Johnstein!

I find myself really bothered by the sometimes unhealthy focus on gifts at Christmas time...but Christmas IS about a gift. It is the celebration of the most necessary gift we've ever received.  The gospel accounts tell of us of a few of ways that people respond to this gift of salvation through Christ. In Matthew, we see the interaction of three different responses in the story of the wise men and King Herod. The wise men knew something big was up. And they wanted to be a part of it. So, they went to king Herod to get some clarification...and it's here that we see some interesting reactions. First...let's look at the reaction of "people’s chief priests and teachers of the law". After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea,  during the time of King Herod, Magi [ a ]  from the east came to Jerusalem   2  and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star  when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3  When King H...

Some of my fondest memories at Christmas seem to all stem from my Grandma Margaret (my dad's mom)...she was fiercely proud of her Norwegian heritage and she would speak of it often; it was during Christmas time that I most clearly remember how she passed on the things that were truly important to her. One tradition that my mom has been able to keep alive is the tradition of making potato Lefse. My mom has over time taught all of us (the kids) how to make it and even the grandkids have taken up the tradition.  Growing up, the only time we made it was on Christmas Eve. I remember (especially as I got older) my mom and Grandma in the kitchen making it, usually after our Christmas Eve service. I hated this. Mainly because it delayed opening our ONE Christmas Eve present. Also, I was usually starving at this point. Usually I ignored the Lefse because we would also have meatballs. I like meatballs. Our Christmases in Vienna have been much different than our normal tradition...main...

(warning...this is a pretty long and wordy post...it's kinda disjointed...but that's kinda how yesterday went...so please bear with me) Yesterday was quite a day...a long, 17 hour day, full of reminders of God's Grace and how He has sustained, provided for, and used us during our time in Vienna. So much happened that I feel I have to document it all in a blog post...it really was an overwhelming day. We've been very busy this week, so I was exhausted when I woke up. To be quite honest I was a bit discouraged as well. The visa office has been delaying their approval on Rebecca and the kids' visas...which really isn't a big deal, except for the fact that it has delayed payment on the kinderbeihilfe  that we receive from the Austrian government...this has been a huge blessing in our time here as it has supplemented our salary in a way that has allowed us to remain here. Not having it has made things very tight financially...we've getting by on cash advances ...

Big Changes! We want to let you know about some big changes. Rebecca and I,  through a couple months of intensive prayer, counsel, and conversation, have determined that our next step in ministry is to move to Kosovo and work to further the message of Jesus Christ through a baseball camp ministry platform!. So, what does all this mean? First, the basics; We will be leaving ICSV in July of 2014 and going on a year furlough/home service during which; We will spend 2014/15 support raising, training, resting, and preparing for this new stage in ministry. We are in the process of switching sending organizations – Please keep this process in your prayers…still not a confirmed thing. We intend to move to Kosovo in the late summer/fall of 2015. Financial Needs; Continued support throughout the process. Given the increased need for support, we will need to travel throughout the US to meet with new ministry partners. We will also need to attend a vari...

As some of you may remember,  back in August we had the opportunity to go to Kosovo to look into the possibility of establishing a baseball camp ministry. Since that time, much has happened. God has been opening doors and making connections in some amazing ways. In the last month we have developed partnerships and relationships with a number of baseball ministry organizations and we have already begun to collect gear to take with us in June. We have started a blog specifically for the Kosovo Baseball Initiative , as we are calling it. Please visit the site and sign up to receive notification of any updates. We plan on updating it regularly as developments occur. Rebecca, Justin, and I will be visiting Kosovo in April to work on some final details and to visit some other ministry sites. Keep checking in...we definitely would love to have your prayers for this new opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Kosovo.

We've had an interesting couple weeks. In fact, we've been amazed by the way God has worked to help give us some clarity about our next steps in life, and in service to HIM. Rebecca and I have been prayerfully considering a few options...and through this we have searched out much counsel. Recently, we both just read a book called Out of the Comfort Zone by George Verwer (founder of the missions organization Operation Mobilisation). This short books covers many aspects of missions and is an energizing look at how we as Christians are to obediently fulfil the Great Commission...but we were both hit by a passage that, for us, really explains this past year. " Beware of the struggles you will face as you launch into this: there will be failure; there will be disappointments. But remember that Disappointments  in evangelism can often be God's appointment to teach us something greater and something better" (84)  This has been true in our past. It is true today....

Ok...so we have had ZERO blog posts since the start of the school year. Oops. Gonna try to catch up...but not all in one post. At the end of September, Rebecca and I had the privilege of taking 10 students to the ACSI Student Leadership Conference in Zanka, Hungary. This is an annual conference, but this year was special as it was the 15th year and it was the largest ever (and at a new location) with over 280 students from schools located in 14 different European (and Near-East) countries Last week the students presented a video about the weekend...youtube isn't letting me embed...soooo follow the link please,  Student Leadership Conference in Zanka, Hungary . It was a great time of hearing some good Bible teaching, worship, hanging out, crazy train travel...and I got to teach a couple of break out sessions. So...now for the pictures. first train of 8 that we had to ride (3 on the way there, 5 on the way back) so dangerous. (stopped at a station) hanging out...

Because of our crazy travel issues (which will need a post of its own), I didn't write this post until a couple of days after we returned. We woke up early on Thursday morning with a couple of things that we wanted to do before our scheduled flight. Berat was a little late picking us up, but soon we were on our way out of Gjakova. First Berat took us to a small village about halfway between Gjakova and Pristina called Prekaz. I know I wrote in my first post that visiting the first memorial was the most sobering moment...but after this day's visit I am not so sure anymore... We visited the home of Adem Jashari...this man is revered as a national hero for the Kosovar Albanians. He was instrumental in solidifying the resolve to stand up to the Serbians. The memorial remembers the three day standoff in 1999 where Jashari and 55 of his extended family perished. Now, five days after my visit, I am still at a loss for words. I'll try to let the pictures below speak for thems...

,Again, I wrote this post at the end of the day (Wednesday - our second full day) in Kosovo.  We spent much of today talking and sharing our vision of how we can partner with the ministries already serving in Kosovo. Berat picked us up and took us to a forest reserve area outside Gjakova. This hilly area has been forested through the voluntary planting of young trees by many of the youth in the city. It's a very beautiful area that is representative of the hope that many have for Kosovo as a nation. They are definitely dependent on the work of the next generation to help Kosovo face the challenges of independence. In this park, there are a number of restaurants/cafes. We were able to enjoy a coffee while Berat explained the goals of Bethany Christian Services, the organization of which he is the executive director. From there we went to the community center and offices of BCS. This center is located right next to a Roma camp, and serves many of the children and...