On January 22 Jana and I signed a contract to purchase a piece of property in a village near Banská Bystrica. In the Google Earth image you can see the property under the text in the lower right. [Read more…]
Elisabeth and Max on Our New Place (video)
I guess Max is not so excited about our new living arrangements but Elisabeth is able to find some advantages. Rather than write a boring post about our recent move I’ve decided to interview Elisabeth and Max for their perspective on the whole thing.
Click on through to see the video and don’t forget to write down our new address. [Read more…]
We’re Moving! (map)
The recent developments with Narnia Elementary School mean that our current residence, which belongs to our church, is being sold to help pay for the new school grounds. As a result, we’re moving to a new apartment. [Read more…]
The City Council Meets on Tuesday!
The school started on Monday of this week (Sep 2–it’s always the first week day in September) and so life here has started once again. For example, all summer long I enjoyed empty streets on my way to work. On Monday we had traffic jams.
Finance Committee Recommends Sale of Property
The beginning of the school year also kickstarted the purchase of the school property you see above. We found out that the city’s Finance Committee recommended the direct sale of the property to our congregation for 900,000 EUR ($1.2 M).
Home is Where…
It looks like the purchase of school property is getting closer. That means that the sale of the house we live in is also getting closer. And so continues our hunt for a new home.
A Wandering Aramean is my Father
I once heard it said that you should never complain (or brag) to a missionary or a military person about how many times you have moved because it’s quite likely that your experience will pale in comparison to theirs. And it’s true, that even though we’re missionaries and have moved a lot, we haven’t moved as much as some we know. So with that bit of wisdom in mind, and without bragging or complaining, I thought I’d run through a few of our life stats with respect to Patterson mobility.
And you shall make response before the Lord your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders…’
Deut 26:5-8
Life in Banská Bystrica (Interactive Map)
I put together a little interactive map of our life and ministry in Banská Bystrica. You can click on the caption link to go to a bigger map or you can use the map below to explore our lives in Slovakia. Click on the icons on the map to find out more information about where we go to school and work or where we have some fun. You can also zoom out and find other cities in Slovakia where we’ve been involved in ministry over the years.
View our Ministry map in a larger window