Going Back!

As the song goes ... "my bags are packed, I'm ready to go!" ... well, not quite! And I'm certainly not "leaving" in the way the song said, but on a much more positive and exciting note!

On Sunday, September 13, Joyce will take me "across the boarder" to the Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport so that I can fly back to Czech Republic Sunday night in order to attend the Josiah Venture Fall Leadership Conference!

When we left in July, one thing that the leaders of JV said would be extremely valuable for them and for us would be for one or both of us to attend their leadership conference. We thought and prayed about it and asked others what their thoughts were, and ultimately decided that to further the "budding partnership" between NEXT and Josiah Venture, I (Dave) would attend this conference this fall.

Our goal is to connect with many of the young national leaders that work in the 11 countries where JV serves and talk about the possibilities for leadership development/service projects, along with offering project management services. This seems to fit well with our goals as an organization.

I will be gone for 10 days, so pray for Joyce as she's left here holding down the fort and continuing her teaching at UW Eau Claire.

The Google Earth satellite photo below shows the area where I will be spending my time, mostly at Hotel Malenovice ... but hopefully I'll be able to get "eyes on" updated progress on H2O as well as the Pstruzi House (Beskydy Retreat House). Stay tuned for more updates!

Dave & Joyce Johnson