Frydlant experienced a thaw this week. The snow is gone, the trees and blooming, and Spring is here! One of the most exciting developments of the new season has been the success of BMA students in university applications. Our students usually go to excellent universities across the Czech Republic and this year won’t be an exception. Three soon-to-be-graduates, however, put in the extra effort to apply to universities in America and Scotland.
American universities, while having some of the best reputations in the world, are extremely expensive for international students. Scottish universities, on the other hand, offer free tuition to European Union citizens while also consistently ranking highly among the top universities in the world. For the first time in my career, I helped Czech students prepare college applications in English. This included training for SAT and TOEFL tests, crafting multiple essays, ordering translated transcript copies, and meeting deadlines. The road was plagued with disappointments when, for example, standard test scores came back lower than we had hoped or when several students dropped out of the running for the University of Chicago because it was just too hard. Yet, in the end, it has all paid off.
Three students, all girls, have been accepted at several Scottish institutions, including Aberdeen, Edinburgh Napier, Stirling, and Glasgow Caldonian. While they mull their choices, we are celebrating success as a relatively young school. We see that we can open doors for students to change communities and be changed by exciting educational opportunities in ways that other local schools can’t. This, coupled with our vision for being a spiritually challenging, family environment, is what we believe can make a massive positive impact on our region.
I’m so proud and am cheering for the students who put in the effort to go above and beyond in achieving what seemed impossible. I’m also thrilled at the results, both academic and spiritual, that God continually blesses BMA with.
I went to the New Canaan Society annual conference in Hot Springs, Virginia last weekend for great fellowship and some fund-raising too. My father, brother, father in law, and pastor all came to the conference, while my sisters and wife came along to relax at the amazing hotel, The Homestead. We all went to the local hot springs together, the buildings around which were originally built by Thomas Jefferson. It was a great time to get away and be a family.
We met a lot of great guys who are ready to be a “faithful presence” in their families, communities, and churches. It was inspiring to hear about what men in business are doing to serve and reach out all over the world. The NCS guys were hilarious, as usual. Skip Bowlinski took his antics to new lows and hilarity ensued.
One conference highlight for me was personally meeting Luis Palau, who gave a stirring message at a Promise Keepers meeting I attended with my dad fourteen years ago. I was convicted and responded with tears in my eyes by deciding to follow Jesus. I was twelve year old at the time. Luis was all smiles when I told him about it this weekend. He told Lisa, “You owe me one!”
Another memorable experience was having breakfast with Graham Kendrick, an amazing and experienced international worship leader. I asked him loads of questions about leading worship and balancing family life with ministry. He and Paul Baloche led some awesome times of worship at the conference.
The weekend with family and NCS “brudders” built me up spiritually and refreshed me emotionally. I’m motivated to be a “faithful presence” in my family, community, and church and will be meditating on “Christ in me and through me,” Luis’ theme on Saturday morning. Here is the video recap of the conference:
We were so blessed by the hundreds of dear friends and family who came this week to pay respects to our mom, Cindy, Lobel, who passed away last weekend after a brief battle with stomach cancer. God is so good to have given us hope in Jesus, which he has clearly reminded us of this week. Thanks for the overwhelming show of love and support!
Thinking about Mom and the tremendous work she did as a mother is sad, of course, but inspiring and wonderful. She was passionate about raising a godly family, especially as she sacrificed her career to stay home with the siblings and homeschool us. She also changed many lives by working as a nurse at the Alpha Pregnancy Care Center in Albany and with Moose River Outpost Christian Camp in Maine. She gave her camp salary each summer to pay the way for Czech BMA students to attend the camp. We are going to set up the Cindy Lobel Memorial Scholarship to continue this special ministry.
We are going to miss Mom dearly, but know that she lived according to God’s purpose and completed his work for her. We praise Jesus for everything he did through her! He is faithful.
We were so blessed by the hundreds of dear friends and family who came this week to pay respects to our mom, Cindy, Lobel, who passed away last weekend after a brief battle with stomach cancer. God is so good to have given us hope in Jesus, which he has clearly reminded us of this week. Thanks for the overwhelming show of love and support!