Hello from Slovakia!

Hello from Hermanovce, Slovakia!

The team of nine (Ed, Brant, Jon H., Paul, Jade, Liz, Amy, Heather, and Bethany) has arrived safely! We had no trouble along the way, and all were able to get some rest at some point. This really helped with jet lag, as it seems the team is handling the 7-hour time change well.

Thank you for your prayer support! We certainly have seen the Lord at work during our trip. From the safe travel to the ministry that has occurred since our arrival, we have many shouts of praise to God for the work He is doing...

Tuesday morning started off with a tour of the church, Camp Opal, Hermanovce (the town where Camp Opal sits), and some nearby woods. It was awesome to see what Camp Opal looks like, as we have discussed the land, resources, and ministry for quite some time back at Timber-lee.

On Tuesday evening Brant had the opportunity to preach the message to one of the nearby churches. In addition, Amy shared her testimony with the people. It was great to jump right in and see the ministry that is already in place.

On Wednesday morning we drove to the nearby town of Hlenne. Two of our translators, Maya and Pierre, are actively involved in leading a children's ministry here. Liz gave a message on David and Goliath. While the kids were working on a craft after the message, each one of us was able to interact with the children. It was so much fun! We learned how to say "How do you say ... ?" in Slovak, and that got many of us engaged with the kids, even though the language barrier can be tough at times. Quicky funny story...So I was grabbing random objects around the room and asking the kids, "How do you say ...?" (whatever I was holding). Eventually we got to working on how to say the numbers 1 through 10 in Slovak. After several tries to say the numbers correctly, one girl finally said in very plain and clear English, "ONE, TWO THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN!" She made me smile.:) The children are very sweet. Afterwards, Jade led some games outside.

This afternoon we had a similar type of program with some young teens. Jon Hill shared a message about trust. We were very thaknful to have twice the number of kids show up than what we were expecting! Ed led some games outside for this session. It was neat to begin building relationships with the teens, as we will have the opportunity to meet with them again later in the trip.

Please keep us in your prayers! We are planning for more ministry with children in the coming days. Please pray that we would have the eyes to see how we can best connect with the kids. Tomorrow the church is hosting several neighborhood kids for the day. If all goes well, we will lead snow games in the afternoon, then go on a hike to a nearby rock face for some climbing. We brought along some climbing gear from Timber-lee and are hoping to put it to good use. If that doesn't work, we'll gather around a campfire to eat s'mores and share testimonies.

Thank you all again for your support! Things are going well, and we are praising God.

Outdoors for Christ!

Bethany (for the team)