-Proverbs 19:21

January 1999

Dear Friends and Partners

Part 1:

Greetings to all of you from Camp Verde, Arizona. We spent a nice weekend at the guest quarters of our supporters' house in the country. It was the first time we had a moment to start our Home Ministry progress report.

In January we moved from Ricany to Prague. Your and our prayers concerning the closing and moving were answered. Time was the factor. First, we were enabled to move the office and recording studio to the first "office" apartment; a week later our belongings to the second "residential" apartment. It's true we have moved, but most of the "stuff" is boxed in and stored inside of the two apartments. The second phase of the move was really a cold experience. Klara's plants did not survive.

Moving just days before the departure was a very hectic experience. Some days we slept only a few hours. We had to finish our radio programming, get ready three Christian Digests for printing (two in Slovak one in Czech), print about fourteen thousand address labels, register the change of address with Czech Immigration Police (a time consuming trial), pick up the airline tickets, pack up for the trip, etc. Too late we found out that it is much wiser to, pack suitcases up before moving. We did not know which box socks, shoes, and other necessities were in... We had so many helpers to move us that we somehow lost control of what goes where.

Further, we were under a false impression that our airline reservation was in order. Apparently our "document". was only a fax quotation, not a reservation. It took some creative searching for alternative tickets. In God's providence we actually saved about $400 by this misunderstanding. However, at the moment it looked like we would pay twice as much as was originally quoted. Instead of Czech Airlines, we flew Austrian Airlines. We were assigned seats in Prague and could not get two aisle seats in the same row, as we requested. We always prefer to be "separated" by the aisle; it gives us much more moving freedom while canned for ten hours in the plane. Instead, we got neighboring seats in the middle seat section. The plane was nearly full since ski teams from Austria and Italy were flying to the world championship in Colorado. When the boarding was finished, we were overjoyed to have four contiguous seats. Klara, thanks to her measurements, could rest on three of them in a horizontal position from Vienna to New York. The Lord provided better again.

At the Vienna airport we met a Christian group returning from a trip to Russia. Klara had a wonderful time of sharing and a few American hugs. In Denver we were picked up by our kids. The next day we left for Colorado Springs to attend the HCJB International Council conference. The weather was sunny perfect. This was February and people were wearing shorts or at least short sleeves.... We were again overwhelmed by the big blue sky. In February we have in Prague only Vaseline sky, which is low even when blue.

The next day Klara had chills and headache. She stayed in bed while Pavel attended all meetings. The following day, Pavel had 1020F fever and stayed in bed for the rest of the conference. Klara attended the rest of the meetings and did the Czech ministry presentation.

The HCJB conference, as usual, was loaded with information, fellowship, prayers, fantastic hospitality by the HCJB staff, and a special gift of 4,000 CD's for attending broadcasters.

Back in Denver we spent a few days with our sons. We visited their churches and Bible studies. It was nice to meet with several old friends from the church we attended when we lived in Denver (1979-1984). Our son Vit came back from a mission trip to Peru. He took 400 slides and had a six-hour video report. We enjoyed the presentation in his church with our dear friends. It was exciting to see the people catching the mission fever.

Just before leaving Colorado for Arizona we stopped at HCJB headquarters in Colorado Springs. Pavel had an opportunity to investigate Internet options for our enhanced web page, which must be updated from Prague.

Part 2:

From Colorado we drove through New Mexico to Arizona. The first stop was just south of Albuquerque. We spent a night with a great couple from HOSANNA Ministries. We found out that Hosanna produces one million tapes every month of dramatized New Testament in different languages. They're working closely with HCJB, and some of the languages are now recorded in Ukraine. The Slovak language is the next. We hope that Czech language can be recorded soon. There are some difficulties with copyrights, and we will try to assist.

Our next stop was in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where we met our special friend Mike from the days we worked together in 1990 in Quito. Mike spent several years ministering in Chile. We had the privilege to be introduced and speak in the Evangelical Free Church in Las Cruces that Mike attends. We met its pastor who was instrumental in putting the 11th HCJB repeater along the U.S.Mexican border on the air. He is one of the most dynamic persons we met; an engineer by background of course. We appreciated great fellowship and warm hospitality and friendship.

Part 3:

"We make our plans . . . and then travel for quite a while before we realize that [GOD] simply isn't with us! In the rush and hurry to get something done . . . we leave Him far behind." (Marcia Hollis)

As you know, we were postponing our home ministry for a long time. We would love to come and spend some time with all of you. However, radio and publishing know only deadlines. It's nearly impossible to leave for more than several days. That's why during the past eight year's we spent just four weeks four years ago in the U.S.; and two years ago after the HCJB International Council conference Pavel raced 30 days in the West (Denver, Seattle, Bay area, LA area, Phoenix, Tucson, back to Denver) to visit as many supporting churches as possible while Klara stayed in Prague to keep the office running. If we left for a year, we would have to start our ministry all over again.

Finally, toward the end of 1998 we made firm plans. Since we have surely lost $650 (most likely $900) of our monthly support, our home ministry became an urgent task. The International Council conference was the engine which propelled us to come just five days after moving our office and household. For a number of reasons we had to remain very flexible. We hope that all of you will understand that we are unable to visit everyone and minister in all supporting churches as expected. We have to make new contacts, we must find new partners. People come and go; the only constant is change.

We are searching for new opportunities to widen our support base. We were introduced at the three HCJB dinner presentations in Arizona. We met a number of people with whom we had prior contacts. In Prescott we made some new contacts which led us to leave Arizona just after a few days of busy schedule in Tucson. We drove to California to attend a pastor's conference. From La Mirada we drove to Fallbrook and had wonderful fellowship with our supporting church and some dear friends. We made a short stop in San Diego. Then we visited our former home church in LA, supporting church in Simi Valley, and made an unannounced visit to see our former neighbors. We also made a quick stop to see friends, and supporters who adopted three boys from Russia. Now only the oldest understands some Russian. This family is now raising six boys. The next night we spent in Bakersfield with special friends. Richard had open heart surgery a few months ago and it was a great time to pay a brief visit. Our last California stop was in Mentone. We were greeted by friends we were together with in Indonesia.

After 15 days in California we returned to Tucson. In the meantime, our hostess, Marie, was in the hospital to undergo a knee replacement surgery. We are here to help her during her first weeks at home. At the same time we got Pavel's PSA result. It was not good.

We started to count the blessings first. If we would not lose a substantial part of ministry support, we would probably delay our trio to America, We would not talk about prostate surgery with our dear friend in Colorado Springs who just had one. That finally convinced Pavel to have a routine screening test done conveniently without a doctor's appointment in a drug store. We are in Arizona where we have a number of wonderful friends with El Camino Baptist Church and their network of referrals, a place to stay, a hospital around the corner, and we were able to get the appointment with the recommended specialist within three days. We are covered by HCJB insurance. Now we have to wait and be patient to see what the doctor and further tests will say.

To describe just some events during our first seven weeks would take much longer. We have driven about 3,500 miles, attended two conferences, stayed at 16 different locations, spent a night in 13 homes, attended 9 church services, and spoken 12 times in different groups. Next time we will include some pictures. Missionary life isn't for everyone....

Ups and Downs:

Traveling a schedule like this brings some physical and bodily discomforts ... eating on the road and not drinking enough water, high elevation, dryness, etc.

About our support: quite often we are asked if we are supported by our U.S. home churches. With sadness in our heart we must admit - NO. In our lifetime we had three home churches, and only one of them is supporting us. It is the church in Jakarta. Recent events in Indonesia caused expatriates' evacuation last May. Without them even the International Church is cuffing back our support. The other two home churches are either too small or too large and their mission plans are also small or too complex.

Ironically, most of our support comes from Arizona where we never lived or attended any church. We came eight years ago for our son's graduation. Our plan was to stay about five days and pay a courtesy visit to Marie (mentioned above) whom we met in Ecuador. Instead of five days, in 1991 we stayed in Arizona ten months, With Marie's help and a number of other "strangers," we raised a major part of our support in the Tucson and Phoenix area.

At this time our supporters are scattered all around the U.S. and Canada, and we have a oncea-year gift coming from Australia and Japan. Many of our partners we do not even know personally. They were at some church at the particular time when we had a one-time opportunity to share our ministry. In very few churches we spoke more than once. It is amazing to see how the Lord makes divine appointments. We know that not once did we speak in vain. Even now we can go back where we started eight years ago. We are grateful for His touch on people's hearts.

We would love to visit personally as many places and churches where our support comes from, but we realize that it is impossible. We need at least three months for Colorado, three months for Arizona and three months for California. There are just not enough Sundays and Wednesdays. We promise that next time we will come to those places we did not visit yet. Please do understand: if we leave our ministry for one year, we can start all over. What took us years to build up would be disrupted. Our radio spot would be taken by someone else. To come back on a secular station is very difficult. Broadcasting schedules are planned for the whole year in advance, and if the program is not available on time, it is not on the air.

PTL's:

• Our sons had their March birthdays.
• Jindra, our full-time worker, is attending the office in Prague.
• Safe travel and very friendly places to stay.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

• Pavel's examination results.
• When we arrived in Denver our son Filip and his wife Lenka announced that they are expecting. This joy was short lived. Before we left Colorado, Lenka lost her pregnancy already the third time.
• Good health and strength to run the race.
• Further traveling mercies.
• New contacts and supporters to recover lost support.

Once again, we thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

In HIS Sovereign Care,

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