Slovakia

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2010-09-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Please go to http://www.joshinslovakia.com for new blog updates!

The Future

2010-08-24T13:17:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone! I want to thank every one of you that supported me this year whether it was through prayer or financial support. This summer was amazing whether it was young people coming to Christ or young leaders growing in their leadership and relationship with Christ. For those of you that follow my blog, you know that God really worked this summer in Slovakia and in my own life. One of the biggest things God was working in this summer was affirming my future. This summer I applied to move to Slovakia and to work for Josiah Venture. I was accepted! This is so amazing and I am overwhelmed with the fact that God continues to affirm His calling in my life. Many of you know that I have been thinking about this for awhile and are probably excited that I have finally made the decision! Well of course this means that there are a lot of things that I need to start doing to prepare for this! One of the main things is support raising! I will in the next couple weeks be sending out information about this in the mail and beginning to contact people about this. If you are interested in hearing more about this you can email me at: Joshuadanielhoward@gmail.com

or you can call me at: (260)446-9929

Levice Camp, Last but not least

2010-08-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well I finished my last camp for the summer in Slovakia. It was in the town of Levice, The second town I worked in last year. This camp was really great, because I could really see growth in the guy leaders from last years camp. Two of the guys Rasto (bottom Left) and Tomas (bottom Right) were there again. Last year they were pretty uninvolved in building relationships with the guy students at camp because of fear. During the fall last year I spent a lot of time with these guys discipling and encouraging them. This year at camp they decided to pray for a specific guy that they wanted to begin building a relationship with at camp. They did build these relationships and did such an amazing job. I am so grateful for what God has done in their lives this last year. One of the boys they were focusing on was a boy named Patrik (first picture) who came to camp hanging his head from a family where the Father is a drunk and the mother gives him stuff to get him to leave her alone. He left camp with a different demeanor. He came to Christ at camp! He came into my room one night and said "I am different Josh." He is now home and dealing with parents that don't love him and a girl friend who thinks he is stupid for believing in God. Please pray for him and for Tomas (on left) who is discipling him. I am now preparing to come home with all that entails. Please pray for me as I adjust to being home again and preparing for the future. I have more to share with you in the future and would love to talk with you in person. I will be sending out letters soon.

Mosquitos and Horseflies

2010-07-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

Mosquitos and Horseflies were numerous at Rožňava camp, but it did not dull the mood of camp. As many of you know Rožňava was the town that I worked most in last year. I have a real close bond with this team and this camp. The camp we just finished was probably the best camp that I have been to. I have never seen God moving as much as he did in camp this year. The whole camp was almost the difference between black and white from last year. The Slovak team did such a great job serving and connecting with the students. The students came to camp this year with a total different perspective than they did last year. Last year many of them were atheists and did not want to talk about God. This year everyone of them was interested in talking about God. We had at least 6 come to Christ and many others say they were about 90% of the way to believing, they just needed to think more about it. I built some relationships with four boys: Marek, Miso, Martin, and Laco. (This picture is of me and these guys at a dance retro party night at camp, I will put up a better picture later). These guys were so neat! They always wanted to talk about something deep. I absolutely loved this! As many of you know I love having deep conversations about God. For example, one of the boys came to me and asked me, "you know in the Bible it says the man is the boss of the woman what does that mean?" It was such a great opportunity to share about the Biblical Family and marriage. He really loved this conversation and eventually got the other three guys into the conversation. After camp I went out with them and the youth leader Rudo (my good friend). As we talked they said they would be interested in meeting more often and talking about God and the things they were learning in the Bible. I am not sure exactly where they are in their relationship with Christ. They all claim that they are believers. Please keep these guys and this team in your prayers! Also please be in prayer for our last camp in Levice (the other town I was working in last year). Thank you everyone! God Bless!

Bratislava Camp

2010-07-11T03:02:00.000-07:00

Well I just finished my first camp for the summer in Bratislava (The capitol of Slovakia). It was a very interesting camp. It was really tough at first because I had a lot of organizing to do. Both the American and Slovak teams seemed rather disorganized at first, but after a while and some prompting things that needed to be done were being done. The camp turned into a really neat camp. By the end of the camp there was a lot of openness among the leaders and students, something I have never seen in a camp here in Slovakia before. Groups grew close and students began to think seriously about God. I want to talk about two boys specifically. One of the boys is named Jan. He and I had a some really good conversations during camp, I found out that his dad had Parkinson's desease just like my Father. Unfortunately his father died and it had really affected his life. He was having trouble trusting God. We began to talk through this and I tried to encourage him. I was thinking about which Slovak leader to connect him to for further Discipling. As I was thinking of this he wrote to me and told me that he was really looking forward to learning to trust God in is life more and was going to meet with one of the leaders Kubo (who I admire a lot). This was such a blessing. The second story I would like to write about is about a guy named Jay. He is a young Slovak guy who was brought to camp by one of the Josiah venture staff who has been discipling him. Throughout the week we had conversations about what God thought of us, seeing that we are not perfect, how can we serve him if we are not like Paul or the other disciples. After talking about this he decided that he wanted to really work at leading and loving others. He began talking to one of the students who came from the same background of Catholicism and he had. By the end of the week the boy Martin was asking all sorts of questions and Jay had the opportunity to lead him to Christ. This was so great to see. To see how God was faithful in bringing the lost to Him and to showing a young man that he is important to God and can make a difference without being a "Paul". There were a couple of other guys that I saw really come to understand the idea of discipling through this camp and it really excited me! I also learned a lot at this camp. God really reveled a lot to me about how I lead and what my future looks like, in what ways and how he wants me to grow as a leader. I am excited to learn more about this through the next Camp. Please be praying for the next camp that God will protect it. That he will open the hearts of the 33 students coming and that he will Guide the American and Slovak Teams! Thanks Everyone!

Auschwitz

2010-06-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Krakow Poland and also had the opportunity to go visit Auschwitz (the Nazi concentration camp). This was a very interesting experience. Like many people I know about the holocaust and what happened, but I have never seen it like this. As I went through the tour and walked on the ground and in the barracks of people who were tortured and died for no reason, I am reminded of the depravity of men. We can so often think of events like this and say, the people that could do something like this must be so evil. I am reminded of the words of Moses in Genesis 6:5, "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." I am reminded of the fact that we are all evil all the time. This led me to the thought of Christ and his sacrifice! It is so amazing that though we are a evil group as humans, a group that can cause such atrocities as the Holocaust, that God could still forgive us through Christ. To think that this Grace is so complete that it could even cover a Nazi, who repented and confessed Christ as Lord! Praise be to our God that He is so merciful and gracious to us, a broken and evil people!

Last Host City Visit

2010-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

The last Host City visit is now over and we are beginning to prepare for camps. The city we visited was Levice. This was the one of the cities that I did camp in last year and also spent time in the fall discipling some of the guy leaders in the group. I am really excited to work again with this group and see how they have grown over the last couple of months! We spent a lot of time going into classes in the local schools to tell about camp and to promote. We also went to their KECY club. For those of you who do not know these clubs are done by the group throughout the year to connect students from camp with the youth group and the church. They usually consist of games, music, and a talk. It is similar to a youth group, but has a slant towards non-believers. During this group we were able to share about ourselves and have the opportunity to share about God with some students. We had one special thing happen while we were at the club. The local tv station decided to do a news piece on the KECY club. Afterwards they interviewed us and we had the opportunity to share about why we were there and about Christ on television!!! This was really amazing and great promotion for the camp and the church! Please continue to pray for my team and myself as we prepare for camp! That we will have energy and strength from God. Also pray for the Slovak and American teams involved! Thank you all!

Second Host City Visit (Back in Rožňava!)

2010-06-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Well I just finished my second Host City Visit to one of the cities that I worked in last year, Rožňava. It was really exciting to be back and to see all the students and team members that I was working with last year. I went with one other guy named Seth. He is an intern here this summer and will be an intern into the fall like I was last year. During this visit we went into the schools to promote camp to the students. This was a real neat experience for me. There were a lot more students interested this year in camp than last year, which was a real blessing! We also spent a lot of time with the team encouraging them and helping them prepare for camp in July. I am really excited about doing camp again with this team. While I was there I had the opportunity to spend some time every evening with my good friend Rudo the leader of the group. He is having a really hard time right now. For a little background on Slovakia, most youth leaders here do it in their free time. Many have full time jobs and families along with leading the youth group. Rudo is one of these youth leaders. The place where he works is making a lot of changes and because he is a manager he is having to work a whole lot more. This is creating a lot of pressure. As I finish writing I would like to ask you if you would be willing to pray for Rudo, that God will give him supernatural strength and that the things going on in his work would be resolved. Thank you for your prayers!

The Flood

2010-06-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hey I thought I would update you all and tell you that The Flood at Ed's house that I wrote about before has gone down and they only had some damage to their basement. Things are much better now! Thanks for your prayers!

First Host City Visit

2010-06-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

My team and I just finished our first Host City visit. The Host City visit is where we go and meet the team we will be working with and get to know them. We also go to schools to promote camps to the students. We were in Bratislava the capital city of Slovakia. This was a very interesting visit for me and different than the ones I have done before. The students and schools there are not as interested in doing English camps. I think that we still had a good number of students that will be interested in coming to camp. The team there was fun to work with and get to know. In all it was a great visit and I am sure God is moving a lot in that group. After this, on the way to our rest city I was driving with three other Americans and one Slovak. We had been driving about one hour when the Car started to act up. The car ended up staling and would not start up. Thanks to God we finally stopped right in front of a repair place! The Slovak girl Baka and I went in, to talk to the repair guy. He came out and ran some tests on the car. It seems the piece that allows gas into the engine from the gas tank had broken. We spent the next hour trying to get it to an Opel dealership and move all of the luggage we had in the car to the next train station. It was quite an ordeal for a group of tired college students who were headed to rest, but I was quite proud of all of them and their attitudes! Please continue to pray for the team and for our attitudes to remain positive!

Urgent prayer

2010-06-04T02:51:00.001-07:00

I know I just wrote but I have two prayer requests for our team. Seth one of the interns got really sick and threw up a number of times last night. I would like to ask if you would pray for his health and the health of the whole team! Also I would like to ask you to pray for my co-leader Ed, who is a missionary here with his wife and 5 children. Last night while he was with us on the opposite side of Slovakia from his family, we had a horrible rain storm. The Dam near their town broke and his family had to evacuate because their house is flooding. Please pray that this problem can be resolved and repaired and that Satan will not use it to hinder our ministry this summer. Also pray for Ed's wife Wendi as she is dealing with this and with their five children. Thank You!

Training Week

2010-06-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

Well training week has ended and we are finally in Slovakia and ready to begin the ministry. We will leave tomorrow morning to the first cities that we are working in. The training was really encouraging. It was a great opportunity to meet with interns going to the other countries that Josiah Venture is in. There were so many new interns this year. It was fun for me to get to know them and find out what made them want to come for the summer. I am excited about the summer and about our team, I think it will be a great Summer and that God is really going to use us in some mighty ways! Please continue to pray for my team. If you would like to pray for specific names these are the names of the group: Stano, Barika, Holly, Baka, Seth, Kari, Cory, Mike, Ed, and myself. Thank you everyone! I will keep posting!

The Amazing Race

2010-05-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a great week! The rest of the interns, for the summer, arrived at the airport in Vienna, Austria on Wednesday. From there we began The Amazing Race (this is like the show Amazing Race, if you have seen it). There were intern teams from all of the countries of the organization Josiah Venture. These were the groups we competed against. The goal of this time was to work as a team, get to know one another, and learn to work through conflict before getting into the ministry. This was a great learning experience. Our team finished the race in third place! We have now begun training for the summer at Josiah Venture's training facility in Czech Republic. This will be a great week of learning for the interns. Please pray that God will use this time to grow all of the interns and to prepare us for His work this summer!

Three days

2010-05-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well I have been here three days already and it feels like a while. I went to Presov today (the town I lived in last year) because I will not be there for camp this year. While I was here I was able to connect with my old neighbor kids Milan and Lydka and spent most of the day with them. Later I spent time with Maťo one of the boys I was discipling last year. He is doing really well he is involved in the youth group and is going to be a leader at the camp this year. If you do not know who these kids are please look back in my blog posts to September and October of last year. I would like to ask you to please pray for Milan and Lydka as they still do not know Jesus as their personal savior. Also pray for the other Interns as they prepare to fly over here on Monday! God Bless you all!

In Slovakia

2010-05-20T09:12:00.000-07:00

Well thank you all for your support! I am here in Slovakia I arrived safely. Unfortunately I was driving a friend to the train station and turned down the wrong street, got pulled over by the police and fined $75. WOW! what a start to the summer and I have only been here 3 hours! As result I am already kind of discouraged. I could really use your prayer this summer! I will begin to try and write weekly from here on out about how the summer is going.

Almost There!

2010-05-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well my departure date is just around the corner to leave for Slovakia. I am excited but going through the leaving jitters! I Almost have the amount I need for the summer. I found out that I am only about $200 short. This is Great! Thank you to all of you who supported me, you are such a Blessing. Thank you even more those of you who are praying! It is so important and such a blessing to know that you all have my Back! As I am thinking about the summer I ask that you pray for me as I lead others, that I will do it in a gracious and loving way. I also ask if you would be willing to pray for the young people that will be impacted this summer that their hearts would be open to God and his word! Pray for the teams that will be in charge of the camps that God will protect them and guide them! I will begin to post more as the summer gets underway! Thank you all! God Bless!

Update 2

2010-04-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well my departure date is approaching quickly. I am leaving on May 19th. As of right now I am still about $1,140 short of the money I need, but I have faith that God will provide. Please pray for this and also for the summer. There are some changes that are happening in terms of how the summer and intern teams are run. This is really exciting and will hopefully work out well. Please pray that God will continue to be in this process of change and that he will guide it in the way that he desires. Please also pray for me as I am being attacked daily now in approach to the summer; that God will protect me and that I will be able to make a stand against the enemies attacks! Thank you all for your support and prayer for me in this ministry! God bless you all for your generosity of time and money!

Update

2010-04-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am at this moment at about 2.700 dollars. Only 2,ooo more to go! Keep praying :)

Update

2010-04-14T20:18:00.000-07:00

It is about month now until I return to Slovakia. I am getting excited about going back for the summer! I received an update today about my finances. I have $1017 of the $4500 I need for the summer. This is exciting because I am always eager to see how God provides for his ministry in my life. As the summer approaches please pray for the camps this summer and for the students that will be coming and hearing God's word. Also pray for the leadership team as they prepare and solve problems in preparation for the summer. Please pray for me as I prepare to go over again. Pray that God will continue to grow me in love and humility so that I can better serve Him. Pray that I will be obedient in everything to Him. I also want to ask you to pray for the young guys that I have discipled here in the States for over 5 years in my small group. Many of them are graduating this year from High school. Pray that they will grow in their love for God and others, and that they will be examples to others around them. Grace and peace to all of you! Thank you for your prayer and support!

Preparation to return

2010-03-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well as many of you know I recently sent out letters again. I am going over to Slovakia again this summer to lead a team of Interns there. As I have been thinking about this summer I have been trying to prepare myself for the ways God would like to use me this summer. In my church group I have been learning more about God's love for us in 1 John. It is always encouraging and refreshing to me to be remind of how much God loves me despite my effort. I have been meeting with some of the guys that I have been mentoring for years and have been trying to help them process graduation coming up and what life will be like in college and how they will have to be even more disciplined in their faith in the ever changing world around them. I also have the opportunity to go on vacation with my family. My brother is bringing one friend from school with him. I am hoping that this can be a great opportunity with them. Many young people go on spring break and get in trouble. I hope that this spring break for my brother and his friend will be a time of growth and fun spiritually. As I go into the next couple weeks in preparation please pray for my protection. The enemy is always stronger in his attacks the closer I get to God and the more I serve Him. Also remember to pray for all the young believers going on Spring Break this next week that God will protect them and they will cling to God and not their desire to "have fun".

High School Again

2010-03-05T10:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went and spoke at Blackhawk Christian where I went to High School. I was there to tell them about Slovakia and about missions and to try and motivate them to look into what God may have for their lives and his ministry. As for me I am still in the process of learning what God has for me in the future whether it is in Slovakia or here. I have been learning a lot about being content and serving and ministering wherever you are. I feel like I have been growing closer to God through the last couple weeks and really getting to know him better. I hope that I will know soon which direction the Lord has for me. Right now I am still substitute teaching and discipling the senior guys that I have been ministring to the last 7 years. I am also going back for the summer to Slovakia to help out with camps again. I hope that this might also provide further understanding about my future and God's plans. Continue to pray for this future and for the camps this summer!

Going back

2010-02-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well it has been a long time since I last posted. As you all know I have been trying to figure out if Slovakia is where God wants me to be. This is still unclear to me, but I will be going there for the summer again to lead a team through the camps. I will be sending out letters soon about this. I am hoping that this summer might provide a little more clarity about the prospect of full time ministry there. Right now I am trying to spend time with God getting to know Him better. There are two things that I have been learning lately. One is that God is more concerned about us being in relationship and getting to know Him better, than what we are doing for Him. So often in life I think I get wrapped up in the doing and forget the simple truth of just living in Him no matter what I do. Therefore I am not worrying about what I am supposed to do whether stay or go to Slovakia. I am spending time getting to know God better and in that I know that God will lead me where He wants me. Otherwise I focus too much on tasks and not enough on my Savior! I also have been learning an idea that was taught at this year's passion by Andy Stanley. The idea is similar to what I wrote before. We often try to figure out what we should do before we figure out who we want to be. Especially in America I think we aspire to be great Business people, Athletes, Teachers, etc. And though these are great things they mean nothing and lead only to failure if we do it without knowing who we want to be and who God wants us to be. Andy Stanley said this is the problem with successful people failing morally, their talent excedes their capability to make good decisions. In essence they decide what they want to do before they decide who they want to be. I am therefore deciding who I want to be and spending time with God before I decide where I want to go and what I want to do. Please pray for me in this endeavor.

Finally I write agian

2010-01-23T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I don't have as much to write back here in the States. Right now I am trying to find odd jobs here and there and still trying to figure out what is in my future. As many of you know I am trying to decide whether God wants me to move to Slovakia. This has proven to be a harder task than I had first imagined. I am still very much up in the air about what I should do. Please be praying for this. Tomorrow I am speaking at the missions morning at Blackhawk. I am pretty excited about it. Hopefully God will use me along with the others sharing to really encourage and challenge those who come to listen!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T13:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I have no new news, please continue to pray for the future of my ministry! And for a job right now.

End of a Great Year

2009-12-29T09:43:00.000-08:00

As I think about this last year and look towards the next year I am reminded of God's Faithfulness in my life, sometimes even despite my lack of faithfulness! This Christmas weekend I spent with family and friends and celebrated the joyous celebration of our Saviors birth! I spent time with my mother's side of the family on Christmas eve and day, and went to Illinois to visit my Dad's family after Christmas. we were blessed to meet our new baby cousin, Leah. She is such a beautiful little girl and was a reminder to me of God's love. Seeing my cousin and her husband with their new baby reminded me that we are God's Children and that he cares for us far more than my cousins or any one cares for their own children! If God cares so much why do we so often not trust his guidance and direction? Why do we doubt his love for us? I am reminded in this new year that God has my best interest in mind. He cares and is the one who provides purpose and meaning in life! Please continue to pray for me as I make the decision about my future. I also ask that you continue to pray for the young people in Slovakia who still do not know the Lord our Father and his love for each and every one of them!

First Week Home

2009-12-20T13:13:00.001-08:00

Well I have been home for a week now. It is is weird for me to be home it almost feels like I am on Vacation. I hope that many of you have received my letter in the mail this week. If you have not it should arrive soon. This week I have been meeting with people that I have not seen in a while and trying to get adjusted to being back home. I was able to meet with my friend Andy who was in Slovakia for the whole summer. This was a nice time to catch up and finally hear a little about his experience the last couple of months. I was also able to connect with one of my Social Work Professors from Taylor and two classmates. On Saturday night I went to Dave and Jayne Walter's Christmas party that they do for their small group that my parents are in. This was a joyous time of fellowship and was very good for me. As I think about the next couple weeks and the birth of our Savior on Christmas. I am reminded of how gracious our Lord is! He has blessed us in so many ways besides just Jesus, though this is the greatest gift. I am reminded to be thankful for everything, for it is all from God! I wish you a wonderful Christmas and a time of rememberance with family and loved ones. Please continue to pray for those I have mentioned in Slovakia in other posts and also for me that I will make a decision about my future that is pleasing to our Lord.

Coming Home

2009-12-10T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well Everyone I will be home on Friday, tomorrow. I should be able to function by Monday or so. If anyone is interested in meeting write me at Howiehilljack@gmail.com. I do not have a phone in America yet. Thank you everyone for your support

Roznava Good Bye

2009-12-08T15:50:00.000-08:00

Now I am in Rožňava and spending my last time in the town where I did the most ministry. It is a bittersweet good bye but I have really enjoyed my time spent with them. We had a little party on Monday night, which was a good time to connect one last time with everyone. Finally today I was taken to the bus station by Rudo and his family and I am on my way home.

Presov Good Bye

2009-12-08T15:44:00.001-08:00

The second city I said my goodbyes to was Prešov, the city in which I lived. On friday I spent some time with some of the students from camp. It was a good time to say goodbye and to continue to share God’s love with them. On Saturday I went with my neighbors Milan and Lydka to one other city to the Christmas Market to spend the day. as usual I really adored the time that I spent with them, they are like family to me. In the evening I spent time with the youth group and afterwards I went with Maťo one of the boys I had been discipling. We walked for awhile and talked about life and his plans for the next couple months. In the morning I went to Milan and Lydka’s house to celebrate Mikulaš day. This is the day when Santa Claus comes and fills their boots (stockings). On Christmas Baby Jesus brings them presents. This was a very fun experience for me to spend another Slovak Holiday here and experience Slovak cultural holidays. In the afternoon I spent time and Peter’s house, my leader. It was a great time to reflect on the fall and dream about the future.

Levice Good Bye

2009-12-08T15:33:00.001-08:00

Well I began my goodbye tour this week. I started in Levice the the town where I did my second camp. It was a really great time of fellowship and a good byes. They surprised me with a going away party. It was so perfect, I did not expect it at all. I really felt loved there and a part of their community. I am so thankful for the grace God gave me in allowing me to be a part of this community and to work with the young guy leaders in Levice and encourage them in their ministries. I was able to spend time with one of the students that I have been meeting with, Mišo I am really praying that this young guy will come to know the Lord. As of right now he is a confused young man who does not know really what he believes. Please continue to pray with for this young man, that he will experience God’s love through the group and come to know Him personally.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-30T07:43:00.000-08:00

Well I had a good Thanksgiving away from home. Every year the American Missionaries in Eastern Europe with Josiah Venture get together in the Czech Republic to celebrate Thanksgiving together. It was really a great time. I got to spend time getting to know the other missionaries better and of course have some good American food! After Thanskgiving I still had the weekend off so I decided to go with some guys from Slovakia and one guy from Czech to Berlin. It was a good trip and quite interesting to see Berlin. I was able to go to the wall, the Parliment building and the Jewish Museum. It was a good time but kind of sad also because it proceeds the last week and a half that I will be here. I am finally getting together my schedule for my good bye tour to all the towns I have been working in. Please pray that I will wrap up well here in Slovakia and travel safely home.

Last Roznava Visit

2009-11-23T07:59:00.000-08:00

Well this weekend was my last official visit to Rožňava. It was a very good visit. On Friday I went to one of the schools to teach a couple English classes. By this I mean that I went in and talked with the students in English. This is quite fun because, while the students think they are getting out of school work the teacher knows that they are still in fact learning. On Friday night we had KECY Club. Because it was my last KECY Club Rudo asked me if I would be willing to talk. I spoke on the spiritual realm and some of the differences between what we believe as Christians and what other religions believe. We also had a video made by the American team that was here at camp this summer. The students really seemed to love and appreciate this video. On Saturday I went to one of the boys houses from camp. His name is Kris. This was a very blessed day of some really good spiritual conversation. He is another young Catholic man that is now after camp asking questions about the differences between faith and works. Please continue to keep this young team in Rožňava in your prayers! Also please pray for me as I spend the next two weeks rapping up what I have here and traveling to all the places I need to go before I leave.

Levice

2009-11-17T04:57:00.000-08:00

Well I had quite a good weekend in Levice this week. I was able to find a good number of the files I lost on my computer using a program a friend had there. But this was not the high light :) One of the high points was the KECY club that we did. The theme was multiculturalism, so everyone dressed up in costumes as if they were from another country. It was quite funny to see people dressed up and acting like someone from a different culture. After this one of the boys from the camp was speaking with one of the leaders and decided that he wanted to start a relationship with God and to start living different. This was so amazing, it is so great to see God working in this young man's life over the last couple of months since camp. I was also able to spend a good amount of time with the guy leaders there I am really excited about some of the steps they are taking to be more intentional in their ministry. I also was able to go to three programs called stuskovas, which are basically a celebration for being in the last year of high school. The students dress up like they would for prom and invite a date. During the night the class puts on a performance about themselves and their class for their friends and family. I went with a couple of friends to see this performance. It was quite interesting. Please continue to pray for the group in Levice. Also pray for me as I am wrapping up here and getting ready to come home, that I can adjust well and that I will be protected from Satan's attempts to discourage me.

HELP!!

2009-11-11T07:24:00.001-08:00

I have a big need. I was in the office today and went to open a document on my computer that I have been working on. When I went to open The document I found that the entire file it was in was missing. This is very bad because this file also contains ALL the work I have done since August. I have no other copies of it. Please pray that I can some how recover this file. It is almost 2 gb of documents! Also if anyone knows some way to recover files from the trash on a mac please write me at: Howiehilljack@gmail.com

Important to read!

2009-11-11T02:08:00.000-08:00

Many of you may have received this message from me:

This December before I leave to come back to the States, we are trying to do an event we will call KECY tour. This December will be a test run but will help us with a vision of how to do it in the future. The idea of this tour is to go into all the cities we do English camp with and help their church to be known by the youth in the community. We will do this through a presentation in the school and a work project to help the community, and finally a concert and activity that all the youth from the town will be invited to. The town we have chosen to do the first KECY Tour in is Rožňava, the town where I have been traveling and serving. We are expecting the Slovak Church to pay for part of this, but we are also trying to raise some money. I need to raise about $300 for the event. I have one donor already but I need a little bit more help. If you would like to help or would like more information please email me soon at: joshua_howard_slovakia@yahoo.com! Thank you for your support!

There has been a change to this. We had a meeting last night and determined that December will be too early to do this event so it will be in January. I therefore will not be a part of the event but still have a major role in planning it. We still have financial need for this event and the following KECY tours in the other 6 towns that we are involved in. The amount we still need to raise is about $300 per city. I know some of you have expressed interest in sponsoring this. If you are still interested please email me at:

joshua_howard_slvoakia@yahoo.com

Thank you for all that you do for the Kingdom of our GOD!!

For His Renown!
Joshua Howard

Milan With Taylor

2009-11-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

Many of you know Taylor Friesen. He is studying in Madrid, Spain right now. This last weekend I had the opportunity to meet with him in Milan, Italy (Which is between us and happened to be the cheapest place for both of us to travel to). It was a great weekend to relax and spend time with Taylor who was in my small group for quite a while. He also brought a friend with him, who is religious, but we were not sure if he understood faith. On Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him. He told us that he had not ever heard this before. It seemed to really touch him. I told him that he and Taylor should discuss it more and that if he had questions he could ask Taylor. I think that this was a real great opportunity for me to share the Gospel and disciple at the same moment. This was not all that happened! On the way to Milan a girl sat down by me in the plane. I felt that I should talk to her so I introduced myself and began to speak with her. It turned out that she was a Slovak girl from Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. We talked that whole flight and found out that we had the same flight back, so we decided to sit together. I decided that on the way back I really wanted to talk to her and tell her about Jesus. So I began to pray that God would give me an opportunity to, and that I would have the boldness to do it. Well, it just so happened that on the return flight this girl, Andrea, started to tell me about her problems with religion. I thought, wow here is the opportunity! So I began to tell her about our position and who Jesus is. Half way through she told me she didn't like this idea, she didn't want someone to die for her, it was not fair. I told her that he already did and she began to cry. She did not make a decision then but said she wanted to think about it and ask me questions later, so I gave her my contact. Hopefully I will be able to connect her to some of the Christian girls in Bratislava that I know. Please pray for these two young people, Andrea from Bratislava and Jimmy from California. Pray also that Taylor will have wisdom and strength as he lives as an example for the other students he is around at school. Also continue to pray that God will grow and use me in this last month here in Slovakia. Yes it is my last month today :(

Great Meetings!

2009-11-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

Well I wrote in the post below that A weekend a go I had everyone I tried to meet with cancel on me. On Monday I had some great meetings with some guys. The first I met in a town on my way home from Rožňava. His name is Mišo I have written about him before. He is from Levice and is the boy who wants to be a pilot. I spoke with him about his future and uncertainty of where he should go for pilot training. I encouraged him to pray which he thought was silly because he does not believe in God. I told him this is a perfect way to find out if God exists. He said he might try it. After this I met with Filip who I have written about before and had a really good conversation about relationships. He is a really neat guy to talk to, he has a lot of wisdom for a young guy. After this my neighbor Milan came over and we were talking about music. During this time he asked me about my purity ring. It was a great opportunity to share with him about my faith and why purity is important to me. Please be in prayer for all three of these guys especially Mišo and Milan as they are not believers.

All Saints or Halloween Weekend

2009-11-04T02:11:00.000-08:00

Well I have not written for a while because I have not had much happening. The weekend before was one of my hardest weekends here. I made a special effort to meet with some students that are only in town on the weekends; after making this effort they all canceled on me. This was very discouraging for me, but God had better plans for this last Halloween weekend. I spent the weekend in Rožňava. On the way down I stopped in another town were Maťo (the boy I was teaching guitar to) is going to school. I met with him and had a really good conversation about personal time with God and having disciplines in his life. After this I traveled on to Rožňava. While I was here I stayed with one of the guys Ivan (shown in the picture cooking). This was really a great time for me to get to know him and spend a lot of time encouraging him. During the weekend the youth group went on a mini mission trip to help repair a church in a gypsy village. This was a real bonding experience for the whole team. Saturday evening I gathered all the guys from the team that I have been encouraging and discipling and we had a small group of accountability. It was an amazing time. There were a lot of things that came out in the guys lives and I believe really allowed them to see the need to stand together against the enemy and not try to go at it alone. On Sunday I had the pleasure of having lunch with one of the elders in the church. This was a really great opportunity to share a lot about the youth in the church and to get him excited about the group. In the evening I went to the cemetery, yes the cemetery :) In Slovakia they celebrate Halloween a little different than we do. They call it All Saints Day and instead of dressing up and asking for candy they go to the graves of their family and light candles to show their respect for the saints that have died. It is a very beautiful site to behold! It was quite the experience for me! This ended my weekend in Rožňava.

An Old freind

2009-10-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Last night I had the opportunity to meet with an old friend here is Slovakia. One guy you might remember from my emails last year, Slavcy. This was a really good time to catch up with him but he also told me about a really hard situation in his life. We were able to talk through it and I think he gained a little perspective on it, but there is still a lot of work needed, and a lot of restoration of some relationships in his life. Please pray for him. Also pray that I will follow God's lead in this relationship with him.

Roznava

2009-10-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was in Roznava. It was a good weekend I spent a lot of time with the leader of the youth there, Rudo. It was a great opportunity to encourage the team! We also had a KECY Club on Friday night. Two boys from camp that had not been coming decided to come this week. One boy Jozo has been pretty much refusing to come to the groups but finally he came and he told me that he absolutely loved it and thinks that now he will come back. I was pretty excited to hear this, it was such a blessing. Now one of the guy leaders that I have been mentoring decided that he wants to disciple this young guy to Christ. It is such a wonderful thing to see!

Tour of my flat

2009-10-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of where I live.

LEVICE

2009-10-11T12:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend I spent in Levice encouraging the team and meeting with some of the students from camp. On Thursday evening we had our club from the camp and had a good turnout. The theme was music so I dressed up like I was a famous singer. It was a lot of fun. The next day I had an English class that I taught there was a pretty good turnout to this class and I believe the students learned a lot from it. I was able to meet with each of the guy leaders and share some ideas about discipleship with them. I also spent sometime helping them think about some personal goals they could set for themselves. On Saturday evening I had the opportunity to speak to the high school youth group. I talked about Jesus‘ parable of the wicked servant and forgiveness. After this meeting I was going to go hang out with one of the boys from camp. This boy does not believe in God and is not interested in church. When I was talking to him on the phone I invited him to the youth group and to my surprise he said he would come. After wards we went bowling and he told me that he enjoyed the story I told and he would like to hear more. He was especially interested in the parables Jesus taught that were focused towards the religious leaders. He found in fascinating that Jesus also had a problem with “religion” without faith. This was a really good opportunity to share about God with him. I hope and pray that the guy leaders in the church will stay connected with him! Please be praying for the team in Levice that they will continue to be open to Gods’ leading in their town, and that they will not get discouraged. Also pray for boldness as they try to connect with students in their town.

My neighbors

2009-10-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

Well I have not written much about them but if you recall from my first week in Presov post there are two young people a brother and sister who are my neighbors now. There names are Milan and Lydka (Lydia). I have been spending time with them every week. Sometimes I will go to their house and sometimes they will come over to mine. They are two really special people to me they are the same age as my brother and sister. Therefore, I affectionately call them my adopted brother and sister, and they say I am like their older brother. On Sunday we spent the whole day together. We began the morning with a nice American breakfast that I cooked (we have been trying each others cultural meals). Of course it is pancakes! We hiked up to this spot above town called Calvaria. This was a great opportunity to get to know them better. We had a good conversation about God, his existence, and what faith is. It was really interesting to talk about this because we all had a different perspective on the topic. As I continue living in relationship with these two I am praying that God's love will be seen in my life and that they will experience His love and acceptance as I have. Please pray that God's love will flow through my life and that each day I will grow closer to him and become more like Christ in the way I live and act toward others!

Retreat for the Soul

2009-10-05T00:43:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I spent some time in the Tatry's which is the tallest mountain range in Slovakia. I went there to take some time to pray and read God's word and search out God's will for the future. It was a very blessed time for me to have this focus. I would like to ask you to continue praying for wisdom for my future as I am trying to decide whether God wants me to move to Slovakia on a more permanent basis. Also continue to pray for the students I am interacting with!

Great weekend of Discipleship moments

2009-09-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

Wow this weekend has been amazing I was working in the town of Roznava where I did my last camp. I spent time with each of the guys on the team and talked to them about setting goals for the fall for their ministry and personal spiritual growth. There were some really amazing things that happened during these meetings. I am excited to see these young men grow during this year! Please pray that God will give them focus and clarity on setting goals, and that they will follow through with these goals. When I returned home to Presov on Sunday one of the boys I am mentoring here came over to my apartment for dinner and then I went with him to a worship service at his church. When we were eating dinner we began to speak about relationships. He informed me that him and this girl he likes talked about dating and decided they were not going to date right now because the only difference they saw in dating and being friends is a physical. difference He said that neither of them wanted to risk going to far so they would stay away from the physical and just focus on their friendship. This was so amazing to hear! Please pray for this boy Filip, that he will continue to make wise decisions and that he will be bold in sharing his faith at school! Personally I am doing well right now but last week I had a breakdown. the process of changing into the fall routine and the language barrier got to me along with Satan's discouraging words and I was feeling quite depressed, but through prayer and wise council I was able to see through these lies. Pray that God will make me strong daily and that I will constantly be reminded of who I am and Who's I am!

An amazing conference

2009-09-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

This last week I went with 16 other Slovak Youth leaders to the Josiah Venture Conference in Czech. This was an amazing week of encouragement and extremely challenging talks. The topic for the week was passing on the baton. It was about discipleship. There were so many amazing stories from people in other countries and so many good teachings from the word. It was a great encouragement to be able to talk with people from all of the 11 countries Josiah Venture is in. It was so encouraging to hear about how God is working in their countries. It was also a good time to hear about the struggles in others countries, to see how similar they are, and to be able to encourage each other and pray for each other. I met a couple of really great people there from the countries of Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, and Romania. It was so exciting. After the conference I traveled with Mike, one of the missionaries over here, to Prague, to visit a couple of the students from my first camp that are studying in the University there. This was a great time. I had a really good conversation with one boy about faith and about how he could be an example to the others on his campus. It was really exciting to see this young guy so interested in living how God wants him too! It was a great opportunity for me to put into practice what I had just learned at the conference. The First picture is my group from conference. The second is from Prague the guy next to me is the one I was talking about.

Encouraging the guys and Train evangelism in Slovak!

2009-09-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Well I know that I just posted about my experience so far in Presov, but I have something new to write already. I traveled this weekend to the town of Levice where I did my second camp. I was there for the purpose of encouraging and equipping the guys on the team there to connect with the younger guys from camp. It was a really rewarding time for me! I was able to help the guys on the team connect some things in their minds about how to connect with the male students from camp and to be involved in their lives. I was also able to have a conversation with two of the boys from camp about God and what He means to me. We talked about how the church has screwed their thinking of God and how God was different, that he loves them for who they are. In the end I think they understand God a little better than they did before. On Sunday I was able to connect two of the older guys on the team with them. Please be praying for the guy leaders in this group. They are very afraid to step out and take the initiative with younger guys, Pray that they will have courage and strength! The final thing I would like to share was the amazing opportunity God gave me to connect with one girl I met on a train. I was sitting in the train compartment on my trip back from Levice and a girl came in and sat down. She spoke to me which I thought was interesting. Generally I do not want to talk to people on the train because my Slovak is not very good, but I thought to my self maybe I should try. So I proceeded to speak to her in my broken Slovak. Lo and behold the conversation turned out to be really good. We spoke for nearly an hour and a half in Slovak. I shared what I was doing in Slovakia and that it was because I was a Christian, she informed me that she did not believe in God and told me it was because of her parents. I was able to share the gospel with her and to share how God had changed my life, IN SLOVAK!!!!!!! This was amazing to me because I know it was not me, I do not speak Slovak well enough to have a conversation like this! I know it was the power of the Holy Spirit working in me!! It was sooo powerful for me! Though she did not accept Christ or anything she told me that it had given her something to think about.

First Week in Presov

2009-09-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

This week I began life in the town of Presov. It is interesting to be a part of normal life here, riding the bus and buying my own food at the grocery. On Monday Presov had their end of the summer party for the youth that were apart of the camp this summer. It was an interesting time, I believe the students really enjoyed. I also made one really cool connection this week. This last year I was introduced (online) to the younger brother of one of the girls who was in my English class at last summers camp in Presov. I found out that he lives in the apartment building behind mine. I was able to meet with him at a pizza place and get to know him better. I am excited that he lives so close to me and that I have the opportunity to connect with him this fall! Please pray for this connection and the connections I have with some of the other guys here in town, that God can use me to be an example for them!

The fall Begins

2009-08-31T07:32:00.000-07:00

To begin the fall I am going to the after parties in the towns where we did camp. The after party is a party that KECY has that is an end of the summer party and also introduces the students to the clubs or youth groups that will be going on during to school year. The hope is that students will want to come and be connected during the year and have more oppertunities to hear the gospel or grow if they are already a believer. The first party I went to was in the town where I did my second camp, Levice. The party was really neat, we had a good turn out and a lot of kids that are interested in continuing to come during the year. I had some good converstions with a couple students about God and what they were thinking. I believe there are a couple of students who are coming close to understanding of God. The second after party that I went to was the one for my last camp, Roznava. As you have probably read this camp was full of students who did not believe in God and had really not been exposed to any real Christianity before. This party also went really well. The biggest thing I was encouraged with was how close I was seeing the group grow. It seems now after camp the students are really wanting to be a part of the community and to come to the youth group. There are also a few who are making some very serious steps toward Christ! Please pray for the students here that God will continue to soften their hearts through their connection with the Youth Group and also pray for the leaders, Rudo and Lenka, that they will have the wisdom in leading and the energy to keep up with everyone. Also one of the girls from this town got into a car accident with her father and her father is not doing very well from what I hear. As I move into the fall please pray that I will have God's wisdom in my ministry, that I will know where to connect and where to spend my energy!

Holiday

2009-08-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Well I spent some time off and went on a little trip to France. I was able to stop some other places along the way there. It was quite fun and it took no longer to get there than driving to Florida from Fort Wayne. It was quite an exciting trip. We got pulled over twice and our vehicle searched for drugs. Apparently we looked like drug smugglers :) I am back in Slovakia now and excited to be here. I am looking forward to starting ministry again! Next week all of the camps from the summer are having their end of the summer parties. I am excited to go see the teams and all the students again! After this I will move into my Apartment for the fall and begin life in Slovakia with out camps. Please pray for me as I make the adjustment to living by myself as an American in Eastern Slovakia and continue to learn the language and work with the youth!

A Blessing

2009-08-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well I just finished my last camp and boy was it an interesting camp. It was a lot different than any one I have ever experienced. This area of the country is very hard to work in. It is very closed to God. But the camp was still amazing. Last year there was twelve students signed up for camp and 6 of them dropped out because of a rumor of the church being a cult because it is a small denomination. This was a real discouragement for the team last year. This year we had 36 students!! It was such a huge difference. The students were fun but they were also pretty hard to connect with. This part of the country was especially influenced by Communism back in the day. Today it is a very atheistic part of Slovakia. We found as we went through the week that the students did not only think there is not a God, but they didn't really even care to talk about it. Most atheists will want to argue about why there is not a God. These students would just say to us, “Well that was a interesting story but God does not exist, lets talk about something else.” We soon realized that we would not connect with them through telling about God but would only connect by our love for each other and for them. During the week the students made comments about how they could see we were different and they wondered why we were. By the end of the week there were a number of students at least interest in considering that there might be a God. There were some that decided they would like to spend more time with the Youth Group. Ten students decided that they are going to a Christian Music festival this weekend called campfest, which is put on by Youth For Christ here in Slovakia. Both of these things were very encouraging despite the fact that none of them accept Jesus into their life. As for me this camp was an interesting experience. I spent a lot of the camp doing a lot more program things, allowing the Slovaks to spend more time with the students. I also spent time working with the leader Rudo, encouraging him and showing him how to lead better. He is someone I will be working with in the fall, I am very excited about this. Despite the fact that I was doing all this program stuff I still seemed to be having an impact on students. One of the coolest things for me was something one girl said to me at the end of the camp. She said, “You are the best American I know, No one has ever carried my bag for me and that was the first thing you did when I got to camp, I will always remember that.” This was so interesting to me. When the students arrived I carried as many bags in as I could, because it was what I should do. I never thought that it would have such an impact on someone. I was also able to connect with one boy named Erik. he was an interesting kid. He is a Christian, but does not really seem to know how to really show it to his friends, to be an example. I talked with him about how his friends were atheists and how allowing Christ’s love to flow through him to others could be such a good example for his friends. I really enjoyed this camp! I appreciate all of your prayers for me and my team. I also ask that you pray for the other interns as they prepare to go back to America, that they will adjust well and find a place to connect again. Also I ask that you pray for me as I prepare for the fall and all that it brings, that I will continue to trust in God through it all. Thanks!

Kecy - Levice

2009-07-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well what can I say? It was another great camp! God was really at work in the hearts of the students. We only had 6 boys at the camp but it was still pretty good. There were enough girl leaders to connect with the girls and for the 6 guys there was about 14 guy leaders. It was really neat to be able to connect with the guys and to talk with them about God and life. They all seemed pretty interested in God, Let's pray that they will finally decide to follow Jesus! We did have two or three girls come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savour through this experience. Please pray for the team in Levice as they will continue connecting with the students and building relationships. Pray that they will have boldness in sharing their faith and in pursueing the students. God is really in the ministry here it is so neat to see young people here taking their faith seriously and seeking others. I really hope and pray that there will be a revival in the youth here in Slovakia. There are so many students searching for meaning and purpose in life. It is so cool to have the oppertunity to be able to share it with them, and to encourage the Slovak believers in relationships! Also for those who were praying for my friend and his Father, Thank you! His Father is doing a lot better, they think he will be fine. I think that this young Slovak guy just caught a glimpse of who God is through this experience. Please pray for me as I go into this next camp that i will have the energy I need to connect with students and to do everything I need to. Also pray for the team as it is only their second year doing camp and they are a young team. Pray that they will not get discouraged with things mess up and that they will be bold in all they do and lean on God for guidance! Thank you everyone! Enjoy the pictures!

Castle visit

2009-07-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

We went to this castle:

Presov Pictures

2009-07-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

Here Are some of the pictures:

Presov Camp!!!!

2009-07-09T01:53:00.000-07:00

Well we just finished our first camp and let me tell you, it was amazing!!! I have never felt so many connections with students. It is also exciting to me that I will be in this town in the fall so I will still be able to connect with the students. It was so neat to see the students connecting right away and engaging in what we were doing. Typically it takes a while for students to be comfortable, but at this camp it happened very fast. During the evening we were doing a new thing for English camps. We were going through the story of of God and having discussion groups about it. This was very hard at first because the students were not really wanting to interact, but as the week progressed we changed things and it got better. We are still trying to figure out changes we can make for the next couple camps. I really connected well with the guys in my cabin. They were really fun guys to be around. One of them was an exchenge student in the U.S. in California. The other two guys were guys from last year that I never was abled to connect with. They were all excited about camp and seemed to be very interested in the Story of God. I am excited about building better relationships in the fall with them. I believe a lot of the students were really touched by the stories of God. Please pray that God will continue to draw the students towards him. Also pray that the students will want to come to clubs during the year. I am not able to put up pictures at this point in time, I will later. Please pray for the next camp in Levice. Pray for the students, Slovak team, American team, and my intern team. Pray that we will pe relying on God first and that the students will be drawn to God. Pray also for protection for the camp.

Prayer

2009-06-25T02:59:00.001-07:00

Please pray for the teams of Presov, Levice, and Roznava! Pray for the students that will come to these camps that God will touch their hearts and that the Slovak youth groups can make good connections with the students. Pray for the American teams coming over that they will be prepared to serve and not be focused on themselves. Pray for our intern team as we put final details together for camps. Pray for energy for all! And for God's blessing!!!

Roznava visit

2009-06-25T02:18:00.000-07:00

Well our visit to Roznava was just as amazing as our visit to Levice. I really enjoyed being with the team and getting to know them. Rudo their leader is a really neat guy. I had a number of conversations with him that were really great! As most of you know I have been very passionate about discipling young guys. It was so great to talk to Rudo and find that he had almost the same passion as me when it comes to young guys. Rudo is married to Lenka and they have a daughter named Emma. While we were in Roznava we stayed in their flat (apartment). They are such a neat family. Both Rudo and Lenka have jobs, but they still take the time to lead the youth group and be involved in the students lives. While we were there we did class visits to schools to promote the camp. Last year they had 12 students at camp. This year after three days they have 40 students signed up and more that want to come! God is really blessing this ministry, it is so neat to be a part of it. Right now I am in Zilina at Kompas (the national organization we are working with). We are here preparing for camp that will start next week.

Team in Levice

2009-06-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Levice our second town:

Castle, Knights and Hide and seek

2009-06-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

Well this week we have been getting to know the team here in Levice. And let me tell you they are amazing. They are so involved. This last weekend we went to an event called castle days in their town. It was a lot of fun. There was the town castle and then below there was a show that a troop put on. It was a reenactment of medieval knights fighting in competitions like jousting and sword fighting (It was similar to Medievil times in the U.S. but more real :). It was quite interesting. This Monday we decided to treat the team by cooking them a meal. We managed to gather enough things to make a taco dinner complete with tacos, chips and salsa, and a desert of Ice cream Sundays. Later in the evening we played hide and seek in the church. We are having so much fun with the team here that I am really not looking forward to leaving friday. This team is also very encouraging spiritually. It seems that they are very interested in singing worship together, they seem to do this alot. There is a real spiritual emphasis in all of their lives. I am also very impressed with the leader of their group. Her name in Zuzi. She is quite a fine person and a great leader for the group. I can tell that they really respect her as their leader. This week we are doing school promotions in Levice. So far they are going well, but we could use prayer still. The team is trying to have twice as many students this year. We have had a lot of interest so far. Tonight we are having an evening program that we have invited the students at the schools to. Pray for our health we are still trying to get over whatever it is we have!

School visits and sickness

2009-06-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well we started doing city visits this last week. I have been sick so it has been pretty hard for me. The first city I went to was Presov. This was so great because I have a lot of friends there that I made last year. It was so good to see them and spend time with them again. I was there only for a short while and then moved on to the town of Bardejov. In this town we got to know the team from the church that we will be working with. During the week we went into the schools and promoted the camp. This is one of my favorite things to do. It is a real taste of the culture here. The school systems are a lot different and it is real neat the freedom we have to be able to go in and talk about Christian things and to talk about our camp. I had been sick at the beggining of the week but it has been getting worse. I finally went to the doctor and am now on antibiotics and was told to stay away from people. This is not good for me. I feel like I am useless now and I so want to be out with the students working. Please pray for my health and for the health of my team. Also we have arrived in another town and are preparing to work with the team and go into more schools. Pray for this week that are interactions will go well and that we will be able to really help out the team! Pray also for protection spiritually for the team!

Training

2009-06-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Well tomorrow We leave from training to go out to the countries we are serving in. The Training in Malenovice in the Czech Republic has been amazing. We have had a lot of general training, but have also had some intense spiritual learning. Dave Patty the President of Josiah Venture spoke. As usual his messages have been very convicting. I am amazed at how freely God's Words flow through him. One of the major things he talked about was faith. He discussed how many times in the gospels Jesus reprimanded the disciples for having too little faith. He talked about how having fears, doubts, and insecurities result from a lack of faith. These are all things that I struggle with in my life. I realized through this not only how little my faith is but that my faith is so little because just like his disciples I do not daily put it into practice. Often I do not feel like I need to have trust or faith in God's power in even the small things in life. This is something I want to start putting more of my effort is. I am excited to see how God grows my faith this summer through the simple task of me having faith in his power.

Amazing Race

2009-05-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of you have seen the show, "The Amazing Race," but I was just a part of Josiah Venture's Amazing Race. This is a great experience that they do every year to help build the Intern teams and allow them to experience conflict and resolve their problems. This year we started in Vienna, Austria and ended in Malenovice, Czech Republic. Along the way we were in Budapest, Hungry and Bratislava, Slovakia. My team is great! We spent a lot of good quality time with each other during this race. We were not in the lead but in my mind we were the best team! We are all now relaxing before training. This race is so tiring, I am sure that everyone is glad to be done. My flight over was good, I had no problems! I am so excited for this training time and the summer. I will write again next week.

Last Week

2009-05-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well this is my last week in the States before I leave for Slovakia. I have been spending it meeting with people and trying to tie up loose ends. I am really excited about next week but really nervous at the same time. I am interested to see how God works. Please pray for safe travel and that I will be able to adjust well to being back. Pray also for me as I spend my last couple days with my family, that it would be a blessed time.

Almost Here

2009-05-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well It is almost here. I have less than two weeks, I am getting very nervous. I have had a great semester and will miss a lot of the people I have worked with at the Vincent Village where I did my Senior Internship. They are a great group of people. I want to give a shout out to them. As I have looked at the summer and thought about things to pray for I have thought of a couple. First I would like prayer as I prepare to leave that I will be able to remember everything. Also That I will really have a blessed last two weeks with my family. Finally I really need prayer as I prepare my heart to serve God. Lately I have been attacked by Satan again, this time he is tempting me with apathy. I have so much to prepare for and this is the time when I most need to be in tune with God. I am really struggling with apathy in everything, it seems easier than being responsible a lot of the time! Pray for Endurance and courage for me. Also pray for those who are still trying to raise support.

Three weeks

2009-05-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Wow it is almost here. I can't believe the time has almost come. It seems like I just returned. Well I am so excited about this upcoming summer and fall and what God has in store. As I am preparing my heart and beginning to prepare a list of things to take, I am reminded of God's provision. When I started fund raising this year I was rather terrified at the thought of raising almost $11,000! God has provided. I have the money I need and am ready to go. This is so amazing and so confirming, but it also reminds me of the other interns taking part in this summers camps. Many of them do not have the money they need and are struggling to figure out where it is coming from. I know God will provide but I am sure they would appreciate your prayer! I have three weeks before I leave, if anyone is interested meeting and talking to me before I leave please call me, (260)-414-7918, and I will try to work it in! I am so excited to move home this weekend before I leave. It will be such a blessing to be with my family before I leave, I am going to miss them a lot!!

PRAYER!

2009-04-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well the summer is fast approaching. I am spending a lot of time trying to pull in the last bit of funds that I need. I am also trying to finish up things for school so that I can graduate. Right now I am under a lot of stress and having trouble sleeping. Because of this and I believe the coming ministry, I am under attack by Satan. I have been feeling discouragement around every corner even though nothing discouraging has happened. I believe therefore that it is in my head. Please pray that I can find the funds I need and also pray for protection from Satan's schemes to discourage me. Thanks to all of you that read this Blog! It is good to know that I have people interested in my life and ministry.

What a blessing!

2009-04-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

This week began off as a real bummer week. I was really tired and kind of discouraged because I did not receive any money for Slovakia last week. I had been thinking about the future and what God has in store for me and praying about my financial support for Slovakia. On Monday night I received a call from three of the leaders at The Ridge Church. They informed me that they are going to give me $2,500!!! This is so amazing and so encouraging. This was definitely the boost I needed this week. It was a real affirmation for me. God is really in this and he is really providing in amazing ways! Praise HIM! I am now at $9,000, only $2,000 to go, that's not bad at all. Please continue to pray for me and the others going! Also we have lost a church that was going to help out with one of our camps. This is a shock and a big blow to that camp. We are in dire need of more English speakers. Please pray for God's provision! Also if anyone you know any individual or group would be interested in going to Slovakia for a week to help with a camp please tell me!!!!! joshua_howard_slovakia@yahoo.com.

2009-04-19T13:45:00.001-07:00

6,450 Dollars!

A Story from last year

2009-04-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

Last year at a camp I met a really neat boy who was 14 and was an artist. He did not have great English but it was still enjoyable to talk with him. He was a very deep thinker and loved to talk about very deep meaning of life questions. He was a boy that camp leaders had specifically wanted to have come to camp. It was really amazing that he actually had come to a "Church" camp. As the week progressed we began to notice how much he seemed to be enjoying himself even though he was among church people. On the second to last day of camp the leader of the camp shared the gospel. There was time afterwards for people to sit down and talk. When asked what he thought about the message and the gospel. This young boy replied, "I like it, it is like dating this relationship with Jesus. I have enjoyed the first date and am interested in a second but I do not know if I am ready for a relationship." This was so impressive to me. This boy was really thinking about this decision. I think that a lot of times we make decisions in life on the basis of emotions. I wish that I could be more like this boy when I make decisions. I feel that I too often make decisions on emotion!

Continue in Prayer! I still need about $5,000.

A good Meeting

2009-04-08T17:41:00.000-07:00

As a team we have committed to fasting and praying for the summer every Wednesday until we leave. Today was my first day fasting. I have been pretty hungry all day which only reminds me to pray, interesting how that works. My friend Andy from school is going to Slovakia with me this summer. We have decided that we are going to spend the time we would normally be eating dinner on Wednesdays in prayer and in God's word. It is so exciting to be able to do this. Tonight we met and had an amazing time. We discussed the up coming summer and what God was going to do in our hearts and the hearts of the youth in Slovakia. We also spent time lifting up everyone who is going to be a part of this summer to God in prayer. As we talked I again thought of the importance of being prepared spiritually when we serve God. I feel like I have a lot of preparation to do in my heart before I leave. Then the thought occurred to me, Well I am always supposed to serve God, therefore I should always be prepared. It is so very important that we remain obedient to God even when we do see ourselves as "serving Him." I am so thankful for my friend Andy and his willingness to serve this summer. I know that he has only received half of the funds he needs to go. I ask that you please pray for him that God would provide for Andy and guide him towards what He has to teach him this summer. Also pray for the Slovak youth , many who are in their last year of High school are taking their entrance exams into college. I have talked to many of them and they are very worried that they will not pass. Pray that they will feel God's peace and that this will lead them to a deeper longing to seek out God in their lives and find out the truth and the Good News of salvation.

Update

2009-03-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that I have $4,505 for Slovakia. This is good because it is a lot more than I had last year at this time. Unfortunately it is about $7,500 short of what I need. Please continue to pray that God will provide! And thank to all of you who are supporting me financially and also those who are supporting me in prayer. This week I am in Hilton Head South Carolina, with my family. This is so great because it is one of the last times that I will be able to spend a significant amount of time with my family before I leave for Slovakia in May. Also please pray for my sister as she is with a team from Blackhawk school that are in Costa Rica serving the Lord for two weeks!

Dependent on God

2009-03-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Well, as I said, here is the next part of what I learned last summer! As many of you know I have a small group of guys that I have led for a couple of years. I have also done a lot of work with youth. My thoughts going into the summer went something like this. "Well I am pretty good at working with youth, God has given me this talent, should be no problem." Boy was I wrong, the first camp was basically a failure. I could not do anything right for the life of me. It was after the first camp that I sat down with God and cried and talked to Him about how I was feeling. It was in that moment God made me aware of something I already knew but had forgotten. It is God that works not me. I was getting in the way. I cried to God to take over and let me follow. It was not going to work if I tried to lead. The rest of the summer was not perfect but it turned out better than if I had tried to be in control. It is great to know that I can give over to God and he will do a much better job than I ever would have!

The Beginning

2009-03-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

I was thinking this week back to the beginning of my trip last year in Slovakia. I had no idea why I was there. I remember a number of people telling me it was an amazing experience and hey it was Europe why not try it? My first week I remember thinking, what have I got myself into? I do not want to spend the whole summer here. There was another American there named Robby, he was so excited about the whole thing. I could not understand how he could be so excited about this. I remember talking to him about why he came back, and commenting that this would be the only year that I would do this. I was totally not prepared for the summer ahead and what God was going to do. As I look back I cannot believe my mind set. I had not prepared myself for what the summer was going to be like. I was not prepared for how God would change my heart and how he would lay the youth of Slovakia upon my heart. I was not prepared for the change in thinking that was going to happen. God worked in amazing ways in my life. More to come.....

My Dream

2009-03-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

I had a dream last night that really shook me. I dreamt that I was at the airport ready to fly to Slovakia. As I went to the line to get on the plane I realized that I did not have my friend Andy with me (who is also going to Slovakia). Not only did I not have Andy with me but I had no ticket and no bags. I was trying to leave completely unprepared and without my friend. I realized that through this dream God was actually telling me something. I am so excited about this coming summer and all that will happen and the oppertunities I will have. Sometimes this leads me to foget God in the midst of all my hopes and dreams. I realize that I need to remeber that God is in control and is always in control. I need to be focusing more and more on Him daily. I do this in order that he can pack my spiritual bag, my heart, with the things he sees as important for me to take. I also realized that without a focus completely on God I may leave my brothers and sisters behind. I need to trust God and be aware of those around me and how I can encourage and equip them through Christ's power. Please pray for me and my fellow Interns as we prepare our hearts and minds for this summer, that we will Pray and seek God's help in "packing our bags."

Thoughts

2009-02-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

Well I am in the process of writing my support letters for the summer and thinking and praying about who God would want to partner with me on this endeavor. This is a very interesting process. It will be interesting to see how God works over this semester. As I think about this coming summer and the 6 months I will be over in Slovakia I am both excited and terrified. It is exciting to be serving God in such a way, but it is also terrifying not knowing what to expect. Pray for me as I prepare myself even now for the summer. Also pray for the others who will be going over to Slovakia for the 3 months in the summer. For a majority of them this will be their first time and I am sure they are very nervous!

Preparations

2009-02-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

Well I am finally cleared to go to Slovakia for 6 months! This is so exciting for me, I can barely contain my self. It is going to cost $10,956, WOW I have never had to raise this much money before. This is going to be intense. I am really going to need to trust our Father on this one. Well anyways for everyone who is new to my blog, well everyone :) This is where I will be writing about my experiences. I will write about my preparations for the summer and will also write stories from last year I hope you all enjoy! Please pray for my Finances!