Challenge & Blessing!

A few weeks ago I was going through our church’s database, updating some information, moving names from one list to another, making contact with people we have not seen for a while. Two things really stood out for me.

Firstly, I was concerned to see that we have names on our database of people who still live in our city or nearby, but we have not seen them for quite a while. On Sunday, 21 July, I focused on the fact that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people. This made me think that their gifts are no longer available to our church, but at the same time some other members who have the gift of encouragement may have the opportunity to reach out to these people to bring them “back into the fold”. If you have such a gift, please use it!

Secondly, I was amazed (almost shocked!) to see how many people have moved away from Bratislava over the four-and-a-half years that we have been here – over a 100 people have left, moved, or moved on somewhere else. Such is the nature of our international community! And soon we’ll (again!!) see more people moving away. Part of this is discouraging, like a never-ending battle to build the church. But part of it is also exciting if we think of just how many people have been impacted by our church’s ministry, fellowship, spiritual input and challenges. Most of these people probably have good memories of their time in Bratislava and as part of our fellowship. Their lives have been impacted and they can now continue to be a blessing to others wherever they travel and live in the world. In that sense, we really have family around the world. What a blessing!

Thank you to all who prayed and supported the purchase of the house in Vajnory. We are in the final stages of finishing the transfer, getting a kitchen installed, acquiring furniture and then moving in. As soon as we are settled in, you will be invited to come for a visit – hopefully by the latest the end of August.