Thoughts on actually moving to a foreign country

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

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

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

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.