Great times at the farm. No one could beat mom at Bocci Ball.

Slip sliding away!

Sara and Creamo. What a pair.

Mark's favorite activity at the farm.

We had a great time at Green Lake with Paul, Carol and Jordan (the Deck Boy).

Sara knew one hand signal...FASTER!!!

Wipe that grin off your face! What a maniac!

Go Mark!

Get up! Get Up!! Those legs just don't work like they used to. Connie's first wake board attempt. (She did get up for a few seconds!!)

Lookin' good Con!

Hold on Andrea!!!

Andrea Tubing at Green Lake

Mark and Sara

Cousin Katie and Andrea in Rob and Con's pool

The Janzen clan. We enjoyed a week together in Kelowna.

Connie, brother Steve and sister Cyndy

The beach was our kids' favorite activity...other than spending time with Nana and Papa of course.

Sara loved the water!

Family Photo. Taken at Imagemakers in Abbotsford.

OUR FIRST TWO WEEKS (newsletter 2)

Dear family and friends,

We arrived safely in Prague and have now been here 10 days. We are comforted by the familiarity around us and have enjoyed visiting with some old friends and seeing some of the beautiful sights. In some ways we feel like we are in a bit of a dream and can hardly believe we are here. We were able to settle in quite quickly as we have been able to step into our friends house, Harders (who are home on furlough for 6 months) and not worry about setting up whole household. Thankfully we will have until Christmas to look for another place.

I have been baking and trying out some of my recipes--everything is a little different here, so even the cooking takes some getting used to. I have the smell of banana bread lofting up from the kitchen which helps to make everyone feel a bit more settled in and like this is home for them. It is interesting the things that bring comfort to ones soul when everything around seems to be changing.

We thank many of you who have been sending emails-it is such a lifeline for us. We check our email often throughout the day and are always excited to see any new ones that show up.
The kids seem to be adjusting quite well. We have worked hard to get over jet lag quickly and have made sure we all stay awake during the day --even thought by supper we could hardly keep our heads up. They have enjoyed going back to the places they remembered--especially our favorite Italian Ice cream place--Cream and Dream. They talk of people and things they miss from Canada but are very positive and excited about what they are experiencing here again. They can all hardly wait for school to start and to meet some new friends.

We have had some great family time these days. We do not have any demands on our time yet, so we are using this time to spend together and recover from our very busy months of preparing to come here. We were able to buy some bikes for the kids from people who were leaving Prague, so they have had a great time riding around. We are thankful for the university that is across the street from us. There is lots of room to ride bikes and they have great trails in a forested area that we like to walk through while the kids ride ahead of us. Even our Sara is ploughing ahead with her two-wheeler and trying to keep up to her brother and sister. There is also an indoor swimming pool at the university that we have had fun splashing around in (even though it is very cold water which is the way all Czech pools are).

We are very thankful for our friends, Manisha and Rajeev (friends from India), who picked us up from the airport when we arrived and gave us a great welcome as we stayed the first night with them. They have two girls(5 and 3 years) and Sara quickly rekindled her friendship with them like they had never been apart. Manisha has taken me shopping to the big superstore called Tesco--she had to re-teach me what everything is, and with her help it is all coming back to me.

We have been in contact with some of our Czech friends through email and look forward to getting together with them soon.
Most of the staff at Riverside are away on holidays, or have not arrived yet. We look forward to connecting with many of them in the next couple of weeks.

We stopped by Riverside School a few days ago and there has been great restoration to the school since the flood that swept through the school three years ago. Al has been in to work a bit these last few days and is looking forward to getting things started. I still do not know what my schedule will be but am also looking forward to starting the school year.

We hope that all of you are able to get information from our BLOG. A blog is similar to a web page where we will be posting regular updates and pictures. Anyone can access it at any time by typing the following URL in your web browser (or clicking on the link): http://alandconnies.blogspot.com
There is also information about Prague and Riverside School on our blog which you can just click onto.

Love to you all,
Al, Connie, Andrea, Mark and Sara

Riverside School Core Values

Riverside School is a Christian school. As a school we are focused on the objectives set out in our Purpose Statement, including the provision of high quality education based on the British National Curriculum and other curricular models, which are adapted to facilitate the child’s successful integration into Riverside School and into their future schooling. That we are Christian means that our values and methods are rooted and grounded upon biblical Christian principles.

The core values for education at Riverside are set out below. These are reflected throughout the curriculum and life of the School.

At Riverside School, we recognize and act to instill the principles so that

• Each child is valued and respected; each is unique
• Each child is cared for in a protective, secure, family oriented environment
• High quality education provides an opportunity for each child to develop their full potential
• The School staff are of critical importance to a successful school
• Children have positive relationships and attitudes to others
• The School, privileged with a diversity of culture, provides social bonding and support
• The School makes a positive impact on the wider local community

The education provided at Riverside maintains its distinctive character and upholds these values because Christ is central to the life and work of the School.

RIVERSIDE SCHOOL PURPOSE STATEMENT

Riverside School is dedicated to provide:

High quality Christian education in the English language for children aged 3 to 18.

An international approach to education based on the British National Curriculum and other curricular models, adapted to facilitate the child’s successful integration into Riverside School and into their future schooling.

Education based on a Christian worldview, which promotes Biblical Christianity as a way of life and a key to genuine enjoyment, security and fulfilment of life.

A service to the international and local community, within a caring multi-cultural environment.

Riverside School is a non-profit organisation, based on a high level of stewardship of funds, which does not generate any income for the Board or its Founders: all income is put into providing quality facilities, educational programmes and staff for the School.

OUR MINISTRY

Connie and I are both excited to teach at Riverside and look forward to helping local missionaries in their church planting efforts. Al will be the Vice Principal of the High School while Connie will be teaching half-time in the elementary School. Our focus will be the staff, students and families of Riverside School.

There are approximately 30 different nationalities represented at Riverside. About 1/3 of the students come from Evengelical Christian families (many of these students are Missionary kids). Many of the other students are un-churched and have little Biblical knowledge. We are excited about the opportunity to let Christ’s light shine through our lives and to have a powerful impact on the lives of this impressionable generation.

We look forward to re-establishing relationships with our Czech friends. And our family will be involved with at least one summer English Camp – bringing the good news of Christ to Czech nationals.

BACK TO PRAGUE

We returned from the Czech Republic in 2003 after two wonderful years of serving at Riverside Christian School. We spent the last two years in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan where God taught us so much. Our family thoroughly enjoyed our involvement at Cornerstone Christian School, where Al taught, Connie subbed and the children attended. We faced some challenging times and along with that God reigned down many blessings upon us. During our second year in Moose Jaw we felt God was preparing us for missions again. We were surprised how quickly plans came together for us to go back to the C.R.

COMPUTER STOLEN!!

On our last Sunday in BC - the day before our departure - our Laptop was stolen from the church foyer. We were showing a Power Point presentation between services and left it connected to the TV as we went in for the worship service. When we came out after being prayed for by one of the pastors, the computer was gone! As Mandeep, the computer technition at Staples put it..."That's a sure ticket to hell!" Well we are actually hoping for the opposite. We believe that in some way God can work through this to draw someone to Himself. Who knows? Maybe the person who stole it will log on and view some of our personal files - information about Cornerstone Christian School, Riverside School, our ministry here in the Czech, our personal testimonies, etc. - and begin to seek God in a new way! That is what we hope for.
The computer is replaced and most of my files were recovered from back up discs that we were able to find. Thanks to those that offered to help us out to replace the computer. We were touched by the outpouring of generousity!