Oh, that we could take every one of you with us. That would be our joy! In a very real sense, we are taking you with us. Paul said that he and his supporters were workers together for the joy of the church; and so we, through you, have been given the privilege of working with you for your eternal joy.

Thank you for giving us the joy of going. In a very real sense our hearts break at the going and yet at the same time we are filled with the hope and anticipation of all that we look forward to seeing God do in the days, weeks and years ahead - all to the praise of His glorious grace and our (yours and ours) great joy.

So, What are Things Like There?

2009-12-08T18:33:00.000+01:00

You could probably stand in a local store in the Czech Republic and almost think that you are in your neighborhood Wal-Mart. Well, except for the fact that all the names have been changed to confuse the American. We have gotten quite a few questions about stores and what they have, so we thought we would include just a few pictures for you to see.

The store above is some what like the US Best Buy. It is located in one of the malls in Zlin. In the local Tesco, similar to our Wal-mart, we found washing machines, (pračky), microwaves (mikrovlnky) and refrigerators (ledničky).

We hope that we have one of the full size refrigerators in our apartment to store our milk, fresh bread and octopus. Well, octopus and other miscellaneous animals from the sea. What do you make with octopus? Yum.

The Greatest Adventure of Our Lives . . . .

2009-12-08T17:41:00.000+01:00

You know how we humans often long for something, think and pray for it and how our hearts often grow so attached to hopes and dreams of things to come? Yet often, when the thing longed for arrives, even though there may be a momentary experience of joy there is an emotional letdown. The thing, whatever it was, simply does not full fill the heart the way one expected. Rarely, is it more.

It seems as if this past year has been a journey of incredible proportions. We came home from English camp in 2008, knowing that we were planning to apply with Mission to the World and move to the Czech Republic. In a very real sense another journey had just begun.

We contacted MTW and they sent to us a lo-o-o-ng application to fill out. I think it covered every detail of our lives and then some. Our friends had to fill out questionnaires about us. Who are we? What are we really like? We had to take psychological tests. This was just the beginning of the approval process. We both began to think and pray about when to quit our jobs, tell our children, friends and a thousand other things that filled our hearts.

Our application was accepted and we were soon signed up for what is referred to as REV. Basically is it a week of evaluation. Little else can be said about it for once you go through this you are sworn to secrecy. For us the week was absolutely incredible. It was hard, but good. I wish that each of you had the opportunity to go through a week like this one.

At the end on the week Johnny and I had a meeting with one of the “assessors” of our team. He told us about the evaluation and said we had been accepted! (As I type the words, they sound rather boring, and dull. I would say that the words themselves were quite simple, but the emotions were anything but!) As the he left the room, Johnny and I looked at each other in amazement, overpowered by emotion. It was then we realized that we were just beginning what was going to be the greatest adventure of our lives.

This time the thing longed for has been more, far more. For, God is always more than we can ask or think. He is amazing.

Thoughts on actually moving to a foreign country

2009-11-13T01:39:00.000+01:00

For the past year, Annette and I have worked, trained, planned, and prayed with a single purpose in mind: get to the Czech Republic! Over the past few weeks, we have become increasingly aware that the departure we have hoped for in April 2010 is shifting from a nebulous idea into more of a solid reality. This has brought about two distinct responses, panic and excitement.

Panic arises internally from lack of faith, and externally from the daily, nagging reminders of all the stuff that needs to be done before we can leave. There are things to give away, cars to sell, decisions about what stuff to take and what stuff to leave, a Dave Ramsey video class to take, a month of cross-cultural training to attend, licensure exams to study for, ….. the list seems endless – hence, the panic. Although I suspect that each of these things can and will get done over the course of the next five months, every time we look at it, the to-do list looks like that 100 foot tall wave from The Perfect Storm - we fully expect that it will crush us under its overwhelming mass.

The excitement comes from seeing God at work. We have been incredibly blessed by God’s provision for our work through the generosity and encouragement of our fellow believers. Every time we extend ourselves even a little, God answers with such blessings that we gain fresh assurance of his calling and taste with anticipation what he wants to do in the Czech Republic. We see that part of what he wants to do involves change in us; this too is scary and exciting. Annette and I have been regularly amazed, humbled, and overwhelmed by God’s work in us and in others as we walk toward that not-so-fuzzy departure date.

Thank you for praying and giving.

October Newsletter

2009-10-08T00:25:00.000+02:00

In September we were blessed to be able to take some time out to visit with Annette’s Mom, cousins, aunts, and uncles in El Dorado, Arkansas and Lewisville, Texas. On Tuesday we spent the afternoon with her cousin Terry, Uncle Charles, and Aunt Sis. It was especially sweet to spend time with these relatives, as we don’t get to see them very often. My aunt Sis is someone who’s love for the Lord has always been the grounding point for her life. God has blessed me in a thousand ways through her. Not only did we enjoy our time spent with them, but we also were able to enjoy some of the cultural activities of El Dorado, eating a fresh hot Spudnut (a potato-dough doughnut that puts all others in the shade), and going out to Abe’s Feed House for all you can eat fried catfish. We also helped Mom, doing a few odd jobs, and further complicating her life by bringing her a computer, connecting her to the internet, and helping her to sign up for Facebook. Our hope is for her be more connected to us once we leave.

We are continually amazed by the doors the Lord opens to us. I think that God is always doing more than we can see and occasionally He allows us a tiny glimpse into His work. We know that this will sound somewhat strange, but in some sense we’re glad that we don’t have all our support in hand yet. Our tendency would be to stop going, talking, and pursuing this part of our journey. With the task complete why continue to speak? But, we have come to believe it is not just about raising support. This journey is also about what God wants to do in our hearts and the hearts of those to whom we speak. We do not know if He will use us to encourage someone else to answer a call to go on a short term mission trip, sign up to go with us, birth a heart of prayer for missions and God’s kingdom work, or one of a thousand other possibilities that we have yet to consider. But this we do know: God is always about more, usually much more than we can think or imagine. So, we continue this process and continue to rejoice in all the God is doing in the hearts of His people.

After our time in El Dorado, we went to Lewisville, Texas – a suburb of Dallas - to visit with several other relatives. We are not able to be with Edie and Don very often, but it is always a joy to visit them. We never expected all that they would do encourage and help us by introducing us to their friends, their Sunday School class, and their pastor. We were so warmly welcomed by all of these believers. Don arranged a meeting with their pastor on Sunday afternoon - the one day when pastors have so little time and so much time pressure. What a gift! Pastor Wells was so gracious and open to all we shared, and we were so blessed by his church.

Sunday evening we were able to visit with Jamie Peterson and the new church plant he is leading in Frisco, Texas. Our visit fell on the second Sunday that Christ Community Church met for worship. Jamie very graciously allowed us time in the service to share our calling and our work. Interestingly there was one young woman in his congregation that has been to the CR, to Brno - a city very near Zlin! It is so amazing to see the way God knits and weaves together His people. We seem to be running into people all the time who have been to the Czech Republic or have some connection there. So, we are continuing to follow as God leads in our contacts. We never quite know what to expect, only who to expect: God. He is continuing to do great things for the glory of His Name. Thank you, dear friends, for allowing us the joy of seeing Him at work in you. All to the praise of His glorious grace; grace, grace, amazing grace!

Zlín Part II

2009-08-15T16:54:00.000+02:00

Beekeeping

We also had the joy of visiting the Czech pastor, Rene and his wife Renata and their children. We once again were able to go with Rene out to the chata. Rene and Johnny enjoyed dressing up in beekeeping gear and checking out Rene’s bees. The field of the defining moment was even more beautiful this year than last. I would like to think that is part of God’s promised blessing. He promises abundant life, and that abundant life is found not in His gifts which are wonderful beyond measure, but in Himself. Following Him is worth everything.

Rene and Children

We were able to visit with Martin and Daša and spent a wonderful afternoon with them and their energetic daughter Krystyna in Luhačovice. As well as a short visit with Radká and Mirek in their home in Zlín. Each parting brought with it a longing to return quickly to this new home and church body where God is placing us. We continue to be humbled by the work God is doing in the hearts of His people. He is birthing new hope in their hearts, hope that God is near and that He has not forsaken them. Great is His faithfulness!

We spent time talking with everyone, asking advice, and trying to make decisions about so many different things. One big question seems to be what to bring and what to leave, as well as how much. So we spent time looking in a second hand furniture store, Asko (a furniture and mattress store), and Tesco (the Czech equivalent of Walmart) mainly to look at appliances. We spent most of our last day talking with 3 different organizations about our language learning. We are very encouraged by the wealth of possibilities that we found in Zlín.

Typical (??) Czech Living Room Chairs

In the afternoon Louise, Johnny and I had another appointment to look at some apartments in the area. We mainly wanted to get an idea of the size of our future living space, thinking that this would help us with the what to bring and what to leave question. The flats that we were shown are probably well outside of our price range and amazingly large. It is interesting to get a glimpse of how things like apartment hunting works here. It is a bit different. We are praying that God would put us in the place He wants us. It has helped tremendously to be able to talk over these details with everyone. So, as the train rolls out of Zlín taking us on to the days ahead, our hearts are full of wonder and amazement at our God. Following Him is surely the greatest adventure of all.

Zlín Part I

2009-08-11T20:45:00.001+02:00

Pictures of Zlin from the top of the 21 Building.

We have just left our new adopted home town of Zlín. We are traveling by train to Bechynĕ to visit with one of our dear friends from camp, Mirka.

We arrived in Zlín on Saturday after camp, tired yet full of hope for all that God will do in the hearts of our dear friends, old and new. Sunday worship was a bit different for us, in that the sermon was in Czech with no translation, as you would expect. But, that gives us all the more incentive to quickly learn to at least understand Czech, if not to speak it. Sid was very gracious to give us the songs the church sings on a CD. We hope to work through them, translating and learning, so that when we arrive we will at least be able to worship through song with some comprehension. Johnny is so far ahead of me in this area. But we both have so much to learn and are grateful that God enables us to learn more every day.

The Zlin Worship Team

Lunch after Church

We spent several days of our Zlín days enjoying time with Hans, Gretchen, Sid and Louise. They are probably tired of all of our questions, but are so gracious in answering and helping with everything. We all seem to be anticipating the joy of working together, watching God move and work in the hearts of His people. We live with great expectation because God is at work continually. What a privilege it is for us to come along beside these precious people who exemplify the sweet grace of Christ in every way.

Adventures at Summer Camp

2009-07-30T09:25:00.000+02:00

We have been in the Czech Republic for 13 days now. The first English camp is over and the second is half complete. The days are racing by - full of classes in the morning, afternoon activities, and the evening program. There are a few moments here and there for rest.

The first week of camp Johnny and I thoroughly enjoyed “teaching” the 2 and 3 year olds English. Vendi, one of our dear Czech friends, was an immense help to us. We could not have done it without her help. The children actually did learn a few English words. The word fish was one of the primary ones, as we had goldfish crackers to eat almost every day for the morning snack. So we would hear, “Fish, please” quite frequently. I remember sitting with one of the precious little ones on my lap, looking out over the town of Bystřice pod Hostýnem and thinking what a blessing it is to be given the opportunity to love and care for these children. We do not know exactly what God will do with the seeds sown in their hearts, but He does.

Recently I read the story of a young man. As a child he had heard the name Jesus in a summer camp sponsored by missionaries. Years later, he met others who spoke of this Jesus. Because of his contact with Christians earlier in his life, he wanted to hear more about this Jesus. He soon became a believer and is now a leader in his church. His story is just one example of the many ways God is at work to sow, plant and reap a harvest for Himself. I pray that He would do this very same thing in the hearts of the little ones we had to privilege to love and serve.

One evening during the week, Johnny and I had the opportunity to share our story of God calling us to the Czech Republic. Afterward, one of our friends asked to hear more and we shared our blog with him. As he read, tears began to fill his eyes; he looked up and said, “God has not forgotten the Czech people.” It broke my heart. Surely, God has not forgotten His people. His promise is that there will be a great, uncountable number from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

We have been overwhelmed and humbled by the hope and encouragement that has been expressed by our Czech friends. Our hearts are prompted to pray all the more fervently for the workers and harvest that is to come. We continue to be encouraged by the words of the Czech believers as they tell us their stories of coming to Christ. Over and over again, we hear how they began to read the Scriptures and God opened their eyes. So we pray that our God would cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to shine in their hearts.

The Defining Moment

2009-07-07T02:23:00.000+02:00

The defining day for us came on Monday when we visited with René and Renata Drapala and their family. René is the pastor of the Zlín Church. He took us out in the countryside to his chata. (A chata is a cabin built for the purpose of recreation. They range from the very basic to luxurious. Some are merely sheds made of whatever was at hand. ) Many Czechs garden, raise fruit trees, or simply relax and read when they go to their chata. René raises bees. We hiked up to his chata and spent a lazy morning enjoying the view and the neighbor’s sheep with him and his young daughter Viki.

A chata or two in the countryside.

Views from the chata

Before we left, René lead us up the hill through some trees to view a glorious field of wild flowers. As we stood there, Johnny says that he heard Smetana’s symphony Má Vlast, which means “My Country” in Czech, running through his head. That was when God spoke to him in an undeniable way about his specific call to the work in the Czech Republic.

Listen online at to the second movement of Bedřich Smetana’s symphony entitled the Vltava.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0lPLOeBzyA

2009-06-30T01:00:00.000+02:00

Johnny and I have been on this journey for almost a year now. This time last year we were planning what we thought was just our regular summer missions trip to the Czech Republic. We had no idea of the life-changing events God had planned for us on this trip.
It is always sweet to return to spend a week with our dear Czech friends, old and new. Camps are an intense week of teaching all morning, afternoon activities that usually do not include naps of any sort, evening activities of games, songs, testimonies given by different team members and talks given by Alan Carter, our pastor. After that, there is still much visiting and conversation that continues often late into the night. Then everything starts all over again around 6:00 in the morning. It is a great week filled with the sweetness of being together with friends, laughter, games, prayer times, worship and running on adrenalin.
After camp last year, maybe one of the best we had been privileged to participate in, we traveled home with Martin and
Daša Keller. We planned to take a few days and just relax. Martin and Daša are members of the little Church in Zlín, where Martin serves as a deacon. They live in the spa town of Luhačovice .

Two of the buildings we discovered in our walk along the stream in the spa town of Luhačovice .

You can find out more about the spa town if you follow this link.
http://www.luhacovice.cz/en/page/3455.summary/

The following link is to a brochure with pictures and tourist information for the area.
http://www.luhacovice.cz/upload.en/9/9f8c73340_luhacovice_english.pdf

The spa town in the territory of Luhačovice has 16 sodium hydrocarbonate acidulous springs and one sulphurous spring which bubble to the surface. Every hour, 15 thousands litres of mineral water reach the surface, containing a large amount of dissolved mineral elements, particularly sodium, calcium, magnesium, chlorine, bromine, iodine, carbonic acid, dissolved carbon dioxide. The temperature of the spring water fluctuates between 10 - 12 °C. The most famous springs, and often the goal for many walks and obligatory stops by spa guests are Vincentka, Aloiska, Ottovka, the springs of Dr. Šťastný and St. Joseph.

A view of the spa town of Luhačovice

How it all began: Blessing and Trouble, God's leading of a clueless people: Us

2009-06-16T16:13:00.000+02:00

God is always moving and changing, arranging and rearranging our lives so that we can see Him more clearly. He consistently uses situations and circumstances that we think little or nothing about, at the time, to change the course of our life. If you search the Scripture, you begin to see this all throughout. People going about their life's business, only to be met with the unexpected: God.

That is the way that this journey with God began. In 1996 Johnny's company, Barron Industries, was hired to install fans in a plant in Poland. He was charged with the responsibility to secure another Polish company to build some 40% of the manufactured product. Therefore, he was required to make several trips to review and secure the services of a Polish fan manufacturer.

As God would have it, the nearest major airport in and out of the area was Prague. Our church, Faith PCA, had a long standing relationship with Sid and Louise Anderson, who at that time were living in Prague. And Johnny, being Johnny, called them up and arranged to meet with them on his way through Prague. Sid and Louise welcomed him into their home and their lives. He was able on occasion to see some of the work that they were doing to plant a church in that city. This was exciting to see, but even then we were so clueless as to just how God would use this in our lives.

Because of problems with the fan installation, Johnny had to take many trips to Poland, probably a total of 10-12 in all over the next 2 years. On each of these, he would stop and visit with Sid and Louise. Their visits became the bright spot in the difficulty with the job. All the while, little knowing that God had even more planned.

In one of John Piper's books, he makes the comment that in the difficulties of life, God is at work, moving and changing our circumstances around so that He can bless us more. That truth is very difficult to see in the midst of trouble, maybe because we don't believe that God wants more for us than what we want ourselves. For all too often, I find that I would just be content if I had comfort. That was part of the struggle the Israelites had. They would trade the presence of God in their lives for the comfort they desired. Sad to say most of us still struggle with doing the same thing. We would like heaven on earth and be quite content if we had it, even without God. But praise be to our glorious, gracious and merciful God! He does not give us what we desire, but changes our desires, so that He becomes the desire of our hearts. Christ becomes our Life.

God wants us to see Him. Everything He does in our lives is all to that one great end. That is His promise to us upon the death of His Son. So, even in this difficulty there was more than we could have ever seen. His plan was still unfolding.