November 19

Mili pratele,

Dear friends,

Zub byl uspesne vytrzen a jsem objednan na dalsi kontrolu se zady ke specialistovi, ktery je nejen ortoped, ale take neurolog. Presne co jsem potreboval, tak doufam, ze mi pomuze a bolesti zad se nebudou zhorsovat.

The tooth is out and I have an appointment to see another ortopedic/neurogy doctor who might be able to help me with my back pain and tensions.

Kdyz jsem vchazel do ordinace me zubarky, uvedomil jsem si, ze jsem doma nechal zpravu z meho posledniho vysetreni. Podivala se na me a s usmevem pronesla: “Kdyz byste si nebyl jisty, ze to prezijete, tak byste sam a dobrovolne neprisel. Nikdo sem nechodi, kdyz nemusi.”

When I was going to my dentist, I forgot to bring the last report to confirm that my blood sample numbers were good enough for me to undergo this stressful event. My dentist just smiled at me and said – “You wouldn’t be here, if you were not sure that you can survive this. No one comes here, unless they have to. ”

To mi dodalo potrebnou odvahu abych se uvelebil v kresle a dostal davku anastetik. Teda vlastne hned dve, to pro jistotu, abych opravdu nic necitil. Pravda je, ze jsem dva dny potom nic necitil, za to ve ctvrtek rano, to byl mazec.. Jeste, ze jsou ty ruzovy prasky co tlumi bolest..

Seeing her confidence gave me the extra confidence to sit and receive the local annastacia. To be sure that I don’t feel anything I got an extra dose and sure enough I didn’t feel anything for two days!!!! But Thursday morning when I could feel everything, I was thankful for the magic of pain killing pill…

Po dvou tydnech muzu stastne podat zpravu, ze se citim dobre, chodim znovu na prochazky jak jen to jde, procvicuji zada a odpocivam kdyz potrebuji.Jane rodice prijeli na navstevu na nekolik tydnu a je to opravdove Bozi pozehnani, protoze ted nejsem ani v nemocnici a ani nemam zadnou chemoterapii! Chemoterapie prijde az po pulce prosince. Takze si ted uzivam to, ze je nas vsech sest pohromade, muzeme se prochazet spolecne a spolecne jime u jednoho stolu.

Two weeks later I can report that I still feel great, going for walks as much as I can, stretching my back and resting as much as I need to. We are blessed to have Jane’s parents with us for the next few weeks and this time, neither am I in the hospital nor do I have any chemotherapy. (the chemo is scheduled for later in December).So we have a great time together all 6 of us!!!!! It is a gift to me, that there are places we can walk to and I get to enjoy MY time with Ernie and Judy outside of the hospital as well as to be part of the family meals.

Krome casu s rodinou mam take pred sebou dva programy, kam jsem byl pozvan jako host jeste v case pred vanocemi. Jeden program je soucasti pripravy budoucich pastoru a cirkevnich pracovniku na Evangelikalnim seminari v Praze nazvan Praxis Pietatis. Vloni jsem ke studentum mluvil nekolik dni pred nasim planovanym odletem do USA, a na misto cesty do zamori me cekala zprava o dalsim relapsu, cesty na ozarovani a chemoterapie a pobyt v nemocnici.

Outside of enjoying the time with Jane’s parents and my family, I have been invited to speak to two students groups at different venues before Christmas. One is a group of students at the Evangelical Theological Seminary, who are studying and in training to become pastors and church ministers of local churches. Last year I spoke during their “Praxis Pietatis” a few days before we were planning to leave for the extended time in the USA. Instead of our departure, a few days later came the news of my yet another relaps and travel to US was exchanged for chemo, radiation and hospital stay.

Stejne jako vloni jsem pozvan sdilet svuj pribeh s jeste vetsi skupinou studentu o tom, co jsem se naucil o Bozi lasce, Jeho ocekavanich ode mne a jak se promenuje muj zivot s vyhledem na nadeji, ze tato kapitola prochazeni udolim se snad blizi ke konci. Je to velice podobne nacasovani jako minuly rok. Jen den pred tim dam krev a kostni dren a budu cekat na vysledky. Je to pro me neskutecna milost, ktera me vede na kolena s vdecnosti, ze si me Buh, ktery zna presny pocet mych dni, pouziva k tomu abych mluvil se studenty o Jeho zpusobech a Jeho planech, kterymi vede muj zivot.

This year, the faculty of this program asked me to come back as the group is bigger and they would like for them to hear about what God has taught me in the last year about His love for me, His expectations of me and the way my life continues to change as I (still) hope to be heading for an exit from this season. it will be a very similar situation when I will speak to the group only a day after giving blood and  bone marrow sample and waiting for the results. It is a privilege and it brings me to my knees that I get to share with them about God, who knows the count of my days left, continues to use me to share about His ways and His plans taking place in my life.

Druhym programem kde mam tu cest promluvit a sdilet se o Bohu, ve ktereho verim, je vanocni vecere prazskeho Young Lifu. Lonska vecere se skutecne vydarila a potvdilo se, ze obrovske mnozstvi bramboroveho salatu a jeste vetsi hromada smazenych rizku je a porad zustava dobrou pozvankou nejen pro studenty co chodi na Young Life pravidelne, ale I pro ty, kdo z ruznych duvodu nemuzou byt na akcich kazdy tyden. Mam za ukol stoupnout si pred studenty a neco jim rict. To by samo o sobe nebylo tak tezke, kdyby.. to uz nebyly tri roky co jsem naposledy stal pred studenty a mluvil k nim jako nekdo koho znaji a kdo zna je. Od te doby co Marek Sramek vede YL v Praze, studenti co jsem znal jsou uz pryc a na jejich miste jsou studenti, ktere jsem videl kdyz tak jen parkrat.. Nervozita je o trochu vyssi nez obvykle, ale jinak se moc tesim!

The other group is a group of students who attend the Young Life activities. Last year’s Christmas club that was in a style of a Christmas dinner was a great success. Plenty of potato salad and plenty of Wiener Schnitzel is always a great draw even for students who don’t come regularly or for different reasons are not part of the weekly programs. I have been asked to be a guest speaker on that night and give a club talk. It has been over three years since my last club talk and I don’t know any of the students on a personal level. Since Marek Sramek took over the leadership of YL Prague, the group of students I knew graduated and moved on and the younger once have taken their place. As much as I rejoice that these are new students, I am also a little nervous because I don’t know them and they don’t know me.

Vazim si obou dvou pozvanich, a nebo bych to mel vzit sportovne a rict ze to jsou nove vyzvy? At uz tak nebo tak bude to pro me dalsi krok ve sluzbe Bohu, ktery uprostred meho udoli a pomale rekonvalescence mi dava silu a radost ze sdileni o Nem a jak moc se sami ochuzujeme, kdyz se k Nemu obracime zady at uz pri nemoci nebo v kazdodennim obycejnem zivote.

 I am excited about both of these opportunities. Or should I call them challenges? Either way it is a privilege for me to serve God, who in the midst of the valley and my slow pace of life, gives me strength and excitement to share about who He is and how much we miss by turning our back on Him, whether in hard circumstances or in just regular daily life.

Prosim Vas, primlouvejte se za oba tyto programy a taky za moje zlepsujici se zdravi. Jsme vdecni za Vasi pokracujici podporu a pomoc, se kterou zahrnujete Jane, Sofii, Miu a me.

I would appreciate your prayers for both of these events as well for my improving health. Thank you for your support and care that you continue to offer to Jane, Sofia, Mia and to me.

Preji Vam, abyste znali a zakusili plnost Jeho lasky!

May you know and experience the richness of His Love,

Martin