Author name: Matt

People often ask what school is like in Vienna and though we don’t have much experience, I thought I would share a little bit about our journey putting our eldest daughter in Kindergarten, which is German for preschool. Finding a Kindergarten had been a year-long process of ups and downs, both logistically and emotionally, but all of that is for a different post. At any rate, once we found a Kindergarten we soon found out that the way they handled welcoming a child into school was different than what we might expect.

When the day had finally arrived, we had been instructed to show up at 10:00 in the morning, an hour after the first activities of the class had begun, in order to begin our first “trial period.” At the time there were a couple of other new students, and the teachers wanted to stagger the arrival times of the “criers.” The process, which is fairly standard among all preschools/kindergartens in Vienna, would go like this: a trial period of Naomi in the classroom (with Mommy sitting in the back) for up to an hour or so for the first three days; then possibly extending the time up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours over the following few days, with Mommy waiting in the hallway; the following week we would let Naomi stay 2 to 2 1/2 hours with Mommy available by cell phone and within walking distance. Then, after that, I would probably be able to drop Naomi off for the full 3-hour morning and go home, depending on how Naomi was “adjusting” and how at-home she felt there.

As you can imagine, this process led to many tearful days, both for mother and child, but in the end Naomi finally adjusted and was able to stay for the whole morning by herself. Personally, I would have preferred to rip the bandage off quickly, but we don’t always get to make those kinds of choices. We often find out that our two cultures have differing values when we least expect it. In these moments we ask for extra wisdom and grace to navigate these waters.

#blog

by Liz Eck

Source: Ecksfiles City Plaza

Source: Ecksfiles City Plaza

Refugees at “The Oasis”

It was close to 10:30 pm as Matt’s cell phone rang.  Since he was out of the room brushing his teeth or something, I picked up the phone from his bedside table and answered it.  “Hello?”  “Hi, how are you?  You doing good?” answered the male, non-native English speaker on the other end.  “Who’s this?” I asked, a little leery.  “You don’t know me.  I am in Italy.  I have phone number for Austria.”  Click.  I hung up without saying anything else, annoyed and convinced it was a prank call.  As Matt walked into the room the phone started ringing again.  “I’ll let you answer that,” I said, “A crazy person is calling you.”  Matt answered the phone, his brow furrowed as he listened to the person on the other end.  Walking out of the room, I heard Matt say, “Yes, I remember you.”  “Oh, it’s someone Matt knows,” I thought, “Now I’m pretty embarrassed about rudely hanging up.”

A few minutes later, Matt returned to tell me about the conversation.  It was a man he had met a few weeks before at the Oasis refugee ministry.  At the time, the two of them had had a long conversation about God and Matt had given this man his business card.  Amazingly, through the broken English, Matt was able to understand that this man had not received asylum status in Austria, so had taken the chance to travel to Italy to look for work.  There were no jobs to be found for an illegal immigrant in Italy, so he had pulled out Matt’s card, got a hold of a calling card to call internationally, and used the English that he knew to ask Matt if he was aware of anyone in Austria that would hire him (illegally).  Matt had to tell him no, he didn’t know of any jobs, and that we would pray for him.

As I sat there processing what I was hearing, I began to weep.  What a desperate situation this man was in!  It seemed like he was reaching out to Matt as a last-ditch effort before possibly getting sent back to his home country which he was fleeing.  And I was touched that God had used Matt to make an impact in this man’s life in just one conversation.  I wanted so badly to help this man, to be able to do something, but felt powerless.  “I wish we could do something,” I finally said aloud.  “But all we can do is pray,” I added, hopelessly.  As I heard my own words verbalized, the light bulb went on.  The first and best thing we can and should do for people is pray!  God doesn’t lack the power, creativity and resources to change a hopeless situation.  We’ve got to trust Him, to run to Him first with all of our worries, problems, and questions–in our lives and in the lives of others.  Ultimately, everyone’s biggest need, to be rescued from eternal separation from God, has been provided in Jesus for everyone who believes.  That gift of belief, or faith, requires the power of God to change human hearts.  We can trust the God who changes hearts to be able to provide all of the lesser things in this life as well.

So I rejoice that even when I can’t see how things could possibly work out, that I can do something.  I can go straight to the One who can help in all situations.  Thank YOU for laboring with us in prayer!

Naomi just started consistently walking a couple of weeks ago. I love the determined look on her face as she focuses on taking each step. Sometimes at home she just walks “laps” up and down the hall, around and around the living room. Once I think she did this for 20 minutes straight. Just enjoying walking. Granted, she usually has to be holding something at the same time, but she is focused on the walking. That’s a great picture of how I would like to live–simply walking with God and enjoying the journey.

I can get so discouraged when I look around for visible fruit of “my” investing in people. I start to think that I need to come up with the perfect words to speak to a person in a certain situation. That I need to make them see and understand how great it is to walk with God. That I need to see the fruit of my labors in order to make living and working here “worth it.” How prideful to think that I have any power in myself to change human hearts, or to think my agenda is more important than God’s! How prideful and demanding to want God to show me success in the way I define it, in order for me to be motivated to do what He has called me to do.

What makes everything worth it in this life is the privilege of getting to know Him more and more in every situation. I’m learning that the main thing He is calling me to do is to walk with Him! In the moments that I grasp this, it is very freeing. God is at work, and I can trust that. Only His Holy Spirit can change people. I praise Him that He’s changing me! This motivates me to pray for people and to love them as God works through me.

God wants my life be an example of His goodness, and I should first of all ask Him what He wants to teach me and change in me, not how He wants me to solve everyone’s problems. This continues to be very humbling for me. It’s not the kind of teaching that I had in mind! To really let people into my life means I let them see not only the things He has done, the victories He has won, but also the sin that He is currently cleaning up. Being honest with people by admitting I don’t have it all together, that I need God’s grace moment by moment, that I struggle with sin–this is painfully humbling to my self–but I know that it glorifies God.

So what is God wanting me to teach people? Nothing…that is, in my own strength. He wants me to humbly walk with Him and allow Him to work in me and through me–for His purposes, His glory, His agenda–and for His people.

My husband and I are celebrating four years of marriage this week. We’ve talked about how it now feels like we have a little bit of mileage behind us, although four years isn’t a long time. Just that we’re out of the newlywed stage now and are also learning to be parents. Man, that first 2 weeks of parenthood was SO rough! Sleep deprivation is a horrible thing! Yet in those first two weeks we had to work like a team like never before and I was so thankful to have help! I literally could NOT have survived those weeks without my husband. His voice of reason that contrasted my hormonally-messed-up mind and his ability to calmly problem-solve and come up with a plan were invaluable. It has been a joy and a source of pride to see how God has really helped Matt shine in his new role as a father.

I could go on and on about what a good father Matt is, and maybe I will in another post. In thinking about our four years of marriage, however, one of the things I appreciate most about my husband is how he has counseled me and pointed me towards the gospel. We are currently going through a course on how to counsel people biblically and I am learning the importance of listening well and asking good questions, neither of which I am good at. But these are things that Matt has done well for me, and through these acts of love, God has been changing me, helping me see the root sin issues that are the actual causes of why I act and react the way that I do to life (see James 4:1-10). Most of the time I don’t see the root sin immediately. In the moment I may react to Matt in an unloving way or just be “in a mood” and not sure myself what I am feeling and why. But through talking things out with Matt after some time, I am beginning to recognize my ungodly motivations and desires easier and quicker, and am able to ask myself some questions about my motivations and the condition of my heart.

The point is, I’ve found that when I recognize the root sin, and not just believe that the way I react to life is only the product of factors like emotions, stress, or circumstances, I can gain victory through Christ by confessing the sin (my heart attitude toward God) and allowing Him to work through me to put sin to death, as in the “put off and put on” passages (Ephesians 4:17-5:2; Colossians 3:1-17). I can actually get out of a rut of always reacting a certain way and not knowing why when I let God’s truth instruct me and then run to Him for help, instead of trying to improve myself in my own strength and not getting anywhere.

So what are the good questions Matt asks me while he listens? Mostly variations of, “What do you mean?”, as I share how I feel and he wants to clarify. Also, “what made you react by doing such and such and how were you hoping to solve things by that? He also re-states what I say to make sure he’s hearing me correctly or so that I can explain it better. Most of the time the result is that I realize that I am putting my “kingdom” above God’s kingdom, and when I don’t get what I want, I react in an ungodly way (see again James 4:1-10). So that’s a question I’m trying to start asking myself as I’m deciding how to react: “Whose kingdom am I focused on right now?” When I remember that God’s will in every situation is for me to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29), I’m better able to trust Him in the moment and act in a more God-glorifying way.

Proverbs 20:5 states, “The purpose in a man’s heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” This is exactly what Matt does when he listens and it is such a blessing to me. As Matt and I continue on this journey together, I too want to grow in loving him by listening well and asking good questions. For a really helpful resource for your own personal reflection, check out David Powlison’s X-Ray Questions.

Snow globe museum in Vienna – latimes.com

It’s early Saturday evening and we Ecks make our way to the 10th district of Vienna for our once-monthly visit to the Iranian church. Actually, it’s one of four Iranian churches in Vienna, but we are familiar with this one because our friend David is the pastor. He has asked Matt to preach once a month while he translates the message into Farsi (the language of Iran; understood by Afghans also). We are happy to help out David however we can, as he also holds down a full-time job in addition to being a pastor and volunteering at the Oasis two nights a week.

Matt and I arrive early and are able to join a few other church members in a time of prayer before the service. Our friends Anwar and Reza are there, both of whom also volunteer at the Oasis with us. Anwar also attends Calvary Chapel with us and was the first to invite us to Calvary. A young woman named Linda is also in the group. She, along with David, will eventually start taking piano lessons from me, with the goal of being trained as church musicians to provide live worship music for the service. We take turns praying around the table, and after each person’s prayer, the group says together, “Ah-meen.”

We conclude our time, and Matt and I are invited to take our seats in the meeting hall where the service will take place. We walk in to find two long rows of tables beautifully and simply decorated in citrus colors with napkins, candles, and dried flowers. Anwar comes up to chat with us in German and admits to the handiwork. Tonight there will be a big meal after the service, and already the smell of exotic spices wafts in from the kitchen. I try to name the spices I’m smelling. Is it turmeric? Cardamom? Alas, I’m not as familiar with these aromas. This will be Matt’s and my first experience with Persian food. We are excited.

People begin entering the church, shaking hands with each other and greeting each other with “Salaam.” After everyone takes their seats, the service begins. There are several times of scripture reading and prayer interspersed between the Persian worship songs, which are played from a recording and displayed with slides on the screen up front as everyone sings along. Matt and I participate by clapping on the beat with everyone and trying our best to figure out some of the Farsi words. I like the songs and hope to learn some of them. After an hour of worship, prayer, and scripture reading, Matt is called up to the podium to give the message.

Matt speaks in English as David translates into Farsi, introducing himself and me, and then diving into a message of unity from James 4. After the sermon, we enjoy getting to know some of the people over a nice meal of chicken cooked in a tomato sauce, saffron rice with dried red currants, and beef cooked in a green-leaf sauce, like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Apparently the man who volunteered to cook everything had been hard at work since morning. We later find out he used to officially work as a chef. We are encouraged by people’s comments that Matt’s sermon really touched on what people needed to hear. After having tea and chatting some more, we say goodbye to our friends old and new, thankful to God and looking forward to next time.

Each summer for a number of years now, Austria has been fortunate to welcome a group of high school students and their leaders from Denton Bible Church. This group of specially selected students help put on a Christian “English Teenager Camp” along with a team of Austrian young people from various churches. This camp is a huge blessing and really helps grow the youth ministry our team leader, Russ, heads up. This summer is really significant, because Austrian believers whom Russ has been mentoring are for the first time taking head leadership of the camp as Russ and his family are in the States. Such a milestone is a cause for celebration and praise for what God is and has been doing here. Please pray that even after the camp finishes up today that the fruit of the ministry would last.After spending the night at Russ’s church and getting in a good breakfast the next morning, the team spent their first full day in Vienna getting oriented and sightseeing in order to fight off jet lag. The next day they traveled to their camp destination far away from the city into the beautiful mountains.
Some of the Denton Bible students, leaders, and a couple of Austrians. They were very excited to get started, and we were very glad to greet them and thank them for coming! We were especially glad to have two of the leaders come a couple of weeks early to explore the possibility of joining our team here in Austria long-term. This is a huge answer to prayer. Though we are just starting ministry here, we see God doing so much and we are very excited about the possiblity of God sending new workers for the harvest.