October 2013

October 2013

We have 84% of our monthly need & need only 16%!!!

Will you please partner with us?

This is for all of you who have been waiting until the end or have been thinking that they need to support us, but have not gotten around to it yet.  This is your time!  If 86 people gave only $10/month, 43 people gave $20/month, or 17 people gave $50 we would be all done.  Please pray about the Lord would have your partner with us!

God has been incredibly gracious in using so many of  you who are already partner with us.  Thank you all so very much!  As we go, it really is a partnership...

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 1:3-6

So, maybe you're ready to ask - how do I give?   Mission to the World (the organization with which I work) has a website.  The link is here:  http://www.mtw.org/Pages/Give_FAQ.aspx.  It give you information on how to give.  The important thing is our account number.  It's 12730. There are many different kinds of ways to give.  You can also fill out the enclosed yellow sheet.  Some of you have been asking about the length of time of your commitment.  Generally, your commitment would be for five years - knowing however that sometimes things come up, so your commitment is not set in stone. 

Thank you all so very much!  We are ready to physically go to Zlin and serve the Lord there.  We are hoping and praying to go in January 2014, which is really just around the corner!

In the joy of our Savior,

Miriam and Evan Grady

more after the jump....

The Refomed Church in Zlin - meeting at the Seventh Day Adventist Church

The Seventh Day Adventist Church in Zlin graciously allows the Reformed Church to rent and to meet in their building on Sundays.  The Reformed Church has been meeting there for about a year and a half.  It is a great facility and more than meets the needs of the Reformed Church.  Here are a few pictures for you to see where the church worships and where Evan and I will be worshiping too!

In fact, the church in small suburb of Zlin (in what used to be a village).  There is a good school here, and it's very nice section of town with lots of families.  At this point we feel as though God is leading us to live and serve in this part of town.  It will be a great asset to be able to invite neighbors and school friends to a church that is around the corner!  Pray for the Lord to provide just the right apartment for us!

The Sanctuary

Looking down on the sanctuary

The front lobby

Upstairs Fellowship Hall area

A Sunday School room

View from the front door

The whole building

The fire station

For the past several years we have been able to attend Sarasota County Fire Department's annual open house.  It's a great time to be outside, see lots of very cool things - new and old fire trucks, a helicopter, ambulances, horses, and even Smokey the Bear made an appearance.  It was too another reminder (hopefully!) of last times and a fun day to build memories. 

Evan with our good friends the Nouris - Daron and Alice

Driving a newer fire engine.  Did you know that fire trucks don't have keys?!

An older fire truck

Poppop, Evan, and Smokey

Smokey, Evan, and Momma

Kindergarten

Evan is now officially a kindergartener and is starting to learn how to read.  It is so much fun to see him really begin to put letter, sounds, and words together.  The world is opening up to him.  The Lord has provided a fantastic Christian school for us during this time of transition.

This fall I've been reflecting on how completely and totally different his life is now than it was two or three years ago, and how different his life will be than it would have been.  God in His amazing grace and mercy has seen fit to pluck him out of a life of sadness, grief, despondency, and drugs.  He has given Evan a new life, a new name, a hope, and a future.  And there are so many parallels between this earthly adoption and as Christians our heavenly adoption. 

4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.  Galatians 4:4-7

 

VERY excited for his first day of kindergarten!

He LOVES to talk -- all the time. Right now his favorite topic is frogs!

The zoo in Zlin

On Saturday, we got to go to the zoo!  It was very exciting to go and see all the animals (some of them VERY up close).  BUT as exciting as it was to see the animals and spend the day at the zoo, it was even more exciting to see the Zitnanski family!!  Jano, Mata, David, Noemka, and Karinka (who live in Trnava, Slovakia) and are very, very dear friends decided to join us at the zoo as well.  

It was a joy to see my "sister" and my godchildren and for Evan to hang out with his "cousins".  





















We did get to see lots of other cool stuff too:)

More pictures after the jump!

LOTS of pictures!!!!

Well, I was trying to upload a lot of pictures as a slideshow or link them somehow, but I couldn't quite figure out how best to do that.  So, rather than spending another 20 minutes -- here are lots of pictures!  I'll put captions on them to give you some idea as to what they are!!

Typical housing

Evan with Pat and Mat (very famous Czechoslovak characters - you can see them here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTWGa6JnPZo)

At a bounce house in downtown Zlin

 More after the jump.....

Our first week in Zlin!

We made it!  We have now officially been in Zlin for a week, and it has been a wonderful whirlwind. 

Saying good-bye to Mimi and Poppop at the Ft. Myers airport

We're READY!  

Our flight to from Ft. Myers to Atlanta was late leaving due to some kind of problems in Atlanta.  So, we just made our connecting flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam.  Although, that flight was late leaving too!  The flight itself was fine.  Thankfully, Evan slept for several hours, and I dozed a little bit.  However, we missed our flight from Amsterdam to Vienna and "got to" spend about six hours in the airport.  If you have to get stuck in an airport, Amsterdam is a great one.  There were things to do - even a little inside playground!

Johnny and Annette Johnson were waiting for us in Vienna!!  The only thing that didn't make it was Evan carseat:)  And then after about a three hour drive, we arrived in various states of sleep in Zlin. 

Jetlag overall has been pretty minor.  The second night Evan and I were both restless for a while, but we didn't get up and have been fine ever since!

Thanks so much for your prayers!

Love,
Miriam and Evan

PS.  There are more blog posts (and importantly pictures) to come:)