August 2006

What do you think? We are praising God for his miraculous work! We are almost there, folks! We had to raise the amount of start-up costs as some items we underestimated (i.e. cost of printing materials) and a few items were neglected (i.e. plane tickets). This new amount is still pending approval from FMWM.

In July we were part of various camps. It was great to see so many people and we thank you all for making our times with you very enjoyable. Maybe the most fun was the pleasure we had in torturing 80 some people at the Getaway Camp with our "Missionary Survivor Course." I think they have a better idea of what it’s like to be on a missionary adventure and they actually liked it (once they stopped being frustrated!).We have also been at Cattaraugus FMC, Albion, Belfast, Park Ridge, Warsaw, Herkimer, and East Williamson & Brockport FMCs. Our schedule for the next few weeks is:

August 20: Gowanda & Gerry
August 23: Fairmount (Syracuse)
August 27: Liverpool (Syracuse)
August 29: Edgewood Benefit Concert (for us)
September 3: New Hope in Rochester

Back in the flower budding, warm spring days of May, I had an idea. "Could Josef and I help to host some kind of benefit concert to raise money for our mission?" Now, this did not go far beyond idea stage and when I talked to others, it seemed like a large task and we were somewhat discouraged. So, off we trotted on our schedule and we went to Edgewood FMC. After speaking in two services that day, we were invited out to lunch with a British couple, Alan & Carol Lowne, for Indian cuisine (delicious by the way). It was there that we heard them mention a benefit concert they were participating in this summer. "Oh, that’s the idea I had," I interjected, "I wonder if you could give me some advice on how we might host one?" They thought about it and said their concert had no beneficiary as of yet, and they would see if it could be our mission. I was floored, could this be God working in such a neat way? Well, a few weeks later we heard from Lownes and the coordinator of the event that indeed they would contribute proceeds toward our mission at their August concert! Thank you Jesus! So, if you live in the area, come join us!

It happened more than four years ago. That time I lived for a year in a castle in the midst of the Austrian Alps. The place was called Schloss Mittersill Study Centre, and I studied theology there and also helped a little bit with the retreat place the Schloss provided to various groups. On one Sunday I was asked to read a segment of the Scripture in Czech, my native language, in the international worship service. After the service was over, a man and a woman sitting behind me in the church turned towards me intrigued by the fact that I am a Czech because their son was at that time in Prague teaching English. We talked for some time and Rex and Louise Carpenter – chaplain of US army in Germany and his wife, as they introduced themselves, asked about the purpose of my stay and my plans for the future, which prompted me to share with them my desire to finish my theological studies in the US or Canada. I was originally planning to go to one Canadian college but several circumstances made this very difficult and so I was looking for other possibilities. So far, however, I could not find anything that would be suitable both for my interest in biblical studies and Lynette’s interest in counseling. Rex mentioned he knew about one school that might be a good option for me and promised to meet me in the afternoon to tell me more about it.

It was not very usual for the guests staying at the castle to show so much care for the people who changed their beds and cleaned bathrooms, and so I was not entirely sure Rex would show up after lunch to continue our conversion. To my surprise he not only came, but spent a long time describing the seminary he graduated from with jotting down the names of people I can ask for help if I want to pursue this option. As you might already guess, he told me about Asbury where we spent the last three years. During his speech he also mentioned that Asbury was a school with Methodist roots.

"What kind of Methodist? I asked him.

"It is actually independent school, but many United Methodists go there, or some from my denomination, the Free Methodist Church, attend it as well."

This surprised me since I was dating Lynette for some time and she and her fellow missionaries were the only Free Methodists I had known until that moment. "That is interesting," I answered. "I actually date a girl who is a Free Methodist."

Now it was his turn to be surprised. "What’s her name?" He inquired.

"Lynette Sittig," said I and Rex’s eyes widened in amazement. "We know about her and pray for her and her work in Hungary!"

That night I checked Asbury’s web site, liked very much their program and several weeks later both Lynette and I applied to it.

Four years after this providential meeting we met Rex and Louise for the second time. They came to our commissioning service because they heard about our plans to go to Slovakia, and so we could reconnect with the people who first told us about Asbury. Rex retired from the army and they spend the summer near Rochester, which enabled us to see them several times in the past few weeks. They were again very gracious to us, helped us with our "support discovery" and we cherish their friendship very much. We are thankful to God that he orchestrated the meeting at the Schloss and brought such warm people into our lives.

Pictures of YOU

The Rivers Family at Albion	Josef with 4th-6th graders at Getaway Camp	Rex with Louise and her mom, Rachel	The Snyders and Liddles at E. Williamson

 

Thank you so much!
Your friends, Josef & Lynette
lynettesykora@hotmail.com