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365 Czech Republic

Father’s Day in Prague

Happy Father’s Day!

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

In another incredible adventure we have made our way today back to Prague. I never thought we would end up here as much as we have, especially in the past few weeks, but it’s been really fun and crazy all at the same time. Just like we did a few weeks ago, we made our here today via the train station right by our house. We walked there this morning, caught an 8am train and got into Prague about 20 minutes after noon. Below are a few photos from the train ride, including the one above. In the photos below we walked to the “kids car” and played for a bit. These aren’t are actual seats (those were in a different car), but the kids made a little friend while we were in the there.

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

When we got in to Prague we made our way down to the Metro (subway) and accidentally got on the wrong side of the tracks, took the elevator back up and over, and finally got to where we needed to be. We packed really light this trip since we’ll only be here one night so it wasn’t too bad getting around with all five of us. The Metro took us to a transfer station where we caught another Metro headed towards a lunch place that we made reservations at. There is a burger joint in Prague that supposedly has the one of the top five burgers in Europe and a friend had recommended it. Since burgers are my favorite thing on the planet and they are not super common here, we had to go for it. I’m STOKED we did because it was amazing and my Father’s Day belly left full and happy! Here’s a photos of the kids and Bethany as we walked.

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

What I never understood as just a tourist, but now understand so much better, is if you’re going to stay in big European cities…rent an apartment. Tonight we are staying in a literal castle view apartment that is about a stones throw from the U.S. Embassy (which is why we’re here this weekend) and it’s costing us less than you’re cheap Motel 6 in the States. Not only that, but this is a large 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen! Check out this view from one of our windows.

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Here’s a few more shots from around the building.

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Here’s a view of the American flag that we can see flying above the embassy from the other side of our apartment (small flag in the upper left).

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Tonight we (unbelievably) had dinner on a boat on the river, in Prague, with a view of the Charles Bridge and the castle. I’m not kidding you. I never in my life thought I would ever get to say or write that, but it’s another recommended, affordable restaurant that was walking distance from our apartment. The only issue we had was that the kids kept asking why the boat wasn’t moving! Here’s a few photos from the place and then a shot of it from the bridge.

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

The restaurant is in the middle boat (dead center) next to the wall (in the photo below)

Father's Day in Prague (6/21/15)

Our appointment for Karis’ U.S. citizenship, passport, and social security card is tomorrow at 9:00am so we’ll be up early to get packed up and make sure we get to our appointment early. I’ve tried to check and re-check every document that is required and we’re really hoping the process will go smoothly. I no reason to doubt that it will, but I’m always weary of government things like this, even ones that only involve the U.S.! Pray for us as we go tomorrow that things would be in order and go smoothly so we can get Karis’ documents and then take the next step towards getting her a visa.

Well, that’s not a bad way to spend a Father’s Day and not a bad way to end this post. Good night!

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365 Czech Republic

Prague With Kids and Staring Out the Window

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Taking young kids to a large city is never ideal or easy. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t or that it’s wrong, but it just means you may have to get creative on how you go about it. Today our philosophy was kind of simple: divide and conquer. I don’t think we ever used those words exactly, but it’s how we handled this slice of Europe they call Prague.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

By God’s grace there is a really great park that we’ve been to before just around the corner from our rented apartment (shown above). Kara showed me how to get there last night and I had planned to take the kids there today which I did. Bethany, Karis, Nana, and Papa went onward towards the Prague castle. We just didn’t think our kids would be able to make it walking around the Prague castle, especially since they went to bed really late last night. Hence we divided and conquered. I took the kids to the park while everyone else went to the castle.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

After a little lunch I took the kids on the subway and then a tram to meet everyone back up near the castle. We did pretty well, except I got on the tram going the wrong way so we jumped off and caught it going the opposite direction (maybe a 5 min delay). When we got to our stop we jumped off, saw Papa and Nana for a minute, picked up Bethany and Karis, parted ways with Papa and Nana, and then headed back to the apartment for nap time. Bethany was even testing out a new baby carrier that Papa and Nana brought over and it seems like it worked out well (it’s like a Baby Bjorn, but like a fabric wrap. It’s called a Baby Katan). Apparently Papa used it the entire time they were at the castle and Karis slept, well, like a baby.

During our travel around the city I got a few pics of the kids. Here they are.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Our apartment is situated in a great location which gives us access to the subway (Metro), trams, and lots of sights. Since we came here by train it made sense for us to stay near other modes of transportation. The views from our apartment are really great and we get the added bonus of a fun little band that has been peforming on the street below us. Here’s a little video I got today of them playing (about 10 seconds long). The band is standing below the tree at the very middle of the video, below that yellow colored building.

Here’s a wide view of the street from our window.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

We actually spent a lot of time today staring out that window. While the kids napped, I was holding Karis with my feet out the window enjoying the beautiful music below. It was other worldly and so relaxing and I quite honestly think I needed that time today. I know I don’t deserve it, but it was a grace of the Lord that I thanked him for this afternoon. Even during it I received an email that made my day. It was special.

Here’s me holding Karis during that time. She was just wide awake and happy.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Here’s Titus staring out the window when he woke up from his nap.

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Thank to a friend here in Prague we got authentic Mexican food for dinner (something that is VERY hard to find in this country) and I even busted out my muy poquito Español. The restaurant served great food, wasn’t overpriced, and was within a few hundred feet of the astronomical clock (shown above in the first photo of this post). You guys should seriously consider coming to Prague.

Lastly I ran out the store tonight to grab a few items for breakfast. We’re hoping to visit the famous Charles Bridge tomorrow morning, and we like to have breakfast together at our apartment. As I was waiting for the elevator I stared down the stairwell in this building to what is a beautiful, movie-like scene. I’m sure the locals could care less about a stairwell, but we just don’t see many things like this in the States. Here’s the photo I got

Exploring Praha (6/11/15)

Tomorrow is our last full day with Papa and Nana which is sad. We’ve had a great time with them and are so glad they could be hear to meet Karis and help us. They are so generous and so gracious to come all this way to be with us and it’s been fun to continue to see our kids’ relationship with them grow and grow. Just tonight as I was praying with Titus and Avery before bed Titus said, “Dad, after you pray can you ask Papa to come give me a hug?” Papa, of course, went in there afterwards, hugged the kids, and came out a little teary eyed. It was special. These are sweet times and that was a sweet moment. Let’s just hope for a few more of those tomorrow.

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365 Czech Republic

Then We Went to Prague

We’ve lost our minds. At least that’s the only explanation I can give for what we’ve done in the past week and a half. First, Bethany delivered Karis in a Czech hospital, we stayed in the hospital for 72 hours, we went to Krakow, we went to Auschwitz, and now I’m sitting in an apartment in Prague with our family plus Papa and Nana! We came here by train today (4 hour ride), walked to our apartment from the station, met our friends Zach and Kara for dinner, and as I write I can overlook the same square where communism fell in this country back in 1989.

The We Went to Prague (6/10/15)

Above is a photo of Karis riding the train and in the background you can see Avery and Titus asleep on their seats (actually, Bethany is also asleep in her chair but she’s off camera). Before anyone judges me for taking two young children, an infant, and a mommy who just gave birth to another European city, I can honestly say that a lot of this is because Bethany was totally up for it. Her parents will leave from Prague on Saturday and they too wanted to visit this beautiful city so we figured out a way to do it all before they leave. We’ll be here tomorrow and Friday and then we’ll come back on an early morning train on Saturday when we say goodbye to Papa and Nana as they head home to Washington State. I’m hope the next few days will be a joy for us all and a great end to a really incredible time together.

I mentioned we had dinner with Zach and Kara, but we also got to introduce them to Karis. Zach was saying when he saw our announcement that Karis was born that in that moment he realized, “oh man…now they’re outnumbered!” It’s true. I’m definitely still adjusting to a third child and I realized this more on the train ride over. It’s a lot of work to pull together all the stuff we need to spend a few days away as a family. This was always true with just Titus and Avery, but with baby Karis in the mix we’ve added a stroller, car seat, baby bag, and some ridiculous amount of diapers. Thankfully she’s been an incredible little baby thus far.

It’s just past 11pm and I’m pretty tired so we’re going to hit the hay. We’ll see you tomorrow!

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365 Christianity

A Lot of Travel, A Little Sleep

Now I know how Santa feels. We have spent over 10 hours in the sky today (I am writing this on the airplane), and even though the miracle of flight is still amazing, it’s just a long time on an airplane. By the end it’ll be close to 13 hours on a plane, a few hours in airports, and another 3 hours in the car. The kids have done pretty well all things considered (e.g. early morning, a plane change, and basically just sitting in chairs literally all day). However, at one point about halfway through our flight Avery said, “I want to go outside.” Poor kid.

What’s really strange about today is it will be a very long day for us. Flying from Prague to Seattle means we actually gain nine hours of time during travel because of the time zones we cross. So I guess we’re just extending our Christmas Eve to squeeze in more holiday shopping? I’m sure there are a few shoppers out there that would appreciate the extra time more than I will today.

I’m finishing this blog in Yakima where it’s 7pm and I’ve manage to stay awake long enough to finish this. And before I type something weird, I’m going to end this quickly. Here’s a few snapshots I took today (a photo from each country we were in). Hopefully tomorrow’s post will be more inclusive but I am so tired right now I can barely focus my eyes to type this

The Longest Christmas Eve (12/24/14)

This is Titus in Prague early this morning before boarding our plane.

The Longest Christmas Eve (12/24/14)

Here’s us walking through the airport in Holland. Bethany is Dutch so it was like she was back with her people (OK, not really, but that’s what I was saying while we were there)!

The Longest Christmas Eve (12/24/14)

Here’s the snow we saw on the way to Yakima, Washington today. And………. good night!

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365 Christianity

A Trip to Prague

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Oh, you know how it goes. You spend two days packing and making sure everything is ready to go. You stay up late the night before the big trip just to make sure you’ve packed everything. A few things get added to your luggage, you mark off your packing list, and then you zip up your bags and put them by the door for an early departure. Then, you barely make your train. But barely is still making it!

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

The train ride today was a lot of fun and I’m actually really glad we got to experience this trip in this way. It’s 4 hours from our place to Prague, but we had our own little mini room with four seats and plenty of space for our all of our stuff. The trains here are incredible and come complete with free coffee, free juice for the kids, and even free WiFi–not to mention pretty reasonably priced tickets. It’s just really nice to be able to sit and relax on the train and let someone else do the driving.

We are staying tonight in a hotel by the airport and will depart early tomorrow morning. Our Czech friend Martina sat with us on Sunday to explain just where to go and how to get around Prague and we had no trouble figuring it out with her directions. To get to the hotel we took a train, a bus from the main train station, and then a shuttle to the airport. It was a lot of maneuvering of baggage and kids but we made it work.

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

One of the highlights was on the bus from the train station to the airport where we talked with a young college student from Instanbul named Umur. He’s studying mechanical engineering in a town near ours but was traveling back to Turkey to see his family for the holiday. He was a really nice guy and was laughing and smiling with our kids. We talked about Turkish kabobs, which he told us were the real ones, and just chatted about different cultures and language. Near us were some young girls who gave their seats to our kids and they were from Portugal. Since everyone spoke English we had fun chatting and joking. It’s so fun to be around so many different cultures and people from different nations. I truly do praise God for the opportunity to talk and meet these young people today.

We had a simple dinner tonight and are getting prepped to give the kids baths and get a short night of sleep. We’ll be up early tomorrow (around 4:30/5:00am) to get to the airport for our 7am departure. Hopefully we’ll get good sleep and be ready for the big 17+ hours of travel ahead of us!

Here’s a bunch more photos from today.

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

Travel to Prague (12/23/14)

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Christianity Czech Republic

All Packed!

It’s very possible we’ve gone mad over here, but we’ve been packing pretty much all day. I just weighed Bethany’s bag with our trusty bag weighing thing-a-ma-jig and it was 51.3 pounds. That’s 1.3lbs over the limit so we’re moving things around to make it work. Why so heavy you ask? Well, we’re trying to take things back with us that we just don’t need over here or want to leave in the States. For instance, we have a 2.3lb bag full of American coins and we’re taking it back (I think it may have been from the kids’ piggy bank?). We have old VHS movies, a hair dryer that doesn’t work on European power, and a few gifts to take back as well. All that to say, we’ve got big, full suitcases that we’ll be hauling around the globe here in the next couple days.

All Packed! (12/21/14)

Basically, our plan is to have 4 large suitcases since we are allowed 1 bag per seat at no extra charge. On our way to the States we’re hoping to only take 3 and pick up another suitcase for our return. With Christmas presents and other things, we’ll probably have a lot more stuff coming back to Czech so we’re trying to plan well on this end. In the photo above the kids thought it was hilarious to put pillows and lay in our in one of our large suitcases. In the photo below, Bethany has laid out all the kids clothes to make sure we have it squared away. Since we’ll be at church 3 times and also attending Bethany’s brothers wedding, it’s actually a lot to think through for all of us. I realize a lot of people take big trips like this, but we’re just trying to be prepared.

All Packed! (12/21/14)

All the travel will be a lot on our family, but that doesn’t bother me nearly as much as jet lag. Since we just came over here in June, we’re definitely familiar with the toll jet lag can have on the body. It’s a weird feeling trying to eat a meal at a certain time when your body thinks it should be sleeping. Lord willing, it won’t be too bad, but we are prepared for some interesting days in the coming week. Jet lag or not, we are definitely excited about visiting family and being able to attend Bethany’s brother’s wedding. That’s worth all the packing, jet lag, and travel any day!

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365 Czech Republic

Prepping for the States and an Early Christmas

It’s a big deal to fly to the States with two little kids and four large suitcases from Central Europe. Today I took the kids with me to try and secure train tickets for the first leg of our trip which will take us four hours to get to Prague on Tuesday morning. There’s not a ton of room on the train so I was hoping to get seats where we can fit all of our luggage. We’re trying to bring empty suitcases so we can bring stuff back with us. I did end up getting tickets and we’ll see just how the luggage is going to fit. After the train ride we’ll grab a bus to a hotel near the airport. On Christmas Eve our flight leaves early, but Lord willing it will all go smoothly.

An Early Christmas (12/19/14)

Tonight Bethany spent time wrapping up some of the gifts we have for the kids so we can do our own little Christmas morning tomorrow. Since we’ll be traveling, we thought it would be fun to do something at our own place here in Czech. As you can see from the photo above, the kids are doing just fine this Christmas. We’ve been picking up little things here and there and we got a few things in Krakow this past week as well. Bethany made cinnamon rolls tonight, so that will be a little treat in the morning as well. They will definitely be surprised and it’ll be a lot of fun.

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365 Czech Republic

Driving East and Foreign Police

Today was our first full day in Czech. Last night we planned to stay in a hotel near the airport because of our late arrival time. It was a great hotel, but unfortunately we didn’t do a lot of sleeping there. As a family we stayed up until around 2am because of our jet lag, but that didn’t last long and we all woke up around 5:30am. Since we were up we decided to make it to the hotel breakfast which started at 6:30 and then we went outside to jump in the rain puddles.

IMG_2196

IMG_2219Our good friend Kara (also a missionary in Czech) came to Prague and picked us up in a borrowed van. We packed that thing to the ceiling with all of our stuff and started heading eastward toward Český Těšín (pronounced Chesky Tesheen) where we’ll be living. We had to make it to the “Foreign Police” by 5pm in order to register ourselves in the country so we can begin our visa application process. Honestly, I was really tired while we were there, so thankfully Kara helped us and spoke Czech to the officer and got our paperwork squared away. I believe we have everything in place to get our application for visas rolling.

2014-06-25 16.10.36

Finally, around 5:30pm we made it to where we’ll be staying for a few weeks. Another missionary (her name is Rachael) is graciously loaning us her flat in Český Těšín while she is away because are waiting for our container to arrive in the country in the next few weeks. We have great accommodations here and it’s fun to see the little town that will also be our home. Bethany and Kara went to the grocery store tonight to get some food for us and the brought home some kind of flat bread gyro sandwich thing that was really yummy for dinner.

2014-06-25 17.21.50

No we’re super tired…I mean, really tired. Bethany is laying on the couch and we’re hoping to put the kids down for bed and see how long they and we will sleep tonight. Thank you for your continued prayers for us during this first week of transition. It was a really great day to catch up with Kara and just enjoy the Czech countryside while we drove. Please pray for the coming days as we will be more on our own and continue to explore this new place.

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365 Christianity Czech Republic Family

This Is The First

We’re here. It’s ten minutes to 1 AM local time here in Czech Republic, our plane landed around 10:30pm and…we’re here. We have spent the last 16 hours traveling from Los Angeles, dragged about 12 pieces of luggage from the Prague airport to the hotel across the street…we’re here. We just had a literal midnight snack, and the kids are awake watching a movie on Bethany’s laptop, but we’re here.

Maybe it’s the jet lag, but in many ways it doesn’t feel real. I know I am sitting here many miles from all I’ve known as home, but we’re here. God has moved and used many incredible Christians to come alongside us to pray for us and to financially support us and now everything we’ve been praying for begins. I know every day won’t be like the first day, but there many new things to experience and to engage in. There are still a lot of “firsts” left to experience–that’s why I plan to write it all down.

This is the first. This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing journal of what transitioning life to a new country and culture looks like. Lord willing, it will be daily. My hope is that for a year I can maintain some thought, long or short, from our days in Czech Republic. I hope it will be a testament to the Lord’s grace in our lives, what He is doing, how He is working, and just how our lives are being transformed into the likeness of Christ.

So to start things off I want to simply show you a few photos from today. Here’s how our first day traveling to Czech played out, in just a few photos (captions below each):

Driving to LAX

Here we are on our way to LAX. Our friend John was kind enough to drive. Thanks John!

At LAX with the family

Here we are outside of the international terminal at LAX. I truly rejoice that both of my kids are looking and attempting to smile for this!

Titus stared a huge wall

Titus stared at a huge digital wall of awesomeness.

We flew to Heathrow

We flew to London!
Our plane to Czech

And this plane flew us to Czech!

The kids slept a lot

These kids slept a lot…thank you for praying!

All our stuff arrived!

Every single bag arrived. I accidentally carried the wrong car seat from the airplane all the way to baggage claim, but I was happy to hand it off to another young family. Unfortunately for them, two of their bags were still missing…

Praha

Finally a photo of the Prague (Praha) airport from our hotel. Ok, now time for bed!

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Christianity Personal Shaycam.com

Eastern Europe and the Gospel

Cathedral of St. Vitus
Cathedral of St. Vitus. © 2011 Shay Thomason.

I had the privilege of traveling with my wife last week to Eastern Europe, specifically Czech Republic. It was my first time “overseas”, and Bethany had traveled some in Europe when she got out of high school. Our son stayed home as we thought the travel and time difference would be a bit too much. We missed him greatly, but it was the right move.

The majority of our trip was spent in a town called Malevonice in Czech. Apparently it doesn’t have any meaning in English, so don’t bother trying to figure it out–it’s just a name. It’s a beautiful place and it reminded me a lot Kentucky, mainly because of all the green. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Mostly sunny and in the mid seventies (Fahrenheit), you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect time to visit. Even when the clouds rolled in on Friday morning (shown below), it cleared out by noon and we spent the late afternoon playing football, aka soccer.

Hotel Bezruč
Outside of Hotel Bezruč. ©2011 Shay Thomason.

You might be wondering what were doing over 6,000 miles from home. We were visiting a missions organization called Josiah Venture. They serve over 11 countries in Eastern Europe and focus on doing youth ministry. Many of our friends have served alongside JV doing summer camps and music tours, so we really wanted to see what they were all about. Our church helped us financially to make the trip over and it was a blessing for Bethany and I to get a better understanding of the work JV is doing. We met some incredible people, ate really good food, and enjoyed attending the JV “Spring Conference” which is for all the missionaries that work with JV across Eastern Europe. All in all there were a total of 207 people attending the conference and it was fun to hear the stories of what God is doing in all of their countries.

Story after story from places like Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland, Latvia, Albania, etc. shared of great faith and sometimes great hardship for the sake of the Gospel. It really opened my eyes to the global work or God of which I had never really experienced before first hand. These evangelists are doing pioneer missionary work in most of these countries, and some of the work is slow and difficult. I tried to think of the hardest ministry challenge I’ve had in the past year and it probably has something to do with who’s getting the donuts and setting up coffee this week…something meaningless. I wish you could hear the story of God’s work in Slovenia the way I heard it this week, from a teary-eyed missionary as he talked of thousands of people getting to hear the Gospel for the first time at an evangelistic outreach event, and the 10+ years of tireless work they have put in to that country with very little fruit. Or the story of the youth rock choir that was started in a small church in Czech, of which 120 unsaved young people came to be a part of it on the first week it met. There were so many students, and the church was so small (about 20 people in the whole church), that they were asking some to leave because the church couldn’t handle the growth.

Jan Hus Memorial
Jan Hus Memorial. © 2011 Shay Thomason

Bethany and I both felt that just being with these missionaries convicted our hearts of areas in our lives that Christ needs to sanctify, specifically what am I doing with the Truth entrusted to me? It’s one thing to be around good theology (which we are here at home), it’s another thing altogether to apply that theology in practical ways (which I am convicted about) and have the faith to see God work. God is doing a work in my heart right now of which I don’t fully know the ramifications. I can say that no matter what it is, it’s purpose will be to bring God the glory only He deserves. My eyes were opened a little more last week to a world that not only needs to Gospel, but is ready to hear it.

One final story happened after we left to come home. The director of JV, Dave Patty, sent an email to all the conference attendees about something that happened on the train while they were traveling that weekend. Just so you know who he’s talking about, Dr. Erwin Lutzer was the main speaker at the conference and Scott Willis was a special guest. Here’s the account from that email:

On Sunday afternoon Connie and I boarded a train for a quick visit to Prague with Luzters and Willises. Finding their seats, Dr Lutzer and Scott Willis sat down across from two young women who were listening to music on their I-pods. Dr Luzter introduced himself to the gal across from him, found her name was Jana, and asked where she was from. When she said “Moravia”, he replied, “Oh, I’ve just been learning about a group of Moravians who took the Gospel of Jesus Christ all over the world.”

“What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?” she asked.

You can imagine how Luzter enjoyed a question like that! For the next hour and a half he shared that gospel with her. At one point she told how she had fallen off a dock last year onto some rocks, injuring her head, and almost dying. She was in a coma for 12 hours, and experienced leaving her body and looking at herself from across the room.

“I don’t know why I am still alive,” she said.

“Because you are not ready to die”, Lutzer answered. When he asked her if she wanted to pray to receive Christ, she said that she had never prayed before, and asked him to lead her. They did that, right in the train. You could see the change immediately – afterwards she was beaming!

When we all said goodbye to our new sister Jana at the Prague train station she said to Luzter. “Just keep going the same direction. And on behalf of all the people in the world I thank you.”

I have her E-mail contact now and will be working to get her plugged into a fellowship in Prague.

Praise God!!!