Slovakia Adventures

Friends, I can hardly believe that our second week of ministry is nearly over. The past few days have been very hectic and I've had little time to update, but good things have been happening. On Tuesday, we adjusted our teaching schedule to fit a full morning of Experiencing God in before lunch, some teaching from Les on Bible topics before dinner, and Arameh's science presentation in the evening. We were able to present a lot of material, but there was not a lot of time for the attendees to rest and do crafts or outdoor activities, so on Wednesday we reduced our teaching to only in the morning. God has allowed us all to be very flexible and happy to present whatever is needed. On Wednesday evening, we again visited the local church in Modra and were blessed to be in fellowship there. We also gave an extremely truncated overview of Experiencing God. We've also done some traveling. On Wednesday, we visited Myjava area, and saw the house where Dana lived when she was young

We are into our second week of ministry here at Berea! As always, God is keeping us on our toes. Initially, we thought we would be starting in the morning on Monday, but many people did not arrive until midday so our sessions were pushed back and we've adjusted our schedule. We started teaching on Monday afternoon. We began with with the first unit of Experiencing God, taught by Monica. Afterwards, Dana led everyone in aerobics, and after dinner Les gave an overview of the Bible. Then we played some board games. I (Maggie) have found that playing Uno is a great way to learn colours and numbers in Slovak! So far, our material has been well received and we are hoping to foster deeper relationships with the participants. Pray for opportunities to get to know each other despite the language barrier. There are several people who do not know Christ, so please be in prayer that the Holy Spirit will open their hearts to receive the teaching.

Our team had quite an exciting weekend, and we learned that we can make all the plans we want, but God can change our course. On Friday afternoon, we drove to the Orava region, which is northeast of where we are staying. Orava has many beautiful sites and castles. On Saturday, we planned to so some outdoor activities including rafting on the Orava River, but when we woke up, it was pouring and we heard thunder and lightning. We visited the castle, which is beautiful, but had to change our plans as rafting and paragliding would be dangerous during thunderstorms. We took a drive north and saw a wooden church that is a Unesco heritage site, and then took some photos of Lake Orava. We also went to a salas, which is a place where they sell sheep cheese products, a local favourite and something Dana was really looking forward to eating. In the evening, we drove to our next hotel and settled in, and since the weather was bad, we visited a local pool complex to relax. We tried some fun water

It is hard to believe we have a whole week of camp under our belts! We finished off our teaching of teens this morning with Arameh presenting on creation vs evolution. After lunch, Helena (one of the leaders here) had the kids all talk about who their influences were, what they had enjoyed about camp, and what they thought about God. It was amazing to see that they had been impacted by our ministry. Pray the lessons stay with them. We left mid-afternoon for some weekend travels in the Orava region. Pray that we will be able to rest and enjoy this break. Please keep next week's ministry in your prayers. We have learned that many of those signed up to attend are not believers. Pray we will have wisdom in how we approach them and for the Spirit to prepare their hearts. Thank you so much for your prayers. We could not do this work without you!

Hi friends! We've had an intense, but rewarding couple of days here in Slovakia! On Wednesday, Dana started her teaching sessions with a lesson on building our foundation on solid rock. After that, we got to do the opposite of building a foundation, because we were asked to fill a dumpster with concrete and building materials that had been left in a pile after recent renovations. It was hard work for Evelyn, Dana, and Maggie! Arameh was involved in cleaning up a nearby creek that was clogged with debris. Needless to say, we were all pretty dirty after that! It was so encouraging to see the kids helping without complaining. Praise God that no one was injured! We met a woman named Loredana who is a missionary from Mexico working with a church in Slovakia, so we spent some time getting to know her. In the afternoon, we went for ice cream and then to a local church. We attended the church's midweek service in the open air. Dana shared about our team's work, and Maggie gave he

It's hard to believe we are already two days into our camp session! We have had two hectic days here in Slovakia. We started our teaching ministry and have been having fun playing games with the teens here as well as doing manual labour. Maggie has taught three sessions so far on surrendering ourselves to God. It has been challenging to speak through an interpreter, as well as having to cut down the presentation in order to hold the teens' attention. Dana will start teaching another series tomorrow. Please pray that the seeds we've sown will grow. We have also had the chance to serve around the building doing raking, weeding, washing windows, etc. Arameh did some heavy labour helping remove a metal pole from the ground! We are encouraged seeing all the teens take part in the work without complaining. Tomorrow afternoon we will get to join the midweek service of a local church. Pray we will encourage the church members and likewise be encouraged by them as we are reminded

It's been a whirlwind of a day here at Berea! After a good night's sleep, the team began the morning with devotional time. We visited a nearby castle and met with Dana's cousins for lunch, and then went back to Berea to start preparing for our retreat this week. We also saw the status of the renovations and toured the dorms where the teens will sleep this week. We had an unexpected surprise when we found our that our teaching time will be less than we had planned, so we will have to cut down our sessions, but nothing is unexpected for God. Some of the teens arrived for dinner with their youth leader Juraj. They are energetic and ready for a week of camp! After dinner, we introduced ourselves and played some games with them. Please pray for the following: Christ to work in the kids' hearts God's equipping for Maggie as she teaches a session on surrendering our stuff to God Opportunities to forge meaningful connections with the teens All of our technology to wo

This morning, the team convened in Vienna. We got our rental car and drove to Bratislava and Devin for some authentic Slovak food and sightseeing, and despite some navigational difficulties made it to Berea this evening. We met our hosts Peter and Monica. We are so thankful that God provided safety on the roads and some kind strangers who helped us with directions. Please pray that we will get a good night's rest and have time tomorrow to prepare for our week's program. Pray for safety for all of those traveling to take part in this retreat, and for the start of deep relationships. We appreciate all your prayer support!

Hello friends! Our team is taking off in a few short hours for our trip to Slovakia via Vienna. I cannot wait! Please keep us in your prayers for the following: Health and safety while traveling Smooth travels so that two members are able to catch their connection in Frankfurt Connecting with each other on the ground in Vienna Opportunities to share the gospel and about our trip to people around us Thank you for your prayers!