Wow - has it been that long?

Please forgive me for waiting so long to write to you again....to be honest, it has been very hard to write since my dad's death in December and I just haven't had the heart to write when I know he used to read it. God is very, very good though and has helped me now to break through this writer's block and continue to tell the story of Martin, Slovakia. So to that end I write:

I will never again look at black leather, skull and cross bone shirt, black bandana wearing biker people the same way again. I had the immense pleasure of spending the day on Sunday with 4 of these people and I will never forget them or the ride! Paul, one of the guys on the Serving Slovakia team, invited me to go on a motorcycle ride with a group of his English student's friends. (I think he thought I could help interpret for them a bit). Though I was a bit scared, I agreed to go and had the time of my life! I met Olga and her boyfriend Dusan, Jerry (Jaro), who was my driver, and John (Jan). These people were so kind....the guys treated me like a queen anticipating my every need and thinking of my comfort and safety the entire day! We traveled probably about 100 miles round trip from Martin to Bojnice to Kremnica to Terciansky Teplice and home again to Martin. We stopped in each town at John's favorite pubs and had colas and coffees and lunch. (In Slovakia there is zero tolerance for drinking and driving which makes for a very safe drive for us all). The Lord is so good!! Paul and I even had the opportunity to share the Gospel with them because of their soft and open hearts and God's leading and inspiration!!! Please pray with us for those men and Olga, that God will continue to bring His people into their lives to help them along the Way!

As I prepare for my departure from this place and these people, I want to focus on the things God has done here and is doing here. I want to focus on my faithful friends who have given their money and their hearts to me these past two years in support of the vision for Slovakia. And I want to focus on the many opportunities there are here to provide help, hope and home to these our friends. So, let this entry be the beginning!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

I know it's February, but I missed out on telling you all the neat things that happened here in Martin over the holidays...so I thought I should just tell you now!

Many of you may have heard about the first ever Christmas Sharing Tree being offered by the Lutheran church here. It was something completely new for them, but they took to it real well! The hardest part of the whole thing was getting people to ask for their needs or wants. We received a gift request for a family with 5 children....but all they would write down as a need or want is, "the children would be happy with anything the congregation wishes to give"....I think I can safely say that we were all touched and humbled by this humble request. It took a little doing but we managed to get the ages and genders of the children so that appropriate gifts could be purchased for them We also put gift tags on the tree for daily needs like soap, toothpaste and basic living items. The congregation at the church gave generously, with all sincerity of love and caring that Jesus, I'm sure, was very pleased with. May He bless them 10 fold for their generous spirit of giving!

Now...for the little hiccups.....and maybe I don't need to mention this, but I do because it shows a certain focus here in Slovakia about Christmas that I do not see back home in the states. I was, unfortunately, called home to my dad's side a few weeks before Christmas and was not here to facilitate the delivery of the Christmas gifts. Due to factors beyond anyone's control, the gifts were not delivered before Christmas. I was heart broken when I found out....but there really was nothing to be done. When I returned back to Martin the middle of January, I began the mission of trying to figure out how to get these gifts to everyone. Within a few weeks, we had the first of the families (13 children) delivered to....and they were so grateful, they didn't even care that the gifts were not delivered before Christmas - in fact, and this is what I want to share with you - Christmas here is about God and the gift He gave us, His Son Jesus the Christ. It isn't about Santa Claus and all the gifts he brings.....it is Baby Jesus who brings the gifts - and He can and does bring them all throughout the year!! What a fresh perspective! How incredibly joyous it was to deliver what I thought would be less than impactful gifts at a less than impactful time of year, to people who not only were impacted, but who impacted me!! God is so incredible - the gifts HE gives are timeless and always leave an impression of His love and goodness on us! Hallelujah!! Today - the last of the gifts were delivered and received with as much joy as if it were the 25th of December. Thank you Lord God for showing me the beauty of your plan, your wisdom and your love in sharing yourself with everyone everyday! Merry Christmas Everyone!

Choir

This is the new childrens choir that Ada (Andrea Borcovanova, Juraj's wife) is leading! They did a great job on Sunday! In other news, the Advent season is fast approaching and those of us in the adult choir (Larry, Brenda and I) have about 13 new songs to learn before we begin singing every Sunday from then until the end of the year! Pray hard!! :o)

Please Pray

There are so many people back home that are going through hard times, painful times, sad times, some are having truly heartbreaking times right now, that my heart is heavy. Will you please join with me in praying that God will be especially close to them and that He will give undeniable evidence of His deep and abiding Love for them? Thank you.

First Annual Harvest Food Drive

Well, we think it was a big success! The people of Martin, though they have never experienced giving in quite this way before, really embraced the concept of a food drive and gave very generously! We have done the preliminary work of unloading and organizing the donations onto shelves and now we will pack the food into the bags that Baumax graciously donated for the cause and get them delivered to the people who need them! We hope to have all this done by Saturday. Our prayer is that this will be an annual event at this time every year, please pray with us!

Bohdan and Zuzka
Friends outside of church
It keeps getting fuller and fuller!

Juraj showing everyone how much fun giving is!

God bless you richly!

WOW! What a great first year start to what we hopekeeps growing.

The Latest and Greatest....

Well, it was a busy week last week. So to quickly fill you in, I'll tell the story........then add the pictures later. One of the happy problems here (as Pastor Matt would say) is that both the Bible College and the Elementary School are running out of room to teach and play and meet. Michal and Bodhan (both Directors of the Bible School) have been looking for the last few years for a place that was affordable where they could grow into the Campus they desire to be. There have been a few options for them and they have had plans and dreams concerning a couple of different places, but either the timing wasn't right, or the money wasn't right, or the place was too far away to be useful in the community of Martin in the way they believe the Lord is calling them to be. So, they have patiently waited and prayed and waited. And it has pleased the Lord to answer their prayers with the best news possible! (Isn't that just like God to bless us immeasurably more than we could ever hope or dream of!) The news is that the City Council had a vote last week to determine the use of three buildings right behind the college dorm. Bohdan has been talking with the Mayor for months about using those buildings......and the Mayor believing in what the Bible School is trying to do here, has been talking to his council. On Thursday last week, the Council voted 24-1 in favor of leasing those buildings to the Bible School for the next 50 years at something like a euro a year! FREE basically!! For 50 years!!! It is the absolute best solution to this ever increasing (happy) problem of room to grow!

So, an architect by the name of Paul Snyder donated his time and talents to come here and draw up plans for how to build the campus to enhance and add to the charm of the City of Martin (and add to the numbers of those being saved by the work being done in this place!). And hopefully by December of 2010 the work can begin! There are tenants using at least one of the buildings now so we have to wait until they are out of the building to begin the actual rehabilitating....but time most quickly here, and 2010 will be here before we now it!

As for me, I have started teaching the City Hall folks as well as the college students and my private students so the year is in full swing. It has been a bit of a challenge getting schedules and times and appropriate materials together and meeting the needs of everyone involved, but God is Good.....and Brenda and Larry are coming soon, so I think everything is going to smooth out and calm down a little as I finish my last year here in Martin....but that's another post.

Baumax....

We are collecting food donations at the church for the next couple of weeks to do baskets for needy families in the community. This is a new thing in Slovakia....and therefore in Martin. The congregation isn't used to giving anything more than the regular offerings or tithe to the church. So, when it was announced last Sunday in church what we're going to do and how they could help, it was met with a little confusion maybe and uncertainty....and then a little excitement! It is to honor and worship Him and to thank Him for His abundant harvest lavished on us that we want to do this.
Our first donation came from an unlikely source...and it wasn't even food! The local home improvement store, Baumax, generously gave us 35 huge bags to put the food in to deliver to the families....They had never heard of such a thing at Baumax...actually they had never heard of the Lutheran church or the Bible school....but when Sisa and I went to talk with the manager about donating some bags, he was eager to do it....and...now he knows about the Lutheran church and the Bible school - and we know about him!
Please pray for the harvest we share with the community to reap a bountiful Harvest for Him!