Connections are good...unless...

This past week was a week of connections, and most of them I loved, but some of them...well, I'm getting ahead of myself.

I LOVE the connection with "Connect".  "Connect", the name of our youth group, is a great group of kids!  After our time in the tents (see 5,000 Tents and 10,000 Blessings) I feel our relationships have really grown.  I still can't talk much German and some of them can speak a bit if English, and yet, we have really grown to love each other.

The "Connect" youth group at Ring Cafe

Our next incredible connection was with our dear friend Katka.  Katka was a high school student when we lived in Czech and she often babysat our children!  Since that time, she has gone to Bible School and has been on staff with Josiah Venture for the past 11 years in Czech and is now going cross-culturally with JV to Latvia!  We feel so privileged that she was able to spend 4 days with us doing a preparation training before her move.  It was fun to reconnect, hear new stories, share old memories and do a lot of laughing!

Check out Katka's JV profile here.

The last two connections I had this week were not nearly as fun as these first two.  The weather here is beautiful and things are so close to our apartment that we often walk.  Saturday night we went to a birthday party and, as Jim wanted to stay a bit longer (no surprise there!), Katka and I decided to walk home.  We were talking about all the things God had done to bring us to Leipzig and the last word Katka heard me say was "miracles" and all of the sudden I was laying face-down on the sidewalk!  I had stepped in a hole and had quite a "connection" with the pavement.  It was truly a miracle I was not hurt at all, as I hit my face smack-dab on the sidewalk!  Not even a bruise!!!

The next connection came today when I was riding my bike to meet a friend for lunch.  Yes, you guessed it, I hit a curb and found myself connected again with the pavement!  Thankfully, again, I was not hurt!

 

Now you know why I wear a helmet!!!

So we'll keep on making connections, but hopefully not to often with the pavement!

Prayer Requests:

• A JV "Fusion" choir of high school students is coming from Czech June 18-20 to do a concert for a local high school here.  Jim has made some great connections with the high school while setting this up.  Pray that the concert will help to open doors into relationships with the school
• Also, pray that we will be able to find a place for all 50 choir members to shower!  They will be sleeping in our church, but as it only has one shower, we must find a place close-by for them.  Jim has spent the last few weeks getting one turn-down after another.  He is out again right now trying to set something up
• We have a couple coming on a vision trip for a week starting Friday.  Pray that God will make it clear whether they should join our team or not.
•  Jared gets to come spend a good part of the summer with us starting June 22.  Pray it will be a good connection time with him.  He and Jim will spend about a week alone together on a "guy" adventure!  Very exciting!
• Pray for Emily and Alpha.  They would like to come visit us for a few weeks this summer, but he was turned down for his visa.  They have gathered more information and are resubmitting their request.  Pray that it will be granted!