The Weather Outside is Frightful...

...But God's love is so delightful!

Please join us in rejoicing and praising God for his answers to many of our prayers over the last month(s). We have seen him move in many ways, but possibly the most exciting way we've seen him move this month was Wednesday evening, January 26. While being tucked into bed, Allie shared with Clem and I that she felt Jesus telling her it was time to let him come into her heart, and that she was ready to be saved. PRAISE THE LORD!

More answers to prayer:

Clem's health continues to improve. And he is much more mindful of getting extra rest when needed.

God provided me with a Believing language partner before I had the chance to begin a serious search. The Sunday after posting our last blog update, Livia approached me after service and asked if I would like to meet her for coffee the following Friday afternoon. We met and talked for two hours in

Czech. My head has never been so tired! She then asked if I would like to meet with her every other Friday. What a blessing! She does speak English, she actually teaches English in a Czech school, but requires me to use as much Czech as I can with her. This is just the type of language partner I need!

Clem met a man at the kids' basketball practice last Saturday who is here with a large American company. They hit it off and Clem enjoyed getting to talk about his previous work/management experiences at GM with someone who is in a similar "world". He is looking forward to getting to know this man better. This may just be the type of relationship Clem needs to form in order to begin a ministry among businessmen in Prague.

The ladies in the Bible study I'm attending on Thursday mornings has been praying about how to reach out to non-believing moms at the international school our children attend and bring them into our Bible study. God has been laying Eva, Oskar's mom, on my heart and I have invited her to attend. She told me she is too busy and works from home. After praying with the group again this last Thursday, we discovered that Eva has also been on Lenka's mind and Lenka has been reaching out to her as well and has invited her. After this 2nd invite, Eva shared with Lenka that she has never done anything like this (a Bible study group) before and has no experience. I have asked Eva over for tea next week and am hopeful I'll have an opportunity to talk more with her. Also, we are beginning a new study in a couple of weeks, and I have been asked to lead a study of the book "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World".

We feel so blessed to see God working through our joint prayers. It is very exciting and so encouraging to see God answering our prayers!

So What's new?

Hunter and Oskar are continuing to build their friendship, and Hunter is now wanting to ask another boy from his class over to play...I really could have included this in the "answers to prayer" as well! : ) I have already talked to Alex's mom about having him over to play. She is very sweet and open to the boys' forming a closer friendship. Alex and Hunter are the two science "gurus" in their class and are often told that they need to allow the other kids to answer questions as well : ). Alex's family is from Poland, and like Oskar's, they are also non-believers. Please continue to pray for friendships to grow between these boys as well as with Clem and I and their parents as well. God just keeps laying the lost on our doorstep. Please pray that we don't waste any opportunity to share His love with them!

Hunter and Allie began playing Upward Basketball this month and will spend their Saturdays through the middle of March playing basketball. In between practices and games they're getting in lots of play time with other kids their age. We are spending 4-5 hours each Saturday at the gym, but we're all enjoying the time to socialize and hang-out with friends.

I have another new student in my Wed night ESL class. Sarka, my newest student is now bringing her teenage daughter, Carolina. I now have three teenage girls, their mothers, and five other ladies, totaling 10 in all. I can't believe how our class has grown! We are having so much fun together each week. And Romana announced two weeks ago that she and her husband, Martin, are expecting their first baby! My colleague that I helped start this class with, has been in the States since last May. She will be returning in February and we are hopeful that we'll be able to begin a Bible discussion group with these ladies as well. Please be in prayer about this possibility and ask God to open their hearts, give them an interest to read and learn more about the Bible, and to guide Susie and I as we seek the best way to begin this new ministry this year.

Saturday evening Clem and I got to spend a fun night out celebrating Marcel's 30th birthday. Marcel and his wife Lenka are pictured in a previous post (I think October) from a hike we took with them. They are friends of ours from church. We were honored to be invited to this special event! His wife planned a surprise party for him at a bowling alley...complete with a feast of a large Ham, fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses and a birthday cake...in a bowling alley...who knew?! Most of those in attendance had never bowled before, and thought Clem and I were excellent bowlers with scores in the 90 range...who am I to tell them any different?! : D

We leave tomorrow evening to go skiing in Slovakia with Martin and Stepanka. They are also friends from church, and Stepanka helps lead one of the summer English camps we attend. We have recently discovered that Martin is not a Believer. He has really taken to Clem, and Clem has gone out of his way to reach out to Martin. We are very hopeful that Clem will have many opportunities to share and minister to Martin. Please be in prayer for our time with Martin and Stepanka this weekend and for opportunities to arise for Martin to see "something" (Christ) in Clem and our family that he desires to have as well.

We have been invited to spend next weekend at Tereza's cottage skiing. She invited us to her husband's cottage last Spring. These are rare and special opportunities and are very hopeful that God will use our weekend with them to bring them one step closer to Him. Czechs will typically only open up their weekend cottages to their closest of friends. We feel incredibly blessed and are honored that Tereza is letting us into this part of her world. Also be in prayer for my girly nature...We will need to park the car 3 km down the hill and walk up in the snow to her cottage, there is no running water, an outhouse, and a nearby stream for washing up...need I say more? Seriously though, we're all looking forward to this opportunity to relax, ski, sled and continue building relationships and our witness with Tereza and her family!

Well, better late than never! We have finally made a video of our time in the Czech school in December sharing the Christmas story with the children. You may view it at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oshOxkh1iPg

As the days speed by, it's easy to miss where God is moving and what he's doing through and around us. But each month, when I write it down on this blog, I'm amazed to see in writing all He's allowed us to be involved with for His glory! No wonder we're always so tired! : ) My prayer for my family as well as yours, is that we will learn to stop long enough to see where God is moving around us and not miss the joys of observing His hand at work. I am continually having to learn to rest at his feet like Mary, rather than working myself to death (and often into a tizzy) like Martha. During the month of February, I will be praying that we all put down our self-given, time-eating tasks and learn to truly rest at His feet more!

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42)

With Love,

Clem, Carrie, Hunter and Allie