The last time I went nine months without seeing my mom I was in the womb. On this Mother’s Day, I appreciate my mom more than any other year. I miss her. This year away from her, I’ve realized how much she means to me. It’s one of those things I’ve always had and always taken for granted. A mother, who loves me unconditionally, listens to me, understands me, attends to needs and laughs at my stupid jokes. I’ve watched her make sacrifices for her children day in and day out for decades now. The way she loves her children so selflessly exemplifies Jesus and the way He loves. She set my standard high for what the mother of my children would look like. 

When I met Ashley, I was struck not only by her beauty, but her character. She was sweet, funny, gentle and caring. I saw my mother in her. Five years later, she loves me unconditionally, listens to me, understands me, takes care of me and laughs at my stupid jokes. She makes sacrifices for me that I don’t deserve and I can only imagine what she will do for our children. I pray that my daughters will be like their mother and grandmothers. Women, strikingly beautiful inside and out, who love unconditionally, listen to people, believe the best in people, understand people, selflessly serve others, and maybe even laugh at their dad’s corny jokes.

She is Clothed with Strength and Dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her!
 Proverbs 31: 25

 
            On a day devoted to praising our mothers, I am living in a reality where praise does not flow freely.  I am living in a reality where mothers struggle to feed their children and some are even unsure of how they became pregnant.  I am living in a place where mothers and children often don’t celebrate Mother’s Day together because either the child or mother has died from poverty and unfortunate circumstances. 

            My ministry this month is Casa Jackson.  Casa Jackson is a home, started in 2008 through God’s Children organization, for malnourished babies and children to be nursed back to health and cared for throughout the process.  They work, alongside the mothers of these children, to educate them on topics including nutrition, education, domestic violence, alcoholism, and birth control.  Often, these children are malnourished not through intentional neglect, but rather a lack of education, knowledge, and resources.
 

            A child admitted to Casa Jackson will remain there on average about 4-6 months; however, they are not discharged until they have reached 110% of their healthy weight.  They are placed on strict feeding schedules and monitored by local Pediatricians.  For me, this ministry is the perfect combination of nursing and mothering!
 

            I am blessed to have a mother that I could praise unceasingly for her endless love, affection, and dedication she has showered over me throughout my life.  I am also blessed to be a small link in the chain of providing these children with healthy futures, so that they may also arise and call their Mothers’ blessed!  What an incredible opportunity I have!  Jesus loves these little babies more than I will ever understand and I am humbled to know that he has placed me here to be his loving arms and mother these children as he works to restore these families.  

 

Happy Mother's Day, Billie Schneider and Linda Bonasso!!! I love you both so much!!

      

    1st Corinthians 7:5 says, "Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control."

            This month is officially “manistry month.” The men and women have a separate ministry and location.   You may be asking a similar question we did.  What do married couples do during this time?  Do they separate?  Do they stay together?  The announcement of this was a definite discouragement at first.  Are they serious?  It’s month 9!  We are tired.  We have pushed and poured out for 8 months straight, and now they expect us to have to deal with this? 

            After throwing my own personal pity party about how unnatural and strange it is for married couples to be separated for a month, I began to feel the Lord’s gentle tug on my heart. While we both agreed that an entire month is a little long, could we take part in this at some level?  I felt deep in my heart that I needed to do this.    This was a challenge that was in front of me and it would be up to me to accept or deny.  Would I be willing to risk my comfort and own desires to have a season of sole dependence on the Lord for those very things?  Am I willing to sacrifice my entitlement to be with my husband to spend time with the women of my squad, loving them, getting to know their hearts, and sharing mine?  Agreeing to separate went against my flesh in so many ways, but an overwhelming peace upon me was confirmation enough.

            So here we are.  I am staying at a hostel in Antigua working with a ministry called New Generations with 20 girls and more estrogen I’ve been exposed to since college.  Marriage somehow seems to blur the lines of men and women that are so defined otherwise, and I find myself being surprised by simple living habits that are so very “feminine!”


                         

          John Michael is staying in Puerto Barrios with the ten men of our squad.  To be honest, I’m not quite sure what his ministry is!  I know they will be visiting local hospitals to pray for patients, but that’s as far as I’ve heard.  It feels odd to not even know what he’s doing right now, but that’s all a part of this.  We have differing schedules with broken cell phone and Internet communication.  I’m sure you’ll hear more from him!

            We will remain with the men and women for the first two weeks of this month.  At that point, John Michael, along with Chris, (Chris and Amanda are the other married couple on our squad) will travel back to Antigua to spend the remainder of the month here.  We will spend time being a couple and finding our own place in the ministry here. 

            The longest we’ve been apart in our married life is three days, so two full weeks with little to no communication will certainly be a challenge.  I am ready, though.  The Lord gave me the word ready for this year and he is continuously fulfilling his promise.  The peace I’ve felt about this time is evidence of Him preparing my heart.  He has reminded me that during this time He can have my WHOLE heart.  I will look to him for the comfort and affirmation I so often turn to John Michael to receive. 

            I plan to spend this time, as 1^st Corinthians tells us, devoted to prayer.  I want to use this time to seek the Lord with all I have, to pray earnestly for John Michael and his time with the Lord and men, and to grow with the women I have been surrounded as well as blessed by.  Will you pray for us as we accept this challenge? 


                      

How many travels days does it take until you’re in a travel daze? We’ve covered 8 countries in 5 weeks. Leaving Serbia at the end of March, we headed to Austria before doing ministry for three weeks in Czech Republic. We visited Auschwitz in Poland and then traveled through Slovakia on our way to Hungary where we spent a few days meeting as leaders before leaving Europe.

    Standing in Czech Republic and Poland!

On May 1^st we flew from Budapest, Hungary to Warsaw, Poland. From Poland we flew to JFK in New York. It should be noted that World Racers love long flights because it means you are guaranteed your own seat, good meals, clean toilets and hundreds of movies to choose from. You can imagine our devastation when the Polish airlines had no televisions on the plane! I know, first world problems.. But what were we to do for nine hours!
 
We survived our long flight. The next objective, pretend like you’re not actually on American soil for the first time in 8 months. But in a land of free refills, ice cubes, wifi and Reese’s cups it was undeniable. JFK isn’t exactly home though. We spent most of our 9-hour layover sleeping in airport purgatory- stuck between terminals until we could check in and go to our gate where we enjoyed Dunkin Donuts and chocolate milk!
 
From JFK, we flew to Miami and ran to catch our connecting flight to Guatemala City. We had no concept of what time or even day it was. It was 10 a.m. even though it felt like 4 p.m. to us and was only 8 a.m. in Guatemala. We landed in Central America and loaded into three vans and headed to Antigua, Guatemala where we are spending our first week. We loved Europe, but it’s so nice to be back on this side of the globe and in warmer weather.
 

     Beautiful Antigua, Guatemala!

As I reflect on our month in the Czech Republic, I feel so blessed to have worked along side Josiah Venture on the Exit Tour. Thousands of Czech teenagers were impacted and exposed to Jesus and the gospel message for the first time in their lives. While Ashley and I actually did very little to plan or produce the Tour, our role was important to the success of the event. Ashley and I along with seven other Americans bridged the gap for these students.

Practing our Czech

What gap? The “gap” would be the disconnect between the Czech students and the local churches we partnered with. The churches and youth in Liberec and Pisek had a heart to share the gospel with the students there, but were having trouble connecting with the students in the reserved culture. Solution- Americans. More specifically, cool guys from LA in a band. Girls loved them and guys wanted to be them. The Czechs were eager listen to anything our group had to say about America, music, travel, and even religion.
 
The band and Exit Tour team used those opportunities to share why we do what we do and why we as Christians live the way we do. It was amazing to see the students try to comprehend something that was dead or irrelevant to them for so long.
 
One of Ashley’s friends Karolina said to her, “My grandmother is a Christian and has believed this for a long time. She has always tried to explain it to me, but I never listened because she’s my grandmother and she’s old. But now you all are here, saying the same things and you are like me. Maybe this is the truth.”

 
      Karolina and Ashley

While talking with one of my new friends, David, a senior at one of the Czech high schools after we gave him a Bible, he asked, “How can this be true when my science teachers and all our books say it’s not possible?” I told him that if he would just read it and explore it that God would reveal himself and David would know the truth and it would be undeniable. I told him my joy, identity and worth aren’t found in America, they’re found in Jesus Christ. David responded with, “Maybe that is why I feel so empty on the inside.”
 
We heard over ten or fifteen stories about students that prayed to accept salvation through Jesus Christ while we were with the Exit Tour. There were also a hundred stories like Karolina’s and David’s. Students lost, searching for a place and a purpose in life. Our prayer is that they will continue asking the hard questions and exploring what might be culturally unacceptable. We know that Jesus is better than anything else our Czech friends will find and we are honored that we could help bridge that gap.

Oma and Opa at my WVU graduation in 2009



 

One of my absolute favorite verses...

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Thought outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieveing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  

2nd Corinthians 4:16-18

            As insane as the World Race is, at some point the craziness begins to take on a sense of normalcy.  The long bus rides, the lack of hygiene, the strange food, and all the rest of it goes from feeling like a wild adventure to everyday life.  It’s easy to lose sight of the privilege it is to be living and experiencing all that this year entails. 

            Every once in a while, though, we find ourselves somewhere that causes us to look at one another and ask if this is, in fact, real life.     Are we really doing this right now? Will anyone ever understand what we’re living and doing? How did we get here?
The Exit Tour has been one of those reality checks.  We’re considered to be a part of the American team, so we travel everywhere in the van with the members of the band.  The day we met up with the tour I fell asleep while traveling to our first destination.  I woke up from my nap and got a case of the giggles. (I know, hard to believe, right?)  I just couldn’t stop laughing!  John Michael, who was zoned out from the long road trip, just looked at me in confusion.  He had no idea what could be so funny in that moment.  I looked at him and said, “What do you mean what’s so funny?  Right now we are riding in a van with a band from LA, in the middle of the Czech Republic and have no idea where we are or where we are going!” 

            I just can’t help but stop and appreciate those moments.  The past two weeks may be one of the most random experiences we ever have, and it makes me acutely aware of how rare these opportunities are.  The length of race causes it to feel normal and even mundane at times, but I want to fight that.  I want to recognize how special and unique these moments are in the midst of them. I want to be present for each, “Is this real life?” moment.

 

John Michael and I with the band and the rest of the American Team!

                   We will undoubtedly have story upon story to tell for years to come when we return home.  Being able to share this year as a couple is invaluable, and I hope one day we are sharing these peculiar moments with our grandchildren.  Ultimately, though, I hope for more than this.  Each of these unique experiences has one common thread; we are able to take part in them because of someone’s desire to begin radical change.  The Exit Tour and so many of the ministry opportunities we’ve had this year are birthed out of a vision for the gospel to be taken to anywhere and everywhere…even to a high school of 300 students in a tiny town in the Czech Republic.  I want to take with us not only the great stories but also the vision for change.  I want to take the desire to live a radical life, committed to Christ and the furthering of God’s kingdom. 

This month in the Czech Republic, Ashley and I have the opportunity to do ministry apart from our team.  The other five members of our team are based in Ostrava, and travel to different cities promoting English camps sponsored by Josiah Venture. Josiah Venture’s main focus is on sharing the gospel and mentoring youth in Europe. JV does ministry in the Czech and ten other European countries. Our ministry this month has been with the Exit Tour. Exit Tour is a part of Exit 316 which represents the "exit" each person chooses when they accept Chirst. The Exit Tour goes to multiple high schools in different cities all over Czech, Slovakia and Poland promoting English and holding ethics seminars. The government recently started to require the implementation of ethics programs in the schools since ethics was never taught under communism.

When we’re in the schools we play interactive games with the students and have English discussion groups that are more like a Q&A with the Americans and then the band plays. After that the students attend a lecture on ethics. We just completed our first week with the Tour in Liberec, Czech Republic. We stayed in a local church with the other 15 members of the Exit Tour team. There are six Americans with Divine Attraction, the band playing in the schools. They are a group of Christian guys from L.A. who are all about our age. The rest of the team is made up of Czechs on staff with JV.

               
                     John Michael with Adam and Jirka                      Ashley with Bety and Hannah

We worked long days, leaving the church at 6 a.m. and not returning for about 12 hours. We’d set up the stage and games and the school, hold the program, tear everything down and load the vans. After school, we had an “Exit Party”. This was held at a different location where another band would play, there was tons of free food and someone would share a testimony about how God had worked in his or her life. It was great to get the students to the party because were much more engaging outside of school.  The culmination of our efforts in the schools was the concert held on Friday night. Divine Attraction played a full set in a real theater with a full stage production. Near the end of the concert one of the Czechs on staff, Tomas, got on stage and presented the gospel to the students. For many students, this was the first time they’d ever heard the gospel. Bibles and flyers from local youth groups were passed out and there was an overwhelmingly positive response. 
 

Students at the Exit Party

We are spending a few days in Prague before heading to Pisek, Czech where we will do the program again with the school there. We’ll rejoin our World Race team next weekend for our last week in Europe. We’ve loved our time in Czech and the ministry with the Tour. It is so similar to what we did with the students in China in October. It is so rewarding to see teenage students being challenged and begin to think for themselves about what they believe. Our prayer is that they would know the truth and know that their purpose will be found in Jesus Christ.
 

The concert Friday night with over 200 students

     Proverbs 4:7 “…Though it cost you everything, gain understanding.” I came across this verse while reading one morning this past week.
    Through a series of circumstances we were given the opportunity to take about a week off and travel to Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic.  At first I struggled with the idea of taking time off because after all, this is called the world RACE, right? Race, I’ve come to realize, is a very deceiving description of this year because we are reminding one another frequently that this is a marathon, not a sprint.  It’s an entire year of our lives, not a one-week mission trip. 
     I was struck by this verse because it occurred to me that yes, this year did force us to leave the life that we knew, and through that abandonment we are gaining understanding of cultures all over the globe.  By the time our race finishes, we will have spent time on four continents, approximately 13 countries, and countless cities.  We have met their people.  We have eaten their food.  We have attended their churches, their weddings, and even their funerals.  We have experienced some small portion of the life that so many diverse people live.  I hadn’t really considered all of this until recently, but I’m thankful for yet another lesson learned.  Being immersed in everything foreign this long has certainly made me truly appreciative of my American inheritance, however it will be impossible for me to return and disregard all that I have seen and been exposed to.  My hope is that through this year of learning, seeing, experiencing, and ultimately understanding, I will now view the world with a global eye. 
   So yes, we were given the gift of personal time.  We had the ability to spend a few days exploring and being tourists.  I have learned, though, being a missionary is a lifestyle, not a vocation.  It’s not a 9-5 or even an 11 month commitment, but rather it’s a steadfast devotion to living a life worthy of the gospel.   

Our team in Prague!



View from Charles Bridge



John Michael and me at dinner!