Tomorrow is a better day...

Restless nights (not entirely sure about the quality of mattress I've been given) have so far haunted my stay here, with a few people here and there saying that I look tired. I'm praying that this is now sorted, that I've found the problem and everything will be well from now on in. This is mostly because the type of work that's going to be involved over the next week will be filled to the brim with labour jobs, as we enter the third day of MMM on Monday.

Saturday got off with a flying start, where teams were given orientation lessons, then shown how teamwork within the missions trip can lead to some truly positive outcomes. What filled the rest of the afternoon was the Amazing Race, where four teams from the Canadian missions group (plus one Slovak) competed with each other to finish first and gain the most amount of points doing it (bonus points for creating a human pyramid, catching a pigeon...). Everyone had a great time doing it, including the leaders. Fun part for us was when one of the teams beat Christina and I to a location, where we hadn't quite put down the clue box somewhere...

Sunday was a time for worship and thankfulness, with Ryan (leader of the Canadian missions group) leading in the morning and also again in the 'special edition' evening service. Throughout the day we engaged in prayer together, basing it on our prayer meetings during the week - purpose of the mission; God's faithfulness; opportunities that God provides; people and God's protection. By the end of the night, the congregation was buzzing and you could tell that everyone involved wanted to give it their all.

We finished off Sunday night by celebrating Betka's birthday. Betka is Christina's best friend in Slovakia and it was great to be involved with the making of the cake (last minute preparations included looking up a recipe on Wiki-how) and helping to present. The cake was delicious... I'm blessed with my bride to be! ;-)

It Begins

Yes, the outreach we have been planning for the past year is FINALLY upon us! The Canadian teams have arrived and some of the Slovak volunteers will be making their way in the morning and orientation begins. Crazy. I can't believe it's actually happening! Please keep us in your prayers.

Focus for prayer: Unity. Saturday is orientation - introducing everyone to each other: Slovaks, Canadians and a Brit... various age categories, various experience in ministry and missions. Pray that we will stand together as one. That the Lord would bind us together.

Gearing up!

So, one of the teams for the "I Love My City" Campaign is already on their way to Nitra! Next week we will need your prayers more than ever as we team up with 2 teams from Canada, the church here and numerous individuals from various surrounding churches to bless Nitra. We are going to be running a kids camp, cleaning up the playground/park of a community centre, handing out free hotdogs at the fair and doing garbage cleanup at said fair. All this to show love to our fair city and build in roads into the community. Please join with us in prayer as we gear up and believe God for great things next week!

Me, Myself and Crisco

So.

I arrived on Saturday in Bratislava, only to be whisked away once again by my waiting fiancée to her rented apartment in Nitra. There, Christina dropped me off and said ‘Bye!’ before driving to her friend’s house, where she’s staying until the wedding. This meant leaving me alone with her cat, Krisco.

Very affectionate moggy, is Crisco. After about ten minutes I was covered with so much moulted cat hair that I felt like I was wearing a quilt. Lying in bed at 1am, all I can hear is this ‘thrrp, thrrp’ noise as he’s grooming himself. And at 5am he head-butts me in order to get me out of bed and feed him. He doesn’t ‘miaow’, but the noise he makes sounds as if he’s asking one of these questions:

• Food?
• Love?
• Both?

He also likes to play. This usually means scratching you in some sort of way. On one visit to Nitra, he got me all the way from my elbow to my wrist. No hard feelings, right? He’s fit too, unlike some housecats… graceful, effortless movement will take him from the floor straight into your lap or the nearest pillow that you’ve just cleaned.

But the upside is the purring. It’s like the world’s purest contentment put into one furry bucket of spit and hair. It makes you feel good and all the differences that you had ten minutes ago – get off my pillow, get off my clothes, get off my lap, get off the floor looking like a draught excluder – kind of vanish.

I can get used to him. Mostly because the life I'm going to lead later on will have far greater challenges than Crisco. And I can't help but have the nagging feeling that I'd miss him if he went...

JC (under CC's computer name!)

28 Days...

Unlike the Sandra Bullock movie, my 28 days are counting down towards something great! :) 28 days until I will forever change my name and my life. 28 days of singleness. 28 days of stress and preparation!

But, in the midst of the shopping trips to IKEA, the checking off of names and items, and all the stress that that entails, I was most pleasantly overwhelmed last night with a surprise bridal shower!

Last night, I thought I was going to my friend's Matt and Amber for our semi-regular games night. I had just been to the pool and wasn't looking all that gorgeous, but oh well, it's just Matt and Amber! But, so my surprise, there were 15 of my closest girl friends from several different cities hiding away inside their apartment! I was the object of a conspiracy; apparently this has been brewing for weeks and weeks now!

The night was long and fun, embarrassing and hilarious, sensitive and moving, and overall, a WONDERFUL experience. Thanks guys! You're the best!

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Engagement Photos