June 2013 Update

When are you leaving?  How are things going?

Our initial plan was for us to be able to be long-term in Zlin, Czech Republic by this summer.  At the moment that is not going to be able to happen.  As you can see we still need 22% of our monthly support.  In amount that translates into about $1500/month more.  God has worked through so many of you to get us to where we are right now.  My heart is so full when I think about how many of you are giving so sacrificially to be able to spread the love of Christ!

It is the desire of our hearts to be there as soon as possible.  If you are not currently partnering with us, will you please partner with us?  Please know too that main sources of our support come from individuals giving $10, $25, or $50 a month. 

How can I partner with Miriam and Evan?

You can pray for Evan, for me, and for the people in Zlin, Czech Republic.

You can give financially - either one time or monthly or both:)

You can give on-line through MTW's secure website at:  https://donations.mtw.org/donate/AddDesignation.aspx?No=12730.

OR

You can call MTW at phone: 678-823-0004, and they can set you up.  Our account number is #12730.

We are asking you to come alongside and partner with us as we hold out the words of hope in Christ to a spiritually lost nation!

Thank you so much!!!

With great love and thankfulness,
Miriam and Evan Grady

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.  And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:12-15

 

Getting ready for life in Czech Republic!

Which of these pictures is clearly untrue?!

Mountain climbing, bee keeping, or horse-drawn trolleys/street cars?

I certainly hope that you guessed the horse-drawn trolleys!  In Zlin, there are trolleys or street cars - although not with horses!  Public transportation in the form of trolleys, buses, and trains is a very common form of transportation.  Czech Republic has about 50,000 bee keepers, so hopefully Evan will get to help with bees at some point.  (Thanks to my brother-in-law's new beekeeping hobby, Evan is fascinated by bees!)  Czechs in general really like hiking, so we will have many opportunities to go hiking - and maybe fit in some mountain climbing!

 

 

Visiting with cousins

 

Our mailing address is:
1222 Georgetowne Ct.
Sarasota, FL  34232

Our email address is:
mirgrady@hotmail.com

Our blog address is:
miriamandevanincr.blogspot.com

Copyright © June 2013  All rights reserved.

Another good article.  And really quite sad - not only about Czech Republic (which is the only country in the single digits) but about the state of our world in general.

How often do you pray? 

(from http://www.readersdigest.com.au/pray-global-survey)

Read the results of our global poll.

From Mumbai to Mudgee, where you live influences how much you pray. Or so shows this month’s global survey. Just 23% of Australians say they pray daily, while 66% of people in Malaysia, the Philippines and India are daily worshippers. In Europe 65% of respondents in the Czech Republic claim to never pray, followed by those in the Netherlands, France, Spain and the UK. The trend stops across the Atlantic, where 55% of Americans pray daily. See full results below.

A total of 150 respondents in each country participated in the poll.

"I've Never..."

As I was reflecting on how to give you all a glimpse of what spiritual life in Czech Republic is like, I remembered the following story. 

Kris and Paula Lundgaard are dear friends, and I had the privilege of serving with them in Trnava, Slovakia.  Last summer they went to Czech Republic to help at a summer English camp.  Here is Kris' story....

Do you know the game "I've Never?" It's a get-to-know-you game in which people are seated in a circle of chairs with one fewer chair than the number of people playing. There's one person standing in the middle, who must make a true statement starting with the words "I've never." Then everyone who HAS done what the person in the middle has NOT done must get up and find a new seat; and the person in the middle scrambles to get a seat too. Whoever is left standing starts the next "I've never" statement.

Last summer (2012), we played this game with our students in the English camp, which was held in the Czech Republic. Most of the statements were mundane ("I've never been to America"). Some resulted in funny or awkward situations, such as when I said, "I've never worn a skirt" and a boy got up. One, however, staggered me: a friendly and bright 16-year-old girl declared, "I've never prayed." And she said it without shame or irony, as if she'd just told us that she'd never eaten with chopsticks.

Most of the class jumped up to snatch new seats. I did too, of course, and I played it cool so that no one could see that my mind was spinning as I contemplated my student's prayerless life. Her simple statement was another reminder that the Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic nations in the world (second to Estonia in Europe). But it wasn't just that she didn't believe that rocked me-it was how naturally, how matter-of-factly she could say that she'd never once even lifted her eyes to say a word or two to a god who might be there, who might possibly want to know her.

But I know that you pray. And so I ask you to pray for my prayerless student, and for all 65 or so of our students, very few of whom know our Lord Jesus. Ask God to open their eyes, to make Himself known to them. And for the believers there, ask God to anchor their faith on the deepest and strongest Rock, so they will continue to shine like stars. And pray that He would let them see the fruit of new life in those around them.