Returning to the Heart

What's Next in Trnava

2009-08-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Trnava!

I'm so happy to finally be able to update you all on what has been happening over the past few months. Since I first found out about the ministry in Slovakia in 2006, I knew that July was the busiest month of the year. For months leading up to the summer, all of the staff prepares for this one very intense month of English camps. I had personally started projects for camp, such as logos, posters, English class booklets, t-shirts, daily themes, English lessons, and videos & songs of the day, back in January.

Everything that we chose, from the themes to the videos to the t-shirt designs, all beautifully connected to one another, giving us many opportunities to reiterate Gospel themes in a subtle, yet clear way.

For high school camp, which was titled "Into the Daylight", one of my jobs was to choose songs that correlated to our daily themes which were twilight, darkness, starlight, dawn and daylight. We not only studied the English during camp, but I was to form a "band" that could perform these songs on a daily basis at camp. For one month, I along with a band practiced, and when it was time to perform every night, we had so much fun and the kids loved connecting to the music.

Another task I was given was to teach an English class every morning. This was a very intimidating job for me, as I don't believe I'm skilled in this area. However, after being told some tips by our resident ESL teacher on the team and much planning, I felt confident in what I was doing and the classes went incredibly smooth (below).

For the last two weeks of camp, my main duty was to film and edit daily videos as well as staff-led themed videos. You are welcome to see the daily videos I made and all of us make fools of ourself for the staff-led videos by clicking the link to the left!

Before those weeks started, my computer crashed, making it very difficult to do my job. I was able to use another computer, but this problem and the incredible amount of technical difficulties I had led to much stress for those two weeks. We could all feel so much spiritual warfare happening to each and every one of us. Though this was hard to bear at times, we prayed through it, encouraged each other, and realized that spiritual warfare was something we had to go through during such an important and effective part of our ministry.

Making friends at camp was very important to not only the kids, but the staff as well. Because we had spent so much time preparing and organizing in previous months, we were able to relax and connect with each other. One girl I especially connected with is named Sylvia, or Sisa. Sisa has told us that camp was one of the best weeks of her life and it is so obvious that God is doing amazing things through her life because of that week. Another girl that came who was in my cabin, did not know that we were all Christians until she got there. She said if she had known it was a Christian led camp, she would not have come. The week after camp, she showed up to The Building for a few nights to spend more time with us. We are praising God for so much answered prayer and these are just a few examples of how His goodness is so abundant here!

For months we have been praying that God would provide a meeting place for the church. After so much time of searching, the Lord provided a place at the last minute. We will now meet in a building located underneath the Lundgaard's, a missionary family here. The week after camp ended, we started moving things out of The Building into the new church. We are still continuing to move so many things from The Building into the new place which is significantly smaller as well as into each other's homes due to lack of space.

This has been an emotionally trying time for me, and all of those who have invested so much of their lives into The Building, or have grown up going there. We are constantly reminding each other that it is not about the building we're in, it's about people.

Please continue to pray for us as we finish moving and for our attitudes and hearts as well, as we say goodbye to a building that we love, and adopt a new place and type of ministry. Our first church service will be Sunday where we'll be celebrating God's provision.

As my ministry time becomes shorter and shorter, please pray that God will provide a job and housing for me in whatever city is best. I have already started this search process. I want to also thank the Lord for answering so much prayer this summer. Despite the amount of physically demanding work and stress, I did not become sick once!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.

Ande Truman

Learning Slovak

2009-06-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

I wrote this sometime in December and I wanted to share it, since I wrote it and never remembered to post it! I'd say I'm not nearly as frustrated as I once was with it, but only because I've changed my attitude to NOT stress about it:

Slovak is a beautiful language. I love to listen to it and try to speak it. However, it's absolutely one of the most difficult things I've ever tried to learn. It's so hard that sometimes I don't even TRY to speak to a Slovak because I know before hand it will be wrong! I know this is the wrong mentality but my fear of man's opinion has me in a bind here. For those of you wondering, I can understand much more than I can speak or write, mostly because it's easier to get the idea of a sentence from someone else than make it up from scratch yourself.

I think what makes it so difficult is that the endings on the words are always changing! For example, we have one word for Slovak. That can explain the people, places, the language, it can describe food, culture, etc. In Slovak though, the word for the Slovak language is Slovencina or Slovensky, depending on how you use it. The word for a male Slovak is Slovak, but the word for a female Slovak is Slovenka. The words Slovenska, Slovenske or Slovensky can be used as an adjective, for example, Slovenska Banka. The word for Slovakia itself is Slovensko and the plural for Slovaks is Slovaci So that gives you a peek into how words can change so much in this language.

I'm totally used to seeing billboards and signs in Slovak too, and it doesn't bother me much. Sometimes it's frustrating when I really need to know what it says, but normally I find it challenging to try and figure it out. I was thinking last night how odd it will be to see these things in English when I return to the States.

Praise: That God's given me the desire to learn and listen to this beautiful language.
Prayer: That God will give me the gift to learn and speak it.

_______

Again, I'd say that at this stage of my learning process I find it really fun and challenging. Everywhere you look here, you're involved in a sort of game to see how many pieces of the puzzle you know. When I first started I could say I recognized maybe 5% of the words I see regularly on billboards and menus and such. The longer I'm here, the more my percentage goes up and the more I recognize. I love that. I also just love getting better at it and love having Slovak being the first language on my mind other than English. For example, now when I want know what someone is doing, I first think or say "Co robis?" or "Kam ides?" (where are you going).

I would love to continue to learn Slovak even when I go home, as well as getting back into Spanish. Learning languages is challenging but fun!

A Perspective on Filth and Beauty

2009-04-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

Right, so something strange about me is that I find dirty things fascinating. One of my many goals in taking pictures is to find depravity in all that I see. It may sound a bit... cynical, but I believe that we live in a fallen world- a world that was once created for God's glory and beauty, but it has become a place of filth, grunge, sin and despair. Many people try to only take snapshots of beauty so that they'll remember only the pretty stuff. I take pictures of depravity so I always remember and remind others to remember that our place is not in this world, but beyond it--and that filth is the opposite of Christ. Consider it my small, strange contribution in attempting to point others to Christ in a visual way.

I can see, however, where some may get the wrong idea about this. Some may see that I'm trying to make their country or city look dirty and poor. I've actually gotten quite a few comments about my photography even in the States about how I make their city look bad. Rest assured I mean no harm in this and I think all that yucky stuff beautiful.

So I'd like to take the opportunity to show a few pretty pictures of Trnava, where I live. I could find much better ones but they're mostly on a hard drive somewhere, so these were taken a few weeks ago. Slovakia is a beautiful place, despite all the grungy photos I post. For you Americans, I hope I haven't given you the wrong representation of this awesome place.

Water Fights & a Whip: Easter in Slovakia

2009-04-15T00:31:00.000-07:00

Something very interesting happened to me over Easter weekend and I'd like to share it with you. There is a tradition in Slovakia when men (or boys) seek out women (or girls) early on the Monday morning after Easter Sunday to perform a certain...ritual. It's traditional for the boys to drench the women in water and whipping them with thin willow branches, and if the girls wanted long and healthy (fertile) lives, they should not avoid this process. It's also normal for the boys to throw the girls in the bathtub and soak them that way. In return for this 'act of kindness', the boys were to receive some kind of treats from the girls and then invite all the girls over later for a party of some sort.

Well, from my understanding this tradition has been going on here with my friends in Trnava for years. Some like it, but most hate it....and through that hatred some have started turning a helpless drenching into an all out water war. So this year there were 4 of us girls who did NOT want to be woken up early to be drenched and be mad about it. We also didn't want to cower away in a hotel somewhere (as that would not be of good sport). So we decided to find a happy medium.

Somehow in the midst of random brainstorming for this particular morning, we decided to stay up all night in preparation for the boys coming to our apartment so that we would be "awake" enough to get THEM wet too and fight. We thought it was a brilliant plan. The girls came over and we had a very entertaining girl's night, full with hair styling, Napoleon Dynamite, games, junk food, etc. We prepared the hall way for a total soaking, taking out electronics and clothes. We filled pitchers of water and put them in strategic places so that during battle we could defend ourselves. Our idea was that we would all be waiting in the bathtub with buckets of water so they couldn't throw us in, and in the meantime we'd be drenching them too which they wouldn't expect. I even wrote a provoking poem and taped it on the door so that they would know we were not going down without a fight.

This was still a good idea to us, until about 4 am when we were all incredibly tired and irritated that the boys would put us through such an ordeal. We heard from a credible source that they would be coming to our flat at 5 am. So we made it through that hour and were totally ready for war. Then it turned to 5:15, 5:30, 5:45 and we were dropping like flies. I texted Dan (the ring leader) about that time and asked when they would be there to do the deed. I got a text that said, "6:30". By this time were not happy and thought this was a terrible idea....but we were good sports and made it through till 6:30.

Around 6:40 I see their car outside and we lock and load for war. Some of us in the bathtub with Anya ready to open the door. We were READY, let me just repeat that.

After a little coersing Anya lets the boys in. I peekd through the closed shower curtain and saw them with nice clothes on which was my first giveaway that something was wrong. Then I saw some of them with a flower, oh jeez. So they come in the bathroom and we have buckets in our hands ready to throw. Ethan comes in with 3 flowers and that whip thing and gently hits our legs a few times. In the meantime, us girls have a stupid deer-in-the-headlights look on our face, buckets in hands, looking at about 10 guys in our hallway looking at US taking pictures and laughing. I'm sure our jaws were dragging on the ground by this point.

I say something like, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" and get out of the bathtub with my bucket and they all start moving a little closer to the door. "WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE! SOMEBODY'S GETTING WET!!!" and by this time they were briskly moving out of the house and going down the stairs. I go out to my bedroom window and look down at all of them and say, "Thank you for the flower but WHAT?!" and threw a bucket of water down 8 floors.

So we stand there for a while looking and feeling ridiculous, ticked off at the fact that we stayed up ALL night for that....not mad at the boys giving us the flower (cause it was SO SWEET!!!!) but mad at ourselves for actually staying up. We made breakfast and went to bed and crashed till the afternoon.

Grocery Shopping

2009-04-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I will never think that going grocery shopping in the States is a pain to do anymore. I say this because grocery shopping here is SO much more of an irritant than I expected. Not just grocery shopping, but errands in my daily life. Without a car, life can be simple. I love the exercise and being able to be outside for a minimum of 30 minutes a day by walking. Sometimes though, it can turn an average day of life into a big fat pain. Take today for example...it's time to go buy more food at home. But instead of hopping in the car and getting it over with, there's a slew of complications at hand. First, I empty out my backpack and put inside a large woven bag made for carrying large loads. I walk only about 10 minutes to the grocery store called Tesco (which I am extremely thankful for). So I walk in whatever weather is presented in my coat, scarf, gloves, hat, etc. You must pay to use a cart though, so I dig through my abundance of change to find the right coin to insert. I take off my layers of warmth as I enter the building and put everything I brought in my cart. I have a list of things I need, but I usually don't know where any of it is, so I just walk up and down the isles till I see something recognizable. Most of the labels are in Slovak so I had to quickly learn some staple food names. I remember I don't have a car to lug everything in, so I put back the bottle of oil or toilet paper because I don't have room in my backpack for it. I buy only necessities, because after a certain amount of weight in my hands and on my back, the 10 minute walk home turns out to be a little more difficult.

I push my way through the crowds of people, usually getting my ankles run over by a babka (elderly woman) on a rampage with her cart. I make my way to the International Foods section to see if any new American food has arrived, but remember that it's very expensive (such as peanut butter we just got in stock which cost $6 for a tiny container.) After at least an hour of shopping I go to the front counter to check out. I try not to say anything much, because if I open my mouth I get some interesting stares from the surrounding people. I quickly pack everything into my backpack or the woven bag, put on all my warm layers, return the cart, walk home, dig out my keys and up the tiny 2 person elevator, while spending more money on 2 bags of food than anyone ever should! Another quick transportation problem is when I need to travel outside of Trnava to a nearby village. Taking a bus is fun if I'm not alone, but it's quite confusing if you don't know what you're doing. The other night, for example, we walked 20 minutes to the bus station, waited for 10 minutes, got there 20 minutes later, and walked another 5 minutes to the person's home. It can be frustrating when you're in a hurry and just want to get there!

Prayer: That I would find the joy in seemingly frustrating/different situations.

Crutial Ministry Changes

2009-03-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

To my churches, supporters and friends,

Below is the letter that we read to our church here this morning (in Slovak). It sums up some huge changes to our ministry. If you're wondering what's been going on here, this has been the very important main topic of discussion...

Our dear brothers and sisters of The Fellowship,

Solomon wisely advised, “To everything there is a season….”
Over the past 12 years we have gone through many “seasons” with you. Today we are writing to describe and explain to you about a new “season” which has arrived, and with it certain changes to the mission of our team to Trnava and throughout Slovakia in general. We are excited about these changes, because they represent new milestones for both our team and for The Fellowship. They are signs of God’s blessing on us and you—and of his leading for the both of us.

The primary change is that we are forming two MTW teams: one team will remain in Trnava, but with a different mission (which we will explain below); the second team will move beyond Trnava in order to establish a new base of operations and, with God’s blessing, plant another church.

The mission of the team that remains in Trnava will be to serve and nurture The Fellowship. They will no longer plan programs independently for The Building; instead, they will work alongside the pastor and other leaders of the congregation to nurture The Fellowship toward maturity and fullness in Christ. Its mission is described in Ephesians 4:7-16.

One thing this means is that by 1 September 2009, MTW will no longer operate The Building and its programs. Instead, the team which remains in Trnava will focus its attention on helping The Fellowship find a new place to meet, and it will offer its gifts to your pastor in order to assist him in the development of a vision and mission for The Fellowship. The important new thing is that we now want to focus on you, The Fellowship, helping you to achieve what God has called you to do for him here in Trnava. With that in mind, the “MTW church-nurture team” will remain in Trnava committed to aiding you to achieve these objectives so you will bear much fruit for God’s glory.

We know that over the years The Building has been used by God and has been a wonderful gift to many of you. Some of you came to faith in Christ through relationships that started here. Many of you now serve the Lord wholeheartedly in the different programs of The Building. For all of you this is your place of worship, fellowship, and instruction. It would not be saying too much that some of you even grew up in it. We know that it will be hard to say “goodbye” to it. But every parent knows that such “seasons of life” bring with them not only sorrow, but changes which open new opportunities. Remember what the Apostle John wrote: “I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in the truth.” It is our joy to see you take your places and serve God together. We trust that taking these steps will serve to help The Fellowship grow and mature and begin to shape the whole city for Christ.

Think about what this means: you will now be able to take what you have learned from your service in The Building and step out in faith. You yourselves could be leading new ministries and building new relationships for the church. You will be able to shape new ministries according to the insights and imagination that God has given you as part of this culture. You will have the joy of seeing what God will do through you as you trust in him and exercise your skills and gifts as a ministry and outreach of The Fellowship.

We want to stress to you that each of us with MTW loves you and we are not really leaving you. As mentioned above, the team that is staying here is committed to serving you until you are fully established as a self-sustaining congregation (from a human perspective—of course no congregation is self-sustaining, since we all draw our life from Christ). The team that will leave Trnava loves you deeply and will miss you. They will ask you to pray for them as they step out in faith as well. This season is truly painful for them too.

Now, about some of the specifics: the current programs of the Building will end (in their current form) with the camps in July. In August the task of emptying the physical Building will begin and as soon as that is accomplished the lease will end. The church-planting team will then take its work beyond Trnava, moving as soon as a new location is determined. The church-nurture team will continue working with The Fellowship to make sure it has a new meeting place so that it can begin its worship services without interruption in August.

Juro has set up a vision team that will be meeting in April and May. His team will work on clarifying the vision and mission of Fellowship. Your pastor has asked us if we would be willing to leave a few missionaries to help in developing and assisting in the work of the church. This we were very willing and happy to do. As of this writing, the church nurture team in Trnava will include the Lundgaards and the Gregoires. I can assure you that they willingly remain and are as excited as the rest of us to see what God is going to do next.

You may be assured that we all love you and will continue to pray with and for you as we take this next step together. May God bless the work of our hands throughout Slovakia.
In the love of the Lord Jesus,

John Lesondak, for the MTW team

Snow and Things I Miss

2009-02-25T01:06:00.000-08:00

Well it snowed AGAIN! We keep thinking that the snow is over, yet on a regular basis someone looks out the window and says, "No way! It's snowing again!". For the record, I love the snow and will miss it when it's gone. What I don't like is when the snow melts and I have to walk everywhere in the nasty muddy slush and act like I'm walking on a ice rink on the way to work. This past snow we got about 5" or so.

Something cool about Slovakia is that it's not SO different from the US that you're in a constant state of culture shock. However, I miss some things- of course I miss people and seeing everything in English and my culture but it's the little things that I miss too.

1) I miss soft towels and clothes. We don't have a dryer in our apartment (most people don't) so all of our clothes have to be dried on a drying rack in my room. The clothes and towels end up feeling like sandpaper till you wear them a while.

2) I miss free refills, fountain drinks, and complimentary water. Whenever you go to a restaurant you have to pay like $1.50 for a tiny little thing of soda or water. Boo!

3) I miss having a car--but not all the time. I love walking here, I really do....but sometimes when I'm in a hurry and need to go somewhere quick, walking across town can be maddening! I just want to hop in my Subaru and get stuff done! Like walking home from the grocery store with all my grocery bags in my hand...

4) I miss being able to strike up conversations with strangers or ask them simple questions or instructions. I can do that here, until I run out of things to say after "How are you? Where do you live? Where do you work?, etc"

5) Sometimes, once in a while, I miss restaurants like Bojangles, Arby's, Waffle House--no explanation needed here :)

6) I miss easy access to good coffee. I get good coffee when I go to Kris Lundgaard's house or if someone is kind enough to send me some Starbucks, but that's about it... and I drink it just about every day too! I miss Cup A Joe's coffee in Hillsborough.

7) I miss specialty shops. Yeah, I miss being able to go into stores who have exactly what I need with someone who speaks English. For example, I needed some specialty camera stuff and outdoor/hiking stuff and I have to find it all online which I hate. It seems like in the States you can find just about anything you want within a relatively short distance.

8) I miss English preaching. Yes I can listen to it on an MP3 or online but it's harder to find time during the week to do this...looks like I'm going to have to just do it anyway!

I'm sure I could think of more but I don't want to dwell too much on what I don't have :) I'm really doing great here--honestly. I don't dwell on the things I've listed above which I miss, but for those of you curious I thought I'd fill you in!

Sunday Morning Silence

2009-01-28T02:34:00.000-08:00

I've had severe writer's block since the day I arrived and 3 months later I still can't explain why. The task of summing up my day-by-day experiences, my struggles, my joys, and everything in between has seemed to be a nearly impossible task. I presume because Slovak society, though very different on smaller levels, is quite similar to American society on a broader level. It's not as if what I see here on a daily basis is so shocking, so unbelievable that I can't wait to run to a computer and tell you the atrocities I came across. No, life is pleasantly normal and peaceful here. With that said, please forgive how long it has taken to update you on a more regular basis.

What may have temporarily unleashed my writer's block was the sound of silence Sunday morning. Allow me to explain. I'm an extremely light sleeper, to my detriment I believe. Most mornings, especially lately, I've had trouble staying asleep because sound can somehow travel at a disturbing rate in between my apartment building and the building across the street. I hear everything, even 7 stories up. Many mornings I will awake around 6 or 7 a.m. because I hear diesel cars and trucks starting up to get warm before the commute to work. I am even awoken by the sound of shoes quickly crunching through the snow on the sidewalk, yes, 7 stories below. In fact the night before I was rudely awakened by the sound of, what I swear sounded like 5 gunshots at 2:48 a.m., but were not (don't worry, Mom). But that morning I wasn't woken up by these sounds. At 8:45 a.m. it was completely silent. What saddened me was the reminder that this morning was Sunday, and instead of the normal hustle and bustle of people getting ready to go out for the day, they were sleeping in or relaxing instead of running off to church. This silence struck me, as it reminded me that no matter how sophisticated or "religious" a country can appear, it is still in a darkness unseen to the human eye.

Prayer: That someday, those in darkness would see God's light and their cars would wake us up on Sunday morning.

My apartment building- we're on the right side, kinda in the middle, top row.

Catching Up....

2009-01-28T02:30:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share my most recent update newsletter if you haven't seen it yet. By the way, thank you to everyone who sent a card or package to me over Christmas- it was appreciated more than you know!

Greetings From Trnava!

I'm excited to share with you what has been going on since my last update! Join me in praising God as I'm happy report that He has given me an extended and wonderful season of peace and health! We serve a great Lord and He has so richly blessed me since I've been here.

I'd love to share with you a few of the many exciting things that happened over the past month and a half, and hope to give you insight about what's going on here in the future. I apologize for the length of time since my last newsletter!

Currency Change
On January 1st, Slovakia underwent a currency change, switching from the Slovak crown to the beautiful new “Euro”. Slovaks had been anticipating this change since 2004 when they joined the European union, but it has still been a massive undertaking. For months leading up to the switch, stores, restaurants and any thing with a price had both the amount in crowns as well as Euros so that customers could get used to understanding the conversion rate. One particularly frustrating part of this change is that any amount under 5 Euros ($6.50 USD) is all in coins!

The Holiday Season
We've been blessed with a beautiful layer of fluffy snow for the past few weeks. Children (and myself) have used this to our advantage by sledding, making snow angels, snowballs and of course taking photographs.

Because most of the students were away from the university for the holidays, The Building was closed from mid December to mid January. Much of the staff was also gone for different reasons, leaving me a long stretch of relaxation and preparing for this coming semester's work.

Christmas was a nice time for me here, despite not being home with family. I was temporarily adopted by Kris Lundgaard's family for a few days over the holiday. We opened gifts on Christmas Eve here, which is the Slovak tradition because their Christmas is on the 24th, while video conferencing with families back home. For New Years I traveled to Cambridge, England for a few days to visit a friend.

Reopening The Building
Every Friday night we open our facilities to host themed evenings such as “Coffee House”, Ping Pong Tournament, Game night, Interactive Movie Night, Culture Night, and our most popular gathering, The Intro, which is a conversation-based evening hosted completely in Slovak. Every Friday the staff takes turns in leading the nights' games and activities and last Friday was my first night to lead. We warmly welcomed over 35 kids for our Dance Dance Revolution night! We had a wonderful time together, socializing, playing games, eating, and meeting new friends.

Upcoming Semester Activities This semester will be a very busy time for the staff and me. As you may know, we offer English classes, bible studies, discussion groups and much more. My roommate, Anya, and I will be leading an advanced English class as well as a class called English Through Art. We'll be using our skills in the subject to teach drawing skills, art terms, and more importantly engaging in conversation over a mutual interest! I am still planning to offer a guitar class and am considering a sort of "Jam Club", for anyone with instruments to come and play music together.

A few days a week I will be assisting in teaching English classes at a high school which is next door to my apartment building. Getting into the schools to meet the kids where they are and inviting them to The Building has always been a key effort in our ways of building relationships with them.

I have posted many photos and videos on Facebook, and all of my photos on this public gallery:

(http://picasaweb.google.com/andetruman)

Prayer List

* That I would not lose focus of my purpose and effectiveness this upcoming semester as I face routine busyness.

* For the safety and health of myself and the team. Praise God, I have not become ill yet!

* For DIRECTION as The Building and its' staff plan for the future of the ministry in great detail over the next few months. Please pray specifically for the team leader, John Lesondak, as he leads us through some very important changes.

* That my introductions to so many young people would turn into real loving friendships with them.

* For our pastor, Juraj (pronounced Your-eye), that God would continue to use him to speak with such fervor to the congregation and the youth.

* For Janna Scheflan, the Fredere family, and other new additions to our staff who are arriving in February.

* For the language study of everyone on the team- that our minds and tongues would be filled and for our own personal diligence in learning.

* That attendance at The Building would continue to grow!

* For Slovakia and her people- that a revolution in Christ would cause its' people to arise and walk in Jesus Christ!

Thank you for all of your prayer and encouragement! It means so very much to me to have you be a part of what is going on here in Trnava. I've so appreciated all of the letters, pictures and packages sent to me so far. I look forward to telling you stories throughout the year. If you'd like to read more, I encourage you to visit my blog (www.andetrumanslovakia.blogspot.com). I will strive to update this much more regularly than I have been. Please do take care! May you be richly blessed in Christ!

Ande

Recent Design Projects

2008-12-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all- I just wanted to keep you in the loop with what projects I'm working on at the Building. Feel free to click on them for a much larger view!

This first class, English Through Art, is a class in which my roommate and I will be teaching different types of art, mostly sketching, but more importantly teaching English through it.

This is a class that Kris Lundgaard and Gina are teaching called English Through Coffee, where they explain how to roast, prepare, and enjoy different kinds of coffee. More importantly, we're teaching them English through these creative ways.

This is just a postcard that we printed up for the kids to have until March. It's a snapshot of what we're offering to specific age groups.

Many many more to come!

A Day in Vienna

2008-12-16T01:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday a group of us went to Vienna, Austria for the day. Our intention was to spend most of the day at the Christmas markets- something I had been looking forward to since last year. Half of us visited an art museum for a few hours that morning and then we visited the markets. After that we walked around a bit, especially in the pedestrian zones which was super nice! We actually found a Starbucks too, which was honestly SO nice to just step into. It was so crowded though- and it had 2 floors! The second floor was completely packed with people. Oh, and my coffee was so bad, but it's because they didn't have Splenda and they let my espresso sit too long. ANYWAY, enough about coffee!

I posted some pictures on Facebook, by the way: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88254&l=a9372&id=728476320.

It was a really nice city though. One thing I really appreciated was being led around by a Slovak and an American who actually knew where they were going. It would have taken me sooo much time to figure out which train and above-ground electric train to use and where to go. It made everything really smooth and nice. Here are a few more shots of the day...

The Worst, and Funniest Doctor Visit Ever

2008-12-14T03:43:00.000-08:00

All foreigners who come to work in Slovakia for over 90 days must come to see the doctor, in my case, in Bratislava. I had been dreading this day because of the many terrible stories I heard from other missionaries who went in years previous. Their stories aren't appropriate for me to post on this site, but lets just say stool samples with other people in the same room were involved. I didn't have to do that, but a group of Afghan men had to that were waiting with me. Friends assured me that the process was not as bad, but still pretty awkward. So please allow me to tell you about my experience in as many details as I can remember- because the details is what made it so hilarious and awkward.

First, we left Trnava at 6:15 am (UCK!). After a 45 minute drive or so, we ended up at a building in downtown Bratislava. We climbed about 4 stories and went through a few random doors and found our way to the doctors office. Through hearing the conversation I figured out that they were saying to Roman (a Slovak employee at the Building) that my appointment was actually the day before. By a miracle they actually let us stay for the appointment.

The first part of the exam was to take blood. I sat down on the table and immediately they asked for the money to cover the exam. I wasn't thrilled about this process because my last experience with giving any amount of blood resulted in me fainting right on the floor. I layed down on the table and they took my blood and it actually was very smooth and not very painful at all.

For the next part of the exam I went to see the doctor, who was an elderly woman. We walked down the hall and the nurse said with a thick accent, "See doctor now". I sat on the table and awaited her instructions and questions. In broken English she asked me my name, where I'm from, if I had diseases in my family, and other medical questions. She then asked my weight and I told her how many pounds... she said, "This too much!" and I realized she wanted my weight in kilograms. So I went back out to the lobby to take my own weight. I came back, told her, and then she asked me my height. I started to say "5'5" until I realized she didn't care about feet and inches, so I went back out to measure my own height by a tape measure taped to the wall.

She pointed to my shirt and said, "Take off please". I said, "Seriously?!" and she of course nodded yes. Let's just say she went through quite unnecessary means to hear my pulse. She asked me to lie on the table again and she starts poking my bare stomach with both sets of fingers to see if I had any massive growths or something (?), and I am giggling the whole time because she's tickling me to death.

She tells me to sit up on the table and proceeds to knock on my head like one would knock on a door and says, "Does this hurt?". I'm about to laugh out loud as she's knocking on my head but I say, "No", then she jabs both sets of fingers under my eyes, on my cheeks, and on my chin, asking me if it hurts. She sits back down in her desk and fills out the information. Her arthritic fingers which are being choked by her tiny rings are pounding on the computer mouse so hard it echoes through the room. Her double clicks sounded like, "CLICK! CLICK!". Hmm I can't explain that well- it was funny though.

Okay so that exam is over. We leave the building and go across the street to another old hospital. We sit and wait for about 20 minutes for them to call me in. This was the part of the exam that was not funny and I was really dreading. This short old mean looking man told me to come in. He pointed to my shirt and said, "Take it off" (which I knew was about to happen), and pointed to a nasty little closet. I pointed to my outside shirt and said, "Can I keep this one on?" and he said angrily, "VSETKO!" (EVERYTHING!). I rolled my eyes and went in the closet. One door in the closet went to the doctor and the other side went to the hall-full of men, both unlocked.

Before I was done doing what I had to do, the doctor flung open the door and said, "COME, NOW" and I snapped back, "CHILL!". I came out of the closet trying to cover myself up and he pointed to the big cold metal machine. He told me to take off my necklace, but as I was taking it off with one hand, it got stuck on my earring!! (Mind you, I'm in a very uncomfortable state at the moment with this angry old man right beside me). So he gives a big mad SIGH, and starts yanking on my necklace- so I say "Pockaj!" (Wait) and get the stupid necklace off of my earring.

He tells me to move the shirt that's covering me up and pushes me against the large cold machine while he take an x-ray. Yeah--there are more details to that story but I'm already on the edge of being inappropriate here so just trust me when I say it was terrible!

So that was the end of the exam and I was sooooooo glad it was over.

Week 4 in Slovakia

2008-12-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

As the days go on here, it gets harder and harder to find time to write on this blog! I will do my very best to comment on here more often though.

I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks! That thought blows my mind. I've learned so much since I've been here, whether about the differences in culture, something about myself, my friends, about God, or just life.

One simple thing I learned very quickly was that scarves and hats aren't just for fashion! Ha! I always liked wearing them, but more because they felt and looked nice. I learned quickly that one must wear substantial neck and head wear because it's FREEZING and windy!

For you men and women who do not cook, this may not be an issue for you.... but cooking here as completely thrown me off my culinary balance, if that makes sense. I can't find the same ingredients so often (or can't really read the packaging), and the temperatures are all in Celsius too, which means my oven at home is labeled 1-5 or something. So baking has not been easy.

Getting errands done has not been easy either. One day I needed to go to about 6 or 7 different places to get a project done. With a car, I could have easily done it in maybe an hour or two. With no car and not knowing how and where to buy certain things, it ends up taking forever and a day to do something!

I miss my thick-spring mattress. These tiny foam mattresses aren't cutting it... but I bought a goose down comforter so at least I'm sleeping okay.

The espresso in this particular city has been a big let-down. It's probably a good thing because I was way too spoiled with Joe's Coffee in Hillsborough and my body is probably thanking me for not drinking so much anymore.

I really enjoy walking everywhere I have to go, but I do miss having a car. I walk with headphones on, but unfortunately it's not the safest thing in the world to do. I think I've lost maybe 4 or 5 pounds though, so that's nice. I feel pretty good health wise too. There were a lot of things bothering me when I left the states, and all of which I attributed to stress. Exercise has helped that some. (This is our pastor and his wife below)

In the grocery stores (with a few exceptions), you don't get a grocery bag to take your stuff home. So you better have a bag or bookbag with you to take your stuff! If they do have bags, you have to put everything in there yourself. The other day I went to get some supplies, without realizing I forgot my special shopping bag at home, so I stuffed my coat jackets with stuff and walked down the street carrying an arm load of food. I definitely got some weird looks.

Slovak is super hard! I don't have too much pity for those that have to learn English anymore. I used to be taught that English was THE hardest language out there. I beg to differ! The great thing is that I'm starting to get more and more of it and putting sentences together- a task I assumed was impossible last year. (Here's a picture of a traditional singer singing to my friends)

Much of the team is leaving for the holidays, leaving me with 2 families here for 2-4 weeks. I'll be living along during this time as well. It should be interesting. I'm not sure if it'll be really good for me or really depressing. I hope it'll be a good time to get some work and reading done.

I'm sure there's more but I need to go home because we're having a women's dinner/bible study tonight :)

Miss y'all, hope you're doing well!

2 Week Update

2008-11-20T07:29:00.001-08:00

Well any minute now the rest of the team will arrive at our apartment door in preparation for one of the many bible studies/group meetings we have during the week. This one is on Thursday morning at 9 and Miriam has been up since 7 making some wonderfully smelling coffee cake. For the past 2 weeks since I've been here it has basically consisted of me getting used to things with very little work, so I'm a little spoiled I think!

To give you an idea of my schedule (and this will probably change), we have Mondays off but that night we have a women's bible study/dinner/prayer/singing time usually at our house. Tuesdays there's usually quite a bit going on like English classes and I think Senior High activities. Wednesday there's English classes, team "business" meetings, and that evening a few of us usually get together for a bite to eat and read some scriptures. Thursdays we meet from 9-11 for prayer time and after that other things at the Building happen, though it seems to be a relaxed day. Fridays are usually pretty busy as we get ready for big activities. Since I've been here we've prepared for the Intro and also a Thanksgiving meal- so Fridays are fun. Saturdays are our other day off. Sundays we go to church that starts at 10, we have some kind of lunch at home (hopefully sleep) and then meet at the Lundgaard's for a more in depth bible study. So that's my week in a nutshell. You can tell that the week is saturated with studying the word, praying, singing, and fellowship. I'm sure it'll change a bit over time, especially when I start really getting into my behind-the-scenes work here, but that will basically be the general schedule.
Did I tell you already about Thanksgiving? I don't remember if I did. Because we have different groups of kids, we split our holiday parties up in many weeks. So Thanksgiving started last week and will end sometime next week. Last week I cooked for what was supposed to be like 25-30, but ended up to be more like 15. It's definitely a different culinary world to a) go to the grocery store (potraviny) to get your supplies b) on a very tight budget, c) in a small kitchen with 4 burners and one stove. Most of you are thinking "I do that every day!" but see, I'm used to a large commercial kitchen with gadgets and storage rooms and walk-in refrigerators full of food, so cooking for 30 in that kitchen is a piece of cake, whereas this takes much more planning and "strategy". :) So we have another meal tomorrow and I'm cooking the mashed potatoes, carrots, the dessert, and if I can find more sweet potatoes (rare) then maybe my sweet potato casserole again.

Last weekend we went to Ikea and the mall in Bratislava. I had been wanting to go here a while so I can buy stuff to get me feeling settled--and feeling like it was MY space, not temporarily sleeping in someone else's. So I bought a lamp that I've been waiting years to buy, a comforter and pillow, a laundry hamper, some great white square plates and bowls, and a new cooking knife as well. It's definitely done a good job in allowing me to feel more at home.
It's been getting a lot colder over the past 2 weeks since I arrived, which I'm actually kinda thankful for (or at least will be until January when I'll probably be sick of the cold!). I'm thankful for it because when it's cold enough for jackets but not enough for scarves/gloves, etc. is because when you get inside a store or apartment you're so sweaty and hot from walking all over the place. So when it gets really cold you don't sweat as much and don't have to strip all your outerwear all the time.

Today we walked across the big pretty square in what I call "downtown" for lunch. We saw this massive Christmas tree in the middle of it. And I'm not talking about one you'd find in even the biggest of American houses- I'm talking about a TREE like at least 25 ft. high! We walked towards it all in smiles because of the smell. I picked off a tiny piece of a needle and smelled it fervently! It smelled so much like Christmas and for a minute or two, us Americans were gitty about the holiday coming up.
I'll also be starting my design work very soon, which is exciting. We've been thinking about the website and other design projects for a really long time, so I'm stoked to go ahead and get started on things. Oh and P.S.: I now love Coke Blak! (coffee and coke) It's amaaaazing.

Prayer Requests for Me:

1) I am so thankful that I have not become too terribly ill since I've been here, minus some discomfort the first few days- a big surprise! Please continue to pray for my stable physical, mental and spiritual health.

2) Please pray for me (and the team) as I (we) continue to slave over learning Slovak. I'm sure I've said this before, but it is a very complicated language. I am hoping that I won't get burned out on learning it!

3) I will be starting my behind-the-scenes design work next week. Please pray for guidance with this as I work on designing the website, brochures and other needs.

Prayer Requests for the Team:

1) We're in a huge transitional time right now. Miriam, the ministry coordinator here, is going back to the States for 4 months on leave. That means everything she handles on a day to day basis will now be handed down to everyone else. If you knew how much she does, you'd know that this is a big deal! Especially because almost everyone here is either brand new or hasn't been here longer than 2 years. So pray that we'd not only have guidance about how to lead when she's gone, but also that she can leave with total peace about leaving.

2) All of the other interns (Ryan, Anya, and Gina) are also leaving for the Holidays--though Anya will be back in January for a while and Gina will be back after New Years I believe. We're also welcoming back the Lesondaks in December (the family that started this ministry who have been in the states for a year and a half), and also a new family who has one child and will be here in January I think. We're also anticipating the return of Janna Scheflen who will be here for 2 years. So as you can see, lots of people coming and going over the next 2 months, so please pray for safety, for smooth transitions, and that the Lord would provide guidance to those who are considering coming back.

3) Please pray for direction for The Building. We are making very important decisions about our goals and missions, if we should keep raising money for a possible new Building in Trnava, whether we should move to another city as well, and many more long term goals. These are complicated decisions and need guidance from the Lord.

4) Pray for a continuation of peace within the team members here, especially in the next few months in our big transition period.

Acclimation

2008-11-12T02:25:00.000-08:00

Well I'm getting started on the second week of living here and I thought I'd share some new random things. First, let me praise the Lord in this smooth transition I've had over the past 7 days. (In fact it's almost to the minute that I arrived a week ago!). Physically, I'm very thankful that my jet lag and sickness only lasted about 5 days. I'm finally waking up at a normal hour, though I still haven't gone a whole night without waking up early. I'm such a light sleeper that a car starting or cat meowing 7 stories down can wake me up!

Mentally/Emotionally things are going well. I don't believe the reality of me being here has actually hit me yet! So for now I'll bask in the naivety of this honeymoon stage :) I was thinking the other day that I spent so long preparing my mind for living here that this transition of living in this country has been really smooth so far. I, for the most part, had a good idea of what I was getting myself into so it wasn't such a shock.
There are still some lingering things that I'm really not used to yet- some good, some bad. It's still a shock that it's completely dark outside by 5 pm, and starts to get dark by 4:30 or so. That is so strange! In January I hear it gets dark by 4, and starts to get dark before 3:30! It really messes with my internal clock.I'm not used to walking everywhere I need to go. I like this though- I enjoy it now. However, I like it more when I can walk by myself at my own pace. People here walk sooo fast so my short little legs are struggling to keep up. It hasn't been too cold yet, which I'm actually kinda thankful for, in regards to my transition. The problem though, is that because I'm walking (and sometimes fast) I get hot by the time I get to my destination- and the buildings are so well warmed that I end up sweating much of the time (something I didn't expect). So there's a lot of putting on coats and hats and gloves and then taking them all off, etc.
I walked around Trnava with my trusty mini camera the other day to take pictures and figure out my way around. I love the size of the city- not so big it's impossible to find your way around, not so small that I feel claustrophobic. I was about to take a picture of a sign near a pedestrian area and this man came up to me and motioned his hand towards the nearby benches and said, "Sandwiches? Sandwiches?" and I said "Nehovorim po Slovensky" (I don't speak Slovak) and he kept asking me so I just left. I really haven't had too many awkward stranger encounters so far, which has been nice! (Had a lot of those in Ethiopia...)

This is my new Slovak teacher/old friend Miska. This was the friend I visited up in Ohio when my car broke down, yay! We had our first lesson yesterday and it went well. We'll start out with 3 lessons a week, then eventually taper down to 2, then 1. I'm glad that I tried to learn some SK words when I was home. It hasn't helped my conjugations at all, but has helped in other ways.

Anyhow, that's about all I can think of that's worth talking about at the moment. Feel free to leave comments on this blog with questions too! Let me know if you DON'T have Facebook and still want to see my photos. That's where I'm posting them.

Trnava, Slovakia... Travel and First Impressions

2008-11-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

For the next ~year you will hear many random ramblings and observations from me. Right now I'm a tad bit overwhelmed and sick feeling (as one would be if they were moving to a foreign country). I'll just write my observations and happenings from the past 48 hours...sorry for the length... but expect me to be longwinded for a while :) Also, I've been too nasty feeling to take pictures so this will all be words.

I flew United Airlines for 2 legs of the trip, which caused me to roll my eyes before even arriving the airport because in my opinion United is a totally incompetent airline. I arrived with my luggage, expecting there to be some sort of problem with my luggage weight. To my amazement, my weight was dead on which was a huge relief. Except, as they were entering in my information the woman behind the counter asked for my visa. I told them I'll get my visa when I get to my destination. They said I was wrong and they wouldn't let me get on the plane without a visa or unless I had a return ticket in 90 days or less. Eventually we found out that we just had to book the ticket back but we could cancel it once I got to SK with no charges. I knew that was stupid but I did it anyway. An HOUR later I got my boarding pass.

The first leg to Washington was alright- nothing special. Once I got off the plane I took my sleep aids in anticipation of sleeping all the way to Munich for 8 hours. Little did I know that for the next 8 hours I would be drowsily dropping in my seat, unable to fall asleep. At this point I was so concerned with making my flights and getting sleep that I was not at all preparing myself for what I was actually doing. The sun was rising and shining bright over the land. The orange sunlight illuminated the fog and the orange rooftops that I found so familiar yet so foreign. It wasn't till I saw the orange rooftops till I realized the weight of what I was doing!

One flight later I found myself in the Bratislava airport. It was surprisingly small and cute- one large room with one baggage claim and a set of bathrooms. Within 3 or 4 minutes both of my bags and my guitar came rolling along the belt. I smiled as I thanked God for proving my very necessary luggage. I could see the legs of my welcome party of two outside, but once you went out the doors you couldn't come back in. So amazingly enough I figured out how to carry 2 50 lb. bags, one guitar, a 30 lb. backpack and a 20 lb. carrying case by myself. Stumbling out of the double doors I met my welcomed my friends and was happy for a safe arrival.

Dan and Petra then took my luggage, hopped in Dan's van, gave me my schedule for the rest of the week, and drove to McDonalds. Mind you, this is one of the most elegant McDonalds I've ever seen. By this time I had been feeling terrible since about 2 pm the day before. So I ate little and didn't finish the weird Diet Coke. By the way, it's like 9 pm the day after I've arrived and I've been feeling bad since then. My stomach has been up and down- my appetite has been weird and I've been just... off.

So for the past day and a half I've mainly just been trying to get settled, went shopping a little, went to the Building, went out to eat with folks and I've been trying to rest too. OH and tonight we went to go to see 007 at the theatre too. I've also walked quite a bit, which is exactly what I've expected. It's weird to come out of a restaurant and just start walking. Usually I stuff myself silly and then sit in a car and feel terrible- so it's kinda nice to walk.

One of the things I'm really thankful for actually are a few things that rarely happen here- things that I believe is helping me adjust quicker. It's unseasonably warm, which is something I don't necessarily love, but I think if I came and it was snowy and rainy and nasty it would be harder to adjust. We're also going to hear Dan (an American) preach this Sunday, which is rare- so the first Sunday to hear the sermon in English will be really nice.

I'm so thankful that people don't share here. In Africa, everyone knows you're a foreigner and they stare at you so rudely. Here, I don't stick out too much and people don't make me feel uncomfortable- that is a really nice transition too.

Okay okay, so random observations...

- Europeans drink lots of water with gas. Yeah that's what it's called- like carbonated water. I must be an American cause I don't like it... YET. So when you order it you've gotta ask for water with no gas- voda ne..something.

- Slovaks are super fashionable! Seriously, I'm like way behind the times compared to many of the people I've seen in the past day. Speaking of which, probably 90% of the people I've passed so far have been under 25 or so. Remember that stat I talked about during my presentation about about 2/3 of the people in Trnava were under 20? Yeah, I totally believe that now. Sometimes I've felt like I was on a college campus!

- I'm on the 7th floor of this apartment building. We've gotta ride an elevator to the top that's built for 2 people, or 4 if you stuff yourselves in. There aren't automatic doors on it either. Instead you open a regular sized door, then push open 2 little doors. I'll have to take a picture.

- We had a team meeting yesteday morning for like 3 hours, but it was nice. We sang hymns and prayed for most of the time. My roommate (literally) Anya and I tried to make cinnamon buns but they didn't turn out so well.

- Just about everyone on the team reminds me of someone back home. Dan reminds me of my friend Joe. Ryan reminds me of my step-bro John. It's crazy...

- They weren't lying when they said everything is more expensive here. I went shopping for shampoo and random stuff today- not enough to even fill a shopping basket and it cost me about 60 EU, which is about $90.

- There is so much more English around town than I expected. On buildings, in the malls, on things you buy at the store... it's weird to see it, but I think it'll actually be really refreshing once I need to experience something familiar.

- Beer is cheaper than water. Yesterday I got a tiny bottled water for like $1.75 in the restaurant (because they don't do free tap water), and then I noticed beer was 17 SKK, so about 70 cents.

- Speaking of free, not everything is free of charge here like you'd expect after living in the States. Shopping carts, use of the bathrooms, ketchup in the restaurant, and water are just a few things that you have to pay extra for usually.

-Did I already say this? People not only walk wherever they go, but my local friends walk pretty fast too. It's totally normal for them, but more of a workout for us Americans! I like it, but it also makes me feel even worse when I feel sick already!

Well there's a lot more but I'll stop for your sakes! I hope you'll join me over the next year as I attempt to recreate what I experience here.

Addresses

2008-10-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! I just wanted to post my new addresses to the top right of the blog. If you're ever in the mood to send some cheer my way, there's how!

Departing Soon!

2008-10-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Join me in praise! The Lord has provided me with full support!

Thank you so much for all of your prayer, encouragement and support. I can't even begin to express how this past year has changed me and how God has taught me lessons of trust and humility. I am very excited to finally be able to return to the Heart of Europe.

We found an unbelievable price on my ticket to Bratislava as well! My flight leaves around noon on November 4th (Election day....and yes, I'm voting that morning!), and I'd like to spend time with and/or speak over the phone with as many of you as possible. The next 3 1/2 weeks will go by quickly, so if you'd like to get together, please do contact me soon!

While I am gone, I will not have phone access, though I will have Skype which is a program that allows us to speak over the computer, free of charge. If you'd like to be updated on my status, my experiences and the ministry, I encourage you to keep this link handy: www.andetrumanslovakia.blogspot.com. I will be updating this as often as possible, sharing photos and stories regularly. I will be sending an E-newsletter once a month as well.

Again, thank you to all of you who have been encouraging me since one year ago when this process first started. I'd appreciate your prayers as I prepare for departure and especially while acclimating to Slovakia next month. If you have any other questions or concerns, don't hesitate to contact me.

Your Sister in Christ,

Ande

"Why Did You Move to NC?"

2008-09-21T11:54:00.000-07:00

So many people have been asking me that question since I moved back to Mebane. So for those of you reading this that still don't know the answer to that, I will explain it...

I got fired for going on this mission back to Slovakia. They gave me an extended grace period of 4 weeks because they needed to use me so I could finish some important projects. This "Christian" organization fired me because they didn't like the idea that they didn't have the upper hand and I could leave whenever I raised enough support. My lease ended on my apartment on that exact same week. So with no job and nowhere to live, I could have either stayed in Orlando, found another job, found another apartment (both of which wouldn't have worked because I had NO idea how long I would have been in the country), and somehow worked full time plus raising support.... OR I could have moved home with little to no rent, got a very flexible job and spent more time raising support. To me, the choice was easy. So I hope that answers everyone's question. I just wanted to clear that up :)

Frequent Flyer Miles as a Donation

2008-09-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Have frequent flyer miles you'd like to donate? Ask me if you'd like to know how to use your FF miles for my ticket to Slovakia next month! andetruman@gmail.com or reply to this message.

86%!

2008-09-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

That's right, 86%. I'm very excited! At this point I only need....

3 people at $100 per month
3 people at $50 per month
3 people at $25 per month

Will you be one of the 9 people to help me meet my goal?

andetruman@gmail.com

www.fizzthat.com/newsletter

Important Departure Update

2008-09-02T07:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

I'm writing to invite you to both rejoice and pray with me over the next two months. I want to share with you an important update regarding my mission to Slovakia. I hope to call or speak face to face with many of you so you can hear this first hand from me and ask me any questions you may have.

This September will mark one year of support raising. With prayer and also guidance from Mission to the World, we have decided to schedule my departure approximately around the last week of October, Lord willing. This is a cause to rejoice with me! I am so very eager to finally start my service!

However, I heartily covet your prayers. I am still lacking 18%, about $675 per month. I will still be able to receive gifts on the field while I am there, but it is important to leave with 100% so that I can focus on the ministry and the Lord's work, rather than support raising. Over the next two months I am hoping that you will join me in prayer and/or giving as I prayerfully seek the remainder of my necessary support.

I respectfully ask that if you intend on, or have verbally committed to supporting God's work in Slovakia, please send your support in to the address below. If you have already sent in a one-time gift, would you consider matching that gift for same time next year? If you would like to, click here to view and print an online pledge card (www.fizzthat.com/pledgecard. II Corinthians tells us to not give grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Friends, my job is to simply ask and whatever your decision may be, I trust the Lord in His provision!

Please join me in prayer. Thank you so very much for all of your encouragement and support. Take care!

Online Pledge Card: http://fizzthat.com/pledgecard

76%, Rising Dollar, and Depature Goal

2008-08-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

Due to recent developments, my support now stands at 76%. It was higher, but the church I mentioned in my previous post (read the post from a few days ago) will not be able to give as once promised, bringing me down from 82%.

Over the past few weeks, the dollar has actually started to go up compared to the Slovak Koruna! That's good for me- please continue to pray for this.

Hopefully this week I'll be able to tell you more details about my departure goal date.

Right now with the support I have, I could serve for about 7 months. As you know, I've committed to 12. Though it is tempting to leave now and get started, I feel as though I should wait upon the Lord's provision and hope that 100% comes in. If you're confused about when I'm leaving, and why I could technically leave now, that's normal. :) I'll explain it in a few days.

Stay tuned!

82% and Important Prayer Request

2008-08-15T09:54:00.001-07:00

Here's an updated breakdown of supporters needed! By the way, I know a lot of you can't commit to monthly gifts, and any gift whatsoever is so appreciated, no matter how much. So don't think that since you can't do monthly gifts it wouldn't make a difference! This is just an easier way for a lot of people to see it.

$585 per month (or $7,025 total) still needed

3 people at $100 per month
4 people at $50 per month
4 people at $25 per month

Prayer Request: As you're probably aware, the dollar continues to drop steadily compared to the Slovak crown. My MTW representative and I are going to be looking at this soon to see how much it has dropped and how much more support I'll be needing because of it. Please pray that the drop will be small and I won't need to raise a substantial amount more.

Also, a church that had committed to a substantial amount ($2,400) will probably be pulling their donation completely. Their financial situation at the church is VERY bad because of certain events over the past few years with their congregation. Please pray that -their financial situation would improve and they would be able to follow through with their commitments... or that God would provide this loss to me soon. By the way, this loss is not included in my support still needed because it's not 100% sure.

79.5% and Saturday's Total

2008-08-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, we had an excellent turn-out yesterday at the car wash! At one point we had 28 workers! I'm not exactly sure how many cars we did, but we didn't really get more than a minute or two of rest working from one car to the next- so a nice steady flow from 8:30 till 4 pm. We made $1,030! That boosted me up to almost 80%. Now, I believe my numbers are:

4 People at $100 per month
4 People at $50 per month and
3 people at $25 per month

This is feasible to obtain before my goal of the end of September!

77%

2008-08-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all! Yes, we're over 3/4 of the way there. Only $750 per month left!

We'd love to have you come out this Saturday to the car wash, either to get your car washed or help scrub with us. This event will be hosted by the Grace Reformed Baptist Church youth group.

As most of you discovered, my goal is to be in Slovakia starting my service before October. Would you prayerfully consider being a part of this and sending me to serve in Trnava?

Almost 3/4....

2008-07-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm at 72%!

In the next month, expect my percentage to go down some due to a few factors--1) the dollar is still dropping, and their currency is strong, SO that means more will be needed. We're going to look at that in a few weeks though. 2) A church that was going to give a substantial amount is more than likely going to have to retreat from their pledge because of unforeseen severe financial stress.

In the meantime, I'm going to rejoice in my status now :)

Car Wash! Saturday, August 9th in Mebane

2008-07-23T06:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I wanted to invite you join us while we scrub cars to raise funds for my mission to Slovakia! It will take place Saturday, August 9th in Mebane on Mebane Oaks Road at the Advanced Auto Parts (in front of Lowe's Foods, beside Blue Ribbon).

We'll get started pretty early, probably arriving at 8:30 or 9 and staying until we get tired or run out of business :) So far the GRBC youth group is going to be heading this up. Whether you'd like to actually scrub the cars, hold signs and/or dance by the road and try to get people in, or go out on your own entrepreneurial excursion and sell lemonade or watermelon or something, you're welcome to do that too.

If you can make it, we'd love to have you. Also, if you have any scrub brushes, buckets, soap, etc. please bring them so we don't have to buy them. Not exactly sure what we're doing for lunch, but if someone, or a few people, would like to donate a few pizzas or something that would be excellent!

Comment on this post or send me an email at andetruman@gmail.com (or call me at 407.739.8571) if you want to come help. Thanks!

Presentation at GRBC

2008-07-15T10:54:00.001-07:00

I want to thank everyone for sticking around after prayer meeting to hear my presentation! It was so great to be able to share some of the details with you. Obviously, because I had little time, I had to condense everything...leaving many details out. If you'd still like to know more, or have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and we can get together for a meal or coffee if you wish!

Questions from The Ladies Missionary Society Meeting - 60%

2008-07-09T13:09:00.001-07:00

There were a few questions from the Ladies Missionary Society this last Saturday that I needed to do some more research on before I confidently answered them.

Q: "Do you have a book ministry? If not, do you ever plan to have one? If not, are there Christian books readily available in Slovak for new Christians?" (If I am leaving out anything for the person that asked this question, please leave a comment!)

A: The staff at The Building has thought about, and is continuing to think about starting a book ministry. Specifically, they would like to start with translating some of Kris Lundgaard's books. As you may know, Kris is there with his family. While there is not a wealth of Christian books in Slovak, they do exist for new Christians. There are two specific publishing houses printing these books in both Czech and Slovak.

Q: "Once someone professes faith, what happens after that? Is there a plan of action? Does the Slovak pastor 'take over' or is it a group effort? Who are they accountable to, who helps them along in their faith?"

A: Generally, it is a group effort, as it depends on which relationships are stronger. We just joined the denomination in Slovakia with its' own pastor (Juraj), so the planning is coming.

I'm sure I'll understand the answers to these questions better when I am there, but I hope this helps you understand a bit more. Keep the questions coming!

Good Resources about Slovakia - 57%!

2008-06-23T18:00:00.001-07:00

I just found this website that has some great info about Slovakia, probably the most in-detail resource I've found so far. http://www.iyfnet.org/section.cfm/192/193

Presentation at Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Mebane - 53.4%!

2008-06-20T10:47:00.001-07:00

Hello all! I wanted to let you know that I will be giving a presentation at the church on Wednesday, July 9th right after prayer meeting, Lord willing. I'll be explaining in further detail what I will be doing in Slovakia, more about the country, the ministry, and the needs of the people.

I would love if if you came to hear what's going on! Right now the date is penciled in, so if it changes I will let you know.

In the meantime, if you'd like to get together face to face for a meal or coffee, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Thanks, and hope to see you there!

50.4%

2008-06-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I wanted to inform you that I am currently at 50.4%! That's very exciting!

I would also appreciate your prayers about a few presentations I have coming up in the next few weeks. I'll be speaking at a PCA church in Burlington, NC this coming Sunday morning...as well as a Ladies Missionary Society at my home church in Mebane, NC and also speaking at my home church to everyone on a Wednesday night coming up soon (though we haven't set a date).

Thanks y'all!

When am I leaving?

2008-05-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

That's a mighty good question. People ask me this almost daily and I wish I had a better answer for you. I leave when I get 100% of my funds for the next year. MTW requires this so that fundraising isn't a part of my work on the field (it wont distract me), and so I'm not financially stuck over there in the middle of my year.

Some people ask, "What if it takes you another year to raise the support?". Well, MTW's general rule of thumb is that the longest it should take to raise support is the amount of time you're going. Obviously some people have the resources, connections and church support to get them there almost immediately. However, in my particular situation it is not working out that way.

I started raising support in September. So in late August/September of this year, if I'm not there yet, we're going to "renegotiate" the amount of time I go. If I am only at 60% or so, then more than likely we will lower the period of time I go. If I am at 95% then I will continue raising support till I get to 100%. We'll have to cross that bridge when I get there.

MTW, the team in Slovakia, and I, are hopeful that I will be on the field before that time- but obviously God wants me there when he wants me there.

I boldly ask for you to PLEASE pray for me during this time. It has been a trial lately and my patience still needs work. I am working at Camp Chestnut Ridge as a cook/pseudo-chef and doing as much fundraising as possible when I am not there.

Lowered Costs

2008-05-30T22:03:00.001-07:00

Heidi ho! Wanted to let ya know that I lowered the prices on my photography fundraising book. A few people are enjoying these books already! Check it out! http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/163423

Don't be Intimidated!

2008-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've heard the following quote from so many people, "Anything I can give probably won't make much of a difference for you. You really need people to come along with thousands of dollars per month!"

Well, first of all, I only need about $2,000 per month remaining - so technically I only need ONE person at that much!

Second, please don't think that unless you have a lot to give it won't make a difference! Please hear me! Every single dollar makes a difference, and it doesn't matter to me if you can't give much. It just means so much to me that you'd be willing to give ANYTHING! That's between you and the Lord. I used to be embarrassed around missionaries or anyone doing mission work because I thought that my $10 or $20 couldn't make a difference. I no longer think that, and gladly give anything I can, even if it's only a few dollars.

Please don't let the total amount I need to raise to intimidate your giving!

We're at about 43% today. Slowly but surely getting there!

Do you have any friends, family, churches, small groups, etc. who has a heart for missions? I'd love to tell them about what the Lord is doing in Slovakia and how they can be a part of it!

Are you in a small group or bible study? Have you considered pledging together as a group? Giving as a group gives your group a chance to be a part of sharing the Gospel around the world, and may only end up being literally a few dollars for each person! Call or e-mail me for more info!

Answer to Prayer and More Prayer Requests

2008-04-21T13:17:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to inform y'all that I finally got a car today. I had been borrowing my family's truck for a few months, and needed to get my own.

I also may be looking into the possibility of finding another place to live in the Mebane/Burlington/Hillsborough area. If you have, or know someone who has a spare bedroom that I may be able to temporarily stay in, please contact me. Any time period can be arranged, but since I am praying that support raising will be quick, I do not plan on the period being long.

I know I've said this a thousand times, but please pray for my patience during fundraising. I trust the Lord in his infinite wisdom and sovereignty...but my sinful human self tends to feel the difficulty in waiting for the provision. Please pray for my attitude and my heart as well, that I will continue to trust the Lord.

In times when things are difficult, I constantly remind myself that God has changed my heart, and I feel that He's clearly called me to His service--and even though financial difficulties have been with me from the beginning, it is no indication to stop raising funds!

2008-04-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings all! I wanted to check in and give you all an update of how things have gone since Saturday. As you know, I am up in Pennsylvania speaking at a Round Robin Missions Conference. There are many churches involved, but I am speaking at 6 churches this week to bring awareness to what God is doing in Slovakia and my journey to get back!

Sunday I spoke at Faith Reformed Church in Erie, PA. It went very well and I spoke for about an hour at the adult Sunday School class. It's always impossible for me to stuff my entire story in an hour, but I think we did pretty well for the time I had. Thank you, Faith Reformed Church for allowing me to speak and for the wonderful luncheon! Also, thank you, Barb for allowing me to stay at your house Saturday night! Sunday after the service I drove south a few hours to my next destination, Fairview Reformed Church in Industry, PA. I am actually staying with the pastor of Fairview, Richard Raines and his wife until Thursday. Since many of the churches are within an hour of Fairview, their house will be my base for most of the week. Sunday evening I went to Fairview to attend the evening service there and for Pastor Raines to introduce me to the congregation. I broke my first rule of public speaking which is *Don't drink caffeine before you talk* so I was a little shaky but I survived. It was more of an informal service, especially at the beginning, so Pastor Raines called out to the congregation to see who would take me bowling and out to lunch! They quickly volunteered. So the next morning, at 9:30 a.m., they picked me up to take me bowling! There were about 20 people there or so, and people that were 3x my age were schooling me in bowling. However, for just rolling out of bed, I played a decent game of 128! I think early morning bowling should be a new trend! Stay tuned for more updates! Wireless internet is not an easy thing to find in the country of Pennsylvania, but I did find one coffee shop with wi-fi. Take care!

2008-03-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give you an unfortunate financial update. Because of the consistent plummet of the American dollar against the strong Slovak Koruna, my budget requirements have risen and I lost about 3% of what I had due to the rise.

I did some research and noticed that not even 5 years ago, $1 U.S.D. was worth approximately ~40 Slovak Koruna, while today it is worth approximately ~21 Slovak Koruna. (Correct me if I'm wrong). I wouldn't be surprised if my required budget continues to grow as the dollar drops.

God is surely providing despite hard times. I would appreciate your prayers in this matter, and that the Lord would swiftly provide the remainder of this support!

2008-03-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'll be flying up to Pennsylvania for a little over a week to attend a round robin Missions Conference with about 8 or 9 smaller churches. I'll be getting a rental car when I get there and driving to about 6 different churches, some ranging up to a few hours away from eachother.

Please pray that my nerves won't be shaken, and that I can effectively communicate what God's been doing with me--both confidently and comfortably. Also please pray for my safety while traveling. The last time I was up in that area in February, I ended up breaking down and selling my car!

We're still at 41% or so today. An overwhelming number of people have offered to help in some way or another in the past few weeks though, so I'm trying to have a positive outlook on my support status.

For example, last night I spoke to a group of 10 who are in a bible study group. Our time went very well and I am so appreciative of them allowing me to come and speak! Special thanks to Tony and Ina Diana!

I hope to also have an informational session at my church in Mebane as soon as possible. Please pray that this would happen swiftly.

So many of you have asked to meet with me personally to find out more about the ministry in Slovakia and where I fit in. My schedule revolves around you! Please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me and we'll set up an appointment. I'd love to buy you some coffee!

That's it for now. Thanks everyone!

Getting a Head Start

2008-03-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the first installment of my language study flash cards tonight. There are approximately 650-700 cards that I've made by hand...they were made by cutting up blank 3x5 index cards into thirds, then punching a hole in one end, writing English on one side and Slovak on the back, putting a rip cord through a stack of 25-75 (depending on difficulty), then using a caribeaner to keep it all together. It probably cost less than $5.00 for the entire set. I won't lie, it took an incredible amount of time to do this, but I think it'll be well worth it.

Ever since I returned from Slovakia I've been trying to remember words and phrases here and there, but since the new year I've been trying to focus on finding methods to learn the language (especially since I've been living in NC with extra time to dedicate to this). Now that I've finally completed the flash cards I can start studying more efficiently.

That uneasy face I'm wearing is because of the difficulty I've already experienced in learning and remembering words and grammar rules. So even though I don't expect to have any reasonable knowledge of Slovak by the time I get to Slovakia *(whenever that may be)*, I do hope to at least get a head start in learning vocabulary and essential phrases.

Anyone have any other suggestions for learning a language? Or even Slovak?

Staying Patient

2008-03-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here reading the first few chapters of Romans and saw a few verses that made me smile...

- (Abraham) He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said.....but it's not just Abraham, it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless.

- We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, w're never left feeling shortchanged.

Please pray that the Lord would give me the patience and peace that 'surpasses all understanding'.

We're at 41% :)

FAQ's, and we're at 40%!

2008-03-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hello all!

I wanted to take this opportunity and answer some more frequently asked questions. I had done this a few months ago but since my situation has changed a bit, it's appropriate to answer new questions.

1) What are you doing now? (the most asked question!) I moved back to North Carolina to live with my family at the beginning of February. I am spending most of my time on raising funds for Slovakia.

2) Are you working? I have a part-time job at a kid's camp I worked at for 3 years. Usually I watch kids during the week, though I cook for large retreat groups that come in, and will occasionally be involved in environmental education when needs arise. However, like I said, I am spending much of my time trying to raise funds.

3) What do you mean when you say "fund raising"? What does that look like? I spend much of my time making phone calls, e-mails, and other organizational things. For example, I will be speaking at a missions conference in PA at the end of March and I have to arrange all of my travel plans. My office is anywhere that has free wireless internet and good coffee! I'll spend anywhere from 2-8 hours a day there usually. That time is also dedicated to meeting with people one-on-one who would like to know more information about the mission.

4) How long are you going to be home? There is no possible way I can even give a decent guess to this question. I had hoped to be in Slovakia in January, so obviously my intentions are to get there as soon as possible. Whether it takes 2 weeks or 9 months, I have no way of knowing. It is completely dependent on how quickly the funds come in. I am praying that God would allow my time in North Carolina to be short, as I am anxious to start working. However, I am also praying for patience that I would understand daily that God's timing is so much better than my own.

5) Are you learning the language? Well, I sure am trying to learn as much as possible, though I will admit it's been a bit difficult to learn. I've made posters and flash cards to help me out. Language study is a part of my daily routine. Oh, and for any Slovaks out there- go ahead and make fun of my very cheesy study guides. I welcome it, especially the horribly drawn human. :)

Car Needed ASAP! - 36%

2008-02-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! We are at 36% today!

As you know, I've moved back to North Carolina with my family temporarily until I raise enough support to leave. On the way home from Florida I drove up to Ohio to visit a Slovak friend. To make a long story short, my car not only broke down twice in Ohio, but the repairs were so extensive I had to sell it before I came home because it was not drivable! I had to get a rental car and transfer all of my belongings into it just to get back to North Carolina.

This means I am without a car. I am temporarily using a family car but it will not be available much longer. Because I will only be in the country for a short time, I don't have too many options. An ideal situation would be to either a) buy an inexpensive clunker car and sell it before I go or the BEST option: 2) "rent" a car from someone local.

I hope to only be in the country anywhere from 1-4 more months (the sooner the better!) and I would be willing to pay someone monthly to let me borrow a spare car.

Do any of you happen to own a spare car and would be willing to let me "rent" (borrow) it until I leave for Slovakia soon?? Please let me know ASAP!

Cell: 407-739-8571 or Home: 919-563-5346

Ande

2008-01-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

I want to give an enormous THANK YOU to Relevant Media Group (http://www.relevantnetwork.com/) in Orlando (Relevant, Radiant, and Leader. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/ ). I myself subscribe to Relevant Magazine (the only mag subscription I've ever had, and well worth it!), and was sad to know that it would be so difficult to get it while in Slovakia. Oh by the way, this is where I've been wanting to get a job for over a year!

I e-mailed them last week saying that some of the folks in Trnava really enjoyed Relevant Magazine, and so did I. I asked if it would be possible if I could take 10-15 issues of their old copies that aren't on the shelves anymore- only halfway expecting an answer back, to be honest. The next week a wonderful gal named Theresa e-mailed me and told me to come on by to pick them up! I went there last night to get them and she came to the front with a smile and a huge stack of magazines. She even went to the back to get MORE! She gave me at least 22-25 issues of Relevant, Radiant and Leader for me to take to Slovakia with me and keep at the ministry.

She sent me on my way with a smile and a hug, and I left there with a huge smile on my face, feeling so thankful for these guys for being so generous.

So Theresa, Cameron, anybody else who had a hand in that decision.... THANK YOU!! You're taking part in investing in a real difference.

2008-01-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

So the other night I went to a Christian concert over at the college arena at UCF. It was Mercy Me, Barlow Girl, some other guys, and the reason I went: Skillet. For any Skillet fans out there, it was a fantastic show!

Anyway, in between sets there was a speaker who "entertained" the crowd while the next band set up. I have to admit, this guy was good. He gave an entire synopsis of the Gospel in a brief, funny, truthful, and clear way. He not only shared it through a great analogy, but threw in humor, some very serious consequences to not believing, and in a pretty tasteful way invited those who wanted to change their lives to take action. Over a thousand people stood up because they wanted to make a change, whether for the first time or for the 50th time. The tour even sent them all information, books, and devotionals to help with their walk.

While my attitude at first was "Bring back the music!!" at first, I was humbled pretty quickly as he kept speaking. How selfish I was to demand the musical distractions while he's trying to explain to thousands of people the message of the Gospel in their own youthful language.

By the end of his 15 minute speech, to be honest, I had a sincere jealousy for how he was able to express the Gospel in the way that he did. I really respected this guy for how great he communicated, and it made me want to learn how to communicate better. He was loud, funny, outgoing, and well-spoken. I started to feel a little down on myself, thinking, "Wow, if I was asked to get up on stage and say what he did, I'm about 100% sure it wouldn't be as great." In a very tricky way, Satan came into that scenario and wanted me to believe that if I couldn't speak as good as the speaker, I might as well give up. He wanted me to believe that I'm too soft-spoken and shy, to scared, to reserved to be effective in showing Christ to unbelievers, simply because I wasn't as "good" as this guy.

Soon after, I was reassured something pretty important. God is going to use me despite my sin. Despite my shortcomings and all the ways I fail, He's going to use the person who He's made to advance His kingdom in maybe a different way than someone else. There are unbelievers out there who would be completely turned off from the Gospel if they heard this guy speak. There are unbelievers who are tired of the way a lot of people are sharing the Gospel with them. There are a lot of people like me who find a huge value in a one-on-one discussion and close friendships.... who are quiet and reserved... who went through the same problems I went through as a kid... who are just looking for someone like them to share God's love in a really special way.

From what I have been told, this relational type of process is what the young people in Slovakia can relate to. Not all of them, of course, but some. I look forward to finding all the different ways that God has created me to share His love in "custom" ways to each individual young person. We're all called to be different parts of The Body of Christ. It's an understatement to say that it's a relief to have a God that loves you and will use you no matter how often you fall short!

Bauer HAS a Home! - Travel Plans - Prayer Requests

2008-01-22T08:25:00.001-08:00

Finally... I found a home for my cat after 6 months! Now I can move forward without worrying about him...

So this is my last week at work at Strang Communications. I'll be leaving next Monday for a long trip home.

I'll be stopping in Tallahassee for a night, through Atlanta to visit Mission to the World, then up to Chattanooga to visit friends at Covenant College for a night. After that I'll go to Asheville, NC for a night and then up to Lakeside, Ohio for at least 3 or 4 nights.

From there I will either go home to NC or stop in NY and/or PA to visit family. Please pray for my safety during these travels. I had severe car trouble over the weekend, and even though the cost of getting it fixed was substantial, I am so thankful that I didn't break down in the middle of nowhere by myself!

If any of you live in these areas and want to meet up for coffee or a meal, please please call me!

__________________

Other than that, things are going okay. I'm not nearly as stressed as I thought I would be... at least not yet. Leaving my friends in Orlando is going to be a very very difficult thing for me to do.

Once I get home, I'm going to immediately start working at Camp Chestnut Ridge part time during the week/weekend. Most of my time will be dedicated to raising support.

I really do covet your prayers during this time.

Well, I'll write a bit more later. Hope y'all are having a good week!

2008-01-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

Hello! I wanted to spread the word that I've "published" a photo book that is available for sale here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/163423 All profit will go directly to my support as I raise funds to go back to Slovakia for a year.

Bauer needs a home asap!

2008-01-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. We're at 27.8% today!

As some of you know (because I've blatantly asked you), I have to find a home for my cat. I obviously can't take him with me to SK. I've been looking for 3 months for a home, but no one seems to be able to take him. I've even tried taking him to the SPCA, and long story short, they wouldn't take him.

I am running out of options! Would any of you be willing to adopt a new cat?

Here's a little about him. His name is Bauer, and he's an orange tabby cat. I found him a little over a year ago on September 11th as a stray, and he was a baby when I found him. He has been neutered and declawed in the front paws (so he won't scratch up your furniture!). Bauer is extremely playful, loves attention, loves to be pet, loves to play games with you, and his favorite game is fetch. Yep, he'll fetch stuff like a dog, it's very cute. He'll come to you when you call his name or whistle and stop doing something when you say stop.

If you decide to take Bauer, you'll get all the fixin's with him, including a covered litter box, continuous food feeder, lots of toys, flea medication, etc. Oh, and he's had all his shots too and he has no health problems.

If you would like to come meet him, or if you'd like to take him, please please let me know as soon as possible! I need to find a home BEFORE JANUARY 22nd!!!

1/4 of The Way There!

2007-12-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Hello there!

It's been about three weeks since I've written on here. I haven't updated this site simply because my status had not changed very dramatically.

I did want to just give you a quick update and let you know that we are at 25%!

For those of you reading this, you should have received an update last week and 2 weeks prior to that regarding other matters of support. If you'd like to receive this, please e-mail me at andetruman@gmail.com

God has surely been good to me over the past few months since I've started raising support. I covet all of your prayers, especially over the next month or so as I prepare to leave for Slovakia. I am on standby, ready to leave as soon as the Lord provides the financial support.

I had hoped to go home for the holidays and leave soon after that, however, due to the circumstances I will probably be coming back to Florida to continue working at Strang Communications until I have reached my goal. Please pray for me during this time!

I've had a few questions about alternate ways to send in support, and I wanted to remind you that you are able to call Mission to the World at 678-823-0004 ext. 2451 to give donations. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has given so graciously to this effort. I appreciate everything you have done for the Lord! Lord willing, I will be updating this again before Christmas time if my status has changed, so please stay tuned!

Driving in the Fog

2007-11-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

Well folks (whoever you are that actually read this), I think it's about time I have a little heart to heart. My good friend has been mentioning authenticity lately, and that got me thinking. To be honest, I struggle with knowing what information I should post on this site for you all to read. It's not that I have a problem with being open with what's going on, but I'm just not sure if the intention of the site is to keep you up to date on my support, or to keep you up to date with ME. I guess I'd like to make it a little bit of both-- because I feel that it's important for me to be honest with my supporters.

I bet every single one of you have seen a movie with the following plot synopsis: Main character has major obstacle in story, character is determined to overcome obstacle, character ends story with conveniently conquering the problem, rises up above problem, cut, end of story, we feel nice and smile in our unrealistic plot resolution. Have you ever seen a movie where the resolution to the problem never happened? The main character didn't come out victorious, and the movie left you in a sort of uneasy feeling. "Where is the resolution? Where is my perfect ending?" you say.

A month ago when I first started raising support, my "character" had a major obstacle to overcome. I was not only determined to overcome the obstacle, but planned on conveniently fixing the problem myself and rising above the issue with no setbacks or worry. Lately, I've begun to wonder if I may have picked up the wrong script. Did I got lost on the way to the right studio and end up in the "Not-So-Victorious-Type-Of-Film"?

If I'm losing you with this strange metaphor, I apologize. Let me get back to a realistic dialogue. For the past month I've been planning fundraisers to help the support come along. I tried really hard to make it work, I spent hours on the phone and in e-mails, hustling to get it together. I was so confident that they would all be a success, they would be unique and fun and perfect. I thought, "I have too much to raise to just sit here and do nothing!" Well, come to find out, (very long story, very short), all of the fundraisers fell through. They were all cancelled for various reasons. The most recent event with the most potential, the most excitement, and the most disappointment when it fell through, was a benefit concert. It came down to being cancelled because we couldn't find a stage in time.

My first reaction to these events being cancelled was, to be honest, real frustration. I simply could not understand what I had done wrong and why these things couldn't happen.

On top of that, I've been working out some conflicts in regard to my support raising, and different kinds of resistance. If you know me well at all, you know I'm a pretty sensitive person...so all these factors in the same pot really made for some interesting internal struggle. Satan honestly and truthfully used these circumstances to try and make me stumble.

I have felt the epitome of humility over the past month. I feel like I should have an "OFFICIALLY HUMBLED" stamp on my forehead. Why? Because I've been trying to do this myself. I (Me, Myself, and I, that is), have worked myself silly trying to communicate what God has commanded me to do. I may have even done it in such a way that has been slightly abrasive to you--and if I have, I do apologize. Please do not misinterpret my excitement for the Lord's work for being something of an annoyance. (I say this also not to make you feel awkward). Anyway, back on track!

Here comes the big, HOWEVER you've been waiting to hear. HOWEVER, we serve a faithful God, do we not? The Lord has not let go of me, nor will He ever. Through these discouraging few weeks, I really have learned something. I am learning to let go of this. Hold on, don't worry- not "LET GO" for good. I mean I'm letting go of trying to do this myself. Instead, I plan on letting God take care of it from now on. This doesn't mean I'm going to stop working at it...but there comes a point where you have to give up taking things on yourself that belong to God.

After Christmas, my future is a big ol' question mark. Most of you know that my family is in North Carolina, and I'll be going there for the holidays..but whether or not I'll come back or stay is impossible to determine right now. Many of you have asked me about this, so here's a chance for me to answer honestly and bluntly: Where I go depends on my support status. Friends, I hope to be close to my goal, if not surpassed by goal by New Years. Trust me, I fully understand this is potentially impractical; but the question isn't whether it's impractical for me (cause obviously that's true), but whether it's impractical for God. Well...it's not...not for Him anyway.

Technically, I could get a phone call in 30 seconds from someone telling me they'd like to offer the rest of my support. Technically, it could be 6 months or more (Heaven forbid) till I get the support. It's not up to me. So to answer your question more fully- if I'm most of the way there by New Years, I'll stay in North Carolina till I reach my goal and leave as soon as possible. If I'm not anywhere close, then I'll probably come back to Florida and continue working till I reach my goal. Like I've said a thousand times, it's not a matter of IF, but a matter of WHEN.

This, as you can imagine, can be a bit difficult. It's like driving in the fog when you can only see a few feet in front of you. I covet your prayers! I was reading over my support letter today, and I noticed something. I asked you all to give before I asked you to pray in the letter. Friends, please, pray first. Prayer is powerful!

In the meantime, I am taking one day at a time. I am planning my life as though I will be leaving for Slovakia "as planned", during January sometime. I have sold or given away probably 75% of what I own, I'm buying winter coats for the frigid winter in Slovakia, deciding what instruments to take, what shoes to wear in the snow, what luggage I'll pack everything in and may even do a mock packing soon. Why would I do these things without knowing my future? Conveniently, none of us know our future, but just like driving in the fog, we see what's right in front of us and just keep going whether we see far down the road or not. What else is there to do, stop in the middle of the road? This is my way of trusting God to provide in His own timing; and if it's months and months till I get support...well...at least I'll be ready to go!

A few days ago I sang this song with coworkers before our company meeting in worship time. I am quite peculiar when it comes to worship music, and being the middle of the workday, I wasn't really "feeling it" throughout the songs. The last song was Great is Thy Faithfulness. Friends, when I saw those words "All I have needed THY hand hath provided, Great is THY faithfulness, Lord unto me" I stood there and wept like a baby. The Lord will provide my every need, despite canceled concerts, unsuccessful car washes, miscommunicated intentions, and questionable futures. There IS a resolution to this plot, He WILL cause a victory, and I didn't get lost on the way to the studio.

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee.
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me.

Summer and winter and spring-time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Take care, you all-- and have a restful and peaceful Thanksgiving!

Ande

(Photos courtesy of P. Tibenska)

Successful Strang Bake Sale

2007-11-17T11:22:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all the folks who participated in the Strang bake sake! A special thanks to Cara Showers who did ALL of the coordinating and the hard work. We made around $225 yesterday, so yippee!

No one likes muddy water

2007-11-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to write a quick heart-to-heart note to you all about something. In years previous, asking for support for missions was a very uncomfortable thing for me to do. I did not have the right perspective. As of late, however, God has given me a boldness that I've never had before to ask for help. The last thing I want to do, though, is make anyone feel awkward, obligated or uncomfortable with my attitude. Though I may be bold in asking you, I still want to be sensitive to personal situations.

PLEASE don't feel awkward if you're unable to help! I understand that we all have our commitments, including tithing and perhaps other missions. I just wanted to make it clear you can feel free to tell me if you can't support me, and I won't get offended! For some of you, God may have blessed you above and beyond your previous commitments and tithing...and if He's laid it on your heart to help, then great! If it's not feasible right now, then great! I would appreciate your prayers! I really do appreciate communication of any kind.

Second, on my brochure I quoted John Piper saying "Go, send or disobey". I wanted to just clarify that quote by saying I didn't mean "Go, send ME, or disobey"! I hope that is clear. Contact me if you want more of an explanation.

Serving the Lord in missions is an exciting thing, and I would hate for miscommunication to muddy up the water. Thank you again to all of you that have helped so far. We're at 16% today. Have a great week! (...and if anyone wants to come help scrub a few cars this Saturday, let me know! I could use a hand or two.)

Let's Meet!

2007-10-24T11:20:00.001-07:00

I mentioned this in passing in my letters, but I would like to meet with all of you over the next few months. I'd also like to meet with your pastors, and any person or group that you know of that may be willing to support this effort. My goal is to fill up my schedule for a meeting every day until I leave! It doesn't have to take long, and we could grab some coffee or lunch sometime. The purpose of these meetings are to give you an opportunity to ask any questions, to allow me to show pictures and/or a presentation of my trip, and also to just catch up with one another.

Also, to reiterate, I'm asking all of you to put me in contact with your pastors and/or missions representatives. I basically want to tell them about the trip, ask your church to pray for me, and to also give them an opportunity to sponsor me as a missionary next year.

If you'd like to schedule an appointment with me, please don't hesitate to contact me now! I'm willing to plan months in advance :)

By the way, we're at .8% ($280)!

FAQ's

2007-10-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

I've heard a lot of the same questions lately, so I'm going to answer them for everyone here as well:

Q: "What happens if you don't get your support?"
A: It's not a matter of IF, but it may be a matter of WHEN. My deadline is December 31, but if I do not have my financial support raised by that time, I will simply stay until it's raised (hopefully not too much longer!).

Q: "What about your career?"
A: God, in his awesome sovereignty, has called me to do His work while still using my career skills. I will be designing for the ministry, creating/maintaining their website, t-shirts, posters, flyers, and possibly brochures, etc. Isn't is great how He can call us to do what we love? I will also continue to design freelance projects in my spare time.

Q: "What about school?"
A: Lord willing, I'm going to continue taking a minimum amount of online classes, depending on my work load. I've been accepted with The Art Institute and will continue my education across the sea!

Q: "Where are you going to live?"
A: I won't know until it gets a bit closer to my departure. More than likely I'll be sharing an apartment with one or more American women within walking distance from The Building.

Q: "Where are you going to live when you get back to the U.S. in a year?"
A: Two months ago I wasn't going back to Slovakia. At this point, it would be quite silly of me to try and guess where I'll be in a year.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask!

Come, be a threat with me!

2007-10-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

It may seem a bit early to share this kind of thing with everyone, but there's been something on my heart since Saturday. Satan doesn't hesitate to attack, does he? Something we can't forget is that the Enemy does not want missionaries to go. He does not want me to raise a team of individuals who are praying and supporting this mission, and he surely wants me to be discouraged by not getting my support by my deadline. We're a threat! Knowing this in my heart makes it easier when I get scared about the amount of support I'm being asked to raise. To be honest, something I have to tell myself every day is that raising support is not begging, it's biblical! This is so exciting and I want you have a chance to be a part of what God is doing!

I ask that you simply pray about it and consider what the Lord is asking you to do. Where God leads, He provides. He's going to pay for what He's ordered! He has given me a considerable amount of peace about the next few months, though Satan is at my door just waiting for my guard to be down. (Isn't that always the case??)

In Romans 10, Paul basically says there are 3 kinds of people: the unsaved, the senders and the goers. I want to give you a chance to be a sender! He also says "How can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?"

As for me? I was asked to go, and I am simply going where I'm told. Despite all my fears and hesitations, I am proceeding onward with Christ behind me and in front of me, and I'm now asking you to come along beside me.

We got our first pledge!

2007-10-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

I've been sitting in coffee shops around Orlando for about 8 hours today! Two wonderful ladies from Life in Altamonte Springs magazine came by to ask me a survey question for their magazine. Their question was, "What do you want for Christmas more than anything?" After explaining my trip back to Slovakia, I responded that I'd like for the entirety of my support of $38,000 to be secure. They gave me $10! Hey, it's a start!

Going Back to Slovakia for a Year

2007-10-01T11:18:00.000-07:00

In the third grade my teacher asked the class what we wanted to do when we grew up. We wrote our answers on a scrap piece of paper and turned it in. As she unfolded my piece of paper, her face lit up, and she enthusiastically said, "Children, someone in our class wants to do something very special when she grows up. She wants to be a missionary and tell people about Jesus around the world!"

Since that day in third grade, I haven't given serious thought to the idea of serving the Lord in missions for the long period of time; at least, while still single. I have endeavored to serve in short term trips around the world, and I am confident that God has challenged me and changed my life with those opportunities. Though the trips may have seemed random or disconnected, lately I have realized that God's had has been using those times to prepare me for something much bigger than I expected.

On the personal side of my life, I was experiencing some growing pains; ideas that forced me to grow in my faith. I had realized that over the span of my entire life, that God had used both tragedies and blessings all for my own good. It was as though God had turned a work-in-progress tapestry around so I could catch a glimpse of His plan for me. I realized that He really was taking care of me. By examining my past, I knew that He had a plan and purpose for me, far greater than my own.
It was through these experiences over the past few months that I made a conscious decision to start trusting the Lord with my future. I realized that I had not been trusting where He would lead, and I was planning my life according to my own desires. I wanted to believe in His sovereignty more than ever, and I prayed to Him, “Do what you want”. It was not even a week after this discovery that God flipped my heart upside down. Little did I know how much I would have to trust Him.

Allow me to rewind to a few months ago to June where I had the opportunity to serve in Slovakia on 2-week mission trip. I, along with Mission to the World, deliberated for months on an area of the world and a ministry that fit with my skills and interests. My objective was fairly simple: be a multi-tasking camp counselor for an English camp retreat for a group of Slovak teens. (For more information on this, please visit www.FizzThat.com/Slovakia to read my blog!). Within stepping foot out of the airport, I had a feeling this place would be different.

We drove from the airport in Vienna, Austria through the countryside over the border to Trnava, Slovakia. We arrived at the MTW ministry place called The Building. Allow me to explain the ministry in Slovakia. The Building is a safe place for locals, mainly teenagers. It is a place where one can come to learn English, hear seminars and concerts, study, socialize, or for any other reason they might need. It is not an outwardly Christian setting, but a neutral ground to get connected. It is through these activities, however, that allows workers at The Building to connect with the young people and share the Gospel with them.

I walked up the stairs with my luggage, dropped it at the entrance, and immediately started to meet the team. A group of musicians were practicing in the main room, women were packing up items in suitcases for camp, and others were in the kitchen preparing lunch. I was given a quick tour, and briefly introduced to people who were diligently preparing for camp.

Among the Ikea ivory couches, wooden tables, bright lamps and art work, the sunlight poured in on a beautiful landscape of teamwork and excitement. Through the mayem of preparation there was still an element of comfort and ease with the dynamic of the team. The atmosphere was brilliant, and I fell in love with it. The next day, we left on the bus for camp. I'm going to fast-forward 2 weeks, if you don't mind.

The end of camp was quickly approaching and I could feel a sadness within every time I thought about leaving. I knew this was not going to be easy. The hour of departure approached, and it was time to catch my train. I said my goodbye's, gave my last minute hugs, and kept on a fake smile as I thought, "I may never see these people again." I was convinced that I had no plans to return in the near future. I cried all the way to the train station. This was unlike any other departure from previous trips. This time, I really wasn't ready. I boarded the plane for home. Reality set in, the future was clear and I couldn't look back. I knew my plans, and they did not include Slovakia.

Days and weeks passed. Something was different with me. I didn't feel the same, and something was unsettled in my heart. Friends would say, "Something doesn't seem right about you since you've been back." One friend joked, "Did you leave half of you back there?". Though I smiled, I knew she was right. I kept waiting for things to feel "normal" again. People kept asking me, "What do you think God is telling you?" I discredited it being emotional and gave excuses why I couldn't go.

After a while, I decided to go back, just for a short vacation. I was ready to buy a ticket, but I waited a few weeks to decide on good dates to fly. One day, a thought hit me like a brick: Why don't I go back for a few months? So I called my representative from MTW and we talked about this possibility. She asked me if I'd consider going for one or two years. My response was immediately "No", though I agreed to pray about it. The next day I called my missions pastor and asked that we meet for lunch so I could discuss this possibility. He was excited about the idea for a few months, though, judging from my tears, we could both tell there was something more to this decision. He asked me if I'd consider going for a year or two. My head shook no, but my heart nodded yes, though I didn't tell him at the time. I thought, "I can't put everything on hold again, I have to keep doing my own plans! I don't want to go!"

At this point, my heart was torn in two places. My plans, or God's plans? I knew God was leading me, but I didn't want to accept it. He was working in me. He was doing something huge. For a few days, I tried to forget it. Have you ever tried to ignore God's calling? Impossible, right? I spent the next few weeks in thought and prayer. I mentioned the idea of going for a longer period of time to some close friends and the missionaries in Slovakia. Every single one of them was in full support of going for a longer period. I didn't want to go. I thought of dozens of reasons why I shouldn't. I wrote all of them down in depth, and prayed about them. By the time I re-read the reasons not to go, I prayed to God, "When do I leave?". I felt an undeniable summon, a call, a command; one that I could not run away from. One sign after another, I received consistent confirmations that God was leading me in this direction. I have never felt a more clear and concise calling on my life as I do now. So clear, if I ignored it, I feel like I would be disobeying the Lord.

God has softened my heart to serving Him through this ministry. It is a ministry that needs workers and supporters. I am boldly asking you to help this ministry through sending them a worker for one year. For this year, I will be dedicating my life and my skills to their needs. I will work as a team member through many ways, hopefully using my gifts in every way possible, including graphic design, music, teaching, and many other ways. My main objective is to build trusting relationships with the Slovak teens while reaching a point where I can share the gospel with them.
I have to raise $38,000 before January 1st. This is for 1 year of working. Although that is an intimidating amount of money to raise, I am confident in God's sovereignty in this calling and am persuaded that He will provide. I boldly ask you to consider supporting me as a volunteer worker in this ministry. If you are unable to make a one-time donation, please consider a monthly plan that will allow you to break up your support in smaller portions. Your support means so much to me, and will continue to make a lasting affect on this ministry in Slovakia that is sharing the Word of God to an unbelieving nation. If you are unable to support this mission, I ask that you please keep Slovakia and me in your prayers throughout this next year.

Back from Slovakia

2007-07-17T11:17:00.000-07:00

Initial Re-entry Reaction
As I sit and reflect on the trip, I'm feeling a lot of different things. The most apparent feeling is sadness- I was definitely not ready to come back when I did, and I feel like I was plucked out of good soil. I truly miss the team and my friends there- it was the best mission team I've ever worked with by far. I'm also feeling pretty lousy, probably leftovers of the icky sickness from the trip. For those of you that didn't know, I was kinda sick for most of the time in some form or fashion, with stomach cramping and other things that I won't mention. I'm guessing that it was due to the change in environment and the food, but there's no telling. Interestingly enough though, even though I was sick, my friends took care of me and made me feel better so I wasn't all that miserable. Let me also just say that whoever thinks that traveling alone for a long period of time is cool, has something wrong with them. It's okay for a short time, but after a while I just got so lonely- sometimes it's nice to have someone to watch your back and make sure you don't do something stupid. I was basically alone for the last 3 days of the trip, including 20+ straight hours of traveling...not fun. Oh by the way, before I forget, SLOVAKIAN is not a word. That's right folks, it's just Slovak. They made that pretty clear after I made that mistake the first time.

The Big Apple Before The Heart…of Europe, That is.
So let me rewind and tell you a little about what I did there. Before I went to Slovakia, I spent a few days in New York City to visit a friend named Carolyn. It was an awesome experience to spend more than a day in the city, as I've never taken such an extensive trip there. Being there was a really good warm-up for the overseas traveling by myself. I tried to find my way to the subway and couldn't find it anywhere. So I asked a guard where it was and she told me "Right up that hill over there". I say, "You mean up that hill where it says Don't Walk?" She says "Yup", so I'm lugging this rolling suitcase full of peanut butter and toys up this rocky messed up sidewalk through traffic. It was nuts. I had to store a suitcase in the airport and ran into this big meaney at the front counter who gave me the worst ‘tude- that got me ready to have an attitude with people I don't understand who are mean! I had to take the subway from the airport to her apartment. It took me about 2 hours from when I touched down to sit in her apartment! The subway at night when you're alone taking it for the first time is very intimidating. I wasn't necessarily scared, but just really intimidated. I would have been perfectly fine if I had anyone with me. The tram from the airport was really nice, but as soon as we got "into the city" it definitely started to get a little rough looking. People usually just sleep on the trains, whether it's the middle of the day or the middle of the night. In general people in NYC were really nice- wherever I sat in the subway, I always found someone to ask if I was going the right way, or strike up a conversation with. I always found someone who helped me. By the way, for those of you who don't like asking for help when you're traveling, get over it! I can't count the number of times strangers have saved me from making stupid mistakes, or kept me from getting anxious about traveling alone.

Wonderful Places
I finally got to Carolyn's apartment in Brooklyn, though she wasn't there, and slept well that night despite the traffic outside the open windows. The next afternoon she got there and we took a trip downtown to get some food for a party that night. I told myself I could go downtown without using my camera, which was a huge mistake cause I missed some incredible shots. Brooklyn is actually a great location- it's not as scary as the media makes it out to be. It's about a 20-minute train ride to downtown Manhattan, and about 30 minutes from the airport. Carolyn lives in an awesome neighborhood too, right across the street from a lovely park. Anyway, we went to buy some food and came across a mini open-air market. We ate the most unbelievable samples of cheese, veggies, meats, and all sorts of food that made my eyes roll in the back of my head.

Don’t Get Stuck in Brooklyn
In New York City, the rent is about 2 or 3 times more than Orlando, and usually the places are much smaller too. I splurged there and paid for one of those double-decker tour busses to take me around the island. I thought, I'm a young, single white woman with a expensive camera equipment, I'm not about to walk around New York City alone and expect to see what I want to see. So that was a great decision and I saw all parts of the island- I saw Manhattan, Queens, Harlem, Brooklyn, and pretty much everywhere. I took the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty too which was free and awesome. It was really hot there though, and air conditioning was very rare, so I was so sweaty the entire time. I got stuck in Brooklyn, which was interesting...from Carolyn's apartment I walked down the street about a mile or so to the supposed tour bus stop. I waited there for almost an hour while calling the company to figure out where the bus was. Those jerks hung up on me 5 times! I was so furious, but I acted polite to them, trying to ask where the bus was because I'm stuck here. Eventually I just walked down to another unfamiliar subway stop, hopped on, and went into the city. I walked right up to their headquarters and complained to them face to face. They didn't care--in fact, most of them didn't even speak English. Anyway, Tuesday afternoon I took the train to the airport, picked up my luggage, and went on my way to Slovakia.

The First Place in Europe, Vienna
I flew into Vienna on a Wednesday. The plane ride was fine because I took some sleeping pills, but the seats were the smallest airplane seats I've ever sat in, and I was by the window beside two other people- did I mention I'm a minor claustrophobic? Anyway, with the hotel I was staying at in Vienna, I had a free shuttle to the hotel. So I waited for the cab driver, who drove way too fast by the way, to take me to the hotel. I checked in, wandered around the nearby village, and stayed the night there. Unfortunately, I was about 35 minutes from downtown Vienna so I actually didn't go deep into the city because the cab rides are expensive. I went in the city to take photos, have some coffee and dinner- where I ate goulash. The next morning I took the shuttle back to the airport to meet up with Miriam Grady, the leader of the group in Slovakia. She then took me across the border to Slovakia, about a 30 to 45 minute car ride.

Trnava, the Great
We arrived in the city of Trnava and went to The Building, which is the main ministry place. I walked up the stairs into the room and saw a group of people practicing music. Little did I know that these people would become my good friends! We practice music for a while as I beat a little doumbek sort of drum, and realize that there is another guitar in the closet. I go get it, bring it back, and plug it up to the amp- turning the bass up really high, and high really low. Believe it or not, it almost sounded like a bass guitar! We decided to use this for most of the music that week. For the rest of the afternoon, we participated in packing up dozens of boxes and suitcases full of supplies for camp. I went out with Priscilla who took me to get ice cream which was really good! It costs about 8 Slovak Crowns per scoop of ice cream, which is about 28 cents or so. That night a group of 7 or 8 of us went to a great little steakhouse in town and had a wonderful meal. After dinner I met up with Jeff and Ester, a missionary couple who helps at the building, and slept at their house. The next morning I woke up and met up with everyone at the building, continuing to pack up supplies. Eventually the bus came and we loaded up all the supplies and our bodies and hit the road to a village about an hour and a half away called Nove Mesto Nad Vahom.

Getting Ready for Camp
This is where the camp was. We drove up a semi-steep and rocky road to find a small retreat center in the distance. It was essentially what I expected from the photos I had seen from previous years. At the camp there were women's dorms, men's dorms, a tiny little pool, and the main building which was our meeting and eating place. We settled our stuff in and the music team immediately started practicing. After a few minutes we hear from the camp director that he has a drum set and wonders if we want to use it. I immediately say YES!...but don't realize the implications of that answer till later on. I am not a drummer, in fact I've played the drum set maybe once or twice. Well, turns out that I was the new drummer for the band. The lead singer's name was Stano, there was a female pianist, a female guitarist, another female singer and me who switched between the drums and the "bass". We were then called Stan the Man and the Chic Band. We wore it proudly.

What I Did There
We had a few days before the kids came, and we took that opportunity to prepare for camp in whatever fields we needed. I also spent that time preparing a "tech room" where the photographers, videographers and MC's would hang out, edit or charge equipment. That was my 2nd room while I was there, and I enjoyed it very much. One of my main duties there was to edit videos for different things: daily videos shown every night, and other funny or ridiculous types of skits we showed at night to the kids. We made some awesome flicks at the beginning of the week, but when the kids watched them, they didn't laugh very much. Eventually they warmed up to the videos and loved them, but our energy to make them awesome sort of started going downhill as we didn't have as much time to edit as before. The videos were really fun to make though, to say the least, and they're even more fun to watch over and over! After the kids came on Sunday afternoon, our time was then dedicated to being counselors and taking care of them. Immediately I could tell a huge difference in the summer camps I've worked at, compared to this one. First of all there was about 25 staff people and about 23 or so kids. A great ratio, by the way. The kids actually had quite a bit of freedom in that they didn't have to always be with a counselor- they could just go hang out in the down times.

How We Reached the Kids
There were two weeks that I was actually up in the mountains for camp. There were also two different kinds of camp: one being English Camp, and the other being Christian Camp. I wasn't able to finish Christian Camp (which I was very disappointed in) but spent most of my time for the English Camp. In previous years, the team basically scared the kids away by talking too much about the Gospel. The kids' thoughts were: I'm coming here to learn English, not about God. That resulted in 1 person coming to Christian Camp last year. So they changed their strategy for this year. This year English Camp was simply about English. In the morning after we ate, we broke up into our small classes (usually about 3-5 people) and learned English. We would then have lunch, have free time, dinner, and then evening programs till after 11 p.m. The only time the Gospel was ever mentioned was during a nightly talk from the pastor at The Building, and during small group times when we brought up the subject. Usually Jeff, the speaker, would tell a 20 some minute story and then mention the Gospel and say, "If you want to talk more about that, come to my small group". It was actually a very affective way to get interested kids who wouldn't feel embarrassed around their friends by asking questions. We had to be very careful as to how much we should actually talk about... not that we were scared to talk about it, but we just had to be aware that sometimes it does more harm than good to scare the kids away. Basically, for me, learning English was just an excuse to share the Gospel with them. We could tell that the kids were having a ton of fun during camp and they left feeling sad for having to get back to reality.

Food and Drinks
So, the food. At camp, for just about every breakfast we would have cereal and yogurt. The two mornings I remember not having cereal was when we had spam-like hot dogs and ham sandwiches. For all of the meals you would normally find a plate of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in the middle of the table. We would sit down, have usually have some sort of soup or starter, and then take our plates up to get filled by the cook, Boshka. She was a short, dark haired, older Slovak woman who was very nice. Most of the meals were doable, but honestly, there were nights I went home hungry. I think 2 or 3 of the meals I took one bite of and just couldn't bring myself to eat another one! My friend Petra got so mad at the cook for switching around meals or screwing them up...she would just go get some crackers and snacks and eat them hehe. Petra is also a wonder woman at making these incredible little cold coffee drinks with instant coffee believe it or not. So, as my personal barista, she would make me special treats when she felt so inclined.

Spiders, Cold Water, and Wet Clothes
Spiders live in Slovakia. Not the big hairy kind, but a spider is a spider is a spider! They'd be in the bathroom stalls, in the corners of the walls, one in my friend's bed, etc. I had two trusted stalls on camp, both of which were ransacked with a broom by yours truly. The water was usually always ice cold, so showers were honestly pretty terrible. I'd turn the water on, get my hair wet, turn it off, put shampoo on, turn it on, rinse it off, turn it off, and it would go like this for the rest of the shower. About a week in, I found that the water had magically turned warm and I felt like someone just gave me a pot of gold--it was a marvelous thing! As for laundry, it didn't really exist. If your clothes needed washing, you'd wash them in the sink and hang them out to dry. Well, the genius that I am washed all my clothes at once...only to discover that the next two days would be cold and rainy! Long story short, we ended up blow-drying most of my clothes to get dry. Traffic wasn't an issue there, and driving was really fun, especially when Petra drove on the country roads. When she drove in traffic though, and a driver made her mad, she would let out this terribly ticked off grunt- absolutely cracked me up every time.

The Unforgettable Good Times
The kids left on a Saturday morning to back to Trnava on a bus along with some Americans that helped at camp. Leaving about 7 or 8 of us for a few days. Saturday was my birthday so Petra and Laura took me into town to eat some pizza for lunch, which was amazing by the way. A $3 pizza for 3 people...can't beat that! We went to the grocery store to buy chicken, potatoes and veggies to cook for my birthday celebration that night. We grilled the chicken on a charcoal grill and started a fire for the rest of the veggies. I will say, it was a great, great dinner, especially after a week of camp food! We then went up the campfire at the top of the hill and sat there for a while, just soaking up the outdoors. All in all, it was a good birthday...even though I didn't have any carrot cake or strawberry rhubarb pie. :(

Stargazing, Kofola and Dead Dogs
That weekend after the kids left, Petra, Laura and I grabbed some blankets and headed off behind a building to do some stargazing. It was about 50~ degrees, absolutely perfect- the millions of stars were out and brilliantly shining. Though it was kinda creepy in the pitch darkness, it was one of the highlights of my trip...one of the times I felt closer to God. I find that all it takes for me to have that connection is for me to just stop what I'm doing, go outside, and look up. During that weekend we had also walked to the nearest village to get some Kofola (a cola that kinda tastes like licorice eww) and to get away from camp for a while. The village was maybe 3/4 mile away from camp, and it was an awesome little walk. We saw dead animals, the countryside, an old shoe, and we almost got hit by a car.

Don’t Arrest Me!
So, I think I might have almost gotten arrested. We were in a big store, similar to a mini Wal-Mart, and I decided to buy some chocolate, as I did not have any for most of the time there. There was a long row of registers at the front of the store, as you can imagine, and beyond the registers were a bunch of shops along the side...sort of like a nail or photo place in Wal-Mart. Anyway, I walk past the registers to see what shops were down there, while visibly holding the chocolate in my hand. A security officer came over and started speaking Slovak to me. I realized I had walked past a line of some sort, so I tried to communicate that I would walk over the line and go pay for the chocolate. He told me to stop a few times, so I did. He kept talking on his walkie-talkie and wouldn't let me leave. I happened to see my Slovak friend, Mishka in the distance and I yelled at her to come over cause I was in trouble. They asked me for my passport and wrote down my address and phone number. They talked for a few minutes, and then the security officer's supervisor came over to talk to Mishka. I told her to tell him I was a stupid American. They talked for a few more minutes and I heard the word Policia, and I knew that couldn't be good. Mishka said that the security officer is usually obliged to call the police when someone walks over the line, but he would make an exception for me. I agreed, and told them I didn't even want the dumb chocolate bar anymore. They made me wait in line to pay for it though! So I waited in line for 15 minutes and had to show the guard my receipt when I left. What an overreaction!

Charcoal Pills Shouldn’t Have Been Invented
I believe it was later that night when I started to feel really awful. My stomach was in knots for the next day and in general felt just plain bad. For some weird reason, I had this freak problem with my heart or lungs for almost 2 days. Have you ever breathed in and for no apparent reason it feels like someone pinched your heart? And then it takes a few minutes and you can breathe normal? Anyway, it happened to me but didn't go away for days. It was really irritating though, because I couldn't get out of breath, laugh hard or even move around in bed that much because it would hurt like the dickens. It also started to make me very anxious because I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had to take charcoal pills, which were so weird and gross. Makes me sick every time I think about them! The night the kids came back to camp, we had worship that night. I came down to participate and sat in the back row in case I needed to jet out. Worship felt good, and I became emotional during singing because it had been a while since I hadn't lead worship. In the middle of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, I suddenly realized that the pain in my heart was gone, every bit of it. I could take a huge deep breath and it didn't hurt at all. I just sat there and smiled as I realized what had happened. Call it coincidence, call it providence, I call that God!

Not The Best 24 Hours of My Life
I knew the next day I had to leave, and I began to feel like I wasn't ready to go. It was hard for me to feel so comfortable with a group of people, to feel so accepted, to have so much fun and be in fellowship with other incredible people, and to think about leaving them. I'm not sure if I've already said this, but this team was by far the best team I had worked with on the field. Anyway, I spent the next morning writing letters to friends, packing up, and preparing my mind to leave them. A few hours after lunch I packed everything up and got ready to leave. Some folks came out to see me off and give me hugs. It honestly took everything in me not to lose it and to keep my smile. The moment I got in the car and shut the door I just lost it. I cried all the way to the train station. Petra and Laura took me, and we went early to buy the train ticket before we grabbed some incredible cheese pizza at the nearby cafe. After that we went back to the train station, and waited 30 minutes together for my train while we talked. The train came 15 minutes late, and Petra said I might miss the next transfer train. She said if I missed the transfer I'd either have to wait about 8 hours for the next one, or get a train to Bratislava where someone could probably speak English. That didn't make me feel too much at ease! The train came eventually and we walked on the platform together to say our goodbyes. It was hard.

A Close Call
I got on the train, found a room to sit in and stared out the window till my next stop. They make announcements for the stops but they obviously speak in Slovak and I didn't understand. I knew it was the 3rd stop though, so I trusted that and got off the train. However, when I stepped off the train, I was in the middle of the train tracks on a platform with tracks on either side of me. There was a male and female guard there and the female told me that the next train was to Prague and I was to wait there. Not even 3 minutes later, the train pulled up next to me. I thank God I didn't get in a bind! This train was much nicer and I had almost a whole car to myself. I sat there and finished my book, taking pictures along the way, editing the photos I had taken in the previous weeks, and reflecting on the people and events that happened.

Sometimes Planning Does You No Good
I arrived in Prague around 10 pm, and I eventually made my way outside. I wasn't sure what side of the building I came out of so it was confusing trying to find my way according to the map. I started walking, but felt a little uneasy about where I was. I just kept walking though, and went towards a busy road. After about a 20-25 minute walk, I eventually found my way to the hotel. The roads there were not marked well, and were especially hard to find at night. I was so relieved when I saw my hotel...but as I was walking towards it, I realized the lights weren't on and there was tape on the windows. There was also a note that said "This hotel is closed for construction, please go to 'this address' to find your reservation." I was very unhappy to say the least. Neither the hotel I was at, nor the hotel I needed to get to was on the map I had. I started walking around looking for any hotel in the area and found none. I then asked someone who walked into the first hotel and said I needed to find my way to the new hotel. They flagged down some police and the policeman told me, "Go up there, make a right, then a left, then a right, then a left and you'll see it." What a joke. After walking around for about 45 minutes, about to break down and cry, I eventually just flagged down a taxi. In my months of research I heard over and over that taxis will rip you off so try not to take them. I didn't care, so I told him the address and he drove me to the hotel. He was driving all over the city though and I started to get upset because he was taking me too far away from the central part of the city. Long story short, we drove for about 20 minutes to the new hotel...come to find out, the new hotel was about a 5 minute walk from the shut down hotel. I was so mad, but just paid the bill and went inside.

The Best Hotel I’ve Ever Slept In
This hotel, called Hotel Yasmin, was unbelievable. The staff was so nice and spoke English, my room was incredible and so was the food. I definitely give it a thumbs up! I slept fairly well that night and woke up very hungry as I had not eaten dinner the night before. I walked down to the lobby because there was supposed to be a continental breakfast there. Folks, let me tell you, it was the nicest continental breakfast I've ever eaten. I'm talking about eggs, bacon, cheeses, breads, coffee, juices, veggies, fruits, everything you could want. I stuffed myself and took my time eating, as I had not had a good breakfast for almost 3 weeks. That day I walked around the city, soaking up the atmosphere. I ate a huge chicken and potato lunch for 3 bucks, it was great. I took tons of photos and felt completely safe the whole time. I walked around for probably 5 or 6 hours and decided to come back and get cleaned up. I did that, and went out to get some dinner and souvenirs. After I realized that the souvenirs were too expensive, I came home to relax. I called my friend Petra from the hotel room to tell her it would be the last time I could call her from Europe. By the way, those two phone calls to her cost about $20! Though I needed to go to bed, I couldn't sleep, so I got dressed again and went out to find an Internet cafe. I found one, caught up on some e-mails, got some ice cream, and came home again.

Get Me Off This Plane
The next morning I was up at 4 a.m. I walked down to the lobby to find my shuttle that I had booked while in the US. They were waiting there for me and he drove me to the airport. I got there around 5 a.m. and started the long journey home. The flights were long, cramped and miserable. The descent coming from Munich to Chicago was the worst 30 minutes on a plane I've ever had. There was so much turbulence, and the plane would lose so much altitude at once. The guy sitting beside me and I started to feel very motion sick. He asked me to put the sunshade down because he was getting a headache. At one point, a flight attendant was holding some luggage in the isle, and the plane dropped so much that her luggage went flying up in the air. After we got past the clouds (when I expected turbulence), there was even more turbulence! I had been clutching the seat cushion in front of me, and at that point I held on for dear life. I closed my eyes, put my head down, and sang "Come Thou Fount" till we landed. When we finally landed the plane erupted in cheers. That experience made me even sicker to my stomach for the rest of the night. Needless to say, I was happy to get off the plane in Orlando. It was so weird to wake up in one country and go to bed halfway across the world. It has been very surreal to be home. Part of me wants to get on a plane and go right back there, but as the days go on I am becoming more calmed down in those thoughts. I will admit, it was refreshing to see English signs everywhere and not worry about translations. It was also so nice to talk to anyone I wanted and to know that most of them would speak English. I loved being able to ask security guards or employees questions and expect that they know the answer. For some reason, when the disgruntled employees at McDonald's and Starbucks didn't annoy me like they normally would, maybe because I could actually understand them!

Reflections on America and the World
As I sat in the airport in Chicago though, eating a McDonald's cheeseburger and drinking my signature Starbucks drink, I sat and thought about America versus the world. It's a common thought in my head as I have experienced other cultures and peoples. I wonder to myself, it is better to grow up in the US or other parts of the world? I wonder if I had grown up in Slovakia, would I love America or hate America? Do they "have it better" or do Americans? America is my life because it's all I've been surrounded by for 24 years- and I thought to myself how long it would take to feel at home in another country. I looked around at moms in the airport who talked to their children like a peer, like a 5 year old arguing with someone in a sandbox. I looked at how hateful they were and wondered why they acted so. I thought about parent/child relationships I saw in Europe and couldn't remember a time I saw anything like that. I thought about the trip I just took, the things I saw, the people I met. I thought about how leaving there was exponentially harder than I thought it would be. Even though it was only 3 weeks, I've still felt so melancholy about it.

Slovakia Still Needs Much Prayer
Please continue to pray for Slovakia. Pray that the work we did in those weeks will continue to bear fruit over the years. Pray that the kids will come back to the Building and build relationships with the missionaries and the local Slovaks. Thank you to all of you who supported this trip, whether financially or in prayer. You all have made the difference. God is such a good God- as much as I thought I organized parts of the trip, He orchestrated the entire thing.