Me and Aaron walk up to three students sitting at a table in the school's corridor. It looks like they are studying, but I ask the Lord for His power and presence and then ask them, in Slovak, if they speak English. I seem to recognize one of the guys from before but he doesn't seem to recognize me. I ask them if they have time to take a survey. They answer yes with some reluctance, but that has never stopped me before. I hand the pictures to the guy across the table who seems to be most interested. I ask him the first question, "Which three pictures describe your life right now?"

Soularium is a great evangelistic tool we have been using on campus the past few months. It involves fifty pictures of all types and categories, and five questions to engage the person in spiritual conversation. Things like "which picture describes God?" and "what picture depicts what you wish were true about your spiritual life." That last question is sometimes very hard to translate, but it's amazing how many times the Holy Spirit steps in an does the work.

As I'm asking Stanley these questions I can tell he is thinking about them a lot. He's taking his time to make sure his answer is the right one. His classmates begin to leave and I'm afraid he's going to leave also, but he continues to engage with the pictures.

I move a little closer so I can try to understand his Slovak. At this point I can tell this is going to be a good conversation because of the way he is reacting. He's getting a little fidgety, a little unsettled. He picks out a picture of a girl playing with balloons on green grass. I ask him what that means and he says he wants to be happier with God. The last picture he picked was of a dark scene with no hope in sight. I asked him, "How do you plan to get from here to here?" He thinks for a few minutes and then says, "By praying more and going to church. I want someone in my life who is above and can help me become a better person."

"If I could explain to you how you can be happy with God and have a relationship with Him, would you want to hear about it?"

He is very skeptical, like most Slovaks who don't trust just any ol' stranger who walks up to him. But he says yes!

I had him the "Knowing God Personally" booklet and flip open to law one. I can tell he is on the verge of saying no and walking away. So I pray that the Lord would keep him right there and allow me to get through the booklet. Stanley is distracted by things around him; his friends passing by, a woman who sits down across from us, his own sinful nature.

Suddenly, the woman across from me says, "Excuse me, what are you talking about?" I'm a little thrown back by the fact this Slovak woman, who is probably a professor, just asked me THAT question in perfect English. I stumble and make a few noises and then say, "We're talking about God."

She's a little taken back herself.

So I refocus my attention on sharing with Stanley and we make it to the part that talks about Christ being on the throne of your life, or self being on the throne. I ask Stanley which one he is and he says, "the one without Jesus."

Wow, a Slovak who will actually admit that he's NOT a Christian. So many students grow up in a Catholic society and they think being born into the church makes them a believer.

I read the prayer to Stanley and ask him if he wants to do this. I can tell he is having a very hard time with all this, and the HS is busy at work in his heart. I ask what's holding him back but he still doesn't answer. I ask if he's afraid and he slowly nods his head. "Afraid of losing you friends?" I ask. "Yes," he says. I talk with him a little bit more about what it means to truly be a believer and encourage him to think about it some more. I ask him if we can meet up again but he is hesitant. So many thoughts must be rushing through his head. "I want this but it means I have to give up my job, my friends," he says. I leave Stanley my email and mobil number and tell him to please call me after the holidays.

It was hard to let it go without any solid follow-up contact info, but I just have to trust God. Well, that's not a surprise since faith has been the theme of my STINT year.

halusky and good convo

Today was a pretty good day. I sent off my signed tax form to get my refund back, watched Kelly and Biba do some crazy dances, got more excited about my trip to Serbia coming up on Thursday, went to the gym, had some guys come over and cook me halusky (traditional Slovak dish), and talked to them about Jesus. All in all I would say it was a pretty good day. We have a short week this week with only one more day on campus tomorrow. Me and Aaron are hoping to play some American football with some guys in Presov, and then who knows what.

Oh yeah, I'm meeting a student Wednesday morning to go to a paint store and buy some oils so I can start painting again, here in Slovakia. Better late then never I guess.

here's to homemade halusky and tax refunds,
Matt

faithfulness

This week has been one of challenges, but I have been encouraged from the Lord.

Today as I was walking to campus and thinking about what was going to happen, I simply asked God for His eyes. I recently read in a book about an Indian native missionary who began to see people the way God did and it made him weep for those people. I have to admit that I almost never look at Slovaks, or anyone who doesn't follow Christ, in this way. I also asked God to lead me to the right people He had prepared for this day...and He did.

Time after time I met Slovak guys who seemed genuinely interested in English club (which is our next big outreach event for the next two weeks). Men who could speak enough English to be interested...and also intrigued by meeting an American. So I'll continue to pray for God's faithfulness in their lives, and in mine.

He's the God of Košice and Presov

Wow, what a day! Where do I start?

Today was our first day preparing for the upcoming semester. We had some good time off to relax and rest up from all the craziness over the break. We all spent some time with the Lord this afternoon asking Him for vision.

Honestly, I wasn't really feeling it, but since it's my job (which, by the way, I LOVE my job) I decided to go for it. So I took off....

...and found myself out in the middle of the woods sitting on a pile of logs on the side of a dirt road. For a long time I was wondering what the Lord wanted to tell me because I wasn't hearing much from Him. Although, I was pretty convicted about sharing my faith more boldly on campus this semester. So many times I go on campus reluctant and powerless...not filled with the Spirit. I can think back to many times this year when God has shown Himself faithful and then I turn around and forget His goodness.

Na pri klad (for example): this weekend me and Aaron went hiking with a student named Lukas. It was an amazing trip filled with conversation about what it really means to have salvation, what repentace is, and I even got to explain a few things in Slovak, which is a pure miracle if you know me. By the way, PLEASE pray for Lukas. I think he is really close to accepting Christ!

Back to today, I was just sitting there doubting what He could do this semester and how He is ever going to show up in these students' lives. So when we meet back we talked about what we heard from the Lord and I was feeling pretty much at a loss for words....just trying to engage the team in conversation and find something constructive to work with (which often times happens to me). Then Kelly shared a song with us. It's called "God of this city" by Chris Tomlin. Can I just say it explains EXACTLY where we are at. Some of us have been looking to the past and wondering if God is still working here.

The song says:

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God...
There is no one like our God...

For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city

YES! This is what we are believing God for. He CAN be the God of not just this city, but this nation of Slovakia. He can be hope to the hopeless and peace to the restless. We want the lives of students to be radically changed by the person of Jesus Christ.

Oh, wait. There's more and it gets better. Later we all went to eat at Pizza Hut. Then Dara suggested that we all get some ice cream, so we went to Aida...the big ice cream place here. While we are standing around two gypsy kids walk up to me asking for change and so I offer to buy them ice cream after Biba tells me, "Don't just stand there, give them something." I buy them ice cream and then realize I can give them a knowing God personally booklet. So I ask my team if someone has one and Carlyn pulls one out of her backpack. I hand it to them and they look it over one good time. Then Mirka steps in and starts talking to them about this booklet, which is in Slovak and describes how someone can begin a relationship with Christ. Mirka makes it all the way through the booklet with the boys and then she steps aside with one of them...

..."wait, is she doing what I think she is doing?" I'm thinking. I look over at Biba and she nods her head and says, "He just prayed the prayer." Then I proceed to yell, "WHAT?!" in the middle of Aida.

Mirka comes over and tells us, "We have a new brother in Christ." The sad part about all this is that we have no way of following up with him so all we can do is pray that what he just did will truly make sense to him and that God will bring about change in his life. But SERIOUSLY! How crazy is that?! Just like God to do that.

While we are walking back home we realize that we all played a role in sharing the gospel with that one boy, Eric. At this very moment I am still shocked at how God used us AS A TEAM to bring about His glory. That is something we want to work toward more this semester, really working as one unit to take this movement forward. Would you PRAY that we would seek that out?


praying for this city,
Matt

Today is a beautiful day. The first one in a few months. It's not too cold, sunny, no wind. Just perfect. In fact, it must be a day to throw the frisbee. I'm really hoping somebody will come along with me or I will be forced to throw the frisbee with myself.

Things feel kinda weird for me. We are about to gear up for another semester on campus but honestly I'm not ready for it...and not very excited. I have a lot of doubts in my mind that keep overtaking me. I would like to tell you that I always believe God to do big things or even just to comfort me in my fear, but many times this year I have had to force myself to step out in faith. I have had to fully rely on the Lord for guidance since I really don't have much to offer to this team or to these Slovaks.

But despite my despair 99% of the time, God does give me glimpses of His goodness and promise. At the end of Luke, which I just finished reading, two men are on their way to Emmaus after Jesus is killed. When Jesus comes along side them they are two busy talking among themselves to see that their Savior is walking with them. Later, after Jesus reveals Himself to them, they say, "Weren't our hearts burning when He spoke the Scriptures to us?"

Now when I first read this I didn't think much about it. But then that very same day, Larry Thompson spoke about this passage at our last night of the AOA conference. He didn't really add anything profound, but it was just the fact that I had read it earlier that the Lord spoke to me and said, "HEY! I'm real. And I'm here. Trust me."

So that's what I'm trying to do...trust God. It's not easy, by any means. But I don't really have another choice in this situation, thankfully.


Mat'ko

what is my life right now?

A few days ago I returned from about 12 days of attending conferences in Hungary. First all five of us Americans were in Vajta, Hungary (find that on a map if you can). We saw other STINTers from about seven or eight other locations in our area of affairs, which is Eastern Europe and Russia (also Israel).

We stayed at a really nice place called Calvary Chapel and all of our meetings were in this old restored mansion in the middle of Hungarian countryside. Can I just say it was amazing? One day as about 12 of us American boys were outside playing football, my friend Jonathan said, "It feels like we are all in a really big, rich family and we are just playing some Thanksgiving day football." It was so much fun, and so needed.

I was able to meet with the Lord and gain some clear guidance about where He wants me next year. For a while I have been juggling whether I should stay for another year in Slovakia or return to the states in order to join staff with Campus Crusade. God really answered some of my questions, and more importantly, gave me peace admist my doubts about why He wants me back home next year. So I did decide that I will be joining full-time staff with Crusade next year, which basically means I will start raising support when I get back from Slovakia.

So on to the next conference, our all staff Area of Affairs conference. Once again, I had more time to hang out with new freinds and be encouraged from the Word by speakers and friends. We heard many stories about what God is doing in different countries in this area. It was a huge breath of fresh air to hear that God is moving in visible ways among this culture-type. For example, this past semester 34 Russian students and 100 Ukrainian students accepted Christ. Many times its hard to trust God for what He is doing here in Slovakia given that we have not seen much fruit recently. But I trust that His perfect plan is being played out through me.

It's been kinda hard adjusting back to life in "the real world." I returned to Kosice and realized that I had lost a little bit of my language abilities, and that my attitude toward people around me was one more of judgement than mercy. I realize how easy it is for us, as Christians, to get into our bubble of friends and never want to engage with non-believers; I wouldn't do it if it wasn't my job, simply because it's really hard. It forces me to analyze what I say I believe and actually put it into practice. One thing that the Lord has been teaching me this year is that many times what I say I believe doesn't often line up with what my actions profess. That is sin on my part, and God's mercy on His part.

truth and grace to you,
Matt

slúžit' (to serve)

I was reading in Luke chapter 17 this morning and came across this passage: "He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done." This really struck me because in the past few months I think I have become expectant of God. I often times find myself expecting Him to bless me because of what I am doing here. I think I somehow deserve His blessing and good hand upon me. But then God reminds me that I am merely doing what I have been commanded to do as a bondservant of Christ. And the reality is that I should count it a blessing just to be a slave for Christ. So I want to encourage you to rethink the way you view your "work" for the Lord. Are you doing it with a wrongly expectant heart? Because if you are, God is not hesitant to alter your view. Let me encourage you to return to the Lord and thank Him for the privilege it is to serve Him, and to maintain a pure heart admist it all.