February Happenings February 28, 2009

After our trip, we jumped headfirst back into ministry in Kosice and Presov.  The exam schedule here is much different than America.  Basically, students are studying and taking exams in December and January.  They can also retake exams up to three times (I think) if they don’t pass the first time.  Crazy!  Classes finally began around the second week in February.  

To kick off the semester we went to Presov armed with Valentine’s Day lollipops and surveys.  We gave out lollipops to students, which works as a pretty good icebreaker.  There isn’t much you can get for free in Slovakia (sometimes you even have to pay to go to the bathroom!) so standing around on campus handing out free candy comes as a surprise to most students.  We asked students to fill out a short survey on love, asking questions about what love looks like and if anyone is capable of giving perfect, unconditional love.  We had many great opportunities to share the love of Christ with these students who are hungering for this perfect love relationship.

We had another outreach the following week at the medical campus in Kosice.  We threw a palacinky, or pancake party, for students and had a great turnout–about 120 students.  We served the palacinky and had a Slovak student, Peter, share his testimony while students ate.  After the palacinky was gone, some students hung out for a while longer and we played “Move If”–a get to know you game where everyone sits in a circle with one person standing in the middle.  The person in the middle will say, for example, “Move if you have ridden on an airplane,” and everyone who’s been on an airplane will stand up and run to find a new seat.  It’s a fun way to learn more about people!

I’m enjoying meeting one on one with students I’ve met through these two outreaches.  We’ve really seen the Lord working in the lives of students we’ve been meeting to draw them to Himself.  I’m excited to see what the rest of the semester holds!

Next week we’ll begin Talk the Talk (english club) and Bible study in Presov.  Bible study will be mainly geared toward the believers we know (though anyone will be welcome to come)–giving them a place to fellowship with one another each week while learning how to study the Bible and share their faith with others.  Be praying that this will be a time of encouragement and refreshment each week for students, and that it will meet the need we have of cultivating a community of believers here.

I have no pictures from the past two weeks, but here’s a picture of the beautiful country I live in!  This was on the way to our winter conference in December.  And then, a picture of what I’m wishing for.  Color and sun and warm weather!

 

Candy Cane Outreach January 4, 2009

The beginning of December we had a candy cane outreach on the campuses in Kosice and Presov.  A church in America supplied us with 1500 candy canes!  We stapled 1000 candy canes to an article that shares the gospel through the story of the candy cane.  We handed them out to students on their way to and from classes.  We also filled 500 holiday bags with a candy cane, the article, and a gospel tract and did surveys with students while handing them out in the dorms.  We got into some great conversations and have many contacts to follow up next semester.  We also got an incredible answer to prayer.  While handing out candy canes in Presov, Aaron met a Christian guy who wants to help him start a Bible study!  We currently have one Slovak guy involved with the our ministry right now (and 5-6 girls) so we have been praying specifically this semester to find some guys to be potential leaders in the ministry!

Here’s a picture of us assembling the bags…we were covered in them!

halloween party December 7, 2008

We had a halloween party for students a few days before halloween.  We had a great time dressing up and looking ridiculous!

 

Jeremy (I can't really remember what he is) and Dara, who kept us entertained all night.

 

Mario and Luigi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

                          

The states of matter...nerdy, but all we could come up with for free costumes!

 

 

 

Cindy and Mikey as each other

jesenny ulet December 7, 2008

Today I’m attempting to get this blog up-to-date, starting with our fall conference.  We had a great weekend of fellowship, time in the Word, and discussion of what students were learning.  The theme of the weekend was Satisfaction Guaranteed.  Our speaker, an American on staff in Budapest, spoke on satisfaction in relationships, satisfaction as it relates to success, and finally, how satisfaction is ultimately found in relationship with Christ. 

 

The whole team

 

Presov girls...Biba, Zuzka, Miska, Steph, and me

blog neglect… October 19, 2008

Sorry.  October has been a busy, busy month.

Talk the Talk has gone really well the past two weeks.  The night it began (Oct. 7th) fifteen students came!  We talked about culture and values in America versus Slovakia as a big group, then split students into small groups to talk about their own values and how that shapes their lives.  We also talked about how belief in God (or unbelief) affects culture and values.  This was a great topic to begin Talk the Talk on because we quickly got a chance to see the spiritual backgrounds of the students and things that are important to them.  I was able to talk with a  Jewish girl (married to a Muslim, by the way) and (traditional) Catholic girls about my personal relationship with Christ and how that affects what I value.  The Lord is growing my heart and giving me compassion on these students with each conversation I have.  The next night we talked about university life.  There were only three students there, but we were able to sit down and talk more intimately with them, so it was still a good night.  

This week’s meetings have gone really well also.  Tuesday night we had sixteen students…some from the previous week, but many new ones.  We discussed travel, and the students really seemed to enjoy this night.  We had everyone show on the map where they were from and tell one interesting thing about their village.  Then they shared where they would go if they could go anywhere in the world.  New York and California were the most popular answers for travel in the US.  England, Australia and Greece were also some popular places.  Wednesday we had “fun” night, and talked about some things we liked to do for fun.

This week I’m planning on meeting with many of the students I’ve met to spend time with them one on one.  Pray these meetings would go well and that I’d have an opportunity to share the gospel with each student.  Also pray for direction for our team as we decide what to do when Talk the Talk ends this week.  Students began asking Tuesday if this was “really the last week” so we’re considering starting an English Bible study.  It would be open to anyone…and we’re hoping we could specifically target the nonbelievers we’ve met who want to continue to practice their English with us.  Pray the Lord would show us the next steps in continuing our relationship with these students.

In other news, autumn is in full swing.  The weather has been beautiful the past few weeks!   

There are lots of upcoming events.  Our Fall Conference is next weekend.  Pray that many students would make the decision to come this week and that God would use this weekend to grow and challenge believers and draw unbelievers into relationship with Him. 

Then the next weekend, we’re taking a team trip to ROME.  

Then it will be November.  I can hardly believe it.

Here’s a fun picture of the time we spent a few hours filling out papers for our visas.  As of this week, I think I finally have everything I need to live here legally!

Talk the Talk October 6, 2008

This week we are starting an english club called Talk the Talk for students at Presov.  (More about that here.)  We did a lot of promotion last week–hanging up signs, handing out flyers, and chalking the sidewalks–and are praying for 50 students to come to the first meeting tomorrow night.  Please pray with us that we’d have a great turnout and that relationships with these students would begin being built tomorrow night!

weekly update, for lack of a catchy title September 29, 2008

I cannot seem to stay caught up on the blog.  Here’s a little bit about what I’ve been doing the past few weeks.

My team spent the weekend before last in the capital city of Slovakia at a planning/training conference with the CCC team in Bratislava.  It was so good to unite with the team there and hear a little about how their ministry is going.  We talked a lot about discipleship and the importance of building relationships as the starting point of sharing the gospel with Slovak students.  Viktor, on staff in Bratislava, shared his testimony on how he came to be a believer through his relationship with a STINTer several years ago.  One thing he said really hit me:  A lot of times people won’t trust Christ until they trust you.  Sharing the gospel here is really going to take sharing my whole life with students:  not just what I say, what I do.

Students finally started school last week so things really got busy for our team.  I am working at Presov, a university about 45 minutes (by train) from where I live (Kosice).  We continued doing surveys about students’ interests, and for filling out a survey, students were entered to win a free iPod.  We also did Soularium surveys, an awesome new tool for getting into spiritual conversations with students.  It consists of 50 pictures, and students pick pictures to describe their lives, what they wish were true of their lives, what they feel describes God, what they’ve experienced spiritually, and what they wish were true of their spiritual journey.  It is especially effective here in Slovakia, as English speakers trying to communicate with Slovak speakers, as pictures have no language barrier.

Last weekend I enjoyed some much needed downtime.  The next few weeks are going to be crazy.  You can be praying for the English Club starting in Presov on October 7th.  We will be promoting it this week, so pray we’ll be able to meet a lot of people interested in practicing their english, and that all our plans will come together well.  Going through the surveys from Presov, we found lots of students were interested in discussion groups and practicing their english.  We’ll have topics such as culture and values, university life, American and pop culture, art, and food.  While topics aren’t necessarily gospel focused (though we will have some spiritually focused questions during discussion), the purpose of this club is to begin building relationships with students through things they are interested in, to create an avenue for sharing our faith with them.

I’ll end the post with a picture.

This is Dara, Amber, Stephanie, me, and Biba.  Biba and Dara are on staff with Crusade in Slovakia.  They have been a huge help in getting us settled and helping us figure out the city.  I’m so thankful for them!

Whirlwind September 17, 2008

One month.  That’s how long I’ve been gone, though it feels like much longer…in a good way.  I already feel pretty settled and comfortable living in Kosice and finding my way around the city.  Our apartment is great, even greater now that we finally have internet!  I’m so thankful we have a place we love and can relax in!  I’ll post pictures soon.

In an attempt to get the blog up-to-date, I’ll give the short version of the past month.  I spent August 14th to 20th in Copper Mountain, Colorado with other STINTers (short term international) about to be sent out over the whole world.  I think there were 20-25 different nations represented.  It was a great time of encouragement in the Word, learning to adapt to a new culture, and bonding with my team.

We arrived in Kosice on August 21st after 20 something hours of traveling.  We spent the first week getting settled–cleaning and making the apartment “ours”, buying tram/bus passes, grocery shopping, exploring the city, etc.  

Ministry wise we’ve been doing a lot of planning for the upcoming semester.  Our team went to freshman orientations on three campuses last week.  We entered students in a drawing to win a free ipod for filling out a survey of campus activities they’d be interested in participating in.  We got over 100 contacts, which is awesome!

We’ve taken a few day trips to places around Kosice–two weeks ago to Budapest, and yesterday to a little village called Spis Pohradie to see ruins of a castle.  

 

 

Students start school this week so things will really get busy the next few weeks!  I’m excited and ready to begin meeting students!