Another Year on the Books

The 2014-2015 school year has come to a close. It has been a good year - because God ordained us to be here, to be engaged, to be faithful - but that does not mean it has been easy.

CISP Student Body - 2014-2015

These are the students we have served as teachers & chaplains, as mentors & monitors. They represent 17 different nationalities, and at least 5 different spiritual backgrounds. More than 15 of them will not return next fall.

Please continue to pray for these students over the summer. Though they may not be in our classes or small groups next year, they will forever be in our hearts & prayers. 

We have a VISA!!!

Wonder of wonders, Miracle of Miracles!!! Our little girl has her VISA!

Christiana went with our agent today to apply for a temporary permit which would allow us to travel to the United States over Christmas. Instead, when they approached the desk, the agent told them Susanna Jane's application had finally been APPROVED!
Phil thinks it's because Susanna Jane was there in person - who can refuse a visa to this cute face?

Christiana was able to finalize all of the details & complete the formalities for Susanna Jane's residency card. We can't pick it up until January, but PRAISE GOD for granting us this very important document.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us over these many months!

Nerozumím česky

We're in the middle of an intensive Czech class - a *very* intensive Czech class. We've had four classes so far, and I'm told we've covered at least half a semester's worth of material. I don't doubt it. I feel as though we're moving at the speed of light.

This has been a frustrating week for me, I think primarily because I'm the only person in the class who hasn't studied some Czech prior to enrolling. (Phil attended classes at CISP last fall; two of the other girls in the class have already done most of the workbook pages we've been assigned.) I'm also discouraged because I don't have the time to give it my undivided attention like I did when I studied Russian. I'd love to spend three solid hours on my homework, but I have a very busy 8-month-old (who's still nursing,) and a job with RCE.

Some have assumed I'd have an easier time with Czech because I already spoke Russian. I've been told that Czech & Russian have a 60% crossover, but I'm seriously starting to doubt this. For every word that I recognize that actually means the same thing in Czech as it did in Russian, there have to be at least 5 more that sound the same, but mean exactly the opposite. While the grammar structure is fairly similar, the verb endings are throwing me for a loop.

I'm not wanting to sound disgruntled - I'm thankful to finally have the opportunity to study! I do want to give everyone fair warning that I'm not going to come home speaking in full paragraphs. Grace is appreciated. 

The Summer Conundrum

It seems to be rare for missionary teachers to spend the summers in their countries of service. Why? Because they are usually "home" for the summers, visiting family and trying to raise support. That's certainly been our experience in the past.

The pros of going stateside for six weeks or so are fairly obvious: 

• Getting to see precious family members and dear friends
• Opportunities to reconnect with sending churches & sponsors
• Chances to buy affordable clothing, books & coffee
• Air conditioning, iced drinks & free refills

However, if we're in the US, then we're not here in the Czech Republic, which means that we miss out on the following:

• Chances to build relationships with our neighbors, co-workers & students
• Ability to assist with ongoing school improvement projects
• Engaging in summer outreach such as English camp
• Opportunities to study Czech

The decision to remain in Prague this summer was really out of our hands, since we cannot leave the EU until Susanna Jane has a long-term visa. We'd love to introduce our daughter to family members and dear friends; we'd love to visit our supporting churches and let everyone know how very thankful we are. On the other hand, it's a tremendous blessing to remain in the Czech Republic this summer, and we're looking forward to what God has in store for us here. 

Christian International School of Prague Celebrates TEN Years!

This video was shown at the CISP 10th Anniversary Celebration this past weekend. Although we've only been a part of this community for one year, we rejoice with our friends, students & co-workers in all God has provided!

Round 3 (or 4? or 7?) for Susanna Jane's Visa

We really do have the best intentions to blog on a more regular basis. There are at least 10 blog posts we've started over the last 6 months which have never been published. There's nothing like a good VISA crisis to get us writing again. If you're tired of reading about our VISA woes, imagine how tired we are of dealing with them!

Christiana received a call this morning from our VISA agent, informing her that the office has once again denied Susanna Jane a long-term residency permit. Considering that we submitted the exact same documents for Susanna Jane which we used for our applications, and given the fact that we now have our long-term permits in hand, there is absolutely no reason that our daughter shouldn't also be granted a permit, but here we go again.

We've been given a 30 day extension to provide them with proof of service with RCE (again), proof of comprehensive medical insurance (again) and a copy of Susanna Jane's insurance card (again).

If, at the end of this next round of documents, they still refuse to grant our daughter her residency permit, then we'll have to hire a lawyer and begin a lengthy & costly appeal process. We have already spent more than double what we had budgeted for this process, and we really cannot afford to have this drag out any longer.

WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS, for many aspects of our service in Prague, and especially now as we continue to do battle at the VISA office. Thanks for standing with us.

Job Description

     We know that you all have been praying for us and for the ministry at CISP, so I thought I would use this update to tell you more details about my specific classes, and how those classes are going. 

When we first arrived in Prague, I was told that my class would be 7^th-9^th grade English and 7^th grade Bible.  That changed very quickly to 8^th grade Bible as the decision was made to let another teacher take the 7^th grade class.  After about a week or so, I decided to swap the 8^th grade Bible class for 8^th grade Ancient Civilizations.  The four classes keep me quite busy as much of the material I am teaching is new.  I often feel like a first year teacher all over again with the planning and preparing of my classes.  But overall I am enjoying the subject matter and the students.

7^th Grade – There are 6 students in this class, which is probably the smallest class I have ever taught, but the students are lots of fun and they seem to enjoy learning.  In this class, there are 4 Americans, 1 Italian/Spanish, and 1 Greek/French.  The class is made up of 5 boys and 1 girl.  I spend a lot of time trying to vary the subject matter to include grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, and poetry.  Please pray for these students as 3 of them do not come from Christian homes.  Pray that God would be working in their lives to change them and bring them to Himself.  Also, there are 2 students who struggle with strong learning difficulties.  Pray that I (and the other teachers at CISP) would know how to best meet their specific needs.

8^th Grade – This class has 11 students – 4 girls and 7 boys – and is also quite international.  There are 6 Americans, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Czech, 1 Nigerian, 1 Italian/Spanish, and 1 Greek.  Much of the English class - like the 7^th grade – covers reading, vocabulary, writing, and grammar.  The Ancient Civilizations class has already gone through the beginnings of civilization, and Egypt.  This next semester the students will study Greece and Rome.  Pray for me as I spend a lot of time with these students that I will be able to model Christ to them, and that I will have a lot of patience with them, as they are a very high energy/high maintenance class.  Pray also for Christiana and me as we will be taking 6 of these students to Rome in April and there is still much planning to do for that.  Lastly pray for some of the boys in this class who have very little motivation and desire to study that God will change their hearts as well.

 

9^th Grade – This is the largest class at CISP.  There are 14 students – 5 girls and 8 boys – and their nationalities include 10 Americans, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Czech, and 1 Indian.  This class is also high energy, but also a lot of fun to interact with and to teach.  Most of them are well motivated and seem to enjoy learning.  Please pray for God to raise up Godly student leaders from this class that will lead others to Christ.  

 

Parcel or "Partial" Post?

One of the things we counted as a plus to being in Central Europe is that regular mail, such as letters & post cards, make it to us between 6-9 days. (When we lived in Moscow, it wasn't uncommon to receive Christmas cards in February, if we received them at all.) We've already received some very kind notes and a birth announcement, and it's always great to hear from friends & family.  Given this speedy rate of delivery, we were hopeful that we would have equal success in receiving care packages or boxes of goodies from friends & family. 

Unfortunately, we had a very difficult time with our first package. Some of it was our fault; some of it is just the particularity with witch Czech Post handles parcels. 

Before we left the states, Christiana had packed a box of miscellaneous clothing & books (basically all of the "non-essential stuff" that over-weighted our suitcases), addressed it, sealed it, and left it with her parents to send to us in Prague. There was nothing particularly priceless in there, but it was stuff that we wanted back eventually.

The box was mailed on or about the 23rd of August, and approximately 10 days later, we received a notification that it was at the postal customs house. "WOW, how awesome!" Or so we thought. (Again, it was not uncommon in Moscow to receive a parcel several months after it had been shipped.) Unfortunately, attached to that notification was also a whole stack of additional paperwork which we were asked to complete. We discovered that - even with all of the additional documentation we might provide - it didn't guarantee us delivery of our package, at least not right to our door. Assuming we cleared up all of the "problems" with this box, it was still going to be an additional charge for the postman to bring it to the address printed on it!

What had we done wrong? 

Well for starters, we'd used an old blender box - it had a picture of a very expensive kitchen appliance on it. 

Strike one. 
The customs declaration only said "personal items" - it didn't itemize clothes, shoes or books. It was also not marked as a "gift", something which we've learned is essential if we want to receive anything without having to pay additional customs fees for it.

Strike two.

Although there was nothing particularly valuable in the box, it had been insured for more than $40 USD. 

Strike three!

We'll spare you the rest of the tedious details. By God's goodness, we managed to escape a hefty fine in customs, and after two more weeks, six additional papers, and a delivery charge, the box was FINALLY brought to us at school. You know you're suffering from culture shock when it's exciting to receive your old clothes & shoes in the mail.

We've received several requests from readers & friends for our mailing address, and we're glad to provide this to you. However, for anyone who is considering sending us a package of some sort, please, please use the following guidelines before sticking anything in the mail!

1. Unwrap/untag everything. Take off excess labels, take off price tags. If it's baby clothing, please wash, dry & fold so you can call it "used". Package like things together in Ziploc bags. If something comes with directions, package those separately somehow, perhaps as a "bookmark" in a used book. 
2. If anyone sends us anything like a DVD, CD, or book, make sure to unwrap it completely & remove the electronic security tag from the inside of the case. Play the disc so it has been "used". Write our last name on covers or inside flaps of books. Again, please make sure all price tags are removed.
3. List the entire contents of the package on the customs declaration (say "used _________" whenever possible), and make sure it is marked as a GIFT.
4. Do not insure the package for more than $40! Most people end up paying fines for packages insured over this amount. Regardless of what you've sent us, please don't insure it for a large amount of money.
5. Try to mail things in bubble envelopes or flat-rate postal boxes. The larger the box, the more likely it is to be snagged for inspection. Do not use commercial packaging - meaning boxes with pictures of toys, electronics or appliances on them. That's a huge red flag.
6. Please be sure to write the mailing address directly on the package somewhere. Even if  you're told the customs label is enough, it's not.

Packages may be sent to:
Christian International School of Prague
Attn: Brande  - (Please don't put either of our first names on it, because if one of us isn't at school on the day it's delivered, the other one can't claim it without a power of attorney.)
Legerova 5
120 00 Praha 2
Czech Republic

We realize that we've probably just caused most of you to cancel any plans to send us anything for Christmas - we understand. Please know that any regular letter or card is still highly appreciated, and those *can* be delivered to us at no extra charge by the Czech Post.

One of "Those" Days

We've been in Prague three weeks today, and we've accomplished quite a lot in this time span. So much, in fact, that I was lulled into believing that I could continue to check things off my still very long "To Do" list at a rapid-fire rate. Instead, I've had a day in which nothing was accomplished according to my desires. I've had one of "those" days.

• My parents mailed us a package, and wonder of wonders, it's already arrived. (If we still lived in Russia, I wouldn't even look for a package until mid-October.) We were given a large packet of papers from the post office a week ago which confirmed the package was in the customs house, and told that we could begin to file the appropriate forms to claim it. I foolishly thought that claiming a package in a progressive country like the Czech Republic would be pretty straight-forward, but for every paper I've submitted, I've received another request for more information. Today, I was asked to send in either a work permit or my study-abroad papers, neither of which I have. I'm starting to think that I may never receive this box or its contents.
• One of the things we were told we had to do once we signed the lease on our flat was to transfer the utilities into our names, and we needed to do this within 10 days of moving in. "Okay," we thought. "No problem." It probably wouldn't have been a problem except it took the resident manager nearly a week & half to get us the proper forms that we needed. It probably wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't taken me an extra day to complete these forms (and this was with a great deal of help from one of our co-workers.) Still, I gamely set out to find the main offices for the electricity and gas services, believing that I'd be able to just get us in under the wire. I reached the offices about 1:15 p.m., only to discover that they'd both closed at noon. "Yeah," someone told me later, "forget trying to conduct business on a Friday." Information that would have been useful yesterday...
• The refrigerator we purchased came with an extended warranty, but the warranty wasn't delivered with the frig. But not to worry, said the e-mail which came on Wednesday, I simply needed to find one of the stores and ask them to print the warranty information for me. Sounds simple enough, right? Not if you're trying to conduct business on a Friday!
• We had three days in which to register our visas when we first arrived in Prague, and we did so. However, we have a new apartment, which means we have a new address, which means that we have to re-register our visas! I'd sent the signed contract which confirmed our new address to the visa agent (who truly has been incredibly helpful - I'm grateful to have his assistance) but unfortunately, we won't be able to get an appointment with the foreign police until at least two weeks from now. That's okay, because in the meantime, Phil has to declare me his legal power of attorney in Prague so I can take his passport with mine to register us both at the same address.

Quite frankly, the events of the day made me feel that I was still living in Moscow, but with much nicer weather and friendlier clerks. In fact, I was starting to wish that I *was* back in Moscow, because at least I would know what sort of hoops & hurdles I'd have to jump in a day's work. I took myself to a coffee shop to sulk for awhile, noting that at least I was only paying 1/3 of what I'd pay for coffee in Moscow. It was one of those classic "pictures of Egypt" moments, when you start to wish for what you had, not necessarily because it was great, but because it was so familiar. It's important to remember that God did not call us to serve in Prague because it would be "easier" or "calmer" or "better" than our previous place of service. He called us to be here because it's where He wants us, period.

Thankfully, I'm ending the day on a better note than I started it. I did manage to collect some necessary groceries on the way home, and I even found some local honey (which hopefully will help with my terrible allergies!) I'll rest & recoup over the weekend, and set out to accomplish the same tasks next Monday.

Our Container Made It!

Today is an exciting day - our container has arrived! 

clothing, bedding, pictures & books

the boxes we've managed to unpack so far

kitchen table, dishes, pots & pans

the new (full-sized) frige

In the midst of all of the chaos of the unloading or our container, we received a phone call from the appliance store - our refrigerator was downstairs waiting to be installed. What timing! We are thankful we found this appliance for such a good price. Still no washing machine - this may have to wait another month. 

We are grateful to have our household items and our furniture again - especially our own bed.

Our Current "Campground"

We have a home - Rumunska 14!  Although it's lacking a few several comforts of home, we're very thankful to have found a place to live which is so close to the school, and so close to our budget. Now we're praying that our container will clear customs without any further delay, so that we'll finally be able to sleep in our own bed again. We've gotten several mixed messages concerning the delivery of our belongings, but we're hopeful that our things might arrive before the start of school next week.

Here are a few pictures of our new place. Please excuse the mess - we're still trying to determine where we'd like everything to go.

Our entry way - big enough to be a room!

This is our current "bedroom" - we're futon-sitting for some colleagues headed on furlough.

While our kitchen came with a stove, oven & even a dishwasher, it did not include a refrigerator. We're currently borrowing one from the school, but we will have to purchase one in the near future.

Our kitchen - refrigerator not included.

The frig & microwave graciously loaned to us by CISP

Here's Baby B's future room! We're very grateful that we've been loaned a crib and a changing table for this year.

Baby's room - some assembly required

Our bathroom has it's own boiler (no more summers without hot water!) but it did not include a washing machine.

Shower & washroom on the left; toilet & sink on the right.

We had not planned to have to buy two major appliances right at the start of our term, so we are praying for the Lord to provide not only affordable equipment, but also the additional funds we'll need to pay for delivery and installation.

We do not have internet at home. Christiana initiated the process of trying to get us connected, but it will be another week before they even send a "technik" to evaluate our flat to see what sort of a set-up we can have. The next big step is to put all of the utilities into our names, and to get an affidavit from our landlord stating that she has the legal right to rent us this place. Once we have those documents, we can apply to be legally registered in Prague 2, which will pave the way for us to eventually have our visas extended.

Please continue to pray for the safe delivery of the contents of our container, as well as for all of the tasks we still have to accomplish to be residents of Prague.

What a Week!

We've been in the Czech Republic exactly one week. In this time we have:

• Celebrated at a colleague's birthday party
• Purchased sim cards & activated our phones
• Attended an international worship service
• Looked at apartments
• Acquainted ourselves with the tram network
• Registered our visas with the foreign police
• Looked at apartments
• Visited our new OB and received a clean bill of health for mommy & Baby B
• Signed more documents for the shipping company to deliver our container
• Looked at apartments
• Started orientation at CISP
• FOUND an apartment
• Checked out the metro system
• Investigated a thrift store
• Registered ourselves for "Open Cards" (the Prague transportation cards which will also double as library cards)
• Signed the rental contract for our new home
• Celebrated our first week in Prague with a date night, and somehow ended up on the wrong tram home

The biggest praises this week are for the very encouraging doctor's appointment, and the location of our new home! While this apartment did not come "fully equipped" as we had hoped it might (it's missing a refrigerator and it doesn't have a washing machine), it is a very good-sized apartment, and it's only a ten-minute walk from school. It's also one of the only buildings we looked at which allowed a stroller to roll right in off the street - no two flights of stairs before we even reached the elevator. 

Even though it doesn't have a single stick of furniture in it yet, we're moving in TOMORROW, and we appreciate continued prayer for the safe & hassle-free delivery of our container. It's supposed to be here next week - we'll see whether that materializes or not.

Time Well Spent?

It's been a rather long day for us. We left the place where we're staying about 8:25 this morning. Here's how we spent our time:

8:25-8:30 - Walk to the tram stop; just miss the 8:30 tram
8:40 - Catch next tram
8:40-9:10 - Ride the tram; view Prague from the windows
9:10-9:15 - Walk from tram stop to school
9:15-10:25 - Make more inquiries about possible apartment rentals; only 1 out of 4 phone calls yields an appointment
10:25-11:00 - Find our way from school to the designated meeting point with the person who will help us register our visas
11:00-11:22 - Take public transport to the foreign police office
11:22 - Receive our number for our place in "line" to see visa registration official
11:23-12:00 - Wait for our number to be called
12:00-12:30 - Wait for our number to be called
12:30-1:00 - Wait for our number to be called
1:00-1:13 - Wait for our number to be called (Hey, it could have been worse...)
1:14-1:35- Have number called; meet with visa registration official & receive appropriate stamps in passports
1:35-2:40 - Make our way BACK to school
2:45 - Leave school to go look at apartments
3:00-6:30 - View possible apartments with mixed results; the one with the best location had the least amount of space and virtually no kitchen; the one with the most incredible space was listed at one price, and the realtor asked for another. Hmmm.
(Not all of these appointments were back-to-back, so we're making ourselves acquainted with various coffee shops around Prague. We're VERY thankful for our colleague, Melodee, who not only helped us set up appointments, but also went with us to every.single.one.)
6:30-7:10 - Make the return trip to our current lodgings
7:15-present - Continue to pray that TOMORROW will find us finding the perfect place to live!

Will you join us in prayer for our apartment? We're looking for something that's not too far from the school (or from the hospital), something that has at least 3 rooms, and a building with an elevator (if we're higher than the first floor.) We'd also really like to find one that included all appliances, since buying things like refrigerators wasn't really in our budget. We know that God has the perfect place for us to live - we just need Him to help us find it!

Safe Landings

This was us, approximately 24 hours ago. At least, we think it was 24 hours -it's hard to tell. We've been awake for a very long time.

You'd think we were moving to another country or something...

We have landed safely in Prague, Czech Republic, and miraculously, so did ALL of this luggage! (If you know Phil's history with lost bags, you'll appreciate the significance of this.)

We are very, very tired, but we are so grateful to be here. The next few days will be spent registering our visas, getting Czech sim cards for our phones, buying transportation passes, and most importantly, signing a rental contract for a place to live. Please continue to pray for all of the details to fall into place for our housing & the arrival of our shipment.