A Week at Camp: Students

A Week at Camp: Games

A Week at Camp: English Class

A Week at Camp: Camp Dance

More Pictures

Overlooking Leskovac

Marija, Gaga and I

Making Dinner for the Intern team

Sanja and I

Out of the Saltshaker

Wow, God has been shaking up and renewing my view of the privilege and call we have to share His love and message with the world. I couldn't sum up the book I am reading (Out of the Saltshaker and into the World, Rebecca Manly Pippert) here. Those of you who know me know that I am longwinded :) Instead I will quote some of the lines from the book that have challenged me.

If Jesus left all of Heaven and Glory to become one of us, shouldn' we be willing to leave our circle of church friends or Bible discussion group to reach out to a friend? Ch. 2

When we develop a way of living that places a special emphasis on people, that demonstrates holiness and a dedicated obedience to God, we can't help but be effective witnesses. Evangelism will flow from our lives not memorized techniques. p.51

What does it mean to be holy? Many times I have seen Christians keep themselves at arm's length from their non-Christian friends because they thought they were being Spiritual. Ch 5

We can testify to others by displaying Christ's love through acts of service. We can evangelize by declaring God's truth, the message of salvation. We can evangelize by praying for others and asking the Holy Spirit to move in a demonstration of God's power. None of these tools are sufficient alone.

If we proclaim truth without love, we just make noise and risk turning someone away from God

Loving without ever giving acknowledgement to the source of our love is not enough.

God does the work of salvation. God convicts people of sin, but we are still called to act. We are called to bring the message to the world.

To hide the good news of God's salvation and simply witness through loving presence is not enough for we would be depriving seekers of the knowledge of where they can find hope. Psalms 40:10 says, "I have not hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your faithfulnessa and steadfast love from the great congregation.

Pray for me has I am seeking the Lord on how I can apply what I am learning to my environment back in Oregon. Pray too that I can apply these things as I love and speak truth to students here in Serbia.

Leskovac

 

 

 

 

Bowling Alley

We had a little team building activity after church today. It was a good time. :) Later this evening we are off to meet up with students, our main objective right now. Next week we will head off to Lesovac, a town in Southern Serbia to meet and train with the Church team there for a week. I'm not sure what type of internet access I will have there, but as always I will endeavor to keep you updated.

Pictures

Ross Looking "Gobbledegook" in the dictionary....its there



The view of Novi Sad from the Fortress on the other side of the Danube



Our road


Nina, a girl from last years' camp who invited Kevin and I over for a DELICIOUS lunch



The team on our day off hanging out on the beach of the Danube!



A new friend Johanna. I have really enjoyed hanging out with her!

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Me and N. Irish Teammate Andy being Twins in our Camp Shirts

Writing English Lessons and Avoiding the Heat

Wow it is hot here! Around 90 degrees by 11 am by my measurements. Today we made "mexican rice and beans." we didn't have black beans so we used kidney beans, we didn't have taco seasoning so we used fresh garlic and paprika. It was really delicious!

Now we are beating the heat by staying in during the hot part of the day to write our English Lessons. It is going well. I have prepped 4 lessons for Intermediate and 4 for Lower Intermediate. The brain-storming we did at training was a great help.

Just to give you an idea of the types of things we are teaching, here are my "themes" for each day.

Day 1: Identity: Who are you?
Day 2: Nature: The World Around
Day 3: Relationships: An Ever Popular topic...
Day 4: Superheroes: Who are your heroes?
Alternate Day 4:Food Day

Some of my favorite activities include crossword puzzles, discussions and art projects, such as design your own superhero and describe them to the class. My favorite activity is the the cooking show that we'll be making on food day.

There is a method to all these fun and games. With each day of class the students will become more comfortable speaking English. They will become more comfortable talking about themselves, their relationships and their opinions. They will bond together with their classmates. This is our goal: To offer quality English lessons and a classroom environment that promotes relationships.

Well, I'd better get back to it. I will endeavor to add pictures tomorrow. :)

Mary

Novi Sad Tour and Concert in Hungary

Here are some pictures from our last few days:

Ross, Andy and I (We are still waiting for Kevin to come)



Me in My room (I still haven't unpacked :):




Michael W Smith/Starfield concert in Budapest: It was so powerful to see around 6,000 Eastern European believers gathered to worship! It was also wonderful to hear them sing in their own languages. We drove up with church members and leaders from this area, it was an encouragement to all of us.

Training at Malenovice:

Ema from Croatia and I really re-connected at training, I had a lot of wonderful conversations with her!!



Mateja from Slovenia and I also had many good conversations about life, ministry and relationships, it was so encouraging to talk with her



Several interns and I, including Jess going to Poland, Ema living in Croatia, Mateja who lives in Slovenia, Rachel going to Slo, and I




Tim and I being silly:



We had a lot of rich teaching during our week of training. I promised in my e mail update that I would elaborate some on what we learned. Here are a few highlights:

Dave Patty, the president of JV spoke in the evenings. All of the topics were powerful reminders, but here are a few that really hit home with me:

Vision: Seeing like Jesus: John 4:6-42
1. Jesus saw open doors
-The open door of requests: You can always ask questions like, "Can I help you?", "Can I sit here?", "Can I tell you my story?"
2. Jesus saw unseen needs:
-Each person has personal, and spiritual needs, if we take time to discover them, we can point them to the one who can meet those needs perfectly.
3. Jesus saw the Good News:
-Our message is a message of hope that each person needs and desires.
4. Jesus saw a ready harvest:
-Will we walk and act in faith, trusting that the harvest is there?

Jesus' most frequent rebuke was that his disciples had little faith:

Faith: Mark 6: 31-52
1. Give God what faith you have and ask him to mulitply it
2. Faith is Obedient to God's call
3. Faith perseveres. If God sends you into a storm, keep rowing. God is interested in far more than solving our problems, he is building us.
4. Faith is like a muscle, it only strengthens with exercise.

Pictures as Promised...

Me after hiking a huge hill to get our next clue, the skyscape behind me is Budapest:



An Escalator in the Metro:



The Bat Passing Game:

In Serbia!

I made it to Serbia! I left from CZ about Thirty hours ago! Here is part of the story:

We changed trains 3 times between Cesky Tesin and Budapest with all nine pieces of luggage. We had small delays here and there and by the time we arrived in Budapest, where we would catch a train to Serbia, our train was 68 minutes late, so we missed the connecting train by an hour! The next train did not leave for 12 hours! So... we needed to get a hotel. Before we got to the hotel, we found that we were locked in the train station, locked IN! So we drug our bags to each of the three exits just in case before returning to the first one which a woman tried to unlock for us. Finally it was decided that we would be leaving via a few staircases, not so good news but we would leave at last! The hotel was across the street and soon we were sleeping YAY! Today we slept in til 9:30 then had breakfast at the hotel before taking the train to Serbia. I am now in Bachka Topola at a Calvary Chapel church where I will be spending three days.

I am feeling the pressure of not knowing any Serbian at all! I haven't learned the Cyrillic Alphabet yet so it is difficult to differentiate sounds yet,thus making it hard to repeat names. Most of the people I am staying with in the church in Bachka Topola speak English well. It is a stretch to be away from Steve and Tanja and also alone still, since my teammates won't arrive until Sunday. I am really desiring some normalcy, but I know that being flexible now will prepare me for camps.

Please pray for language learning, that I would trust God with the details of the next few weeks and for a good team building time when Ross and Andy arrive from Ireland.

Praise God that Steve and Tanja were able to meet four students on the train and invite them to camp. :) I feel totally comfortable with Steve and Tanja. The Serbs I have met are very sweet and welcoming. One girl even kissed me on the cheek as she left saying in Serbian "See, she is my new friend." :)

I will post soon about our training in Czech. It was such a rich experience.

Amazing Race

Well, I've made it. As the fifty or so summer interns got off of the plane we loaded up our checked baggage and were sent on an Amazing Race. This Amazing race

beats jet lag...because you don't have time to stop and be tired.
gets you acquainted with E. Europe...we interacted with many many people as we asked for directions
and most importantly, brought each member of each team to the end of themselves. In this place we were able to learn a lot about our weaknesses and potential places of conflict on our teams as well as bond. It was quite the experience!! I really could never explain it all, but here are a few highlights:

*We traveled around, found clues, and visited in four different countries over the three days. We had clues to find and tasks to accomplish in Vienna, Austria; Bratislava, Slovakia; Budapest, Hungary and in the Eastern side of Czech.
*We got to see, at least as we were racing by, many beautiful sites. I forget how beautiful and old the architecture is in Europe.
*We got to bond and interact with many other teams as we helped them along during the race or bonded over difficult challenges. (It took our team two hours of walking to find four pictures on one clue!!)
*It was so cool that Johnny and Brooke Stevens, and many helpers, planned this race just for us.

Some of the tasks we had to do included:

*Drinking a VERY Spicy pepper soup at a Gypsy restaurant. *Scanning an amusement park for the locations of a whole page of pictures taken there *Asking for directions from many strangers and learning to navigate the transportation system of many foreign cities. *Running through a maze (a real garden maze of green hedges) at the Austrian Palace *Getting a group of strangers to drink cups of a soft drink until it was gone (some French tourists helped us out). *Balancing a bat on your palm and passing it to your team members until you made it around an entire circle (See Pictures)

Pictures to come...

Prayer Days 15-31

This will be my last post of prayer requests. I leave in ONE WEEK! so I won't have time to post every day. Thanks for praying for God's work in Eastern Europe.

Day 15

Pray for our annual staff conferences in May and September that are used to strenghen and equip our JV team.

Day 16

God has provided a facility for a training center in southern Poland called H2O. Renovation is partially complete, but work has stopped as we wait for God to provide the remainder of the funds. Pray that resources would be provided to open this facility.

Day 17

A number of JV staff are young singles serving far from home. Pray for deep friendships with fellow staff members and nationals that can function as family to them.

Day 18

Pray that God would provide a media and design person to help us develop Bible study materials for young believers across the region.

Day 19

In Romania, God has provided land for a training center in the mountains a few hours from the capital of Bucharest. All the plans and permits are completed - pray that God would provide the remaining funds needed to complete this project.

Day 20

In the 11 countries where Josiah Venture staff currently serve, less than 1% of the population are evangelical believers. Pray that our efforts in the region would make a difference in the hearts of the other 99%.

Day 21

In the Czech Republic, the average attendance of a local church is around 50-60 people. Pray that the church would grow in significant ways during these next three years.

Day 22

Serbia is still feeling the effects of war and inefficient leadership. The Serbian Orthodox Church is strong and treats all others as sects/occult. Pray that the evangelical church will be bold, particularly in work with young people.

Day 23:

Pray for a new music outreach called "Fusion", which teaches young people how to use contemporary music as an evangelistic tool.

Day 24:

Pray for the Josiah Venture Council, the leadership team of Josiah Venture, as they work on making the 2x3 Vision a reality.

Day 25:

The JV team in Slovakia is training over 600 young leaders across the country. Pray for a movement of God among the next generation, and boldness to declare the Gospel.

Day 26:

King Josiah began seeking the Lord at 16 years of age. By the time he was 26 he had cleansed the land of idols and brought revival to his country. Pray that young Josiahs across Eastern Europe lead their generation in similar ways.

Day 27:

Pray for relational and spiritual openness on high school and college campuses, where our staff often teach English and lead discussion groups.

Day 28:

Slovenia has some of the hardest soil of all the JV countries, yet God is faithfully calling a new generation to himself. Pray for unity among a fragmented church, and courage for young believers to withstand the persecution at home.

Day 29:

The Josiah Venture team often encounters fierce Spiritual warfare. Pray for skill and wisdom in dealing with attacks by the enemy.

Day 30:

Young people in the Ukraine are very open to the Gospel, but our staff of 5 cannot respond to all of the open doors. Pray that God would bring additional gifted servants to this team.

Day 31:

Pray that the JV team will deeply abide in Christ, since only by remaining in Him will we bear much fruit.

Needed: Prayer Warriors

Hi,

I received an e-mail from the JV missionaries I will be serving with recently. They really opened my eyes to the potential impact of our ministry this summer and the need for faithful prayer to sustain us and protect us. Here is some of what he said:

We truly believe that God will produce great fruit this
summer...both that we can see immediately through changed lives, and long
term fruit in Serbia. Be seriously praying, though. Serbia's not like many
of the other countries you may have been to...the spiritual pressure here
can get pretty intense, especially when you're moving into the enemy's
ground. Thank all your prayer supporters for serving with you this summer
and ask them to be on their knees daily...we don't just want a good summer,
we want a Kingdom expanding summer!

Please be praying! You can stay up to date with prayer requests by getting on my e-mail list or by checking this blog. Thank you for supporting me in this very important way.

Mary

2x3 Prayer Initiative: Days 8-14

More prayer for JV:

Day 8

Josiah Venture currently has staff in 11 countries of Eastern Europe, but there are another 10 countries where we would love to place teams. Pray that God will provide workers.

Day 9

Romania has the largest evangelical church in Europe, yet because of their tendency toward legalism, many congregations are not reaching the next generation. Pray that they would emphasize Christ rather than their Christian sub-culture.

Day 10

The JV team in Estonia is mobilizing churches to use religious holidays as a springboard for focused evangelism. Pray that God will mobilize a new generation of evangelists in one of the most atheistic nations on earth.

Day 11

Pray for our JV missionary kids, who are growing up in a foreign country and attending national schools. Pray that they will be powerful witnesses, and grow up to love and serve the Lord.

Day 12

Pray for our JV team in Wheaton as they support and represent the work in North America.

Day 13

Latvia has been hard hit by the worldwide economic crisis and many are out of work. Pray that this will result in an increased focus on eternal things, and a desire by gifted young leaders to enter full time Christian service.

Day 14

A follow up course for new believers called "Elements" is being used by our team all across Eastern Europe. Pray that this will ground young believers in the faith and teach them to disciple others.

$$$$

The deadline has past and I have enough money for the internship in pledged support. This means that not all of the money is in my account yet.

* Praise God for His provision through small gifts from many faithful supporters as well as a few very generous gifts this year.

* Pray that the rest of the checks arrive and are put in my account soon.

* Thank God for all the supporters, and if you were one of them, THANK YOU.

Thanks for your support and prayers!

Mary

Days 1-7

Prayer:
Day 1: It has now been 20 years since the fall of Communism. Still, the generation that "came out of Egypt" often bears the marks of slavery. Pray that this new generation born into freedom will go in and "take the land."

Day 2: Missionaries from the Middle East are aggressively trying to return to Albania to its Muslim past. Pray for a clear witness for Christ in the young generation.

Day 3: Summer 2008, the JV team led 83 camps with over 5000 youth in attendance. In the next three years we would like to see this ministry expand to 120 camps. Pray for churches from North America to partner with us and for summer interns to join the team.

Day 4: In Croatia there is a great openness among young people, but our Josiah Venture team is small. Pray that God would call others to join the work there.

Day 5: Often there are specific attacks on the families of those whom God is using greatly. Pray for God to protect the marriages and families of those who serve.

Day 6: Pray for a movement of God among the youth of Eastern Europe- one that finds its home in the local Church and transforms society.

Day 7: The Lord has opened the door for Josiah Venture to broadcast an evangelistic TV show for young people on National TV in the Czech Republic. Called "Exit 316" this show is seen by over 100,000 people a week. Pray for much fruit from this effort.

Please Pray

2x3 Prayer Campaign


Hello all:
The following is a letter that I received from Dave Patty, the Josiah Venture President, about a daily prayer campaign they are starting. Along with the letter, I received a 31 day prayer card with a different way to pray for the youth of Eastern Europe each day. So starting tomorrow, May 1, I will be posting the ways you can be praying each day of the month of May.
The letter states:
Thank you for your interest in the work of Josiah Venture in Eastern Europe. In a time where few things are stable, be encouraged to know that you are involved in work that has eternal value - reaching the next generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
As you might imagine, this kind of spiritual work is full of challenges and opposition. Your partnership in prayer is often what makes the difference between victory or defeat. Prayer can be used by God to open doors, provide protection and bring spiritual breakthroughs – even across the ocean in Eastern Europe.
That’s why we have put together this 31 day prayer calendar. As we move forward in our vision for increased fruit, we’d like to ask you to pray with us a more intense way. We hope that this prayer calendar will remind you to intercede for the Josiah Venture team, and focus your prayers on specific areas of need.
The days on this calendar are numbered rather than organized by weeks, so it is usable in any month. And the calendar requests should stay current for the year ahead so you can be sure that your prayers are focused on something that will really make a difference.
Thanks for joining us in praying for the 2x3 Vision!
Because of His love,
Dave Patty
If you would more information on Josiah Venture’s 2x3 Campaign you can check out the website at http://www.2x3campaign.com/.

Josiah Venture 2x3 Campaign

Mighty to Save - Joanna Martino from Josiah Venture | 2x3 Campaign on Vimeo.

These are actual students impacted by Josiah Venture staff. I recognized many faces and stories. May this encourage you to pray.

Help me get there!

Serbia is about 5800 miles away from Portland.
If the percentage of my financial support raised was related to the miles between here and there, at 35% I have made it to Chicago, IL
Help get me to Serbia! Those of you who have already given please pray. I have 5 weeks until the deadline (May 1st) and 8 weeks until departure (May 26th).

How to Give:
Write a check to Josiah Venture and put my number 97902 and mail to:

Josiah Venture/Summer Interns
PO Box 4317
Wheaton, IL 60189

* you can also e-mail me for a response form

Serbia May 26-August 1st

I am going to Serbia very soon. For those of you who are following my progress, I have raised about one fifth of the money needed for the flight and room and board (total needed is $4100)I have met (on facebook) two of my teammates who live in N Ireland and I am starting to get excited! :)

NEW BLOG same Mary

Hey everybody,

I figured I should change my blog name since it isn't Lindy and Mary's Slovenia blog anymore. This is going to be my blog for everything, but will also follow updates for my trip to Serbia for all of my supporters out there. :) I hope I don't loose anyone in the shuffle.

Mary