September 25 - October 3
On Vacation! Please pray for Andrew and I as we spend time by the sea and with the Lord. Will not have internet access, and plan to share more upon my arrival. Until then, have a great week.
September 24
Arrived home safe and sound after a great time at the JV Fall Conference.
For me, I got fed watching others get fed. The Lord was present and moved many hearts. My desire this coming week is to listen to the talks and spend time with the Lord, on vacation, seeking what He'd like to show me.
Today, Andrew, a fellow missionary who serves in Romania, and I vegged out in my place in PO. Tonight, I have invited JaJa, Anka, Jany Figura and Jany Simocko to my flat. What some of them do not know is that they are all going to find out that they are going to PASSION 07! I cannot wait to share more in the weeks to come.
September 19 - 23
Please join us in prayer as over 140 JV folks come together from 10 Eastern European Countries as the body of Christ. Our conference is focusing on Discipleship Making focusing on Christ in Us.
Those interested can listen to our conference via SkypeCast. You can visit www.skype.com , go to the bottom of the page, and visit SkypeCasts preview. We are listed as JV Fall Conference. The following is our schedule don't forget we are 6 hours ahead of EST (Eastern Standard Time).
Schedule:
We will host our Skypecast on the following dates and times:
Wednesday, Sept. 20 & Thursday, Sept. 21
Morning program: 8:30 - 10:00
Evening program: 19:00 - 21:20
Friday, Sept. 22
Morning program: 8:30 - 12:30 with a break from 10:00- 10:30
Evening program: 19:00 - 21:30
Saturday, Sept. 23
Morning program: 8:30 - 12:30 with a break from 10:00 - 10:30
If you run to any problems, please email me back and will help you as soon as I can.
September 15
Today, spend the day preparing for our upcoming conference and for my training course. This evening, will go out with a few fellow JV missionaries for dinner and a movie.
September 14
Today the unthinkable happened!
Before taking the train, I had time and decided to move all of my important numbers & Czech numbers to my Czech phone and deleted them off the Slovak phone. I decided to make this my main phone now. Well as luck or un luck would have it, I got off the second train to my destination, and realized that I lost my phone.
Sadly enough, I pushed on forward, had my meetings, and made it back to the flat in the evening. While getting caught up on email, my Entourage starting acting up, causing me to have to repair the application.
I stopped all things, and went to the Lord in prayer as to find out why or what was He trying to show or tell me. I believe it was to stop and spend some time in prayer with him. So I did.
God is love!
"All God does is love." - B. Manning
God is love - love comes from God - He showed us love - His love is complete - Live in love - God - Love is confidence - love drives out fear. 1 John 4:7-18
I have been focusing on this after I read a card from Marek Smolik, a KECY student team member. He wrote, "Mike Thanks For All! You showed me to love is to serve. You still will have big place in my heart. Love, Smolley"
As I wrap things up in PO, and after reading this card, I thank God for this! Note: this is not about me, but about God using me for Him. That was my goal, to be like Christ and He was seen. Thank you Jesus, even during times when I felt like I was dirt and not loving or serving the way I should be.
May we all serve in love and love to serve!
September 12
Happy Birthday Mom!
I wish you the best day ever. Know that you are loved and appreciated for all the things you have done for me. I thank God for you and wish you a blessed day.
Today, I am packing up and heading to the CR. Will be there for a few weeks. Oh, I got a phone call from my dad last night saying that he will need to go see a Cardiologist. It appears that his heart veins/valves had a virus causing his heart not to pump enough blood into his system. He believes all will be ok. Thanks for your prayers during this time.
September 11
Visited Youth For Christ-SK. It was great to be around them and hear how the Lord is working among them. Hopefully, the café will open up in November. They are about to sign contracts on a new piece of property near the Tatry for them to host CampFest and their training facility.
I spent time with a few more students at various times throughout the afternoon- Jakob, Tomas, David & Marek. In between those meetings, I continued working on our upcoming conference. I will return to CR tomorrow.
September 10
Attended church service this morning. Afterwards, I cleaned my flat because in the evening, I will host the KECY team members for a final good-bye, thank you Lord & prayer time event.
This afternoon, I hiked up to Calvary hill with a friend of mine, Jan. I have known him before I moved to PO. He is currently in seminary and wanted to talk about life as a missionary. He asked great questions and we talked about living outside of the church and reaching non-believers, rather then always being inside the church. He was challenged up on the hill, when an elderly man approached him about becoming a Catholic Christian. We tried explaining that we are Christians, he is in seminary, & I am a missionary, but this man would not have it any other way. Eventually we had to go and as we left, I shared with Jan that was a great learning experience for both of us. To see what others believe, and to know them, accept them, love them, build a relationship with them, gain their trust, and share the message. That is what Jesus modeled for us so many years ago.
In the evening, I hosted the KECY team. We had a nice dinner, coffee, tea and dessert. Afterwards, I encouraged the team with Acts 15: 12-19 and how the church needs to be and how they have been these last three years, reaching out and not making the gospel difficulty for those coming to know the Lord. We wrapped up the evening in prayer. It was a great closure.
I will miss these guys and girls very much and am so proud of the men and women they have become in Christ. Majority have been with us since the beginning, have been stretched and have seen a deeper trust and understanding of what it means to be missionaries. For the new folks, it was such a great sight to have them part of the team, "new fruit," from our work these last few years. Thank you Jesus!
September 9
I have been asked to lead a seminar on training our folks on our new Intranet we have developed. So, today, I spent the day preparing. Please be in prayer with me as I attempt to put all of this together.
This afternoon, Daniel, a friend of mine came over for lunch. We had a nice visit. In a few minutes, I will go out to spend time with some friends of mine, Dusan, Miro and their classmates.
My time with the guys was perfect. We talked, laughed, remembered funny stories, and then went out to get some ice cream.
September 8
"Listen to what Jesus speaks to you from the cross, "I'm dying to be with you." I'm really dying to be with you." And then He whispers, "Will you die a little to be with me?" Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel
This statement really hit me this morning, as I was praying to the Lord on how do we really die of self. As I read 1 Cor. 1:18-2:5, I discovered a few key points. "the message of the cross is the power of God." "We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." How many times do we stumble or more importantly act foolish toward or with Christianity? And then I read Gal.5:15-16, "you cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent desires and passions." Paraphrase of course.
Brennan Manning states it best, "Self-mastery over every form of sin, selfishness, emotional dishonesty and degraded love is the less-traveled road to Christian freedom." And, "But there is no growth without pain and no integrity without self-denial."
I concluded my morning time reading Phil. 3:7-11 and discovered so much truth. To die, is to consider all things loss and rubbish and to know Christ. That may sound easy at times and sometimes hard, but in the end, it's the only way. The power of the cross is from God Jesus. Thanks Lord for this lesson. May I apply it to my daily walk with you!
September 7
Today, I took the train back to Presov and made it safe and sound. Did some work, had a few meetings, and rested.
September 6
Worked all day on some projects and had a nice time with Mel and his family. In the evening we watched a new Christian TV show that our JV CZ national organization created, titled, Exit 316. I will share more in my upcoming prayer letter, but if you are interested, you can visit the following site: http://exit316.cz/. Sorry it is in Czech for my friends who don't speak Czech or Slovak.
Here is an excerpt from our President, Dave Patty related to Exit 316.
"Tonight we gathered at Malenovice to watch the premiere of Exit. To know that as many as 300,000 people across the country were watching along with us, seeing a clear presentation of faith in Christ was just amazing. In this first episode, Petra (an intern graduate from Pisek) shares about seeking spiritual meaning in Eastern Religion, and then putting her faith in Jesus Christ in a Buddhist meditation garden in Japan. David Novak, the leader of youth ministry for the CB denomination gives a very clear presentation on the Bible and why it is worth reading. Throughout the entire episode, the viewer is challenged to consider that "another dimension" exists, a spiritual world that profoundly influences the world that they touch and see.
Each episode will air three times a week once on Wednesday at 6:05, next on Friday at 12:55 and then early in the morning on Saturday. Praise God for this amazing opportunity! And be in prayer as we train another 200 small group leaders from Bohemia this weekend in Pisek.
September 5
Today, worked on several items related to an upcoming Fall Conference that I have been asked to manage. The weather here is nice. I also got to visit my new flat which should be done by the end of the month. Will return to PO on Thursday.
September 4
Back to School- please be in prayer for the students of PO returning to school, especially, the KECY students. Many of them will be faced with their old lives and routines. But after attending camp this summer, many experienced new thoughts, and changed hearts. Pray that they will not fall back into their old selves, but will stay the course, do well with their classes and make wise decisions.
I am en route to Cesky Tesin where I will spend this week preparing for our upcoming Fall Conference. Pray for safe travels and that I get all things completed that need to be done. Arrived safe and sound.
September 3
Spent the morning listening to the final series on "EVERYBODY" that Andy Stanley has been doing. It was a great series and glad to have listened to it. Afterwards, I spent time with Rene watching Dano play soccer. His team won. Afterwards, Rene played and he scored a goal. Unfortunately, I was not there to see it as a couple other guys, Robo & Peter, had invited me to Robo's cottage to grill out.
I enjoyed my time with them. They are guys whom I taught this past year. They are both great guys whom I respect and praying for. Robo is a believer who wants to see Peter come to know Christ as well. On our way home, Robo shared with me that he thinks it is cool for me to have been there to share Christ outside of the church with students rather then focus on youth just inside a church. It was a huge encouragement for me.
Tomorrow, high school students return to school.
September 2
Several of the guys stayed over last night after our party. We played "Bang" a new card game much like Mafia, for several hours before going to bed. In the morning, I cooked the guys an American breakfast- pancakes and eggs. After taking them home, I went out to lunch with Amy & Maruska, my former Slovak language teacher. It was great to get caught up with her. Afterwards, we went to a friend's wedding.
This afternoon, I went riding bikes with a few friends, Marek & David and Marek's new girlfriend. We drove up to the Calvary hill and just talked. Afterwards, I met up with a friend of mine whom Ryan and I met this summer, Maros. He and I had a great conversation related to God, the bible, etc. Please be in prayer for him as he continues to seek answers.
In addition, I'd ask that you please pray for my father. I got a call yesterday from him that they have done some tests on his heart and he will have to go in for another test. Seems that his valve is not functioning the way it should be for a man his age. He is in good spirits and we all know that the Lord has His hand in all of this.
September 1
Saying good-bye is a hard thing!
Tonight, our KECY Reunion/Going Away party was held. I was asked to be the speaker and share a few words. As I prepared the talk today, I really broke down several times in tears thanking the Lord for all He did through me and in me these last three years. It was great to see many "fruit" from my service and thank God for trusting me, allowing me and using me to reach the youth of Presov. Over 140 people were present.
The entire day I felt like I had just experienced a death. I can recall the last two times I experienced death; the day when we had to put down Sounder, my yellow lab, and the day my grandfather died. Those were hard times in my life, and today was no different. However, the Lord blessed me with an incredible evening with very close friends.
I have been truly blessed with a group of people, KECY Team, in Presov who truly love and care for me. Thanks guys for an amazing, heartfelt send off.
