Children's Ministry, Visas, Etc.

During the month of February, we hosted a children's ministry team from NC.  They were here for two weeks and we were involved in seminars and services at local churches, as well as a larger children's workers conference.  This was a time of great teaching and powerful moves of the Spirit.  Many eyes were opened to new possibilities in children's ministry.  Many children, and adults, were touched and filled with the Holy Spirit.  I believe this was a divinely appointed time and will have a lasting effect on children's ministry in the Czech Republic.

We also had to make a trip to the visa office to ask for new extensions.  We applied for our visas LAST FEBRUARY and have heard no response.  So, we have been getting three and four month extensions ever since.  Well, this time they gave us an eight month extension!  This extension will get us through the rest of our term (barring any surprises).  Praise the Lord for this great news.

I was not able to make the trip to Israel in February.  I was disappointed, but it was going to be a problem with scheduling and with being away from my family for almost a month straight.  It just didn't work.  Maybe another time.

We have made a new video that highlights many things we have been involved in since we came back to the field in 2009.  You can check it out if you go to the videos section of this website.

As I stated earlier, we will be returning to the US for itineration this summer.  We would love to share at your church, small group, or anyplace really.  If you are interested in having us come and share, you can contact us by e-mail or phone to schedule a date.  Our contact information can be found on this website.

We still have three or four teams coming in the next four months.  We will also begin to pack up and prepare to leave the Czech Republic.  This is a huge undertaking and can be very stressful for us all.

Please keep us in your prayers for the following things:

1.  For the teams coming over.
2.  That everything would come together as we prepare to leave (packing and storing things, moving out of our house).
3.  We don't have anything in the US anymore.  We need God to provide everything that we need to live, including a fully furnished house, van, and car.  It is impossible for us to travel together all the time doing services because there are seven of us and four kids will be in school.  That means I will travel a lot by myself.  When I am gone Lenee' will need a car to drive as well.  Too bad the public transportation isn't like in Europe!
4. That God will give us favor with pastors and others so that my schedule will be full with services and meetings.

Thanks for your prayer and financial support.  You guys are the best.  Thanks for being a part of our team!

February

February is turning out to be a very busy and critical month for us.  I will be working with a children's ministry team from the NC district from Feb. 1 - 13.  We will be involved with children's ministry/training in several different locations in the Czech Republic.  Then on Feb. 15, I will be going to Israel to help do some much needed work at a new Teen Challenge women's center.  It seems strange that I would be going to Israel, but there is a connection.  The Teen Challenge national director in the Czech Republic, Petr Ministr, was asked to help start Teen Challenge in Israel.  Petr has been working on this for a few years and now they have just opened the first TC center in Israel.  I was asked to join a small team of people who will be going to do some much needed renovations.
Coinciding with all of this work in February, our visa extension expires on Feb. 28.  So, we have to find time to get to the visa office and ask for another extension.  We re-applied for our visas in Feb. of 2011 and we are still waiting for them to be processed.  We have received 3 and 4 month extensions for almost one year.  It is really a strange situation.
So, we would like to ask for your prayers concerning the following things:

1.  Safety for all of the travel in February
2.  For God to do powerful things through the children's ministry team and the work team to Israel
3.  For our family during this very busy month
4.  Pray that we would have favor at the visa office and that we would receive another extension

Thanks for your prayer and financial support.  We love and appreciate all of you.  God bless!

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

     2011 was a great year in many ways.  We were able to be involved with projects in Czech, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany.  We were able to help two new missionary families get settled in the Czech Republic.  We continued our involvement with the Teen Challenge church in Prague.  But, it wasn't a great year just because of our involvement in ministry.  We also saw God provide for our family in miraculous ways.  God gave us the gift of a great international school for our oldest two boys, at a fraction of the normal cost.  We are still amazed that our kids are actually attending this school.  This was a huge, and unexpected, blessing from the Lord.  We also saw another financial miracle at the end of the year.  We had seen a decrease of between $1200-$1500 per month in our support over the last two years.  This had really taken a toll.  Our cash budget finally dropped into a negative balance and was continuing to drop as the months passed.  As many of you noticed, we were requesting prayer for our financial situation.  Over the last 2-3 months of 2011, we began to see money come in from unusual sources.  We also had a few pastors who said that God had laid us on their hearts, and they were sending in a special offering.  We received enough extra money to get our balance out of the negative and back into the positive!  God has always met our needs and we know that He will continue to do it in 2012.  Praise the Lord for His many miracles in 2011.  Please continue to pray with us that the shortfall in our monthly budget will be replaced with new commitments.
     We are excited about the opportunities and challenges of 2012.  The first part of the year, we have teams and ministers coming over, we will be traveling, and we have to prepare for our return to the US this summer.  We have to begin calling churches to set up our speaking schedule for itineration.  We must make arrangements to move out of our house and find storage for our furniture, etc.  The second half of the year, we will be traveling in the US speaking at churches, promoting the cause of missions and raising support for our return to Czech in summer of 2013.
For more details on our schedule, please check the calendar page of this website.
     Thanks for your continued prayer and financial support.  We look forward to what God has in store for 2012.  May God richly bless you this new year!