tears

i cried this morning at staff prayer. it was a worship morning. i am not sure why i cried.
it might have been that i didnt know the words and felt lost and alone and just wanted to go home NOW
or it might have been that i didnt know the words and worried that i'll never fit here and i want to fit here so badly.
it might have been that, in spite of not knowing the words, i feel like i do fit here and sometimes i do not want to leave. and i only have half a year left.
or it might have been the release of a the tensions and a thousand little tears that have been building up inside of me for all those reasons and they finally came out because when i worship i feel safe and my guard comes down.
or i might just be crazy.

for your information

It is ill advised to tell your male co-worker who speaks British/Irish English that you are wearing a skirt because you need to do laundry and you have no clean pants. Especially if it is part of a conversation that starts “Aren't your legs cold?”

I did not realize this untill it was too late.

I was quite confused as to why he turned red and quickly changed the subject.

I was very embarassed when I finally remembered that in British/Irish English "pants" refers to a totally different piece of clothing that should not be discussed with male co-workers. Ever. Especially on the way to lunch.

I should have said "trousers" or "jeans"

I should have just done my laundry and the whole incident could have been avoided.

Mobiles :)

current blog trend in the blogging realm of my family seems to be leaning toward posting about your cell phone.....or commenting on the cell phones of others.
not wanting to be left out here goes my commentary.....
In Slovakia we call them mobiles.
I technically have two since I still have the one I fell on and crushed at the end of May. this keeps me in the running numericly, but since neither flips or takes pictures and only one works, i might be in last place. ('Cept for Alex...he doesnt have a mobile OR a blog to commplain about it on...at least i'm not last!)

week 27 totally on time too!!

Greetings from Slovakia!!

The main reason this update is on time is because tomorrow I leave in the morning for Timothy School, the first official MPK action at the Svarin Ranch. I am so excited! Also it is a really neat event, a sort of intensive discipleship weekend retreat for about 50 new believers and teens interested in going deeper. I will be running video projection and photographing the event. Please keep us in your prayers this weekend. Pray especially for Stevo who is planning the weekend, he is getting a lot of last minute questions/problems this could be a rough weekend for him because, like the rest of us, he is not familiar with the ranch. Another exciting thing (for me) is that one of the speakers is Jean Jaques Wieler former president of YFC and a key part of starting YFC in Slovakia. One of my year-long projects is telling the really cool story of how that all happened and I will get the chance to interview him this weekend! Next week Roman will come back from vacation and we will start working on a 20 minute Promo video for CampFest.

I am in a really good mood today, I think it has to do with the caffeine, Pepsi Light and black tea. I had a really good week too though and I was not caffeinated the entire time. :)

My time in Kosice this weekend was really great. I enjoy spending time with the O'Connells. We got some pretty good pictures for a family with 2 little boys and a photographer who does not specialize in portraits. Also, I finally succeeded in buying new jeans (size 36!! ouch) and I bought a truck (matchbox :)).
Saturday evening, I peeled a million potatoes for the party Sunday. And helped get things decorated and set up for the party. Sunday was the big day. Teo’s Christening was in church and the party was for that and Klara and Ivetka’s Birthdays. It also coincidentally was the 6 month anniversary of my arrival in Slovakia.
Monday I woke up with the most gigantic pain in my shoulder and neck, it has gotten better this week, but I couldn’t turn my head on Monday. I worked some more on the Music video in the morning and in the afternoon I got an unexpected project, nametags for Timothy School. This project involved using Roman’s computer because I don’t have Corel Draw on mine and that’s the format the files I needed were sent in :). So working in an unfamiliar software that spoke Slovak took the rest of the day! Except for a grea Slovak Lesson. Anka told me I got an A* for the day! :) thanks for praying please don’t stop!
Tuesday I sent off the nametags for approval and sat down with the music video, I have 2 sequences blocked out and I think it will turn out ok in spite of itself. It’s coming along, and I am proud of it so far. I also got the final cut of the music for the CampFest hymn video and did some tweaking to match the video to the audio. I love this stuff!!
This morning the MPK staff went to Calvary hill, a neat hill overlooking the city (I’ll put up pictures on Flickr either tonight or Sunday evening) to pray for the city, and our immpact here. This morning I edited more music video and found out that the music I got yesterday is “not quite final” :) this afternoon brought a trip to the printer, and a reintroduction to our old friend the papercutter. Lucky for me Timothy School only needed about 60 nametags and not 4,000 like CampFest! I gathered what I’ll need to take for the weekend from the office end of things (after a million calls to try and find out what I wa responsible to bring, the projector is coming from Liptovsky Hradok, but the cables are coming from Presov :))This evening I’ll be running around like crazy trying to pack and get things cleaned up and squared away for the weekend!


This Week Please Pray:
~For Timothy School, that it will go smoothly and the young people will learn to hear from God
~For my Slovak learning...i still don’t like to study, but its getting better:)
~That I will make an impact here in Slovakia.

Thank you for praying!

CampFest 2006 - the final rundown

• CampFest 2006 participants included about 30 people on the organization team, 160 volunteers, 38 people on the prayer team, 50 people on the counseling team, 51 people on the technical team, about 300 performers and about 3500 participants-of these participants about 500 came from Czech republic which was a really nice surprise for us. We are encouraged by mail from many Czechs who express their desire to have something similar in their country

• During the weekend for volunteers the main themes of CampFest were presented- Dangerously attractive, Reality and New DNA and a challenge was given for volunteers to enter God’s army, they then recieved a dg tag with the logo of CampFest- many of them made serious decisions to go deeper in their life with God

• Preparations for CampFest were not easy, although we felt miraculous protection and prayer warriors behind us (thanks to all who prayed!!!)- we had various attacks, for example:

~ while building the main stage before CF a rope got loose and the entire construction with the light system fell down...thank God nobody was hurt and also damages were not as large as we expected...but finishing of stage continued nonstop till CampFest
~ a sickness spread among volunteers and the organization team. Every day there were more and more people sick with a virus, stomach problems and fevers. Because many were sick, Volunteers served long time and were really exhausted
~ during night some thieves stole their stuff from tents- to about 20 people were affected and claims were about 2000-2700 dollars

• Before CampFest we got a message from our friends from Northern Ireland a word about feeding hungry people for God...that we should give thanks for everything before we get it as Jesus also did- this word was really fulfilled during CampFest. The hunger of people for God was big and the work of counsellors was very intensive, from the beginning till the end of CampFest...God taught us to expect His miracles and grace and when we thanked Him, His promises were fulfilled

• The CampFest program ran from Thursday night till Sunday morning in three tents at once. Beyond this, participants could visit the Business centre, Cafe, counselling tent and prayer room 24/3 where they could calm down and spend time alone with God nonstop during all CampFest. Beyond these tents people talked outside, enjoyed nature and sunshine and peaceful time of the festival...

• Beyond great music, concerts, performences and talks at stages deep discussions were also lead and decisions were made in the counselling tent. From the evening challenges about 600 people responded, another 100 came during day programs to talk, from this 26 people made the first step to follow Jesus together with counsellers. About 1000 people received the invitation to join God’s army and got a sign similar to the one volunteers received during the weekend.

• Counsellors gave advice to people in difficult situations and prayed for freedom from ocultism, satanism, healing from violation, from addictions to smoking and drugs, for forgiveness of parents and self-acceptance...and many others. Thanks God for everything He was doing there, healing and for every open heart.

• The last night which continued till early morning was a strong experience of God’s presence for many of us...on stage worship and prayers were lead, all preachers, worshipleaders, dancers, singers, and organizers were united and praised God for everything He did, and what He prepares for Slovakia and young generation.

• We hope that everyone who came to CampFest with calling to God didn’t leave without experiencing His presence. We believe that God is forming a strong army of His fighters in our country who are ready to fight in their towns and villages for people around them

Here are some testimonies of people about what they experienced at CampFest:

„CampFest- it is something special. Special because in the centre of everything is God. Not music, not a man, not popularity but my relationship with God. This leads and inspires everyone and then ministry follows. Because without this just a memory would stay in my mind, memory of loud singing and tones, melodies...I believe that many people were touched here. Maybe just these weren’t who didn’t want to be and stayed closed in front of truth which opens just God and His word to every human-being. My wish for you is that the energy to organize such actions would stay with you and that many people could join the praises of our Lord.“

„At CampFest many people were born again, who came there just as ordinary and Sunday Christians!!! Almost everybody leave CampFest encouraged, happy to live with Jesus and to serve Him, to spread His word.
If I should speak for myself: when I came back home, I started to listen just to Christian music, I bought my first worship CD, I started to read and study Bible every day, I started to see the world more positively, I learnt to be thankful for everything that our great Dad gives me every day, I learnt to be happy because of friendship, health, details and everything that is just and just His grace.“

„Hi CampFest team. I would like to tell you that CampFest was really perfect. I was there for the first time and I know already now that I want to come also next year. It was for me a great blessed three days full of God’s presence.“

„Hi organization team, I am writing to you because I would like to thank you very much for your work and the effort you had to invest to prepare something like this. It was really great and through this festival God really touched me. It was something that I have never experienced before and it was just amazing...“


Yes, it was really just amazing. wanna come with me next year?

false friends

I REALLY should know better than to try and say an English word with Slovak accent and hope that it translates. But sometimes i get desperate to comunicate and hope that it will be a cognate....today they were not and i might have appeared desperate for something else.

"Bez preservatives" does not translate to "Without Preservatives".

"Preservative" in slovak is "Condom"

week 26. halfway to 52!

The overview!
So, basically, you all rock my world. This week has gone smoothly (and I’m in wonderfully good spirits) in spite of a number of things that I could dwell on and get down over. I chalk that all up to having you praying for me. This week I have started really working on learning Paul’s “Secret of being Content” (Philippians 4:5-13) it’s my next step in learning to be rooted in Him.

the Preview!
Next week will be a lot of last minute Timothy School preparation. Please pray for this. We will be in Svarin!! (MPK’s new property for retreats events and CampFest) This is super-exciting. “A Hip-Hip-Hooray Time” as Pastor Cope would say! However, It is also the first event in a new place. And it is an important event focused on training and discipling new believers. All the legal paperwork stuff will be completed on October 5th for Svarin. There is some concern that we do not have anyone there to oversee the property, please pray for God’s guidance and protection over His new property.

The Play by Play!
Monday was one of those edgy days they warned us about in training. The kind where everything annoys the life out of you. The big flashpoint: personal space. It is smaller here, for some people it is almost nonexistent! It didn’t help that I have been a bit of a nomad recently since my table got relocated to run hot water pipes to the 3rd floor. Things improved in the afternoon with a good Slovak Lesson. To those of you praying for my Slovak, THANK YOU!

Tuesday I added “spajkovacka” (soldering pen) to my list of “really useful words.” Vlado helped me reattach the micro-switch that had broken off the inside of my palm pilot. Sadly, I can fear I must remove palm pilot from my list of “really useful gadgets” since it still will not turn on. :( I think it is time to say final goodbyes. I also printed shot lists for the music video and started picking what pieces will go where.

Do you ever have days where everything feels like it takes ten times as long as you expected? Wednesday was a day on which everything took about a hundred times longer than I expected. I spent most of the day trying to render a rough copy of the CampFest Hymn video so they can re-record/mix the song. I am not sure why that took all day, but it did. And while they do it much less often than a PC, macs do occasionally crash. And their timins is spectacular. I love when my computer says, at 98% of a 2 hour render, “what? You wanted me to finish that? I think not.” I love technology.

This morning I had another Stasi Vs. Public Transportation moment when I realized half-way here that I forgot to put my power cord for my laptop in my bag this morning. I got off the bus in the City center, waited 10 minutes, got back on the bus going the other way, got home, got the cord, waited a half hour for the bus and got back to the office an hour later and only missed half of morning prayer time. I did not freak out and because of that, I think I won this round!
It has been a remarkably good morning all things considered. We put my table back where it should be and cleaned up a weeks worth of construction dirt in the office. (Yay for no more “Nomad Stasi”!!) Currently, I’m updating youall and converting/burning video of CampFest performances for some artists. This afternoon, I have a Slovak Lesson (yay for being back to twice a week on schedule) and maybe I’ll finally get to work some on the music video.
Tonight I’ll be baking cookies for Sunday. We are celebrating Teodore’s christening, Klara & Ivetka’s birthdays, and my 6 month anniversary in Slovakia!
I have to bake tonight because Friday evening I’m going to Kosice to visit the O’Connells. Saturday, Andrea and I are going to attempt to buy pants, and I’m going to re-take their prayer card picture. it should be a good weekend. I love weekends

Please Pray:
~for my Slovak Learning (studying - I just don’t like doing it)
~for Timothy School (preparations, safety, and the Holy Spirits presence.)
~for the Svarin ranch
~MPK. There are some interpersonal issues going on here. I only understand parts because of language barrier, but I can see Satan trying to mess stuff up
~That my second 6 months will be focused on serving here and not spent counting down till April.

I do not have words for how grateful I am for your prayers and support while I’m here. I fully recognize that without you, I would not be where I am.
THANK YOU! DAKUJEM VELMI PEKNE!!