Updated
Monday, August 8:
Becky
Martin writes from the Czech
Republic:
God
continues to do amazingly
more than we hope for. Salvation
belongs to the Lord, and
He has brought three more
young ladies to believe
in Him Saturday morning.
We had our first "down
time"
at camp as we were waiting
for our bus. All
the electrical equipment
was gone, and we had a
late-morning devotion time
after breakfast. It
was Nehsa's birthday, so
all of the Czech students
came in to give her a traditional
Czech birthday greeting
and they decided to stay
for devotions (which were
optional for the non-believers in
the morning during camp
week).
It was a simple devotion
where Justin opened the
Word, read some passages
about hope in Christ, and
then we prayed in small
groups. Katie's English
class and evening discussion
group girls all prayed
in a group, and Karolina
accepted Christ. It
has been amazing to see
her transformation over
the week -- from someone
who believes in reincarnation,
to being open to talking
about God, to realizing
that He is the truth and
Lord of her life.
Ester and Jana, some of
the Cheb Christians prayed
with Linda and Hanka as
they repented of their
sins and decided to follow
Christ. Majka and
Olga were in those prayer
groups and seem very close
to believing in Christ.
We
are going to spend Monday
with them before heading
to Prague for debriefing.
When the team is in Prague
on Tuesday, Petr will hopefully
meet up with us. He
text messaged that he is
more joyful than ever and
has been thinking about
important things.
The guys on our team are
excited to continue the
conversations that they
have had at camp and see
where he is at with the
Lord.
Please
continue to pray that the
new believers will grow
strong in the Lord and
that those who do not know
Him as their savior will
place their trust in Him.
Updated
Wednesday, August 3:
Becky
Martin writes from the Czech
Republic:
Dear Prayer Partners,
Praise God for the amazing
things He is doing this week!
Thank you for all of your
prayers. Salvation belongs
to the Lord, and all glory
is due His name. Last night
the gospel was presented,
students had the opportunity
to reflect on what that meant.
Then they had a choice to
stick around and talk to
the ministry team members
about any more questions
they may have concerning
the message or go somewhere
else in the penzion besides
our meeting room.
I am overjoyed that there
are now three more sisters
in Christ: Radka, Eliska,
and Klara. All three of these
girls were at camp last year,
were somewhat open to talking
about spiritual things, but
had come from very different
backgrounds -- Radka & Eliska
from an atheistic world,
and Klara from an extremely
ritualistic/traditional Catholic
background. Radka, Eliska
and Pavla are my roommates
at camp this week. Jenny,
the translator is also in
the room with us, and she
has taken every opportunity
to start spiritual discussions
with them, have them read
the Christian Czech books
that she brought to camp,
and more. Please continue
to pray for Pavla and Eliska's
sister Barbora (she was at
camp last year, but had to
work this year), that they,
too may know Christ as their
Savior and Lord. Pavla has
a tougher outer shell, but
the walls have started to
come down in discussion group
time with Nehsa and Mark
and then also in our room
with her friends and Jenny.
This morning, Radka and Eliska
were talking to Pavla about
salvation.
There are three Vietnamese
students here at camp: Hanka,
Linda, and Majka. Hanka and
Linda are both very aware
that they are sinners, but
are not quite ready to repent
and believe in God. It sounds
good to them, but they are
still searching for the truth.
They both are reading the
Bible to see what it really
has to say. Petr, who was
at last year's camp, is also
at this same place. He wants
to think a little bit more
about it before committing.
He said that Tuesday night's
message on sin was the most
truthful speech he has ever
heard in his life. Gabby
and Lenka are two girls who
were at last year's camp.
They attend youth group meetings
and like English camp, but
are not willing to follow
Christ because of what it
would cost them to change
their current lifestyle.
Please pray that they would
see the truth with an eternal
perspective. Karolina is
a very intellectual young
lady who is considering Christianity,
but still has a lot of excellent,
thoughtful questions. Romana
has been coming to the optional
morning prayer/worship/devotion
meetings, but still does
not believe in God.
Thank you again for covering
our time here in prayer.
Tomorrow should be a profitable
time of follow-up discussion
if the weather permits us
to go on our five-hour hike
(we have had several rainy
days lately).
Grace
to you,
Becky
& the team
Updated
Tuesday, August 2:
Becky
Martin writes from the Czech
Republic:
All
is well here in Jachimov (somewhat
near Karlovy Vary in the west
of the Czech Republic ). Travel
has been long, but has gone
without any major hitches.
Our team has been an absolute
blessing. All of the long-term
missionaries and Czech Christian
ministry team members have
been commenting to me how encouraged
they are by the way our team
serves and loves others. We
have had a lot of trials in
travel (the bus broke down
in the middle of the night
for over two hours; it was
95 degrees and 90 percent humidity
when we were traveling across
the country with all of our
luggage – ask Landon
about lugging his suitcase
up the metro and train station
stairs J ; and others). Through
all of that, the team has kept
their eyes on Christ, have
not complained, and have been
thoughtful of one another.
We had a day to get to know
the Cheb youth group ministry
team (12 people in their high
school youth group) before
the 14 non-Christians came
to camp. It has been great
serving alongside them.
When we arrived at camp, there
was a huge lightning storm
all night long. It was an amazing
display of God's power. Unfortunately,
the lights went out that evening.
We did not have power the first
day and a half of camp. That
limited what we could do in
our evening program when we
worship, play the camp theme
song and focus on spiritual
things. Today Trevor and Cassie,
the long-term missionaries
who are leading the camp and
the three ministry teams, both
were sick. We have felt in
these ways and others that
there truly is a spiritual
battle going on as Ephesians
6:12-20 states,
“For our struggle is
not against flesh and blood,
but against the powers of this
dark world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms…pray
also for me, that whenever
I open my mouth, words may
be given me so that I will
fearlessly make known the mystery
of the gospel, for which I
am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it
fearlessly, as I should.”
The Cheb youth group has two
girls in their early twenties
who lead the youth group. There
are four 20-year-old boys:
Honza, Petr, Robert, and Vasek,
who are the up-and-coming boy
leaders, but are reluctant
to take responsibility. They
have been challenged to take
action and to be the spiritual
leaders like the Bible describes
they should. Please join me
in prayer as we encourage the
believers here this week and
reach out to the non-believers.
Please pray specifically for
these four boys to step up
to their proper spiritual leadership
positions, pray for Justin
as he talks about sin tonight
(that is at 10 am California
time on Tuesday), pray for
the Holy Spirit to work in
the hearts of the students
as they wrestle with their
sin and then hear the gospel
message tomorrow night (10
am Wednesday California time)
and then have time to discuss
what they think about that.
Thank you for your partnership
in prayer, we depend on it.
Thursday is the hike day – another
great opportunity to have great
discussion with the students.
Friday we will hear testimonies
and talk about hope in Christ.
Then we head to Cheb on Saturday
and live with the youth group
in host homes, hold follow-up
activities, and go to their
church.
May
God's grace abound,
Becky
Updated
Saturday, July 30
Becky
Martin writes from the Czech
Republic on Thursday:
