Dear friends and partners,
The first month of 2021 has brought new hopes and old challenges. The pandemic is still not under control and the lockdowns still bring inconveniences to our lives. On the other hand, vaccinations are finally on the move and we all hope that soon our lives will come back to normal.
All the Slovak schools, including ours, remained closed during January. Most of our students studied online. However, students with special needs and students whose parents work in hospitals, social care homes, and other frontline services were allowed to learn in classrooms with a teacher. Of course, it is a double load for our teachers who have to give instructions both online and in person. However, it reflects our spirit in these challenging days, willing to walk an extra mile to offer the best service possible under given circumstances.
We see the same spirit among you, our friends and partners. In these perplexing times people tend to focus more on their individual needs and forget others. However, you remain faithful and keep supporting our mission even though you see it only online. This sure is the extra mile that Jesus speaks about in Matthew 5:41. Your generosity is a great witness of the work of the Holy Spirit and we thank you for this from the bottom of our hearts!
Some of you even began to plan mission trips to CCE in this summer! Of course, we do not know how the world is going to look like in June and July, but your move is a great expression of faith that God, not some virus, controls our world. He alone is in charge and least we can do is to get ready for better times. We hope and are looking forward to this summer to welcome all of you in Martin so that we can continue our mission together.
As you know from the November Newsletter, the Visual Art and Music Studios are fully financed and we hope to show you them full of students in the next newsletter. Our maintenance staff is now fixing a specialized classroom for teaching manual skills like carpentry and so forth. Their initiative is again that extra mile that makes our school exceptional.
The Indoor Gym with the budget of $240,500 remains the last and biggest challenge to complete our Community Center. We ask you to prayerfully consider donating to this project. It will noticeably improve our service to our children and enhance our mission to the community. After all the lockdowns, it will probably be our busiest facility. 
May this spirit of the extra mile underscore our coming in and going out in this new year!
Yours in His service,
Adrian Kacian, Director of Development Bohdan Hroboň, president of CCE
| | Ways to GIVE | Make your tax-deductible gift in one of these ways: | ||
| Through Vision Slovakia | Through the New Heights Foundation | Through Your Home Church |
| Paul Berge, Director St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church 900 Stillwater Road, Mahtomedi, MN 55115 (651)-762-9143 pberge@saintandrews.org |
Mark Johnson, Board Member 7913 NE 58th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98665 360-606-7505, mjohnson@traxxcorp.com |
If your church is a partner of the Center for Christian Education, make a donation noting “CCE” in the memo line of your check. Your church’s business office will include your contribution along with its regular support. |
