Durbins in the Czech Republic

New blog

2009-06-05T14:25:00.000+01:00

Just in case you didn't know, we have a new blog. Click here for it.

Cherries

2009-06-05T14:23:00.002+01:00

Just before we left the Czech Republic Lida, a good friend of ours came to visit. For our wedding they had planted a cherry tree. This was the first harvest...

Saying goodbye

2009-06-05T14:11:00.004+01:00

We have been saying goodbye to many friends and things over the last few weeks.

We said goodbye to our car by selling it. Apart from a few problems (losing brakes!) it has been a really good car for us and gave us a lot of freedom to travel and see friends.

We also said goodbye to the people we had been staying with at Vystice. We had breakfast with them on Sunday morning and then travelled in to church.

At the Sunday service they said Happy Birthday to James... with a Panda... We had communion and a fellowship meal with our Czech church. We have really good friends there, so it was sad to say goodbye. We also met up with Marcel and Lenka (they had stayed with us while they were homeless). It was sad to see them go, especially for Almut. We pray that they would come to know Christ.

Pavel (the field leader) then drove us to Prague, we had a brief tour around Prague and flew out... rather late. Goodbye Czech Republic. We hope to see you soon and we pray the gospel would be increasingly proclaimed and accepted as Good News.

Packing and clearing out

2009-06-05T14:02:00.003+01:00

We sold our sofa to Martin, who I had lived with. So he came and picked it up on Friday with his father.

Considering all the moving Alex was really helpful with packing! He hardly took anything out of boxes!

Birthday party

2009-06-05T13:59:00.002+01:00

Alex went to Joachim's birthday party just before we left the Czech Republic. Alex really enjoyed the cake!

In Hungary

2009-06-05T13:49:00.004+01:00

Just before we left the Czech Republic we took time out to have a holiday and meet friends that we knew through OM.

Joska and Sandi are an American couple who have been in Hungary several years. They work in a small village near Lake Balaton. They helped us when our car broke down. We drove from the Czech Republic to Hungary. The car was fine pretty much the whole way until the end and then it started working like it just before when it broke down before (driving out without brakes isn't fun). So we contacted them since they live nearish where we were staying for our holiday. They found for us a good mechanic... who actually fixed the problem, unlike the last one in the Czech Republic... We also visited them at their house. Alex and I had a trip on Joska's tractor.

We also visited the Edwards. Matthew is another American (he was at our wedding playing the drums) and Melinda is Hungarian. It was great to see them and see their ministry. Alex had a great time with their boys!

In England

2009-06-02T16:24:00.001+01:00

I will be posting a few more entries on this blog about our time in the Czech Republic, but to follow what we are doing in England, click here.

Slowly finishing up

2009-05-26T08:17:00.004+01:00

We sold our car yesterday and handed in our work keys. The rest of the week we will be packing.

We saw yesterday Lenka. She had stayed with us for a while with her son. Almut is going to see her on Wednesday and say goodbye...

Its all slowly coming to an end here...

10 days to go

2009-05-21T05:55:00.002+01:00

We are just back from holiday and now the countdown has begun. In ten days time we will be moving to Tranmere near Liverpool to work with the Anglican Church there. We will be working with Darren Moore (former curate at All Saints, Peckham) and helping plant a church.

We have a new blog. Click here to see.

On holiday

2009-05-12T04:40:00.001+01:00

We are on holiday for the next 7 or so days, then we come back and pack! We leave the Czech Republic on the 31st of May.

Alex photos

2009-05-12T04:38:00.002+01:00

House group weekend away

2009-05-12T04:33:00.002+01:00

The first weekend in May we had a house group weekend away... Well actually we stayed in the house of one of the house group families. It was a great weekend of fellowship, reading the word and relaxing. We just didn't get enough sleep. We will miss this house group; it has been such a blessing.

Dangerous little boys

2009-05-09T15:32:00.002+01:00

Yesterday we went to Hluboka to a nice children's playground. It is huge and quite good for kids, although not so much for the really young ones.

We were sitting on this huge trampoline (has to be seen to be believed). Alex had walked a little away from us and we saw this boy about three with his hands around Alex's neck. I went over and told him not to do that, but he did it again. So I brought Alex with me, but the boy followed. The concerning thing was that there was no adult caring for him. He just was wandering around. Almut spoke to him later and he said that his mother had gone for a drink. A bit worrying.

Traffic Police

2009-05-07T08:03:00.002+01:00

Was stopped by traffic police today. The policeman saluted me, checked my paper work, told me that everything was fine, then saluted me again. Felt like royalty!

Last day in the office

2009-05-07T08:01:00.002+01:00

Today is my last day in the office working for OM Czech Republic. We are going on holiday then packing. These last few months have gone fast!

Hiding your Skoda

2009-05-06T11:17:00.001+01:00

Moving

2009-05-04T19:27:00.003+01:00

Well its getting very soon to when we will move. At the end of May we will be flying out of the Czech Republic to start working in England.

Almut's parents and younger brother were here last month over Easter and helped packed up. Still some more packing to go, but soon we will be all gone from here... Be sad to go, but we are excited with the next step!!!

My beautiful wife...

2009-05-04T19:26:00.001+01:00

Alex pictures

2009-05-04T19:21:00.001+01:00

Our cute son...

2009-04-29T14:10:00.003+01:00

Almut wrote to me:

''We'll go to Globus (a supermarket). Alex wanted to see photos that I had shown him this morning, and kept saying: Auto. I showed him everything with Autos but he wasn't satisfied. Eventually I realized that he meant the train in Globus, that he had also seen on a photo this morning. He was excited when I told him that that's where we will go...''

Alex uses the word 'Auto' for cars, trains, helicopters and planes...

Moving company

2009-04-29T09:49:00.002+01:00

God provides. I had looked for a while for moving company to take our belongings to England, but all the offers were quite expensive. So I decided yesterday to book a rental van and move the stuff ourselves. It was going to cost about 30 000 CZK (1000 GBP) altogether. Today I received a quote for 17 850 CZK (600 GBP). So Jesus saves in so many different ways!

New blog for a new country

2009-04-27T19:09:00.004+01:00

I will be updating this blog a few more times, but very soon we will be moving. And so we have a new blog to keep you up to date with what we will be doing in England... Enjoy! Click here for new blog...

Successes in Czech

2009-04-20T11:15:00.004+01:00

While we were in Strakonice I visited a shop that sells thermal clothing. I looked around, spoke briefly to the sales woman and then went to leave. On the way out I picked up a catalogue in German and English. The sales woman told me that I couldn't take it as it was only for foreigners. I like it when I get mistaken for Czechs! Actually if she had talked longer with me she would have known...

Another Czech language success happened to Almut and I when we were at a restaurant. We sat down and were given menus in English and German. We were surprised not to get a Czech menu, but thought nothing of it. When the waitress came to take our order we started to order in Czech. She got all embarrassed and started to apologise because she had assumed that we were foreigners and now it seemed that we were Czech! Almut then sorted it out.

Driving sometimes can be "Fun"

2009-04-20T10:24:00.003+01:00

Almut's parents were visiting us for a while. On the last day they were here we went for a trip to Strakonice, about 50 minutes drive away. Well our car started to drive a little strangely a couple of days before that but we thought it would be OK. (Its a Citroen with hydraulic suspension). On the way back from Strakonice the suspension completely died along with the brakes. Now for an obvious comment: driving without brakes is dangerous and not fun! Had to use the gears and hand brake to drive home with the hazard lights blinking the whole way. It hopefully will get repaired by tomorrow. It took us about 2 hours to drive back. We hope to sell it soon, but pray that it would be a good car for the next owner.

The Crucifixion by Hana Kenning

2009-04-11T07:15:00.001+01:00

One of the daughters from the OM team painted this...

Warning

2009-04-05T11:49:00.003+01:00

As we were driving towards the German border we got pulled over by a policeman. Because the police here can give instant fines, we were very nervous and didn't know why he wanted to stop us. He told us that our lights weren't on and sent us on our way with a warning. In the Czech Republic it is the law that when driving the lights must be on, whatever the time of the day. This is done for safety reasons. I almost always remember...

Challenge to men to take responsibility

2009-04-05T11:44:00.001+01:00

I can eat

2009-04-05T11:16:00.000+01:00

Time is going

2009-04-05T11:15:00.001+01:00

As many of you may of heard we are moving to England. The time is going fast. We will be there at the end of next month...

Visiting ostriches in East Germany

2009-04-05T11:13:00.003+01:00

While we were in Germany we visited an ostrich farm. Alex found it very interesting.

James cycled there and back with his brother in law. He originally thought that it was only 12 km, but he found out later that it was in total about 60 km. He felt a little painful!

Some other photos...

2009-04-05T11:11:00.001+01:00

But who is driving?

2009-04-05T11:10:00.003+01:00

Poster from Poland: How popular is Vladimir Putin in Poland?

2009-04-05T11:08:00.002+01:00

Visiting Poland

2009-04-05T11:02:00.006+01:00

While visiting our relatives in East Germany, we took the opportunity to visit Poland with them.

Visiting relatives...

2009-04-05T10:57:00.003+01:00

A few weekends ago we visited Almut's sister and Alex's cousin, Carlotta. Carlotta was born last year in May, but we hadn't seen her until our recent visit...

Dance dance dance

2009-04-05T10:56:00.000+01:00

Rolling rolling rolling

2009-03-13T17:32:00.002Z

I was surprised last week as I drove home. A car pulled out in front of me with very little warning. I stopped the car and waited for it to drive off. Then I realised that there was actually no one inside. The car had just rolled out onto the road by itself. Probably the driver forgot to put on the hand brake. So I got out of the car and pushed it back to the side of the road. Another man found a rock to put under the wheel so that it wouldn't roll out. Funny.

Missions weekend

2009-03-13T17:23:00.003Z

Last weekend we went to the far east of the Czech Republic. We were promoting missions to the world at a church and at a missions exposition (with several other mission agencies including YWAM and Wycliffe Bible Translators). It was encouraging to see the attendance and how many Czechs are interested in world evangelism.

While we were there we stayed with a Christian older couple. It was interesting talking to them about how their church witnessed and evangelised during the Cold War. They told of how they would host children's camps in the mountains, but had to be careful not to be discovered by the secret and state police. As missionaries its quite easy to think that we are bringing the truth to a country that needs it, but sometimes I think we need to learn from the Christians here. They are heroes of the faith who prevailed under persecution.

Part of a full balanced diet...

2009-03-13T17:21:00.001Z

Outside

2009-03-13T17:17:00.001Z

The weather has warmed up now in the last few weeks, so Alex has been going outside...

Alex photos

2009-03-13T17:14:00.002Z

Snow and cars...

2009-02-24T12:48:00.002Z

Just don't mix!

On Saturday, Lenka, one of the people living at Vystice went home, but got stuck in ice as she drove to the main road. A few of us went to help. Honza drove his car up to and past her car... and then got stuck.

I had the only car left to help, so I drove my car over. Just as I arrived we saw a tractor coming closer clearing snow. That was a real angel sent to help us. We managed to move Lenka's car, then we were going to move Honza's car, but my car was in the way. So I backed it up... into a ditch... So after we moved Honza's car, we moved my car!

On Monday the snow had turned to slush. We managed to drive through the icy patch with no problems. But then going up the hill I lost traction. So I backed up the car and backed it off the road... again! Fortunately I could dig our way out...

The photos are from Saturday...

Passionate for dummies, pt 2

2009-02-24T12:47:00.001Z

I pulled out the finance manual at work... and out popped one of Alex's dummies...

Passionate for dummies, pt 1

2009-02-23T15:10:00.002Z

No one at home

2009-02-23T15:06:00.000Z

Candle

2009-02-23T15:04:00.002Z

Tent

2009-02-16T14:39:00.000Z

Living on the edge

2009-02-16T14:38:00.000Z

A diversion

2009-02-16T10:19:00.002Z

As we were driving to work we saw a man helping an older woman up who had fallen down. We stopped to see if we could help and ended up driving her to the hospital. The woman was in quite a lot of pain. Please pray for her, Mrs Peskova. She is in her 80s.

Alex helping at work

2009-02-16T10:18:00.002Z

Alex and his most recently released photos...

2009-02-16T10:15:00.001Z

In Prague

2009-02-16T09:50:00.002Z

Since we were going to be in Prague for a missions day we decided to stay a few days and visit a few of our favourite places. We walked around the centre of Prague, to Charles Bridge and in our favourite Prague Restaurant.

Prague mission day

2009-02-16T09:10:00.004Z

A few weeks ago we were in Prague with other mission agencies (Wycliffe Bible Translators, YWAM and others) to advertise opportunities for Czechs to go into missions themselves. We will be at another missions day in the east of the country in March. Please pray that the Czech church would be excited about missions.

While we were there we met our Korean colleague. She has been the longest serving missionary with OM in the Czech Republic.

A recent family photo

2009-02-13T10:02:00.000Z

John the Baptist

2009-02-13T09:54:00.002Z

My mother sent this story from my uncle. I don't know if it is his or from someone else.

Johnny's Mother looked out the window and noticed him 'playing church' with their cat. He had the cat sitting quietly and he was preaching to it. She smiled and went about her work.

A while later she heard loud meowing and hissing and ran back to the open window to see Johnny baptizing the cat in a tub of water.

She called out, 'Johnny, stop that! The cat is afraid of water!'

Johnny looked up at her and said,

'He should have thought about that before he joined my church.'

The joys of driving in Winter Czech Republic

2009-02-05T09:14:00.003Z

Last Saturday we went on an outing. We live in the countryside and have to drive down a country road to get to the main road. Normally this is fine but there is a small stream going over the road which is now frozen over. We drive over it regularly, but this time we got stuck in the ice. We tried backing up. We tried turning out of the road. We tried putting planks of wood under the car. We even tried towing it. Eventually one of our friends turned up and helped us out.

We then drove to Ceske Budejovice and nearly ran over a deer that dashed in front of us.

Normal driving in winter in the Czech Republic... not to talk about the Czech drivers!

Phones can be a joy and really irritating!

2009-01-29T16:29:00.002Z

Alex's new glasses

2009-01-29T16:25:00.002Z

Actually they belong to his mother...

1 Timothy 2:1-2

2009-01-24T06:44:00.002Z

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Work work work

2009-01-23T15:21:00.001Z

Alex's favourite Czech TV programme: Krtek (Mole)!!!

2009-01-23T14:34:00.002Z

Alex learning to say "Work" (Arbeit) in German

2009-01-21T05:39:00.001Z

Cute photos...

2009-01-20T16:13:00.000Z

Alex wearing his father's old dressing gown...

2009-01-20T16:12:00.002Z

Why was I not informed?

2009-01-20T16:11:00.002Z

Almut is pregnant!

2009-01-19T18:35:00.000Z

Very exciting. Due in August. We are both really pleased!

Evropě, to osladíme

2009-01-14T08:39:00.002Z

The Czech Republic is taking its turn with the EU presidency. The slogan of their presidency is "Evropě, to osladíme" or literally "Europe, we will sweeten it". But there is a certain tongue in cheek meaning to this slogan, because the word osladit can also mean dulcify (to make agreeable or gentle; mollify) and the phrase can also mean "Europe, we will teach it!"

Czech takeover EU presidency

2009-01-14T08:14:00.004Z

Alex greeting us in Czech

2009-01-14T07:39:00.000Z

Alex "walking" on ice...

2009-01-14T07:38:00.000Z

Czech EU art stokes controversy

2009-01-14T07:26:00.002Z

People look at the modern art installation, Entropa, in the atrium of the European Council headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, 12 January 2009
Entropa depicts the EU's 27 member states according to crude stereotypes

A new art installation going on display at the European Council building in Brussels has angered EU members with its lampoons of national stereotypes.

Entropa portrays Bulgaria as a toilet, Romania as a Dracula theme-park and France as a country on strike.

The Czech Republic, which holds the EU presidency, thought it had commissioned work from 27 European artists.

But it turned out to have been entirely completed by Czech artist David Cerny and two associates.

The eight-tonne mosaic is held together by snap-out plastic parts similar to those used in modelling kits.

The Netherlands is shown as series of minarets submerged by a flood - a possible reference to the nation's simmering religious tensions.

Germany is shown as a network of motorways vaguely resembling a swastika, while the UK - criticised by some for being one of EU's most eurosceptic members - is absent from Europe altogether.

Raised eyebrows

The 16-square-metre (172-square-foot) work was installed at the weekend to mark the start of the six-month Czech presidency of the EU.

There has already been an angry reaction to the piece from Bulgaria, which has summoned the Czech ambassador to Sofia to explain.

The three artists responsible for Entropa were led by David Cerny who, says the BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague, is the enfant terrible of the Czech art world.

A close-up of the Entropa installation which shows Bulgaria as a basic toilet, Brussels, Belgium, 13 January 2009

In pictures: Entropa installation, click here for more pictures.

When his government commissioned him to create the installation, several eyebrows were raised, and they were not raised in vain, our correspondent adds.

Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra said he was only informed on Monday that the installation was not the work of 27 European artists, but David Cerny and two colleagues.

Mr Vondra condemned Mr Cerny and said the Czech EU presidency was considering what steps to take before Thursday's official launch.

"An agreement of the office of the government with the artist clearly stated that this will be a common work of artists from 27 EU states," he said.

"The full responsibility for violating this assignment and this promise lies with David Cerny."

Mr Cerny, who presented Entropa to his government with a brochure describing each of the artwork's 27 supposed contributors from each member state, has apologised for misleading ministers, but not for the installation itself.

"We knew the truth would come out," said Mr Cerny. "But before that we wanted to find out if Europe is able to laugh at itself."

He added that Entropa "lampoons the socially activist art that balances on the verge between would-be controversial attacks on national character and undisturbing decoration of an official space".

Mr Cerny first created a splash in the early 1990s when he painted a Soviet tank, a Second World War memorial in a Prague square, bright pink.

I love Almut!

2009-01-13T14:35:00.001Z

Alex with present from NZ grandparents

2009-01-13T14:34:00.002Z

Alex and his new cup...

2009-01-13T14:34:00.001Z

Alex is getting faster

2009-01-13T14:33:00.001Z

Our house group

2009-01-12T11:18:00.002Z

Over the Christmas break our house group got together for a social event. Dan and Andrea hosted a murder mystery and we dressed up for the occasion... No photos of me, sorry...

Ah yes. The boxer did it!

Bubbles

2009-01-12T11:16:00.002Z

Almut's friend Katka visited over the Christmas break. She brought bubbles for Alex to play with. He really enjoyed it!

My beautiful family!

2009-01-12T11:15:00.002Z

Alex at work

2009-01-12T11:14:00.002Z

Alex likes dressing up... most of the time...

2009-01-12T11:11:00.001Z

Alex and his accident

2009-01-12T11:07:00.002Z

While we were at a friends place Alex fell over and head butted the corner of a table. (Where is Health and Safety when you need them!) He only cried a few moments, but it left a scar...

Winter wonderland

2009-01-12T11:01:00.002Z

I hear that the UK has been having a cold snap recently. Here in our area of the Czech Republic we have been on the minus side of Celsius for a few weeks. The pond near our house has frozen over and we have been walking over it (others have been skating). Almut is longing for the Summer! So we can show you photos of where we live and Almut and Alex on the ice...

Hotel woe

2009-01-11T11:21:00.005Z

Yesterday we decided to go to Prague over night because we wanted to buy something from IKEA in Prague (a carpet for our cold wooden floor) and because our Czech church was meeting with other churches from the same denomination for a celebration service in Prague. We didn't want to go up and back from Prague on the same day, so decided to treat ourselves to a night in a four star hotel. So we looked on the internet for a good deal on www.hrs.com (a good hotel booking service). We found one for €26 including breakfast for both of us at Hotel Elegant.

Well we drove to IKEA in Prague and bought a few things including the carpet, and then found our way to the hotel. We arrived around 8:30ish. I thought that it looked closed because almost all of the lights were off. Almut went to the hotel door and found out that it was closed, for technical reasons. We tried one pension (bed and breakfast), but it was a lot more expensive and we didn't know whether it would be any good. I didn't think we would have much success trying for a good deal at that time of the night. So we decided to drive back to Ceske Budejovice. It ended being a six hour round trip.

Almut rang HRS today to complain. We will see what the response is. We are enjoying the carpet though!

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T16:54:00.003Z

Alex the cutie, part 1

2008-12-19T15:43:00.002Z

Alex the cutie, part 2

2008-12-19T15:25:00.007Z

A word from our artist. Alex wishes it to be known that, although he his still very cute, this cartoon has information that could be misleading. First, he doesn't talk like this normally. In fact he can speak several words, including: heiß, ne (no), yes, this and amen. Words that are not on this list are unlikely to come out of his mouth. Second, he does have teeth. Six and one on the way. Third, his mother isn't scary, just his dad. Fourth, the photos shown here are from when he was younger, but not when he was cuter. He would like it to be known that he is even cuter now, especially now that he can walk and destroy all in his path. Thank you for your understanding.

Alex's New Zealand grandparents

2008-12-08T16:48:00.003Z

To my beloved beautiful wife

2008-12-02T05:28:00.000Z

Liebste Almut,

Heute ist es 2 Jahre her, das du in Prag meine Frau wurdest. Ich empfinde es als Geschenk, Privileg, Ehre und Freude mit einer solch liebevollen, schönen, intelligenten und fürsorglichen Frau verheiratet zu sein. Ich freue mich sehr auf die kommenden wundervollen Jahre mit dir.

Dein dich liebender Ehemann James

Alex walking by himself

2008-11-22T08:43:00.000Z

Hide and seek

2008-11-22T07:04:00.001Z

Alex learning to talk

2008-11-22T06:37:00.001Z

Alex learning to walk

2008-11-22T06:32:00.002Z

Alex the cleaner...

2008-11-22T05:46:00.002Z

Dancing Alex

2008-11-21T19:04:00.000Z

Alex and the nuclear power station

2008-11-21T18:49:00.003Z

We visited the local nuclear power station recently. Alex got a job running it... :)

Alex with Pavel

2008-11-21T18:45:00.002Z

Alex with Uncle Pavel on his birthday...

Some steps

2008-11-11T08:28:00.001Z

Alex has been enjoying being in our new place, because there are more people there to give him attention and help him walk. He is very comfortable standing now without leaning on anything. He also likes walking with people holding his hands. The dancing he does also is very cute.

Sorry about the lack of pictures and videos. We will start posting these soon, once our computer returns from Germany (it is having some minor maintenance done on it).

Moving house

2008-11-03T15:38:00.006Z

We seem to do this regularly. Last week we moved house again! This time we have move to Vystice. Click here for photos of where we are living. We are living as part of a Christian community which is partially connected to the church we attend. We are sharing meals together and speaking mostly Czech. We think that this will really help us to speak Czech much better!

Some highlights of moving home:

We had several people help us with this. Thanks to Dan, Dan, Jared, Honza and Michal, this move went really well.
Jared and Dan H put a hedgehog out of its misery. Jared saw a hedgehog in the garden that seemed very ill. Jared was concerned that the hedgehog was suffering. After finding out that there was no place to take it to for medical treatment he decided that it needed to be put out of its misery. He then convinced Dan to do this for him! The details of how this was done I will omit...
The same Dan turned up to church on Sunday complaining that his back was really really hurting from moving all the furniture.

OM Czech team photo

2008-11-03T15:34:00.004Z

Here is a team photo of our team in the Czech Republic! Some of the people have left since this photo was taken. Francois and Doreen have gone back to South Africa to work with OM there...

Meeting friends

2008-11-03T15:32:00.002Z

On the way back from the team retreat we stopped in Jindřichův Hradec. There we met with two families that we have come to know here.

The first couple that we met up with was Eva and Tomas. We know them from when Alex was born. Eva had a caesarean to deliver their son Filip half an hour after Alex was also delivered by caesarean. It turned out that Filip had a heart defect and had to be rushed to Prague for an operation. Almut shared room with Eva in the hospital and was able to pray with her. He is doing well now.

As we were leaving Eva and Tomas’s place, Eva said two things, that they are atheists and that they appreciated the way we had cared for them by praying for them and Filip. What a contrast in those two thoughts!

We also met up with James’ first Czech teacher, Martina. It was good to catch up. Life seems somewhat difficult for her and her husband. It seems that neither of them can find much in the way of work where they live.