Jesus, dogs, and prayer

So today was a pretty interesting day.

The day started off with three hours of language school. We learned that Hungarian is totally different from Slovak, and thus very confusing to try and learn along with Slovak.

In the afternoon we were one one of the campuses, the vet school, doing surveys and passing out our evangelistic CD. The original plan was to split up and send teams to two separate campuses. But God didn't want that. I found out earlier in the day that the technical school hadn't started yet, so there would be no one at the dorms. So we changed things up last minute...which seems to be the common theme...and went to the vet school.

My attitude was pretty poor coming into it. Then about an hour later it was even worse. I hadn't talked to many guys, and most people didn't speak a lick of English. I got frustrated and decided to go to the other table, which was in front of the other dorm. I went down there with my bad attitude and mopped for a while. Then after about ten minutes of feeling sorry for myself I spotted a guy coming up, and the Lord immediately told me to talk to him.

So I walked up to him and asked if he spoke English. His reply...yes! So I started reading the survey, which asks questions like "What problems do students face?", "Do you think Christianity offers a solution to these problems?" and "What would you ask God if you had one question?" He, Peter, responded pretty well. So the last question is "Do you want to talk more about this with someone?" Then he proceeded to say YES. Man, was I shocked.

I asked if he had ten minutes to hear about God and how he could know Him. And he said YES! I almost lost it. This guy actually wants to listen to me tell him about knowing God...it was a break throught. So I quickly grapped a four spiritual laws booklet to share with him. I moved through the booklet, making sure to read all the points and Scripture. I got all the way to the end where it has the prayer of salvation. I asked him if that was the desire of his heart. He said that maybe some parts were.

I'm thinking, "Only SOME parts?!"

I continue to share the rest of the booklet with him and then just ask some questions about him. He responded really well, and was interested in talking more about God.

And to think I was so scared of talking to this guy, a guy who Jesus loves and needs to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. I'm pretty selfish for not giving what I have.

Later that day I got to pet some dogs...since it is a vet school dorm. I really love dogs, especially puppies.

Also, later I was able to meet with a group of Slovaks, about the same age as me, who are forming a prayer group among the different ministries here in Kosice. I can not tell you how encouraging it was to see other believers passionate about God and prayer. It is good to know that the Lord is present here in Slovakia and up to something big.


Overall, it was a day that I never expected. But totally enjoyed.

working through the mess

So I found out today that this thing called STINT is a lot harder than I ever expected.

I never thought God would teach me so much about my sin, and His forgiveness and grace. How He works through the differences is absolutely beyond me.

And how easily I allow satan to come into my life and tell me lies, and then truly believe them. It is very scary.

I can not even express how much I am grateful that I do not have to live this life alone. Praise be to Jesus Christ for His grace and power. Amen.

Slovak Paradise?

Me, Peter, and Aaron went on an adventure yesterday. We decided on Friday that we would take a road trip to see an ice cave about an hour and a half away from Kosice. It was going to be a man-day road trip.

Well, we first planned on leaving at 10am. That didn't happen. We didn't leave until 11:15. Then on the way we stopped at a discount grocery store to eat lunch. I ate a pretty good lunch, complete with meat, cheese, and bread, for about the equivalent of $2. Sweet.

Our next stop was to be a mansion. We quickly found a parking spot and then meandered around the grounds four about fifeteen minutes...and of course took some pictures to capture the moment. But we couldn't spend long b/c we had to make it to our final destiation, the ice cave, by 2pm. So we took off.

As we are driving, we are moving around some pretty sharp curves...which didn't have guardrails I should add. So it's about 1:45 and we realize we are still pretty far away from our destination. Not to mention, we still have to hike a mountain to get up there. So we finally arrive at about 7 minutes til, with not much time to get up there. We start running. But it didn't last long. The hill is steep. We are out of shape. This is not good news b/c we are supposed to be running a half marathon in about a month.

After about ten minutes, I am the first one to make it up the hill...completely out of breath. I arrive just in time to watch the last person go in the gate. I say to the guy, "No more?!" knowing that he probably doesn't understand much English. I'm standing there out of breath, intently looking through the gate into the cave. But he looks right past me and doesn't even acknowledge me. He just closes the gate and starts closing up the office. So I'm a little confused/angry.

Finally, Aaron and Peter make it up. Peter, our Slovak friend and guide, asks the lady about getting in. She tells him that the last time is 2pm and that we can't make it today, but we could come back in the morning. Right. So after about five minutes of fussing and trying not to be mad at Peter, we start walking back down. We find a cool stream along the way, which we play in, and I finally stop pouting like a little school boy.

We keep hiking some more until we head back to the car. We start making our way to another town, Spisska Nova Ves, a place where we are going to eat dinner. A really GREAT place. But not too far away from our departure point, we stop at a little town to get some Kofola (Kofola is a Slovak soda that was made during Communism b/c those jerks wouldn't let people drink Coke or Pepsi). The town we stopped in means "Lost" in English. Quite fitting.

So we get some Kofola and Peter pulls out his laptop. He had been watching a John Piper sermon on it, so we join him in watching Piper. Then it hits me. I am in a VERY remote village in SLOVAKIA, drinking Kofola, and watching John Piper on a laptop. Life is crazy!

We finished up our Kofola and started back on our journey through the mountains and onto Spisska Nova Ves. We finally make it to the city, without throwing up, and stop at the gas station. Suddenly, Peter realizes that he doesn't have his bag, which happens to have his credit card, wallet, and lots of other important things. Wait a minute. He LEFT IT in the "lost" village. Ouch. So we fill up on gas and turn back around. All the way back through the whinding roads, 45 minutes back to the village. When we got there, his bag was still there with everything in it! We then stopped to thank Jesus for helping us out.

Soooooo, we started back to Spisska Nova Ves and make it back through the mountains. We made it to our restaurant, called Nostalgia, which is amazing and has lots of "American" dishes. I had a steak and salad. They even have Tex-Mex...like burritos and stuff. We spend lots of great time enjoying our food and each other.

We get back in the car and drive another hour back to Kosice. By the time we got back to Kosice, I was ready to die. Not really, but almost. It was such a long day, and very unexpected, but it was fun to watch God put obstacles in front of us to see how we would react to them. I really think that the whole day was put together so that Jesus could increase our patience with Him.

I tried to think of some good Scripture that talks about patience and I thought about in Galatians when it talks about the fruits of the Spirit being "love, joy, peace, patience..." That's something that I've been trying to learn more of; being filled with the Spirit. It seems so important that I do that this year. I am here, Slovakia, to share the love of Christ with students. I can't do that unless I am walking in the Spirit. I know that His patience will be so crucial this year if I am going to fully experience what God has for me.

If you are reading this, would you please pray for me? I need it. I need the Spirit. Thanks!



growing,
Matt

our trip to prison

our team during the waiting period



So this story officially begins when we found out that we had to get student visas in order to be official students this year, naturally. Well, one of the steps (out of about 15 other steps) is to get a background check from the FBI.

Before we left from the States we still didn't know if we would be taking language classes, so we didn't take any preliminary steps to get a student visa. The background check involves us having to get our fingerprints taken and then sent back to America for them to check...our criminal history. In order to get these fingerprints done, we are informed, we have to take a trip to Vienna, Austria and visit an Austrian police station. Apparently this is the only place in Eastern Europe that is authorized to do this.

Luckily, we were already planning a trip to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, to visit the long-term team there, and also do our in-country briefing. Vienna is only about 45 minutes away from Bratislava, so not hard to get there since we are already in Bratislava....right? Well, sort of.

We made it to BA on Wednesday, no problems. We decided to take a 7:10am train the next morning to Vienna. The office is only open from 8am to 11:30am, so not much time to work with.

So we gather ourselves, all five of us, at the train station in time to make the 7am train. We make it to Vienna, no problems, with only an address to find. We luckily find an info booth and then find out where we are, and where we are going. We hop on the train/metro and take it to one stop and then another. We get off at our destination and make our way down the street...after a few guesses. We finally make it to the address we are looking for, but the door is locked. We try another door and it's locked too. We try a third door and it's open...YES!

We make our way into a dark entrance hallway and figure out how to ring the bell. This random guy, who is not really dressed up in a police uniform, comes out and asks what we want. I proceed to tell him that we need to get fingerprints at the police station for our visas.

He looks very perplexed.

I explain that we are Americans who are studying in Slovakia and we need to get fingerprints taken in order to get our visas.

He asks, "You want to go back to America?"

"No," I reply. "We need to get fingerprints taken for students visas so we can study in Slovakia."

He says, "I don't know of anything like that."

Then he asks a random guy walking by, in German, about the fingerprints...or at least I assume that's what he said. He walks back into the office to make a phone call, and then emerges a few minutes later and says, "It seems as though you are right. Follow me."

We make our way through a maze of door, and out into an open courtyard sealed off by buildings on every side. Our guide points to the left and says, "Don't go there. That's prison."

"We won't," I reply. He takes us to an elevator and says, "Take this to the second floor. Go to this room (pointing to a number), and she will know what to do."

We make our way up to the room and ring the bell. A lady opens the door, waiting for my response, and stares blankly. I respond by giving her the same explanation I gave to the guy at the door.

Same lost look.

After a little more explaining, she agrees to take our passports and addresses in Kosice. We gladly go along with her request and give her our precious passports. She closes the door without really informing us about the process. So we just assume that things are in the works, and take a seat.

About an hour later the lady comes back out and says to follow her. We do so and start the fingerprinting process. Once we are done, she informs us that we will have to wait until the 5th of September to get our prints. But this can't happen. We need them now.

So I talk to her about possibly getting them the same day and she gives me that familiar face...the one of refusal. I ask again, she talks to another guy in German, then says, "Give me a minute."

Then we realize that we have got to pray hard about this. We really need them that day because we can't afford to come back to Vienna just for fingerprints. All I'm asking from the Lord is that He take away any obstacles there may be. Five minutes of solid praying go by and she comes back out and says, "Okay, you can have them in one hour." My thought: "thank you Jesus."

We make our way out of the building to get more money (since the cost is about 20 dollars more than we expected) and food. We return to the building, going through the same process of bells and doors, and finally make it back up to the office where we recieve our $70 papers with fingerprints.

I am very grateful that the Lord heard our cry for help in our time of need. He could have easily decided to teach us some patience and made us come back a week later. It was also a great task for the team to go through. It taught me that I can't always have the answers for the team and that I have to rely on their help many times in order to get through what we are facing.

Not to mention it's a great story to tell the grand-kids.

I am in Kosice!

Well, we have finally made it to Kosice, Slovakia...and I am sweating all the time. It is actually hot here during the summer, and no a/c in site. I kinda understand the situation b/c it is cold enough to not have one 11 months out of the year here. Now that I am done whining I will move on with what has been happening here in Kosice.

We left Sunday morning at 5am on a bus to the Denver airport. We arrived in Kosice the next day, Monday, at 2:30pm, with all bags intact. A pure miracle. Aaron and I made it to our apartment, which is a really sweet joint in the old town part of Kosice. We have bunk beds and I sleep on the bottom. We went out to eat the first night and I had Halusky, a traditional Slovak dish. It tastes almost like southern mac and cheese, but it is made of potatoes. So clutch. Then we had to say goodbye to Jeremy, who is returning to be long-term staff in Slovakia, but has to return to the States for more training.

The first morning we all crawled over to the girl's apartment for prayer. I really didn't want to force everyone to come, but I felt like it would really help the team in the long run, both spiritually and physically. It was a little dry, mostly b/c we were tired and we haven't gotten to know each other yet. But it was still good because God's Spirit was with us.

The past few days we have been doing logistical stuff, such as getting cell phones and bus passes. We are planning to travel to Bratislava, the capital, for briefing next week. Briefing doesn't really consist of much content, but we just want to get away for the "retreat" feel....and I wanna see the city. We also have to go get our fingeprints taken to make sure we are not criminals so the we can get student visas. Yeah, I know. Missionaries getting fingerprinted.

We are going to be official "students" though. We are taking six hours of langage a week, which should be good for the ministry in many ways. We really want to start to transition the ministry to be more Slovak-led. There are now three Slovak girls on full-time staff, and of course we just need more MEN to step up and pursue other men. Typical.

Things are still fun here. I am still in honeymoon phase, and still exploring and re-exploring things. Please pray for us as we have lots of bonding to do and lots of encouraging to do. We NEED unity among the team if we are going to get anything done. Also, pray for Aaron and I as I don't feel very connected to him right now. He is my only male felllowship this year, so it is critical that we spur each other on this year.

Thanks, everyone!
Chao.

CO!

Well, I'm finally in Colorado. I am really amazed at the weather here. It's cold, even during the day.

Me and two other guys walked to Quizno's today. We were supposed to get sandwiches at the lodge, but they ran out. Soooooo, we quickly made our way to the Quizno's about a mile away.....on foot. We ordered and then one of the sandwiches got stuck in the heater rack thingy. It was kinda funny, but Amber, the girl at the register, did not think so. By the way, she likes to frolick. That's just what her name tag said. No lie, seriously.

Then we made our way back, thanks to my navigational skills through the golf course and enjoyed our beautiful sandwiches.

Later on the rest of our team made it to Colorado. Then I found out that Aaron got some more support, and he should be able to fly out on Sunday with us all. But, I don't know about Carlyn. I must keep praying for her. But she will make it.

I'm just praying for God to show up in amazing ways.

WATER?

So this morning I woke up with the dread that I had to go to the dentist to get two cavities filled. I was very upset about this because I take pride in clean teeth, and my pride was damaged when I found out my teeth cleaning was not sufficient. Well, I had them done and then came home to realize that there was no water running in my house.

NO WATER? You've got to be kidding. I live in suburban America where no running water is just a myth...a situation only for third-world places. So I call my mother and inform her that we have no water. She tells me that she forgot to pay the bill.....DOOH!

I'm a little "frustrated" at my mother by this point, so I decide to get out the house, the source of frustration, to run errands. Much to my enjoyment, it is 104 degrees in Columbia. AWESOME! I have no water, and the heat is so ridiculous that I can't even open my eyes without them burning. I think I hate Columbia more at this point.

I make my way to the mall to buy vitamins and a new bible before I leave....on Saturday. Wow. I come back to the house, where I am reminded we have no water after I try to wash out a glass so I can put store-bought water in it. Ugghhh.

I have to stop and admit something at this point. I'm a brat. I'm selfish. I've got it made in America...and even in Slovakia, where I'm supposed to be "suffering" for the Gospel. How many people just live with the fact that running water is not part of their lives? And better yet, how many people are still happy despite the fact...and even BETTER yet, still are thankful to the Lord for what they have. In most cases, family.

Tonight I will go without my nightly shower. I'll probably complain about it in my head, telling God that this isn't fair. And how many people will go to sleep tonight just thankful that they have salvation in Christ?