Dinner with the Hartmans

Fushion Concert: Matt is at the top left.

Thursday morning we said 'goodbye' to our leader, Jonathan; don't worry, he's coming back tomorrow (Tuesday). He left for the American coast to fill his role as Best Man in his friend, Matt Wheeland's wedding.
Friday the four of us remaining were off to Ostrava to spend the weekend with the Hartman family - Matt and Amy, Hannah (10), Caden (8), Asher (7) and Hayes (4) (the family now includes Sarah, Esther, Ben and Chelsie).
Friday: Fushion Concert. Fushion is another branch of Josiah Venture which reaches out to the local youth through music. The group performed all their songs for friends and family, and since Matt Hartman helps lead the ministry here in Ostrava, we interns came along! It was a blast! All the songs were in English, and the students sang, danced and played instruments with so much heart and enthusiasm. It was exciting to see their joy through music. 
Saturday we traveled to Zlin to spend time with the youth group there. We got to know some of the leaders we will be coming alongside for English camp - playing games, eating, talking and discussing responsibilities. We will be doing our second camp with this group in July, and we are looking forward to serving with such a kind and loving group of people. 

Here we all are at the Zlin Zoo!

Sunday Matt shared a message, Sarah and Esther each testified to the power of Christ in our lives, and a group of us sang "Come Thou Fount" for the congregation. Then we went to the ZOO!! I LOVE the zoo and I was so happy to be there as a part of a family. 

Here we are on Monday, back at the Hartman home - invited to stay one more night. It has been such a blessing for all of us to share this time together in a family setting. My heart is most certainly encouraged. This very minute Hayes is chasing Asher who is doing his best to eat a rice cake while Caden is watching as he eats lunch. We are in good hands.

Thank you all for your prayers! We will continue to prepare for English camp, as we now have new responsibilities for Zlin camp!

Rejoice in the Lord always,
Esther.

The Dixon Farm

Monday, June 18, 2012: Work-day on the Farm.
What a day! 

Sarah's pumped about her arms getting pumped up
from all this shoveling and 'wheelbarrowing.'

Kevin and Daniella Dixon are full-time missionaries with Josiah Venture; throughout the year they are part of Exit 316. Exit 316 is a branch of Josiah Venture that operates throughout the school year. It addresses daily issues teenagers face from a biblical perspective through a TV program, school tours and small groups. 

Kevin and Daniella have inherited her parents beautiful house in the countryside, which was built by her grandparents 60 years ago! It's time for reconstruction. Kevin and Daniella are so thankful for any help they can get and we are more than happy to help. 

Sarah, Jonathan and I went out to help clear their attic of cement, wood and straw. It is beautiful out there on their farm. It seems that Daniella and I have had similar experiences at home - with cows, chickens, gardens, hay, open space and great meal home-cooked meals! I was so happy to be out there. It was wonderful. 

Here we are in the middle of the day, working alongside
 the neighbours who were turning over their hay. 

Thanks for joining us once again! We're happy to share our story with you. 

Rejoice in the Lord, always!

Esther

Father's Day Post

Happy Father’s Day! This morning I treated myself with a sermon in English! I miss my church family, so it was a nice to watch a piece of home. I watched Kyle Idleman’s sermon from last week. If you missed it, you can watch it here:http://www.southeastchristian.org/?page=4754

In this sermon, Kyle presented the idea that we (as Christ-followers) should be the illustration of God’s design. This reminded me of the question that I have been presented with over and over. “Am I a picture of Christ to others?” As I have stepped into this internship and my role as a disciple maker, I have to be sure that when I invite people to “Come & see” (John 1:39) my life that they are seeing Christ in me. Is there truly something impeccably different about my life? Do people see the Gospel in how I live, act, speak, etc.?

When I think about the people that have discipled me, its not only the knowledge that they shared with me, but also the actions that I saw them doing. One of the most influential women in my life taught me to love the Word. She didn’t teach me that by telling me that I should love it or that I have to love it to be a good Christian. She taught me that by simply loving the Word. She always has her bible with her, she is familiar with it, she lights up when she talks about what she learns about Jesus, and she makes decisions based on the Word/Jesus. Without a formal invitation, she invited me in to “Come & see” her love for the Lord.

Am I inviting others in to see my love of the Lord? Am I reproducing Christ-followers who fear and obey God? (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Not only am I called to make disciples, but this summer I am called to “pull a Philip”. In Acts 8, we see Philip walking in obedience even though he has no idea what God is EXACTLY calling him to. His journey starts in verse 28. I encourage you to read it. At the end of this snapshot of Philip, we see that after he made a B-line to teaching about Jesus, they arrived at some water and the Eunuch wanted to be baptized. In verse 39, Philip is gone. It says that the Eunuch never saw Philip again, “BUT went on his way rejoicing”.

At the end of the summer, when I leave, will these students be rejoicing because its not about me (Sarah Burge) changing their lives or being dependent on me. Instead, are they rejoicing because I made a B-line to teaching about Jesus? Can I leave and it not matter because they are rejoicing that they encountered Christ?

So, my job is to be Philip. To run along side them. To sit with them and do life with them. To teach them about Jesus. To let them see how I live because of Christ. To leave and it not matter because its not about me, its about the Kingdom.

Please continue to pray for me and my team as we are pursuing being disciples who make disciples!

Love ya much,
Sarah

Together bringing His love to the world.

"and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them." - Acts 18:3 


We arrived in Ostrava on Thursday and stayed through Monday. What a great weekend! It came with its bumps, miscommunications and challenges, but I assure you it was a good experience overall. 
Thursday we were picked up at the train station by Michael (church youth leader), Monika and Davide. These are some stellar people! They were so helpful throughout the entire weekend. Jonathan and Ben stayed with Michael, while Sarah, Chelsie and I stayed with full-time English teachers: Shelly, Chelsea and Ashley. These girls allowed us to stay in their apartment... even though they left for a conference Friday through Sunday! They gave us the keys to the 'flat' and said, "make yourselves at home." This is a concrete example of the attitude of the believers we met this weekend. 
Over and over we were welcomed into the lives of those we encountered and were invited to join in their work. Before this weekend, I had expected to come and serve this body of believers in tangible ways. However, coming out of the weekend I realize that I have been served and so very blessed by them: through their love, hospitality, kindness and encouragement. 
On Sunday we joined their Bible study; Michael began by reading Acts 18:1-4. It is the introduction of Paul's relationship with Aquilla and Priscilla. Through this story, Michael very clearly communicated that we are "Paul" and their body is "Aquilla and Priscilla"; we met them and immediately joined in their work. This touched my heart deeply; it also gave me a better understanding of our relationship as believers. We are all here for the purpose of the gospel, and because we are fellow Christians, there is an immediate unity of love and trust. We come alongside one another, encouraging one another in the faith, and building each other up as we live to advance the gospel. 
"and because [we are Christians], we "stayed with them and worked with them." 

Sunday night Bible study.

Friday: School Visits, Young Life (youth outreach progam that was so well done by the Czechs!), bowling.
Saturday: Camp meeting, Youth Group. 
Sunday: Church, Lunch with a large group of Christain young people, Bible Study. 
Monday: School Visits, traveled back to our base (Cesky Tesin), debriefed the weekend, Jonathan shared his testimony with the team. 


I am so excited to be doing camp with these incredible brothers and sisters. They are so committed to sharing the gospel and to living the gospel. I am even more excited to be a bridge that connects unbelievers and new believers to these amazing children of God. 
Its all because of Jesus we're ALIVE! 


Rejoice in the Lord, Always, 
Esther.

The Role of an Intern.

We've been sent out, in groups of 5 and 6 and 8's. Our intern training finished yesterday and now we are rolling into action. Today Jon, Ben, Sarah, Chelsie and I are going to Ostrava for the weekend; this is where our first camp will be. We will meet with the partnering church and their youth group and will present the camp in high school classrooms! 
We are going out as ambassadors (2Cor 5:20); we represent Christ and His church. I thank God, His apostle Paul and the Josiah Venture staff for communicating this mindset. This past week a full time JV missionary gave us a sober understanding of who we are as interns: we are bridges and we must be disposable. This summer I am merely a stepping stone for youth to meet with Christ and to be connected with their local church. I am here for only a short time, for a week as far as the campers are concerned. I cannot, I MUST not be depended upon. Josiah Venture's vision is to see 'a movement of God among the youth of Central and Eastern Europe that finds its home in the local church and transforms society.' I am not the local church, I am not a permanent and therefore it would be wrong of me to act as though I were. We are here to direct the youth to Christ, the Head and the church, His body. 
Please pray that we would maintain this mindset, that we would be humble, selfless and willing. "We are all Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God." (2Cor 5:20) 
Thank you all for your support in this ministry. Together as parts of Christ's worldwide body, we will continue to see God move here. He has already begun! 


Rejoice in the Lord always! 
Esther

Dva.

We survived the truly amazing 'Amazing Race'! What a blast! 
There are so many things I could tell you, but perhaps I should begin with Josiah Venture's intention of the race. The race provides a quick and intentional way for the teams to get to know each other and to learn how to work together. After realizing the purpose of the race, our team (Jonathan, Sarah, Ben, Chelsie and Esther) decided our goal was not to win, but to actually do our best in every situation. Personally, I was overjoyed since the pressure of having to win greatly reduces the amount of fun I have. The goal to do our best served us extremely well throughout the entire race; when we ran the wrong way for 10 minutes, when team members were tired or frustrated or when we stumbled through a challenge, we were able to work together, doing our best in the circumstance we were given. I thank God for this. As a team, we have learned so many important things that will surely transfer over into the summer! I am so grateful! 

Our finishing dance at Hotel Malenovice!

So, here is an overview of the race:
This year, teams met at the airport in Krakow on May 30, 2012; here the race began. The next 46 hours are somewhat of a blur. We raced through Krakow until the afternoon of May 31 (shaving heads, arms and legs; decoding; playing people bingo; grocery shopping; eating our planets; visiting Oskar Schindler's enamel factory; asking many Poles for directions; praying and debriefing throughout). We took a 3 hour bus ride through the countryside of Poland, nailed the H2O Olympics, danced our way the train station, and taxi'd our way to our destination, Hotel Malenovice. We arrived at the hotel on June 1, 2012 at 1:30pm in second place. Yes, second place!! We were soo very excited... and somewhat shocked.

So here we are the hotel for intern training - with limited internet access as there is only one communal computer. It is absolutely beautiful here; we are so very blessed to be a part of this and I know that we will learn so much. We will learn not for the sake of knowing, but for the sake of doing. We are being equipped to be sent out and I am so excited.

"To this end I labour, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:29)

Rejoice in the Lord always!

Esther