An Escalator in the Metro:
The Bat Passing Game:
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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:
An Escalator in the Metro:
The Bat Passing Game:
Friday, June 5, 2009
In Serbia!
I made it to Serbia! I left from CZ about Thirty hours ago! Here is part of the story:
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.
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.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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:
Some of the tasks we had to do included:
Pictures to come...
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...
Monday, May 18, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, May 11, 2009
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:
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
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.
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.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
$$$$
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
* 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
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