Monday, July 10, 2006

Main Street Banovce - Afternoon


hi y'all. just wanted to share with you a few things that have been happening around here with me. today at 5:30 i leave for a youth camp. it is for Christians all over slovakia. probably something like s.a.l.t. (for those of you who are involved in chi alpha)...only in the summer...and in slovakia...with camping involved...ok, so nothing like salt:) but i'm excited because treti den' is playing for worship. they're a really good slovak Christian band that i have been listening to since the first year i came here. last friday 10 of us went to a neighboring village to have our friday (young believers') group with some Christians who live there. we had worship and this guy, martin, gave a word and it was powerful. there was a tongue and interpretation and during the last worship song i was thinking about how sometimes i feel bad when people ask me what i'm doing here, like what i do on a daily basis because i feel like i don't have enough to tell them. i'm like "i'm studying slovak and meeting with people and praying for them and helping where i can," but it doesn't feel concrete or like it's enough. so God spoke to me in that moment. He said, "you are doing way more than you realize." and i just cried because it was what i needed to hear. then afterwards martin came up to me and had my friend gretka translate for me, he said "God wants you to know that you are helping Him more than you even know." and i could have hugged him. so neat.
then, last night i had made arrangements to meet with jaro fero (mentioned in previous xa blog). i really wanted to hear his story, so tomas met us and we walked out to the lake and sat and talked. he told me how he came to believe and it was amazing. he has such a good sense of humor and he kept saying that he is so glad God has a sense of humor. i can't tell you how wonderful it was to be with them and just talk about the Lord and His goodness and grace. jaro said he is the type of person who cannot be forced to do anything, so that was one of the things that drew him to God. he asks us to do things, not forces us, you know? his wife was a Christian before he was and it was causing a lot of trouble in their marriage so he set out to prove her wrong with her own beliefs. in other words he set out to read the bible to prove her wrong and in the midst of doing so, got saved. he said one day he was in one room and he was reading through a tract that had an american astronaut (neil armstrong) on the front. i guess maybe he was a Christian or something. anyhow, jaro was skeptical about this tract. then he got a phone call and went into the living room and for no aparent reason picked up the tv remote and clicked on the tv and right on the screen was the exact same picture of the astronaut as the one on the tract. he said he laughed for ten minutes. it's beautiful. he is excited to meet again and study the bible together with tomas and maybe others. and so am i:)

5 comments:

sylvia said...

hooray! what a beautiful couple of stories in this little post. great to read, so encouraging, and gives me more to pray for you about. okay, that was an awkward sentence. anyway, look forward to more stories and, someday, pics, though i am quite honored that you have been using mine. :)

Lance Fisher said...

You know, I think many of us have the same questions. "What am I doing here?" I know I do. I'm like, "I have a family, I work, I'm going to school, and I help out at Chi Alhpa where I can," but you can have such an impact in the plainest things when you care about God and people.

What is so cool about what you are doing is that it isn't just something on the side like it is for me and many others. You have set aside your summer and said, "I'm going to Slovakia where God can use me how he sees fit." That is awesome, and you are the type of person who God will use to do great things.

lafalda said...

thank you friends! that means so much. really. soooo much.

KrystyKay said...

My friend, I don't think you understand that not only are you impacting people in Eastern Europe, but you are also impacting people here... I've never been more inspired to step out in faith and I know others are equally as challenged to do amazing things for Jesus, simply because you decided to live in Slovakia for a few extra months.

Argile Ecossais Wallanklagebank said...

Hey Jess, Been missing you and wanted to see what you were up to. I'm so excited that you are in slovakia. I love languages, cultures, and seeing God's kingdom expand (most of all actually). And then you're there so that makes 4 things i love. (I love you, haha not that you are far away. I guess i'm not very poetic with words. haha lol)When are you coming back? Hopefully we will get to see each other b4 i head out. i get my passport during the first week of aug. and then the second week i go to san fran to get my student visa. and then for week 3 and 4 i think i will be visiting family and then i leave billings on the 29 of aug. for lyon. check out my blog too fi you haven't. Later!!! Love you Lots. I'm Excited for you and what you are doing... that usually means it's a God thing. Later God bless!