(John 15:16)

January 2000

Dearest friends and prayer partners,

To start the New year with three zeroes seems like looking at the blank page. The bygone century and millennium was marked by incredible human progress on one side; pain, suffering and pages of history written in blood on the other side. Now we wonder what will be written in the third millennium, though it actually starts in 2001. We rest in His promise that "History is His story."

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Every year we plan to share some local Christmas traditions like atmosphere, preparation, typical meals, etc. Before I had chance to start, we were in the middle of the holiday rush.

In any case the meaning of Christmas is radically changing. The recent poll showed that only 15% of Czech population knew what is the real meaning of Christmas. Once again we recognize the depth of the spiritual poverty and darkness in our society. People are looking for a meaning, but they do not find it in Super- or Mega-Markets. The great majority of people miss the whole point what the Christmas message is all about. The HCJB workers in UK shared with us:

"...to get 40 second Gospel slots onto the local radio stations is quite difficult. Although this is supposed to be a Christian country we have gone far away from all Christian things and we fee/ that we are now living in a godless society. However, we serve a risen Savior and know that He is in control and we just praise Him that we are in His care. Amen. "

If the Christ is not in the center, the holiday is nothing more than madness - cleaning the house, baking, shopping and wrecking our personal budgets. The great finale of eating and drinking gives people indigestion and leaves empty hearts. We are privileged to be His children. What a field to serve in, what an opportunity to be involved in. We praise the LORD! The light of Jesus' truth is reaching people's hearts even in this great darkness because of Him and you. How blessed we are. To tell the truth what we enjoy most about Christmas is incoming mail - all those post cards, friendship letters and most of all family pictures. THANKS.

Flu season - hits hard usually during this time. Pavel had an extensive dental work done just before Christmas. Great job - but as he was worked on, his resistance weakened. On the 22nd, he hit the bed with chills and fever. He spent the holidays in bed. Today, January 4th, he is still coughing.

The Bethlehem light - on December 23 rd, Klara picked the light which was brought to Prague from Bethlehem. Anybody could bring Bethlehem light home for the holiday. As Klara was adjusting wick on the candle for overnight burning, piece of wax choked the flame. Next year she wants to have a back up light.

Christmas tree - Klara bought the tree, Pavel bought a new ax and hand saw. The tree lost its best lower part, as Pavel was trying to adjust and install it in the stand. The shortened tree looked funny, but the number of ornaments and two pounds of chocolate decorations beautiful hollow dark pieces covered by shiny wrappers, kept the attention and the focus in proper perspective.

Christmas dinner and the carp tradition. This year we got the TV recipe from the "End of the world" -the northern most tip of the Vancouver island. One of the local guys was interviewed by Czech TV. When he heard about our Christmas carp tradition, he shared his favored recipe. He was a great and funny story teller. His presentation was colorful and he kept our attention up to the top. I will be very brief. First, get a good size carp and clean it as any fish. Next prepare the carp for special stuffing. You need salt, pepper, garlic, almonds, butter and foil. Now comes the secret. You need a fresh "cow pie" mix it with the mentioned ingredients and fill the cavity. Butter the carp once more, wrap in the foil and bake for one hour. When the' carp is well done carefully remove the stuffing and - throw the carp away. The stuffing will taste much better than the carp itself. The funniest part of the story is, that our elderly mother somehow missed the "cow pie" punchline and listened to the end with maximum trust looking forward how we would fix up the carp next year. Well, after this Canadian joke we will never eat carp without back flashes of this story...

Turkey left overs - on the second Christmas day we broke the local tradition and instead of roasted duckling or goose we had traditional American turkey dinner. The turkey was French. We treated our guests, but somehow we did not think ahead of our arriving American guests next day. To travel half of the world and be served turkey dinner leftovers is tough luck. Pastor Cole and his wife from Flagstaff, Arizona were a true blessing and encouragement to us. When we mention - the same blood type - this was it. They came to speak at students winter conference. We hoped they will not serve them another turkey dinner.

New year - We spent it with a very special family. About seven years ago we were repeatedly invited by Jana from Brno to visit her family and present the Gospel. One Saturday we arrived at noon and left about 10 hours later. While we lived in Luhacovice we were about 20 miles away. We started Friday night regular home Bible study in Genesis. After we moved away, brothers from Brno took over. One of Jana's sister and her family became believers. We kept the friendship and every time we travel to Slovakia, we make a stop. This year we invited them to spend the New year with us. What a joy - their son, now 18, is a theologically sound young man. As we talked about his future, since he will graduate this year, we encouraged him first to pursue engineering study and then theological studies. He was excited by this possibility.

Together we walked through Prague at night. It was Pavel's first holiday outing. If you watched the satellite world celebration of the New Year, Prague had two entries. First was a musical presentation of "Beer Barrel Polka" with beautiful glimpses from night-lit Prague. The second showed the crowd and fireworks. Both were incredible. Prague became a Babel of languages multitudes of tourists, mostly young people from many different countries. We watched only few hours of satellite network out of the 24 hours. The celebration broadcast many times reminded us pagan worship of golden calves.

We have already shared with some of you Pavel's ministry trip to Colorado and Arizona during the second half of January, February and part of March. For two months he was supposed to travel with Vladimir - our webmaster.

Well, this was announced but there are some changes. Pavel reduced the stay to one month to attend only one, possibly two, meetings. We need to expand the ministry outreach. Since Pavel's flu recovery is not 100% he asked Klara to come along. Winter airfare tickets are really reasonable, but the car rental seems to be high at this time. Any travel requires adjustment and preparation ahead so that our ministry would be minimally interrupted.

New challenge: recently we were asked by one leader of MTW ministry here in Prague to present our vision of how to better "The Battle for the Soul" digest. Here is a brief transcript of the telephone conversation: One hundred years from now we will read that "The Baffle for the Soul" was at the beginning of Czech revival. You are the only missionary systematic theologian we have. Promise, that you will not die soon. You have to write more. We want to help you. This is one more reason for our trip to US.

If you wonder whether Klara drives our new car -after about 4000 miles in passenger seat she has done so. Pavel's flu was the reason. Klara's mother was with us for a longer period of time. She was scheduled to have the PST (Pulse Signal Therapy). Klara became the driver without any instructions. Except for not knowing how to turn off window wipers slow cycle, the car was under control. Driving it is much better than riding the passenger seat. Speaking of PST - it is an American technology, but it is not yet available in the US. The US patients must travel to Mexico, Canada or almost any European country. We will report later if it helped to reduce severe rheumatoid and arthritis pain. If you want to know more visit: , .

Klara's short trip in October to Southern France and England was great. She read six books and came home refreshed. The fall was beautiful and mild. We visited the beaches of Normandy, number of WWII historical sites, museums and cemeteries. To see the actual landing spot is unforgettable. Food in France was ,surprisingly not so good. Instead, Klara cooked and Joyce cleaned after the dinner. Some meals we had in restaurants were really disappointing. But the British are now much better. The ferry to England (about 4 hours) was a bit rough but the food on the ferry smelled and looked wonderful. For a while we played double domino -Mexican train wreck, with British and New Zealand couples. The fun we had was interrupted by the shattering noise of breaking glass in the duty free shop and in the kitchen. While they picked up broken glass caused by the rough sea, we looked for our dice all around the moving floor. We spent three days in Yeoville, England. It was the most interesting baby-land. The first day I was just astonished, but next day I started counting. In three hours I counted over 160 babies! In Tesco (Department store) they have shopping carts with twin seats. Here in Prague, I do not see a pregnant woman for weeks and I can count babies on the fingers of one hand, no matter how long I am in the city. On the way back from England we used the tunnel. This engineering wonder is truly amazing. In 30 minutes we were back on the continent. An overnight stop in Strasbourg, France, was fantastic. It is a lovely place to visit. A week after we returned the TV news brought pictures from the places we just visited. Floods, winds, and storms caused tremendous damage.

Letters:

...I read some issues of the Journal "Battle for the Soul." They impressed me a lot Your way of conveying the truth and your interpretation of the Bible enlighten me to a lot of problems that kept me doubting or ignorant. I always looked at the Bible as at a historical script. Reading your journal led me to a deeper evaluation of the Bible. It also forced me to start thinking about my relationship toward our Lord. Thank you for it. I think there are many people who seek the way- Your lines give direction. I wish all people could read them.
# 1128 - Slavomir M., Nachod

... I would like to share with you how much light came to me through your audio cassette. For years I passively asked the question "Why God allows evil, human misery, wars, catastrophes etc." My answer was: "He knows better". Finally, after listening the tape on "Sovereignty of God" I understand. It was like lifting blindness from my eyes. It is great to know that there are people who TRULY LOVE GOD and TRUST HIM ... I wish to you blessed holidays. My mother, two brothers and I pray for your ministry.
-Email- Ivana P., Tiefenbach - Germany I

Dear Steigers,
thank you for the magazine. It is the best reading. I cannot keep it only for my enjoyment I share it with others and nothing is left for me. Please, mail me some audio tapes as well....
# 2590 - Rudi S., Canada

... many thanks for your journal and uncompromising presentation and explanation of many God's truths. Often I am puzzled how some pillars of God's truth are hidden from us even among Christians. ... Everything what happens in our lives is from Him. Nothing happens by chance. We need to ask God to open our eyes to see the purpose of His intervention ... Thanks that you are focused on the most important parts of written Word of God.
# 2557 - S.D., Hradec Kralove -

We have to keep in mind all the time that it is not us neither our broadcast nor our journal it is always our LORD. THANK, YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT.

In HIS Sovereign Grace,

Return to Prayer Letters Home Page.