Nitra and Us

We've Moved!!!

2009-09-07T14:05:00.003+02:00

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An intense, awesome week!

2009-09-04T22:27:00.012+02:00

Milujem Moje Mesto has successfully come to an end in Nitra! The last day consisted of a 5am start then rain, rain and more rain as our team worked around the fairground area near to the community centre, cleaning up the rubbish and general waste left by everyone the day before. Later on, Kids’ Camp had their own slot on the stage, which included singing, dancing, games and a bit of theatre thrown in for good measure. The team made balloon animals for the kids and hotdogs were given out to the nearby crowd. Throughout all of this, we prayed for the weather to ease up as we could only do so much because of the storm.

In the afternoon, the Canadian teams left to take a tour of Bratislava – taking our numbers from around twenty-five down to seven. This is when the weather really started to dry up, local people started to come out and more rides were switched on. Bags of food donated from Convoy of Hope were given out to surprised passer-bys and coffee was offered to those drenched by the miserable weather. More balloon animals were given out, more food – what seemed to be a day that was going to be a let-down was a joy by the end!

After over a week of painting, mowing, scything, cutting, digging, machines breaking down, intense heat, cementing, keeping our spirits up and imploring God to move within, the icing on the cake was when the Vice-Mayor of Nitra spoke at our church, thanking everyone for what they had done. Lessons were learnt during the week, but more importantly hearts were reached – within the team and around the community. We love our city! :-D

Tomorrow is a better day...

2009-08-23T23:41:00.005+02:00

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

2009-08-21T23:52:00.004+02:00

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!

2009-08-19T15:47:00.001+02:00

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

2009-08-18T11:13:00.001+02:00

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...

2009-08-15T13:42:00.002+02:00

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!

2009-08-03T15:10:00.000+02:00

Please click on the link above, or look in the Newsletter sidebar to download my BRAND NEW NEWSLETTER!!

Engagement Photos

2009-08-01T11:32:00.004+02:00

A Home of Our Own

2009-07-09T16:32:00.004+02:00

As you all know, our church in Nitra, Mozaika, has been pretty transient for the past couple years. From my home, to AgroInstitute, to a home, to the VBC and now to its current home, where we share the building of the Brethren Church here. This is something that has been on our pastor, Miro's heart for some time, and that is to buy land. This would end our nomadic days, giving our church stability for growth and for witness, but also to tell the city and the enemy, that we are here that we are a part of this city, and we are not going anywhere!

This endeavour is quite difficult because the Catholic church here owns more of the city than the City does! Also, because no bank will grant a non-profit organization a loan for a mortgage, we have to be creative! :) But, it seems like God is providing a way for His church. In meetings with the city planning council, we have been offered to buy a portion of land in a new development that is being built is the main residential area of the city, Klokocina. Right now, this offer has not been publicized, so, the price is very reasonable. That does not, however, include building costs. This will be a huge undertaking for our small church, but, we believe that God has provided us the favour from City officials, and this opportunity to buy.

This location would be very strategic for the Kingdom, as it will be in the heart of the residential area where most families live. It will also be across the street from a starter-home complex, where the City provides young families who are financially struggling, a home for a few years to help them get on their feet. So, we would always have families, kids and youth. Our church would be a community centre during the week, where we could have kids programs, youth hangouts, a place for mother's to come with their toddlers and much more. Since this property is quite narrow, we would need to build up, and so, we would be able to use the ground floor to host a cafe or another type of business, which would help generate revenue for us to pay off the costs of the building faster.

This is a very exciting development, but please keep us in prayer as our deadline to buy the land is the end of this calendar year.

Pre-Marital Counselling

2009-07-09T14:36:00.002+02:00

I have just arrived back from having a week long intensive pre-marital counselling session. James and I went to meet this couple for the first time, and were challenged to be very open and very honest right from the get-go. Our days were full, but I can already see what a difference it has made in our relationship. We were also challenged to talk about certain things that we hadn't even thought of before! It also brought us much closer together, and we are both so excited for the next phase of life and ministry together!

Combinations are Good!

2009-06-23T11:19:00.005+02:00

This past Sunday we had a joint service with the Nove Zamky church, they packed a bus and various cars in order to join us for church. We also had a packed service... a baptism, a commissioning of one of our members into pastoral ministry, a band from Holland, a barbeque and a sports event! It was full, it was busy, but it was a success. A time of life commitments and declarations, and a time of celebration and family.

Open Cities

2009-06-17T22:03:00.002+02:00

Today I received the very unique opportunity to talk to some of the regions key people as far as migration to Slovakia is concerned. Open Cities is a 3 year project which "explores how immigration can significantly contribute to a city's success." together with the British Counsil and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the region of Nitra. I was invited to participate in a panel discussion about why and how I came to be in Slovakia, as well as some of the challenges I had to face in coming. So, in addition to speaking about some of my experiences of going for a chest x-ray for the first time, and being sent from one government office to the next, I also shared about why I am here personally. While I wasn't given a lot of freedom to share, I was able to tell them about the grace of God, and the vision that I believe that God has for Nitra and for Slovakia. I also got to mention our church, which still isn't very well known in the city by the general populous.

During the lunch break, I found out that one of the delegates was from our church, but in Bratislava. I was also able to make new connections with a young couple and a few other people who were at this conference.

I was very glad to be a part of this, these people are going to be, over the next 3 years, making pushes to change the way Nitra reacts to foreign migrants. They will be lobbying for the creation of new systems and legislation, as well as pushing for changes to be made in existing structures and patterns. I was very blessed to have this opportunity to share about the kingdom, even if it was just in a small way, to this community of people. I hope that they will call me again!

Spanish Flavour!

2009-06-15T10:47:00.002+02:00

Through our connection with the University, I have come to know one young lady by the name of Laura from Spain. She is here on a grant from the Spanish Government and is working in the Institute for Plant Genetics in Nitra. Over the past month or so, I have had the opportunity to share with her on a number of occasions about Christ. Please pray for her, as I sense that a breakthrough is not far for her. The last time we talked, I expressed to her about how great God is, about how He can take a life and change it, make it whole. As I was sharing, she was touched and began to cry. She came with me this Sunday to church, which was a bit of a shock for her. Her only exposure to the church has been through the Catholic Church, so it was definitely not what she was expecting! :) Others have also had the chance to share their life stories with her, and I believe that God will take this seed and cause it to grow. She leaves to go back to Spain in 2 weeks time, please pray that God will reach her heart!

National Church Business Mtg

2009-05-23T17:45:00.002+02:00

Oh, this sounds boring, but I assure you... it was much better than it sounds. Picture this.... one room, 130 people, of which are every pastor of every church in the country plus a number of chosen delegates to represent these churches. These delegates were all in church leadership, most were church elders. We opened in worship in song, and it was such a beautiful presence of God's spirit.

We also had matters of business to attend to, as this meeting only takes place every 3 yrs. But, that was OK. There was also time of reflection on the past 3 years, what God has done, what changes have been made and how we have grown. A time to set vision for the future. Also, a time to look at what we are doing presently around the country. Here were a couple things that stood out to me:

1) Bible Translation into the Roma language. This project has been going on for the past 1.5 yrs and they already have a number of New Testament books already translated. (Acts, Mark, James and a few others) The translator translates 20 verses every day, rain or shine, into a language that has an abundance of verbs, but very few nouns. Good luck!

2) Puchov Church Plant: This is a plant that is in the North-West part of Slovakia. They have built a multi-purpose building as a church, and have received incredible support for their building project... but, they MUST finish the outside of the building and the land surrounding (by order of the city) by June 30, or they risk losing it all. They are looking for someone who can scaffold, and who can do the facade of the building. They had a guy who was going to help them, but just this week he backed out. CAN YOU HELP?

3) Prievidza: population over 60,000 people with no evangelical witness. One of the biggest challenges for the Gospel in the country currently. Who will go? Pray for workers to be sent into the harvest!

This was also a time for me to recharge my vision for this country, and for our city. I recieved a number of ideas that I would like to investigate further. I was also so encouraged just to be with brothers and sisters I don't see very often. So blessed also to be a blessing!

God bless you as you pray for this country!

Change of Plans

2009-05-13T21:47:00.003+02:00

Yesterday was our final discussion club night of the semester. What we didn't realise was that the school year finished last week... so, we weren't quite sure how many people would even show up. In the end, only 1 student came. But we had 4 other people there, who were of working age. So, students or not, we still had a decent turn out. And, they were all men! Betka and I were the only females in the room! So, the girls ran the show for the guys!

Anyway, our theme was Honesty and Integrity. I am not even sure how it happened, but we started to talk about God quite directly. My colleague from the language school, Lubo, came and he always comes with a lot of questions... about everything! So, when the topic was moving onto more spiritual matters, he latched onto that and started asking about faith and Christ and how we experience God and salvation and everything in between. Our pastor, Miro, was also in attendance, and he ended up sharing his testimony and giving him a very clear presentation of the Gospel. I know that the Holy Spirit was present, because typically Lubo doesn't give you a lot of time to answer the question he's asked you, before he gives you another one! But last night, he listened and asked, and listened some more. He also seemed very touched by what he was hearing. Please pray for him, that the Holy Spirit would lead him to Himself!

Thank you for your prayers for us and for this ministry, it's because of those prayers these opportunities become available. And it is only by prayer that this will follow through!

God changed the plans on us last night, but, we didn't mind at all!

Jailbird Evangelist!

2009-05-09T23:13:00.002+02:00

Peter Slany is a young man from Teen Challenge, a Christian drug/alcohol addiction rehabilitation centre. Before entering the program, Peter had been convicted of a crime, and a couple months ago, he began his jail term. He was a little nervous about going to prison, he had given his life to Christ and was afraid of slipping back into that old lifestyle. But, now we see that he has done the exact opposite. While in jail he feels himself growing closer to God, and he even led one of his fellow in-mates to Christ! Peter's last name, Slany, means "salty". We can see that he is living up to his name by being salt and light, even in prison! Please continue to pray for Peter as he continues his sentence.

Engaged!

2009-05-05T15:28:00.004+02:00

Yes, it is true, my marital status is changing! For the past number of months I have been seeing a very wonderful man, and this weekend, he proposed! :) His name is James Clapham, and he is from Leighton Buzzard, England. He is 30 yrs old and is a Technical Quality Officer by trade. He loves Jesus with his whole heart, and has also found that he has a heart also for Slovakia and Nitra. After getting married he will move here, and we will stay here and serve God in His vision for the city until we're told otherwise! Please pray for us as we seek the Lord and enter into a marriage together. Thank you!

Discussion Club Update

2009-04-23T13:30:00.003+02:00

In one of my last emails, i asked for your prayers regarding our Discussion club. We were experiencing a drop in numbers, but also, a drop in regular attendance. I am pleased to report that while our numbers aren't where they once were, we've gotten more people coming back regularly, which is very encouraging for us. We are able to really invest into these people and to build a strong relationship with them.

If you're curious about the content of the club, here's the recap from the last one! :)

100 years ago, it was not so rare for a person to be born, live, work and die in the same place. Now, with open borders and cheap airline tickets, the whole world has become accessible to us, and now it is more likely that people will live, study, marry and die in totally different places. The concept of "home" has now changed. This was the theme of our talk this week.

Discussion 1:
- What would cause you to leave your city? country? (wife/job/opportunity/adventure)
- Where would you go? Not go?
- Have you ever lived in another culture? What did you like? Not like? Was it hard to adjust?
- Is immigration in your family?
- What are your thoughts about immigration?
- How do you view other cultures in your nation? How has it changed your home culture/country?
- What has your experience with travel been?
- Do you have friends who are a part of a visible minority?

But, living in such a "small" world does have it affects on us. We are introduced to new things such as, jet lag, culture shock, home sickness and the like. Things that our ancestors never had to deal with. Also, the whole concept of "home"...

Discussion 2:
- How important is your nationality to you?
- How does it affect your identity?
- Have you ever experienced jet lag?
- If you live away from home, how do you relate to your friends/family back home?
- Do you have the travel bug?

Our guest, Sheldon, concluded our club by telling us about his experiences with traveling a lot for work and life. He said that for him, wherever you go, you have to know what home is for you. For him, it is where there are people who love and accept him. He could be anywhere in the world, so long as he had that. Also, being a believer in Christ has caused him to have "family" everywhere in the world, and that's a great thing!

Thank you for keeping us in prayer! :)

Recovery!

2009-04-07T15:54:00.002+02:00

I just want to thank you all for your prayers and encouraging emails! My surgery went well with no complications. My gall bladder was successfully removed, stones and all! I was in the hospital for 4.5 days, and then was sent home! I am getting stronger every day, but I am still in a bit of pain and my energy levels are still lower than normal. But I PRAISE GOD for His goodness, and also for how fast I am recovering and for His protection over me while on the table!

Please also pray for our Young Adult Club, we are experiencing a drop in numbers, and really need your prayers! But even at that, there is still always at least 1 non-believer, so, that is still encouraging!

Hospitals and Churches

2009-04-07T15:49:00.004+02:00

On the morning of March 25 at 8:30 Slovakia time, after midnight
Alberta time,I'll be going for gall bladder surgery. Please pray
for a smooth operation anda fast recovery.
 I'm in the Bratislava hospital if anyone feels the desire to
fly over and pay me a visit!
My Dad has come over to help me at this time,
for which i am thankful.   

In other news, I have a huge praise item. The church in
Nove Zamky won the bid to buy their building! For the
past 12 years they have been renting one part of a
3-part building. There was also an administration
building and a disco in addition to the space we used
for church. We knew that we wouldn't be able to rent
forever, and the time came where we had to
either buy or move out.

There were 6 other companies bidding for this
property, God have the leadership a number to submit
on the bid, and we won by a very thin margin!
This property has so much potential and is such a
huge blessing! All we have to do now is to find the
money to pay for it. But we believe that if God made such
a miracle for us, He isn't going to leave us now holding the bag.
We need God to provide 1.13 million Euro. Which is a
big number to my eyes, but not for God!

Please join with us in praising God for His provision!

Turbulencia and a New Home for Mozaika

2009-02-05T15:42:00.004+01:00

Mozaika is the name of our church, and we have a new home. Oh, the history we have. Last Fall when we started meeting at the VBC, they told us, "For sure a month, maybe till the end of the year... maybe 2 or 3 years." So, at the end of Dec, they told us that Jan would be our final month. Just recently have we found a new solution. God has opened the door to us to share Krestanske Zbori's church. This is the same church where the AB Women's Team went to to wash windows! They have generously offered us the building to meet in after their services, they have also made available to us the kitchen and the rooms for the kids. This is an AMAZING blessing and answer to prayer. This is also a huge step as far as the Church in Nitra is concerned. In the past the churches haven't had a very good relationship with one another, so this offer of partnership is a massive gesture. They have always been very kind and welcoming of us, and this is one more sign of the Church of Christ coming together!

Turbulencia 009 was our first ever church family conference, where the congregations of all the churches in our network (Nove Zamky, Nitra, Sala, Zlate Moravce, Komarno)meet. In the past this has been a regional youth conference, and it still had that flavour to it. It was a great time of experiencing the Holy Spirit together. I had some really cool moments praying with various people, and the presence of God was incredibly tangible. It was great! Praise God!

Happy 2009

2009-01-03T17:35:00.003+01:00

Well, the bells rang midnight, signalizing the beginning of 2009... which brought many new things, a new day, a new year, a new currency... Yes, Slovakia is now officially in the Euro Zone, and whether or not that was a good decision, only time will tell. It was very interesting though, I went to the store to buy some juice and although I can pay in Slovak koruna, my change will be given in Euro. But not only that, but my Slovak koruna which I paid with, was placed into a locked box, just like a raffle ticket. That is it. That is the last time that that bill will be used as legal tender. It will get passed onto the bank and who knows what they will do with it. Destroy it? File it? Get stamped five times before being put into the depths of the mountains perhaps?

To start off the new year, I thought that I would start with a fast, to seek God and His will for the future... this year in particular. If anyone wishes to join me in such, please do so!

I think one of my favourite moments in New Years though is watching the fireworks from up the mountain. Everyone in town buys fireworks, and so the whole city looked like it was on fire! There were so many coming from so many different places, I didnt even know where to look! One of my friends made the observation that if Nitra was ever sieged, this is prob what it would sound like. To which I replied that he was probably right, but unlikely that we would be standing up there to watch it!

Happy New Year! God bless you and yours in 2009!

Christmas Newsletter

2008-12-22T16:43:00.001+01:00

Click on the title to download my newest newsletter!!!

Our last Club

2008-12-17T12:36:00.000+01:00

Last night we had our last Club for 2008, and we had a really good turn out. The past couple weeks we have just had one big group for discussions, but this week we were able to go back to 2 groups! I think the theme for the night was part of the reason we had so many people come... who doesn´t have stress, and who doesn´t want to get rid of it???

So, Matt led us in our evening of Stress. He talked about how it impacts all levels of life.

- the individual experiences the effects of stress. It takes a toll on our minds, bodies and spirits.

- stress causes physical problems such as hyper tension, migraines, joint pain, back aches

- emotionally stress is linked to depression, substance abuse, and feelings of anger, frustration and hopelessness

- stress has a negative impact on the workplace and economy. The World Health Organization says that stress is a "worldwide epidemic". Statistics Canada says that 40% of job turnover is stress related and stress costs the Canadian economy $12 million each year. The American economy loses $300 billion each year.

- it impacts interpersonal relationships. How many fights have we had because one person was a little stressed out

Stress does not always come from negative events. Any change and the adaptation it requires can cause stress. Stress can be a part of adapting to any change - good or bad. Sometimes even thinking about these changes can cause stress.

Then we did a stress test... 2 dolphins, how many differences do you see? The more you see, the more stressed you are!

Then we watched the response of some people to stress...
Which brought us to our first discussion....
- What are your stressors?
- What causes you stress?
- How do you know when you are experiencing stress? What is your pattern of stress.
- How do you react to it?

Then we wanted to talk about ways of dealing with stress...
- Try being active. Exercise and physical activity releases endorphins that naturally combat stress and puts tense muscles to work. Being physically tired may also help you sleep
- A little emotional release can be a good thing: crying and laughing releases the same endorphins
- Watch a funny movie / sad movie. go to see a comedian. go somewhere private and let yourself cry etc.
- A hobby or project to direct your energies into and take your mind off of things.
-foods rich in antioxidants are good: Potatoes, cantaloupe, strawberries, raw cabbage and citrus fruits
-Magnesium helps a lot to manage your stress level. Green vegetables like spinach, almonds and seeds are the best source of magnesium.
- Use time management techniques like using a calendar or writing yourself reminder notes / plan your day ahead to be efficient
- Try a new, creative idea to an old problem (even if it seems a bit crazy)

here´s one more method....

Discussion 2:
- How do you cope with stress?
- How should you cope with stress?
- How do you see other people coping with stress?
- What helps you best to cope with stress

Then Matt told us about how he was so stressed once that his eye started twitching, but he was still in denial that he had stress! That is, until his wife sat him down and told him the truth about his state, and he was able to confront his stress and do something to change the situation!

Then, we discussed another method of dealing with stress... which is to eat cookies! So, we did!

This was our last club for this year, but we are already excited for our FIRST CLUB of 2009 which will be on 17.02 at 18:30. Thank you for praying for this Club! I hope you were able to get a good feel for the tone of our clubs!

Convoy of Hope

2008-11-18T11:43:00.004+01:00

So, just this weekend we hosted the Convoy of Hope. This is an organization that works alongside churches in order to help them reach their mandate to serve the poor and needy in their communities. So, they sent us a truck full of canned food (soup, baby food, some desserts...) and a team of 20 people from the US to help.

The truck pulled in at about 9:30 Saturday morning, and between the 20 Americans, 10 people from church, 10 guys from Teen Challenge, some kids from the street and 15 people from the Catalyst Leadership Training program, it took us 7 hours to unload the truck.

We passed package after package of canned goods as an assembly line from the parking lot into the VBC building. After lunch, we loaded up 2 vans and took 2 trips to deliver some of this food to various social institutions in the city, like the homeless shelter and the deaf society. I was on this team.

While we were out delivering, the majority stayed behind and packed individual packages to deliver door to door, which we did on Sunday after church. That was really great to be a part of... taking the church and the american team, and going together to minister to our community. Showing them that we aren't just out to serve ourselves, but others. Showing them the love of God in a practical way. We shortened church and made this distribution a part of the service. It was great.

One really cool story that I can tell you about this distribution, was when we made our delivery to a home for homeless families (or just mothers) with children. The boys from this home came out to help us unload the van, which was so cute. But, as we were there, the director told us that right at that moment, these families had nothing to eat. That had we not come, they wouldn't have had anything. Wow.

As we were going door to door, we met with many types of people: those who were angry and didn't want anything from us, those who turned us down, others who cried and recieved it gladly, and those who rushed the van, calling their neighbours to come and take a parcel.

Please pray that God will use this event to bring people closer to Him.

News...

2008-11-06T15:40:00.004+01:00

OK... I know you have all been waiting in deep suspense about what is happening over here. So, I shall keep you waiting no longer!

About the church, we are still at the VBC Business Centre, Miro was able to procure a massive space heater, which will serve us well for now anyway. But, this is still just a Band-aid over a much bigger issue. They have still decided not to allow us to stay beyond December, so... keep praying!

In other news, I am moving! I have a new apartment, 2.5 rooms, 85m2, newly renovated, close to the centre of town and .... for a little less money! Woo! I just signed the contract this morning.I take possession on the 14th of Nov, but I prob won't actually move until the 21st/22nd - I have my current apartment until 3. Dec. So I can take my time with moving... here are some pics of the new place that the realtor sent me.

Being Evicted???

2008-10-28T23:26:00.001+01:00

Alright, so yesterday afternoon, my landlord was standing in my driveway with 2 other men. Strange I thought, but whatever. I walked up to them with much apprehension and my landlord said, "Oh hello, I am so glad that you are here. We want to talk to you. That man there is an Austrian, and he will pay double what you are paying for this apartment. You're not able to meet that are you?" She then proceeded to tell me that I would have 2 weeks to move out. She mentioned that the other man with the Austrian is a realtor and he would be more than willing to help me find a new place, as well, she also owns another apartment in town which I could also check out and move in immediately.

At this moment in time, I was actually on my way out to take a friend to the airport, and we were already late in leaving. So, I was trying to recover from this gut-wrenching event, while driving on the highway. Not fun. I have since looked at our contract, and, as it turns out, they have to give me 2 months notice and according to the law, it should be 3 months. I am really hoping this doesn't get ugly. Part of me just wants to go and maintain the peace. So, I am looking for a new place for me and my roommates to live...

My apartment was a huge blessing, not only to me, but to others as well. Also, my rocky relationship with my neighbours has really improved over the past few months, which was very encouraging to me. But, this just goes to show again, that we cannot hold on to anything of this world too tightly, and to always be prepared for whatever could happen. Over this past year, I have come up against challenge after challenge. From my car breaking down, to being a victim of fraud, to my computer crashing... and God has shown Himself faithful again and again, and has showed me that He IS taking care of me. I believe that this will be another case of this.

Pray for me.

Goodbye to the VBC

2008-10-28T23:21:00.002+01:00

Sigh... this past Sunday was our last Sunday at the VBC Business Centre. After refusing to turn on the heating for us for the winter and not to allow us to stay beyond the end of December, Miro decided that it was best for us to go now. We have pregnant mothers and small children, and it is simply too cold already. So, Miro is on the search again for a place for us to meet. He is also looking into a long term solution as well, buying, as extraordinary of a project that would be, it is looking like more and more the direction God would have us walk in. Please remember us.

The dreams we dream

2008-10-08T21:23:00.002+02:00

This was the theme of our first club this semester, which happened yesterday! We had a full house which was great, and I think everyone had fun!

We watched a couple inspiring videos about a couple young people who had dreams, who worked against adversity, and who saw their dreams come true.

We talked about the dreams we have, what is preventing from dreaming BIG dreams, why people give up on their dreams and even the point behind dreaming at all.

Liz talked about how she had a dream to open a music school, and about how hard she worked in order to achieve her dream. Then, just as things we starting to really go well, she was asked to give up this one dream in order to achieve an even bigger dream. But the fulfilling of her bigger dream meant closing her school and going into a new area of her life that was less certain and required a lot more faith in God in order to stick with it.

Then we talked about whether or not our dreams were worth fighting for, at what cost. Also, if they would be willing to sacrifice their dreams for someone or something, and of course, what happens when our dreams don't come true.

Here are some pics from the event:

VBC meets Mozaika!

2008-09-30T09:33:00.005+02:00

Here's a prayer update for you. This past Sunday we were in the VBC Business Centre! It is a great place: the location, the facilities, the size... it's wonderful. But please continue to pray for us. They have only guaranteed us this room for October, perhaps till the end of the year, perhaps for 2-3 years! There is another business that wants to use this room, and they would use it 24/7 and would be able to afford to pay for such. So, it depends on how they decide what our fate will be. The maximum amount of time that we could stay in the VBC would be 2 or 3 yrs because they have plans to demolish that part of the building in order to build an administrative tower.

Let's pray that the last purpose this room will serve will be as a Temple!! Pray also for our future building, whether that means from Nov, from Jan or in 2/3 yrs time!

Thank you for your faithfulness in prayer. I have been very encouraged by the emails that I have received from many of you. Thank you.

They're BACK!

2008-09-25T10:53:00.004+02:00

Ahh, the end of September... it can only mean one thing... the summer has gone and the students have come back! Tues started the first days of school, and their presence could be felt immediately. When the population of your city increases overnight by 30%, you feel it!

Pray for us, we're gearing up for the beginning of our Discussion Club, which starts on Oct 7. We're hoping for a good semester, for lives to be touched and changed!

For now...

2008-09-15T12:05:00.004+02:00

Thank you for your prayers regarding a place for us to meet on Sunday. Yesterday we met in the home of one of our church members, Peter and Adka Stolarik. They have a very large and very nice home, and we all managed to meet in there quite nicely. I thought we might be fewer in number, but I was told after that we had 30 adults! So praise God! The devil might try to stop what God is doing, but it's not going to happen! We had a great time of worship together: singing, praying, taking communion together, fellowship, learning more about God together. It was rich with the presence of God, and love for one another. It was great! Felt like family.

As far as next steps are concerned, we are waiting to hear back from VBC, a business centre here in town, whether or not we can rent a space from them.

Pray with us please, one thing that we, as a church are dedicating ourselves to for the next 3 weeks is to fasting and prayer for what's to happen next. Miro has a building of our own on his heart. This would be a good declaration, spiritually, to actually have a piece of land dedicated to God. As well, it would be a fabulous tool that we could use. But, as I mentioned, we will be fasting and praying for the Lord's leading in this area. A building project is a major undertaking in any corner of the world, but it is not made easier by the impossibility of getting a mortgage. No bank in Slovakia will give a mortgage to non-profit groups, or those who might would demand a 2 yr steady income statement, which we don't have. We have been our own entity since July of this year. But, we also believe that if this is the will of God for our church, finances will come.

Please continue to stand with us in prayer.

Church Troubles

2008-09-09T12:32:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we received a call from AgroInstitute, the place where we have been meeting for Sunday services, that we have just spent our last Sunday there. They decided to refuse to rent to us anymore, and so we are now faced with quite a big situation. We are now only 4 days away from another Sunday service and no place to have it. Coincidentally, we have just switched to morning services and have just put ads in the paper advertising our new time. As you may remember, it took us a year to get out of my apartment and into a public venue, please please pray that God will open doors for us in record time!

27 years...

2008-09-09T12:26:00.003+02:00

Last week I celebrated my birthday in Slovakia. It was a wonderful day spent with friends, I even made a lemon meringue pie (my favourite) to commemorate the event! I also had a BBQ on the Sat which was also a lot of fun. We tromped up the hill of Kalvaria here in Nitra and roasted weenies over a fire. I spent some time just staring out at the stars in the sky after it got dark, and it wasn't until the early morning hours (midnight +30min) when we decided to come back down to real life! Fun times.

Thank you to all of you who wished me a happy birthday! It truly brightened my day!

Christina's Summer Continues

2008-08-21T13:45:00.007+02:00

So, it's been a couple months since I returned from Canada, and there have been a few significant things which happened.

Pastor's Camp was one of them. This year, Stephen Hertzog of Vanguard College, sponsored this camp for all of our pastors and their families. I decided to tag along for the last day and a bit. It was a really encouraging and challenging time for our pastors, as Ross Olsen and Jim Guskjolen as well as their wives came as well to share during the meeting times. I only heard good feedback from those who attended. It was also an excellent time of fellowship as well, which is always my favourite part! It was also so neat to see the kids again. 5 years ago I helped with the kids during pastors camp, and seeing how much they've grown is absolutely incredible for me.

I also had the honour of attending my good friend and former classmate's wedding here in Slovakia, Vlado and Martinka Zak. It's so wonderful to witness such an event, a dream come true.

Campfest was another of my memorable moments this summer. Campfest is an annual Ecumenical, Christian Open-Air Music Festival which takes place in the northern, more mountainous area of Slovakia. It rained the whole time we were there, creating a slew of mud. It was also not a warm rain, but a very cold one. Fortunately though, unlike friends of mine, my tent (borrowed) withstood the rain and did not flood! Apart from the weather, the musical groups were alright, although I missed a couple of the ones I wanted to see because we came a little later (we came on Friday not Thurs) and left earlier, Sat evening not Sun morn! So that was a little disappointing, but that's fine too. Overall, Campfest was fine. My favourite part is always seeing my friends from all corners of the country in one place! :)

A friend of mine, Julie Bilodeau from Ont, decided to come and visit me this summer for a couple weeks, which was really nice. We took a couple trips around the area and was a really enjoyable time. We even ventured over to the southern part of Germany where I used to attend school and also where I did part of my Bible School internship. It was so incredible to visit friends and "family", people I haven't seen in many years.

Just this week I also had a very incredible and unique opportunity. As you know, I teach English and I also translate. Up until now, my professional translations have limited themselves to documents for various different companies, such as company security measures,job descriptions and the like. Well, this week I was given the opportunity to branch into live interpreting. Now, I do interpret quite often for English speaking visitors who come to church, but this is not a paid position, and if I make a mistake, it's not the end of the world. Well, this week, I interpreted for 6 hours for a European Union Commission sent to Nitra to determine its Candidacy to become the European Capital City of Culture 2013. I interpreted for one member of the Commission individually, and everything I said carried water! It would make a difference if I didn't understand or if I did it wrong! It was frightening at worst, and delightful at best. It was nice to be wined and dined, even though none of it was actually for ME... but I got to experience it anyway. I was a part of an entourage, which also included Nitra's Mayor, both University directors, and someone from the Ministry of Culture, as well as two television stations. I actually got to interpret a TV interview! I thank the Lord for this opportunity to meet people of influence in Nitra, the European Union, as well as just the professional opportunity. I hope that this experience will open new doors and new opportunities.

Also, my cat came back after a month and a half hiatus. Amazing. Everything that was taken or challenged has been restored. My car, my computer, those who stole from me, my cat... amazing. Glory to God!

7 planes, 14 days

2008-07-13T00:15:00.007+02:00

I decided not too long ago to take a trip to Canada this year for a little R&R. Inspired by a wedding! One of my best friends was getting married, so, how could I not come out for that? So, I saved up my nickels and dimes and bought a plane ticket! I took 2 weeks holiday, and made plans to also see my family.

I visited my Mom in Calgary, which was really special, also because my brother, Scott, came down, and my sister, Nichole, was off work as well. So, for 3 days, we hung out, went shopping, had a BBQ and celebrated Scott's birthday early. It was the first time I've been at the celebration of one of my sibling's birthdays in... years. So that was really special.

I also went to visit my Dad, and also my home church, the Park Church. Unfortunately, the video wouldn't play... oh technology... so, if you would like to watch it now... :)

My Dad and I also took a road trip out to Glaslyn, SK. There is a wonderful church out there that I was in contact with, but had never actually met. So, it was important for me to see them, face to face. Actually, one of the women at that church went to High School with my mom!

I also spend a little time in National Office in ON, and got to spend a little time with a couple friends out there.

Then it was off to Nfld for Ian and Tiffanie's wedding. I went a few days early to help them get ready, and to spend time with the others who had gone out as well. It was a lot of fun and it was so incredibly special for me to be at their wedding. I bawled during a practice of the wedding songs, but managed to hold it together during the ceremony itself. Sniff sniff. I'm so proud of them!

If you're curious about the planes... Here's the breakdown. Vienna-Washington, Wash - Toronto, Toronto - Calgary, Edmonton-Toronto, Toronto-St John's, St John's-Toronto, Toronto - Vienna. And in there was also a bus to Edmonton, a motorcycle to SK and back, public transportation and various car rides!

It was a quick trip, but a very blessed one!

Another Car Update

2008-06-21T15:17:00.002+02:00

After 4 months of waiting, I finally have my car back! The repairs were significantly cheaper than expected, how often do you get to say that about taking the car to get fixed???!!! But, at the same time, there is a sense in my spirit that I shouldn't become too attatched again to this car. And many people have been advising me to sell it now while I still can. I think I am going to listen to that voice of reason. But, that also makes me sad... I still have very little funds, not enough to buy another car. Can I go without for an undetermined amount of time? I don't know. But God is faithful, and I think I am just going to have to trust in Him. I know He won't disappoint me or fail me.

Early Summer Update

2008-06-21T15:09:00.000+02:00

Mar_08.pdf

Car Update

2008-06-11T17:26:00.002+02:00

Tommorrow the car is being towed away to another shop. The one shop, which has been running tests and diagnostics for the past couple months has given up trying to find out what the problem is. They are 90% sure they know what the problem is, but finding that used part has turned out to be next to impossible. So, they have thrown in the towel. They told me that I had only one option left: take it to the dealership. So, tomorrow I will tow it there.

At first I didn't think that it would even be worth it to fix the car, that I could just sell it for parts and get a decent price. Well, that has turned out to be less of a reality than I thought. I was laughed at when I told someone how much I thought I could get it for parts. And it's also more complicated than just a simple sale. So, if I can fix it and sell it right away, that would be the easiest way, and I would also get a better price for it.

So, no more Seat Ibiza for me! I have managed to get by so far by walking everywhere or taking the bus. It has worked so far, but my ministry outside the city has pretty much ground to a halt. I haven't been in Nove Zamky since April when we had a team here who had rented a car! There have also been missed opportunities to serve others, and I have needed to fall on the mercy of others who have cars. Like I said, God has been faithful and I have managed to get by, but I am feeling the need to be more mobile again.

Hence, I have launched a fundraising campaign in order to be able to buy a new-to-me car! I am aiming to buy a 2-3 yr old Skoda Fabia or Oktavia Combi. They are readily available and parts (should I ever need them) are close at hand since they are made in the Czech Republic and cheaper too. They are also a very reliable car, and I have been encouraged to buy one by many people. That or the VW Polo 5... but, unless the Lord opens the Heavens of provision, I will probably aim for the Skoda! :)

Please watch the video here to learn more about this fundraising campaign, it is very different (I have very creative friends who share their ideas with me!) and very interactive. Yes! I need you! Please watch!

Red Guitars

2008-06-11T17:17:00.005+02:00

Again, I have abandoned the blog for a god period of time... sigh... I wish I could be better! I don't even have any pictures to show you because my camera broke awhile ago, and I am investigating if it can be fixed. No word yet...

For the past couple months, I have been attempting to learn how to play the guitar. One of the remaining remnants of things left behind in my house since church was here, is Milan's red guitar. It sat in my living room for a very long time, until I finally said that I was going to use this opportunity to learn how to play! So, my friend Betka taught me my first two chords at Christmas time. So, I was glad for my two chords, but we never could quite get it together after that (I was shy to ask) to get her to teach me some more. So, a couple months ago I downloaded chord fingering charts and found some songs and began to teach myself. A month after that I asked Martin, who leads worship at church if he would meet with me. So, every Saturday I take the bus up to Klokocina (one part of Nitra) for an hour lesson, then I have to run to catch the bus back down! And last night, was my crowning achievement... I played in our small group meeting and it wasn't a complete disaster! Have no illusions... I lost my rhythm a couple times, I fumbled the chords a few times, but, all together it was really good! We worshiped and God was glorified even in my weakness!

Also, I've been able to make some new friends! Through the St Catherine's team, we met Marian, and through him, I've been introduced to a whole network of people! Marian works with an organization called AIESIC, which is an international internship program. AIESIC also has a close relationship with ERASMUS, which is a student exchange program. So, I've met people here in Nitra, from all sorts of backgrounds: Spanish, Turkish, English, Slovak and others! They're a great group of people and we have a lot of fun together. I've also had some chances to share the Gospel with a few, a few have come to church and one came to small group last night! Some of them have been believers, and so it's been good to encourage them in their walks as well. It's been a blessing so far and I believe God will use this relationship to open more doors to share Jesus with others!

Wow...

2008-05-11T23:19:00.022+02:00

Yah, I just cam on here after a long period of not even checking the blog... and then I noticed just how LONG it has been since I wrote anything on here... so much has happened...

The first thing I want to talk about is our Young Adult Outreach. We have had 3 clubs so far for University students in the form of a Discussion Club. Our topics have been on Friendships, Beauty (who decides?), and Living the Right Life (is there more to life than money, family, career...) It has been SO encouraging to see people come to these events. Although it's been a bit strange, we always seem to have the same amount of people, but always different people! I am praying for the day they ALL come at the same time! :) These clubs are a place where people can connect with others, and an open forum for everyone to share their opinions in a safe environment. And of course, we always wrap it up at the end with a personal testimony so that the Gospel is clearly shared and that God's perspective is the last one that is talked about! Then we have refreshments and just chat until they all decide to go home! It has been during these times of just chatting over pie or whatever that we've had some really good conversations. So far no has been saved, but we believe that it's a process and we are faithful to what God is calling us to!

We are also building relationships with Christian University students, and we really value this as well because we recognise that some people may respond to a flyer, but the most people will come when they are invited/brought by a friend. So, we rely on these students to be our voice on campus! :) It has been really great getting to know them as well and to encourage them in their lives, and to be encouraged as well! These students come from all kinds of denominations and backgrounds and I think it's fabulous to do something together!

You may have noticed that I have been mostly talking about WE, no, this is not the royal "we", I am not alone! I have 2 great people that I am working together with on this, Betka and Patrick.

Betka is a wonderful young woman of God, and it is such a pleasure to work with her. She is easily my closest friend here in Nitra, and I am so thankful for her friendship. These clubs were actually mainly her idea! I was praying and trying to find a way to reach out to the students. I knew that we had this room in the office that I wanted to turn into a mini-cafe, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about that. Then Betka and I started talking together about this, which is when she told me that she had all these ideas, and that God has placed this strongly on her heart! She was also inspired by what she experienced with Campus Ministries while she was in Russia over the summer. So, we took that idea and ran with it! As a result... we've got our (so far) monthly discussion club! Praise God for His leading and provision!

Patrick is an American who has been working in the Kingdom in Nitra for the past 7 years together with his wife, Ivetka and their 2 sons. Patrick is changing his role though, and will be not be as involved when we resume in the fall.

More news....

So far this year we have had 2 MISSIONS TEAMS!!! Actually, they came back to back in April, which is my excuse for why i haven't posted! :)

The first team were 3 wonderful ladies from Alberta who came as a District Women's team, and it was such a blessing to have them here! They were so easy to host and such a joy! And they were so well recieved! It was great! I was blessed in particular because 2 of these women I know very well, Debbie Fawcett and Arlene Rowley, and it was so good to meet Denise Hager of Chauvin as well. They did various types of things while they were here, mainly focusing on women and mother's. We went to the Mother's Centre in Nove Zamky and did teaching/discussion on issues pertinent to mom's and wives... I learned a lot! :)

We went to one facility for teenage mother's and did crafts with them, which was so much fun! It was so great to see these girls just be girls and not have all the pressure of being a mom at 15 on them. It was also great to see how they connected with Arlene in particular. We also did a Regional Women's Night Out, where 60 women gathered for an evening of sharing, conversing, eating and receiving! Debbie spoke and it was really powerful. Hearts were definitely moved, the feedback I've received since then has all included, "we need to do this more often" and has included a lot of positive adjectives! :)

I also put them to work and they cleaned off bricks for re-use in Zlate Moravce at the church planter's house (Michal and Lubi Kluciar) there, which they are renovating completely.

We also went to another church here in the city and washed all their windows! This was a joint effort also by others in our church, and also their church. It was great to do something together and we had a great time of fellowship over good food as well! :) They were also involved in many other things... I kept them busy! :D

THANK YOU ALBERTA FOR SENDING US THREE GREAT WOMEN TO MINISTER HERE!!! SEND MORE ANYTIME!!!

The second team we received was from St.Catherine's, Ontario, and they were a young adult team from Central. They were a lot of fun, very high energy! These guys were a servant/young adult team.

Everyday they were in the University serving them in practical ways. This opened doors of influence for us in the university, as well as doors of relationships. The university sent them a student who could show them around a bit, who ended up being a great guy that they connected well with. We have also met him and his friends, and this looks to be a relationship that will continue to grow! We also sent them to Zlate Moravce to help Michal and Lubi with their house.

THANK YOU ST CATHERINE'S FOR SENDING SOME GREAT YOUNG PEOPLE TO HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!! FEEL FREE TO COME AGAIN!!!

New Ministry involvement:You might remember my crazy actress friend, Ludka. Well she is starting a new ministry, an Army of Worshipers. So far all we have done is met together to seek the Lord and to pray for Slovakia and for revival. It's been really good thus far, the Holy Spirit has been really present. So, we'll see where God takes it from here!

OK... I think I will end this post soon...

Car update: The mechanic who has it cannot fix it, and he has asked me to remove my vehicle. He wants to send me to another mechanic who might be able to help me. Sigh. Is it even worth it??

Technology Update: The camera and the cell phone have died. The camera I don't know what can be done... And the cell phone I have replaced! It was time for a new contract anyway... So, note the change of number! 011-421-918-881843

KPM 08

2008-04-06T13:22:00.002+02:00

I just got back in the wee hours of this morning from Zilina, from a conference called KPM: Conference for Youth Workers. There was about 600 people from all over the country, from every denomination. It was a hall full of great potential, the potential to change the face of this country... of Europe! There is just something powerful about being in a room full of believers, praising God together. I love it!!

Easter

2008-03-27T12:50:00.009+01:00

During the time that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ, I am marvelled by a new form of new life that I was able to celebrate this Easter. And that was the resurection of my laptop!!! After being cut off from the land of the technologically connected for a whole month, I am pleased to announce my return! And not only were they able to restore my laptop to me (complete with new hardware) they were also able to save my data!!! I am SOOOO thankful for that! There were so many things, precious things, files that represented hours of my life that were not backed up (which are now!) that I thought were lost forever, that have now been restored! Praise God!

Also, for Easter, I was very glad to host my friend Anne Wahl, from Weingarten, Germany. Anne was one of the youth that I worked with during my internship in Germany way back in 2003. After 5 yrs of seeing each other, it was really wonderful to have her here. For Easter weekend we took a little trip up to the mountains, I wanted her to see the nicest parts of this country! It was so incredible to reconnect with an old friend and over Easter as well! I thought it was a little ironic that it was at this time that she chose to come. 5 years ago, I spent Easter with her family! It was also good to brush up a bit on my German, which was a frustrating endeavour... trying to find it in the attic of my brain! But I was glad to re-discover my hidden vocabulary!

As far as an update on my car is concerned, I he last time I called my mechanic, I asked him if there was any hope for the car, his response, "ooo... I can't say..." So, needless to say, it doesn't look good. Because I use my car so much for ministry, and because of the precious cargo (people) that I usually carry in my car, a reliable car is on the wish list! Stay tuned for more details!

Technology Hates Me :)

2008-03-12T13:34:00.002+01:00

This month hasn't been a very good one for me as far as technology is concerned. Both my car and my computer have rebelled against me!

In my last blog entry, I wrote about my car and how the air hose had holes in it. Well, apparently that was the least of my worries! The actual problem in the car has yet to be discovered! At first they thought it was the ignition coil, but after that was replaced, the problem persisted. Then they ran more tests and found that the part which functions as the central computer of the car was broken. A new part will cost big money, so they are trying to find a used part, but the ones they have been trying on the car actually haven't worked. So, needless to say, I need a new car! :) Please pray that God can provide for this need of mine!

My laptop also decided not to work, but that, at least, was under warranty. I nearly cried when they told me my files couldn't be recovered... but let this be a lesson to us all... back up files! Fortunately I burned all my pictures from 2007 onto discs in Jan, so I have that much as a consolation. I have been almost 3 weeks without a computer...

No car, no computer... I'm crippled! :)

I think that it has a spiritual tie though... is it a coincidence that the 2 things I use most for ministry are out of commission at the same time??? And is it a coincidence that this happened just as we began intensively praying for and planning University outreaches? Hmm... I think not! Please pray for us!

Regional Conference and MacGuyver

2008-03-03T12:59:00.008+01:00

This past weekend was our Regional Conference for the whole western part of Slovakia. We had people from all over the place coming in! It was held in the Culture House, in an old theatre room, where we filled it with young and old people who wanted to seek the Face of the Lord! This years theme was Mission, and everyone was challenged to live a life of mission. Living in purity, passionate for God and actively praying and witnessing in our areas of influence, as well as abroad. It was great. The only thing that put a damper on the conference for me, apart from the rainy weather, was the fact that my car broke down on the way there!

My air hose has about 6 holes in it now, all repaired in a MacGuyver fashion... using the first aid kit in the car to patch up the holes to get us to where we needed to go! We also prayed it in to Nove Zamky. It must have been a site to see... 3 girls in a car, speeding up and slowing down (based on the cars ability to breathe) praying in tongues and prophesying over this car in the rain. A journey which should have taken 40 min took us 2.5hours! But God got us there, that I know because we couldnt even drive out of the parking lot after the conference, even with all our repairs! Amazing.

If you would like to see how we are growing in Nitra, check out this video...http://files.filefront.com/MVI+6074avi/;9745991;/fileinfo.html

Hearts, Exit and Power!

2008-02-25T12:56:00.003+01:00

I've been asked about our Valentine's Day event... unfortunately, the only people that came were those of us from our team. But we still played the games, did the quiz and heard the testimony! It was a good night, although tinged with disappointment that it was just us. But, we press on! We are going to be thinking of new things and figuring something out! Here's hoping for March! :)

But, in other news, I was asked to be interviewed at Exit, the young adult meeting in Bratislava, about mission. It was so much fun! I just talked about my being in Slovakia, how I came to be there, changes to be adjusted to, challenges to overcome, and blessings to be enjoyed. Then I just talked about what I think mission is, in that I believe that we are ALL called to fulfill the Great Commission and that God has us where we are for a reason. If you are interested in hearing the clip, http://exitklub.sk/?q=audio !! Be warned, it is in Slovak, but if you're interested in hearing how I'm developing in language,you might find it interesting!

Also, something quite exciting happened just last night! After church, Ludka, my friend the actress in Nitra, and Marcelka, a lawyer in BRatislava, spent the night at my house. So, we were just goofing around and talking, and we decided to finally go to sleep. Well, we thought, wouldn't it be nice to pray together before we doze off. So, on my bed, at midnightish, we began to pray blessing over each other as well as for specific needs in our lives. When all of a sudden, we started engaging in spiritual warfare and Marcelka recieved the power of the HOLY SPIRIT. How cool is that?? Needless to say, today i am a little blurry eyed, but wouldn't have it any other way!

Babes and Danes...

2008-01-26T20:01:00.001+01:00

Late December marked the arrival of a new life on this earth. Natan Toth, the third son of Miro and Marta, our church planters in Nitra. Early January we had the baby dedication... He is way cute and has had some pretty powerful things spoken over his life. We're all excited as to what this new life will bring to this earth!

A week ago I left Slovakia for the green nation of Denmark. In November, you might remember, we had a team from the Bible School come to Nitra for a few days of school outreach. While they were here, a few of them were very insistent that I should come to Denmark. So, when my other Slovak friend, Viki, told me that she was going there for a visit, I thought that this might be the opportune time to go along! So, for the past few days, I have been in the Bible School: being refreshed and challenged in the classes, and encouraging the students here. We have many Slovaks who are attending this school, and many who have attended in the past, so it was really good to see where it is exactly that we're sending our young people to! Everyone at the school was very welcoming and made sure that I was taken care of well! :)

Today I left the Bible school and decided to spend the day in Copenhagen before my flight leaves. I thought it would be a shame not to see the capital city! So I did. :) I haven't been this cold in a long time! The walk from the bus stop to the church, where I am spending the night, which was all of 5 min long.... I got drenched to the bone. The wind was so strong and the rain so heavy... when it hit my head it felt like hail... So, after I dried myself off and changed my clothes.. and after the rain had stopped, I ventured out into the city. I just wandered around the centre, through the pedestrian zones and to the harbour. Christina's own walking tour! It was fun, but the wind was still quite strong, and I was so cold! But, suprisingly enough, I had a great time! Copenhagen is a beautiful city, I think I'd like to come back here someday.... someday warmer! :)

Canadian Christmas

2007-12-18T16:54:00.000+01:00

So, I managed quite successfully to cram 20 people in my living room, on the floor for Chrismtas dinner. I used new recipes this year, so things turned out a little differently than expected, namely the stuffing and the pumpkin pie. The stuffing was a product of sheer imagination because I couldn't find celery to save my life (I went to ALL of the stores in town... no luck) so I used fennel instead. Also, instead of paprika, i used chili powder! Inventive? Perhaps. Tasty? You bet! I also stole a family turkey secret from the fabulous people I stayed with in Kamloops, you know who you are! The turkey was awesome! :) The pumpkin pie was not quite the same, it was missing something,.. i need to find last year's recipe!

So, all in all, it was fantastic time with friends who i now call part of my family. We talked a lot and played games, people reconnected with each other, and they also got to make some new friends! Thanks for your prayers!

Tis the Season

2007-12-14T21:55:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a chaos type filled day. Filled with preparations for the Youth Christmas Party, our first follow up event since the Danes left. We had contact information for about 15 people who wanted to keep in touch with what was going on. So we were hoping that they would come to this Christmas party. On Mon I made a trip to Bratislava to go to Ikea and stock up! We're still saving up money to buy couches, so in the meantime, I bought pillows. In lieu of lamps, candles. I brought my Christmas tree, both of my area rugs, 2 poinsettas and cookies from home. Me, Dominik and Evka were trying to make the room look as comfy and cozy as possible. We ordered pizza and waited. No one came. So, we took the opportunity to pray for the youth community and for the growth of this ministry.

But it was not for naught! Miro came, so we took it as an opportunity to celebrate the birth of his son, Natan! Natan was born yesterday at lunch time, he weighs 8.5 pounds and looks really cute. Mom is doing well, still in the hospital, taking advantage of the mandatory few days stay after birth.

Speaking of babies, our church planter in Zlate Moravce and his wife also just had a baby, his dedication was this past Sunday. Christian Alexander is this young man's name. In the picture Michal is praying for his son, together with his wife, Lubi.

Tomorrow is another big event, in my house anyway! It will be my Canadian Christmas dinner, where I invite EVERYONE and make turkey dinner with all the fixin's! Tomorrow I have 20 confirmed guests, and another 8 which haven't told me either way yet. It will be fun! I don't have a table that big, nor do they sell TV trays here... so, we're going to have it... on the floor!! Suprise suprise! I bought some nice table cloths, so it will be a sit around the table feel, only it will be a around-the-tablecloth-as-we-sit-on-the-floor feel! I'm looking forward to it. I picked up the turkey today, they killed it just for me! Fortunately it has all been cleaned and plucked, although they could have left that for me to do! It's a 17 pound bird, should be enough, eh? Please pray for this as well, as my colleagues from the language school are coming, and of course I will have something to say! :)

Up till now...

2007-11-27T16:24:00.000+01:00

I realise it has been ages since my last post... oops! Lots of stuff going on...

Right after I got back from Canada I got sick... not fun at all! I think it was because of my full schedule in Canada and the adrenaline that got me through it. When the adrenaline wasn't there anymore... crash! It took me a few days to re-coop but, all is well now! During that time I had a visit from David Boyd and all the District Superintendents. They came, checked it out, met a lot of people, ate bryndzova halusky and left!

Then I went to Turkey for just over a week. Checked out Istanbul for a couple days with Jennifer Lee (missionary extraordinare in Romania) and then we went to Beldibi together where we met up with the rest of the Eurasia team for a good time of bonding, discussion and prayer. Oh, and did I mention that that bonding takes place in the magical land of the Hammam! I walked away from Turkey feeling healthier, stronger and challenged.

Back in Slovakia, I took a day or so to spend in prayer and reflection... time of transition! How do I get to where I want to be from where I am... What activities should I be involved in and what things should I let others do... All that said, I no longer lead my small group, Evka, the girl who took it over for me while I was away did such a great job that we decided to let her stay the leader! In the new year we will start up a new group, which I will lead until I can be again replaced. I like that model!

I am also now volunteering in Kontakt Cafe in Levice, a town about 45 min away from here. It is a cafe that has a very similiar vision and aim and so I offered myself there to help and to learn. I go there about two or three times a week, and it is proving to be a very good learning experience. Not to mention that the staff there is GREAT!!

Last week we had a team from Denmark come to Nitra, and that was Fabulous! They did presentations in school about not being too negative or superficial, but to be positive and face our problems. They also invited the kids to the Thurs night program at the church. They presented to 500 kids, and about 800 additional invites were given in the square, and 10% of them came to the Thurs night, which was more evangelistic. 15 hands responded to the closing invitation!! Now, I know that that is not the most important thing, but it shows that the youth here are hungry!! We will be doing a once a month youth program to follow up with these youth, and get the ones who responded into more of a discipleship program.

Good stuff is happening in Nitra!!! Thanks for your prayers!!

Also, the Mini-Cafe/Youth Hang Out room is going to be furnished and set up within the next couple weeks. Funds are really short on this right now... Please, can you help?

Halusky

2007-10-23T05:49:00.000+02:00

Halusky, the beautiful noodle which I was pleased to partake of last night as I sat in my kitchen in Slovakia! I arrived yesterday afternoon (Slovak time, too early Canada time) and everything went off without a hitch. I nearly missed one of my connections, but thankfully, due to my speed, agility, and the man with the little car that met me halfway, I made it to my gate on time!

I packed 10 sirloin steaks with me, and they made it through customs, they were still even a little frozen when I got here! So, BBQ is going down on Thurs night! Woo hoo!

Thanks to those of you who were praying for me. Hope those prayers don't stop now that I am over here!

Pre vas ktorych vedia...

2007-10-13T17:02:00.000+02:00

Ahojte!

Dufam ze budete rozumiet co napisem po slovensky... :) Moj cas v Kanade je skoro hotovy. Uz sa velmi tesim ked budem doma spolu s vami. Tento cas bolo dobre, a som rada ze som prisla, ale tiez... velmi mi chybate! Mam len 8 dni a budemem zase spolu. A nikdy neodidem! Nie,...strandujem... :) Dufam ze mate dobre... Mam vas velmi rada! A pre vas, kanadanov ktorych aj vedia po slovensky.... HA HA! Ja mozem ist k vam domov, ale tam nebudete! :P

15 Canadian days down... 24 to go

2007-09-27T19:27:00.000+02:00

So, I am halfway through my time in Canada. On one hand it feels like I just got here, on the other hand, it feels like it's been forever! With the amount of activities I have been squishing into my timetable, my body is going "AHH!" It's been busy, but really good. I have been able to share in my church, as well as in a new church. I've met up with supporters, non-supporters and potential future supporters! I have three new churches who are considering to support me, and a few individuals who have decided to support me as well. It's so amazing the doors that are being opened to new opportunities. I was a little worried I wouldn't make any new connections, but that hasn't been the case.

Just so that you guys know where I'm going to be in the next few weeks, allow me to share with you.
Sept 28- Drayton Valley, then back to Edmonton the next day
Oct 3-9 - Vancouver and Kamloops then to Edmonton
Oct 14 - Wetaskawin, then back to Edmonton the same day
Oct 16-19 - Calgary
Oct19-20- Red Deer at the Freshwind Women's Conference (COME COME!!)
Oct 21 @ 1:05pm flying back to the land of Korbacik and Bryndzove Halusky! Slovakia!

Good times in the GTA

2007-09-18T16:24:00.000+02:00

After a few days of hanging out at Head Office, hanging out with Julie and seeing the sights, I think I have a master of Toronto-ese. I'll have to demonstrate my skills in person... I was also a little surprised at what people out here have to say about us out west... Do you believe that they think that this rivalry attitude between us and them is from JEALOUSY! They think that we're jealous of them and that's why we dislike them! I could not believe my ears! Such blasphemy! :)

So, needless to say, I have been having fun. But, I have also been able to do some neat things while I've been here. Apart from meeting the people that I email all the time, I have also had a few meetings where I hope a relationship will develop. I also shared this morning at Head Office's chapel.

But, alas, I must say goodbye to the beauty that Mississauga has to offer, and get on a plane this afternoon heading out west to my prairie home! :) See you in a bit Alberta!

Canada Again

2007-09-14T20:22:00.000+02:00

After 12 hours of traveling by planes, train and automobiles I have safely arrived in Ontario! I will be here in the GTA until Tuesday and am having good fun here already! I am staying with Julie Bilodeau from the International Missions Office, and she introduced me to 3 Slovaks! It was wild! Here I am, Day 1 in Canada and I am having dinner and speaking Slovak. Slovaks are everywhere!

So far re-entry is going OK, dealing with jet lag which is fun. I just finished sharing with the District Women's leadership committee. I shared some chocolate and in return they let me share my heart and our vision.

It's funny, I'm hanging out at National Office, and I was expecting to sit in the foyer, and bum off their wireless. But I came in with Julie and they gave me an office. And not just an office, I have a sign on the door! Julie taped up the sign that she was going to hold up at the airport for me. One of the ladies laughed at that. "I've been working here for 10 years and I don't have that yet!"

I'm sharing at Darryl Watkin's youth group tonight in Milton Ontario. Haven't seen him since yr 2 at Bible College. Chalk it up to Facebook!

Insert witty title here

2007-09-09T23:55:00.000+02:00

So Friday marked a very historical occasion in the life of our Nitra Church plant. It marked the arrival of our FIRST EVER missions team,and not only were they foreign, but I am pleased to say that they were CANADIAN! I am very proud of that! For the next few days, we have a team of 7 young adults from Vancouver. And they so far have been really good! We are going to be starting work on Mon with them, we're going to the university and they're going to scrape out and beautify a shower room in the university dorms, as well as spice up an office room which was, at the last minute, turned into a bedroom for 6+ students. They will also be handing out flyers for the English Open House that they will be doing on Tues/Thurs in the school I taught at. They have already spent some time in prayer around the city, and have blessed us also on Sunday in church. So, so far, it has been a really good experience for us of having them here. What they have to say about this process might be a little different! But let's hope they come out with a smile on their faces! Although, after 5 days of slave labour, we shall see! :)

Also, even though it's not official yet, I have been telling people anyway that... WE HAVE A BUILDING!!! We found a space to rent every Sun evening so that we can start having public services! Our first Sun in there will be on Sept 30, but the official kick off will be mid Oct. We wanted to have a pre-open, so that we could work out the bugs! Which of course, will be none!

Can't believe I'm leaving on Thurs...

Yet Another Wedding!

2007-08-30T11:37:00.000+02:00

This time it was the Komarno church planter's turn to get married! Slavo and Edita tied the knot on Sat.

Aren't they pretty? :)

Oh be careful little mouth,.....

2007-08-24T09:59:00.000+02:00

Events of late have caused me to reconsider how much I learnt at Bible College, and I have begun to think if I shouldn't go back. I was at my friend's house, we were four girls there. We were just hanging out and laughing and such, and we decided that it would be nice to pray for each other before going home. So, we start to pray. I am the second to pray, and I'm just pouring out my heart in prayer for Edita, when she bursts into laughter. "I'm sorry I couldn't hold it any longer!" Cold realization sets in for me, as I am now sure that I have said something wrong. Christina, instead of saying, "Lord thank you that you will never leave her...", said, "Lord, thank you that you will never FORGIVE her.." The difference between these two words... one letter. One letter, world of difference! Time to go back to Bible School!

This brings to my mind another experience that I actually wasn't witness to, but heard all about it! After Campfest, we all drove back very late at night. I didn't get back till 4am, and Mark arrived at 7am. They took a wrong turn and ended up on the wrong side of the country! So, on their adventures in the car of trying to stay awake, Mark told me of this story. He was sitting in front with Boris, a couple of the youth were in the back. THey were having a really good worship time, English and Slovak both mixing and interchanging... beautiful. Mark cries out, "Pane, nikto neni ako ty!" (Lord there is none like you) to which Boris replies with all his heart, "Yes! No one likes you Lord!" This is the point in the story where Mark bursts into laughter. So hard that he cannot even drive! He pulled over into a gas station, where everyone literally falls out of the car onto the ground laughing.

Good times.

Painting, Sailing and and Flying

2007-08-20T21:26:00.000+02:00

I've decided to continue the home renovations that I started at Easter. Since I left 3 rooms unpainted, I thought that now was the time to change that! So, today i put the first coat of two colours in the girl's room, and I'm not so sure about it... It's just yellow and a light brown, but I don't know. I think it makes the room look smaller... Anyway, can't change it now!

After having a shower, as there was almost as much paint on me as there was on the wall, I realised that I hadn't brought my movies back to the rental place yet. I still had an hour left before they closed, so I quickly changed, and umbrella in hand to tackle the rain I headed outside. Now, it had only been raining for about 10 minutes, but the rain was already collecting quite nicely. The water on the road was level with the sidewalk and the sidewalk had a good 3 inches on it. After getting thoroughly splashed by someone obviously driving too fast, I had to cross the street. My pants up to my knees were already pretty much soaked,so i didn't think there was much point to rolling up my pants. I took two steps off the curb and lost my flip flop! I thought about putting it back on, but instead i grabbed it, kicked off the second one and crossed over bare footed! (the horror!) I thought I would take this opportunity to move my car closer to my house before it floated away, so I dove into my car, dropped off my movies and hydroplaned my way back home. Sailing down the river of my street in the boat that is my car!

Also by way of news, I have a flight ticket back to Canada! I will arrive in Toronto on Sept 13th at 12:20pm and I will be there until Sept 18th, and I will arrive in Edmonton at 6:30pm. So you'd all better be there to meet me! Just kidding, you don't have to. :) I will be in Alberta until Oct 21, so if you want to see me, email me, phone me and make sure you get your chance! I'm very popular! No, I'm not, but I do want to make my time as full as I can, and while the day timer is mostly empty at this time, I can't promise that it will stay that way! I want to have a BBQ at some point because I miss beef! Let me know what date would be good for you, and if you'd like to be the one to host it! :)

Another Trip to Romania

2007-08-06T12:19:00.000+02:00

Yes, I have just come back from two weeks in Romania. And although I was in Romania, I was in a Slovak town with Slovak people and I spoke in Slovak the entire time I was there. It was weird. But good! There is a girl here, Damaris, who studies here at the university (who's moving in in the Fall) and she is from Romania.

She invited me to come and meet her family and to go to a camp (Christ 4 Romania) with her and her friends from church. So I did! We spent a week at her house where I got to meet her 5 neices all under 8 yrs. To hang out in the park, climb up the steeple of the church, go to her church, meet her family and get to know her world. Week 2 we crammed 12 people into a 9 seater van, and all our stuff and went to the mountains for camp. It was nice, living in a tent, bathing in the river,

experiencing some reflexogy treatments or so we thought as the road to the Big tent was covered in these big rocks which just killed your feet.

It was really cool to be amoungst 4000 youth and just praise God together.

Yes, I did learn some Romanian while I was there. Really important stuff like Aici la mine (come here to me), Si eu asa (me too like that), La sa (whatever), Eu sunt din Canada (I'm from Canada), Merge cu noi? (are you coming with us?) Look! I'm fluent!! Ha ha! Like I said, I was with Slovaks...

It was a good time, I'm glad for it. I got to meet new people, make new friends, become better friends with Damaris, encourage a few of those I got to meet, to be encouraged as well.

Another long awaited update....

2007-08-04T23:08:00.000+02:00

I am realising that my Blogging fervour has faded, but I have been convicted and am henceforth blogging again! Since we last talked, I had a good friend of mine from Vancouver come to visit. It was SO good to see her again, and to spend some time together. Korinn stayed for a week and a bit, and it was wonderful. She moved into the girls room, as they are gone for the summer, and it was just as if she had moved in. It was great! We had some really good talks, and some not so good, but needed talks about some of the challenges in which we both live.

We also decided to take a trip to Prague, as she had never been there before, and I just like it! We stayed at the Hotel that I went to before when I went to translate for that couple in Hungary. It was fun to see them again, they are so sweet!

We had some nice adventures there: going for supper in Poland just cuz,

laughing it up with the Czech border guards,

searching for the perfect picture of Charles Bridge,

touring the city with funny Czech guides, "Go Radek!"

getting lost and found again, "I think that was our exit...",

laughing at the people clapping at the astronomical clock,

the Pozor signs,

waiting outside the hotel while ringing the buzzer and waiting for the night guy to wake up to let us in at one in the morning,

taking pictures through the cracks in the walls,

spitting on people from the tower

...just kidding

spilling juice in the Afghani resturaunt,

the hunt for good tiramisiu - followed by great disapointment. I was also on the lookout for good Medovnik (honey cake), and it was dry as a bone. I have thus come to the conclusion that Czechs don't do dessert like Slovakia, or other countries around here for that matter. Oh, and a little violence, I took a whack at Korinn's head with my sun roof handle... it just flew right off!

Huh??

2007-07-05T21:46:00.000+02:00

What's this????? Is it another revolution??? Is it a movie star?????? No... it is Robo Kazik and Mrs Clementova!! They are performing (separately of course) at Nitra Days! A celebration of Cyril and Methodius.

It's amusing to me, they are celebrating something so remarkable in the funniest way... You see, Cyril and Methodius were two of the first missionaries to ever be sent out from Rome, and where did they go? Why, they came here! Not just to Slovakia, but to Nitra in the late 800's! These two men introduced the Glagolitic alphabet, which was the base for most Slavic languages still in use today (with adaptations...)

They translated the Bible, as well as other Christian texts. They had thier own Bible School and after their deaths, their pupils carried the Gospel into the corners of Great Moravia. Because they were based in Nitra, the people here are very proud of their heritage. So proud, they are completely closed off...

Now, don't get me wrong, Robo Kazik and the others are great people, very popular amoungst the older generation, and well known by everyone. But this whole week, where there has been many traditional dances, traditional food, traditional songs, traditional handiwork... I have seen very little, hardly any actual mention of these two men and what they came here to do. So tonight, I walked amoungst these people, and I prayed over as many as I could. That they would see the true light, and the true God....

Visits...

2007-07-04T09:20:00.000+02:00

In the past week, I was very privileged to have many visitors from abroad! First came David Boyd, my Regional Director, who came in from Germany for a few days. During his visit we visited with some of the leaders in Bratislava and Nitra, including the Bishop of the Pentecostal church here. We also had some good time to talk about how things have been going, and some advice for the future. In regards to the cafe, he really encouraged me to find a business partner. Someone who would share the vision, but who would be better gifted in areas related to math and money. I have one person I am considering, but we'll see! :)

Also, I had a visit from Annelies Bronder, who is from my home church back in Sherwood Park. Annelies came just for fun, and we did have fun! I even took her to one of my lessons! She was only here for a couple days, but she can't say she was bored! Good times.

We also had a visit from two missionary ladies from the States who are serving in Moscow. It was also fun to hang out with them a bit around the city.

There was also a young man who joined us for a few days as well, Reed. Reed came from the USA to film a film for NLI about what is being done here in Nitra, but also in other cities around the country. He also made his way around 6 other countries in Europe. Anyway, we got to hang out with Reed a lot this week, and it was a lot of fun!

Later this week I am expecting a visit from another Canadian friend, who hails from the Western seaboard. Looking forward to that visit.

Tomorrow I am heading out East, to Kosice, where we are having our National Youth Conference. It really fires up on Friday, so keep us in your prayers!

Recent Happenings

2007-06-23T12:04:00.000+02:00

The PRESIDENT!

I met the President of Slovakia last week. Well, I didn't meet him so much as see him... He came on a visitation to Nove Zamky while I was there, and he held a public meeting. So I went! He looks like a nice man, but... don't they always? :)

Baptisms. We had a baptismal service in Nove Zamky last Sunday where 5 people declared their desire to follow hard after God. Praise the Lord!

Yeah for Other People's Neighbours

2007-06-20T20:46:00.000+02:00

I am now no longer car-less! Yeah! My car has been successfully fixed by our Pastor, Miro's neighbour. And he charged me... NOTHING for the repair. It was nothing serious, and apparently easy to fix, but I never expected that he wouldn't charge me anything for it!

Warfare... I have declared war on my neighbours. I mentioned previously that my neighbours don't like me very much, screaming and yelling for no apparent reason... Anyway, when I came home last week to find a lock on the car gate to get to my garage, that was the last straw. He has no right to place a lock on the gate, it doesn't belong to him! How dare he keep me out of it. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went inside my house and I baked two pies. Two cherry pies from cherries I picked myself and i delivered it to them. One of them wasn't home, so I left it with a note outside their door. (I tried twice but they weren't there and I was leaving in the morning for the weekend) Revenge, the Kingdom way! :) Needless to say, my neighbours are much nicer now, and they actually say hi to me on the street now. But the lock is still on the gate...

Connections... I have a translator in Nove Zamky that I use to translate all my official documents and things. Well, through my whole legal ordeal, we got to see each other quite often. So often, that we might be considered almost friends. Anyway, one day in her office, she told me that in the past she has helped people open businesses and how interesting she found that. I, since I want to open a business, stored that away in my brain to access later. Well, that later was last week. I called her, made an appointment and saw her on Monday. She told me that she doesn't know too much about NGOs and the like, but she put me in touch with her friend that did. Her friend is a person who has actually written part of the law. Not just a lawyer, but a lawmaker. Oh my! I met with her today to find out about what options are available to us to open a cafe under an NGO. Now, I know we are miles away from actually establishing an NGO and further yet from opening the cafe. But I am trying to get as much information as possible to give to the proper people who have the power to deny or approve this project as far as PAOC is concerned. Also to prepare myself for what lies ahead, what I will need to do, what I need to learn and am I ready to do these things? It was a very exciting meeting, as she told me that she is going to start putting together some research so that we can make an informed decision. But also, she teaches law at the University in Bratislava and said that she would involve some interested students in this legal process to help me on cost. It would be for free. All the legal workings and processes, which are many.... for free. That's just incredible! This just really shows me that God wants this cafe to happen even more than I do! And I really want it! Thank you Lord!

More Car Experiences

2007-06-15T00:41:00.000+02:00

Oi vay... The red angel has bitten the dust... again... temporarily. Yesterday I went to Banska Bystrica to officially buy my car. While I paid the money to buy the car, I could not register it in my name because I didn't have my legal paperwork completed. Until now! But, there is another snag, the official owner, Bohunka Brenkusova is in India with her husband, Jozef, as missionaries. But Bohunka gave her sister in law, Lubka power of attorney to manage her affairs in her absence. But for some odd reason, the police decided not to accept this paper because it did not specifically mention the sale of a car on the legal declaration. So, I am back where I started. Still not owning the vehicle on paper, and having to wait.

That was yesterday day, yesterday night I was driving a couple girls from small group back home when my clutch decided it was going to protest, at 10 o'clock at night. You might remember that just a couple months ago I got a whole new clutch system, and now I think the pedal got jealous because everything else was redone but him! :) No, I don't know what the problem is, I just know that the pedal isn't connected to something because I don't think it is supposed to wobble back and forth when you hit it! So, it is sitting on the side of the road waiting to be taken to my friends neighbours house, where he might be able to fix it in his spare time.

I have been encouraged to trade in this 11 yr old Seat Ibiza for a newer car, especially if the cost to fix this car will be significant. But that brings us to dilemma number one.... how can I sell a car I don't officially own. If I had the money I would buy a newer car and put this one in the garage until I was able to sell it, but that kind of cash does not avail itself too easily for me. But, the Lord knows I need a vehicle, and the Lord will provide for me. Whether that means by sustaining my car, or by providing me with a new one.

Oh, adventures!

Czech Me Out!

2007-06-15T00:26:00.000+02:00

This was the logo on a T Shirt that I saw on a recent trip to the Czech Republic. I spent the last weekend up there. Why you ask? Well, as unqualified as I felt, I was asked to help translate for a Canadian missionary couple to Hungary. They have family up there and were interested in finding out more about where they came from and why. This was my first experience translating from Czech, and my first experience translating into Slovak. It was a growing experience, but a very good one! The family was so warm and friendly, even though I wasn't family I felt like I could have been! We also got to take a trip into Prague just for fun! It was nice being able to hang out with this couple's kids, which are about my age, and one of their friends. It was nice to be able to be sarcastic for awhile and actually be understood!

Sandwich anyone?

2007-05-30T14:49:00.001+02:00

From bad to......

Oh the funny things you find abroad.... :)

Have a happy wednesday!

New Adventures

2007-05-26T12:27:00.000+02:00

In my attempt to use the warm weather to the full, and to become a bit more active. My friends and I have recently purchased rollerblades. There is a path along the river that is nice to go down and one other road that we have heard about but have yet to investigate further. I was hoping to use the rollerblades as an alternate form of transportation within the city, but i don't think that will be very safe. The sidewalks here have lots of cracks, missing chunks, and bubbles caused by the heat. On the first day after buying these, I decided to try it out. I went to the grocery market. All was good and fine in the recently renovated, newer area of town. But the area around the traffic circle,... was not so nice and I nearly wiped out left right and centre! Note though: nearly wiped out. I managed to keep my feet under me! So i've decided to stick to the trails and maybe the main roads, but only at low traffic times of the day! :)

FINALLY!!

2007-05-20T23:10:00.000+02:00

I finally got my visa to stay and work in Slovakia. Yes!

12,000 Slovak crowns paid ($600)
500 stamps and seals
10 documents notarized
6 documents translated
5 trips to the police station
4 criminal record checks (with super-legalization)
3 infectious diseases tests (including anal swabbing)
2 trips to Bratislava
1 visa obtained.

Praise the Lord!

Team Canada Takes Gold!

2007-05-13T22:20:00.000+02:00

Today is Mother's Day, and I think that the best present for our Canadian mothers, is a good hockey win!

Team Canada triumphed over Sweden 4-2 in the final game. Woo hoo!

The Forest

2007-05-13T21:10:00.000+02:00

I decided to go for a walk yesterday and I tried to find a quiet spot.
Not that easy when you live in the city centre! It seemed that no matter where I went, there was either the sound of cars or music blaring from somewhere. So, into the forest I went! Actually, it was just along the path to go up to the mountain,but the way I positioned myself, it felt like I was deep in the forest! And because it had been raining, the blaring music got turned off. I really just wanted to hear from God in nature. I used It was a nice time to be alone and to ponder. When I was a little girl, we lived on an acreage, and, at that time, we didn't have too many neighbours. So that meant, lots of forest, hills, and swamps for us to play in! We used to build forts out of fallen trees or branches. I used to also make tents out of a bedsheet, a board and some rocks, and I'd sleep out there at night.

Well, until Mom called me in because of the bear! :) I used to climb trees, and have all sorts of wild adventures in those woods with my brother and our little friends from down the road. I used to go out there alone sometimes too, on one of my runaway attempts(where I couldn't leave the subdivision) or just to get away. There is something about just being in nature, it makes me feel closer to God. To clear my ears of the noise from traffic, and to listen to the wind as it blows through the trees. To fill my nostrils not with exhaust but with the scent of after the rain. To listen to the music of birds in the trees, than the latest pop hit. To allow the Lord to speak to me and show me new things through the beauty of His creation.

My Mary Poppins moment

Adam Šangala

2007-05-10T22:21:00.000+02:00

Last night I had the privilege to go to the theatre to see my friend act in a play called Adam Šangala. Adam Šangala is a play for Slovaks, about Slovaks. This play is said to capture the essence of the Slovak spirit. My curiousity was definitely peaked by such an introduction, and the fact that Ludka was playing one of the main characters, that was more than enough motivation for me to go see it! So i went with my friend Edita, and Martin and Marika a couple from our church. It was a musical, and very well done! I was thoroughly impressed.

The storyline is basically about a young man from a small village who decides that he wants to see the world, motivated by the fact that he is the only one in the village who can write their name. So, off he goes and rescues the damsel in distress and they fall in love. But the man Adam rescued her from was a very powerful man, and he seeks to kill Adam, but he is saved at the last minute by divine provision.
He gets separated from his love, and then he gets mixed up with some powerful lords who force him to concieve a child with the general of the army's wife because he is impotent. Much to the general's dismay, but as he is unable to produce an heir...
Adam reunites with his love and then she discovers the awful truth about his "job", and runs away. But then someone planted a fire in the house, and as a result, the unborn child dies. So they planted everything on Adam, and he is saved by Martin Luther. (there was also some not so hidden prodestant/catholic undertones - it was also placed shortly after the Reformation...) God then flew them to Trnava, where Betka, his true love, is at home with her parents, pregnant with Adam's child. Betka is angry and feeling betrayed, but she forgives him and they get married. Not too long after that, these powerful people find him and imprison him for detroying a marriage, for the fire which killed the unborn child, for assaulting the Lord and they seek his death. Betka pleads on his behalf, her husband, the father of her child, everything that she has... But they would not listen, and he's hung. You see his spirit going to Heaven and he sings this awesome song about no one can take his freedom, even if they kill him, they won't be able to take it from him.
Betka then has the baby, and the play ends with her singing to her small son about the father he doesn't yet know.

It was awesome! The pics I have from this I took off the internet, and Ludka isn't even in them! But oh well, you can have a peek anyway!

Pastor Al

2007-05-07T21:37:00.000+02:00

Tonight we had a special evening of teaching with Pastor Al. Pastor Al was the pastor of Sherwood Park Pentecostal Assembly when I first started attending. Now he is the Canadian Director for Next Level Intl (NLI), and the overseer of the Slovakia project. Which basically means that I get to see him more often! :) Tonight we had our church leadership meeting in my house with the leaders from Nitra, Nove Zamky, Zlate Moravce, Trnava, Zvolen and Hlohovec. Pastor Al gave a really nice word on leadership, including keys to leadership and the spirits of fear and pride and how to overcome them. I was touched, and I know that the Spirit was present! Thanks Pastor Al!

Another Wedding

2007-05-06T23:04:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was the wedding of my two friends, David and Lydia. It was a very nice wedding: the bride and groom were stunning, the ceremony started on time and ended in less than an hour (very impressed, good job Miro!), the reception was fun, food good and the band, very neat. The band was the worship team from a church in Bratislava and they played fun music which was also worshiful. Very cool. We were all very impressed.

It is always wonderful to witness the miracle of two people becoming one! They have a whole new life of adventure together!

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Go Team Canada!

2007-05-02T22:15:00.000+02:00

Canada beat Slovakia tonight in a preliminary game. I only saw the last our of the game because I was leading at our small group meeting. But, as soon as we had finished, I went to the bar! I managed to find a spot where I could kind of see the game! It wasn't nearly the same though. Everyone else was cheering for the wrong team! And I was afraid to be identified... so I only had a couple small flags on my purse. I didn't want to be a hockey canada martyr! :)

Please pray for me... I was given "just one more document" to obtain for my visa. It should take about 3-5 days, but let's pray that a) it's really all I need and b) that it comes faster! :)

Eye spy with my little eye.... do you see what I see??? Oh yes, an Alberta plate! How can that be??? Some people use foreign plates in addition to their own because a) they bought it from abroad or b) it looks cool. But i've never seen a Canadian plate, and an Alberta plate at that! How funny!

I also have another wedding this weekend...

Turbulencia

2007-05-01T23:15:00.000+02:00

This past weekend we had a youth conference for the western part of the country. Our theme was Code 1:8 genetic code for a generation of mission. It was really good. There were a lot of young people who responded to the challenge of living a life of mission. Mark Holdcroft talked about how the phrase "secular job" should be banned from the english language, and how we should live like Joseph, seeing everywhere we are as a mission feild. Sheldon Armitage talked about how God wants to kick us out into action! Miro Toth spoke about the 4 rings of mission (jerusalem, judea, samaria and the ends of the world), and about leaving our comfort zones. We also spoke about the empowering of the Holy Spirit, and one of the girls from my small group in Nitra got baptized in the Holy Spirit! Woo!

Gaal Wedding

2007-04-22T23:37:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, two of my very good friends, Boris and Janka Gaal tied the knot. It was such a nice wedding. Janka was stunningly gorgeous of course, and Boris was looking very sharp and dashing as well. You can see for yourselves!

This is a Slovak tradition of breaking a plate. They break the plate, and it is said that the more peices it breaks into, the more luck/happiness they'll have. They also have to sweep it up together as the first chore they do as a couple. It was also fun to watch the guy with the box (used as the dust tray) open up the bottom a couple times so they had to do it over again!

Oh, good dancing fun! And yes, I did dance. Quite a bit actually! It was very funny indeed to watch me cut the rug, but it was all in good fun! In this video, in the centre is the bride with her new mother in law.

This is another fun tradition of making the bride and groom drink a small glass of wine while being held up on chairs by relatives. Quite a lot of finesse, I would imagine, involved in order to not fall off the chair!

It was quite the night! A lot of food (four meals!), good friends, fun dancing, a moment in history witnessed. I love weddings!

Vandals!

2007-04-14T15:01:00.000+02:00

Yes, I have been the object of vandalism! Last night I went out with a bunch of friends, and when I came back I noticed glass on the ground in my living room. Upon opening the drapes, i noticed a big gaping hole in the glass, and an empty bottle of vodka. If I haven't mentioned it before, my house it dead centre in town and there is one of the most frequented bars here is 5m from my door. There is also a little store that's open late where a lot of students will buy cheap booze and drink it on the street where I live. There are other windows around that they could have broken, but their object of choice was the home where a church is starting. Coincidence? Hmm... Please pray for us, this could have been a lot more serious.

Crisco

2007-04-13T15:48:00.000+02:00

No, I am not doing any baking. This is the name of my cat! I have had him for just over a week, and I have tortured the poor thing since I got him! He's been bathed twice, has had his nails trimmed, and today, was castrated. Poor thing. Oh well. I got him at the local animal shelter, and I think he had been neglected because I have never seen a more cuddly cat. If I pick him up, never wants to be put down. I named him Crisco because my other cat, long departed, was named Butter. I thought this was a good name to follow into the Chaput household!

Easter

2007-04-09T20:42:00.000+02:00

I managed to survive today without getting whipped or soaked. This may not seem so strange for you, but i considered myself lucky! In Slovakia, aside from eating traditional food like ham and potato salad (which I LOVE!) they have some... interesting habits. It is customary for a woman's male relatives to whip her legs with willow branches woven together, and to splash water or cheap perfume on her. In return for this blessing to her fertility, she rewards them with decorated eggs, chocolate, money or alcohol. Last year I got splashed by my roommate's nephew. He was cute... but this year i managed to avoid being whipped or soaked!

Well, for the Easter weeked I decided to take on home renovation! The walls of my apartment are all white. Even the tiles in the bathroom and kitchen are white. I have been feeling like i am living in a hospital! And it finally got to me. I went out, bought about 25 litres of paint, and away i went. But the reason I miss drywall is because I had to scrape off a lot of the old paint, sanding, plastering on stuff on top... and then sanding after. All this before actually even opening the paint can! I can't recall ever doing that with drywall.. unless you had a hole... Anyway, I got to learn some new skills... although with my mudding job... I don't think I'll be getting any job offers any time soon!

I have been doing my painting alone so far, but i got a call this evening from a friend who said she'll come over to help me out! Yeah! Maybe that means I'll actually finish it before I go back to work on Wed! The house is in such a state right now, i'm anxious for it to go back to normal. Normal in a much more colourful apartment! :) Well, at least the hallway and the living room!

Today we also took the youth on a trip up the "mountain" of Zobor. It was a nice little hike, and we had a weenie roast on the way back down. It was a lot of fun! But then it was back to the painting!

2007-04-01T21:15:00.000+02:00

I know it has been a little while since I have blogged. I guess that's the downfall of blogging often, people begin to expect it from you! Just Kidding. I am glad that I have readers, and that you all have a way of being connected to me, even though we are so very far away from each other.

It's been an interesting bit of time this past week or two. Just on Friday I was told that my TESOL certificate wasn't worth the paper it was written on, and that all I needed was my self-declaration that I lived in Canada more than 10 yrs. So silly, but whatever. I mean, I will have this paperwork approved, but the only reason I took TESOL is because I thought I needed certification to get a trade license to teach english. I guess that is not the case at all! So it makes me feel a bit foolish, and that all that work was for naught. But then, the side of me that knows better knows that any education and training is worth it! Which is very true.

Speaking of education and training, this is an area I need to grow more in. Especially when it comes to areas such as accounting, business, leadership and the art of coffee making! This cafe idea is really taking hold in our leadership team, and is something that we are definitely pursuing. Right now we have office space that we are renting, which has two rooms. One, the church office, the second, a multi-purpose room, which is right now housing the empty IKEA boxes from the office furniture! We want to transform that room into a mock cafe, type thing. We will not be able to be an official cafe or actually sell anything, but we can ask for donations! The idea behind this is building up to the big cafe. Starting small, work towards the big picture and learn everything we can along the way! The reality of the big cafe is that even if we started working towards it today (which we can't because this project hasn't been approved yet!), it would probably be close to two years before opening day. Just due to the legal reality as well as the fact that the place I have been eyeing is not actually for sale, nor has it been lived in for quite some time. The ultimate fixer upper! So, if we can obtain that place,a) I would be as happy as a pig in the mud and b) It will take a lot of elbow grease to bring it up to code. Everytime I walk by it I pray over it, and I can't help but imagine what we could turn it into. It would be perfect. The perfect location, just off the centre, right on a highly trafficked road by students. It honestly couldn't get better. But, the Lord knows. Anyway, all that to say that we don't want to miss out on 2 yrs or so of ministry potential! So this first phase will be like our mini-cafe, hang out, program running multi functional room! We want to run an Alpha-like course called H2O, conversational English,.... and so on! It's quite exciting. And all the stuff we buy for our mini-cafe can be used when we go to the BIG cafe! So, the expenses are spread out a bit and might not be so impossible. Please pray for us, if we step forward into this, we're looking at about half a million dollars in one time expenses (the purchase of the building is 90% of that sum!) But the cafe would be self supporting in one month if all the one time expenses are supplied for supernaturally. So this is a whole new area of faith for me,.. and to be honest, scares me out of my wits! But I am so confident that this is from God.

I have been talking to my colleagues and other friends here that I have made, and every single person (not saved) are SO excited to have a coffee house that has a heart. That offers more than coffee, but love. Oh, what opportunities we would have to share Jesus in a real and natural way. And to also have more structured activities for Christians, and not-yet Christians, for businesses, for students, for everyone.... I could totally write for an hour on this, so I will stop now! But you'll be hearing more about it in the near future. So, if you, or anyone you know has a heart for students and would be willing to invest into this... Come on down! :)

KPM: Youth Worker's Conference

2007-03-27T07:53:00.000+02:00

This conference took place last weekend in Zilina, a very pretty city to the North. It was a really nice time to meet with leader's of youth from all around the region, from all kinds of Christian churches. What was really crazy for me, was that one day, while standing in line for lunch, up pops one of my colleagues! We never seem to teach at the same time, so I don;t know her really well, but it turns out that she's saved! It was one of those,"What are you doing here??" Moments. She is a part of the Brethren church here in Nitra, and helps out with their struggling youth group. So, we had some time over lunch just to talk and share our hearts together. Funny.

Speaking of funny... I also had some... not so serious moments!

Did you know??

2007-03-23T19:51:00.000+01:00

That you can talk to me for free??? Yes, this is my little pitch for Skype! It's really quite a handy program. You download it for free, and if we're both online, we can talk or video conference for... nothing! You can also call out to a phone at a much better rate than I'm sure you can get elsewhere. And it has really clear reception.

I think Skype should pay me for this advertisement! :)

Spring is in the Air

2007-03-16T09:25:00.001+01:00

Spring has most definitely arrived to Slovakia. This is a picture of the treee that's behind my house.... beautiful. The sun is shining, I only need a light jacket and I am loving every last bit of it. Yesterday I ate lunch outside on a terrace, soaking up the sun as I ate my rice and drank my kofola.

New Experiences

2007-03-14T15:47:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I went to the doctor's office, not because I was sick, but because I need a certificate of health for my visa. I wish to describe this glorious experience, but I think Sheldon said it best. He was the forerunner, creating the way for those to come behind him.
http://armitagecafe.com/?p=41

Sum Up

2007-03-09T20:53:00.000+01:00

Well, I am now sitting back in my apartment after our trip to the mountains, and the healing of my battle wounds begins! Just kidding. I have a few bruises on my knees, but that's the worst of it. The other night I was asked to share my testimony during the service in the evening. So, after worship and an awesome time of prayer, I shared about my past, my present and some of my dreams for the future. We laughed, we cried... it was good. I am glad that God was able to use my story to encourage and challenge the others. I've also had some good opportunities just to chat and get to know some of the girls better. I sat on the bus with Kika, 15, for a good chunk of time. I don't think I've ever had the chance to just sit and talk with her one on one. She's always with others, and I am very grateful for that chance to just talk. About stuff at home, school and how she toothpasted on of the boy's last night! Good times. :) So, overall, it was a great time, physically, relationally and spiritually. Thank you for your prayers!

Converted!

2007-03-08T19:19:00.000+01:00

Day 3 of snowboarding and I may not be perfect, or even brave enough to go on the big hill... but I think I like snowboarding better than skiing. I need to build up some muscles though, because I've noticed that I get tired really quickly going down the runs on a snowboard. And you can't really stand up to rest a bit on the way down... But I think it's a lot more fun. We went again today, and I didn't kill myself! We actually had a lot of fun, and I even taught one of the others some of the stuff I had learned yesterday. (I took a lesson!)

Car Accident?????

2007-03-06T17:09:00.000+01:00

(The before picture)

That is the question my body is asking. “Were we in a car accident?” I’ve heard that when you learn to snowboard, you spend most of your time on your bum. I am a testimony to that fact! I can’t count how many times I fell… it was a lot! I wasn’t the only one learning though, we were 5, so at least I didn’t feel completely alone. Misery loves company, right? I think I was the poorest one out of all of us though.

(During)

But, on the bright side, I was able to provide really good entertainment for my friends! Especially Dida, she was doubled over at some points in laughter. She tried to be encouraging by saying that she was going to sell all the pictures she was taking of me when I am a world known snowboarder. But then she also mentioned having ammunition against me for my wedding. Hmmm… (after)

A Ski Trip

2007-03-05T23:03:00.000+01:00

This week is spring break gere in Slovakia, so we piled in a whole bunch of youth and young adults into a bus and away we went on our annual ski trip. I decided to be a little ambitious, and rent a snowboard. I've always wanted to try, but never went often enough to justify it. So, I was without excuse this time! So, I arranged for everything, rentals and the like and prepared myself for this ski trip. At church on Sunday I wanted to find out who else was going. So I would ask, "So, are you going on the ski trip?" "Yes, of course." was the reply. "Are you going to ski?" I asked. "NNNOOOO!!!" it was said in such a tone, not to be angry, but shock that I would ask such a question. The vast majority of us on this skiing trip are not actually going skiing or snowboarding. Nope. They;re going to just hang out. That struck me as odd, but it's just too expensive. But they don;t want to miss out on the fellowship, and the worship that we all share here. Please remember us in prayer. Last year we had a baptism, and I am believing that this year will also be a powerful time. We have a number of non-believers, or back slidden Christians on this trip, and i am trusting the Lord to use us as vessels of salt and light into their lives. Each night we will also have a worship time and a teaching. So please, remember us!

Excuse me???

2007-03-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

That was my reply today when I went to the Police station. After sitting in line close to an hour, she looked over my documents and told me that my medical examination wasn't sufficient. I had gone to the doctor in Nove Zamky, where she sent me for blood tests, x-rays, the works! Then she collected these results and compiled them onto one nice little peice of paper. All for which I paid good money. "sorry, General Doctors can't do these tests." "But she sent me to specialists." "General Doctors cannot do these tests. You have to have one of these pre-approved doctors test you, and have them write this specific sentence." All I could hear was the flushing of the toilet with my money going down it!

So, I have to go for more tests and get more papers, for which need other papers... and more money. Beautiful. The funniest thing though is this, to get my self-employment papers (so I can teach english) I have to have proof that I;ve lived in an English speaking country for more than ten years. Passport doesn't count. Neither does my drivers license, or my birth certificate. I laughed and I asked them how I could possibly do that! To which I was told that I have to write myself a letter. "I hereby proclaim, Christina Chaput, a Canadian citizen, was born in this place on this date. This is my passport number and I have lived in Canada for the past 25 years. Signed, Christina Chaput." And that's my proof.

I hope that by reading these exerpts from my life, that you would all have a greater appreciation and understanding for missionaries globally. Such are our lives... and I'm new to all this! But to think that I;m going to have to repeat this year after year... (sigh)

Foreign Police

2007-03-01T10:15:00.000+01:00

So, I got a very nice phonecall yesterday. Whilst preparing to go back to the Embassy in Hungary, I decided that I would try and phone again. Just in case the Minister hadn't approved me, or if he hadn't replied yet... so i wouldn't go down there for no reason. Well, the Consul had very good news for me. I didn't have to apply in Budapest, I could do it all at the police station in my town! Woo hoo! So I went down this morning, but of couse, they didn't have office hours today. So, another snag, but no problem, I'll go tomorrow.

3

2007-02-21T15:33:00.000+01:00

That is how many countries I was in yesterday! I left Bucharesti at 6am, arrived in Budapest to sort out my legal stuff and then back to Slovakia. Budapest held good news and bad news. The good news is that I had more documents than they needed and that I could come back to Slovakia. The bad news is that I have to get permission from the Minister of Foriegn Affairs in order to apply there, and that it would take significantly longer than anticipated. But, that's ok. We can handle that. I was a little nervous coming home, but everything turned out alright in the end. I just have to go back there in a week and find out if they'll let me apply there. So that's something that you can continue to pray for,

Oh, I totally changed my look. Nancy and I went to get our hair done! I have gotten nothing but good responses, although I have to admit it's taken a little to grow on me. It's completely different than anything i've ever had!

I am SOOOO glad for that trip down to Romania. Exactly what I wanted and needed. I was able to get the information that I wanted and more, and I had a fabulous time with old friends and getting to make new ones! It's funny. I had seen so many pictures of these people before, that I felt like I knew them when I arrived. It was almost like, "what do you mean you don't know me? Oh yah, we've never actually met!" So I am so incredibly glad that I was there. And so very thankful to Nancy for hosting me and being ever so wonderful! :)

La Cafenescu

2007-02-17T22:55:00.000+01:00

Here are some of the images from the cafe that i have collected so far...

... not to mention all the things that are swirling around in my head....

Romania...

2007-02-17T16:39:00.000+01:00

Well, I arrived in the airport in Bucharest Thurs night, and I have been having a great time since! I came to pick the brain of Nancy, a Canadian missionary, about the cafe that they have down here. I have to say that I have been thoroughly impressed thus far! We also took a little trip up to Brasov in the mountains, and had a nice time up there, also with Karen Cunningham, an american who teaches pre-schoolers. It was nice to out of a city enviroment, and breathe in the crisp mountain air.

If you are curious about my visa situation, I have allievieated a lot of stress from that by routing my flight directly to budapest, instead of going to Bratislava, then budapest by train. It also saves me from 2 more border crossings! Yeah! Please pray that they are able to process my paperwork quickly, and that I'll be able to come back to Slovakia quickly.

Off to Romania

2007-02-15T00:43:00.000+01:00

Yes, tommorrow I am off and running. Or flying should I say. I'm going to Romania to spy out the land. Or just spy in general. I hope Nancy's prepared for some brain picking! :) Please pray for me for safety as I travel, and for all the complexities of my legal situation. May God be glorified.

Košice Worship Festival

2007-02-11T21:13:00.000+01:00

I got an instant message on my cell phone from Ludka on Fri asking if I was going to the Worship Festival in Košice (eastern Slovakia). Not having any other real plans, I decided to take the plunge and go! So, I boarded the train with about 20 other young adults from Bratislava for the 6.5 hour train ride to Košice.

It was SO much fun! It's funny that 6.5 hrs didn't seem too long with this bunch of people! I only knew a couple people before, so it was good to meet new people. What was so awesome, apart from all the silliness,

before coming into Košice, we took time to really pray and to worship together before we even got off the train! Spontaneously I might add as well! I don't think I can recall that ever happening in Canada with my friends... could be wrong though...

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When we arrived in Košice, we went to the town centre,

went for coffee at AIDA, the famous coffee shop! It's funny. People in Bratislava laugh at people from Košice who come just to go to Ikea. And people in Košice laugh at people from Bratislava who come to have coffee and cake at AIDA! Then at 5pm, the worship festival began. 2,000 young people from all over the country. Hello Holy Spirit! :)

The bands were great, but there was also something so powerful that happened while we were there... All the pastors from all the various churches in Košice prayed over each other. Then the mayor of Košice came on stage, said a few words, then all the pastors prayed for him. It was beautiful. Catholic priests, Lutheran pastors, Pentecostal pastors, Baptists... all joined arm in arm, praying God's blessing and direction over the mayor. Wow.

After the festival, we left quite hurriedly in order to catch our train back. Yes. We came and left in the same day! We got on at 10:20pm, and I got off at 5:12am. Drove for 30 min, slept for an hour, and off to church I went! Craziness?? Oh yah! It wouldn't have been too bad though, we rode on a sleeper train, so I had a bed, pillow, blanket... but did I sleep?? Not a wink! :S But I have NO regrets. NONE! I'd do it again in an instant!

How many men does it take to change a light bulb?

2007-02-09T13:13:00.000+01:00

I wish this was a corny joke...

What happens when you don't have a ladder but high ceilings!

Some Troubles...

2007-02-09T12:02:00.000+01:00

If you could remember to pray for me at this time, I'm facing some troubles in the visa section of my life. You see, they changed the law on me, and I am now in violation of it. So, I am running around trying to get the right documents, get them translated and get them fired off to the right authorities. I am going to Romania on Thursday, and there is a possibility they might not let me out, or not let me back in. We'll find out on thurs! Pray please!