Moody Bible Invasion!

Even after getting stuck in an elevator in Tabor for a half hour, these guys were ready to go when they came to English club. Here we're about to play a rousing game of animal signs.


Fight club: Tom, Jarda, me and Dominik. I lost count of how many people were in my apartment, but after club there was enough tomato soup and cheese toasts for all. My landlord, Mr. Divis, even joined in and made sandwiches to help feed everyone...it was soooo fun!!!


John teaching English in a Strakonice high school. Our time there Thursday and Friday was great; I was so thankful for how well prepared the Moody students were. The school was very welcoming and it was important for us to get to know the teachers and some new students.


The whole MBI gang: Jason, Ben, Steve, Tim the prof, Tom, John, Laura, Matt, Stacey, Nik. Here they're introducing themselves at youth group in Pisek on Friday...there were a ton of kids there that night, and Stacey gave an excellent talk about not only believing in God's existence but also believing him.


Hanicka, me, Pavel, Leni, Zuzka, Stacey, Evicka after the English camp party on Saturday. Some kids from the high school came to this party, and one of the English teachers even came and brought her son and some of his friends. A lot of good things happened that weekend, thank God. !!!


John, Matt, Laura, Nik in our church's cafe Sunday morning--can you feel the love? We were very blessed to have these guys come and share their lives and God's love.

Mission Trip to Ukraine!

Lovely Denca just created this prayer card for our team...enjoy!

From April 10-April 18 we will be serving in youth prisons, building and remodeling churches, visiting orphans, helping share the gospel and encouraging and being encouraged!

The cost per person will be around $380, which includes travel, food, board, ministry expenses as well as support of the local ministry. If you would interested in supporting our team (I personally don't need any support, but some of my teammates do) you can send a check to: Josiah Venture, P.O.Box 4317, Wheaton, IL 60189 and make a note in the memo line: Internship Account # 4016170. Thank you!

life and love in late winter

Kacka, me, Hanicka and Evicka at church last night. Kacka is Hanicka's friend from school and started coming to youth group recently--she's super fun. Last night's theme was "Gray Areas" and Strakonice's very own Martin P. did a great job of helping us think through issues like drinking, flirting, smoking, video games, etc. We have a lot of new people coming to youth group, and the youth group team (of which our Jozef is a part) is doing a great job of responding to the various needs and challenges that that creates.


Magda, Iva and Hanka. Hanka came to our English winer camp and started going to Iva's small group...yay...small groups are starting to take off more and more in our youth group, please keep us in your prayers; we so need God's word to intersect with our lives.


Oh, I love love...our dear Brother Brad (aka Banana Brad, Baptist Brad, Butt-kicking Brad, etc) and lovely Lucy were joined in holy and bilingual matrimony February 14th. My favorite part was when Brad said his vows in Czech, and Lucy in English...and then the part where Ken asked them to exchange fingers--what a great wedding!--and then at the reception in Malenovice where we danced to Outkast and Ciara. Beautiful wedding, Kasparovi! Amen, double up A-MEN.


Me and Martina P. at the reception. Yes, that's right, I caught the bouquet. I had to elbow out Lucka Z. and hurt a few feelings, but it's all worth it for a near future of marital bliss, right? juuuuuuust kidding....

Why Europe Rocks: Reason #31

I know a lot of these WERs are about language, but so much of what makes life fun & funny is trying to navigate in one's non-native language.

In Czech, there are some great words/phrases that don't translate well...but I wish they did.

ponorka n. (lit: submarine) When you spend a lot of time with one or more people and you kind of get a little sick of them. Ex: After two days of meetings I have a little ponorka.



domluvit v. To arrange, agree upon, figure out, plan, decide...domluvit is so all purpose. Ex: I'm not sure now when we can meet, but I'll call you and we can domluvit on it. I have to domluvit with the English teacher when we can go to her class.

šikovný (she-cove-knee) adj. This word doesn't translate well at all. The dictionary says "dexterous" but really it means something like graceful, smart, handy, cool...on and on. Ex: Mark Cox is way šikovný.

There are also some English words that don't go smooth into Czech, like awkward. The closest is "uncomfortable," but it's just not the same. And all my multi-cultural friends, feel free to add your own!

the world of an enfp

My awesome sister and I had some good talks about intro/extroversion while driving around Iowa. Those talks, plus an upcoming personality seminar PLUS submarine disease (see above) all lead to me do a little reading up on how we are. Round here, we usually talk about the 4 types using Smalley's animal labels (otter/seal, lion, golden retriever, beaver) and it's fun. Some may think all this type talk is too boxy, but I don't know anyone who carries it to that extreme. Back at SLT with IV, before IT or JV back in MCMXCV, I found out I was ENFP. What? Well, the Myers-Briggs test has identified 16 personality types and even though generalizations are always wrong in some aspect, some of it is so right on for me, such as:

"[ENFPs] have a strong need to be independent, and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. Their dislike of dependence and suppression extends to others as well as to themselves." yeah, bossy!

"Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivous to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves. This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP's family members." oh, that's why you're being bossy...

Case in point: my desk is a mess...wait a second, that's not a desk...


shoot. Four couches and no desk. By the by, if you ever have a chance to see Super Jen's desk, it's a work of art. Ikea cubbyholes for every type of envelope and piece of information, beautiful.

Obviously, personality is no excuse for, you know, sin (which is apparently the category irresponsibility falls under), but it helps me to understand why some normal things are big struggles. In reading about the other types of personality, I just think: Oh God, you're so creative and so kind that you made us all so different. It's good that we need each other. Which reminds me, Nate, can you send me that budget spread sheet thingie again, natemoney? I lost the last one you sent me. :)