© Ivan Steiger MMI

May, 2002

DEAR FRIENDS AND MINISTRY PARTNERS,

We are back home Pavel after ten weeks and Klara after twenty days. Pavel left in February for home ministry mainly in AZ and CA. Klara joined him for the last ten days. We were reunited in Philadelphia a day after our 37th wedding anniversary. Spring in Pennsylvania was marvelous. We admired the rich and colorful landscape and the beauty of the dogwood trees. We do not know these in Europe.

CONTINUATION OF OVERVIEW
From Philadelphia we went to the Blue Mountains in Pennsylvania and attended the John Bunyan Conference. We met some dear brothers we already had met the last year. Several of those "old friends" came from Arizona. Of course we met new friends. What a blessing, fellowship and rich spiritual food! Let us share some highlights of past months. First of all, Pavel drove over four-and-half thousand miles (I would be comatose). It took some prayer since he drove 1984 Buick Electra. Many thanks to the Delyria's from FBC of Tempe who kindly lent the car. He visited many churches, mission conferences and individuals in Arizona, California and some in Utah. He drove via Nevada, Utah and back to Arizona. He spoke to many people. His lap-top presentation was appreciated by all. Several people were wondering about the true spiritual condition of the Czech people and some requested more accurate information and sources.

Please keep in mind that the immense majority of the largest Churches—Roman Catholic, Evangelic and Hussite consists of formal members or nominal Christians. Baptism, wedding, funeral and midnight mass with Easter—all that may belong to good old tradition. The truer picture is that about 20,000 out of 10,000,000 people meet weekly in Bible believing Churches.

Pavel visited our children and grandchildren for three days in Salt Lake City during the Easter. A week later both grandmas arrived together. It was a near perfect time of joy. Just four days after grandmas' arrival Filip's employer announced the closing of the entire Salt Lake City office. This came just two weeks after our children sold their Denver house and bought the new one in SLC...! They waited for 6 months to sell their Denver house. In less than one year they sold and bought two houses and Filip lost his job twice. What a shock! Almost two hundred people were laid off. Filip was among 60 people who had jobs until June 15th. When Klara left there was a small possibility that a few people might remain in SLC office to carry on unfinished projects. What to say? Our security is only in the Lord. We have so many reasons to be grateful for His provision for all of us day by day. We often take everything for granted. (We have just learned that Filip "survived" within the last remnant of 45 employees. Praise the Lord!)

Pavel took many pictures with a digital camera during deputation. It has been exciting to see some dear faces and places Klara missed. I am sure that Pavel did a great job of representing all of us, but nothing can replace hugs from fellow believers.

WHAT HAPPENED IN PRAGUE
Let me backtrack a little. Klara's first week of "home ministry" began with a lot of noise and dust in the apartment. Because of previous sloppy work, the entry hall tiles had to be totally replaced. The third week we had another work crew in the apartment. This time they were fixing the cracks in the wall. Apparently, brick-built buildings need some time to "settle" over winter time. The workers placed special mash over walls then refaced plaster and painted them. Because of the wall repairs, we lost all the hangers for the pictures. Klara had to measure all over again. At this point she replaced her taller husband by a stepladder. The grand indoor finale was a thorough spring cleaning. On the outside we have new roof; gutters and stucco are hopefully the last things to be repaired. Fortunately the builder owns part of the property and their offices are right here. Other builders would be long gone. Per- haps, three-and-a-half years after moving in, we finally should be done by this fall.

CZECH MINISTRY
The second week Gabi slipped on the wet step from the tram and sprained her ankle. Klara took her to the Hospital for her first cast. Since that time she was "grounded" in the office 24 hours a day.

In spite of all this and Pavel's absence the office ran like a clockwork. Gabi was a good company. She kept producing radio programs one after another. Since she converted everything in digital format, we have hundreds of programs just at our fingertips. This "overproduction" is a great ministry challenge. Since we have our own server, we actually run an Internet radio. Most programs are also accompanied by written text. Numbers of our web page visitors can enjoy a multitude of services.

We are pleased with the progress and its efficiency. Pavel was connected with us by e-mail, and he could enter our office computer system from the US. He was not with us physically, but he handled some specific tasks from the other side of the ocean. We exchanged information and instructions quite frequently. At times it was like brain surgery in the hands of the experts - Pavel, Vladimir and Jindra. To be even more efficient Vladimir got a new powerful notebook. Vit (our younger son) wrote to him: "I hate to admit it, but I am very jealous". Well, big boys like big toys.

Gabi, Jindra and Vladimir can be in touch with us where ever we may be and together we are one unit. We were encouraged. Even if things go "wrong", the Lord is with us.

U.S. MINISTRY
We can hardly believe that so many weeks went so fast. We were encouraged in so many ways. Even if things go "wrong", the Lord is with us. Once again we experienced many small and ample favors, from being picked up and dropped off at the airport, a free car, hospitality fair, open hearts and homes, … simply we want to say THANK YOU TO ALL. Our apology that we did not call all of you. It was really a busy time and we are slowly unwinding now.

How little we knew about our final home ministry days. As the last thing, we planned a weekend in New York, staying with our Czech friend in Palisades Park, just on the other side of Manhattan in NJ. Last year, because of 9/11, we could not even fly back from New York and flew from Philadelphia. We had a perfect weekend in NY. As we stood at the twin-tower crater with hundreds of other visitors we were immensely touched. It is amazing that the rubble is already cleaned up. Over all, the New York spirit was great. Springtime moments in Central Park were so festive and beautiful. New York is alive and we enjoyed it.

The last day—don't worry, we are not about to present any eschatological view, rather the last day of our home ministry. At the John Bunyan Conference we met pastor Ed Moore from NYC. Their church has people who were born in 46 different countries. We were invited to join them for Sunday night service—so we fit quite well. After our presentation we were invited together with pastor's family to visit a Polish family for dinner. It was a feast and their fellowship was wonderful. It was nutritional Armageddon. After several courses of most delicious fares, we were served Polish sausages. Simply the best. We were touched when the pastor's youngest son prayed for our ministry. We got to bed about 2 a.m. After five-hour sleep we drove back to Philadelphia and at 3 p.m. were taken to airport. Klara's plane took off ahead of Pavel's, however, she arrived 10 hours earlier. Klara spent 10 and Pavel 20 hours on the way.

BACK IN PRAGUE
Let us share a few more exciting events. The Lord is providing help in really special way. We shared with you some time ago that Marek, the medical doctor, was translating HCJB daily news into Czech for our Internet pages. He loved it. After more than a year he asked if we could find someone else, since it was such a big commitment. Last fall he had an encounter with a tick and nearly died. He was hospitalized for quite a while and remained for several months on sick leave. During one of his neurological check ups his doctor recommended that he must use his brain really hard, like translating something ... well, he has his job translating daily news again.

Klara's mom was hospitalized in March. The hospital was about one hour away. After evaluating her situation, Klara tried several options to determine what to do next and how to transfer her to Prague. This was a real testing of our faith in how the Lord provides. So many things just snapped together. What a testimony for mom in her helpless situation. She was just amazed. From the hospital Jindra and Gabi transferred her to the place Klara chose, and they admitted her without a previous reservation that normally takes several month. It happened because of prayer and the help of good friends. When Klara returned 20 days later, everything was under control. Friends did visitation and my mom was overwhelmed at how the good Lord takes care. She was admitted to the special Clinic for rheumatoid patients (Dr. Marek helped with this). She truly got the best care. She went through many tests and examinations. It was decided that she should undergo two surgeries: 1) endoprothesis, which was done four years ago must be redone and 2) her shoulder replaced. This is no easy task at her age (79) and there is a normal waiting period for that kind of surgery. It looks like mom will stay with us for extended period of time so we could monitor her condition. Of course this situation will change our schedule a bit. However, we are comfortable in taking turns in various events and duties.

LATEST
We joined a US missionary and a group of people who are meeting Sunday afternoon with the goal of starting a new church about 20-minute drive west of Prague. Our goal is to provide deep biblical teaching without language limitations. We will report on this later.

We will not attend the annual HCJB European Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, since the visa fee for both of us would be $320. We just cannot justify the amount that pays Gabi for one month.

PRAYER NEEDS:
Adjustment to the new situation, endurance and balance between work and time to rest. Our calendar is booked for the summer. Many visitors and friends are coming.

At this time we want to express our endless gratefulness to all of you who stand behind us and carry us in your prayers. We have many exciting challenges ahead.

In His Sovereign Grace Pavel and Klára

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