February 7th, 2014 by Zac

“Impossible” is a strong word. It doesn’t leave much room for possibilities or success or hope. “Impossible” is the feeling I (Zac) get many times when working with Roma in our community. There aren’t many examples of success and not too many models that offer hope. But God has opened new doors for us to reach into the lives of several families in our Roma community here. (If you missed how we got started in this work you can read my earlier post HERE).

For the past three month now, we have been meeting every week for Bible study and prayer in the home of one Roma family. Every week, it’s like chipping away at the rock face of a mountain. As we study verse by verse through the book of Ephesians, it’s slow progress. Crisis in the family or some misunderstanding or misfortune often overshadow our spiritual efforts . There is not enough money to buy groceries, or no wood to heat the house or the disappointment of not having work from day to day.

Then, there is the spiritual battle that rages. The husband, just recently out of prison, is constantly tempted to revert back to his old lifestyle. His brothers and sisters don’t understand his new found life in Christ. The wife mentally suffers from all these stresses (as any women would). There is marital conflict, problems with the children, and a myriad of other spiritual pressures.

But we believe the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit of God is stronger than all these! Our vision, is a group of strong Roma families that live every day by Godly values. We dream about families that have a strong positive presence and affect on the whole Roma community here.

Will you please pray with us for spiritual breakthroughs for these people. Pray for our courage, boldness and and energy to avoid compassion fatigue and encourage these needy people. Pray for a job for the husband, marriage strength and spiritual will to walk with God and not revert back to old ways of living.

Claim with us the blessings for these people that God has already prepared for those who walk with him.

April 19th, 2013 by Zac

If you haven’t heard, Kim is writing a new blog now. God is really given her a new passion and special gifting for communicating in this way. If you would like to receive notification of her most recent posts, you can leave your email address in the space provided on the front page of our web site.

She also is writing AN E-MAIL almost every week with our current prayer requests. If you are interested in getting this e-mail, you can leave a COMMENT ON THIS POST with your e-mail address. Then, she can add you to her mailing list.

Thank you to all who faithfully read what we write and pray for the work God is doing here in Slovakia!

July 31st, 2012 by Zac

July 27 – 10:03pm (an e-mail send out from a good friend who heard the news from us first)

We just received a call from Zac Shepperson.  About 5pm tonight, Kim, Gwyneth, Sam and Hampton were in a car accident where their car collided with another car  on teh drivers side. Kim was airlifted to Banska Bystrica (about 3 hours from the accident scene) and is in surgery right now. She has 5 broken ribs and internal bleeding. They want to make sure her liver was not damaged. Draho and Zuzana Poloha are with her at the hospital. Hampton was on the same side of car as Kim and received a blow to the head. He was airlifted to Kosice (about 1,5 hours from the accident scene) to a different hospital. No one was allowed to go with him on the helicopter. Duski and Anna Marsal are on their way ahead of Zac to Kosice to find out which hospital Hampton was taken to. Gwyneth has a broken leg and broken arm and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Poprad (about 30 minutes from the accident scene). All three are in hospitals in different cities. Sam was in the car but did not have any injuries. Emily was at a different camp and may not have heard about the incident yet. The Shepperson family was in route to an summer English camp. Zac was traveling with another team in a separate car and had already arrived at the camp, which was about 10 minutes from the accident scene.

July 31, from Zac’s Face Book page

Thank you all for your kind notes and prayer for our family. we have been through the “ringer” over the past several days. But I’m very thankful everyone is alive. Last night I was able to get all the kids back home under one roof (except for Emili who is still working at a camp and Kim). Hampton looks the worst, but is actually the least injured. He has about 50 stitches around his eye and forehead. Gwyneth is the most immobile. I’m literally carrying her everywhere. But she is feeling much better. Sam was uninjured and is being a big help. Kim was transferred to our local hospital this morning. She is in the worst condition, but today was her best day. In the final analysis, she had 5 broken ribs, a damaged spleen that had to be removed, a punctured and collapsed lung and a punctured liver. She ate some soup today and didn’t throw it up, which is better than previous days. Plus, she just felt better (after the painful transfer by ambulance of course). She’s really strong, but she still needs lots of prayer. I’ll try to keep everyone updated. Thanks again for your kindness and friendship.

August 7, from Zac’s Facebook page. 

I snapped this picture as Kim was packing up her her hospital room to come home this morning. She is home now and resting. She’s still really sore and moving really slow, but at least she’s at home. Her sister Georgia also arrived yesterday and is already hard at work. Kim does have a low fever, so she has a check up in the morning to make sure all is ok. Hampton will go to get all his 50 stitches out as well in the morning. We’ve been working on insurance claims all day and hope keep the process moving forward. We are feeling your care and prayers.

August 9 (From Zac’s Facebook page)

The happiest boy in the world! Hampton got all his stitches out yesterday. And he didn’t even cry once. He still has sore muscles and joints and he moves like an old man sometimes, but he’s stronger each day. We are celebrating that he is still with us.

August 14

After a night of increasing pain, I rushed Kim back to the hospital at 2am to try to understand what was wrong. After some hours of examinations and tests, they found that she had a blood clot in her lung and also one in her liver. This was a most dangerous condition and extremely painful. The doctors admitted her to the hospital once again and began blood thinning treatment to dissolve the clots. Kim was very frightened for her life in those hours, knowing that another clot in her heart or brain could mean heart failure or stroke. But God faithfully protected her from any further damage and clotting. She remained in the hospital for another 10 days, as they monitored if her blood was thinning properly.

August 21 (From Zac’s FB page)

I spent most of the afternoon with Kim today during visiting hours and I’m happy to report that she has made real significant improvement! Her pain has drastically diminished over the last two days. She had regained her ability to move more freely. Her breathing is better and she just feels better all together. The doctor said today, that as soon as they can confirm that she has no more clots in her legs (by ultrasound) she probably can go home. Wow, what a change from two days ago! I don’t think she could have stood any worse.

We are really thanking God for his mercy and gentle restoration of her body. And we are so thankful for all your faithful prayers and kind notes.

 August 24 (From Zac’s FB page)

Kim was released from the hospital this morning (Friday) and I already have her at home! The doctor said her blood platelet levels are a bit high still, but he didn’t see that as a reason to stay in the hospital longer. She’s already sitting outside enjoying the sunshine (so glad to out of that hospital room). She still has pain and moves very slow, but it’s a vast improvement from a few days ago. All of you are so kind to keep praying and responding.

May 30th, 2012 by Zac

In 2008, I wrote a web post (on our old web site) about a Slovak girl named Denisa. While she was a High School exchange student in America, she was led to Christ by her host family. When it was time for her to return to Slovakia, her host mother googled “church in Zilina” (our town in Slovakia) and saw our family, our church and our e-mail address. So, she contacted me in an effort to find a church home for her new spiritual child. To our surprise, Denisa was already enrolled in the school AND CLASS where I was teaching English conversation. Already one miracle! So we met and she joined us on a number of occasions for Bible study and church.

Denisa, now finished with High School, lives with her family and makes frequent trips back to America to visit the same host family and continues to grow in Christ.

On one of those subsequent trips to America, Denisa’s sister Andrea went along for the visit. And during that visit with the same host family, Andrea accepted Christ as her savior. Now, although they  live in another Slovak town about 2 hours from us, they are attending University by extension in our town. And frequently they visit us and attend our church.

Andrea is seriously considering Bible School somewhere. She strongly feels the desire to be trained and serve God somewhere in the world. Of course, finances are an issue, but if this is God’s plan, we know he will provide.

These sisters need our prayers for endurance, faith and knowledge of the riches of a life with God. If you would help us support them in this way, we know there will be great rewards.

May 11th, 2012 by Kim

Last week in the Czech Republic, at our annual missionary family conference, we learned how our relationship with our earthly fathers make us into the people we are today. Good and bad. No father is perfect. Even the best are not without sin. All but one. Our heavenly Father. The conference was titled “Found by your Father”.

Now I’m back home, sitting in the bleachers watching my son play his first floorball competition. And I’m pondering the things we learned. I wonder about the influence his father has already had on him during his eight short years. What is we are doing (or not doing) that makes him (Sam) afraid to play in this competition. He has told me about his fears. He doesn’t want to disappoint his team. He doesn’t think he is a very good player.

I know I consciously praise him in floorball. I hear his father praising him as well. What on earth has shaped this young boy’s thinking and tricked him into believing such lies?

I ponder. I pray. And here he is today. Dressed in his uniform waiting his turn to go out in the court. Of course he is scared. Of course his heart is pounding. Of course his palms are sweating waiting for the coach to call his name.

And then I find myself being the mom that sits on the side yelling for her boy. Never mind I’m speaking English while everyone else stares at me. I am a mom. A proud mom. Full of joy as she witnesses her son fight his fears.

Thank you God for this boy of mine. Thank you for his kind heart. Thank you for his sensitive spirit. Give me and his father wisdom as we parent him and teach him in yours ways. Make him strong in his faith and strong in his dependence on you his heavenly father.

And if you see fit… maybe a goal here and there along the way! 🙂

April 25th, 2012 by Kim

So this week is another busy week! Zac left on Monday to attend the week long Exit tour in Banksa Bystrica (about 1 1/2 away). Morning programs started Tuesday, continue all week, ending on Saturday with an after-party.

Exit tour is an very special outreach project that travels to schools in Slovakia.  The goal of EXIT Tour is to help schools provide lectures about the problems teenagers face daily, how to live a healthy lifestyle and to share true life values.  While we are in the schools, we provide an assembly for the students in their gym where a music band performs a few songs. During the morning concert, we present our program, invite students to the afternoon activities, and promote the various preventative lectures taking place at their school in that day. Students are divided into five or six groups, and attend two series of lectures in their own classrooms, on Sex, AIDS, relationships, drug and alcohol prevention, and others.  Zac is leading one of the lectures this week on divorce prevention or healthy family.

The key element for EXIT Tour is cooperation among local youth organizations that follow up with students at so called EXIT clubs.

I talked to Zac yesterday and he was very excited to have the opportunity on this first day to share personally his faith in Jesus with 2 students who stayed after his seminar.  Please pray for the TCKompas team as they conduct this incredible week of ministry with the local churches in Banska Bystrica.

If you would like to read more detailed information about Exit Tour you can find it here!

February 7th, 2012 by Kim

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

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

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.