Back to Bratislava

Hello from our Airbnb apartment! We had hoped to be writing from our new place, but we will not move in until September 2nd, though we just heard the date could be as early as August 26th. We had no idea we would be met with a housing shortage when we returned from our eight month stateside assignment in Shreveport, Louisiana. It did make it easier, though, to choose from the only three unfurnished apartments we saw and that out of six realtors we contacted!

We would appreciate your prayers as we adjust back to life in Slovakia, consider how we can effectively communicate the gospel to Slovaks, who and how to partner with in the task of extending God’s kingdom in Slovakia, and how to continue providing leadership for our IMB Colleagues in the EURO Central cluster.

We apologize for being so out of touch with many of you over the past months. Life seems to move at warp speed and we plan to communicate prayer needs frequently in the days to come. Our time in Shreveport, and various places in between, far exceeded our expectations. It was so wonderful to reconnect with family members, friends, make many new friends, and even a few new family members as Bret got married to Dana Burns, the daughter of Robert and Angela Burns!

We were incredibly blessed by Broadmoor Baptist Church as they welcomed us with open arms and a free house to stay in! They are a great, missions-minded church that truly is an exceptional model.

We attended our annual meeting in Prague, Czech Republic with all of the European Affinity personnel. There were about 920 of us and it was wonderful to see one another, be encouraged by one another, and be led by our amazing leadership at the IMB. We especially enjoyed the challenging messages by our IMB President, David Platt, each morning. Ask that IMB workers would continue to be faithful to God and His call on our lives to reach European people for His kingdom as only 1 in 99 have surrendered their lives to Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Thanks so much for your support, love, and prayers!

This is the building where we will be moving into our new apartment! Pray for the moving and settling into the new place, as well as for great relationships with neighbors and ministry in our new neighborhood.

We had the joy of meeting Ryan and Summer in Europe just a day after we returned. They have finished their 2 years in Dalian, China, will vacation in Europe for about 5 weeks, and then will return to California where Summer’s parents live. Pray that God would provide jobs for them in just the right location and would help them thrive in all areas of their life as they seek God’s leadership for future education and work.

Trey and Elise are missing being so close in proximity to Bret and Dana, but are thankful for God’s provision for them as Dana will continue with her job teaching English at Gilmer High School in Gilmer, Texas and Bret will be the graduate assistant for the ETBU Basketball team and will be getting his Master’s Degree in Education with a focus on Sports and Exercise Leadership. Ask that God would strengthen their marriage as newlyweds and they would easily adjust to their new schedules.