Category: 365

A journal of every single day of the first year we lived in Czech Republic (2014-2015)

Bethany’s Retreat and Our First Myci Linka

Post author By Shay
Post date November 15, 2014
1 Comment on Bethany’s Retreat and Our First Myci Linka

Bethany was gone on a youth ministry women’s retreat from about 4pm yesterday until the same time today when she got home. Above is a photo of what she woke up to this morning. Not only is that an incredible view, but the weather again was gorgeous today. I originally thought she was headed in to Poland for the retreat, but found out late last night that they had actually stayed at our sister church’s facility here in Czech, about thirty minutes away. Bethany said the entire event was really well done and she was glad for some time to get to know the girls better. She also said that it gave her a great opportunity to just practice listening to the Czech language because all except for one session was in Czech. Below is a photo of “the fabulous food that we were blessed by,” as Bethany put it.

Back at the home front, the kids and I enjoyed a fun Saturday together. This morning as I was making breakfast for all of us, Avery was playing with the clementines on the kitchen table. First she told me, “Daddy, I made a ‘W'” (top left in the photo below). Of course I snapped a photo because I thought she was clever. To my surprise she quickly took one of the oranges away and said, “Now it’s a square” (top right). Sure, it’s a crooked square, but I’ll take a photo of it too. No sooner had I gone back to making scrambled eggs and Avery said, “Daddy! I made a butterfly!” (bottom left). Nice one. Then she told me, “I can make Mickey mouse, too” and rearranged them in to those classic three circle shape we all know and love (bottom right). She concluded with, “Yeah, I can make shapes and letters and stuff.” Yes, you can, Avery.

Besides making orange shapes, Avery also helped destroy some orange circles and mixed up the scrambled eggs in the bowl. When mommy’s not home I’ll take all the help I can get!

We have been talking for a while about getting the car washed and since I can’t really do it in our driveway (I still need to buy a hose and some buckets), I decided to take the kids through the drive thru wash at a nearby Shell gas station. Another missionary put the thought in my head and I have been wanting to try it out. The kids and I cleaned out the car and went over there as I pulled up I saw this sign.

Uh oh. I was pretty sure that “Myci Linka” means car wash, but other than that I don’t know what any of that says; I better call in reinforcements (I realize we have these in the States, but I haven’t really used many of them so I just wanted to make sure I was doing it right). Our friend Mel helped me navigate the fact that I needed to get out of line, go inside, pick a car wash, pay, get a code, and come back in line with my car and type it in. Through my broken Czech I was able to understand that I was getting the first car wash option and it would be an 8 minute cycle. Whew, OK, here goes nothing.

I was able to watch the guy in front of me with this car and Mel’s directions were great and it all worked out in the end. Above is a photo of the car in front of us finishing up before we headed in. Sadly, I didn’t get a photo of the end result, but the car looks great and now I know how to do that if I ever need to in the future. Our first car wash in Czech…I’m so proud.

Tags car wash, first things first, retreat

365 Czech Republic

Foggy Day and Bethany Gone at a Retreat

Post author By Shay
Post date November 14, 2014
1 Comment on Foggy Day and Bethany Gone at a Retreat

“I can’t go to school; it’s so foggy.” These were the first words I heard this morning as Titus woke Bethany and I up. I looked out the window and he was half right, it was really foggy, but that wasn’t going to keep him from going to school.

The fog had lifted a little by the time we walked to his school (photo above), but for the most part the day stayed foggy. I try to check the forecast on a regular basis to see what’s upcoming but I never saw fog in the forecast. Honestly though, we can’t complain. Lately we’ve been hearing from family in the States that it’s warmer here than most of the U.S. Last night I saw a map of America that showed the majority of it in blue (e.g. cold), with a lot of states showing highs in the 20s and 30s. This is like 15 degrees cooler than us so we’re very surprised. We’ve been hunkering down and expecting severe weather, but so far it’s mid November and I don’t even think it’s been below freezing the entire month.

No matter what the weather, Avery’s looking fashionable.

This evening Bethany left with our friend Rachael and headed in to Poland for a youth women’s retreat with the girls from our church. She was originally asked to speak, but with all of us being sick (yes, Avery and me are still hacking) she opted out this time around. Even though she’s not sharing, she was excited to be a part of it and hopefully grow some relationships with the young women in the youth ministry. I sincerely hope it goes well and that God uses that time to grow relationships and build a strong community among the young women.

With Bethany out this does present me with twenty four hours of Titus, Avery, and Daddy time. Tonight that meant taking the kids to McDonald’s for dinner. Is McDonald’s twenty minutes away by car? Yes. Would it have been possible for me to make dinner for them at home? Maybe. Did I want to kill time and make it easy on myself? Absolutely. But hey, you have to at least give me a little credit. We did bath time when we got home, jammies were put on, and Bible reading time went off without a hitch. Not a bad night! Now my only concern is if McDonald’s here is open for breakfast?

Tags fog, retreat, youth ministry

365 Christianity Czech Republic Videos

A Love Story

One of the great joys of working with Josiah Venture is being part of seeing lives changed, especially among the youth of Central and Eastern Europe. The above video was created for our annual conference back in September and it’s one that has always stuck out to me from the first time I saw it. This girl is from Slovenia, a spiritually dark country, and her short testimony is one that’s full of life and joy. I find myself often quoting this video because there’s a line where she says, “I love love stories” that has always stuck out to me. More than anything it’s the heart of a teenage girl putting the pieces together in her mind of God’s love for her. She sees it as a love story and that’s exactly what it is.

I just reading about love last night in John 17. At the end of Jesus’ high priestly prayer he talks about it. Here’s that last part of the chapter and Jesus’ prayer,

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

I’ve bolded the word “love” for emphasis. Verse 23 is so clear: God the Father loves Christians the way He loves Christ. I say Christians because it’s clear from verse 20 that this is about “those who will believe in me…” That’s the context and those are the people of whom Jesus is praying. One of the most famous passages in the Bible says the same thing. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” There’s no doubt about it–it’s a love story.

Mostly tonight I’m just thankful to be part of that love story. Not only did God show His love toward me by saving me, but He continues to pour out his love of many all over the world. Like the young girl from Slovenia, Christ continues to transform lives and change hearts in a way only He can do. It’s that great love that compels me forward daily and gives hope for the future.

Tags fear, God, love, testimony, video

365 Czech Republic

Restarting Formal Language Lessons

Post author By Shay
Post date November 12, 2014
2 Comments on Restarting Formal Language Lessons

We’ve been trying for quite some time now to secure a new language teacher that could help give us formal Czech training. This has been a little bit of a challenge because it seems like there just aren’t that many Czech instructors near us. You can find a lot of people who teach English, but not that many for Czech. Today, however, we were back in the saddle and reengaging in formal instruction with our new teacher Tamara. She teaches Titus’ Sunday school class at church and teaches Czech to at least two other missionaries. It was a great time today and our two hours together was a blessing for sure. We worked a little bit on some of the basics, some Czech rules, and really focused a lot on our pronunciation. Even though we’re doing more listening than speaking, it’s good to know how something is supposed to be pronounced. Bethany and I are trying to avoid building bad habits in order to make our Czech sound better. Hopefully it will all pay off in the end! Above is a photo of Bethany (left) and Tamara (right) working through one of the lessons and below are just some cards for distinguishing between certain letters and sounds.

We took Avery with us today to lessons since Titus was in school. Here’s a photo (below) of her playing a little table at Tamara’s house. Tamara is also a music teacher so you’ll notice the instruments along the back wall, including the piano clock/bookshelf that she and her husband made! Pretty cool.

We found a box of mini spring rolls at the store today so we went for a pretty Asian dinner tonight. Bethany made rice with chicken and terryaki sauce and we added in the little spring rolls to complete the meal. More and more we’re excited about being able to make things from scratch and just see how it turns out. That being said, I still had to manually type all of the directions for baking the spring rolls in to Google translate to see how long and hot how we were supposed to cook them. How did missionaries survive before Google!?

After dinner Avery rode Titus around the living room like a horse. I got a photo because we were all laughing.

Finally, right before bed the kids decided to do a little coloring. Our refrigerator is packed with these drawings, but hey…they’re only this young for so long.

Tags dinner, kids, language lessons

365 Czech Republic

Duck, Duck, Goose (St. Martin’s Day)

Post author By Shay
Post date November 11, 2014
1 Comment on Duck, Duck, Goose (St. Martin’s Day)

Today is St. Martin’s Day in the Czech Republic. Mostly it’s a European holiday, and in Czech it’s celebrated with a goose or duck meal. I was with some teammates today at a restaurant and everything was duck. I even had what I’ll call duck noodle soup. This particular restaurant even offered a family size goose meal if you ordered in advance. You could say today’s specials were duck, duck, or goose (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Today is also the Czech name day for “Martin.” Every day of the year has a name associated with it in Czech and today is Martin. I can only assume that’s on purpose. Below is a photo of the chalk board sign they had at up at the restaurant today.

As I did a little online research on St. Martin’s Day, I found a few interesting things. One thing actually helped explain something from the other night that I didn’t understand. Remember when we were at Titus’ preschool and we walked around town with lanterns? Well, in most Western European countries, they have been doing this for many years in the days leading up to St. Martin’s Day. According to Wikipedia, in Germany “children walk in processions carrying lanterns, which they made in school, and sing Martin songs. Usually, the walk starts at a church and goes to a public square.” This is almost exactly what Titus did the other night which really helps explain at least the origin of the tradition for me.

The second interesting thing I read was that in Czech, St. Martin’s Day signifies the first half of November when it usually starts to snow. Today that couldn’t be further from the truth. Even as I type at 9:00pm, it’s only 55 degrees out and just a few hours ago I was playing tennis outside in the driveway with the kids at it was 60. There was a lady working in our entry way (she works for our landlord who lives upstairs) and she said to me, “teplo noc” which means “warm night.” I said, “Ano! Moc templo” which means “Yes! Very warm.” Now, you might think 60 degrees isn’t that warm for some parts of the world but for here it’s very nice. When you only have to wear a sweatshirt and not a snow jacket outside, you know it’s nice. I’ll take a teplo noc any day in November.

I was really encouraged today by some Czech language CDs that a teammate gave to my team. I started listening to them in the car today and in an hour’s worth of time (round trip to the JV office and back) I learned a bunch of new phrases. It helps that we’ve been engaged in language already, but I was able to talk a little tonight with our landlord. It’s amazing how even just being to say, “I understand” or “I don’t understand” can keep a conversation going. My landlord and I talked about a light being broken in the garage and what I got out of the conversation is that she wants me to email her. As always, I’ll take the win with that one!

Tags duck, goose, holiday, St. Martin's Day, warm, weather

365 Czech Republic

There’s Lice at Titus’ Preschool

Post author By Shay
Post date November 10, 2014
2 Comments on There’s Lice at Titus’ Preschool

I just scratched my head. Does it itch? I really don’t think so, but now I’m paranoid because apparently there’s lice at Titus’ preschool.

Lice is not something that brings any kind of joy. Just the thought of tiny little bugs running around your head is horrible. I’m sure everyone has their own lice horror story. I remember there was a big lice scare at my public school when I was in kindergarten or first grade and just to be safe my mom shaved my head. My older sisters (twins) got it worse. My mom had to comb through their hair for what seemed like an eternity with some special comb and I don’t recall them enjoying it very much. As a reminder to myself about lice, I just spent a few minutes Googling it and it’s so creepy I couldn’t stare at it anymore. Lice just isn’t nice.

Bethany texted me about it this afternoon after she picked up Titus from school. She said she ran in to our friend who’s son is in Titus’ class and she told her there’s lice there. In fact, she said it happens every spring and autumn. The Czechs use Tea Tree oil as a remedy, but who really knows if that works? Just to be safe Bethany put some on Titus head today and did a comb through. At this point, we haven’t found anything or seen any signs of lice on our kids, but I really hope this doesn’t become a preschool epidemic. I guess head checks will be added to the daily routine now.

In happier news, we got some mail today from the States which is always fun! Our friends sent us a little baby announcement, stickers, and some drawings from their kids to our kids. It was really kind of them and we’re thankful for that little envelope of fun (shown above).

Bethany is out tonight at a women’s Bible study. It’s been a few weeks since she’s been able to attend because we’ve all been sick for so long. Avery cried a lot for her tonight when I put the kids to bed which tells me it’s been a while since mommy has been out at night. That’s okay, though. Mommies need a little time away sometimes.

Tags challenges, lice, mail, preschool

365 Czech Republic

Even Sundays Are in Jesus’ Hands

Post author By Shay
Post date November 9, 2014
1 Comment on Even Sundays Are in Jesus’ Hands

As much as I love Sunday, they have quickly become one of the hardest days of the week for our family. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it just seems like everything about the morning routine on Sunday here in Czech is really difficult. I believe I actually said to Bethany this morning, “Sunday is my least favorite day of the week here.” Mostly that was said in frustration with just trying get out of the house, but I also think it’s just a lot of change and adjustment to living here and doing church here.

That’s probably why I was so encouraged by a blog post that I read today that wasn’t even meant for me. Oh, for sure the Lord knew I needed this reminder, but the author of the article actually wrote it for missionary wives. The title of the post is “He’s Got Missionary Wives in His Hands” and I initially read it thinking I would pass it along to Bethany, but the more I read the more helpful I realized it was for my own soul. The entire article is bathed in Scripture, but her list of “…God’s particular, far-reaching, steadfast love, which he shows to us…” is so helpful, especially on Sundays. Here’s the list in it’s entirety:

Isn’t that helpful? Every item she mentions is something Bethany and I have discussed and tried to work through during this process, especially as we have moved and been here for a few months. I’m so thankful that it’s all in Jesus’ hands. Even Sundays are in Jesus’ hands.

That simple reminder became a really big one tonight as my teammate Daniel called me on the phone. Unbelievably, he was robbed a second time in less than a week (photo above of the car with the window smashed in). The only difference is instead of taking cash like they did on Tuesday, tonight they stole about $5,000 in camera equipment which Daniel uses on our team. In fact, the camera still contained all of the footage Daniel took on Friday night when we were at the EXIT tour event. Daniel and his roommate have been working with the police again tonight to see what they can do, and Lord willing, the stuff will be returned. Either way, it’s another reminder that it’s all in Jesus’ hands.

This evening we went to a friend’s house to celebrate Rachael’s birthday. We had the joy of giving her the “gift of words” where we share about her and the things that we appreciate about her. It’s something the Josiah Venture team regularly and I always find it special. Rachael has been a joy to get to know and our family is thankful for her ministry here! Happy birthday, Rachael.

On our way home from the party tonight I literally got us lost. We live like one mile from where our friend’s house is, but it was really foggy tonight. After turning left on a road I couldn’t see, we ended up crossing the river into Poland. It’s the first time in my life I’ve taken a wrong turn that made me end up in another country–all of which happened with two minutes of leaving the party. This tells you two things: 1) I’m still learning where we live 2) We live literally next to Poland…it’s crazy! Well, it’s a good thing getting lost is in Jesus’ hands because found our way back and finally made it home safely.

Titus gives his thumb of approval on the day.

Tags Jesus, lost, Poland, robbery, Sundays

365 Czech Republic

Little Czech Bakers

It’s about 3:30pm as I write this on a cloudy and rainy day in Cesky Tesin and the sky is already getting dark. According to Google, the sun is setting at 4:12pm here right now. I remember getting off work around 4:30pm in California and the sun being close to setting, but I don’t remember it being quite as dark as it is here. The whole family is back in the bedrooms taking afternoon naps, but I’m a little concerned they’ll just end up sleeping through the night with how dark it is outside.

With all the rain, we’ve been playing inside today. Titus made the word “Zoo” on his own and knew what the word was all on his own. This was a first and we were proud (photo below).

Like most Saturdays, we’ve spent the day cleaning up the house. I feel like we’re always playing catch up right now as we adjust to new schedules and our new life over here. You would think after four or so months here we would have a good routine, but I would say we’re still figuring some of that out. I think that will even have to adjust again this next week because we’re starting (Lord willing!) language lessons again with a new Czech teacher here.

Tonight we had fun making more cookies from the leftover dough we made the other day. On a whim I bought the kids these little hats and aprons for $2 at the store the other day. They were wearing them tonight and they’re starting to look like little Czech bakers. Here’s some photos of the them having fun.

Lastly, I shared last night about being part of EXIT Tour here in Czech and Kevin Dickson, the EXIT Tour director here, wrote a comment saying, “48 Bibles were given out last night with over 40 people saying that they want to know more about Jesus.” Those are incredible numbers and we praise the Lord for his work in the lives of young people over here!

Tags baking, cookies, dark, kids

365 Czech Republic

EXIT Tour

Post author By Shay
Post date November 7, 2014
7 Comments on EXIT Tour

UPDATE: Kevin Dickson, the EXIT Tour director in Czech, wrote a comment saying, “48 bibles were given out last night with over 40 people saying that they want to know more about Jesus.” Those are incredible numbers and we praise the Lord for his work in the lives of young people over here!

It’s late so I’m going to keep it short tonight. I had the privilege of being part of a ministry event tonight that is put on by the local churches called “EXIT Tour.” The Josiah Venture team helps put the event on and it’s an evangelistic outreach event that happens all week in public high schools and culminates on Friday or Saturday night. Throughout the week the EXIT team takes over schools doing music, teaching, ethics training, and just spends time with students. There are after school activities where they continue to build relationships with the students and the churches are involved. At the concerts at the end of the week the students hear the gospel, many of them for the very first time.

That’s exactly what happened tonight and I was there capturing photos and video alongside my teammate Daniel. We’re hoping to tell some of the story of what God has been doing at these events where over 60,000 young people have been able to hear the gospel since the tour began a few years ago. It’s amazing how music is such a universal language that can bring many people together.

Here’s a few photos from tonight, most of them of the band and the concert. A lot of great conversations happen after the concert, including passing out Bibles. If you think of it, please pray for this team and the churches here who will welcome many young people to church this Sunday.

Tags concert, evangelism, EXIT tour, music

365 Czech Republic

From a Bear to a Boom

I shared yesterday that Titus was going to be part of some kind of event tonight that we honestly thought was a play. The directions we were given was that he was to have a mask or costume and have a paper lantern on a stick. Bethany actually ended up making him a lion mask because Titus wanted one and we thought there were two parts or something to the evening. For instance, maybe the kids come in masks and then they change into something else for a formal program. Either way, we weren’t sure.

Bethany commissioned me to go to the store and hunt for a paper lantern and a stick. I don’t know even know where I would find that in the States much less Czech, but we texted some friends here and they pointed us to the store that had it–a paper store in the town square. I found what we needed about thirty minutes before the program was starting, went home, and we all walked over to his school. When we got there everyone from the school was lined up outside and there tons of families still walking there. Below is a photo of a few pumpkins outside the school that were lit up which was a little confusing. Was this a Halloween thing? I also noticed the lights on the school were completely off which the made me seriously wonder if we were ever even going inside. As I looked around I saw kids dressed up as witches, skeletons, and had their faces painted. Are we trick or treating? What is going on? These are the questions that ran through my mind. When I saw Titus’ teacher she was dressed as a witch and had a broom. Oh boy…what have we gotten ourselves in to?!

After seeing some of the other kids outside we realized there was a little misunderstanding about having a light inside the lantern so I ended up running (literally) over to the store and getting a stick with a light for Titus’ lantern. I had seen them on my first visit and knew now what we were actually supposed to buy. We just wanted to make sure that Titus had what the other kids had because remember, we still think he’s going to be a bear in a play. While I was at the store everyone ended up walking around the town with their lanterns, including Bethany and the kids. Bethany took a few photos of their walk (below).

I met back up with the family as they were completing their walk around the park in the center of town. I put Titus’ lantern together with the light. Here’s a photo of him with it.

Mostly we just followed the crowd around which brought us back to the school at the end of the walk. We all walked into the school property and the all teachers were dressed up with bags of candy and wrapped treats. It was dark and very confusing for us so I stayed with Avery by the gate to the school and Bethany took Titus to the teachers with the bags. He got a little wafer bar with chocolate that he shared with all of us. The crowd began to move towards another part of the school yard so we followed behind. Everyone ended up sitting on the picnic tables and benches out in the playground area. Again, it was dark, so we just found a spot towards the back of everyone and just kind of sat there.

After a few minutes the teachers and kids started chanting something that we didn’t understand. This went on for a few minutes. How long will this last? I guess there’s no play tonight? Titus ran over to the slide and was playing because he knew his way around the school yard. He told us he played there all the time. Not 10 seconds after he came back to where we were sitting, we hear BOOM! and suddenly fireworks are going off about 30 feet from us. They were close and loud. The kids quickly covered their ears and Titus started crying and yelling, “I want to go home!” He’s not a huge fan of fireworks. I grabbed Titus and put him in my arms and told him he would be OK and that it would be over soon. Below is a photo of the slide he had just been on before the fireworks started to go off.

The fireworks show lasted about 2-3 minutes. Titus kept insisting we leave, but there really was no way for us get back to the gate with everyone standing around so we basically had to grin and bear it. I just started laughing. This is just not something you would ever see happen in the States: a bunch of preschool and elementary kids with their families standing a few feet from huge fireworks that are literally exploding directly above them…in the playground of the school. Welcome to the Czech Republic.

The fireworks ending signaled the end of the night and also confirmed that there was definitely no play or bear suits tonight. In the end it all turned out OK. Titus cried a little more on our way home, but we assured him, as we often do, that Jesus is always with him when he’s scared. We walked back to our place with some Czech friends from our church who have a son in the same class as Titus. They are a great family and that was actually the highlight of the night being able to spend a few minute with them.

I guess the moral of the story is we’re learning to trust the Lord in new areas. We have no idea what we’re getting ourselves in to sometimes, but we trust the Lord will lead the way as we walk by faith.

Tags fireworks, lights, preschool, Titus