CityLight Christmas Home Gathering

Dear CityLight family,

We hope that your Christmas celebration was a blast!

Just a reminder: this week we meet at the Higgins home at Mateja Bela 8 @ 5pm.

We hope this will be a blessed, intimate, and special time together with the Lord. Afterwards we will have a time of fellowship to hangout & "break bread" (i.e. eat all those Christmas leftovers together... so bring something to share with others!).

Please remember to keep those in our church in your prayers, especially those who are traveling during this time (D'ttorres, Johnsons, Melos...)

Blessings,

Patrick + Ivetka

Ps: for more pics from Advent 09 @ CityLight: CLICK!

SnowSlide

Freedom

Slovakia recently celebrated 20yrs of freedom from the Communist regime. It was a low-key, but memorable event. On one of the big squares in the center was a huge heart made from barbed wire and a candlelight vigil was held there. A lot has changed in 20years. I first visited Slovakia about 14yrs ago and have been living here almost 10. The rapid change is like compressing the last 50-60 years of America's economic, social, and political life into 20years here. It's amazing how far he country has gone in so short of a time... but there is still much room for growth. Here are some pics:

“Carppy”

There is no such thing as a free lunch, even if it looks free. We went to Metro (like Costco) to get a bunch of things for the holidays. Apparently if you spend too much they give you a free bottle of champagne and Carp... yes, the fish... it’s a Christmas thing here. So the attendant scoops out “Carppy” form a huge vat of writhing fish upon fish out of water struggling for life. Water wouldn’t have helped them, it was freezing, they would simply have been Carp-sicols. Our fish is tossed in a plastic bag and handed him to us. He flaps and our guys go wild with excitement. We have a few more hours of shopping to do elsewhere and figure the “fish slapping” in the trunk will end before we get home.
So, we get home and the apparently frozen and dead fish is in the words of the Wizard from the Princes Bride - “...only mostly dead, which is different from all the way dead.” So, falling back to Slovak tradition we try to resurrect the poor beast and put him in a tub of water. Guess what - he jumped up to 80% alive! The guys loved it, named it, and were checking on him minute by minute (think: overly attached children to the Passover lamb on the way to the slaughter). The boys went to bed and the fish went to fish heaven (by natural causes... I swear!) So, not that his is all the way dead I had to do the fatherly thing and “clean it.” There is nothing clean about this process... especially in your bathtub. I quickly realized that I had never really cleaned a fish, especially at 12pm at night in my bathroom (kitchen was occupied with Christmas baking stuff). So, the moral of the story - ask for two bottles of champagne and leave the “free” fish behind!

Christmas Mules

Went to pick up some Christmas packages (thanks McKinney's!) for the boys. We live about 3/4 of a mile from the post office and this being the center of Bratislava the mode of transportation is your feet. The weather was cold, but beautiful...so why not? I decided that the boys should be the “mules” today. This is part of a bigger “strategy” to wear them out before their much needed nap. Half way through they wanted me to carry the packages, but I told them they would have to share 1/2 of the loot. They carried the boxes all the way home. It’s amazing what we can do when we have the proper amount of motivation! In the end they did open their packages only to discover that all gifts were wrapped, thus they have to wait until Christmas... but I gave them the box (yes, I am cruel :) But, they didn’t have any problem with that. They proceeded to be creative and build dog houses for Puppy & Wolf (legendary stuffed animals in our home).

"Lord of the Flies"

In an effort to encourage students to think about their behavior/performance the school, Forel, has introduced a merit system based on the "House" concept in some British school. The basic idea is that classes are divided into "houses" (think: teams) and get points for positive behavior and achievement. They are color coded (Yellow, Pink & Blue) and named: Hamlet, Macbeth, and Lear.....all tragedies...hummm...interesting (not exactly inspiring virtue, but whatever...) The trick to it is that other classes are also divided into these same "houses" as well (3 in our case) and so you get points racked up by overall school wide performance. It's an interesting idea. It could either turn into a crazy "Lord of the Flies" social experiment pushing everyone into a conspiring and consuming 3 way school split, or transform them into brilliant angels yielding to the slightest command of teachers & parents. So far the competition is not that fierce (I suppose mischief & pranks still trumps being "good"). Yet, the "House" system is working quite well for my competitive H6 class (10th grade in the USA). Anyways, above is a pic from Gabie's class visually displaying the houses in his class. It's fun and personalized. Gabe is #8.

Jingle Bell ROCK!

Last Friday (18th) Gabie + friends had a Christmas performance on the Main Square in Bratislava during the Christmas Market festivities. Gabe & his buddies really took the show, especially with their "improvising" and on stage antics... like grabbing the mic and randomly shouting "Jingle Bell Rocks!" Apparently the crowd loved it! Enjoy the pics & video!

CityLight Advent 2009 pics + vid

Check out the latest CityLight Advent 2009 pics. http://ccbratislava.wordpress.com/pictures/advent-2009/

"Emmanuel"

CityLight update 14.12.09

Hi CityLight Family,

Advent season is upon us and for many of us it's not a time of reflective meditation. It is a mad scrabble pell-mell to live our busy lives on hyper drive with the added stress of finding the "perfect gift." Guess what... you already got it - Jesus! So, spend some time with Him and while you do talk to him about the rest of us. Here is a list of things we need you to chat about... Following are some CityLight updates.

Blessings,

Patrick + Ivetka


Prayer Requests

Aki & Kieko:
1. For Aki's job- to have certainly, motivation, and patience as he waits to hear from his superiors about the next steps in his career.
2. Continued good health & pregnancy for Kieko. Wisdom & providence for their family as they anticipate returning back to Japan next year.

Martin: That God would provide a good job; wisdom & fruitfulness in ministering in his home church.

Janka: A good flat for a good price ASAP!

Vic & Darla: Health in their home; refreshing & encouraging time as they go back home for Christmas.

Erik: focus on God's plan, continued witness in the workplace, translation w/Tom

Gina: For safe travel back to USA for Christmas and that God would speak clearly about her next steps with HIM.

Tom & Debbie: 1. Ongoing prayer for space needed for a "drop-in" youth center, a place for tutoring, English classes, games and other activities.
2. For next Sunday's Cesta Klub where we will follow up with the guys about what it means to experience God's "blessing" - we hope to have individual prayer for those attending. It could potentially be a critical time of decision for some of the kids. Pray for Erik as he interprets and joins in the prayer time.
3. Successful organization of our program before returning to the States on December 28.
4. Prayer for our trip home and back - flying standby so are dependent upon space being available; and to accomplish the goals for our trip home - support building (people, groups, equipment and finances).

Alberto & Ilga: God's favor as they teach the Word and disciple the Slovaks that God brings into their lives. May He use them greatly in this city!

Mike & Heather: "Upcoming trip to Thailand (Jan 9-24) with The SOLD Project. We are praying God uses this trip to guide our next step in serving victims of sex trafficking; we are also praying for Him to provide the finances! The trip costs about $5,000 -but we know it is in His plan for us to go, so we know He will provide. He always does!!"

Patrick & Ivetka:
1. To stay focused on Jesus alone, wisdom & discernment with leading at CityLight, being a better witness to those around.
2. Better time management & more time spent with Jesus & in the Word.
3. Pray for Gabriel as he is having some troubles at school & home. Wisdom, grace & patience as parents

CityLight: That we can be a light to the community. That we will seek to be servants and ministers of His love to those we are in contact with. For many people in Bratislava to know Him.

Updates:

Kids: This Sunday, Dec. 20th, the kids will have a chance to show off their talent during an extended worship time with some Christmas songs they have been preparing. Get ready for a good time. A BIG thanks to Ilga for working with the kids on this project!

Men's Breakfast: Is this Saturday - December 19th! We will be exploring the theme: “the Lord comes quietly in the world.” We will gather at McDonalds on Hviezdoslavovo Nam. at 9:00 and migrate to another location from there. For more info CLICK!




StirUp: Some thoughts from last weeks teaching: “Revelation as Gift”

Thanks!: Thank you all, especially Aki & Kieko, for all the help last Sunday. It is a huge blessing for me to see us as a community serving one another. You guys are great! God is good in you!

off roading in Orava

Orava: land of beautiful mountains, haunted castles, bears, and artery-clogging-good Slovak food, and the birthplace of Ivetka. We took a drive to the Orava Castle area and then a detour through some remote countryside, expansive alpine fields with sheep grazing, dark forests, and lost villages. It's a great place to explore....

joy

Red Castle

Over the summer we visited Cervena Kamen (just outside of Bratislava). It had been a wet day, but the sun came out a bit and lit up the beautiful countryside surrounding the castle. After a quick photo shoot on the castle wall we went down to the "dungeon" and put the guys in shackles....wish we had some at home :)

CzechOut

Prague is for lovers

If you choose to accept

The "Summer of Prague" continued: A rainy day spent in the Praha Museum. It was nice, especially the interactive Dino zone. Does the place look familiar to you? Check out the opening of Mission Impossible I and compare.

StreetBeat