Halloween

The Stewarts had a great Halloween party. Joanna let me choose a fun costume to wear from her costume box. I was a princess from India. :) It was great to get to know some folks from church better and to meet some new people, some of whom were from Mark's Czech class.

Sunny and I in Berlin

Sunny and I recently went to Berlin to celebrate her birthday! We had a blast learning more about the city's history and partaking in delights from DUNKIN DONUTS!!!!!!!!!!!

Milan

Lucie and I recently went to Milan to celebrate her birthday! Here are some pics of us on the way to and in Milan.

Bible study friends

Here we are at the Davises house for dinner. This is me with Shanna and some of the ladies in our Bible study.

Kelly's Visit

My dear friend, Kelly, visited me recently here in Prague. It was so great to spend time with her. I am humbled by and thankful for friends and family who trek all the way over here to see me.

Friends

This is Sara on the left. She is an ice hockey player from Canada. Heather is on the right; she is here teaching and coaching volleyball. I love these gals and had a blast hanging out with them the other day.

Worship

This is our little worship team. Chris has recently begun playing bass, which is awesome. Joanna lends her lovely voice and guitar playing, Jason, not pictured, sings and plays guitar wonderfully,Ondra plays guitar like nobody's business, and Phil does the best power point I have ever seen.

Phil is 34!

Tonight our team gathered at the Davises' house for dinner to celebrate Phil's birthday. We enjoyed Shanna's excellent enchiladas and the childrens' zest for life. All that was missing was Joanna and Sasha. They are in Spain this week for a conference. Happy Birthday Phil!!

The World at Sparta

I live by Sparta football (US soccer) stadium. I mean, right by it. Tonight was the biggest game, between the 2 Prague teams. I have never seen so many police in my life!!! This photo only captures a bit of the crowd. I felt too intimidated to phtograph the police as many were on horseback and/or had black Darth Vader -type helmets on their heads. These soccer games are my first experience with police tanks!

Pumpkin Patch

Last year I visited the team and Prague as I processed the decision to move here. During my visit, we went to the pumpkin patch. Well, Saturday our team went again. It was so encouraging to think on God's guidance and provision in leading me here. We had a great time.

Chicken Deelight!!!

Shanna had me over the other day and taught me how to make her world famous dish, "Chicken Delight." It is all a casserole should be, as it contains both meat and veggies. When I eat this delectable dish, all seems right with the world. Thank you to Clark, her precious 2 year old, for taking our photo.

Sunny's Birthday

Recently Rebekah, Sunny and I went to celebrate Sunny's birthday by eating Mexican. We had a great time. Rebekah,her Czech husband Petr and little Magdalena are soon moving to the States and they will be MISSED. Sunny is moving to the States in January and she will be MISSED too, but I'll think about that tomorrow.

Greece!!!

We went to Greece this summer, as I said below, and it was DREAMY!!!! It was warm, bright with vivid colors, and the food was fresh and healthy. My family and I were on a boat which cruised around some of the Greek Isles. It was my favorite vacation I have ever had. Enjoy the pics!

Family in Prague

This summer my parents, sisters and I spent some time together in Prague and then in Italy and Greece. Altogether I was with them for 2 weeks. It was so great to be able to hug them, as I have not seen them since end of Feb. when I moved to Prague.

During our week in Prague, we explored the city together, took a day trip to Terezin, and ate a meal with my team and two with my dear friend, Lucie. It meant a lot to me that they were able to see my life here. These are pics of us here in Prague. Mary Margaret, my other sister, joined us for the Italy and Greece portion.

Summer Interns

This summer we have hosted 5 interns. These folks are college students who wanted to get a taste of foreign missions. So they joined us for the summer and served alongside us. I have overseen them this summer. Amanda, Bryan, Lauren, Luke and Drew have live in my bldg. in flats on the floor below. I have discipled the women each week while Phil has discipled the men.

The interns have been so much fun and such an encouragement to me. They have spent lots of time building relationships with Czech and American believers and non-believers here in the city and have been salt and light in their lives as well as brought them to church. The interns have also done special outreach projects such as hosting free barbeques at Sir Toby's youth hostel as a way as reaching out to backpackers and getting the name of our church, Faith Community Church, out in the community.

I love love love these new friends of mine and will be lonely for them when they depart back to the States at the end of July. It has been such a gift to be able to grow alongside these awesome men and women of God.

Worship team

For several months now I have been serving as the worship leader at church. I love that because our church is so new, I get to be a part of helping shape and lead our worship. Our little worship team is typically composed of 2-3 vocalists (currently me, Laura and Elizabeth, 2 amazing American women who are teachers), and an awesome guitarist/ musician, Ondra, who is a Czech believer. He is in university here in Prague. But this summer the fabulous interns have been helping out, and they have added so much fun and creativity to our sound and time together.

Each week, based on the upcoming sermon topic, I choose the songs we'll sing :) (so fun) and then lead practice each Wednesday night in preparation for Sunday's service. I have learned a lot more about how God's grace is more than sufficient as He enables me to do this job for which I feel inadequte. Serving the church in this capacity continues to bring me much joy and satisfaction.

Here's a photo of us in our old location (which was a cafe). Pictured from left to right is Ondra, me, Elizabeth (an English teacher), and Luke (an intern and student at William and Mary. He usually plays a mean bass guitar but now he's hammin' it up with the shaker.:) Our services are no longer meeting at the cafe, but we now rent space in a Czech church.

Sixth Grade Prayer Warriors

Until last year, I taught 5th grade at a Christian school just north of Charlotte, NC. I taught there for six years. It was such a rich experience for me in many ways. The lower school faculty were like a family. We supported each other in prayer and shared honestly our prayer needs with each other in our meetings. AND we laughed and laughed together all the time. I feel like God grew me a lot spiritually, professionally, and emotionally during that time. Plus, I learned more about what it's like to be in real Christian community. Our amazing lower school principal, Susan, took me and a team of teachers down to Peru 4 times in 3 summers. There we had the privilege to work with Scripture Union (Union Biblica) and their Bible teachers. We held interactive workshops in which we taught fresh ideas for teaching the Bible to kids in the public schools in Peru. The missions teaching trips still continue today!!

This year's sixth graders (about 60 in all:) adopted me as their misisonary to support through prayer. What an honor!! I have really felt their prayers and am so encouraged by their faith. Recently, I have received 2 fat envelopes in the mail containing beautiful encouragement cards from the sixth graders!!! The cards were full of birthday wishes, scripture verses, and words of support. Several of them had jokes and funny memories we shared last year. I felt hugged about 60 times!! I want to thank the sixth graders again for their cards and their fervent prayers. I am honored to be your friend and sister in Christ. I love you all!!!