Check out the brand new Eastern Germany tab to learn more about the area we are planning to move to. Pray for us as we get the first team together to go.
http://www.josiahventure.com/people-and-places/eastern-germany
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
English Camp
The Czech English camp our youth group is participating in has started today. Please, pray for them this week. Pray for opportunities, courage, unity, and maturity. Also, pray for Joel who has been asked to preach at one of the Czech churches a week from this Sunday.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Missions Trip
Joel and our high school youth group Quest left today for a two and a half week missions trip to a Josiah Venture English Camp in the Czech Republic. Please pray for safety while they are traveling, courage and opportunity for our students, and open hearts for those they are ministering to.Also, pray for Eliana and I while we wait at home for Daddy to come back :-)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Support Letter
Our support letter will be sent soon. If we don't have your address yet, could you send it to us at ehopkins@josiahventure.com?
Monday, June 6, 2011
Divine Lessons by Eliana
Being Eliana's mother is teaching me so much about God and His relationship with us. I have found these lessons too rich not to share. So here we go:
#1: Love Beyond Words
The first and most powerful lesson I have learned from being Eliana's mother is the incredible amount of love I have for her. All the words in the world will fail to adequately describe how I feel about her. In fact, I didn't even know I was capable of so much love. She calms me and captures me. She has me staring at her while she is sleeping, with a smile on my face. When I am away from her, I can't keep my mind off her, always concerned about her well-being.
I believe that God has given me this great love for her. Why do I think so? I cannot imagine a sinful being like myself capable of such love. But God IS love! Experiencing the love of a mother has given me a unique and new glimpse of God's love for us - not that any of us are capable of love as perfect like His!
#2: Struggles of Learning
Eliana is two months old. She is lifting her head quite well already. She gets frequent tummy time from us to help her improve that skill. Does she like it? Sometimes. But there is always a strained look on her face as she lifts up her head and tries to push herself forward with her balled fists and little feet.
It reminded me instantly of how I often perceive God's lessons: They seem like struggles, difficult times in my life, "valleys" of sorts. Sometimes I am aware of what He may want me to learn, other times I am left in the dark. Often I completely forget that He is in control and may have even orchestrated this phase in my life to teach me valuable lessons.
Enter Eliana! Her (cute) struggling facial expression is reminding me of the purpose behind our earthly struggles: a divine lesson, a gift from our Savior, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Of course there comes a time when Eliana lets out small cries and her face starts to extort into pain or sadness. Then we are quick to pick her up or turn her back around. Because we love her too much to give her more than she can handle. And we know that is true of our heavenly Father as well!
#3: Security in the Relationship
As we are teaching Eliana to self-soothe, a friend reminded us: you want her to be secure not just in your presence but in your relationship.
Immediately, I was reminded of God, how we cannot see Him and due to circumstances or illness sometimes do not feel His presence. But it is my prayer that all of us find security in our relationship with Him and what we know to be true about it: His love, His sacrifice on the cross, His plan for our lives.
With all that being said, please pray for Eliana: that we would love her truly, that she would grow in strength, and trust in our care.
More lessons to come (I'm sure)...
#1: Love Beyond Words
The first and most powerful lesson I have learned from being Eliana's mother is the incredible amount of love I have for her. All the words in the world will fail to adequately describe how I feel about her. In fact, I didn't even know I was capable of so much love. She calms me and captures me. She has me staring at her while she is sleeping, with a smile on my face. When I am away from her, I can't keep my mind off her, always concerned about her well-being.
I believe that God has given me this great love for her. Why do I think so? I cannot imagine a sinful being like myself capable of such love. But God IS love! Experiencing the love of a mother has given me a unique and new glimpse of God's love for us - not that any of us are capable of love as perfect like His!
#2: Struggles of Learning
Eliana is two months old. She is lifting her head quite well already. She gets frequent tummy time from us to help her improve that skill. Does she like it? Sometimes. But there is always a strained look on her face as she lifts up her head and tries to push herself forward with her balled fists and little feet.
It reminded me instantly of how I often perceive God's lessons: They seem like struggles, difficult times in my life, "valleys" of sorts. Sometimes I am aware of what He may want me to learn, other times I am left in the dark. Often I completely forget that He is in control and may have even orchestrated this phase in my life to teach me valuable lessons.
Enter Eliana! Her (cute) struggling facial expression is reminding me of the purpose behind our earthly struggles: a divine lesson, a gift from our Savior, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Of course there comes a time when Eliana lets out small cries and her face starts to extort into pain or sadness. Then we are quick to pick her up or turn her back around. Because we love her too much to give her more than she can handle. And we know that is true of our heavenly Father as well!
#3: Security in the Relationship
As we are teaching Eliana to self-soothe, a friend reminded us: you want her to be secure not just in your presence but in your relationship.
Immediately, I was reminded of God, how we cannot see Him and due to circumstances or illness sometimes do not feel His presence. But it is my prayer that all of us find security in our relationship with Him and what we know to be true about it: His love, His sacrifice on the cross, His plan for our lives.
With all that being said, please pray for Eliana: that we would love her truly, that she would grow in strength, and trust in our care.
More lessons to come (I'm sure)...
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Team Building
We are excited to say that friends of ours are currently attending a Josiah Venture conference in Czech to get to know Josiah Venture and hopefully join us in Germany in the future. Please, pray for safety in travel and guidance during the conference.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Eliana Marie Hopkins
We are thankful to announce the birth of our daughter Eliana Marie. She was born on April 3rd at 1:14pm. She is small at 6lb 10oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She is beautiful and healthy and we are overjoyed. We appreciate your prayers as we begin this new part of our life.
We are continuing in our support raising efforts, still hoping to be ready to move to Germany by December.
We are continuing in our support raising efforts, still hoping to be ready to move to Germany by December.
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