Winter difficulties - faithfulness needed

The weather here has been very unusual. Some days are cold, others are like spring. This seems to be causing a lot of illness. Our family is staying healthy, but many others are missing services because of illness or out-of -town meetings. Please pray for faithfulness.
Jeff was able to speak with a few university students on Monday. As you may know, we have been rejected two times by the faculity at the Brno campus. We have continued the University Outreach despite the difficulties. A new medical campus opened on this side of Brno. Many of the students speak English, they are always looking for practice. We hope to engage the students in everyday conversation, introducing them to spiritual concepts and sharing the gospel with them. We have literature (studies, tracts and booklets) that should make them think about their future and where they stand before God. Please pray for this outreach while there is an open door. The young people of the Czech Republic are becoming more and more closed minded to spiritul things as time passes.

Reaching forth

This sunday was our first service to "live stream". We are having much illness among members and those attending church. We used our web cam to make it possible for Anna to see and be part of Sunday school and church services. It seemed to work will. Also Debra was able to be in our Czech services this week. Usually she is taking care of the children in the nursery, but with all of the illness, the children were all home with Mom or Dad. Please pray for the health of the Bible Baptist Church of Brno. Also please pray for Mirek's work schedule. He received his schedule for the new year which is making it very difficult for him to come to services. Living in this atheist country can make it difficult for Christians. Mirek told his boss he was attending church services so his boss scheduled him to work nearly every Sunday. Pray for the Lord to intervene.

Baptist???

Today's service was full of questions. Problems with Baptist Churches in America has hit the news here and it is causing much confusion amoung the Czechs. Partucularly one group that has been protesting the funerals of soldiers and others. Czechs do not fully understand the local church principle and how one church does not affect others. The way they see things is "Baptist", therefore all Baptist must be doing and acting in the same matter. Please pray for us as we teach through these areas and that the American media does not effect the work in Brno.

Our attendence was low today, but we were encouraged by those who were able to make the services.

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 122:1

Sunday Services

This Sunday was a blessing as we enjoyed the fellowship around God's Word. There were questions regarding their reading and testimonies given as to how the Lord is working in their lives. Please continue to pray for the services in Czech, both Sunday school and church services. Our discipleship time with Jan and Anna is such a blessing. They are so eager to learn. Please remember them in pray. The God we serve is mighty and changes not.

Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 24:8

New Years services

Praise the Lord for another year before us to worship and serve Him. We had a great Sunday school lesson as we talked about Gideon and his faith in the Lord. He did what seemed to be the impossible. Czech and English services were encouraging. We translated a "Read through the Bible" schedule into Czech and handed them out in services. Jeff preached on being a pestilent follow from Acts 24. If you weren't a "pest" for the Lord in 2010, make it a goal to be one in 2011, before it is too late.

For some here in the Czech Republic it is too late, as the New Year arrived at least 10 people died because of fireworks, alcohol poisoning and fires. The Czech police say this year's New Year celebrations registered the highest number of death cases in comparison with previous years.

Also a rise of thefts was reported on New Year's Eve. Jewelry and watches worth more than 1 million dollars were stolen from a shopping center in Prague, only the Lord knows the total in losses and lives.

Christmas Sunday

We had a wonderful day on Sunday. It was our Christmas celebration Sunday. We had hoped for more to attend, but we trust the Lord for the outcome. James, David and Mikky quoted Luke 2:11 and received their certifications for completing their scripture memory for this quarter. Mikky played a gaiter special. Our family sang then James and David played piano specials and preformed a puppet play about the true meaning of Christmas. Jeff preached a wonderful message about the reason for Christ's birth.

The Christmas breakfast in English for our students was so much fun. Nine of our students were able to come. We had a great breakfast, played mad libs and shared the true meaning of Christmas with them . Serveral of our student now attend our Czech services. We encourage the students to come to our English service (also to our Czech services).

Debra hosted a ladies tea on the 22nd of December. Seven ladies came for tea, from our church and from the neighborhood. The ladies had a great time as they make a snowman craft, shared cookies and talked about what Christmas meant to them.

Christmas tradition overshallows the true meaning of Christmas here leaving the Czechs with many questions. Pray that the Lord will give us many opportunties to share with others Why our Christmas and New Years looked so different from theirs.