That's Us

That's Us

About us

We are from Czech. We are single and married, extroverted and introverted, small and tall. Briefly, each of us is different. But we have one God, believe Him and live with Him.
_____________________________________________

11/12/2007

Eve to Eve in Albania

On Sunday 4 November Agnes and Katka came back from Albania after spending 4 days in this interesting country full of contrasts. After a long period of preparations together with Gretchen Hall, who works as a missionary in Albania together with her husband Justin, they led a retreat for girls in the style of Eve to Eve retreats.
Center of TiranaAbout 30 of us at the retreat and it went on from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning not far from Tirana, the capital of Albania. Agnes had the opportunity to lead the retreat for the first time in English, in a different culture, different conditions and environment.

In Albania the topic of sexuality is taboo – at schools there is little or no sex education, most teenagers learn about sexuality from media (i.e. magazines, tv, etc.) and their friends, not their parents, teachers or trusted Christian leaders. Marriage relationships are not spoken of openly either; a couple will rarely speak about their relationship to other people. Marital unfaithfulness is rampant, and many times it is even expected that a husband has been or will be unfaithful to his wife. Sex is becoming casual, more unmarried girls are becoming pregnant and having abortions. There is great ignorance and prejudice about contraception and abortion is considered the easy way out. Most families in Tirana know that their unmarried children are having sex with someone but they will not say "no" to them, or tell them to wait until married. Most unmarried girls will have sex with a guy because if they don't, the guys with leave them. In such conditions we taught about how God gave us sex as something precious and beautiful that brings depth and unity into a faithful marriage relationship and that it should be protected before marriage. We also taught about purity of mind and heart, about God´s grace and forgiveness, about the value that we have in God and how we should learn to be governed by this value in our behavior. Everything was very well received and openly discussed in small groups led by local Albanian women or missionaries that have lived in Albania for some time.
At the end of the retreat the girls got a genuine pearl as a symbol of God´s Kingdom in exchange for “false pearls” in their lives. Those were very powerful moments when many of us cried.
Girls at the retreat“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Mattew 13, 45-46
Gretchen has a vision to spread these retreats in Albania and she already knows about three other churches that would like to organize such retreats. I would like to support her with advice and prayers.
Thank you so much for your prayers for our trip to Albania! They were clearly felt!
You can find more pictures at: http://www.godventure.blogspot.com/

11/07/2007

Women's conference, January 4-5, 2008

Lavished with Grace.....
women's conference, January 4-5, 2008
"...in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." Ephesians 1:7-8

Here is what the invitation looks like: