© Ivan Steiger MMI

(Ephesians 2:1,2)

May 2001

Dear Friends and Ministry Partners,
March was a truly busy month. First, we were expecting a visit from our kids and grandson. A few days before their arrival we made a room for a baby-bed. Klara bought a nice bookcase, and we finally unpacked the remaining banana boxes after more than two years. We had workers move some wiring for electrical switches and hang some pictures. For a week Klara made guest bedroom draperies, sofa covers and other projects she had put aside for a long time. Well, our living conditions visibly improved, and those who came to greet our kids joked about it saying that they should come more often.

Arrival at the Munich Airport

OUR CHILDREN
What JOY we experienced at the airport in Munich. Finally we could hold and inspect our grandson. His sweet and smiling nature touched our hearts. He is a good traveler on the plane, in the car, in the kangaroo pouch as well as in the stroller. We shared our kids and Samuel equally with Lenka's parents. The first week at our place, the second at theirs. We could see first-hand how the little man changes in front of our eyes. Most of the family gathering and dinners were at our place. Klara did a lot of cooking and entertaining. For a while we had an ambulance here. First Klara came down with chills and a cold. A few days later her mother and Pavel had 24-hour flu, and it traveled further.

Grandma Klara

Lord's timing: Time with our kids went too fast. Finally we drove our kids back to Munich in two cars since all four grandparents had to go. Their flight to Frankfurt was delayed, but they caught the connection from Frankfurt to Denver at the last minute. In Denver they were rear-ended by another car - nothing serious. The next day the pilots went on strike and no Lufthansa plane left Germany. We were praising the Lord that they made it home.

HCJB VISITORS
Other visitors joined our family reunion. Almost the whole month of March could be described as a bed-and-breakfast month. At one time we had 7 additional guests - coming and going. An unexpected trip to Prague was a special treat to our dear friends from Quito. Sam and Karen were taken to Europe by her sister and husband. They could choose a place to visit their friends. Prague was their wish and our joy. Their stay had a flaw at the very last hour however.

We were so busy with visitors that we did not watch TV or listen to the radio so did not notice the switch to daylight saving time. Thus, their early morning Sunday departure was "moved" an hour ahead. The taxi driver woke us up. Providentially all four of them would not fit into our car, so we had called two cabs on Saturday evening. They caught the plane - at the last minute.

The next visitors were David Manney, his wife and daughter. David is the director of the HCJB Euro-Asia Region that we also belong to. They spent three days with us. We held several strategy planning meetings to evaluate our need for growth, prepare projects, seek needed additional ministry financing etc. Please pray with us for the right couple to be found and trained for our HCJB radio and publishing ministry. Pavel will be sixty on June 15. We have to plan ahead, though we will be active as long as our Lord permits according to His irrevocable decree.

APRIL FOOLS DAY:
We had a very cold and gray March. As soon as the last visitor left, sunny days arrived. This joy was spoiled for several days by a new government ruling. It sounded like a bad joke, but unfortunately it was true. As of April 1, all foreigners had to surrender their driver licenses and obtain Czech licenses. About 300,000 foreigners were quite angry. Lines in Prague were hours long. They could process about 200 exchanges per day. Initial information was quite confusing. The regulation caused major problems for those whose driver licenses were also their ID's - like US, Sweden and others. The government issued a warning about harsh fines. US driver licenses do not comply with European conventions and thus cannot be exchanged. We could not drive for days. We had to apply to the US for the International Driving Permit. Now we are OK for a year; then we have to get another in any US AAA office.

THE CZECH EASTER HOLIDAY
is more about folklore and a busy tourist season. Some traditionalists still color Easter eggs. But even this tradition becomes more business than anything else. Many decorated eggs are sold along the tourist paths. Also Easter whips, braided from 8 thin willow sticks, and Easter rattles (noisemakers) are necessary parts of the spring holidays. On Monday young men and boys, especially in villages and small towns, go from house to house where young ladies and girls live. They "whip" the girls, and sprinkle them with water. It's a sheer fun day. Girls are happily screaming since the more boys that come the more "popular" they are. Boys get Easter eggs for their performance, a chocolate treat or a shot of strong drink - depending on their age and rank. The more decorated the egg the more the boy is valued in the girl's heart. It is a nice pagan custom signifying fertility just like the Easter bunnies. The "whipping" is to keep women healthy and industrious. The Easter egg hunt is unknown here. In the olden days children went with parents to the fields to listen to the first skylark and to say a prayer, and the skylark would give them a little treat.

The religious significance that was later added to the original pagan spring festival has been forgotten by most Czech people. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has been erased from the minds of the Czech majority.

OUR EASTER
As for us, we went to Ostrava to attend a three-day conference where Pavel spoke twice. The conference was about prayer. Pavel's main message was that prayer does not change God's decrees, it changes us to accept and love His decrees. We were happy to see many friends and we praise the LORD for our great reception in spite of some difficulties. Events of the past month brought us closer to our LORD and to deeper understanding of our ministry. You know how long we have been praying for the right couple to replace us. Recently we were so close, but it had not been the right timing. Now we know why. We have to bring the ministry to safe harbor since the waters are still deep and dangerous. We know that a younger couple would not handle the opposition as well as we do. We have tremendous people support and some clergy opposition. We must keep an interdenominational profile and truly cultivate our follow-up in the same spirit. We realize that local ministry must remain in the HCJB World Radio spirit of fellowship to reach people from different walks of life and denominations, otherwise we would be censored by a particular church and controlled to produce a homeopathic gospel.

SABBATH EXPERIENCE
If your church have any leaders or you know of any missionaries serving in Central or Eastern Europe that would like the opportunity to enjoy five days of wonderful fellowship, to recharge batteries and just be appreciated, mail us their address or e-mail us immediately. Sabbath experience provided by PARAKLESIS ministry is a special ministry to pastors and missionaries who serve others. We were so pleased by this ministry in the past that we volunteered to host a retreat in Prague in September 2001. The cost is only symbolic that anybody can afford to come. Space is limited to 40 people, so do not delay.

PRAISE THE LORD FOR

• Jan and his translating. The daily news from Ecuador is on the Czech HCJB World Radio website. He is the first person to respond to our chosen materials to be translated and materials we write or accept for printing in the magazine. Since he is of a different denominational background, it is good to test the ground. It is helpful to know the first reaction to new information.
• Vladimir - our webmaster is doing a great job. He is working on his thesis for graduation. Our internet ministry is a powerful tool. Live streaming from Ecuador is on and off - anybody can listen to any language.

In our last prayer letter we shared with you our experience about preaching on the depravity of man. It is true that we lost some opportunities to preach but the Lord opened a number of new opportunities. Again we are overbooked! Thanks to those who mailed us words of encouragement. We received many encouraging letters from readers.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• We should at all times prayerfully recognize the Lord's sovereignty and control over all things. We must remember that all, including what we do, is for His glory. The prayer does not change our God it changes us. So often we forget this foundational truth.
• We will not attend the European HCJB World Radio conference in Sweden. First, we have to catch up a few loose ends. Second, we have to be good stewards of all assets. Your support of the Steiger's the Lord puts on your hearts carries: a) salaries of our three employees, b) our personal allowance, c) office and ministry capital cost, d) office and ministry operational cost. Please pray that we will be able to maintain our budget through new and current faithful partners.
• In May we expect a number of visitors coming at the same time. We love hospitality but so many people coming from different continents is a handful above our abilities. (We can hardly believe how many tourists are coming to Prague before the tourist season. Streets are packed and with numerous languages it's like a modern Babylon.)
• Klara's invitation to Indonesia has apparently fizzled out.
• In April and May we will organize or participate in several conferences. Please pray for those who are preparing conferences and those who will attend.
• Pray with us for the church and local leadership.

Our friend John Dettoni e-mailed us a Thought For Easter Time: "Seems we humans prefer to be our own gods. If we could just be part of the process to help God out, we would feel like we have some control over our own destiny. But that is the point! We do not have any such control. Who can manufacture a day or even a tiny second of time to his/her life? We cannot. These are in God's hands, not ours." It is He, not our methods, that saves His people. This is something to meditate on not only for our personal lives but also for ministry goals. And we know that it is He who sent you to us. We are eternally grateful that it is He who saves not how we perform. To Him be the Glory!

BEST WISHES AND HIS BLESSING

In HIS Sovereign Grace Pavel and Klara

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