October 23rd, 2015 by Zac

We had extra responsibilities for our summer camp interns this summer since the normal intern leader was away. But it’s always fun to get to know these young, eager, mostly American brave-types. They toss their summer working possibilities for the chance to make an impact on the lives of young people in Slovakia. Along with over 100 similar interns in other Josiah Venture countries across Central Europe, they endure some grueling training and then a brutal summer schedule of back to back camps, personal discipleship, evangelism and camp follow up. They are a tough lot who typically get a taste of ministry in Central Europe that doesn’t soon diminish.

We are thankful that God motivates and mobilizes these kinds of servants that play such a critical role in our Summer camping programs. Thank you interns for your sacrifice and love for Slovak youth!! Read the rest of this entry »

October 22nd, 2015 by Zac

We’ve had a dream for some time, ever since our new house stands closer to the woods. It was a dream of having a 4 wheeler to explore the surrounding hills and trails. Now the dream has come true, thanks to a dear friend in Arkansas who graciously gave us his 4 wheeler. What a gift! Thank you Roger and Sarah! The next task was getting it here. And thanks to our new missionaries, Hudson and Kari Jones, we were able to fit it into their container that arrived with them recently. Thank you Hudson and Kari! Now within 1 short minute, we are in the woods to enjoy the wonderful Slovak countryside. What a great way to relax an spend quality time with the family. It’s a dream come true! Read the rest of this entry »

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Our family will be returning to our home town (ElDorado, Arkansas) for a visit this summer. Our arrival will be Wednesday, June 17. Then we will return at different times. Kim and the girls will leave on July 12 in order for the girls to participate in a summer camp. Then the boys and I will return on July 21. We are very excited about being home again and meeting many of you again face to face. And of course there are those special attractions we are all looking forward to, like swimming in warm water, fried chicken, hot weather, fishing, Spudnuts, root beer, barbeque and most of all family.  Home never looses it’s charm! Hope to see you soon.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

We have written before about the taxing process every student must face here in Slovakia to enter High School. To me it’s similar to entering College in America. Emili has already been through this phase and successfully made it through. Now it’s time for Gwyneth!

She’s finishing her 9^th year in school and is ready to move up.

She chose several High Schools and proceeded to take their entrance exams. She managed to score high enough to enter the most acclaimed school in our city, where students learn French and then study in French for the rest of High School. We were very proud of her! She also qualified for the same school that Emili attends. The decision took a concentrated time of praying, analyzing and seeking God’s will. And in the end, she believed Gymnázium svety Františka z Assisi (High School Saint Francis from Assisi) was the right choice (same school as Emili).

We are excited for her as she moves into this new High School phase and we believe she was wise in her decision process.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

For almost 14 years now, we have lived in rented houses in Slovakia. We just moved into our 5^th house in our town last summer. It has been an interesting journey in many ways. We are always reminiscing about when we lived here and there and remembering the details of each place.

But one thing it has not accomplished is helping us to establish home equity. We realize home equity is not essential to survival, but we have begun to wonder if it might be time to consider buying a home here. We have tried this before, but were not able to secure a bank loan here locally. Plus, houses are very expensive here (around $300,000 for a normal family sized house). So we asking you to help us pray about possible options. Here are the options as I see them.

1. By some miracle, we get a home loan here in Slovakia. (not likely)
2. Get a bank loan in the States. Also not likely since property in Slovakia is not accessible as liability to an American bank.
3. We start a house fund and start regular contributions to it over time.
4. Get a personal loan from a willing private person or organization in America. (probably the best option).

Our current owner just told us this week that he is willing to sell the house we are in currently.

So, please help us pray about this issue that we will know God’s plan. And if you have any other ideas, please don’t hesitate to tell us.

June 8th, 2015 by Zac

Last month (May) Kim got an emergency text from her sister, that their mom was in the ambulance and on the way to the local hospital in ElDorado, Arkansas. Apparently, she was in the middle of a heart attack. By evening, she was on the operating table for a 5 hour, double bypass, open heart surgery.

This was such a big surprise, especially because her mom had just finished radiation for breast cancer just a week before. 

Kim felt it was necessary to fly home as soon as possible to help. So, she took the soonest flight she could get and was at home before her mom left ICU. The surgery went well and the doctor was pleased with the procedure and her fast recovery.

Within three days of her surgery, they released her to go home. Amazing!

Kim was able to be a critical help to her sisters and mom for almost 2 weeks. Looking back, it seemed essential that Kim was able to go.  The situation was simply too much for her sisters to handle on their on. And with her mom returning home so quickly, her medical knowledge was very helpful. Her mom is still recovering really well and almost back to normal. 

We thank all of your who prayed for her mom and helped Kim in any way while she was in this situation. It will be great that we can be back with her mom again this month to keep helping her in recovery.  

March 10th, 2015 by Zac

It’s like Emili has a second family sometimes. She spends a lot of time each week with her friends from the Lutheran youth group and their activities. We could not be more happy with her love for this youth ministry. Gwyneth has also started attending each week the Middle School group.

Lenka, Miska, Zlatka and Sona are Emili’s small group members. They meet each week to pray, study and encourage each other to walk with God in this broken world. Emili and Sona are the leaders of the group, so they are constantly organizing meeting times, sending text messages, preparing lessons and praying.

Please help us pray that their discipleship relationships will multiply and many would be inspired by their example.

March 10th, 2015 by Zac

I thought dancing was a simple matter of learning the steps and a little practice. Do I ever have an appreciation for dancers now! Kim and I have been taking a ballroom dancing course for several weeks now. Ballroom dancing is quite common here at weddings and formal occasions. Most High School students take a formal course at some point in school. Emili had her course this past semester. She basically learned all the things we are learning over the course of a school semester. She loved the course and had a wonderful dance event at the end of the semester. Even Kim’s mom (who was visiting at the time) was able to attend.

But as an American boy from the South, I rarely ever saw someone ballroom dance, much less take a course.

But now, we’ve launched ourselves into the whole program.

The problem with dancing isn’t so much the steps as it is trying to move at the same time as the other person. Most of the time we feel like two goats trying to run with their legs tied together.

Like most things that look easy, it’s not. But my hope is that if we learn the basics, we can practice from time to time. Or maybe ballroom dancing is best left to the Europeans.

February 26th, 2015 by Zac

When Kim returned from her recruiting tour in America in November, she brought her Mom Linda home with her to Slovakia! It was her first international travel and her first trip since her recent retirement. She stayed with us almost five weeks and got a good taste of what our life is like here. Plus, she cooked our home favorites like smothered steak, fried chicken, pot roast and hot water cornbread.

We are thankful that she got to visit and we look forward to more frequent visits now that she is retired!

November 3rd, 2014 by Zac

Kim is back in the USA again this Fall.

She is doing the same routine as last year – blogging conference in South Carolina, Josiah Venture recruiting at various colleges in several states, and visiting our home churches in ElDorado, Arkansas. Her last week there is November 4-9.

She has been quite busy for the last months, planning all the meetings, travel itineraries, personal connections, college visits and fund raising events. 

She also has two Slovak girls from our Kompas ministry staff traveling with her. They are faithful girls who need additional financial support.

And the surprise is that Kim’s mom will fly back to Slovakia with her! It’s the first time either of our parents have visited us here. So we are excited that she will be able to experience our life here. She will stay for about one month.