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.