Goose-Ducks?!

No, I certainly did NOT mean "half moose half duck" Although that would be interesting beyond anything we have seen here so far!

Well, I'm finally gettign around to posting about the Goose-ducks and chickens. They arrived a little over a month ago.


there are 5 "Goose-Ducks" (everyone swears they are really half Goose half Duck, but I'm still suspicious that they are just messing with the Americans. I am simply not convinced about their parentage, they look just like normal ducklings to me.

I don't have a more recent photo, but they are getting a lot bigger and have real feathers now.


There are 5 chickens with Ugly heads and 10 chickens that look like I think chickens should look. 2 of them are roosters, as near as I an figure.

I still do not know anything about chickens, But it is my job to close their little door at night so that the foxes don't get them. the chickens put themselves to bed, but I have to chase the Goose-Ducks pretty often. It is kind of funny since they can't see the door in the dark and they run into the wall as often as not trying to get in.

It is also my job to open the door in the morning and make sure they have food and water. I am not sure why any of this is my job. But, no matter what our job descriptions say we are here to serve however YFC can use us. Even if it means putting chickens and Mutant Goose-Ducks to bed and taking them water 4 times a day.

Thank you for Praying for Mobilization weekend. It was a good weekend and many people committed to pray daily for the speakers and bands and volunteers who will be at CampFest. We had excellent speakers and got a taste of what CampFest will be all about. The theme this year in "VIP - Vyplv Informacia Premena" Translated it works out to something like "Influential Information for Change". The idea is that the Information from God's word is powerful and we can be part of that. It was also encouraging to hear from people all across Slovakia about what God is doing in their town and region and to pray with and for them.

We are still waiting for our visas. We have been here 2 months now and have another month left on our 90 day visa. We are praying and trusting that God will open doors and clear the way through the bureaucracy. We still need to get our medical clearance and we are not entirely sure that there is not some missing paper that someone will tell us about. This is a difficult process especially in a foreign language and we appreciate your prayers.

We have continued to take language lessons 3 times a week. Slovak is a difficult language and we could probably study for years and still be scratching our heads occasionally. We are definitely making progress though. We can now use the past and future tenses and we are working on using the possessive. It is not a matter of a simple 's like in English, there are SIX possible ending to show possession depending on wether the possessor and possession are Male, female or neuter. In spite of his insistance that the Slovak language was designed to discourage foreigners, our language teacher complimented Micah on making drastic progress in the past 2 months.

The Lipovsky family (Marian, the national director with his wife and 2 kids) will be moving to the Ranch in September. They are planning to build a house but until that is finished they will be living in one of the cottages here at the Ranch. We are making some renovations to cottage #2 before they come, installing a small kitchen, dividing the upstairs into two bedrooms, relocating the steps and something about moving an exterior wall! Micah has been working hard along with others to make sure that it will be ready for them. My part in the "we are making renovations" has been to photograph the process :)

This past weekend we drove to Kosice to visit with our friends the O'Connells before they return to the US later this week. We had a good time visiting and helping them pack. We also helped by taking a few items like pots, picture frames, some books and a vacuum that would not fit in their suitcases. the vacuum is bright yellow and it makes me happy to sweep, Micah likes it too. We will miss having the O'Connells in Slovakia. If you think of it please pray for them (Jeff, Andrea, Will 6, and Jon 4) as they fly on Thursday and transition to what God has next for their family.

We can never tell you how much your prayers and support mean to us here in Slovakia. We had some rough days last week and know that your prayers helped us to get us through. Thank you!