The Holidays and A New Year

A Busy Holiday Season

I was blessed to be able to spend a week with the Ryšánkovi family during the Christmas holiday.  As a said in my last post it was wonderful to be able to spend the time with a family that I have grown to love over the years especially since I was unable to spend the time with my own family.  I also got a chance to see Anička's grandparents in their town and see some beautiful German statues depicting the crucification of Christ. 

This is Anička with her grandfather.  If you can believe it, this guys loves to hang-glide and is hoping to do it once again in a few years when he turns 70.

This however, was not the only Czech family that I got the opportunity to spend some time with over the holidays.  I was invited by Radim to spend some time with his family in the town that he grew up in, Jeseník.  Jeseník is a town in the mountains of the Czech Republic near the border of Poland.  It is a beautiful town where I was able to experience my first Czech snowfall.  Another thing that made this trip really nice was that I got to spend some time with Radim's half-brother, Vojta, who I met four years ago at my first English Camp and haven't seen him for almost three years.  I stayed with he and his family for two days and got to meet he and Radim's father and his mother and younger sister.  His family along with Radim and his wife Mila showed me around the town and I got see some of the beautiful spas that the town is known for along with some wonderful snow-covered views.  I also got a chance to meet Radim's mother for the first time.  She lives in Jeseník as well but I forgot to get a picture of her.  She is a sweet lady.

This is Vojta and his family.  Radim told me that this is an unusual occurrence to have them take a picture together.  I don't know exactly why, but I was happy that my presence could bring them together for this picture.  Radim also explained that he felt as though the Holy Spirit was really working because Radim's other brother, his father's oldest son was willing to get together with his father and they agreed to spend some more time together in the future.  It is amazing what the Lord is able to do even when you aren't expecting anything.  Pray for this family as they are not believers that they might see the Lord working in the lives of Radim and Mila and desire the same thing.

The main spa that the town is know for.  It sits at the top of the hill in Jeseník.

A view of the town of Jeseník from above.

The castle in Jeseník.

Silvestr or New Years Eve

This year I got to spend New Years Eve or Silvestr as it is known here with brothers and sisters from the church.  In years past Petr and Petra had hosted the gathering in their home but with the new building they were able to hold it there.  There was a lot of good food and fireworks which are common to celebrate New Years Eve here.  In fact for the whole month of December you could hear fireworks being shot off in the distance each night.  Here are a few pictures.

Some games together

Some midnight refreshments to bring in the new year.  As a side note, Czechs sing their national anthem to bring in the new year.

Matouš setting off some fireworks with Julian.  Note, no one was burned in the taking of this picture.

A New Member

Over the last month I have been privileged to see two young women from our youth group here become members of the church here in Poruba.  First it was Bára in the beginning of December and then Eliška this afternoon.  Even though I have only been here for about 5 months I still feel a sense of pride when these young ladies profess Christ and commit themselves to the church here in Poruba.

Two thumbs up for church membership.  It is great when young people take their faith seriously.

Going Into the New Year

I pray that you all enjoyed the holiday season back in the states.  Know that I missed all of you but I am happy in knowing that God has me here and that he is using me in ways that I would not have imagined even when I have some time off.  Pray for me as my schedule, like many of yours, goes back to normal tomorrow morning.  I have been fighting some illness the last few days and feel much better but pray that I would continue to move toward 100%.  Pray for the people of the Czech Republic in this coming year that more and more of them would come to Christ and that those who profess Christ would live for Him.  

Also pray in particular for the Trojáčkovi family as they will be welcoming a 6th member to their family in the summer.  Pavel announced it today in church that Daniela is pregnant.  Praise the Lord for this wonderful news and may He watch over this little child as he or she develops.