Some friends tipped us off to a nice swimming pool in Hainburg, Austria (about a 15 minute drive from my home). It was great, but obviously not a secret. It's funny that there were more Slovaks there then Austrians!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Swim-Out
Summer is great, but going by sooooo fast! So many things to be involved in and enjoy. I love Slovakia and surroundings in Summer. But, I know I should blog about it from time to time.
Some friends tipped us off to a nice swimming pool in Hainburg, Austria (about a 15 minute drive from my home). It was great, but obviously not a secret. It's funny that there were more Slovaks there then Austrians!
Some friends tipped us off to a nice swimming pool in Hainburg, Austria (about a 15 minute drive from my home). It was great, but obviously not a secret. It's funny that there were more Slovaks there then Austrians!
Monday, July 13, 2009
JULY 09 Ministry Update
Hey everyone!
We just finished a marathon of ministry activity and wanted to send out a quick update. Thanks for taking the time to rejoice with us in all that God (certainly NOT us) is doing here in Bratislava! Thank you also for your continuous prayers - we feel them and we need them coming more and more.
Many of you asked - So how was the "GROW UP!" retreat with Calvary Chapel Vienna?
It was a good - a small, but receptive group with open hearts to grow in Jesus Christ. We talked about Christian maturity from Hebrews 5-6 - all about responding to God's desire to have a real relationship with you! Lord willingly we will be able to do more activities like this with CC Vienna. Now there are also two other Calvary Chapel church plants in the immediate area (CC Sopron, Hungary & CC Einststadt, Austria). All three of these works are within 45minutes drive of Bratislava. So, it would be great to pray and see how we might build one another up and see what God will do thought it. Please pray for us and these other churches.
Most of June was spent with the FUSE team, a group of 7 young people who came to serve CityLight via the World Race program.. They supported us, the CityLight community, and many here in Bratislava in a multitude of personal and hands on ways. This ranged from leading worship & Sunday school, loving kids in the orphanage, serving in local schools, leading a youth group, outreach in parks, discipleship, babysitting, and even reaching out in love to youth at the Marylyn Manson concert. You name it and they were doing it. Pray that the many seeds that were planted would grow into healthy spiritual fruit. For more info check out the FUSE team's blog: CLICK!
Last week we just finished off an awesome time of service with a team of 4 from Calvary Chapel Tulsa, Oklahoma. The aim of their time was to help lead a kid's outreach in an area of the city called Petržalka - sometimes referred to as the "Bronx of Bratislava". Just picture miles of humanity stacked into "Commie Condos", add a bit of drugs, turf scuffles, and prostitution pick up points and you got a fairly good picture of the area. 
It's not all terrible (and there are even nice parts of Petržalka) but it is a place in need of the light of the Gospel! The reoccurring thought with this team was - "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit" And it was so cool to watch HIS Spirit work in ways we could never imagine or orchestrate. We planned to work with smaller kids, but the Lord brought many teens to us who were quite disinterested in the Gospel, but very interested in soccer & water balloons. As the week went on it was amazing to watch these hard hearts soften and listen as we shared about Jesus and what He has done in our lives. !
On the last day of VBS we gave the teens New Testaments and asked them if they had ever read the Bible or knew about the life of Jesus. All of them answered "no." It was clear to us all that God brought us to this area and that we need to continue to sow seeds of the Good News in that neighborhood. Pray for us as we keep visiting the kids and that they, their families, and that neighborhood would be healed from all the brokenness of sin. One great result of the outreach was how it build up the faith of those from CityLight church who actually live in that neighborhood. Wow - God is even God in Petržalka
Through all of the adventures we had a great co-laborer: Erik Razc. What can we say about Erik other then he was an all-around blessing to us and a strength/support to me. Erik has since returned back to London to work and seek the Lord's next steps for his life. Pray for him in this period of his life and that the Lord will bring him back to Slovakia in due time (which is Erik's goal & desire). We love you and miss you brother! Come home soon!
Lastly, would you pray for the CityLight church? We need that kind of support more then anything else. Despite all the good news, the past two months have been difficult on the church with many losses & struggles in relationships, finances, employment, health and family within our community. God has proven faithful and strong, but we do have an enemy who would love to rob us of the “joy of our salvation.” Also, pray for us as we consider God’s next steps for the ministry. There are so many ways we could further reach the community for Christ and be of lasting impact. Yet, we want to be lead by the Spirit, not the needs. So, please do keep us in your prayers!
Thank you all for following along with us in this adventure. To find out more about what goes on here in Bratislava or at CityLight check out our blogs:
CLICK > Patrick+Ivetka or CITYLIGHT
We appreciate all the love you send our way. If you would like to respond to this update, please do - we would love to hear how you are doing as well!
Much love in Christ,
Patrick + Ivetka
Online Donations: Account # 1175
Our Sending Agencies:
Go! Ministries: http://go.ccnorco.org/
Shepherd's Staff: http://www.shepsstaff.org/
We just finished a marathon of ministry activity and wanted to send out a quick update. Thanks for taking the time to rejoice with us in all that God (certainly NOT us) is doing here in Bratislava! Thank you also for your continuous prayers - we feel them and we need them coming more and more. 
Many of you asked - So how was the "GROW UP!" retreat with Calvary Chapel Vienna? It was a good - a small, but receptive group with open hearts to grow in Jesus Christ. We talked about Christian maturity from Hebrews 5-6 - all about responding to God's desire to have a real relationship with you! Lord willingly we will be able to do more activities like this with CC Vienna. Now there are also two other Calvary Chapel church plants in the immediate area (CC Sopron, Hungary & CC Einststadt, Austria). All three of these works are within 45minutes drive of Bratislava. So, it would be great to pray and see how we might build one another up and see what God will do thought it. Please pray for us and these other churches.
Most of June was spent with the FUSE team, a group of 7 young people who came to serve CityLight via the World Race program.. They supported us, the CityLight community, and many here in Bratislava in a multitude of personal and hands on ways. This ranged from leading worship & Sunday school, loving kids in the orphanage, serving in local schools, leading a youth group, outreach in parks, discipleship, babysitting, and even reaching out in love to youth at the Marylyn Manson concert. You name it and they were doing it. Pray that the many seeds that were planted would grow into healthy spiritual fruit. For more info check out the FUSE team's blog: CLICK!
Last week we just finished off an awesome time of service with a team of 4 from Calvary Chapel Tulsa, Oklahoma. The aim of their time was to help lead a kid's outreach in an area of the city called Petržalka - sometimes referred to as the "Bronx of Bratislava". Just picture miles of humanity stacked into "Commie Condos", add a bit of drugs, turf scuffles, and prostitution pick up points and you got a fairly good picture of the area. 
It's not all terrible (and there are even nice parts of Petržalka) but it is a place in need of the light of the Gospel! The reoccurring thought with this team was - "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit" And it was so cool to watch HIS Spirit work in ways we could never imagine or orchestrate. We planned to work with smaller kids, but the Lord brought many teens to us who were quite disinterested in the Gospel, but very interested in soccer & water balloons. As the week went on it was amazing to watch these hard hearts soften and listen as we shared about Jesus and what He has done in our lives. !
On the last day of VBS we gave the teens New Testaments and asked them if they had ever read the Bible or knew about the life of Jesus. All of them answered "no." It was clear to us all that God brought us to this area and that we need to continue to sow seeds of the Good News in that neighborhood. Pray for us as we keep visiting the kids and that they, their families, and that neighborhood would be healed from all the brokenness of sin. One great result of the outreach was how it build up the faith of those from CityLight church who actually live in that neighborhood. Wow - God is even God in Petržalka
Through all of the adventures we had a great co-laborer: Erik Razc. What can we say about Erik other then he was an all-around blessing to us and a strength/support to me. Erik has since returned back to London to work and seek the Lord's next steps for his life. Pray for him in this period of his life and that the Lord will bring him back to Slovakia in due time (which is Erik's goal & desire). We love you and miss you brother! Come home soon!
Lastly, would you pray for the CityLight church? We need that kind of support more then anything else. Despite all the good news, the past two months have been difficult on the church with many losses & struggles in relationships, finances, employment, health and family within our community. God has proven faithful and strong, but we do have an enemy who would love to rob us of the “joy of our salvation.” Also, pray for us as we consider God’s next steps for the ministry. There are so many ways we could further reach the community for Christ and be of lasting impact. Yet, we want to be lead by the Spirit, not the needs. So, please do keep us in your prayers! Thank you all for following along with us in this adventure. To find out more about what goes on here in Bratislava or at CityLight check out our blogs:
CLICK > Patrick+Ivetka or CITYLIGHT
We appreciate all the love you send our way. If you would like to respond to this update, please do - we would love to hear how you are doing as well!
Much love in Christ,
Patrick + Ivetka
Online Donations: Account # 1175
Our Sending Agencies:
Go! Ministries: http://go.ccnorco.org/
Shepherd's Staff: http://www.shepsstaff.org/
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Nepal Team - go, go, go!
The team to NEPAL is taking off this weekend. It has grown from 6 to 8 members! They are on their way to serve in Nepal for a month. It's a joy for me to see young Slovaks taking the blessings they have received and wanting to go out into the world to now be blessings to the nations. Three of them some of you know - Milka B., Janka C., and Svetlana M (whom we ministered with in Nitra). The team will be leading youth camps, serving in orphanages, and taking evangelistic treks into the mountains of Nepal. It's a pretty amazing work they will be involved in. I will post more info on the CityLight webpage under the CAUSE section. If you would like to be updated on the team, know their prayer needs, or financially support them please let us know.
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