"Welcome to Hluboká nad

Vltavou in the Czech Republic"

A greeting from Krista's 8th grade English class

Dramaták...Drama Club

Both of the girls go to a drama club every week. Rebekah, especially, is a natural-born actress. Her drama teacher has already set aside the main role for next year's play for Rebekah...remember these plays are in Czech! Here are the girls at the Mother's Day production saying poems for mom. Rebekah chose to be a rock star and Roxie a frog.

Biblická skupina...Bible study group

Since January we have been having a Bible study group that meets in our house twice a month. We have anywhere from 10-14 people who regularly come. Many are from Hluboká and České Budějovice, friends of mine and students of Dan. This has been a really special time for us and for the members of our group as we journey together on God's path. Some people that come are believers in God and some are not. But, we are all interested in talking about spiritual things. We are so glad that God has given us this opportunity to have these people in our home, talking about Him, and growing deeper friendships.

Rebekah (11) and Roxanne (8)

ECC...English Classes for Czechs


Since January I have been the entire ECC (English Classes for Czechs) staff - teacher, director, party planner, etc. My friend and co-worker Janet had to return to America last December, so I combined some of the classes together to make it all work. The semester ended last week on June 3, and all the classes celebrated by having a cookout in our OM garden. It was a really fun time. I cannot emphasise how much I enjoy teaching - Krista always commented that she thought I was made to be a teacher, and now I think she may have been right. I love all my students and will really miss them this summer while we are in America. I am hoping to involve more of them next semester in our home Bible study - already a few more have expressed interest in attending next semester. My hope is that we will eventually expand to two Bible studies - one for Christians and one for those who are just interested in learning more about God. Also, I am hoping some of the women will be interested in joining Krista's women's group which we hope to begin in September as well. For now, I am just happy to have the opportunity to be a teacher here at OM, and make friends with such wonderful people.

Hlubocký zpravodaj...Hluboká news magazine
We were just interviewed for our local magazine and here are some pictures the photographer took of us. Unfortunately for me, the magazine chose the worst possible picture of me to put on the cover of the magazine. My face looked like a huge cheese wheel with no discernable chin. My students were very excited to ask me the next day "Paní Učitelko, co se s vámí stalo?" (Teacher, what happened to you?) Ah well, such is life...nothing like a front cover ugly picture to knock you down a couple of notches. On a good note, the three page interview was great and we got to talk about why we feel that God has a plan for us here and why we followed Him all the way to CZ...it is an awesome opportunity for everyone in our town to hear why we are here...

Roxie má narozeniny...Roxie's birthday

Roxie turned 8 on May 25th and we celebrated by inviting everyone she knows (36 kids)...so, obviously, we weren't going to have it at our house (I don't like kids THAT much). We went to our local park that has like a bounce house\trampoline thing, cool King Arthur type fort and playground equipment. Roxie was so excited that alot of her friends came. I had made cupcakes (an oddity here in CZ) and the ubiquitous chlebičky (open faced sandwiches to you and me). The kids had a great time bouncing and playing together and Roxie was thrilled! And my house stayed clean!!

Veselé Velíkonoce...Happy Easter

Here I am being whipped by my friend, Martin, with a pomlazka. This is the traditional way to celebrate Easter in the Czech Republic...boys accompanied by grown men whipping neighbor girls and women in exchange for chocolates, colored eggs and hard liquor (for the men). God has been completely removed from the holiday not unlike in the states where we have easter egg hunts and celebrate by decorating eggs and buying chick and bunny decorations at Target. I just want you to know that it totally hurt when Martin whipped me.