Monday, October 26, 2009

Rozhodnutie (yes, it's a Slovak word)

Decisions.

This is not going to be a ramble about how to make the big decisions in life.

Keep an ear open to God. Communicate honestly. Move away from thinking that His will is something He holds in a closed fist that you have to pry open. Keep listening. Read the Bible (we cheapen our intentions when we say we want to "hear from God" and then ignore what He's already said). Trust that you are never taken through a process to come out in a worse condition. Have confidence that when you put God first, everything else will be put into place.

Sooner, rather than later, we owe the Powers that Be an answer to the question, "what comes next?". For a while it felt like we were staring down the barrel of this loaded question, but we now have an extreme confidence that we will know what we need to, when we need to.

We are not afraid of missing the "will of God" (aka the plan that He knows is best for us), because we invest a lot of time and energy in pursuing it and He has a lot to say. Our focus is on living it with excellence.

Clocks are ticking. Fuzzy things appear in greater focus.

Pray with us.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Irish Food for Thought

In keeping with the video theme we seem to have going, here is Bono's speech that he gave to the NAACP.

It is food for thought.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

NLI EuroSummit 2009




Last week we attended NLI's biannual EuroSummit Conference in Spain. The conference is designed to promote what NLI is doing throughout the 48 nations of Europe. We've linked two of their videos to this post which capture both the need and what NLI is doing in Europe (admittedly, they are commercial-esque).

There was work to be done as Amber serves as the European Conference Coordinator for EMERGE (women's development), but it was great for us to connect with people working across the continent. Though there were many North Americans and Australians, there were nationals from France, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Poland and more. It was eye-opening to have such a comprehensive perspective on Europe.

It was a great reminder for us that mission originates with a spiritual need. Often, as Westerners, we associate mission with assisting the impoverished and disenfranchised; and though meeting physical needs is a divine imperative, our practical aid must come from a spiritual origin. There is a dangerous misconception surrounding Europe that it is not a valid place for mission - oh sure, maybe in the poorer Eastern countries, the formerly oppressed block, or in the Balkans, the birthplace of modern war, but not in the rest of Europe...they're too rich for mission.

The response to this mentality is simple - where there is a spiritual need there is a need for workers, spiritual investment and steps toward change. Europe, more than ever it seems, is at the frontline.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Mozaika - the Host with the Most!


The Apostolic (Pentecostal) Church of Slovakia [ACS - the acronym works for the Slovak and English translations] holds an annual conference for all of the ACS churches across the country. This year Mozaika was selected as the hosting church - a huge show of confidence in our growing church. With programs prepared, a hall rented, speakers from the Czech Republic and the UK, and a host of details attended to, Mozaika welcomed over 700 people to Nitra (more than we thought would come).

The afternoon session was broadcast live (an interesting logistical experience) on Slovak Televsion [STV]. It was amazing, powerful and simplistic, to hear people speak of how a meeting like this could have never taken place just 20 years ago. The church in Slovakia has grown from secret meetings and Bible smuggling to a nationally televised broadcast and a strong representation of local churches; but this conference was not focused on where we have come from, but where we must go.