A Promise Fulfilled

I gave my word to a friend I would have a new blog written by the end of the day.  This is me fulfilling that promise.

Josiah Venture: I am almost done with the application to be taken on as a full-time Josiah Venture missionary. One big personality/ministry profile test to go.

Josiah Venture 2: I will be going back to the Czech Republic this summer to co-lead an intern team with Tyler Patty.  I am really excited for who God is bringing together and what He has planned for this coming summer.  I am thankful to once again be a laborer sent to fields white for harvest.

Books: I just started Love Wins by Rob Bell at the encouragement of two friends - Matt and Tim.  So, we'll see how that goes.  I'll be sharing my thoughts on this book with all of you from time to time right here.

Prayer Requests: Continued growth and maturity in life and faith.  Preparing for leadership and ministry this summer.  Boldness and courage in speaking the truth in love whether that is confronting sin or foolish decisions or sharing the gospel with friends and strangers.

Sermons: I recently listened to sermons from John Piper on spiritual gifts.  They are fantastic.  Head over to www.desiringgod.org to listen to, watch, read, or download them.  They are "Spirtual Gifts", "Faith: The root and trait of all spiritual gifts", "Using Our Gifts in Proportion to Our Faith Parts 1, 2, and 3".  Enjoy :)  I'll be listening to Matt Chandler's sermons from his series through Habakkuk.  You can listen to or read them here.

Good times: I cut my hair and beard (Thank you, Rachel, for the extra nudging.  Many people are very grateful).  I turned 23: morning and afternoon with my dad, dinners with family and friends, one of them being my first steakhouse dinner with my first steak and red wine pairing.  It was fantastic.  Also, I got to enjoy some red wine and dark chocolate for my birthday with friends as well.

Grace Groups: I'm in a Grace Group going through Book 2.  If you don't know what a Grace Group is, just click here.  Good, tough stuff.

Movies: Recently, I have had the opportunity to enjoy some really good movies.  I humbly recommend "Get Low" with Robert Duvall and Bill Murray, "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" with Michael Cera, "It's Kind of a Funny Story" with Zach Galifinakis, and "RED" with Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman.  Check them out at your leisure.  They are all worth seeing.

Čau!

San Antonio

It is nearly two months since my feet touched down on American soil.  After seven months abroad, I've learned that the soil itself feels the same nearly everywhere; it is the newness of what you have known and experienced before that can be a bit dizzying.

I have enjoyed the "culture shock moments" of being back - a toilet swirl, the American social, conversational murmur, pricier food, driving again, having conversations exclusively in English, and returning to my home church - Wayside Chapel.  I think it looks a bit like being at college, and you have only eaten cafeteria food for a whole semester.  Then you return home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Suddenly it's family and friends and incredible amounts of food all at once, and you love it, but it can be overwhelming at times, especially if you eat too much.

So, good times (Tak, dobrý časy).  It was an incredible time in the Czech, and I miss living there - the friends, the food, the places; and it has been a blessing to be back.

More to come here in the days and weeks ahead.  I am looking forward to blogging once again.

With 26 days to go...

Yesterday I shared about my weekend in Zlín.  Today I want to share about my week in Tabor.

High Schools:
God, in the last two weeks, has opened up two schools for Greg and I to go into.  This means students who need Jesus have been placed at our fingertips (so to speak).  God has given us access to the lives of students of all backgrounds who all need Jesus.

School 1: This school is like the middle/upper-middle class high school comparable to Ronald Reagan High School or Alamo Heights High School (for those that live in San Antonio).  Almost all the students here will go on to universities.

School 2: This school is comparable to Roosevelt High School (again for San Antonions).  It is a technical/vocational school.  Most of these students will not go to university, and the simple truth is there is less money to be had there.

In both schools, the students have equal need of Jesus.  In both schools there is the pain caused by sin.  In both schools there are walls of different shapes and sizes between Jesus and their hearts.  In both schools, I believe, is low-hanging fruit waiting to be picked, a bountiful field ready for the harvest.

I have had two weeks to go in to classes at School 1 and one week to go into classes at School 2.  God has decided these two doors would open up with one month left in the Czech Republic.  God has given me 26 more days in this country for this season.  I hope it is 26 days of preparing the way for these students and teachers to meet Jesus Christ (Mark 1).  26 more days...

Prayer Requests:

• We will be having a sports afternoon for School 2 on Wednesday, November 29.  We are hoping and praying it will be an opportunity to connect with students, especially guys.  "So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us" (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
• For wisdom in pursuing relationships with individual students - where, when, who, how, etc.
• For wisdom and courage in telling them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• For the Thanksgiving youth group night/outreach - for the youth group to be loving and inviting and welcoming and for relationships to begin between Christians and non-Christians, to the glory of God, the sanctification of His children, and the salvation of the lost.

Dekuji moc (Thank you very much)!

P.S. I may be mostly offline this next week.  I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.  May it be a time of rejoicing, praying, and thanking.  In all these God is faithful.  Amen.

A weekend in Zlín

Below you will find the story/account of my weekend in Zlín.  For those that have less time, you will be able to skim through the bolded words or phrases for a quicker read while (I hope) still getting all the main ideas.  Čau!

One final weekend:
I want to thank you for your continued support of the ministry I am a part of here in the Czech Republic.  My final weekend (of this season at least) in Zlín and Olomouc was great.

I got to teach on Friday night, and I talked about God's call on our lives.  God is ultimately unique (Isaiah 64:4), and He imparts this uniqueness to His children (1 Corinthians 2:9-10), and then we split for the guys to read and talk through 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and for the girls to read and talk through Proverbs 31:10-31; both pictures of what a life called by God look like, and we as brothers and sisters are called to exhort and encourage one another toward these pictures of Christ-likeness, with our prayers, our words, and our actions.

The rest of the overnighter was a lot of fun, especially introducing them to P.O.W. (Place, Occupation, Weapon).  I love it because it is an improv game that overcomes language barriers.  We also ate pizza, which is an essential requirement of any youth group overnighter.  We walked around town and closed out the night with a viewing of "Fireproof".

Saturday was full of surprises as plans changed and changed again.  When it was said and done, I got to spend the day in the beautiful city of Olomouc.  David, one of the students at the overnighter, goes to college in Olomouc, and he took the afternoon off to give me a tour of the great sights - walking, pictures, churches, architecture, statues and sculptures, a black and tan and fried chicken and cheese, dorm room coffee, and good conversation - so good.

Back in Zlín for the evening, I went to Samuel's house for the night.  He is the elder who is responsible for the college and youth ministry of the church and the Czech leader I led Zlín camp with.  Staying with him and his family is always a joy.  Full of hospitality and love, the Huštovi family has been a source of great joy and encouragement for me.

The Huštovi family and me.  L-R: Samuel, Eliška, Šarka, Barunka, and me.

Sunday followed with a wonderful farewell in the church as I got to enjoy seeing Filip, a student who became a Christian this summer, share his testimony again, and be given the opportunity to share my testimony.  I was only asked about five minutes before, so I did not have anything planed (for those who may come and visit Czech churches, always have a message/testimony in your back pocket because you really never know when you will be asked to share).  I ended up sharing about the people in my life who impacted me - Mom and Dad, a 65(?) year old Sunday school teacher named Ed, my first and third youth pastors, my first and only college pastor, and roommates (and this is only scratching the surface).  I read Hebrews 10:24 and exhorted them and myself to not put off what we can say to someone today until tomorrow because you never know what God will do with your words and actions.  Like the five loaves and two fish, we do not know how God will multiply our obedience in "spurring one another on to love and good deeds," but we have hope and assurance that He will because our "Father is always working" and "the wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."  We believe that God has done, is doing, and continue to do great things.


I got to thank the church for their hospitality and spend a relaxing afternoon with the Huštovi for lunch and dessert, then I boarded the train to head back home to Tabor.  I was given the opportunity to tell three people about Jesus.  So thank you for your prayers.  God acts because of our prayers (Isaiah 37:21ff. Keyword: "Because").

And that was my weekend in Zlín and Olomouc.

For more pictures from the weekend, please click here.

Prayer Requests:

• I am traveling to Ústí nad Labem tomorrow.  I will be joining the youth groups from Litvinov camp for a weekend retreat.  I am teaching Friday night, and this will be my final weekend (in this season) with these friends.  So, prayers for teaching, relationships, and goodbyes.  "[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
• For a restful week after the Ústí weekend.  I will be traveling to Orlova to visit friends and then is Thanksgiving conference (WooHoo!).
• Next Friday is a Thanksgiving youth group night/outreach for the Tabor youth group.  I will be sharing a short word, and we are hoping to build relationships with some new students who (we are hoping and praying) will be there.

Thank you all.  It is hard to believe I am near the end of this season.  It's been amazing.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 12:1-2

Week 25 of 30 (give or take)

I want to show you all pictures of what has been going on, and then I'll add some text.  Sound good?  I hope so.

More photos from the "Autumn" themed English club (like I promised):

Leading English club.

Greg, Danča, a Matě listening "eagerly" and enjoying čaj.

Eliška a Kačka cherishing a pre-butchered (carved) pumpkin.

My partner in crime, Franta, and I as we decide how best to carve our pumpkin.

Our finished masterpiece.

Bara, Danča, and Greg beginning the Jack-O-Lantern process.

Bara eying up the potential pumpkin spook.

The squash, the myth, the legend...it is Jack-O-Potter (and Greg).

Someone's relationship status on Facebook got updated ;)

Okay, now more a few pics from our first men's group last Sunday night:

So, I didn't get any picture of us guys actually, but here are a couple shots of the aftermath: burgers, roasted pumpkin seeds (which I made for the first time - score!), drinks, and the Word.

Pretty good ingredients for a guy's night.  The key verse was 1 Corinthians 11:7.

So, that's that for pics right now.  Onto the text:

This week has been an explosion of sorts, mainly in regards to new opportunities.  This week doors opened to two different high schools here in Tabor, which is great.  Both of these schools we were trying to get some things started at since September or October, and now, they have finally opened up for Greg and I to come in and teach English, which for us a bridge to meet students initially and begin to pursue relationships and evangelism with them.  I am so thankful God has opened these doors.  This also creates a whole new area of prayer needs:

• Scheduling, pursuing calling and not potential, pursuing fruitfulness and not busy-ness (thanks to Mark Driscoll for that phrasing): Basically, with these new opportunities, there is lots of overlap: Which school do I serve at more?  Do I balance both?  Is one supposed to be my primary focus and the other supplemental?  How do I balance these two new opportunities, new open doors?  Prayer for wisdom as I pursue God's direction is much appreciated.
• Connecting with students: I do want to pursue teaching English with God-honoring excellence.  If the students do not know English better by the end of the class, I have failed.  That being said, for me (us), English is far more a means to an end - that end being meeting with and connecting with students for the sake of Christ and His elect.  Wisdom in knowing how and when to pursue students (collectively and individually) - in and out of school - is something I need intensely.
• Bridging relationships I build to Greg and the Christian students and youth group/church here: I leave soon.  This truth makes it all the more important to be a bridge to those who are staying here and continuing in the labor among God's harvest here.  I do not want students to leave when I leave.  I want students to be connected to God's laborers here when I leave.  So, prayer for this as well is needed.
• "John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
  He must increase, but I must decrease.”
  He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John 3:27-36 ESV).

Finally (for this post), I go to Zlín this weekend to spend time with the youth group there, teach the Bible, and enjoy fellowship with the students and leaders.  This will be my last time seeing these people for this season in the Czech Republic.  Please pray that when I speak to the group it would be a fulfillment of 1 Peter 4:11-12, and that it is a good last time with them, that it is a time we can have and look back on with joy.  I hope for and believe great things for these brothers and sisters, and I am thankful and humbled that God has called me to be a part of their lives and calling and His work in and through them.

Thank you all so much.  I look forward to more.  Čau!
If you want more to pray for, please pray for more laborers to come to Tabor, southern Bohemia, and the Czech Republic as a whole; please pray for people to come to salvation in Jesus Christ; and please pray that the Christians here (including myself) would really go and make disciples and speak boldly with power, love, and a sound-mind/self-control (2 Timothy 1:7ff.).

Dekuji moc!

An evening of autumn

Today was a pretty good today.  I got to help teach in the jr. high this morning, which was followed by a morning search for candles.  Why candles?  We needed them for our jack-o-lanterns tonight.  Yes, tonight was the autumn/fall/late Halloween/taste of Thanksgiving English club.  Well, I got the candles, and then I took another look at a recipe for apple cider I found online.  After using Google's online translator to try and figure some stuff out I went to Billa (the local grocery store) to begin the hunt.  I was able to find everything I needed except for cheesecloth and kitchen string.  The journey toward getting all the items was certainly laughable and humbling - limited Czech + online translations + somewhat confused workers + laughing with Martina Pixova as I talked with her on the phone asking, "What is hřebíček?"  Turns out they were the cloves I was looking for.  Score!

Well, since I could not find the cheesecloth I figured we would just throw all the ingredients in and strain them out or just be careful when serving it to not give someone a few allspice berries or orange rinds in their drink.  However, after talking with Greg and getting into some good ol' American ingenuity, we decided we could make our own tea bags out of coffee filters.  We threw the ingredients in those and stapled them off and into the cider they went for brewing.  And it turned out flippin' awesome! (you may read that in whatever tone of voice best works for you).

After cleaning up, I decided we needed more apple cider.  The tea bags couldn't be out of flavor yet.  So I went out to Billa for the fourth time today and bought two more bottles of cider.  They are brewing away right now.

Greg and Štěpán took a lot of pictures, and I took some also.  Right now, I only have mine on hand.  I put up a link to the other pictures when I get a chance.  Enjoy!

Pumpkins from Tesco for the Jack-O-Lanterns

Everything you need for hot apple cider. 

Post English club mugs.

Our homemade tea bags.

So, that was Thursday.  I have a full day head of me tomorrow: jr. high in the morning, workout after that, lunch with friends, back to the junior high at 2, Czech lesson at 4, and my first graduation ball.  So, prayer for any and all those things is appreciated.  I really desire that I would decrease and Christ would increase as I spend time with others.

Oh, and we saved all the pumpkin guts.  I am thinking of trying out this recipe some time soon.

On the road again

Today, I was on the road again (well, technically its rails because I rode trains).  By now, I will hopefully be in Vsetin, CZ for Multicamp.  I'll doing 3 sessions of 3 hour English lessons for students and hanging out and having a good time.

This means I will likely be offline until this coming Monday.  In the mean time, please pray for my health (I got myself a bad cold), for Christian students to come away knowing and loving Jesus more, and non-Christian students to come away knowing and loving Him for the first time in their lives.  Also, please pray for wisdom as I teach and have conversations and participate in the lives of these students.  May I be an instrument of preparing the path for them and Jesus to meet in significant ways (Mark 1).

A snapshot of my personal life - books I am reading or just finished:

I just finished the Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel.  Talk about wading through swamps for a while, but it was totally worth it.
I just finished Mark.  It was a nice change after being in the Old Testament for about a month or longer.  I think I will head to 1 and 2 Peter next.
I am reading On Being A Theologian of the Cross.  It is pushing me to think more deeply about grace and holiness.
I am reading Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum.  It is fascinating.  It makes want to take a long sea journey and see and meet amazing people.

Čau!

Less of an update, more of a story...about a friendship

So, I have come to find myself in a surprising new friendship...with butter.  Yes, butter.

You see, I rarely use better.  When I want jam on my bread, I don't lube it up with butter first.  When I eat pancakes or waffles, maple syrup is just fine.  Sometimes I do eat buttered toast, but that is only if it is an "only butter" piece of toast.  When I eat bread with meat and cheese and veggies, butter is not present.

So, how did I find myself in this new found friendship with butter?  Well, it started slowly.  "Maybe I'll follow suit and add some butter to this piece of bread.  I'll just eat a piece of buttered bread."  This, like any gateway decision, will lead to this morning's breakfast: "Yes, I will put butter on each piece of bread I eat whether I will ultimately add peach jelly or meat and cheese.  It doesn't matter.  The butter's here, and I am going to enjoy this friendship."

Will I be as dedicated a friend as I showed myself this morning.  Probably not, and I doubt my friendship with butter will last when I return back to the states, seeing as you cannot really Skype or Email or Facebook with butter (I am not counting any of the "I like butter" fan pages.  Those are 'fan' pages, not 'friend' pages).

You may be thinking, "But Jonathan, your relationship with butter does not have to be long distance.  After all, we do have butter in America.  This friendship can last.  It really can."  No, my friends, I don't think it can (or will).

"Why?" you ask.  It is simple.  Butter does not pursue you in America like it pursues you here.  Butter is patient here.  It waits at every meal at camp and at every home.  It doesn't beg or plead.  It waits.  It remains present with you and is patient with you, as if to say, "I know you'll come around.  Look how present and patient I am, and look how much everyone else so enjoys me.  I have time.  I'm butter."  Yes, my friends.  This is the butter of the Czech Republic.  A butter I have become friends with for the time being, a friendship I do not think will last much past the next two months, for better or for worse.

Do you have any unexpected friendships?

My home in Tabor...Video!

If you cannot see the videos, click here.

My travels and things: 17/09 - 26/09

View Larger Map

The above map shows my traveling schedule from 17/09 through 26/09 (G is where I started and where I will finish).

I just finished up a great weekend with the mladež z Zlína (youth group from Zlin (might be incorrect Czech grammar, but only Czechs and missionaries here who read this will know for sure)).  I taught Friday and Saturday night (thank for your prayers).

Tomorrow I leave Zlin (C) for Bratislava (D) to get my visa.  Please pray everything goes smoothly and we actually get it.  Also, tomorrow after that I head to Malenovice, CZ (E) for Josiah Venture fall conference.  I think almost all of JV's missionaries and many staff members from all their countries will be there.  I am looking forward to catching up with friends and meeting new people and hopefully getting some rest and refreshment (I hope you get to visit Hotel Malenovice one day.  It's beautiful.  Near flawless sunsets behind mountains covered in a forests of trees while overlooking a valley with the city of Malenovice laid out right before you.  Yeah, I hope you get to see it one day.).

On Friday I head to Most, CZ (F) for a fall retreat with the Litvinov and Usti n. Labem mladežy.  I'll be teaching from Galatians 5, so please pray for that as well.  Then it is back to Tabor (G).  All the traveling is by train except from Bratislava to Malenovice.  Dobry Časy (good times).

So, a story to break up all the information feeding:

I have never spent more time or tried so hard to fly a kite in my life.  It was a morning and afternoon activity at the retreat.  We made our own kites in partners (My partner was Filip, and Šarka and Eliška helped decorate it - totally rocked.).  After lunch we climbed the nearby hill to fly the kites.  Filip and I then proceeded to run up and down and back and forth all over that hill to keep the kite in the air (which I learned you really have to do if there's no wind once you get it up 30 ft.).  I definitely got my cardio that afternoon (up and down that hill).  Also, I learned what they call kites in Czech - drak(y) - which means "dragon," and they don't "fly" their draky (možna (maybe) 'draci' for the plural); they "play" them.  So for our "flying kites" they have "playing dragons."

Čau!

Stories: The end of the summer and a trip to Istanbul

The summer is done.  All the interns fly out tomorrow, and I do as well.

It has been an incredible summer.  From our three camps we saw three students saved and repent and believe on Jesus Christ for salvation, and we were invited into God's current work in many others.  It was a summer of planting, watering, and reaping.  God reminded me of John 3, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  This is my hope for the students now that camps are over.  Sometimes, you do not know what is going on inside a student, but you do not see the Spirit of God moving, but you have faith in it, and God has given me faith to believe and pray for these students.

Man Time at Strakonice Camp

At each camp I saw changed lives - people who were touched by Christ through His word and His love through His Spirit, and us, His chosen vessels of clay.  One student at our last camp said this to me, "There was no conflict here.  It was amazing."  I thought about that for a while.  How often can you put forty people together for a week, and only a handful know each other prior to that week, and an even smaller handful have known each other for longer than a few months, and have essentially no conflict?  I believe God gave us His grace to be of one heart and one mind and one Spirit as He is one with Himself, and this student got to see it, and he knew it was special, something different, in his words, "amazing."

Ultimate in the rain at Litvinov Camp

I was given the opportunity to be a spiritual brother again.  I have messed up in my share of brother-sister relationships/friendships - biological and spiritual - and God gave me opportunity for redemption, and He did redeem it.  I was asked and given the opportunity to speak words of truth into the lives of my sisters.  Here, I must thank Donald Miller and Grace Groups of Open Heart Ministries for giving me some tangible, creative ways to give words to others (If you want to know what they are, just let me know.).  I am incredibly thankful for God's redemption in my life.  I certainly do not deserve to be a safe person for others, but God has decided to change my heart and make it more like His, and along the way He is molding me into a safe person for others, with grace for the mistakes I make along the way.

Swimming in the Jordan Lake

Team BonJon 2010 is not departing each other this summer just as teammates and brothers and sisters.  I believe each of us would say that we are also departing as friends.  I am very thankful for these relationships.  God has used these people as sanctifying vessels in my life this summer, and He equipped and called me to be a sanctifying vessel in their lives as well - through righteousness and sin.  Thank you, Ryan, Alli, Jenda, and Eva.

Leading alongside Bonnie this summer has also been a great joy.  Last summer, we would both have told you it was very difficult to lead with each other, let alone build a friendship, and we probably would have never picked to team up again, but God had other plans, and Josiah Venture paired us up for a second time, to our surprise, and we were surprised.  The summer's camp theme was "Redeem," and we lived out redemption as we saw God take what was nearly a bit of a disaster last summer and change it into something great this summer.  Last summer we entered in as strangers, frustrated by our differences and various strengths and weaknesses, and this summer we entered in as friends - excited by our differences and wanting to support each other's strengths and cover each other's weaknesses.  Thank you, Bonnie.

Watermelon Rind Home Run Derby at Litvinov Camp :)

Fun "non-spiritual" memories from the summer: getting slapped on the butt by a 65(?) year old woman in Litvinov while buying drinks for my team, having "Man Time" at Strakonice camp where we took off our shirts, did warrior yells, and played viking football; getting a new nickname at Zlin camp - Mufloniček (mountain goat), going hiking and playing ultimate frisbee in the rain at Litvinov camp, having a watermelon rind home run derby with Ryan and Barry (pronounced bar-ee) at Litvinov camp, going swimming with the team in the Jordan Lake in Tabor, having my first B52 in Prague.

I'll have more "stories" posts to come, but I need to move on to something else for the time being.

It is 3:52 a.m. in Prague, and I leave Czech to go to Istanbul today at 12:00.  Why?  Well, when you enter the Czech on a tourist passport, you can stay for 90 days.  My 90 days is up on Sunday.  Now, ideally, my extended visa would already be in and effective by now, but there have been some complications.  Czech is also part of a group of countries known as the Schengen Countries.  "Under the Schengen agreement, transiting from one country to another within the Schengen area is done without border controls. In fact, the Schengen visa makes it possible to visit all the countries in the Schengen area and to cross internal borders without further formalities." [1]  Unfortunately for me, the 90 days applies not just to being in Czech but to being in Schengen period, which means I not only have to leave Czech but I must get to a non-Schengen country as well.  The kick: nearly every country in Europe is a Schengen country.  Exceptions are the U.K., Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Croatia, and Turkey, and the cheapest airfare was to Istanbul, Turkey, which is why I am will be in Istanbul from today through Sunday.  I will be staying at the Istanbul Harmony Hostel.


So, all this said for now, here are some things that I/we could use prayer for:
- Transitioning into what's next - for interns going home (American and Czech) and for me into fall ministry here in the Czech
- Safe travel and stay in Istanbul.  For ministry and evangelism opportunities along the way and while and there.
- Learning to live on my own well.  I'll be living on my own for the first month of my time here in Czech.
- Learning the Czech language.  It is very difficult.
- For the churches to follow-up events and seeking to continue building into the relationships and ministry started at camp - discipleship and evangelism.
- Humility in listening to the Lord confessing and repenting honestly and openly and sincerely.


Thanks for everything.

The picture post before the stories post

Here is where you can find almost all the pics from the summer: Ryan's photos
For some extra pictures from Litvinov camp (our last camp of the summer), you can go here: Litvinov Camp Photos.

How can you participate in this blog? Take a picture and add a caption or dialog to it and put it in the comment field or email it to me, and I'll put it up :)

Stories with pics for them to come.  Hopefully later today or Monday.

Thank you Ryan for taking so many great pics this summer (all of his pics were with a broken camera - the viewing screen cracked. Every picture was taken not knowing what it would look like.  Pretty sweet, huh.).

These are the 150 most used words in the notes I received from friends - students and teammates - from Zlin Camp last week :) Click the picture to see it larger and clearer.

I will hopefully have another blog update this week.  Wanted to get this out to all of you.  Thank you for your prayers and your impact.  More later.

Also, more pictures are up!

Camp 2 Begins

Last camp was great.  I haven't gotten the chance to write about it yet via this blog.  Thank you for your prayers.  We have a new brother and sister - Pet'r and Majda.  We also already have a new brother for Zlin camp.  He became a Christian here at training.  As Brandon, our US leader, said, "Camp hasn't even started and we're already winning."

This camp is a first time camp.  It'll be a little crazy and such, and we are excited for what God has for us there.  God has chosen us to establish the foundation for their English camp ministry.  Please pray that we establish Godly principles to build on.  This camp is also smaller, but there are still non-Christians coming who need to know Jesus and many young Christians who need to grow and mature in their relationship with Christ.  The US team is great.  Please pray that we continue to have unity and that God would protect all of us from the attacks of the enemy.

Thank you all.  More stories and such will come later.  I will not have internet for the next week.  See you Saturday.

P.S. More pictures are up!

One month in, six months to go

It's really late.  I'm not going to write much on this one.  Gotta a couple of things to say and ask for though :)

We got more new photos up!

Our visit to Strakonice was really great.  For two quick and sweet accounts of our visit to Strakonice, check out Leah's perspective and/or Alli's perspective.  You'll get some of mine soon too.

God provided and we got our visa stuff taken care of, stopping Satan from making us more busy and making us leave the country before our call here is up.  I didn't realize to half way through the process that this wasn't mere paperwork; there was a spiritual battle behind the scenes to keep us here in the Czech to continue serving Jesus.

Please pray that God would continue to mold me into a Christ-like leader.  This is pretty much my rookie season.  Sometimes it feels like I'm doing everything wrong and other times it doesn't feel that bad and other times I feel like I'm getting it...kind of ;)

Please pray that the team and I would not live out of fear but would be bold and step out where and when the Spirit is prompting us, whether it is to stop and pray, encourage someone, start a conversation with a stranger, rebuke a brother or sister, and etcetera.

Love you all.  I hope to Skype with some of you soon :)

Here's to you from Team BonJon!

P.S. Darkhorse and Thin Ice have made it to the Czech Republic.  Pretty cool, huh?

Leaving Zlin and on to Tabor - first visit down (and a link to pictures!)

No video this time around.

We just finished up our visit in Zlin, Czech Republic.  What a weekend.  Here's what our weekend looked like:

Thursday: Arrive in afternoon, meeting with Samuel Hust (Czech team leader), meeting with Sam and two of his students (Filip and Bara), all ages evening Bible study - worship, Jenda taught on Jonah and being used by God despite our weaknesses and failures, Ryan gave part of his testimony, and I got to share about the camp theme of "Redeem" and vision to see redemption in the lives of students at camp, home stay with Ryan at Filip's house - great food (fresh watermelon!) and coffee and tea, Ryan played some guitar, watched some videos of the youth group on Facebook and showed Filip videos from camps Ryan and I had done.

Friday: Wake up for a great breakfast with great coffee and tea, go to Sam's house, get 300 flyers for an afternoon sports/games/sausage cookout to walk around Zlin and give to students (There are lots of them because there is a film festival going on.), pass out flyers (slackline for 20 minutes) 'til lunch, get lunch, Sam gives us 200 more flyers, pass out flyers 'til 3:30 - none left, go to the sport court for games and hang out and sausage sandwiches and prayer that students will respond, one guy and three girls come (sweet!), play floorball, volleyball, mosquito tag, snake tag, human bumper cars, and the awkward game (let two little boys who see us playing play, and Sam and a few other adults get to connect with their parents. Cool!), eat sausage sandwiches (all while connecting with the youth group and the four students who came), drop our bags off, go to movie in the park with students and watch "The Spy Next Door" with Jackie Chan (Czech dubbed.  Still didn't miss much though), sleep in youth group room.

Saturday: Wake up, team meeting with Czech team from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. - vision, team building, what does camp look like?, prayer, responsibilities, questions, small groups, purpose and theme of talks, encouragement, travel to grass field on the side of a hill - hang out and slackline (two girls from the day before join us - Hannah and Reanna), play the Australian Jumping Game (aka Stomp) and Jell-O, split off and get dessert with the intern team - talk about what we learned about God and ourselves this weekend and where you think God has called you to be fruitful at camp rather than just busy, go to youth group room, talk to a non-Christian who is staying with us, go to sleep.

Sunday: Wake up early, go to church conference (two sister churches that get together twice a year), miss the bus because we can't find the youth room key, leave it unlocked and take a car, surprised to see one of the non-Christian girls from Friday with the bus group (her name is Veronica), listen to messages in Czech, worship, speak for 20 minutes on what shapes me - Bible, prayer, and people (pastors, friends, mentors, etc), more messages, lunch and hanging out, more worship and messages (Alli shared for a few minutes about God's love - it was great), get to talk with Luci (one of the Czech youth group students - one of the lead students of the group) about grace and joy and forgiveness, cook sausages on a stick over an open fire, play the Australian Jumping Game again, pray with Czech team, group picture, say goodbye, hang out in youth room as a team, relax, play BANG! a few times, read, write blog.

For Monday: Still writing blog, take a train to Tabor, rest and do laundry

Quite a weekend.  The team and I are already looking forward to our camp with them in mid-July.

FOR MORE PICTURES OF THE WEEKEND CLICK HERE (Thank you Ryan for taking all those pictures).


Prayer Requests: Jenda and Eva are both taking university entrance exams this week - Eva on Monday and Jenda on Tuesday.  Please pray that they pass.  Please pray that the Christian students in Zlin would be bold and invite their friends to camp and follow up on the relationships they built this weekend.  Please pray that we get some good rest in Tabor as we travel to Strakonice on Thursday for 5 days.  Pray for team unity and sensitivity to the Spirit.  Pray that we would continue to prepare and persevere.  Please pray that God would provide all of Jenda and Eva's support (they are really close).  Please pray Romans 12:1-2 over us: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." (Thanks Dad).


Thank you all for you love and prayer and support.  I am continually encourage by how God is moving here.

P.S. Hope you enjoy the pictures :)

The Amazing Race and Malenovice: Vlog 5

If you can't see the video below, click here.




Also, a couple things not mentioned in the video.  Jenda is still raising support (check out the new pic below).

God has provided $1,140.00, so he only needs $560.00 more!  This is incredible.  I am still excited and honored to have him on the team this summer.  I fully believe he is one of the many chosen people in this country God will use to bring an awakening to the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe as a whole.

As we finished our last night of intern training we went through a labrynth (a guided walk through the hotel with stations along the way and plenty of candlelight).  We made trees where the roots were people God has used to form and shape and influence us; you were the trunk, and the branches were people you do and can influence.  We went on to mold play-dough into what fulfills us and is our foundation.  After this, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves - What do you like about yourself?  What do you want to leave behind?  What sins need to be pruned away?  What are some things you want to start?  In this letter I wrote my first "What if...?" page (thanks Donald Miller).  We then went to write names on rocks of people we need to and want to forgive and make marks on the rocks for things we need forgiveness for, and when we were ready we hurled them into the woods - as far as the east is from the west so God has removed our sins from us.  We then followed a candlelit path down the stairs to a room where we dipped our hands in clean water - representing the innocence of our initial creation, but then we dipped our hands in dirt to represent our rebellion and sin.  We then walked over to a leader who washed our hands symbolizing Jesus redeeming us and washing us clean (Zechariah 3 and Jude 24-25 among others).  Our hands were then anointed with oil and the person who anointed them prayed for us.  Then we walked the Romans Road with the verses lit by candles making a commitment to love and serve and obey at the end by lighting a candle as a sign of our commitment.  Worship bookended this (great worship in great community), and our team took communion together before the journey, remembering Jesus' death and also remembering where Jesus has met us powerfully and with grace in our lives (thanks Mark Johnson).

Again, I miss you all.  It is hard and wonderful here.  I hope it is hard and wonderful for you as well wherever God has called you for this time.

Amazing Racing!

By the time you read this, we may be done or nearly done with the first day of the Amazing Race.  All the interns will be here, and we will be team building through trials and exhaustion and shared experiences like you wouldn't believe.  So, if you could be praying for all the teams and for safety and fun and good weather and good conversations and chemistry among the teams to take place, that would be great.  Thanks all.  Next update from Malenovice :)

Estonia! (seriously, read this. It's for you.)

Come and serve in Estonia (seriously)!

(Only 10 days required!)

ENGLISH CAMP 2010

English Camps have been an effective ministry tool for us during the years.  This year we are doing 7 English Camps. But we are still missing some.  American people. In total Josiah Venture still needs 25 people for their ministry in Estonia. Here is the need defined in detail:

7 people for June 25 - July 3 in Saku, Estonia.

9 people for July 9-18 in Kohila, Estonia.
4 people for July 23 - August 1 in Kuressaare, Estonia.
2 people for July 23 - August 1 in Tartu, Estonia.

If you are ready to serve as a missionary for 10 days in this summer, let us know as soon as possible. We want/need to know it before the 25th of May at the latest.

Each person needs to fundraise $820 + plane tickets.
(We also need 3 people for a soccer camp. If you can play and want to come, let us know!)

Contact Lucka Zagorova at lzagorova@gmail.com and tell her you heard about it from Jonathan Rosen :)
- Also, Lucka is amazing!  So, LET'S GO!

A gift for friends

Here is a really easy way to share your enjoyment of this holiday season (maybe the year?) with your friends: Your very own "My Life is Christmas" (mlic) text updates.  Simply, something happens to you during the day that confirms that your life is indeed Christmas.  Just send a text to some friends with the story, and finish it off with a good ol' "mlic."

Inspired by other sites that encourage like particaption.  There is one I will not name here, but it's for people who have something really bad and ridiculous happen to them.  I just found out about another called "My Life is Average" (mlia), and there is another I have seen called "My Life is Twilight" (mlit); yes, it does exist, and people participate in it, though I believe it is an internet entity that should not exist.

So, share your Christmas joy with your friends (or annoy them with it) this holiday season, and feel free to create your own acronym categories.  I have already added a "My Life After Moody" (mlam) for my friends to enjoy (or get tired of).

So, the question is, "What is your life?"