It’s been awhile but here’s the latest happenings over the last 2 months or so…The first is the most important to us, the arrival of Stella Beatrice Armitage! She was born 22 February at 10:15am and weighed in at a healthy 3.6kg. Anna had a quick but painful delivery at the Topolcany hospital (that’s now Anna’s, Livia’s and Stella’s birth hospital!) and we had to stay for four extra days because Stella had a case of jaundice that needed treatment.

The last 5 weeks have been a blur of sleepless nights, belly aches and learning to live with three kids but it’s been a joy. Mia and Livia love their new little sister even if all she does is, “eat and cry” according to Livia. I am now a King according to Slovaks and their fairytales (“Once upon a time there was a king who had 3 daughters…) which may or may not last long as I am pretty sure this will be a feminine kingdom.

The old news is that we were able to help run a very successful Valentine’s Day event with our pastor Miro and his wife Marta Toth here in Nitra. We were approached by the Slovakia National Marriage Week organizers to participate in their different events because of our work with ALPHA Marriage. It was a great opportunity to build relationship and influence with this predominantly Catholic initiative to strengthen marriages.

The event featured a ALPHA Marriage video which invited people to the upcoming Marriage Course (May 2012) as well as gave hints and tips for a healthy marriage. We also ate great food, had a fun marriage game and celebrated our love for our spouse. We had a great turn out of 14 couples which far exceeded our expectations. This included Christian and non-Christians which was also positive. We really see investing in marriages as a great way to continue to see God’s Kingdom revealed in Nitra.

We are attempting to change the face of innovation in missions…no small task but one that needs to take place. INNOFUND is a new initiative for our Global Workers that will encourage them to innovate and collaborate together on simple, sustainable solutions. INNOFUND was designed by Sheldon and Doug Watson and we want to launch it by MAY 2012.

We need your help to do this. INNOFUND will cost about $41,000 to fully launch though we need to raise $20,000 for stage 1. If you want to make an investment in this incredibly innovative project then please contact us directly or you can give through the PAOC to Account EUR7002.

Visit www.innofund.ca to find out more.

Below is a short introduction to one of the ministries we are involved in here in Slovakia:

Here’s something a bit different but fun for us in Slovakia. On a whim we had Mia do a casting for a commercial and well…here’s what happened:

Changes…

As you know, after eight years working with Next Level International, we believed that chapter of our life was finished. During that time we organized and facilitated leadership development conferences all over Europe, seeing hundreds of pastors and leaders trained and equipped to reach their communities for Christ. We also moved to Nitra, Slovakia as part of a church planting team in December 2006. Since then a church has been established and has 80 participants.

In 2010 we came back to Canada for a Home Assignment and started to wrestle with what the next chapter of our lives would look like. We prayed about and experimented with some new things and rediscovered some old passions that God had placed in our hearts. Some things we got right and others we did not. But we are happy to say that as a family we have started some new beginnings…

A New Role

From September, Sheldon has started a new role as the Assistant Regional Director for the Eurasia Region. This is the region of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada that stretches from Portugal to Kyrgyzstan. It includes all of Europe, parts of the middle East and Western Asia. Currently we have approximately 40 global workers in different nations, all of which are doing incredible work.

Sheldon’s new role will be as the Director of Outreach and Interaction, helping our global workers to start new projects, increasing the effectiveness of Regional initiatives, developing collaboration between our global workers and with our partners (like Next Level International) and promoting the region and recruiting people to get involved. Sheldon will be working directly with the Regional Director (David Boyd) to ensure that the vision and the strategies of the region are being accomplished.

We are incredibly excited about this new responsibility and role as it fits Sheldon’s calling, gifts and passions. He has always felt a call to the whole of Europe and desires to help others accomplish great things. Already some new initiatives are in the works and there are dreams to increase Eurasia’s effectiveness in addressing women’s issues, expanding into Western Europe and reaching into the virtual communities of Europe.

A New Adventure

Anna is currently 4.5 months pregnant with our third child and has started a new chapter in her life by enrolling in university here in Nitra. For the past few years, God has been calling her to be involved in fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation here in Europe. She has been making important connections, raising awareness of this issue and led a team of women this past summer on an exploratory trip through Europe. In the midst of all of this, she has felt God calling her to do a degree in journalism, as part of her piece in this complex puzzle.

She will be doing a full BA in journalism through an external studies program. This is a big undertaking but one we are committed to seeing happen. She has also become part of the European Freedom Network, an initiative of the European Evangelical Alliance. The EFN exists to help the body of Christ in Europe work together effectively to prevent and combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation, and to seek the restoration of its victims.

So What Does It Mean?

Here are a few implications of the new things God has called us to:

• We are staying in Nitra, Slovakia for the time being. Sheldon’s new role can be done from Slovakia, Anna’s university courses are here in Nitra and both the girls are enrolled in different schools in the city. These factors mean we do not need to move locations within the near future.
• We are still heading up ALPHA as part of our local ministry. We are excited about the new semester ahead of us and the potential of having three different courses running.
• Sheldon will be traveling more around Eurasia as part of his new role. This will be to visit global workers, meet with partners and see new initiatives started.
• We will still be living off of shared funding and the generous support of individuals and churches like yourself.
• We need you to continue to stand with us in prayer and support. Both of these changes are massive for us and we cannot do this alone. Close to 1 Billion people live in Eurasia and most are not followers of Jesus. We need to see this region transformed through the power of the gospel.

Picture That…9 more ways to look at mission, is my take on simple ways to understand and live missionally. It’s short and simple and has pictures that don’t just illustrate, they also facilitate new thoughts and questions. Throughout the uniquely designed book, I use everyday metaphors to introduce ideas such as “missional perspective,” “asking good questions,” “views on humanity,” “facing your fears” and more.

This book is great for individual study, small groups and short term missions preparation. You can buy your copy directly through our Canadian distributor Matt Janes (matt[AT]stmnetwork[dot]ca) or through www.lulu.com. Group rates are available for churches and missions teams through Matt Janes.

From 13-16 July we were part of a milestone event in Slovakia: the first ever Youth Convention. During the four amazing days we saw over 400 people attend this inaugural event in Trusalova, Slovakia. YC Slovakia was the vision of our national youth and young adults leaders, Vlado (a graduate of PAOC’s Vanguard College) and Martina Zak, and this vision was carried forward by the national team and included the efforts of every single youth leader in the denomination. YC Slovakia also partnered with YC Alberta, headed by Mike Love, which sees over 20,000 youth and young adults attend this event in Edmonton every year.

During the event we had some incredible bands including Irish group Bluetree, as well as many Slovak and Czech bands. The tent was rocking every day with great music and great teaching and preaching. Steve Herzog, president of Vanguard college and friend of Slovakia, spoke in the morning sessions and Mike Love and Vlado spoke in the evenings. Anna and I, as part of the national team, also served in the event in different ways. I was in charge of organizing workshops for our youth leaders as well as presenting one workshop myself. Anna ran the VIP tent, a place of our speakers and musicians to chill out, grab some refreshments and prepare themselves before they would speak or lead worship.

During the week we saw teenagers respond to the gospel, ask for more of God’s power in their lives and respond to a call to full time ministry and missions. On Friday, Murray Cornelius (head of PAOC missions) flew into Vienna to visit us and we were able to show him YC and have him share an inspirational call to missions. He was very impressed by the energy and unity he saw at the event. What seemed to most impress him was how the national Slovak leadership not only was present at the event but were encouraging their young leaders to go forward in the vision.

The week was well worth the effort even though at times it was tiring, long, very hot on some days and very cold and wet on others. The greatest success of the week, beyond the changed lives, was that every single youth leader from the denomination helped put on the event. Every single one of them had some sort of leadership or volunteer role. This helped unite the leaders and give them a bigger vision for what is possible in Slovakia. Already we are planning YC Slovakia 2, and we believe that even more youth and young adults will attend and have their lives changed.

Anna and I were greatly blessed to be able to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (a year late!) by going on the vacation of a lifetime. We had 10 days all to ourselves which was an incredible treat as it was our first holiday without kids since 2003 (not a work-iday or weekend away but a real holiday). It was an incredible gift of grace and you can see more pictures in my facebook albums.

The holiday was necessary because ahead of us is an intense time of ministry. When summer rolls around things tend to slow down or even stop for many people and churches…this is not the case here in Slovakia for us! Here is a quick preview of some of the many things happening in Europe.

Youth Convention Slovakia

As part of our role on the National Leadership Team (NLT) for youth and young adults in Slovakia, we are helping to put on the first ever Youth Convention in Slovakia for the ACS. Youth Convention is currently run by Mike Love in Alberta, Canada with 15000+ youth and young adults in attendance. This year, Mike Love and YC Alberta are partnering with the NLT to host and run this great event for Slovak youth and young adults. We are expecting at least 300 youth/young adults to come to the mountains in Slovakia for 5 days of worship, teaching, concerts and connection.

VIP Visits

During YC  Murray Cornelius (head of International Missions for the PAOC) will be visiting us in Slovakia and preaching in Nitra church. After this, Murray and I will be traveling down to Slovenia to meet with national leaders as part of a discovery trip about how the PAOC can potentially work in this great little nation of Europe.

After Murray leaves we will be hosting David Wells (General Superintendent for the PAOC) as he comes to Slovakia to meet with key leaders, preach in the Bratislava church and then travel to Budapest, Hungary for a conference. We look forward to catching up with our former pastor and one of our missions mentors.

Later in August we will be hosting our great friends the Birds (real people, not winged creatures)  from Enfield, UK. Craig, Rachel and Ruby will be staying with us for the week and enjoying Slovakia in all its summer glory. The Birds are leading a great initiative in Enfield with Oasis Trust whereby they are leading a church, doing community transformation and helping to lead a school.

Women’s Mission Team

Between 25 July and 6 August, Anna will be hosting and leading a team of women from Canada to four different locations in Europe. The focus of the team will be to investigate and assist in different issues facing women in Europe. The team will go to Berlin to work with Patricia Green and Alabaster Jar, who work with women trapped in prostitution and human trafficking. After that the team will fly down to Novi Sad, Serbia to work with Vesna Radeka and the crisis pregnancy center that she runs. The next stop will be here in Slovakia and a visit to a youth detention center for young women. The final stop will be to Vienna Austria to connect with another mission that works with women who are street workers.

It will be an intense but powerful trip that will help bring awareness to the issues facing women here in Europe and lead to further involvement for some of those on the team. The team is being organized and lead by Gwen McVicker and Linwood House Ministries based out of Gibsons, BC.

I LOVE MY CITY

Once again we will be involved in helping to run our annual “I Love My City” event in Nitra. This year, instead of a focused week of mission, we will be hosting events throughout the summer including family film nights, playground outreaches, teen camps and a small work project. This will be the first year that I Love My City will be completely run by our church with all Slovak participants. This is a great step forward for us to fully own the project and make it part of our missional DNA. This event will take place in July and August.

ALPHA Preparation

In September we hope to launch multiple ALPHA programs in Nitra. We will be raising up Slovak leaders to take on the regular ALPHA course and we will be launching ALPHA Marriage. The other course we hope to see launched is Student ALPHA. This will be a key course as we are surrounded by students in Nitra. Please pray for us as we have a meeting in July with our ALPHA leaders and as we begin to strategize about the autumn.

The Future…

Autumn often brings new changes to life and ministry and we will be updating you more on what those look like as we get closer to the end of summer. Please continue to pray for us as we listen to Jesus and his plans for us here in Slovakia and Europe. We believe that God has placed us here for a specific purpose and plan and we want to continue to follow that far into the future.

Thanks for all your support!