Ready to Roll!
June 25, 2008
(last newsletter Mar. 14, 2008)

News from JEFF AND LISA GRIFFITH
with Joshua, David, & Jonathan


NEW ADDRESS:
V Zatisi 1001
278 01 Kralupy nad Vltavou
Czech Republic
EMAIL: Griffith@teamczech.org * SKYPE: jgprague
GOOGLETALK: griffithgreen@gmail.com

Serving with

NEW ZIP CODE
PO BOX 969 * WHEATON, IL 60187-0969
TEL.: 603 653 5300 * http://www.teamworld.org
http://www.teamcanada.org * http://www.teamczech.org

Answers to prayer: Items for prayer:
• David sleeping through the night * Lucie, Milada, & others to come to faith
• Details for Kralupy coming together * Final transfer of English ministry (P13)
• Full staff for English camps * remaining details for camps
* camp time

Special events to pray for: *apartment remodeling to finish on time
July 5-12 Family English Camp * David to get into preschool next fall
2nd ½July -moving to Kralupy * boys to quickly make new friends
August 9-16 –Youth camp (Kralupy) * ministry & storage space
Sept. 1- 1st day of school for Josh in Kralupy * value of the dollar would stop dropping
Sept. 5-7 TEAM conference

Ok, so we’re not quite “ready to roll”, but we’d better be soon! English camps & our move to Kralupy are just around the corner. We still have quite a few loose ends to tie up before our first camp in about a week. Teaching & program staff will be arriving this weekend, & there’s a lot to do yet to help them prepare as well. We enjoy it, but it seems like a whirlwind the last few weeks before camp.

We’re grateful this year to have some extra help in the form of TEAMServers (people who come through TEAM for a short-term mission). Ben (Canada) arrived May 28, Jared (US) & Karissa (Canada) June 15, and Annemarie & Jenny (both US) will arrive June 26. They’ll be helping not only with various camps besides ours, but also with all sorts of other things, including coffee bars, helping us move, & watching the boys when there are things only we can do.

Last week, Jeff, Ben, Jared, & Karissa spoke in the high school English classes in Kralupy and were able to advertise the Friday night coffee bar & youth camp. So far, 8 students from the classes have registered for camp.

We have several staff returning from last year’s family camp & once again we are fully staffed. We’re grateful for that, especially knowing that the $ hit an all-time low against the Czech crown. The theme at family English camp this year is trust and at the youth camp it’s “creative juices” (creation). Pray that what is said and lived out by staff and other Christians attending would draw the unbelievers to Christ.

Lucie, a mom Lisa spent time with each week at Josh’s sports club, is still deciding whether to attend. We’re praying she will in order to facilitate connecting her with other believers before we move. Milada, another friend, sadly, seems further from coming to Christ than she did a year ago. We’ve spent a significant amount of time with her & the kids on Saturdays especially, but her spiritual interest has waned. She never made it to Jonathan’s dedication, although Josh & David’s preschool teacher did. It was only the 2nd time in her life she’d ever been in a church setting (the 1st was for her brother’s wedding).

Josh and David are recognizing this lack of church background not only in their teacher, but also in their classmates. They say “___ is my friend, but (s)he doesn’t know God.” It’s a joy to see them want to pray for their friends & teacher.

Thank you for praying for us in the area of sleep! With only a few exceptions, David has slept through the night for the past 2 months or so! Unfortunately Jonathan has been sick (allergies) &/or teething (16 teeth now) much of that time, so we still haven’t gotten as much sleep as we’d like, but at least there’s hope. ? Of course with camps & moving coming up, sufficient, quality sleep could be a challenge. Please pray for the boys with all the transitions they’ll face this summer.

The apartment we’ll move into in Kralupy is being remodeled & should be ready by July 12 –pray that it would be. We don’t plan to move until the end of the month, but it’d be nice to move things in gradually, & with all our allergies, we need time for it to air out from the paint & other “chemicals” used in remodeling. There are other things that aren’t “settled” yet, such as storage & ministry space, & whether David will get into preschool, but we’re trusting God to meet our needs & show us what are only desires, not true needs. We’re so grateful for what we have, especially when we read & see pictures of all the devastation wreaked by floods & tornados back in the US.

And now for a few “bookkeeping” details. Please send any correspondence, including address changes, either to our email address or to
our new mailing address effective August 1, 2008:

Jeff & Lisa Griffith
V Zatisi 1001
278 01 Kralupy nad Vltavou
Czech Republic

Please do not use the Janesville, IA address, it’s only for mailing out our newsletters. For support checks only, use the TEAM address, & note that
TEAM has a new zip code:
60187 -0969
In addition, there is some information from TEAM we’ve been asked to pass on. See the back panel for information about personal gifts (as opposed to ministry gifts).
Thanks for all your prayers & contributions on our behalf. We truly appreciate you. And, especially if you live in an area affected by the flooding & tornados, know that we’re praying for you too.
Serving Him,

Jeff & Lisa Griffith
Joshua, David, & Jonathan

PS: Personal gifts sent to TEAM
The IRS does not allow funds that have been receipted as tax deductible to result in private or personal advantage. When individuals send personal gifts to TEAM for a missionary this is not a concern since we issue a non tax deductible receipt. However when a church sends funds to TEAM we are assuming they have issued tax deductible receipts for the funds they have collected and are passing to us the responsibility to report the income correctly.

When a church sends funds to TEAM we are assuming they have issued tax deductible receipts for the funds they have collected and are passing to us the responsibility to report the income correctly.

When personal gifts come to TEAM for a missionary:
- If the check is made out to the missionary, we will contact them and ask where we can forward the check – we are not able to process checks that are not made out to TEAM.
- If the check is made out to TEAM and is from an individual, we will credit the missionary’s personal #5 account and send a non tax deductible receipt to the person.
- If the check is made out to TEAM and is from a church or other tax exempt organization:
- and is less than $200 we will process it as a credit to the #5.
- and is more than $200 we will process it as a credit to the missionary’s work funds and arrange payment to their bank from work funds as taxable income.

This provision is for occasional personal gifts sent in by churches and is not possible for regular transfers of funds intended for personal use. In cases where a regular transfer of funds is involved, as opposed to a one time or occasional gift, the funds would be considered regular support.

Serving Him,

Jeff & Lisa Griffith
Joshua, David, & Jonathan

P.S. TEAM can no longer process checks made out to us; please put TEAM in the “pay to” blank. Our name can be on the “memo” line if desired.

TEAM . PO BOX 969 . WHEATON, IL 60189-0969 .
TEL.: 800.343.3144 . 603.653.5300 . Fax: 603.653.1826
http://www.teamworld.org | http://www.teamcanada.org | http://www.teamczech.org