Starting Off 2019!

Hello, friends!

December and January were full of ministry opportunities, celebrations and festivities!  Here are some of the things we've been up to:

1. Church Christmas

Abigail was very excited to be a part of the Christmas program for our church! She sang in the choir, and led the kids' ministry bell choir, which debuted at our Christmas service. It was a huge success, and everyone loved seeing their children perform something new, so well!

2. Young Adult Ministries

Dan continues to be a part of the country's leadership team for the Young Adult Ministries. They are in the process of planning the Winter camp, and have had a number of worship nights. Dan has greatly enjoyed getting to know some of the pastors better - in fact, he and a pastor friend will be attending a symposium in Spain next month, hosted by the Assemblies of God, about reaching secular people. We are thrilled to be a part of the ministry towards the youth of Slovenia!

3. Bethany Global University Missions Trip

Our church in Ljubljana is a host site for Bethany Global University interns. We currently have 6 students taking part in the training. Our pastor asked us to help them find some areas of ministry. Abigail's mom, fellow missionary Jocelyn Gracza has taught English at one of the Hungarian high schools in Budapest (actually, the school where Abigail and her brothers attended), and was able to have the interns go and facilitate conversational English lessons. Dan even ended up substitute teaching for one of Abigail's former teachers! We were so glad to be able to strengthen the relationship with this high school, as well as help the Bethany students fulfill some of their academic requirements.

4. Friends and Neighbors


We have loved getting to know our friends from church, as well as from our son's school. God has blessed us with exceptional people, who we are blessed to live in fellowship with. We spent Thanksgiving with a family from church, have had cookie decorating parties, baby showers and play dates. At Christmas time, we once again baked cookies and delivered them to our neighbors. Through this we've gotten to know our one neighbor and her dog, another neighbor had cookies for us too, and we have a mommy-baby walk planned.

Najlepša hvala, thank you so much for your love and support! We couldn't do any of these things, if it weren't for your prayers, encouragement and partnership! As always, we appreciate you more than you know!

Winter Update From The Blairs

Greetings from Slovenia!

It's been a while since we've given you all an update, and to be quite honest, it's because of... life!

We are really settling into our new home, and getting used to our new normal.

We were delighted to get to spend our first holiday season in Slovenia, and our first "real" winter in a long time - this Florida-transplant family forgot about the cold!

So, we just wanted to give you all a short update on what we've been up to in the past couple months.  

Christmas

We were so excited and honored to be a part of the Christmas program at the local church we attend, here in Ljubljana!  Our big guy played the part of a wiseman, and was part of the children's choir!  It was extra special to hear him singing Christmas carols in Slovene!

On Christmas Day, we were so thankful to have Christmas dinner at the church with a few other families.  One of the families from the church hosts it every year, especially for those who don't have family nearby.  We loved getting to spend Christmas day with our new church family!

We also delivered cookies to our neighbors in our apartment building.  With the help our language teacher, we wrote each one of them a note, wishing them a very Merry Christmas, and a blessed New Year.  Then, we went to each door and introduced ourselves - in (broken) Slovene!  It can be difficult to get to know one's neighbors, especially in an apartment building, but we're hoping that through interactions such as these, we'll be able to build meaningful relationships with them!

Language Learning

This is definitely NOT the glamorous side of missions, but it is the foundation, the groundwork without which we won't be able to truly reach Slovenia.  So, we have been working hard at our Slovene language classes.  Here are some examples of how much we've learned in the past few months:

We've had language classes for about 3 1/2 months.  We have learned how to introduce ourselves, talk about the weather, give directions, talk about motion, conjugate verbs, express possession of nouns, describe our families, lots and lots of grammatical rules, and we just started learning the past and future tenses.

We could not be more pleased with our tutor - she is very knowledgeable (she teaches at the university), patient, she loves her language - which in return makes us love her language, and she has a wonderful way of tying in what we're learning about Slovene with the culture.

Our teacher is actually leaving for 3 months, for a job outside of the country.  Please join us in praying for her, that she would be able to adjust well to her new surroundings, she would enjoy her job posting, and would... come back!

In the meantime, we will be taking a course at the university for the 3 months that she is gone.  We took a placement test earlier this week, and classes start at the beginning of March.  Please be praying for us, that we would make new friends at our courses, that our Slovene knowledge would deepen, and we would have a good time doing it!

Ministry

We were so excited to visit one of the other churches in the Pentecostal movement, a church in Murska Sobota.  In the type of coincide that only God can bring together, the pastor of that church was actually a friend of ours from college, at Continental Theological Seminary in Belgium.  We had a wonderful time sharing with them!  We introduced ourselves in Slovene, as well as we could, and then Dan shared his testimony, and how the Lord orchestrated everything for us to be able to come here.  We look forward to being able to visit more of the churches in the future, and building relationships.

Speaking of relationships, we've been very excited to get to know some of the children and parents from our son's school!  In the afternoons, we all seem to pick up our kids at the same time, which has been a great way to meet.  These pictures were taken on a hill near buddy's school, where we got to have some fun.  In the next few months, we're hoping to meet some of the parents for coffee, or arrange play dates, so we would appreciate you praying for those relationships as well!

As always, we appreciate your prayers, your love, and your support!  Thank you for making it possible for us to minister in Slovenia, we couldn't be here without you!

But, Where's Jesus?

Hello, dear friends!  We hope you are all having a blessed and peaceful Christmas season!

We are experiencing our first holiday season here in Ljubljana, and we are enjoying so many of the uniquely Slovenian traditions.

Yesterday, we went up to the Ljubljana castle to see some lights, and were thoroughly tickled pink to see the official Saint Nicholas for the city of Ljubljana, just before he headed out for his procession through the city.

As we walked around, we noticed a life-sized carved wood nativity. It was beautifully intricate, and we stood there for a while admiring it.  We had been standing for quite some time, when I noticed something, and looked at Dan, and said "But where's Jesus?"

Now, I understand that realistically and probably the reason baby Jesus is not yet in the manger, is because it is not yet actually Christmas, so he hasn't been "born".  But is was odd to us, nonetheless that Jesus was not part of the nativity.  As Christians, whenever we set out a nativity, the "baby Jesus" piece is the most precious one, and is not one to be left out.

But as we admire the beauty of the season here in Ljubljana, this has been what we've noticed:

There are monuments to religiosity peppered through the city - churches, nativities, stars, crosses... but, where's Jesus?

People prepare to go to midnight mass, they celebrate a saint, Saint Nicholas - who devoted his life to serving others in the name of Jesus, people slow down and spend time with their families... but, where's Jesus?

You can buy Advent wreaths in all the local grocery stores and flower shops, you can hear Christmas music playing on the radio... but, where's Jesus?

Because Slovenia is traditionally Roman Catholic, their traditions revolve around the symbols of the season, and yet the true relationship with Christ, the "reason for the season", is missing in so many of their lives.

This is not a uniquely Slovenian phenomenon.  It is the same around the world, and yet our hearts are for the Slovenes.  It is our deepest desire that the people of Slovenia would know the personal relationship with Jesus that gives us joy, comfort and peace during this time of year - and throughout the year.

The beauty in the lights, is that Jesus is our light.  The meaning behind the stars, is the star that led the wise men to Him.  The sweetness of the nativity is being reminded of Jesus' humble birth - God became man.  The tradition of Saint Nicholas is special because of the idea of giving our lives in service to God and those around us.  The tranquility of the Advent wreaths, is to prepare our hearts for the Lord.  Christmas music (not Jingle Bells, but songs such as Away in a Manger) are public reminders of why we celebrate.  We spend time with our families and loved ones, because we are thankful that God gave them to us to love - because He loved us first.  All of these traditions and symbols are beautiful, and should be celebrated.  But if they are celebrated without Jesus, they lose their meaning.

This Christmas season, we hope and pray that the symbols Slovenians - our friends and neighbors, see around them cause them to wonder, and search for the true meaning behind them - Jesus.  And we pray that we are able to be there for them in those moments.  We are so thankful that God has allowed us to be here, and for the lives that will be changed because of Him.

We pray the same for you, that you and those you love would open their hearts to God, and allow Him to give you joy and peace that surpasses all understanding.

Please continue to pray for us, we are still dealing with a situation we cannot yet freely share about, but we know that God is in control, and the local churches here, and our new friends have been a great help to us.  We know that everything will work out in God's perfect timing.

Have a merry Christmas, and a blessed New Year!

December 6th: Saint Nicholas / Miklavž

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  In our family we really love Christmas!  We love putting up our Nativity, the stockings, decorating the tree, watching Christmas movies, reading Christmas books... it really is all magical!  With Abigail having grown up in Hungary, and both of us living in Europe, we love incorporating European traditions as well.

One tradition that Abigail grew up on, is Saint Nicholas Day.  While learning about Slovenian culture, we were thrilled to find out that Slovenia celebrates the same holiday, albeit in their own way.

In case you're not familiar, Saint Nicholas was a bishop in modern-day turkey in the 4th century.  There are many stories about him, one of the most famous is about a poor man who had 3 daughters. He didn't have enough money to give them a dowry.  At that time in history, there were no respectable ways for a young lady to earn a living.  So, to help them out, but also to not embarrass them with charity, he brought them bags of gold, and placed them in their window during the night.  (My mom found this great article that goes even deeper, if you're curious about finding out more about Saint Nick.)

From this story, the European tradition is, that children clean, and put their shoes out, awaiting for what Saint Nicholas will bring them.  Usually, children get a gold switch, to remind them to stay out of trouble, and then goodies to reward them for their good behavior.  This is also where we get our tradition of hanging stockings for Santa Claus to fill.

One of the reasons we love this holiday, is because it sufficiently separates "Santa" from the birth of Jesus.  It allows us to do the Santa Claus thing, without feeling bad about it.

So, in our family, we love to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day, or in Slovenian, Miklavž.

We "shined" our shoes, placed them in front of the Christmas tree, and waited for Miklavž.

Then, Miklavž stopped by our house, and filled out shoes with chocolate and "Rocky" (which Aidan had asked Santa for when we saw him).

In the morning, we had a very happy little boy!

 

And, that's how we celebrated this European, and specifically Slovenian holiday!

Thank you for joining us in prayer and partnership this holiday season!  We appreciate you!

Please feel free to comment your own family, or country's holiday traditions, we would love to hear about them!

December 26th - Slovenian Independence and Unity Day

I have always loved history, social studies, and the likes.  So, whenever we visit somewhere I like to know a little about the people and customs of that place.

Now imagine that same desire, but this time knowing that we are not only going for a visit, but rather to live indefinitely.

Google has met its match.

One of the interesting Slovenian national holidays we came across was December 26th.  No, it is not boxing day, nor is it the day the most things are returned to stores.  In Slovenia, it is called Independence and Unity Day, or as they say in Slovenian, "Dan samostojnosti in enotnosti".  We contacted a friend from college, who just so happens to be Slovenian, to gain better understanding of the significance of this holiday.

25 years ago Slovenia decided to go out of Yugoslavia 

On December 23rd of 1990, the Slovenian people voted in a plebiscite to become a separate state from Yugoslavia in a land-slide.  The results were announced on December 26th of that same year.  Many of you reading, may still remember Yugoslavia.  It was a socialist state, which consisted of people from many different ethnic groups - one of which was Slovenia.  

Slovenian Parliament declaring results of independence referendum on 26th December 1990.

The actual separation didn't happened until June 25th of the following year, however December 26th marks a monumental mile stone in the history of Slovenia.  Until 2005, it was only called "Independence Day".  The "Unity" part was added as a reminder that yes, they were becoming independent from Yugoslavia, but they as a people group were standing united.  The friend that we spoke to also stressed this point.

So, why are we giving you this brief history lesson?

Well, think about it.  Isn't that exactly what it is like, when we surrender our hearts to Christ?  We are claiming independence from the things that have held us back in the past - unforgiveness, hurt, sin, and addictions; and uniting ourselves to God, as well as the body of Christ.

This is our prayer for the people of Slovenia.  That through a personal relationship with Jesus, they would find the ability to shake free of their strongholds, and cleve to the one who gives hope and joy.  

So today, on December 26th, please stand in prayer for the Slovenian people with us.

Christmas In Slovenia

Vesel Božič!  Merry Christmas!

As we draw nearer to Christmas, the end of 2015, and the official beginning of our family becoming missionaries, I thought I would take a closer look at what Christmas looks like in the country we soon hope to call home - Slovenia.

Slovenia is traditionally Catholic, however 22.8% of the population claim no religious ties, and 10% claim to be atheists.  

And yet, according to all the articles I could find, Christmas is a time of "church, music and food".  Because Catholicism is such a part of the tradition that surrounds Christmas and this time of year, it is a perfect time to shine the light of Jesus Christ.  Like many countries in Eastern Europe, it is not Santa who brings children gifts on Christmas, but rather baby Jesus.  Families erect nativity scenes in the corner of the house.  Churches are lit.  Christmas markets have handmade goods to sell - many surrounding the birth of Christ.

According to one article I found, Slovenia is one of the last places you find, where the hustle and bustle often associated with the Western mentality of Christmas.  It seems that there is much more focused on family, and quiet contemplation.

The perfect setting for a message of hope and love.

Christ came to shine into the darkest places of our souls.  To bring a sense of hope, when there doesn't seem to be a future.  Joy, where all laughter seems to have been lost.

Pray with us, that this holiday season, while singing songs about a baby born in a manger, while gazing at a beautiful nativity, the heart of the people of Slovenia would be moved towards He who came to Earth as the lowliest, to save us from our lowest.

And so, vesel Božič from our family to yours!