OPENING OF THE FAMILY CENTER IN USTI nad ORLICI on Sept. 7 , 2007

We have worked for many years with Pastor Dan Dostrasil in Usti nad Orlici, a town in east Bohemia 2 1/2 hours from Liberec. The JB church there was originally built in 1542 (50 years after Columbus discovered America). It is an historical monument so he cannot make any changes to the outside of the building but he can and is making great changes to the inside.

One of the Church's visions for serving their community became a reality on September 7, 2007, with the grand opening of the Family Center. The church totally re-modelled the inside of the downstairs and turned it into a Family Center with a pre-school co-op. Ken had the privelege of being one of the speakers at this event. The Mayor of Usti and one of the bishops of the Jednota Bratraska Church cut the ribbon. We had the ceremony in a large army tent which the church will use for their Sunday service and other meetings until the upstairs of the church can be reconstructed as their meeting room. Nicole Brozova is the Center's director, a young woman that we know from Liberec. The children and their parents greatly enjoyed exploring the new center and all it has to offer.

Jarek Pleva, JB Bishop and the Mayor of Usti nad Orlici cut the ribbon to open the new Family Center in Usti.

Beside Ken is Pastor Dan and the new Family Center's director, Nicole Brosova.

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND IN USTI nad ORLICI 2007

After one day's rest from the big Thanksgiving Outreach in Liberec, we took off for east Bohemia and spent 4 days in the Usti nad Orlici region. Friday was a day of preparation: brining the 18 lb. turkey, preparing the breading for the dressing (Ken had to make his own cornbread and roast and cube several loaves of white bread) and Linda prepared two sheet cakes of apple crisp for dessert. The next evening we served 33 people a full Thanksgiving dinner and gave a slide-show of the history and traditions of the American Thanksgiving. Many of the guests had never seen a whole, roasted, stuffed turkey, so it was a huge hit! We crafted homemade "paper roll" turkeys and each guest filled in a feather with what they were particularly thankful for this year. It was a delightful evening.

The next day, Sunday, we visited the new church plant in the town of Kraliky, 45 minutes east of Usti. Petr Appl, and his wife Ladka, have been faithful and hard working assistant pastors in Usti and they now have a new home and church in Kraliky; as well as a new, 3-week old daughter named Esther.

On Monday, before returning home to Liberec, we returned to Usti nad Orlici and led an English class in the church's Family Center for the pre-schoolers and their moms. The mothers also wanted to make the "thank-you turkeys" and expressed their gratitude for the service the Center is to their community and families. The Center participants are a lively group and it was great to see how much English the children knew. We sang Old McDonald and Hokey Pokey.

Thanksgiving in Usti nad Orlici, November 24, 2007

Enjoy your meal.

On Monday we went to the Family Center and enjoyed speaking and singing English with the pre-schoolers and their mothers.

New Church Plant in Kraliky, Cz