Photo Friday

The location for the camp meeting.

In between camp meeting and conference I wanted to rest and then I got sick so I definitely rested! This was my Sunday.

Monday-Friday was "Fall Conference" - the theme was Radiate! We held it outside in a marquee/tent (oh the differences between British and American English) because we have outgrown our conference centre! It was a privilege to be a part of the team serving the 240 people attending the conference. And with a lot of rain my wellie boots were used a lot!

Meet Terry and David - Terry serves here in Czech and David serves in Latvia. Together we are the three British people on staff with JV! 

It was so exciting to see all these conference books lined up - exciting to think of the impact this conference will have through the years!

Our marquee/tent and the beauty of Malenovice.

The actual hotel/conference centre at Malenovice.

A photo from inside the marquee/tent one night!

Paperwork Prayers

I've had to complete a lot of paperwork in moving to another country. At one point I needed to go to Prague to pick up a piece of paper saying that I didn't have a criminal record. I got the piece of paper and it was accepted and everything was great! That meant I could start paying rent so it was a good thing!

Then, a week later, I got a call saying the piece of paper wasn't enough. That meant I'd probably have to start a process in NI for the "I don't have a criminal record" paperwork, and possibly have to go back to NI! 

I was definitely ok that she made the "mistake" as it meant I could start paying rent etc! And as it was their mistake they weren't going to revoke the paperwork, I just had to get more "evidence". I told the woman I'd go into the office to talk to her.

When I did, two days later, she had received a letter that day saying that under new legislation European Union citizens could now get their criminal record checks done in Czech!

So, because they accepted the "wrong" paperwork and because I went in two days after the lady called me I didn't have to go back to NI but I went two doors down the corridor! And instead of paying a lot of money (and a flight!) it was £3.

Before I went to the lady I had written it down as a prayer request to include in my next update, that all the paperwork would go smoothly, and God had answered it before I even hit send! So grateful!

Making Pancakes out of Buttermilk

One of the fun things about living in my town is that I am just a five minute walk from Poland. My favourite shop to buy groceries in, if only because it's my favourite walk-to-a-shop route, is in Poland.

I am learning Czech, but I am not learning Polish. Half the songs sung in church on a Sunday morning are in Polish and I don't even understand how the alphabet works! This hadn't been a problem up until this point.

Anyway, I needed to buy some things and bought some milk too. I went home and poured some milk in my cereal and.. the milk looked a little thick but I didn't think of anything of it.

Until I tasted it.

It wasn't milk.

It was buttermilk.

And it was gross.

So, I laughed about it and posted it on facebook so many others could laugh too and share their own variants of buying buttermilk stories.

You've heard the expression "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade" - while, taking my inspiration from that I made some pancakes out of my buttermilk, some very good pancakes!

(We'll completely overlook the fact I bought the wrong kind of sugar in a Czech shop for the pancakes, they still tasted good.)

Learning a new language and living in new countries are definitely humbling experiences but I'm grateful for a sense of humour and good pancakes and both of those definitely help!

Photo Friday

Sunday - FaceTiming with my family!

Monday night: JV ladies' Bible study. So thankful for tea, dessert and these wonderful women.



These two were playing a game of bury and jump on Aunt Rachael!  It was a lot of fun!




And I got a car! God moved mountains for this one and I have been so blessed by having this car already - and been able to bless others.

















Thursday - the location for our camp meeting!



A very Czech meal. A very yummy meal!




Friday - these wonderful people are serving with Josiah Venture all over Central and Eastern Europe and we were together for a few days to look back on the summer and look forward to all that God will do.

Edge Sports!

A couple of weekends ago I was at the training weekend for a new ministry within Josiah Venture. This autumn there are two football leagues starting. One is in Slovenia and the other is in Poland!

To start the ministry off we had a training weekend for the men involved in the ministry. In the picture below there are two American JV missionaries (my boss is to the right of me and Chris, on the left of the front row, serves in Slovenia), the guy to the left of me is from Croatia and serving in Slovenia, and the rest of the guys are Polish.

The idea of Edge is to reach young men through sports. The teams will meet every week to practice and will play each other within their leagues. The men in the photo will be their coaches. In the middle of every practice there will be a break to read the Bible and look at how it applies to their lives.

At least half of the players on each team will be unbelievers. Each team will be linked to a local church and the hope is that through this ministry young men will hear about Jesus and start being discipled in those churches!

It was such an honour to help at this training weekend and to meet these, mostly young, men who are passionate about Jesus and telling other men about Him. Please be praying for them as they recruit teams and get started!

We made sure to take a photo of all those there that first weekend and I truly believe we'll look back at this photo as the start of something very exciting! 

Praying that God does big things for His glory through the obedience and boldness of these men.

Photo Friday

Saturday - I was away helping at a training weekend for a new ministry of JV's that is kicking off this year.

...and here's the team! This year we're starting with a league in Poland and one in Slovenia.

I love my town.

Skype meetings with Iron Man apparently.

So... this happened. My computer charger literally burned itself. 

Working from home!

Friday - Benaiah and my boss watching the concert in my town. One minute it was hip hop and the next there was opera! And all so loud I could hear it in my flat with the doors closed.

Photo Friday

Saturday - finished unpacking!

Sunday - the day before school restarted and in church they asked each teacher, child and young person to come up to the front to be prayed for by a pastor or elder. 

Monday - on the days I go to the office I leave my house at 6am! One morning I met the cutest little kitty that was such a distraction as I was trying to lock up.

A fun thing about my life is how often I'm in two places at once - Czech and Poland.

Wednesday - Benaiah turned four at a pirate birthday!

Spreading out at work!

I still haven't bought curtains yet so I still wake up to this view, despite living in the centre of my town.

Czech, Not The Czech

Connie Patty has been with Josiah Venture as long as it has been around because together with her husband and another couple or two they started the organisation many years ago.  

Today I'm going to recommend her blog to you as she recently published a post to explain why people shouldn't say "The Czech" or "The Ukraine" - both are incorrect for different reasons, it's simply Czech and Ukraine, although when saying talking about the Czech Republic the "the" is fine.  

So I can say 
- I live in Czech  
or
- I live in the Czech Republic

Want to know the explanation behind the above?  You can check it out on Connie's blog here.