Month: January 2014 (Page 1 of 11)

You know it yourself. There are good and bad days. Days when everything goes smoothly and the days when you feel like it would be better to stay in bed.
I have had it this week.

An unknown vandal pierced the tire of my car again. When I was waiting to pay for the servicing, my phone fell on the floor. The display cracked. I initiatively started to change a glass on my iPhone later on. But it decided to end its service for good. In the evening, while playing hockey, I was handling the fast pass of the puck with my foot. I will not be able to put the skates on my feet, for at least two weeks, because of the pain in my ankle. Moreover, my two years old MacBook, it’s motherboard decided to start a strike. I tried to make a backup of my data to the HD right away, but even the spare drive collapsed. Well, perfect! And the last but not least, our family camera (Canon G10) ended its time of running when its lens got stuck. The service man told me happily: “We can fix it. For about 300 USD.” No thank you!

This is how my black day looked like. Accidents usually extend to longer periods of time, but not during the black day. That is when it all happens at once. It is a day black as night.

The black day is a day of a test of our attitudes and faith. At that day we are free to decide, either we will respond as Habakkuk did (3:17-18) “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines … yet I will rejoice in the Lord…”, or as an ordinary man. The example of the heroes of the faith (Hebrew 11) inspires us to make the first choice. Then we can get a chance to experience what Job did: “I have heard the legends about you but now my eye can see you.”

Which way will you choose to go in the time of a black day? Prepare yourself for it! It is just a matter of time, when you will have to face it, and it can be even darker than mine.

PHf

“What does remain from our Christianity and our faith if we remove the structure, visible symbols, the liturgy, the tower, etc? Or what would we want to remain? What is that thing what makes Christianity the true Christianity and we cannot afford to lose.“

During the uneasy meditation and even more difficult discussion about this topic I have remembered time when I found the screw driver and pliers as a small boy. May be you went though this (if you are a male). The insistent longing to explore things came to my life. For me personally it was my dad’s radio, small transistor radio. At the stealthy moment I started to take it apart with the hunger to utter the essence of its life. The heart or soul, what gives it the life and makes it the excellent companion at any time. I expected to find the very little, secret piece that is evidently alive and pulsating. Simply put – the big secret of the transistor radio. I had the feeling, that I understood the string and pulleys that were switching the stations during the rotation, but the other parts were mysterious to me. I disclosed them. They did not resist, the condensers seemed unimportant to me and the inside of them was really boring. When I bent to the speakers I found just piece of paper, magnet and some kind of coil. I was disappointed. No real life. I did not know what to expect before I started to explore, but the result was poor. Then I remember my father sometimes change the batteries so maybe there is the essence of the life. But I did not find there anything mysterious either.
At that time I have learnt something about the difficulty of the life and that it is not something easy to grasp or to be caught. And also that life goes badly out of the structure. The life, to be able to play, need to lean on something, to meet somewhere, to touch someone, to expand, to breath by something, to be able to recharge somewhere, to connect. Maybe that is why it is surprising that the apostle Paul is organizing even the spiritual affairs of the church. Even the spiritual life of the first church has its structure which is not just spontaneity. The collections are organized in advance (1. Cor. 16:1-2), the spiritual life is regulated. Also the spiritual activities as prophesying in community or usage of the speaking in tongues (1. Cor. 11:5-7). Apostle is helping the life to be in some reasonable and helpful form to serve for development of the spiritual life. The ability how to arbitrate demands certain maturity. Because we do not want the structure to bound the spiritual life but to help it toward expansion. It is the same with the skeleton. Without it we cannot move forward, it would be our end. Life needs this organic structure. But we need to grow according to our body’s needs. (It is not like with the plaster. It is fine, but just for a time, when we are hurt and the bone needs to be reunite, later it is just a burden.) Let’s be alert not to go to the extreme “plaster from concrete”, or longing to be unbounded. In the spiritual life it would be tragedy.
Dad’s radio lost its life and it was not able to work anymore and I have learnt needed lesson. That is why the wise thing we can do before taking something apart or demolish is to consult with the One who understands the life much better and who has the answers about the essence of life. So the music does not glide from our life.

School year 2006/07 for youth leaders began.
With the Grace of God we have started another year with 19 students.

Praise God.

It was excellent! It is unbelievable that something like this exists in Slovakia as well. It encouraged and strengthened me a lot. Each person left with a small container of soil and seeds planted to represent lives of others that they were going to invest in. It was a wonderful visual aid and a great reminder to put the lessons into practice. I told my wife when I got home that it was one of the best organized and most creative events I have ever been to! Dave Patty – KPM 2007 main speaker

If numbers say anything, then it’s a good sign. We had the largest training conference for the youth leaders in
it’s 14 year history. Over 600 participants! The sessions were packed out, with people sitting in overflow rooms
and in the isles of the auditorium. We believe that God strongly influenced the whole current of the conference
and guided everyone’s hearts and minds into the theme, the hands of the speaker, the seminars, the worship
and the other activities. It was an amazing process to witness.

The theme of the week was “Christ in you – not from ourselves”. Sessions included, being rooted in Christ
through four roots – Word, prayer, Holy Spirit and Body (church). Then there were sessions on the four
branches of growth or pathways to fruitfulness which were; obedience, love in action, worship, and
evangelism. There was also a session on the poisons that harm our growth and fruit bearing, which were;
hypocrisy, hard hearts, secularizing the sacred and broken relationships.

Thank to our God, and thank you to those who prayed for us during this event. God’s presence and power were
plain to see!

Here are a few translated comments from participants:
I am very thankful that the Lord gives you vision and enthusiasm to organize KPM every year. I just want to tell you how much blessing it
brings to our team every year. It has a great significance. So: thank you 🙂
Wooow. Well, KPM was some good stuff. I only heard about it before, but, as it is said, one needs to experience it. Once again, I am blown
away from it 🙂 I will come next year too. God was speaking to me continually and he was showing me things that are not OK in my life. I
knew of some of these things, but I needed to think deeply about some of them. I am working on it now:) I was a passive and not a joyful
Christian. It is changing now

God showed me a lot during this KPM. All those poisons that were destroying me and my relationship with him. And also that I don’t love
him with my whole heart – I could see it clearly during the worship time – my heart did not worship and I had to leave that evening, because
of that…but praise to Jesus, he showed me all of this and that I can start over again, walk behind him like his child not like one of his
employers. That in all of this, it is not about us, about me, but about Him. I was very much encouraged and I look forward to the adventures
that Jesus prepares for me and for us. Thank God for you as well.

Thank you for this year. Even though I was expecting that I will solve my problems at KPM and I will kneel on my knees before God… but that
did not happen. Well, I have to live the reality in my real life and in real time and solve real problems. But KPM helped me to start thinking
about things inside of me, it showed me the direction from the darkness, it told me what is important and now I only have to apply it. Thank
you. And if anybody is reading this (I think you are) then I am asking for a prayer for me.

Just thank you! I am still full of emotions, a lot of things cleared up – even though majority of them had no connection to the theme of the
conference, but I guess it was “in the air” that the Lord God was working 🙂 KPM is a different event for me than the rest I’ve experienced so far.
I could see and sense that the organizers care about it and they don’t leave anything to be ruined by unexpected events, every detail being
completely thought of, nice little ideas… Wishing you a lot of new strength into your new blessed work, the Lord God be with you all!
The Lord Jesus is amazing! He was touching me unbelievably throughout the whole KPM, through the speakers, worship time, stories from
real life of missionaries, …the ministry that you do, you do it amazingly! Keep on going!!!!!!!!!

Reconstruction of the TCK furnace successfully done

Praise the Lord! The reconstruction of the TCK heating system is done! We experienced two cold weeks in December during the work time, but we managed to complete the project without freezing ourselves. It was a big surprise for me when we found out that the chimney for the heating exhaust was not straight enough. This meant that we would need to either pull down some walls in the building or to build a new chimney alongside the building. Both choices looked pretty expensive as we felt the pressure from the urgency of the matter. In the end we chose to take the time to search for the problem area in the chimney. This meant we had to demolish some wall to get to the problem area. The original building plans helped a little bit as we looked for the problem. At last we found the problem and made the necessary repairs. We felt good about the decision especially because the hole in the wall was in the good place (not in a public space or in the kitchen) and it was not so huge. This was all fine, until the reconstruction firm found out that the chimney had another problem area further up the chimney! I started to think if it was really a good idea to replace the furnace (although I knew that it was necessary). The old system didn’t work properly and the gas consumption was extreme. So, we prayed a lot and God was faithful. The workers found the right place to make the second “incision” in the wall and were able to make the needed repair in it. In both cases, the damage was not so big. Neither the floors nor any permanent structures were damaged.
Our whole training staff and café team was also able to work in the building during the repairs. I was curious how these extra repairs would influence our contract agreement with the repair company. We have learned in the past that these kind of projects are more expensive that we plan. But in the end, the company manager decided support our ministry by not charging us extra for the extra work.
PHf

TCK visit in Lucenec
This summer we helped one church in Lucenec do a KECY camp. Just a month ago we have received email from the pastor Tomáš saying: “Please would you come help us do a KECY club as a starter for follow up with the students from the summer camp. Peto, Amy, Mato, Miska and Draho prayed and went out there. We meet about 22 of them and had a really fine time together. Mato and Draho sang, Miska spoke, and Amy and I discussed the future camps with pastor Tomas.

After many years serving in Slovakia, Danny, Clara and the kids are heading home!

The TCKompas team held a going-away party for the Joneses a few Sunday’s ago. It was amazing how many hearts their lives touched throughout Slovakia and beyond. I first met Danny back in 1993. That was almost fifteen years ago! I learnt a lot about loving the Lord, serving the people, inspiring the others, etc. from him

Danny and his family will be missed by so many. Please be in prayer for them as they return home and transition after almost 15 years of service in Slovakia.

Davka on Web – Finally

We are so excited about the life of our new youth ministry resource website! We’ve been waiting years for this big step forward. This makes our youth ministry resources more accessible, plus it enables us to have live contact with the youth worker community across the country. If you have a chance, go to the site at www.davkaonline.sk. It’s all in Slovak, but you can browse around and see all the resources that are available to youth workers here now (you may not be able to see all the materials unless you register). The colored four categories (tabs) at the top of the page are; ideas (napady), themes (temy), personal growth (osobny rast) and leaders (veduci).
We officially launched the new site, fully functional in May 2007. There are hundreds of articles about youth work, music, videos, devotionals, pictures, games and more.

It seems that I will experience a busy summer. First, for 17 days my colleague, Draho, and I will be in Georgia, Texas and Florida. We will have a lot of meetings with both potential ministry donors in local churches, as well as with our current partners. Then, when I return to Slovakia, I will join our third KECY (English conversation camp for secondary school students), that has been organized with the local Baptist churches in Bratislava.

It seems that I will be less busy in August. I will take part in CampFest, an open-air Christian festival, as well as begin preparation for the next season of our School of Leaders. Hopefully, a family vacation in Slovakia will follow.
We started to give up the idea about moving into bigger flat, but we are not sad because of that for it is in His hands. Our children are looking forward to their school vacation and our church summer camps. I am little bit sad that I will be away on the trip for half of their vacation, but I believe that it will be a new experience for me and that it will bring glory to Him.
We wish you a great summer.

Sometimes we find excuses not to participate or think we are limited to do things, but after learning about the West Huntsville team (their team served at KECY Presov Camp and me, Danny and Draho prayed for their mission trip in their city), it can inspire us to experience that with Christ all things are possible.

Before the camp when we pray for them, I had no idea who are they until we saw them and their families we realized how many personal sacrifices these team members made to come to Slovakia.

Their leader, Ken, left his wife & five kids under the age of 6. Michael missed his sister’s wedding celebration. A single mom came to serve for the week. All missed the fourth of July celebrations with their friends & family. And then there was Emily, being five-month’s pregnant, flying over to live life with the students as her husband took care of their 1.5 year old son at home.

Thank you guys for your inspiring sacrifices & family members who gave up so much for you to be with our students & team. We have a lot of to learn from you through that. May the Lord bless you all.