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Vienna Vacation 1

We've been in Vienna for 2 days now on our family vacation at a place we've come to several times in the past, the International Teams Hospitality House. We're taking a very casual, relaxed vacation this year with some swimming at local pools and lakes, excursions to downtown Vienna (Starbucks and Subway-we're real tourists!), and a few visits to historical sites like Schonbrunn palace.

Last night we had a great time when we went as a family downtown. Vienna is the sight of the semifinals and finals of Eurocup 2008, the European soccer championship. Last night Germany played Turkey, and we sat near a huge Jumbo Screen showing the game and pre-game festivities. There were thousands of Turks walking around painted red and wearing the countries colors (picture Muslim women wearing Turkish flag head scarves!).  Andrea and I sat and talked while Zachary, Nathan and Grace rollerbladed in front of the Austrian National Library.

The only bummer until this point is that Nicholas was stung by a bee on the bottom of his foot, and has had an allergic reaction. He stayed home last night when we went downtown, which for a beaver-type kid like him was actually pretty enjoyable. All the time he wanted on-line and to read all by himself. Not a bad night!

We'll keep you posted as the week goes on.

Hillsong/Matt Redman Concert in Vsetin

Last night the majority of our church in Frydlant attended the concert in Vsetin put on by Hillsong-London and Matt Redman. Andrea was able to attend a seminar lead by Matt Redman and the leader of Hillsong's worship team before-hand. She has been ministered to by the music of Matt Redman for several years, so was delighted to discover that he is a down-to-earth, godly man who spoke wise words to a room full of pastors and worship leaders. 

There were over 4,000 people in attendance, and it felt like we knew hundreds of them-one of our fellow missionaries said it felt like a big family re-union! The concert was an incredible experience for us as a family. We loved the music and the way that the musicians lead us into the presence of the Lord, and just plain had a good time dancing and signing to a lot of songs we love. 

Another personal highlight for me was watching the entire event be lead by Petr Hust, a former Staz student and leader. You might have met Petr when he and I traveled through Chicago on our way to Minnesota few years ago. He did a masterful job of mobilizing volunteers and giving direction to the entire event. I was so proud of him! 

 

Staz graduation

Last night we graduated our tenth class in the Josiah Venture Internship program in Czech (Staz). It was a sweet and satisfying evening for me to observe and participate in. I chatted with various pastors and parents that were there, but the program was planned and run by our Czech Staz team. I was able just to watch them love the students that God had entrusted them with one last time. I marveled at how well they functioned as a team as each member served within their giftedness. I was also touched by how loving the students were back to their leaders. God truly did a great work this year. I also got really excited talking with various students afterwards about the doors that God is opening up for them both in ministry and through various jobs. God is sending them out to strategic places! We continue to get a sense that God is doing a great work in this country, and we can't wait to see the fruit that He is going to be forth in the years to come through these students. Thank you for praying for the movement of God among young people in the Czech Republic. I was able to see the answers to your prayers last night! 

JV Spring Conference/ Kid's Play

During our Internet problems last month we attended the Josiah Venture's Spring Bible conference. We had a wonderful time re-connecting with our bigger JV family and hearing some good Bible teaching. The highlight of the conference, however, was the play that the kids put on during the final session. We were blessed by 3 members of Christian Youth Theater (CYT) that came over and worked with all of the kids to put together a play on the life and teachings of Jesus in a modern setting. We've put a link here to our account on Youtube so that you can see some of the clips from the play. Keep in mind that the kids learned all of their songs and lines in 3 days!

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If you want to see more videos from the play just paste this address into your web browser to to to our account at Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KennethP300

Pizza Injury

This post is dedicated to those who are fortunate enough to be the parent of a junior high boy (or those who have chosen to remember those days of family life).   We have a tradition of making homemade pizzas, watching a movie, popping popcorn from the states, and drinking Coke every Saturday night.  It's a highlight of the week for our family.  Everyone loves this tradition.

Enter the junior high portion of our post:  Nicholas eats a traditional pepperoni pizza (an entire one himself most weeks) and runs into the kitchen as I am taking his pizza out of the oven.  He grabs a slice off the pan before I've even finished cutting the entire pizza into slices.  He then proceeds to gulp down the first piece with his mouth hanging wide open, gulping & slurping for cool air around the scalding piece of pizza in his mouth.  Grunts & hand gestures optional at this point in the drama.

This week he can't wait till his pizza is cooked so he takes a piece from Grace's portion of a pizza and pops it into his mouth while it is still bubbling from the oven.  A piece of cheese drips onto his chin, flavored with a touch of my homemade pizza sauce...and burns him.  Burns him bad enough to leave a scab this morning.  

This give us fuel for an entire day of pizza injury teasing.  What a treasure of junior high boy bashing fun!  He's pretty proud of his "wound" and even smiled for the photo (quite an unlikely occurrance).  They say a picture is worth 1000 words - so enjoy (and laugh at us if you're kids are grown!)

       

Andrea's cello

We wanted you to get a chance to hear Andrea's cello played by her teacher, Pani Klimankova. She is a great teacher, and you can also tell she's also a great cellist. Maybe someday Andrea will sound like this!

Go to this link on YouTube:

http://youtube.com/user/KennethP300

Enjoy!

Brad and Lucie Kaspar's last weekend

Last weekend I (Ken) had the privilege of attending Brad and Lucie Kaspar's final Sunday service at Lucie's home church in Frydek Mistek. You may remember that I officiated their wedding on Valentine's day of this year. They sense God opening the door for them to move to another town about an hour south of us called Vsetin. There is a new church staring up there that is using soccer to reach young people among a lot of other great ministeries. They will become members of that church and help out in any way they can in that region. 

It was fun for me to be there for a few reasons. One, Brad and I grew up in the same home church, so I felt like a representative of Elim Church in Chicago in some way. I also was there as one of the leaders of the Josiah Venture in the Czech Republic. It was fun to see how the people of this church love Lucie. As I heard them talk about using sports in the region around Vsetin, I couldn't help but think that maybe God could use Brad's experience in Vsetin to someday help the church they're leaving to start a sport's ministry. That would truly be a work of God!

The final thing that was fun for me was to hear Brad address the church in the Czech language. He hasn't been here all that long, and he did a fabulous job. Way to go, Brad!

Gas Prices

I read a great article on Time.com today about the escalating gas prices in Europe.  I know they're near the $4.00 mark in the states (depending on your state taxes) but a $4 gas day would create a mass rush to the pumps for the half price sale in my part of the world!

Time gave the following quote: Across the European Union the average price of a gallon of  gas runs to approximately $8.70 per gallon, double what it is costing at most American pumps.

I just figured out our gas as of today (Thursday, May 29th) and it is $8.54 per gallon - a little below average.  Thank God for small blessings!

The entire article is great.  Click on and read it if you have time:

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1809900,00.html

On car related news:  we had to have both cars in the shop this month and the bills are over $1000 USD.  Ouch!  Between the gas pump and the repair shop we may not have $6 USD to pay for our gallon of milk.

Internet Problems

We've had a month of internet problems.  Seems our old router was old & faulty so we needed a new one.  Got a new one up and running.  Then a month of internet problems.  Isn't this the 21st century?  No internet for a month?!

Seems our new router needed to be taken in to the shop to be "reconfigured" and our outside dish that receives our internet signal had some "manufacture malfunctions" that seem to be going around this part of our country with this type of dish...

Tons of frustration.  Lots of phone calls.  Several techinicians.  More frustration.  More technicians.  And it is back on!  We've come back to the 21st century.  We're reconnected to the virtual world! 

Keep checking back as it will take us a little time to get our blog updated on all the great things that have happened during our internet blackout.  We'll keep posts & new photos coming.  Good to be in touch with you again.    

World Malaria Day

We as a family got involved in Compassion Internationals project "Bite Back" which is an innovative program across multiple countries in the fight against Malaria. For $10.00 you can help provide a family in need with a mosquito net and training on how to use it. We got our kids involved and bought one for each of them. As we read more about this disease as a family we were all moved by the fact that 3000 children die each day from the effects of malaria. We feel so incredibly blessed by God, and desire to get involved in the work of His people throughout the world among the poor.

We recommend you watch the video for this project of Compassion at:
Bite back web sight

You can also read Nathan's comments on his blog as well. He'll motivate you to donate!
Nothing but Nathan

God bless,

Ken