Count It All Joy

We've just completed a long week that illustrates to us that, in spite of what others might call a life of sacrifice, we live a joyful life filled with fun and diversity. You'll remember that we told you that we were headed out for a week of Camp Meeting and asked you to pray for Jana and her young son, Dusan, pictured at the right. We've known them for several weeks now and this photo was taken toward the end of the week and we can honestly say in depicts one of the first times we've seen them in harmony together and with smiles on their faces. All week long they'd been immersed in an environment of love and acceptance by the family of God. Their daily life, in contrast, is filled with rejection and regular reminders of hope lost. Jana is noted for her negative attitudes toward everything. Dusan mirrors her cynical character through rebellion and unrestrained bedlam. All of that changed this week and we are sure that it is apparent to Jana that something is happening in her. Will you continue to pray that she will hunger after what is found in a loving relationship with Jesus. We are confident we'll see her enter into New Life!

The Camp Meeting week was an opportunity for us to develop new relationships with members of a church in Prague that we've never spent time with in the past. Fully two-thirds of them are under the age of thirty. Many of them had invited their parents along to experience the fellowship that they'd found at Church. Linda and I represent to many of those parents the only members of their generation who are believers in Christ. You can imagine that we were watched closely and quizzed about lives and faith. At the end of the week their was an "Open Mic" and more than one of those parents rose to declare that they'd come that week to debunk their children's faith and prove that they had been drawn in to a cult. To the contrary, they now had to go home and wrestle with the love and consistancy of the witness they observed during their "holiday".

Throughout the week we participated in both indoor and outdoor meetings, sporting tournements, trips into the newly opened "nature preserves" (Areas off limits to civilians due to their proximity to a free border), and across the border to visit the Germany city of Passau. You can see how we fit in with the younger generation...

This week gave us two opportunities to attend the weddings of people who a part of our lives. Mirek and Katka, pictured on the left, have both been our students in the Bible School, members of Outreach Teams that we've led to Slovakia and towns within the Czech Republic and close friends with whom we've shared and taught in the areas of evangelism and discipleship. Cip and Hanka, on the right, were married at the Camp Meeting. Cip is a gifted musician and worship leader who has served on several of our Outreach Teams. We first met Hanka as she assisted Linda in an English Camp outreach three years ago. Each of these young future leaders are precious to us and we've loved participating in this new phase of life for them.