Greetings from Eastern Europe!
We have just passed the two-year mark of our time here in Slovakia, and are feeling a bit more adjusted to life in this part of the world. We are happy that these first two years are finished, as we have heard that those tend to be the hardest in the category of adjusting. Our church youth group has been wonderful in making us feel welcome here. We so enjoy working with this team of youth who are joining together to spread the news of the Gospel to their friends and schoolmates.
The Josiah Venture team here in Slovakia held 9 English camps throughout the country this past summer. Our family went to the camp that our town’s youth attended, in order to build relationships with high school and college kids whom we see throughout the year around town and at youth group events. We are thrilled with how many of them are coming to these events, many of whom have no church, or do not know Jesus as their Savior. But, they keep coming, and they are continuing to hear the message of the Gospel as we share it during these events.
Our kids are well-adjusted to life here…seems that kids tend to be more resilient than we expect of them sometimes. While Shaylee is still home with us, wishing she too could go to school, the oldest four attend the Slovak public schools. They adjusted better than we expected, transitioning from being homeschooled in America, to moving here and enrolling in the public school. They amaze us how un-intimidated they are to talk to the nationals...quite different than their mother! :-) This brings us to one of the most-asked questions we get…how our language study is coming. We continue to learn under Zuzka, our original language teacher. Although we don’t often feel it, we are making progress, and will keep learning, studying and practicing here.
Throughout the year, much of Ed’s responsibilities center on preparation for the following summer’s English camps. These include communicating with North American churches that will join us for a week of camp in order to bring supplies, plans for activities, and the teams of people to teach the English classes. Ed also has responsibilities on the Josiah Venture Slovakia team, as they work together to plan other events throughout the year to train and disciple Slovak youth leaders across this country.
We truly want to thank each of you for your continual prayers and financial support for Josiah Venture through our family here. We cannot do this without you, and we are incredibly grateful for how you all have been, and continue to be, so generous in giving to this ministry that we are involved in here in Eastern Europe. Thank you also for your many notes of encouragement, your Christmas cards, your care packages, and your prayers! We so look forward to being with you all next summer, when we will return for our first furlough!
Our Furlough Calendar is a bit crazy, as you can imagine. We will outline our itinerary below, so you can see the basics of where we'll be and when.
May 27-June 10 Florida
June 11-July 1 Illinois
July 2- 10 North Carolina
July 11-22 Illinois
July 23-31 Indiana
August 1-5 Illinois
August 6-13 Florida
August 13 Fly back to Slovakia
On July 1st, we will be sharing during a Sunday evening program at our church in Tremont, Illinois. If you are in the area on that day, we would love to see you there. We will be giving a presentation of what we are doing here in Slovakia, and what is ahead for us as we return here in August. It will be at 7:00 pm at Northfield Christian Fellowship, Sunday, July 1st.
We hope to see you all during our time in the states. We are so looking forward to being with you!!
Blessings!
Ed and Wendi and family
No comments:
Post a Comment