Get this cool story....

Friends of ours, Taj and Kristi Hussain, were praying about how to support us financially for our mission trip. They asked their sons, Alex and Austin, what they as a family could sacrifice so they could give money to our trip. They all came up with a plan to skip eating out two Sundays a month so that they could support us financially. It is so cool to me that this precious family and especially those boys saw the big picture...that a small sacrifice of not eating out could help those who have never heard the name of Christ believe in Him...Thanks you guys!!!!

God answers prayers!!!!

Although this statement is nothing new to us, it still floors us to see how He answers our prayers. Last week Danny and I were asking you all to pray for us, for wisdom in decision making etc...Well, God has shown us pretty clearly that somehow He is going to take us to the Czech Republic in August, He has lead us to put a deposit on this house (and He lead the landlord to charge us a little more than half of what he originally said for the deposit WOOHOO!!!), He is leading us to put our house on the market in May...we feel really at peace with all these decisions that a week ago were making us crazy...THANK YOU, GOD, FOR BEING SO FAITHFUL!!!!

We are excited for this particular house as it was our favorite, and this was the one where we were all able to share Christ with the landlord and realtor. What a neat opportunity to be able to continue to shine Christ to this landlord. Please continue to pray for them as we are, hoping that the Holy Spirit is softening their hearts towards God.

Over the next few weeks, we are doing presentations at churches in Watsonville and Manteca. We have several more appointments with people and some of our Czech Night dinners. We are hoping that God uses these times of sharing for His glory, to really speak to people and challenge them in their own walk with Him. Please pray too, that He would lead some to support us in prayer and financially.

Weird weather in the Czech Republic...

The picture to the left is of the OMCZ villa where yesterday they received 15cm of snow...after two solid weeks of beautiful 65 degree weather (in time for our visit) and of course all the flooding that ensued from the melting snow. So now it is the middle of April and MORE snow...totally crazy!!


Does anyone know why jet lag is much, much worse coming home than going? I must be getting old because I have been walking around like a re-animated zombie for 4 days....whereas it seemed to only take one day of adjustment in CZ...

Today I am preparing our newest newsletter, and we have been doubling our support raising efforts as it seems that all signs are pointing to an August departure. There are so many blessings from all this support raising...being able to speak with so many people about what God has done and is doing in our hearts, opening peoples eyes to God's love for the entire world, the faith strengthening that comes from being completely out of control as far as finances...God has used this process to strip away any sense that we can do this on our own...
in the same breath, we will be really stoked when this part is over, as we really want to get to the Czech Republic and start working, and it will be nice to not have to think about support for a whole day...yet I know that God is using this to minister in our lives and it seems in the lives of others here, even before we set foot in CZ I think we are being used which makes this all worth while....

As Danny and I traveled last week to the Czech Republic, we prayed that God would strengthen or diminish our desire to be here in CZ according to His will. We really want to be doing what He wants us to do. Well, God has honored that prayer and clearly shown us that this is our new home. Now we really need your prayers. We have some decisions to make and some challenges ahead of us.

First: The house we want (where the landlord is interested in hearing more of Jesus) is on hold for us for two weeks. We have the option to give him a deposit to hold the house til August, but we want to be sure of our support. Right now we are at 40%...we really want to go to CZ in August, but we must have 100% by July...so would you please pray that we could see an increase in our support in the next two weeks...so we could make a decision about this house...

Second: Would you pray for us that we would have clear direction when to sell our house...We really need to hear from God as to whether to take a step of faith assuming that we will be leaving in August and put our house up on the market in May...or hold out...

Third: We would love to have continued prayer for our children's schooling. Both of us feel that it would be a good plan to have them in Czech schools so that they can learn the language, make friends and integrate into the culture. We are leaning this way more strongly now...homeschooling would isolate them and for them to be happy here we want them to feel a part of life in CZ. Please pray for potential teachers and friends for them.

Fourth: Please pray with us for the real estate lady and our potentail landlord, that the Holy Spirit would continue to speak to them...Also, continue to pray for Ceske Budejovice (our city) where out of 200,000 people, only 250 claim Jesus as their savior....

We are trusting the Lord that his timing is perfect, but we do have a renewed sense of urgency now...the need here is great and there are so many benefits to coming in August...we are praying for more to partner with us....

Saturday Morning (4.8.06) Update

So it has been a while since we last updated, due to some sketchy internet access. I will give you a brief summary of what has happened the last few days...

Wednesday (4.5): Krista was a little sick on Wednesday, perhaps from all that rich czech food. It was a cold (about 38 F) rainy day, and we went to the shopping mall in Brno to meet our friends Katarina and Inka (it was our first time meeting Inka face to face, after communicating only in email). The bad weather kept us from seeing the outdoor sites of Brno, such as the castle and cathedral, so we spent the afternoon in the mall, mostly chatting over coffee and lunch, and later ice cream. At lunch, Katerina's friend Tereza arrived with her sister and her nephew Nikolas (who is really cute and less than a year old). Tereza and her sister are roma (gypsie), although it is not readily apparent. I did notice at one point little toddle Nikolas approach a little boy with a big smile, but the little boys older sister quickly grabbed her brother and pulled her away from Nikolas - a not-so-subtle example of the feeling people here have towards anyone with dark skin.
That evening, Krista and I had a small dinner at the hotel restaurant and were surprised to see about 15 very thin young women come into to restaurant and have dinner together. We found out that they are the contestants for the Miss Czech Republic contest, which is being held at the hotel we stayed in Brno tonight (4.8). I think some of the onlookers thought Krista was a contsant also, but maybe I am a little biased...
Later that evening our friend Anicka, who we spent some time with last year, met us and we talked and caught up on things until almost midnight. Anicka will be moving to Australia next year, to get married to an australian man and start a new life there. It was interesting to hear her compare life in CZ and life in Australia.

Thursday: This was mainly a travel day, to return to Ceske Budejovice after 3 days with friends in Brno. We had a nice drive, had lunch at a very high-tech McDonalds, and got settled in at the OM base. After we were settled in, we took a trip to Cesky Krumlov, considered by many to be the most beautiful city in the Czech Republic. The city is less than 30 minutes from the OM base, and is breathtakingly beautiful. There is a huge castle that sits on the cliffs above the river, and I kept thinking the whole place looked like a real Disneyland. Afterward, we went to new new super store Tesco, a british chain similar to a super-WalMart, which had just opened in Ceske Budejovice that day. We decided to buy all the ingredients for a "picnic dinner", and found bread, some strange ham-like product, mayonnaise, ham-flavored chips (!), and some "Pepsi-Max". It was a nice experience, and we had a nice little "picnic" back at the OM base.

Friday: This was a very productive day, as we began by visiting a very nice Skolka (kindergarden) where Roxie would possibly attend. We met with a techer who gave us a tour of it - it was really nice and clean, and the children seemed very happy. We were told there is a waiting list to get in, but they seemed very interested to have an American child there. Following this, we looked at two houses - one a "row house", which shares walls on both sides with another house, and after that a house we had looked at last week. While we were looking at the second house, Pavel the OM field leader, spent about 30 minutes discussing the gospel with the landlord and real estate agent. We were able to understand some of the conversation, and both the landlord and real estate agent were very interested in why we would give up a nice life in America to come here. We were able to tell them our story, and the real estate agent commented that she had spent the last 20 years trying to find a purpose to life. The landlord, an nice man of about 55 years, commented that he knew a presbyterian missionary from australia, and was still "searching" but not fully ready to accept the christian gospel. We will continue praying for both of them, and Pavel invited them to both his church and to bible study. We thought later that maybe God led us to this house just beause of the landlord....
Pavel later took us to some car lots, where we looked at some used cars that he suggested. It is funny, because here something like a Toyota RAV4 is considered a really high-end car, but a BMW is considered an everyday commonplace car. We plan to buy a used car when we come here, so it was nice to see the price ranges (higher than the US, but not as bad as I thought it would be).
Friday night we spent at english-language Bible study, which was a really fun time. It is offered by OM to anyone in the city, as a chance to converse in English for free, while at the same time presenting a Christian message. It was an easter theme, with plastic eggs filled with treats and bible verses. We spent perhaps three hours there, and really enjoyed talking to the czech students (ranging from teenagers to about 60 years old). Following this, we had a nice chat with the team leader, James, who later took us to his flat. It was a typical panelak, but laid out really nicely. It was in a nice part of the city, and had a great view from the balcony. We rally enjoyed talking with him.

Saturday: As I write this, it is Saturday morning about 11:00. We will soon be leaving the OM base and heading to Prague, where we will stay at a hotel at the airport, because we need to be in the terminal at about 5:00 Sunday morning. Then we have a long (3 legs) flight back to San Francisco, where we will drive back to Salinas (hopefully by midnight) and collapse (since our bodies will think it is 9:00 AM).

Top 10 Least Favorite Things about the Czech Republic (so far)

1. Customs officials who think Sees candy is illegal drugs
2. No street signs (see pic - only little signs on buildings if you are lucky)
3. Ketchup packets are not free in fast food (you are charged about 25 cents per packet)
4. Constantly being stared at (do we look that different?)
5. Paying for your grocery bags at the supermarket and bagging your own food
6. People don't like to make change - they will glare unless you make it easier for them to give
back even amounts
7. Cannot pay-at-the-pump at the gas station
8. Snow for 6 months of the year (and flods this year)
9. No shower curtains (we still can't figure this one out - we end up getting water everywhere)
10. Expensive clothing (basic "Wal-Mart" shoes cost about $35)

Our Top 10 Favorite Things about the Czech Republc (so far)

1. Hospitality of people, once you get to know them
2. Home-made mushroom soup (houba polevka)
3. The nice people on the OM Team here
4. Learning how to cook buchty (czech pastries)
5. Visiting castle Hluboka at night, and being the only people there
6. Strong houses made of cement blocks
7. Teaching English in the elementary school at Vyskov
8. Prices for food (nice dinner is about $6) and houses (house rent is about $600-$750 /month)
9. The gym in Ceske Budejovice (very nice and clean, with new equipment)
10. McDonalds - the McDonalds here is like a nice restaurant, with plasma screen TV's and
internet access

Pro nas deti (for our children)

We love you so very much! We can't wait to see you in a few days time! We are looking forward to hugging you both!!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

FUN IN BRNO

Today (Tuesday) we slept in until about 9:00. I went to the hotel posilovna (gym) for about 30 minutes, and at about 11:30 we met our friend Katarina and her friend Tereza. They took us into the downtown of Brno, and showed us all the shops and the sites of the city. After this they took us to Katarina’s favorite pizza restaurant (called “Al Capone’s Pizza”), where they served each of us a “personal-sized” pizza, but it was really big. I like Czech pizza, as the crust is very thin, and the toppings are not as thickly-applied as in the USA.
Then we went in their new state-of-the-art shopping mall, called Vanckova. It was very impressive. We were able to find a nice Czech-English book for our children, to help them learn Czech words. We also looked in the shops at practical items that we would need. They had a shop much like Best Buy, which had both electronics and appliances. Appliances are more expensive here, but not too much more. For the typical Czech person they are very expensive, as the average wage here is about 25% of the average US wage. Krista and our friends wanted to take a break and people-watch, so we had coffee and ice cream at a dessert/coffee bar type restaurant out in the middle of the mall. Once again, we left stuffed by the giant desserts we were served. Needless to say, we will not be eating dinner tonight.
Later in the afternoon, our friends came back with us to our hotel room where we gave them some gifts (clothing and candy) we had brought from California. We stayed and talked for a while, and now it is 8:00 at night so we will go to the “internet room” and post this blog.

FUN WITH FRIENDS

Today (Monday) we met my friend Katarina and her mother Jaromila. I had met Katarina briefly last year here in Brno and Krista and I had been communicating with her for the last year via email. Over that time we have built up a nice friendship, which is so hard to do here in the Czech Republic. One thing that is said about Czechs is that it is very difficult to become their friends, but once you do you have a friend for life. That seems to be true, as Katarina has been a great friend for us, even sending many gifts for us and the children at Christmas.
We met Katarina this morning in her town of Vyskov, which is about 30 minutes north of Brno. Brno is the second-largest city in the Czech Republic (about 500,000 people) and is where we are staying for four nights to meet some friends. Once we met her, she took us to the elementary school where her mother works. We met several of the teachers, as well as the director of the school, who was very interested in what we thought of his school. We sat in on one English class for 8 year-old children, and were so encouraged by what we saw. We had heard that Czech schoolteachers are ultra-strict with their students, but this teacher was very nice and her students were bright and well-behaved. The students greeted us in English, and found us very interesting. After this, we were the “guests of honor” in Jaromila’s class. We sat at the front of the class, and the children asked us questions in their halting English. They were interested in American culture, and also in sports. We were able to teach them a song, and handed out lollipops from Sees Candy, which made us a big hit. It was a really great time and we felt very welcome their.
After this, Katarina took us to a village in the nearby mountains where she is building a house with her boyfriend of 7 years, We met her boyfriend’s parents, who in typical Czech fashion treated us like royalty, bringing us delicious sandwiches and sweets. We talked with them for about an hour, with Katarina translating, and were so impressed with their warmth and hospitality.
Leaving this village, we returned to Vyskov where Katarina took us on a tour of her coty (about 30,000 people). It is a lovely city, with a nice town square and with some of it’s original medieval walls still remaining. She took us to the town museum, where her “aunt” (which is not really her aunt – but is a term on endearment for an older female friend) met us. The museum was closed, but her aunt opened it up for us and gave us a free private tour. We spoke with her in Czech, and were able to understand some of what she said. Again, we were blown away by the friendliness of the people, if you have your “foot in the door”.
Finally, we went to Katarina’s apartment for the evening. Katarina is 25 years old, and lives with her mother and father (until her house is finished in a year or so) in a typical Czech “panelak”. This is a communist-era apartment building, built of prefabricated panels. They are small but quite cozy. The bathroom is really different and tiny, with the washbasin being just a small bowl above the bathtub, using the same faucet as the bathtub. Katarina presented us with many Czech gifts, and again we were blown away by the generosity. Then Jaromila taught us how to make buchty, which Krista has made for our Czech dinners. She carefully walked us through every step, and we helped her put together each delicious buchty (which is like a small pastry filled with cream chese and topped with blueberries). She also showed us how to make houba polevka (mushroom soup), which she made from mushrooms they pick in the wild and then dry. It was perhaps the best soup I have ever tasted. Then we spent some time together talking, watching Czech television (many reality shows), and eating the just-baked buchty. Mmmmmm it was a delicious ending to a wonderful day.

SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO?

While we have felt the call to come to the Czech Republic for some time now, one reason for this trip was to not only for the practical reasons of looking for housing, schools, day-to-day needs, etc., but also to see if we still felt this is truly where God is calling us. Of course, our trip did not begin great as we did not have any luggage, the person who was to meet us with the rental car was not at the airport, our credit cards did not work, and nobody seemed to understand English. In spite of this, everything worked out great and we feel God used these trials to make us stronger, and it confirmed to us that we could cope and not panic, but really just laugh and have fun with these situations. We have found it is not so difficult to live here – we know enough Czech that we can get by in the shops and restaurants, and we have met soooo many nice people here (unlike the stereotypical unfriendly rude Czechs).
We have been curious about how best we could fit in with the OM team. After meeting with the Field Director, Pavel, and the Team Leader, James, we were really encouraged by what they think we would be best at. For Me (Danny), they would like to start a Business English language class for business professionals. There is a huge need for it here, as the Czech Republic joined the European Union last year and many businessmen must know English if they are to work effectively in this society. Krista’s main purpose would be making sure we all make the transition to CZ life smoothly, and also teaching English to high school age students. We did not ask for these positions – but we are really excited because they are perfect fits for our talents and abilities. Really we cannot think of a better fit for us.
So should we stay or should we go? It already feels like home to us here. Really we can’t wait until we are fully supported and can make the arrangements to come serve the Czech people.

THE FLOOD

This year was the coldest winter in recent memory in the Czech Republic. As recently as two weeks ago the ground was covered in snow and the daytime high temperature was at or below freezing. As a result, the ground has been covered in much more snow than usual. However, last week (just before we arrived) the cold suddenly ended and the past week it has been quite warm (in the high 60’s). While this is good for us, unfortunately it quickly melted all of the snow and has caused much flooding here in the Czech Republic. While returning from Prague to Ceske Budejovice (120 miles) on Saturday, we barely made it back before flooding closed the highway. We still had to cross a flooded road which was down to one lane, and was soon closed after we passed. Every day in the news we see stories of flooded cities and towns. The Operation Mobilisation base is in some danger, as it is next to the Vltava River. In fact, in 2002 Ceske Budejovice was flooded and the OM base was heavily damaged. Repairs from the 2002 flood were just completed last year. Remember to keep the Czech Republic in your prayers, as many people here are now displaced from their flooded homes.

WOOHOO!!! We have clothes!!!

Today we drove all the way to Prague and back to recover our incarcerated luggage (about a 400km round trip). We arrived at Praha airport, found the mystrious phone and dialed the "secret code". No one answered. We tried no less than 5 times and then called the original people that we had been dealing with, hoping that they could tell someone we were at the airport waiting. The man was less than helpful as he would only give us directions to the airport even though we had already told him three times that we were standing in the airport! Finally, after dialing the secret code a few more times, someone answered and came out to meet us. She took us into the inner sanctum where all the bad luggage goes and showed us our luggage...needless to say it was a joyful reunion!! We still needed to go thru customs, so they could scrutinize the illicit contents. We go to the customs counter where four Czech police and customs officials are looking at us with disdain, we have interrupted their chat. They ALL come over to the xray machine and stare at the screen as our bags go thru. We are nervous...we just want to take our underwear and deodorant and go...but we don't want to anger them either...They locate the bag containing the "boxes filled with drugs" and ask us to open the suitcase by pointing to the bag and saying "open". We then proceed to show them that the drugs are really See's candies. They poke the boxes with their fingers...and say "bon-bon" (candy). They put the candy down on the table and all four of them walk away from us without saying a word. And they go stand behind the counter resuming their conversation. "Are we free to go?" we wonder...we take our chances and high-tail it outta there with our sweet sweet suitcases rolling behind us...I'd say we got a crash course in Czech bureaucracy today...