November 29th, 2011 by Zac

One of the next steps toward returning to Slovakia is finding a new place to live. We are grateful we are not living on the street, but finding a new house to rent is a pressing priority.

We moved out of our previous house (pictured right)  for a couple of reasons. We preferred to not have to pay rent for 6 months while we were in the States. This alone is a huge financial savings for us. But also, the previous house had some mold problems that we believed were contributing to some chronic sickness with our boys.

We were thankful for the 4 years we had in this house. Our landlord was very gracious and helpful during our time there. And it was privilege to get to know her and her family through those years.

I (Zac) will travel back to Slovakia early (December 5-17) to look for a new house. I also will attend a special council meeting in Vienna focused on raising up healthy, reproducing churches across Slovakia.

God has always met our need in housing and we believe he has already prepared the prefect place for now. All of our possessions are now in storage. So, this means we will be moving in the first weeks of January – which is the coldest weather of year. (moving could look like the picture to the right!).

Please keep this whole process in your prayers as we search for God’s chosen location and make a winter house move.

November 29th, 2011 by Zac

Although we are not in Slovakia, we have recently heard great news from various ministry projects.

Summer Camps – The final totals are in from the summer camp ministries. 9 camps in different cities.

From 500 students, 59 put their faith in Christ! This is the highest number of believers ever seen in summer camp ministry!
American music band tour – The focus of this outreach was 2 cities in Slovakia. Over 2700 students were presented with the gospel and offered a copy of the Bible. At least 150 of these

expressed an interest in knowing more about Christ through follow-up.

These are astounding numbers! More than we have ever seen before. And we believe that it represents a change in the

spiritual atmosphere in Slovakia.

Please help us pray for further fruitfulness in these particular ministries.

November 29th, 2011 by Kim

Even Gwyneth said it just last week, “Mom, it seems like we just got here”. It’s true, it does seems like we just arrived in the US, although it has been almost 6 months! Time has moved so quickly. We have kept incredibly busy traveling from Houston, Texas to Boone, North Carolina. and every where in between!

Although tired of the actually traveling in a car, the kids have done exceptionally well (or so it seems at this point). They have endured Sunday after Sunday in a different church and actually enjoyed all the new places.

When asked, it is hard to name just one favorite place.  But the top of the list includes: 4 wheeler ride in Boone, NC ; homeschool co-ops in Greenville, SC (I know! Who would have thought it); garage saleing in SC; cabin with the Potts family; Halloween in Houston, TX; GA Aquarium in Atlanta; summer church camp in Arkansas (was that really THIS summer?);  23 mile bicycle ride in Atlanta, GA (maybe not top on the list, but definitely memorable);  baseball games, zip-line at Camp Highland, GA; Fishing and jet skiing in Columbia, SC; walking tour of Charleston, SC; inner tubing birthday parties, weddings of dear friends; playing in the ocean, swimming all day, everyday in Tampa, FL;  youth retreats and  father/son camp out in SC; deer hunting and Razorback football!

Not on the list would be: long car rides, home-schooling, leaving fun places and friends, so many new churches and  saying goodbye.

We are thankful that the list of good things is much longer than the list of bad! Now, with only 4 weeks left, we look forward to the final things God has in store for us here in the US. However, packing and saying good-bye, are not on that list!

This time has been incredibly busy and yet rich in friendships and opportunities to share about the work God is doing in Slovakia. We look forward to returning, settling into a new home and not traveling! Just living and breathing!

November 29th, 2011 by Zac

After our second full month of focused fundraising, we are both challenged and hopeful. Our current standing is at 40% of our total need. We still need quite a few new financial partners to join our team in order to meet our goal. 

Some have asked, “why do you need to raise so much money? Have you suddenly lost so much support”? This is a good question. And the answer is pretty simple. We have NOT lost an abnormal amount of support. The reason is this. Apart from the normal needs of a growing family and the weak US dollar, the core reason is that we have simply been living for some time at a low support level. Our desire has been to live within the monthly support that God has provided over the years. And we have managed to survive with this approach for some years.

But now at our 10 year anniversary in Slovakia, it’s time to prepare for the next “stretch” of ministry. Part of that good preparation is to reach the proper and healthy financial position required by Josiah Venture (our governing organization). JV sets our budget figures as well as our monthly salary. So, our goal is to reach this required financial position.

Over the last two months we have presented our ministry and needs to a large number of people in numerous states and contexts. Many have responded with open hands and hearts and many are still prayerfully considering the decision.

Our focus in these final two months will be in ElDorado, Arkansas and surrounding cities. And although the balance of our need is a challenging amount, we believe that God is able to provide what is needed. He always has been faithful!

If you have an interest in becoming a financial partner with us, please contact us at zshepperson@josiahventure.com or call us at 501-613-2185

September 10th, 2011 by Zac

Two days later we traveled to Victory Bible Camp where Kim and I spoke at a family camp for a weekend. I got to speak on one of my favorite topics “God as Father”. We examined several pictures in the bible that specifically relate to God as

Emili defends herself at camp

father and how that intersects with the whole concept of father and of course our own experience with our own human fathers. This topics never stops intriguing me.

Emili, Gwyneth and Sam each attended a week of Victory Camp, each having a week of amazing fun and spiritual challenge.

Kim on her birthday

Whole Shepperson family

August 20th, 2011 by Kim

So I’ve been thinking a lot lately of writing more, journaling more about these days while we are in the US traveling. Thinking about it while i am in bed, trying to sleep and not sleeping but thinking about all the things i want and need to do! I’ve even gotten up a few times with the intention of getting it “started”, but for whatever reason, didn’t get it done.

But here I am this morning, the morning after we arrived Charleston, SC, sitting in the quiet and beautiful lobby of this hotel, I left sleeping kids and husband, coffee in hand, I’ve  decided not wait any longer.

It’s been so long since i’ve even logged onto wordpress I forgot my password. Remembering the codes and organization of HTML is equally as foggy in my mind, but  I am determined! I’ve set up a new “category” so that it can be kept separate from the more “official” posts. I’m calling it ” Travel Days in the US” until I can think of something more creative and catchy.

My vision is to share this part of our life: “furlough” (did i even spell it right), “home assignment” . What does that look like for this family of 6?  The things we do, the places we go. . . .how we are doing,  personally with our family, and ministry -wise as we strive to our goals in support raising.

I know today i just have to get it started and hopefully with diligence, as I listen to the Holy Spirit in me, communicating more, with the people who love and desire to know more about our life as missionaires.

We have a wedding today at 1:00 PM, and  need to a few hours of school before that. So i’m off to wake sleeping kids and get them to a breakfast I am happy that I didn’t have to shop for, prepare or clean up.

until next time. . .

April 6th, 2011 by Zac

As you may know, in October 2011, we will have been serving here in Slovakia for 10 years. As we anticipate this anniversary, we have naturally been looking to God for his next steps for us – primarily whether we should stay in Slovakia or return to America.

Over the last several months we have been presenting this question to God, asking for his guidance. Through a series of strategic responses, we believe that it is God’s plan for us to remain here in ministry for another term. We can’t see exactly how long this will mean, but probably up to 5 more years.

We were already planning our regular visit (every second summer) to the States this summer. But in light of these new future plans, we see several other factors that must be considered.

First, we have a longing to have some extended time with our families after this long time away from home. So we look forward to spending extra time at home focusing on family.

Secondly, we believe we need to reestablish our financial base as we look to the future. This will necessarily mean raising a certain percentage of additional financial support in expectation of these next years ahead.

We are anticipating that this could take some additional months in the States, so we are planning to remain in America from June until December 2011. This will give us adequate time to do the necessary travel and retooling for this next phase ahead.

We have already bought our plane tickets and will arrive in Little Rock on Tuesday, June 7th.  We really look forward to being home again and to be with all of you.

We would appreciate your prayers as we make preparations for this plan in the next two months. This includes packing up our present house and putting it in storage, finishing the kids school early, renewing our visas early (they expire while we’re away), selling or storing our car, and our housing in Slovakia for when we return (we have the possibility of  building a house).

It will be a hectic couple of months, but we know God is with us and that he gives strength to those who rest in Him.

April 6th, 2011 by Zac

“DRŽ SA! Zubami-nechtami”  “Hang on to God’s Word – tooth and nail”  This was this year’s conference theme, communicating the extreme necessity of being skilled in handling God’s word. This was, yet again, our largest conference to date with over 700 youth workers attending. The four day conference was packed with great teaching from the scripture as well as with practical tools for handling the Word of God. And as always, there were inspiring worship sessions, practical seminars and challenging activities.

One unique part of the conference for this year, which I (Zac) was responsible for, was a special missions evening titled “taking God’s word to places it has not been before”. God seems to lead us to focus on 15 former Soviet Union countries with whom Slovakia has a common history, a similar experience under communism and a similar language influence (Slavic orientation). These countries represent some of the most unreached people groups in Central Asia. Here are some statistics. (taken from www.joshuaproject.net).

Uzbekistan – 26.4 million unreached

Kazakhstan – 9.6 million unreached

Azerbaijan – 8.4 million unreached

Turkmenistan – 4.9  million unreached

Kyrgyzstan – 4.6 million unreached

Tajikistan – 6.7 million unreached

Ukraine – 528,000 unreached

Russia – 12.5 million unreached

Over half the conference attendees made a visible declaration of willingness to used by God to reached these unreached! That’s at least 350 potential missionaries! From a collective evangelical, Slovak, church that can identify only a few international missionaries, this was a staggering response. Our planning team was thrilled to say the least. And the repercussions have only begun to be felt.

On other fronts, both Kim’s and my seminar were full and well received. I spoke to guys regarding sexual purity and Kim spoke to the girls on a similar topic but with more focus on ” identity in Christ” . God has given each of us a message that enables us to speak passionately on these topic.

So, we are very encouraged by another strong youth leader conference. God keeps expanding our influence each year.

Pray with us that God will multiply the fruitfulness of each youth leader who heard these strong challenges and received these powerful ministry tools.

April 6th, 2011 by Zac

If you would like to be inspired by God’s movement all across Central Europe through Josiah Venture, we invite you to click the subscribe button below and begin receiving the monthly Lift e-mail newsletter from our director Dave Patty. Just write your name and e-mail address. Enjoy!

To view a past issue from February 2011 - click here.

April 6th, 2011 by Zac

“We have an exchange student from Kazakhstan in our church”, one of my team members said. “She just came about 6 months ago”. Our team was meeting to plan the missions night at our upcoming youth leader’s conference. This was the beginning of a still unfolding story that has God marks all over it.

Later on facebook, I tracked down Darya Romanova from Astana, Kazakhstan. I soon learned  she was currently in our city attending university with hopes of finishing a degree here. What we didn’t realize, was that God had done a miracle in Darya’s life just a few months before.

Born and raised in Astana, her mother was a nominal Orthodox church goer and her

Darya as a child with her family

father was an atheist. Although baptized as a child in the Orthodox church, she never remembers hearing the message of Jesus. After 17 years, while sitting in her home in Kazakhstan, chatting online with a christian teenage boy in America, the boy suddenly asked her if she “knew Jesus”. This started a two month discussion about the gospel that resulted in Darya giving her life to Jesus.

At the time of her arrival in our city for university, she had never attended an evangelical church, because she wasn’t sure one existed in her city in Kazakhstan. Soon she was invited to a local Lutheran church led by wonderful believing pastor and she fell in love with the church family there. Read the rest of this entry »