Autumn Travels

During the first half of 2007 I only traveled once (Slovakia in February) but by mid October I’ll have been away four times in three months. In July I traveled to Slovakia again, (see diary and photos below) last week I was on holiday in Devon, in September I’m off to Romania for the Prayer Mission, and in October I’ll be in Poland for the NLI Euro Summit conference and hopefully a few days holiday. I haven’t even bothered to put my suitcase away – it’s in constant use.

In Devon I spent time with Sandra and Phil, and their two girls Amy and Bethany. Sandra and I go way back, sharing a house together in Burnley from 1986 to 1988. Sandra then left for a year with Ace Teams (schools and youth outreach) where despite the ‘no dating’ rule she met and fell in love with Phil: they married in 1991. Coincidentally Kevin Westfield was also on Ace Teams at the time and also failed to embrace the ‘no dating’ rule! Phil is now a Baptist minister in Brixham, an idyllic fishing town on the south Devon coast. The area is called the English Riviera, but on the basis of the weather last week, I’d sue under the Trades Descriptions Act. Oh well, I still had a good break, enjoyed exploring the area, and was glad to catch up with friends.

Kingswear, Devon

Hanging out of a train carriage

This week one of our Romanian staff popped into the NLI office. Ina is in England for the Grapevine conference (Lincoln) over the holiday weekend. I took her to see some local sights, namely Stratford-upon-Avon. The town looked very different to a few weeks ago when it was hit badly by floods. I enjoyed getting to know Ina, and am looking forward to working with her more over the coming months. The Romania CP project will be officially launched in November, but I’ll be there between 8th and 15th September for the Prayer Mission.

Ina outside Shakespeare’s birthplace

My esteemed ‘colleague’ Doug and his lovely wife Kara are facing some real challenges at the moment. Their 10-month old daughter Lauren has just been diagnosed with something called Tuberous Sclerosis. If you want to know more about this, please clink on their web link (above right) and go to the ‘missions’ page. The article dated August 18th is quite long, but it’s well worth reading. The language is honest and emotional, but full of faith. It will really help you understand the situation so you can be informed when you pray for the family.

Lauren Watson (What a cutie!)

Kevin has been away in Ukraine on mission since 20th August. He’s in Poltava with a team from King’s Community Church. (You might recall me telling you about last year’s amazing mission in Poltava.) Kevin’s 12-year old daughter Bethanie has also been on the team; her first taste of mission. She told her Mum on the phone, “It’s 40 degrees, we’ve no running water, I’ve been bitten by an insect, and we had potatoes (again!) – it’s fantastic!” It appears that despite some challenges, the team are having a great time.

Doug, Kevin, and I have already begun recruiting teams for our 2008 mission opportunities. Please pray for us as we contact churches and organisations. A European STM trip sometimes seems such a huge task, especially in terms of cost for those teams who have to travel from outside Europe. Please pray for favour and that God will open people’s eyes to see the immense need and amazing opportunity they have to impact Europe with the life-changing message of God’s love and grace.

If you want to know more about Short Term Mission or staff opportunities with NLI, please go to the website link (right) or contact me at judith.linnell@nlieurope.com

categories Uncategorized | Judith | datetime August 25, 2007 12:21 pm | comments Comments (0)

My Slovakian Diary – Part Two

So, after leaving Slavosovca we traveled by bus to Zvolen, at the foot of the Tatra Mountains in central Slovakia. It’s here that the NLI Project Director, Cyril Madaras, and Administrator, Lucia Kucejova, have their office. Cyril overseas the NLI Church Planting project in Slovakia and is Pastor of the pentecostal church in Zvolen. I work closely with Lucia, who helps coordinate the STM teams, and we had some business matters to discuss during my visit. On Thursday afternoon the four of us went to one of Cyril’s Home Groups, sharing our testimonies and praying with the ladies. On Friday we slotted in a little site-seeing, visiting a local chateau. I always enjoy visiting Zvolen, spending time with colleagues and friends.

A little bit of Canada…in Zvolen!

Ladies from the Zvolen Home Group

The Chateau at Svety Anton (Saint Anthony)

Cyril, after his day with us!

The final leg of our trip took us on a hot rickety bus to Trencin (NW Slovakia) where a young Canadian team had just arrived for their 10-day mission. One of the reasons we do site visits during ‘mission’ season is to ensure teams are being effective in serving the local Church Plants. I had an early opportunity to see the Canadians in action. On Saturday they did some practical outreach (gardening) at a local Geneva Red Cross centre for the elderly, (rather them than me!).

Geneva Red Cross Centre, Trencin

“Come on man, put your back into it!”

We chatted to the team, took photos, and then walked into Trencin to have lunch with Sheldon and Anna Armitage, NLI staff now based in Nitra. These guys were in Bedworth when I first joined NLI, and it’s always a joy to spend time with them.

With Sheldon & Anna

Later we returned to see the team host their first meeting: a ‘cultural’ event entitled ‘Canada, how I do not know it.’ I think we’re talking ‘lost in translation’ here! I’m not sure I knew too much more about Canada after the event.

‘Canada, how I do not know it’!

The two days in Trencin were a valuable part of the trip. I learnt some important lessons that will help us improve future missions. As I mentioned in part one, I also had my bag stolen. We were in a local restaurant with the team on Saturday evening, when this cool customer (aka, thief) casually unhooked the bag from the back of my chair and walked out of the room. Fortunately a couple of guys on the team noticed this and raced after him with me in hot pursuit. We found the thief outside the restaurant rifling through my bag. When we challenged him, and the friend who’d now joined him, they tried to make out it was a genuine mistake: he thought it was his!! Oh yes, likely story. Like I said, I learnt some important lessons on this trip!

So, with our adventures almost at an end, on Sunday morning we visited Trencin’s mother church in Dubnica. I shared a little about NLI’s work and a short testimony to encourage the believers. I love going to churches in different countries, and we were made to feel very welcome. We even found one or two people who spoke a little English to converse with. In the afternoon we headed back to Bratislava on the train, and finally to the airport for our flight home.

Ready for home

We had a great week in Slovakia. I love travelling round Europe and am blest that it’s part of my job, but sometimes there are sobering moments that remind me of Europe’s tragic history. Travelling back on the train from Trencin to Bratislava it hit me that it was probably along these tracks that thousands of Jews were transported to Nazi death camps during World War II. I make no apologies for these sombre thoughts, because this is what mission is all about – connecting with cultures, and learning firsthand how history has shaped these nations, peoples, and churches. This type of experience grows and shapes your faith, enabling you to reach out with love and the life-changing message of Christ. We need to look for the opportunities and experiences that will enable us to put our faith into action. You can do that everyday whether home or abroad!

categories Uncategorized | Judith | datetime 9:52 am | comments Comments (0)

My Slovakian Diary – Part One

On Monday 23rd July I set off for Slovakia along with my 3 international companions – Lily-Mae Keldson, (Canadian: doing a summer internship with NLI) Bethany Levsen, (American: recently applied to join NLI) and Heather Holder, (Caribbean-born Brit hoping to recruit a team from her own church in 2008). All 3 had come along to gain more missions experience.

Heather, Lily-Mae, & Bethany

Our first port of call, after an overnight ‘sleeper’, was Slavosovca (near Kosice on the eastern side of Slovakia). You might recall I visited this Church Plant in February. The weather couldn’t have been more different in July. Whilst England has been submerged under water, the rest of Europe has been sweltering in the heat. We came to visit a team from Rothwell (near Leeds) who were coming to the end of their mission. We soon learnt they had been having a fantastic time in this small gypsy community. Here are a few highlights. Firstly the team had a ‘tent event’ for 2 days with events for kids, youth, and adults. The day we were there they had 70-80 kids in the afternoon and 120 people in the evening.

The tent in Slavosovca

Prior to our arrival the team had spent one afternoon in a deprived local gypsy camp, but found people very open for prayer and ministry. The team prayed for many people including a girl who had been deaf from birth. There is clear evidence that she was healed – she could hear when someone clicked their fingers by her ear. I hope to have the full story in due course.

Bethany bonding with the local kids

The team cleaned up and painted a community room in the local Fire Station before adding a colourful mural (below). The words roughly translate, ‘To the glory of God and the service of my neighbour”. Now that they have gained the trust of the local community (in proving that they can paint!) the team hopes to return in 2008 and leave their mark with some more murals in the local school and medical centre.

One afternoon we visited another small local gypsy community. Until quite recently gypsies were completed excluded from ‘white’ residential areas in Slovakia. Whilst this is no longer the case, many still choose to live in their own communities. Ladislav and Jana (Church Planters) have such a heart for the gypsy people and as such have gained their trust. It’s amazing how much entertainment you can have with a few balloons and some sweets.

Ladislav and Heather talk to the locals

One evening we had a ‘married couples’ event (below). The Church Planters had personally invited 10 local couples, most of whom are not yet Christians. Polly and Andrew, two of the team members, shared some testimony from their marriage experience and we then showed one of the Alpha marriage course DVD. In September, Ladislav hopes to start the course on a regular basis. This will be a great way to engage with local people in an informal atmosphere, as well as reaching out to them with God’s love.

All in all we spent two wonderful days with the team in Slavosovca and felt very much a part of what they were doing on mission. For Yorkshire people they were very friendly!! I hope to post some more personal stories from the team in coming weeks.

That’s all for the first part of my Slovakian diary. There’s lots more to come, including how I got my bag stolen in Trencin. Don’t worry, I got it back thanks to the quick actions of some Canadians. More soon…

If you want to have a look at my photos from the trip, paste the following link into your web browser.
http://picasaweb.google.com/judithlinnell

categories Uncategorized | Judith | datetime August 4, 2007 7:35 am | comments Comments (0)

Is Your Life Missing Something?

As a Missions Coordinator with NLI, one of my roles is to visit teams actually on mission in Europe. This ensures they are being effective in their ministry and being a blessing to the Church Planter. I recently visited Slavosovca a predominantly gypsy community in rural Slovakia. Mission teams always have interpreters working with them, and with this particular team was Andrej Studencan, an eloquent and passionate young man. Here is his ‘take’ on mission.


“My name is Andrej Studencan. I’m a 20yr old economics student from Kosice, Slovakia. I’ve been a Christian for 6 years and go to a Pentecostal (Apostolska) church where I’m involved with the youth group. I play guitar, sing, and lead an outreach band called ‘Outline’. We play gospel music in a style similar to Coldplay. The band is becoming more involved with ‘secular’ bands and stages in Slovakia, which is a great opportunity for us to witness. We’ve also recorded a CD. I want to serve God, and hope to be involved in music in some way.


I’d never interpreted for a mission team before, but had my first opportunity earlier this year. I heard about the mission through my local church and volunteered – it seemed like a good idea! The mission was in Nove Mesto, (Newcastle) Slovakia, with an American team. We were involved in outreach in the city park. The mission had a great impact on my life and stirred up my spirit. I realised, ‘this is what we’re meant to do’. It was like something had been missing in my life. Before the mission my spirit was dry and thirsty, but afterwards I felt alive. Just as humans need to eat and drink to stay alive, I believe Christians need to be involved in evangelism to feel alive. When I came home after the mission I had this fire within me and realised that if I didn’t continue to serve God in my own church then this flame would die. I don’t want to go backwards, I want to grow, and so I got involved in local outreach in Kosice.

In July I got another opportunity to interpret for an NLI mission in Slavosovca. A friend of mine was not able to go, so he recommended I go instead. I saw this as God giving me another chance to be involved in outreach and mission. He always gives me far more than I have given out.


So here I am, having a great time with the team from Rothwell (UK). The highlight of the mission occurred last night when I spent some time with Kath (team leader) and Julie. We had a time of worship and then they prayed for me. God gave them some words of encouragement and prophecy about my future. It has been wonderful to be part of the team and I sense their love, acceptance, and willingness to give.

What would I say to someone who was thinking about going on a Short Term Mission? Well, I believe the person who goes on mission will find that something has been missing in their Christian life. Imagine not knowing you are thirsty – you drink, and then realise how thirsty you were! We pray for revival, but we also need to be active and sow. You reap what you sow. We need both prayer (spiritual) and practical: that’s what mission is all about – sowing. You don’t always see things change straight away, but every time we preach or tell someone about Jesus we are sowing, and sooner or later, we will reap. It is a biblical principle. The spiritual climate changes.”


If you want to find out more about all the great mission opportunities NLI has in Europe, please check out the STM pages on the NLI website (see link) or contact me at
judith.linnell@nlieurope.com

categories Uncategorized | Judith | datetime 6:44 am | comments Comments (0)

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