New Work with youth started in Hradek nad Nisou

For several years we have cooperated on many projects with the church in Chrastava. This fall the Mayor of a nearby town, Hradek nad Nisou, asked the Chrastava church if they would start a club for youth. The town would provide the rooms if the church would provide the staff. The pastor asked if we would partner with them: they would lead the first hour, we would lead the second hour with English conversation and our team would include 4 youths from Chrastava (leadership development). We have been meeting weekly since the beginning of October.

January 25-27, 2013 we arranged for the youth from Chrastava and Hradek to spend 3 days and 2 nights together in a winter wonderland in Hejnice (a small town midway between the 2 towns). Because of Ken's talent and renown, he was our cook. We had a great time playing together, worshiping together, deepening relationships and sharing Christian values and life. Even though it was -19C (-2.2F) on Saturday morning, it did not stop us from enjoying God's beautiful creation and each other.  

JANUARY 2013 Thanksgiving in Nove Mesto pod Smrkem

This is the second year we have partnered with a local church in Nove Mesto (a small town in northern Czech near the Polish border) to conduct an English conversation group as an outreach into the community. The Czech Republic has no holiday similar to Thanksgiving. So we decided to prepare a full Thanksgiving supper for our students and their guests. The soonest we all had free time was in January. No problem, they don't care that we Americans celebrate it in November, as Christians we can be thankful any time.

Ken cooked a 20 lb. turkey in the Pastor's home while Linda, the Pastor's wife, Sylva, and another young lady from the church transformed an entrance hallway into a cozy banquet table for 20 guests. After everyone was seated, Ken paraded the whole, roasted turkey for all to see. Most people have never seen a whole roasted turkey before! Then Linda gave a slide presentation about the history of Thanksgiving and American traditions surrounding the holiday. Then we enjoyed our delicious meal.

Between dinner and dessert we had a craft project, where small groups were asked to add “I am thankful for …...” feathers to a naked turkey. This interactive task got people thinking about what they are thankful for and greatly added to the fun of the evening. We enjoyed an apple cake for dessert and lots of good conversation. One of the ladies brought her grandson and the Mayor (who is a regular member of our group) brought his son. Both teens were excellent English speakers.