< ![CDATA[  Once again, where we never expected to be is just the perfect place and we wouldn’t want to have missed it for the world. Months ago I got an e-mail from an unknown Melissa inviting us to stay with her family in the Czech. It was February. The boxes in the living room were almost as deep as the snow outside and on paper it did not look like we’d be north of Brno. I lost the e-mail. Last week, plans changed. We decided to head a little farther east before we turned south for Vienna... the new path would take us right into Brno. “Hey, I think we know someone there... I think someone invited us to stay with them near Brno...” and the hunt was on. We found the e-mail, with help of other friends we’ve never met, and sure enough, they still wanted us, even on twenty four hour’s notice! It’s hilly in this area. The 15 km ride from the train station in the town whose name we can’t pronounce was long. Cerna Hora is a little town at the top of a hill in the countryside north of Brno. It is the home of the Adams family (sing the theme song with me!) They are missionaries to the CZ and co-laborers at the Word of Life Camp here. We’d never met them, never even spoken in person, never seen so much as a picture... and yet you’d think we’d been friends for a lifetime. Hannah was overjoyed to discover that, of the six Adams children, three are girls... just her age. Gabe and the boys were delighted to find Caleb, the oldest boy, ready and willing to participate in all sorts of adventurous play. We parents have had a great time speaking English, staying up late and telling stories until our sides split and tears of laughter run down our faces. How is it possible to be on the wrong side of the world and find a family as “just like us” as this crew? We’re loving it. We’d planned to stay a tentative three days... maybe a week if all went well. We’re one day from the end of that week and it might be stretching to closer to two. Morgan Adams has a birthday coming up next week... she’d REALLY like the Miller kids to stay for it. The Miller parents are enjoying themselves so much that they might just make the under twelve crowd unspeakably happy and stretch the visit by a few more days at the request of the Adams parents. The camp they run is a Christian outreach to the Czech population. It was originally a communist youth camp. In the forest behind the camp are a series of caves dug by Hitler’s men to hide various things during the second world war. Interesting history abounds. They’ve been here for seven years and they know all of the good spots! Yesterday we were off to see an enormous cave in the area. It was discovered in the early 1900’s and it includes the deepest abyss in the Czech Republic. It is easily the best cave we’ve ever been in. The first 650 m. is dry and filled with fabulous stalactites and stalagmites formed over centuries by the underground river that fills the cavern on the other side of the abyss. As we entered the boats in the second cavern I had to fight the urge to hand two pennies to the boatman for passage on the River Styx. The cavern was dark. The ceiling was low and the voice of the boatman was haunting. He could easily have narrated any Halloween boat ride in chilling fashion without modifying his delivery much. Add to it the fact that we find Czech incomprehensible and the effect was perfectly frightening. We finished the day with a gondola ride up the sheer cliff face to view the abyss from the top and slurp down a new type of Czech ice cream. The kids loved it, of course! It could not have been a more lovely day. So here we are, enjoying a lovely week of rest, wonderful American food, unbelievable authentic Czech food. The blessing of Melissa as a translator has helped us sort out our phone difficulties as well as pointing out the difference between cottage cheese and “other” cheese in the grocery and identifying sour cream in the dairy case... and we thought “Smetana” was just the most famous Czech composer! We can’t imagine a nicer family. Sam and Melissa are kind and hospitable beyond belief. Their children are purely delightful. They have been such a blessing and an encouragement to us in so many ways. We’ve laughed our heads off as Melissa and I finish each other’s sentences and the many ways in which we are so like-minded come to light. We’re thankful for the time we’ve passed here and we hope we have managed to bless them in some small way. If you’re looking for missionaries to support, may we recommend, first hand, the Adams family and their mission here in the Czech. They are doing wonderful things and God is obviously blessing the work of their hands and their hearts. To contact the Adams Family regarding their ministry contact us and we’ll introduce you!]]>