Almost 3/4....

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

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

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%

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%!

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%!

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%

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?

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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%!

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%

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

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.

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!