The ultimate gift

On Sunday we nailed it! :)

One of our best concerts so far!

I am very proud of each and every one of  our students and leaders

and

happy that we could share the good news of Christmas

and that is

...

the ultimate gift

...

God gave himself to us

nicely wrapped in manger.

Even if people believe in God, they don't think He would care for them

He must be busy with so many other things.

What a mistake!!!

Bible tells us:

"For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given."

Even in the Xmas story you find how angels were singing :

Glory to God in the highest

and

peace among men in whom he is well pleased.

...

Why child?

I don't know, it's part of  the mystery,

but definitely he knows what it feels like to be human.

Why manger?

It's an evidence that people didn't recognize him even back then.

There was not enough space.

"He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him."

...

I love getting gifts during Christmas.

But if I left them under the tree, I would miss the point.

Also this ultimate gift can stay unwrapped.

- little baby Jesus in manger - 

- little baby Jesus as part of tradition - 

...

He did everything,

now it's our turn.

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,

he gave right to become children of God."

When being single is not so cool anymore

Until 25 you are safe.

You are young, most likely a student and “that” gives you a right to enjoy life, travel and try new things.

28 is also still ok.

They look at you as a young independent women engaging herself in many different areas.

But then...

… your traveling and other excesses start losing its magic. Your freedom is not so cool anymore. For your birthday besides health, people wish you happiness that consists of finding 'the One'. And comments like “I don't understand how such a nice girl like you is still alone”, occur more frequently.

Life happens. Friends are getting married, giving birth to children.

And in the midst of these changes I try to find my place. 

Not that I don't know who I am but it affects me as well.

I am single. That's a fact.

I would like to get married. That's a fact too. I don't consider it to be something special. The psychology itself acknowledges it as a natural desire in a specific age – you are not here only to receive but you want to give, create and share (of course not only when it comes to starting a new family!).

So?

Here are some things I do:

1. First of all I admit that I have such a desire.

2. I enjoy a special position in lives of my nieces and nephew. The reality of me not running after my own kids makes me a cool auntie who is fully there for them. I am aware of this special period and I want to make the best of it.

3. I don't drive nails or drill into walls. I believe I could, I just don't want to. Not knowing how to do certain things reminds me that I need a man's help and that it is ok to ask for it. Therefore shelves on my wall were mounted by my father.

4. Everytime I see a changed FB status of people I know (...is in relationship/...got engaged..../...got married), I rejoice in it. It is great and I wish them all the best!
   
   
5. I go to God. I share my heart with him on a good day and especially when the bad one arrives and I have tendency to pity myself. As a matter of fact He alone created me and knows me better than I know myself. No one (so not even a spouse) can live in such way that they wouldn't hurt their beloved ones no matter how hard they try. Therefore I am fully aware that the whole 'prince on a white horse' idea must be put into context of reality.

Married women often tell us, the single ones, how much time we have and that we don't know how lucky we are. I am sure they are right to some extent. On the other hand they also don't know how it feels like to be older and still single. Everything has its pros and cons. Always.

I've read about our tendency to complain over things we already cannot do, instead of being thankful for what we can do in that very season of our lives.

It is a challenge to be content!

That would be my sixth point. I want to start mornings with giving thanks for my status of being single and ask if or how I can make the world more beautiful today.

And after all, we shouldn't be so serious about our statuses, both of them are just temporary. We cannot take them to eternity.

.on tour again

.what?

EXIT tour is a “lecture&concert” tour at high schools in cities. Lecturers are the people who personally experienced topic they talk about (aids, addiction, broken and/or healthy relationships, music, dance, ...) and at the same time they are relevant and able to get students interested.

.who?

There are several teams cooperating on the project: the Training Center Kompas, local churches, schools, parents, local governments, lecturers, a music band from abroad, and volunteers. 

.why?

Because the young people in our cities matter to us! On our website you can read how our goal is not just to teach the students on the given topic but also to present them with solutions for specific life challenges. We believe that the ultimate solution is Jesus Christ who reconciled us with God by giving his own life for us. Only He can fulfil our desire for peace and give sense/meaning to our lives.

This week we are visiting schools in a beautiful city called Žilina. Today it looked like this:

lectures /ACET and FUSION/

fun in the school gym

discussions

music of course

afternoon activities

making new friends

You can follow us on our FB and see how we are progressing throughout this week.

We ask and thank you for your prayers!

Fusion summer 2014

Before I start writing about the new schol year, I would like us to look back at summer with its stories that make it so beautiful. 

Bratislava

Music, fun, hard work, survival, concert, rehearsals, finding new talents, discussions, God, labyrinth, students, drama, volunteers, energy, dance, life change, questions, joy, friendship….all these words can be used to explain a Fusion camp. And yet, it’s so hard to describe it.

What makes it so special? ...... Continue ....

Banska Bystrica

One of the student’s highlights of the camp is always Survival, which is an all day hike in the woods. Some of the best memories are when a group .... you'll find out in the Upside down article.

Senec

First kick to do the Fusion minicamp came from the students who already experienced Fusion camp at the beginning of summer. They were so excited and felt sorry that we didn’t have one in Senec too. So we decided to have a 2 day taster of a camp. Great! Sounds so easy, right? .... you can read more at our TCK blog.

Pluses and minuses of leadership

Kevin Upton is a senior pastor at the Junction Church in the UK. He is behind maaany church plants, but I wasn't aware of it when I met him. He was just a simple guy, smiling most of the time. He came as a guest speaker to the Bible college and that was it for me. His teaching made sense but I didn't understand fully. Few years have passed and I am where I am doing what I am doing and suddenly his words are more than comprehensible. Now I see why he said those statements. His own experience gave him the authority to teach us. The other day I found my notes and I felt like sharing those with you:

pluses&minues

pros&cons

opportunities&dangers

of

+ you lead people to the presence of God

-  if focus is on you, they can come to you and expect miracle from you

+ your life becomes a faith walk

- your financial life gets very complicated /be aware of it and get ready ...or...your life of faith becomes a burden and you'll stop living it/

+ you become the center of people's secrets, joys, hopes and fears

- you love people because they love you 

+ you will be welcomed by people - warmly

- you will be despised and rejected - without any warning /you must keep your heart soft towards people...even though it hurts/

+ you can take time off whenever you like

- you are never off duty /you can be on holiday, but.../

+ you can spend many hours studying the Word of God

- preachers end up studying the Bible just for the messages - they dry up /always read the Bible for yourself; build up your spirit/

+ people's lives are shaped by your words

- the more you shape people's life by your teaching the more they expect you to fix their problems  /don't let people to have them everything 'now'...a mature person understands that things are in progress, things don't just happen/

I believe in God but not in church

Kika and I took the train. We entered the coupe with already two people in it. Nice lady in her 50s and a young enthusiastic man were in the middle of discussion about life, society and faith. So, we joined them. All of us were believers and yet our faith was somehow different. The whole time sentence "I believe in God but not in church" was there with us. We didn't manage to get to some conclusion. 

I have been thinking about it lately. 

What does one actually think/understand  behind the 'church' word?

A group of hypocrites, Sunday worship service, cold building with unfriendly priest, or 1500 different denominations?

Is it even possible to believe in God and ignore the church? Many say that it is a human invention but according to my understanding of Bible, it is God who invented it.

I would expect  that once I believe in Him, it would be easy. But instead of  getting me into the heavenly realms, he set me in the group of people who drive me nuts. On Sunday I go to church together with other cca 200 people. I wouldn't probably choose 2/3 of them to be my friends /simply I prefer different types of people/ and yet I call them "brothers and sisters".

God has a good sense of humor! Church as a body. Christ is its head and we are the parts. It means if I am a leg, I won't ever be able of the smash hit. I need an arm for that. This is just a picture of how we need each other. 

Spirituality today is quite desired but only as a very personal and highly private matter.
Me being accountable to someone else? Why? Especially when they are not better than me!

Oh yeah!

They are not. And that's the thing! We are like a bunch of broken human stories that can somehow make something beautiful and eternal  - but only if we sumbit/humble ourselves and allow the Head to lead us. The Head is the Savior of the whole body. It is all about HIM.

For me the church is like a support group...just like when you go to AA meeting. It helps you in your daily struggle with you addiction. You are surrounded by people who simply know. I also have people in my life who know my battles and vice versa. We bless and pray for each other. In this way we express that we care about the other person and we wish him/her the best. We walk the same path.

I am not denying. There are horrible things going on. And I'm not necessarily talking about pedophilia. It's enough when one part of the body starts pursuing its own agenda. When someone's position is more important than wellbeing of the whole body / in other words when a leg thinks is the head/.
If we feel terrible about it ... what about God then?

Do I feel disappointed? Often! But how many times have I disappointed others?
Do I feel sick and tired? Sometimes. Does it mean that I should  heave anchor? I don't think so.
If you are a team worker, you know that unity is crucial. To keep the unity means to fight for it /make every effort/ but this fight is worth it.

I cannot help myself but I see God's wisdom in this church thingy. The church is not perfect /well, I'm its member!/ and yet it is perfect! It keeps me down to earth and at the same time offers the perspective of eternity.

And in the end I'm not sure if all of this is about "the church" or rather about the fact if I
- admit existence of  the One who has created it
- acknowledge my pride /because I think I would manage it much better and  I do not need God with his church/

When you can't find words you simply take pictures

            

 

   
 

     

 

/ one week / 7 busy days /

Friday - Sunday: School of Leaders - teaching, fellowship, handing in their final paper
Sunday - Tuesday: EXIT tour in Liptovsky Hradok - schools, students, lectures, music, new friendships, the Gospel, sport, discussions
Tuesday afternoon: 3 1/2 hours spend in the car and a concert rehearsal in Bratislava
Wednesday- Thursday: concerts, coooperation of 2 Fusion choirs, fun, camp promo, community, more even more music, birthday celebration, thankfulness, conversations

various events

different people

and yet something common

"Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest."

..........................

harvest is ready

are you ready to reap it?

I see fire...

"zima zima - teplo teplo"

"cold cold - hot hot"

Our annual conference. This theme was about to explore our hearts if they are on fire for God! How to find it? How to keep it? How to share it? These were the objectives, and yet we knew that it is not us who can produce this fire in the hearts of participants. Only God could do it! 

And He did it! When you click on our TCK website /blog, you'll find out more about how it happend. Reading answers to the question "If our desire was to let the Christ shine on us, did it happened during the conference? When? How?"...is super encouraging!

And did God shine on me? When? How?

Preparation of seminar on prayer, seeking His face and choosing songs for the worship time....the whole process of KPM preparation was a huge blessing! And then, serving together with Miriam, Amy, Abby, Mark, Peter, Gavin and leading others into the presence of the Lord...what an honour!

"You have filled my heart with GREATER JOY than when their grain and new wine abound." 

Psalm4:8

That's how I felt. My heart filled with greater joy. I was reminded of the verse from 1 Chronicles 16:27 

"Splendour and majesty are before him; strenght and JOY in his dwelling/place/presence."

Since my Sunday school years I know that Jesus is the answer for everything. We tend to make jokes about it, but it really works, because He is enough, He really is THE ANSWER! "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and the first-born from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fulness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." Colossians 1:17-20

I truly believe that we live in days of revival. I want to see it! I want to pray for it! Join me! What a privilege to be part of it, to see things that others were just dreaming about. 

I see fire...

.encouraged

.our desire is to inspire and train youth leaders and help them raise up the next generation of Christ-followers in the local church.

.that's what has been happening this past weekend. over 50 young people around slovakia met in zilina - willing to learn, ready to revaluate and plan and open to share their struggles and dreams.

.it has been a long weekend and this is just a short blog article. i just wanted to let you know that i am super encouraged...
.because of my colleagues who spoke in truth, with authority and from experience
.because of what God is doing in hearts of these people (they seek Him, their calling and fight for their peers at the same time)
.because i can be part of it

One LSD shot, please!

Once upon a time there were three of us.

One student, one teacher and one missionary. First one knew the second one, and the second one knew the third one more than the first one. It was our age that brought us together in the beginning. The similar stage of life with its typical questions and battles. We decided to meet regularly.

Every second week we met in a café just talking and sharing. After two months we needed/wanted more. Our meetings moved to Laura's apartment. We had more privacy and besides talking we started to pray for each other. What a great idea to fight one for the other in all levels of being! It brought us lot of encouragement and joy!

Laura, Susan and Darina (LSD) became friends. 

our only common picture, btw

It is always a miracle when a deep friendship is born. Those moments you chat, laugh at the same jokes, look into one's eyes and just know the answer without saying anything...those moments I call gift. Friend is a family I can choose. Even Solomon said that "a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity".

Laura dreamed a dream for me which became reality.

Susan took my cross when I couldn't carry on.

We've learned to say the ugly truths in a nice way.

I've just realized how never all three of us were ok at the same time. But that makes it special! Because when we were completely down, at least one of us had a good phase, so she could encourage others.

Nowadays each of us lives in a different continent, so it's hard to speak about regular meetings. And yet, I am sure that if I sent a "one LSD shot, please!" message today, they would know what to do.

Girls, thank you!!!