Ricany, March 1997

Dear friends and partners, our brothers and sisters in Christ,

February is normally a cold and uneventful month, except for Valentine's day. This February is much different. Another flu epidemic hit the country, schools are being closed, and labor strikes are rocking the country. First the doctors were on strike. The hospitals are without medicine and medical supplies due to unpaid insurance claims. In the mean time insurance companies are on the verge of financial collapse. Teachers started a chain strike. Sometimes we feel like we're in Bangkok in the middle of a traffic jam of eleven lanes of traffic inching in the same direction, while a second story of freeways is being built above. However, this is not all what is happening.

The following day the railroad strike began and we were left with many errands and no transportation.

While we were returning by bus and subway back to our comatose car from one evening lecture on Evolution vs. Creation presented by a South African Ph.D.., Filip told us: I think those Czech kids really love you' This inner satisfaction is our driving force to be overcomers.

It took three days to locate an available towing service and rental car. While our car was waiting to be towed someone tried to open the hood as it was under a gas station security camera. Finally the car was taken about 60 miles to have the transmission rebuilt. There is only one reputable repair service for automatic transmissions in the country.

The deposit for the repair was somehow "lost" in the mail and then "found" at the Post office. It will take about one month to fix the car. In the meantime we are using another car since we have many out of town commitments. During this time Pavel was working with the Czech Immigration Services to obtain Filip's Czech permanent residence permit. It is an administrative task requiring many documents and certificates. The lady officer was quite happy to see a Czech American applying for residence.

While we were in Ostrava Jana accepted Filip's engagement ring and proposal for marriage. We were glad to make space in our busy schedule for the wedding date. It is planned for June 7th. That weekend we were supposed to be at HCJB European conference in Germany. Unfortunately we will miss the conference, fortunately Jim Allen, our boss, will spend four days with us in Prague prior to the wedding. We hope to take care of any business and conference matters at that time.

As parents we pray for their new life together jobs, housing, transportation ... it will be a challenge, to say the least.

Every year we try to "limit" our involvement, but instead we are more and more swamped by ministry work. Many times we decline invitations to different retreats, conferences, camps and Christian gatherings because we have many deadlines to meet. We realize that we need to slow down and pay more attention to people around us and to our fellowship with the Lord. We need to be a part of activities which will take us away from our computer screen, to smell the flowers and hear the birds sing. After giving and working so much we are sometimes exhausted. Following words of Oswald Chamber spoke to us recently:

It is of no value to God to give Him your life for death. He wants you to he a "living sacrifice," to let Him have all powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus. This is the thing that is acceptable to God.

About ten years ago Pavel wrote radio programs about the Bible. Last fall a couple from Ostrava listened to those tapes while driving to Germany. In fact, they liked the topic so much, that when they discovered an exhibition in Germany titled, 'The Bible in changing time or from papyrus to diskette", they worked very hard to obtain the show materials. They translated all the texts and trained the guides. All this was done with divine guidance. For one month the exhibition travels through four cities. We pray that a permanent Bible exposition like that can be available for schools and public in the largest cities.

It was exciting to see the hard work of those volunteers. We were blessed by an excellent response from schools and the general public. About 600 people filled out the survey and a number of them expressed an interest for further contact.

In Ostrava Pavel held four evening lectures. They were received very well. We had an opportunity to meet with several classrooms of students for discussion after the tour. The first class was really special - most of the students were from broken homes, drug users, sexually active or had a brush in with the police for violence. We are talking about the seventh graders. They were asked, "what they did not like about the presentation"? Their reply was, "there was no violence shown". Even those kids paid attention. The older students were more mature and again none of them had ever been challenged or asked about God or what they believe in. One of the teachers told them, "Before you leave the 9th grade, you will listen to about 20,000 thirty minute lectures. This is probably the only time you will hear about the Bible in school. Make sure that you remember that may be the Bible has an important information. Without being presented the options one can't make their own decision."

This Christmas as you receive this letter, our three sons will be staying with another wonderfully generous family as Vicki and I travel from the 17th to the 28th of December to pick up two very special God-given gifts to our family. On December 20, we have a court date in St. Petersburg, Russia to adopt Alexander (Sasha, 13), and Artyom (Tyoma, 8). If all goes as planned, we will be returning with them on Dec. 28, to have a late Christmas in Santa Clarita. And all of our lives will be changed forever

... But the truest test of character is what you're willing to sacrifice for another. Our sons rose to that opportunity this spring, when we told them the Lord had put It on our hearts to consider sharing our home and family with two boys who had neither. As they recovered from the shock and the initial 'no way Dad' reaction, they agreed to pray about it for a month. And the Lord changed their hearts over the next six weeks in an amazing way. We had told them that If we were to adopt, they would have to adopt these now brothers, too. And they grew visibly as they worked through the questions of sacrificing space and time for someone they did not even know. At the end of the time their questions began changing from "if" to "when" to "how soon can they come?"

While we were reading this letter, our hearts were really touched. We know what it feels like to be separated from family. For more than twenty years we could not see our parents and friends. Now most of them are no longer living.

Our children left home (rather we moved out of the USA, and boys stayed in college) at the age of eighteen; and we were separated again. Now, with great eagerness, we expect our sons visits, and possibility that one of them, Filip, will live nearby for a few months. We understand the longing and joy to share home with those who are lacking one. To be together with family is a great gift by itself, especially during the holiday season. We spent the first Christmas day with Klara's mother and the second with Jana's family. It was a great joy and fun to be a part of large family and relatives. Do you know what was the most original Christmas gift among all of us? Four way presentation of personalized coffee or tea cup.

About twenty years ago Klara picked up a refugee family on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. They stayed with us for several weeks. We helped them to find a job and start a new life in the United States. For years we kept in touch occasionally and we were very happy to know that Ivana, not long after we became believers, became a believer. First, she got a good laugh about this, but not long after that, her heart was changed. Later, even her daughter accepted the Lord. The male side of the family remained faithless. Now we met with Ivana in Prague. They arrived for two months to visit their grandmother and son, who is working in Prague as an architect.

We invited them to visit us before their departure. The husband, did not show up, since he was sure that we will talk about Christianity again, and he does not want to be confronted. The whole event reminded us of a story from our early times together. As we were searching for his job, he grew discouraged and frustrated. When offered another interview with the same company he refused to go. We got into a little argument and he was forced to go. This time the interview changed into a good job.

The conclusion? At that time, it was a possibility for a new beginning with his first employer; this time, it is an opportunity of a new beginning - eternal life with his Creator. How many people miss the best opportunity not even realizing the loss?

On the way to Ostrava for the Bible exhibition, we detoured a little and visited five families. We were urgently asked to stop and stay overnight in Zlin. There we met several new believers, people hurt by sin, guilt, divorce and violence (case of double murder in family).

In Ostrava we met one of the Pavel's college mate. His daughter and son-in-law became Christians. He is a former communist, scientist and now he is involved in using magic powers of New age healing methods. Out of curiosity he observes what Christianity is all about. After Pavel's lecture he said, "I have no more questions. Everything was said".

The next case of "reunion" does not give us total assurance but hope. During the New Years celebration we met a nurse from another town. She asked us about certain men, that we are somehow related to, but she did not remember how. As we searched our memory, the story became clear. She was talking about the stepfather of Klara's sister-in-law. About two years ago the nurse had a patient with cancer. He was giving away our magazines and Bibles with great vigor to other patients. She asked him if he is a believer. He did not give her a straight answer, but talked about our ministry and about us. No one in the family shared any of this with us. We have hope that he accepted the Lord on his own as we talked to him about salvation.

• Pavel was asked to be a guide for a Czech group visiting Israel. This will be a special event since his brother, his wife and other couples of non-believers will join the group. As soon as this news leaked out, the group grew from 30 to 49 and 10 more people had to be turned down.
• While Pavel is in Israel, Klara plans to attend a weekend retreat with Trans World Radio.
• We were invited to present the 'other view' on Sex Education for the whole-country teachers conference.
• All our radio programs will be soon published!

We count the blessings and thank you for joining us in the Lord's ministry. May He richly reward your prayers, partnership, and faithfulness.

THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS, LETTERS, GREETINGS, WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT, UNEXPECTED SPECIAL GIFTS, BOOKS, VIDEO CASSETTES, AND REMBERING OUR BIRTHDAYS ANNAVERSARIES.

WE MARVEL HOW FAITHFUL AND PATIENT PARTNERS WE HAVE ALL OVER.

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