A couple of years ago, our team decided to host several
Ladies’ days each year. These are designed to bring the ladies in our church
together with their un-churched friends and neighbors for some fellowship,
fun, and a brief introduction to the gospel. Just a week ago, we offered
another ladies’ day and about fifteen women came. The atmosphere was warm and
encouraging, the food was delicious, and Annette’s talk was well received. 
The leaves are really showing off right now. We’ve had a
beautiful fall. The countryside around Zlin is full of stunning views. During a
hike around the city to take in some of that beauty, I ran across an
interesting memorial to 19 men who had been part of the Czech resistance in
World War II. These men gave their lives for the freedom of their country. The brief
explanation of the monument ends with these words, “They did not hesitate to
sacrifice their lives for our future. We thank you.” This eulogy was a little
reminder of Christ’s work for us. 
We just got back from our annual planning retreat with the
leaders of the church we serve. It was a great time of prayer and discussion of
the past and the future. It seemed to us that God blessed our short time
together with some encouraging memories of his work among us during the past
year and some good ideas about how to move forward. A feature of the retreat
for the past several years has been a short hike in the countryside. We have
included some pictures of things we saw along the way, including some haystacks,
a teepee (!!), and an old Subaru used as a mini-greenhouse. 
