Dear friends, family and
supporters,
Greetings from a chilly, grey and damp Scotland, where daylight
is struggling to return to the sky, and the occasional bud
on a twig has managed to push its way towards Spring.
Seeing the winter Olympics on the TV over the last week
has reminded us again of how mild our winter actually is
here—as opposed to the Czech winter that we left, where
there have been temperatures around -20°C, and snowfall
measured in metres in some places!
Yes, we are missing the Czech Republic and at times wishing
we were back there. We miss Ceske Budejovice, the town square,
our flat, the nearby river, and most of all our wonderful
friends, many of whom we are in contact with.
At the same time however we are making ourselves more and
more at home in Paisley, Scotland. Stephen has joined a local
choir and is practising for a concert (Brahms’ German
Requiem, Verdi’s Stabat Mater); Varya is making a new
circle of friends and is helping to visit a friend in hospital,
and Benjamin is making new friends at his pre-school. Apart
from our noisy neighbours, we’re very happy and settled
in our flat here.
TOBY & BENJAMIN
… are wonderful, wonderful boys! At times we feel overwhelmed
with love for them—seeing them grow, develop and learn.
Toby is 2 months old now (where has the time gone?!) and
is growing—and growing! He’s 11lb 11oz (5.3kg), and is
now sleeping from midnight until after 7AM (usually). What
a blessing it is to have more sleep! For the last week or
so he has been giving us the most wonderful big smiles. He’s
a very settled baby who seldom cries unless he’s hungry.
Toby looks a lot like Benjamin did as a baby, and looking
at photos of Varya as a baby, a lot like her too!
Benjamin is zooming towards 4 3/4, and is interested in
anything and everything. Favourite Benji quotes:
- “But I don’t want curly hair!” (in response
to us asking just why he won’t eat his crusts)
- “I want to be a teacher first, then a builder, then
an astronaut, and then I’ll go back to the first
one again!”
- “I think I want to learn how to do ski jumping. I’m
not afraid of heights. I want to do snowboarding too, and
the skeleton bobsleigh. I don’t think that would
be very dangerous at all”
- “I want to learn the horn, the piano and the xylophone.
And the trumpet.”
Benji seems to be at an age where everything is possible
and he could excel in whatever he puts his mind to. He absorbs
facts and information in an instant, but is also full of
fun, extremely affectionate, energetic, helpful and obedient.
What a boy :-)
WORKING FOR O.M. (again!)
You may remember from our last newsletter that we were debating
about whether or not to rejoin OM for a further 12 months.
Stephen was offered a role as part of a new team working
on OM’s international communications and web sites, a job
very much in line with his core skills and in line with much
of the technical work he was doing in the Czech Republic.
After much indecision and much prayer, we decided to rejoin
OM and take up this position. Part of the reason for the
decision was because - unusually - OM was willing to fund
the difference between the financial support we were receiving
while in the CR and the higher amount we would normally have
to raise to work for OM UK. This is a sign of the importance
they put on this role; getting the right people into place
for their communications and web strategy.
The main reason for wanting to re-join OM for this task,
however, is that it seems such a good and right thing for
us to do at this time. Steve is a perfect fit for the job,
we understand and appreciate the huge role that communications
play for other serving OM’ers (so want to help to facilitate
that as much as possible), we will be more free to be involved
in Czech missions activities throughout the year (eg English
Camp), and it doesn’t require another house move! Finally,
of course, we feel after prayer that it is the right thing
to do.
There is still the question of finances. Although OM are
helping to fund us, we would like to bring our supporters
with us to help to fund the work Steve is doing. We feel
that it’s important mission work, and we would like
to enthuse others to be involved through their finances and
prayers. Please contact us if you would like more information
or would like to help financially.
ITEMS FOR PRAYER
- Please pray for Varya as she does most of the caring
for Benjamin and Toby—pray for rest and health for her.
- Please
pray for Toby’s health and development.
He still has a lot of colic and is prone to vomiting.
- Please
pray for Varya as she begins to consider her future career
options.
- Please pray for Stephen as he is stretched in
this new job.
- He travels to Carlisle (2hrs) to meet with
the team quite regularly—pray for safe travel.
- Please
pray for financial supporters to come forward to support
us in this work
- Please pray for us this weekend as we are
involved in our church mission weekend, and have the chance
to talk to many more people about what we are doing.
- Please
pray for us as we make decisions about how to continue
our involvement with the Czech Republic (e.g. the English
Camp in July which we would love to help with)
- Please pray
for us as we communicate with our Czech friends (some Christian,
some not) and maintain our friendships. It’s sometimes
hard to keep up.
- Spare a prayer for our downstairs neighbours
who find it hard to keep the noise down. And for us, as
we cope with the loud music/conversation despite various
visits downstairs.
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