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!

A Normal Life

A dear friend of ours posted this Facebook status:

"What would it take for me to have a 'normal' life? Just curious."

and the answers she received were everything from the ubiquitous "normal is a dryer setting" to "we can't have normal lives."

The funny thing is, as a fellow missionary, her life seems perfectly normal to me. I get where she's coming from - it would be great to feel like you actually had a home in your "home country." It would be nice to be back home and not feel as though you need to constantly explain/describe/defend why you do what you do. The idea of a dependable salary seems oh-so-appealing when you've spent the majority of your home time on the road raising support, and you're still only at 42% of your goal.

My speculation is that her quest for a normal life really isn't about her wanting to trade in her calling for a desk job and a mortgage so much as it's a desire to be understood, to belong. Really, I think that's what every one of us longs for.

This is something I've been pondering a great deal as I've struggled to keep up with correspondence. "How can I compose a letter that accurately describes what we're dealing with here? How can I keep it under 5,000 words? How can I make people understand?" But I haven't really come up with an answer.

When God called us to serve overseas, it meant leaving behind what the majority of our friends & family considered to be a "normal" life, and embracing the uniqueness and the uncertainties of life in missions. While there *are* days I wish I could trade it in for a home in the suburbs and a 9-5 job which really ended at 5, most of the time I'm grateful for this tremendous opportunity to serve Him, wherever that may take us.

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.

A Big Week for Susanna Jane

Our little girl is now six months old! She's a busy little girl, who is always on the move, even in her sleep. We had a good six-month check-up this week, and we're now starting solid foods. Below are a few pictures of the big event.

Sitting up like a big girl - we like the chair!

First bite of solid foods...

Mom! What is this?!? Are you trying to poison me?

 Fortunately her disgust was short-lived, and she now enjoys a variety of pumpkin, squash, carrot & pear.

We're so thankful for this precious little girl!

Susanna Jane Brande - 6 months old

One Day I'll Know What to Say

It's never ceased to amaze me how frequently I'll be stopped and asked questions here. I'm not sure if I seem knowledgeable, or non-threatening, or if it's because I stand out as a foreigner and people are curious to hear how I'll reply. (It happened all the time in Moscow too, so it's not just because I'm now walking around with a baby in a stroller.)

This picture was floating around Facebook the other day, and I couldn't help but laugh. Some days, this is exactly how I feel:

I wish I had the same ability to communicate in Czech as I could in Russian.

Our Very Own "Biometric" Cards

We are now "card-carrying" residents of the Czech Republic! We received our Biometric cards (sort of like a driver's license, but about 10 times more expensive) this afternoon, which means we're good until July of 2015.

One small hiccup - while we were given our long term residency permits, Susanna Jane's application hasn't even gone through yet. We're not sure why there seems to be this delay, since we applied as a family, but we'd appreciate your ongoing prayers for this situation.

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.