Last fall I had the opportunity to meet with a Czech language partner. Every Wednesday Mirka would help me with my Czech and I got to help her with her translation of the American novel "Christy" ! :) For the past 10 years Mirka has been translating "Christy" from English into Czech. Her translation is nearly complete! (Would anyone be interested in sponsoring the publication of this book in the Czech language??!)
This Christian novel is based on a true story about a young schoolteacher who goes to teach at a mission school in the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Because of the setting, the novel includes a lot of slang and "mountain dialect" (which was certainly a challenge for Mirka in the translation process as she tried to find the Czech equivalent of the meanings of the mountain slang words.)
Mirka was kind enough to let me borrow an extra copy of the novel and I really enjoyed the book! It was an encouragement to me to read about the young teacher Christy's struggles during her first year because this is also my first year of teaching! The book helped me to put things in perspective...I became grateful that I didn't have a herd of pigs living under my classroom, that all of my students have textbooks to use that are at their level and that people in my community are not battling typhoid or other diseases. (I guess the Lord gives strength to all in the proportion that they need it, but the community in the novel certainly had a lot of challenges to face!)
I was excited to learn that the novel "Christy" has also been made into a TV movie series! One of my friends here has all of the DVDs and she was generous enough to let me borrow them! We have been able to haev two "Christy movie parties" so far. On Saturday afternoons at 1:00 girls (including my students from my classes, students from English camp, Czech friends and other missionaries) have come over to enjoy refreshments and then watch "Christy" together! It has been a fun time of fellowship with good discussion about Christian themes. I'm hoping that we'll be able to enjoy more parties in the upcoming months too! :)
I am thankful for Christian authors (like Catherine Marshall, author of Christy) who are bold enough to write honestly about the realities of life from a Christian perspective. Let's pray that as we are challenged by other peoples' walks with the Lord that we will be motivated to find new faith and trust in our God who is the same yesterday, today and forever, who always loves us and who is always with us! :)
For more information about the "Christy" movie series, please check out this link:
http://members.tripod.com/~Constance_2/index.html
Thanks! :)
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Worship nights
Over the past few months my roommate and I have been hosting worship nights at our apartment with our neighbors Petr and Mirka. It has been such a blessing.
I realized before Christmas that my soul had felt like it was withering away without being filled with regular worship in English...so it was time to find ways to try to fill this emptiness.
Thankfully others were willing to engage in worship of the Lord Jesus with me too! We found some chords and lyrics in Czech and English and with Petr's accompaniment on the guitar, the worship nights came to life. :)
Various groups of people gathered here at the apartment on the different worship night occasions, so each evening of fellowship had a little different flavor, but I think that the evenings were a blessing to all who were able to come.
We worshipped the Lord together!
We also enjoyed each others company over coffee/tea and other refreshments, spent time praying together, conversed about the Word and other important life topics and read some Scripture together. It was so refreshing to be in the presence of other believers, discuss important questions and share life togehter.
Let's pray that all in this community will live with their hearts filled with worship and praise the our God, the one who loves us and who made us.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
"Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts." -Ephesians 5:19
I realized before Christmas that my soul had felt like it was withering away without being filled with regular worship in English...so it was time to find ways to try to fill this emptiness.
Thankfully others were willing to engage in worship of the Lord Jesus with me too! We found some chords and lyrics in Czech and English and with Petr's accompaniment on the guitar, the worship nights came to life. :)
Various groups of people gathered here at the apartment on the different worship night occasions, so each evening of fellowship had a little different flavor, but I think that the evenings were a blessing to all who were able to come.
We worshipped the Lord together!
We also enjoyed each others company over coffee/tea and other refreshments, spent time praying together, conversed about the Word and other important life topics and read some Scripture together. It was so refreshing to be in the presence of other believers, discuss important questions and share life togehter.
Let's pray that all in this community will live with their hearts filled with worship and praise the our God, the one who loves us and who made us.
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his [a] ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
"Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts." -Ephesians 5:19
Goulash!
Our church has decided to have parties after the services on all of the "fifth Sundays" of the year to encourage community and fellowship. For the "fifth Sunday" in January we had a community dinner that was pretty exciting...the theme for the luncheon was traditional Czech goulash!
I had the opportunity to learn to make Czech goulash with my neighbors Petr and Mirka on the day before the party. It was quite amazing...they had purchased the ingredients and there were pounds and pounds of meat...Petr said that he had purchased all of the pork that the local butcher had available! It was enough to make at least 50 poritons of the goulash! We cut up all of the pork and many, many onions. Then Mirka started cooking the goulash in four different kettles-using every burner on her stove. We added spices like paprika and we each took turns stirring. The stew boiled for at least four hours...and it turned out well!
The actual party was quite a bonding experience for all in attendance. There was enough goulash for everyone to eat their fill and it was served with rye bread and cranberry sauce. Other guests brought more tasty food contributions such as Czech salads and desserts. It was a fun event!
Let's pray that the people who come to Skalka will feel welcomed as part of the family of God and that the name of the Lord Jesus will be praised by all! :)
I had the opportunity to learn to make Czech goulash with my neighbors Petr and Mirka on the day before the party. It was quite amazing...they had purchased the ingredients and there were pounds and pounds of meat...Petr said that he had purchased all of the pork that the local butcher had available! It was enough to make at least 50 poritons of the goulash! We cut up all of the pork and many, many onions. Then Mirka started cooking the goulash in four different kettles-using every burner on her stove. We added spices like paprika and we each took turns stirring. The stew boiled for at least four hours...and it turned out well!
The actual party was quite a bonding experience for all in attendance. There was enough goulash for everyone to eat their fill and it was served with rye bread and cranberry sauce. Other guests brought more tasty food contributions such as Czech salads and desserts. It was a fun event!
Let's pray that the people who come to Skalka will feel welcomed as part of the family of God and that the name of the Lord Jesus will be praised by all! :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Kid's Club
We have started the new semester at Kid's Club! We meet every Wednesday to study English and have a Bible time together.
Last semester for the Bible lessons we focused on God's Ten Commandments. This semester we will be studying "Heroes of faith" from the Old Testament.
Will you please pray with us that the attendance at Kid's Club will increase? We had quite a good turn-out at the beginning of the year, but recently only a few kids have been coming.
Will you please pray with us that it will be an enjoyable time for everyone, that the teaching will be truthful and filled with God's love, mercy and grace and that the kids will come to know the the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Friend?
Thank you.
Last semester for the Bible lessons we focused on God's Ten Commandments. This semester we will be studying "Heroes of faith" from the Old Testament.
Will you please pray with us that the attendance at Kid's Club will increase? We had quite a good turn-out at the beginning of the year, but recently only a few kids have been coming.
Will you please pray with us that it will be an enjoyable time for everyone, that the teaching will be truthful and filled with God's love, mercy and grace and that the kids will come to know the the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Friend?
Thank you.
New semester at Skalka
February marks the start of our second semester of classes, clubs and programs at Skalka!
We were pleased that some new students have already come to join in our classes this week. We hope that their hearts will be ready and that they will be open to hearing the words of the gospel-of repentance and forgiveness of sins!
This is a great privelege and a great opportunity to reach out to new people with different circles of influence in our society here.
We are hoping that the students will feel welcome, that they will find a class at the level that matches their ability and that they will get integrated into the classroom environment.
May their lives be changed and their hearts be touched with the truth that they hear about the love of God and the grace that we have through the blood of the Lord Jesus our Savior!
"In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12)
Will you please join us in prayer for this next semester? We would love to see the fruit of faith growing in peoples' hearts here!
Thank you!
We were pleased that some new students have already come to join in our classes this week. We hope that their hearts will be ready and that they will be open to hearing the words of the gospel-of repentance and forgiveness of sins!
This is a great privelege and a great opportunity to reach out to new people with different circles of influence in our society here.
We are hoping that the students will feel welcome, that they will find a class at the level that matches their ability and that they will get integrated into the classroom environment.
May their lives be changed and their hearts be touched with the truth that they hear about the love of God and the grace that we have through the blood of the Lord Jesus our Savior!
"In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12)
Will you please join us in prayer for this next semester? We would love to see the fruit of faith growing in peoples' hearts here!
Thank you!
Lessons learned from the January craft night at Skalka!
Yay! The other night we had our monthly craft night outreach event at Skalka! This time we got to make earrings. I was quite excited for the event because my family has a tradition of making earrings and I was looking forward to have the chance to pass on some of the knowledge that I have to the people who came.
My co-worker Michelle and I had gone shopping at the bead store earlier in the week for supplies (which was really fun) and I was feeling quite proud about being able to be the earring making helper/instructor. I was quite humbled at the event though. I had drawn a diagram for making the earrings on the board and was getting ready to teach the people who had come how to make them. I had assumed that the people wouldn't have any experience with making earrings, but oh, I was wrong!
One of my students, Jitka, from one of my weekly English classes was there with her daughter. I was really excited to see her there. She always comes to class with a smile and a cheerful attitude, but in the past was reserved and was rarely very talkative. When I started to explain the pattern for the earrings to her, she smiled and nodded. I could sense that she thought that this was simple and that she already had a good understanding of the earring making process.
Yes, so my "important knowledge" wasn't as "important" as I had thought, hmmm, sheepish grin...It was quite a pleasure to get to watch Jitka work with her daughter to craft some lovely pairs of earrings throughout the night though! Oh, what a good reminder that we are all blessed with certain unique gifts and talents. It turned out that one of Jitka's is jewlery making! I must remember that while not everyone may excel at learning English, that doesn't mean that they are not highly capable in one of the multitudinous areas of life in which there are to excel! Praise God that He made us each different and unique!! :)
I also noticed this uniqueness in the designs for the earrings that people chose to create. My co-worker Michelle and I bought beads for the earrings in many colors...but it was so interesting to me to see how people came up with combinations of beads that looked really good together that I never would have imagined! Praise the Lord for how we all have different tastes and preferences and even with these differences we are all made in the image of God and we all display something of His glory! :) God is a God of diversity! How awesome it is that he receives and deserves glory from people in all cultures around the world who outwardly appear different, but inwardly we were all made to glorify and praise Him!!
"And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." (Revelation 5:9)
Yes! Jesus is worthy to receive glory from people in every tribe, language, people and nation! (Including the Czech people and the American people too!) :)
As we were shopping for the beading supplies before the event, I was struck by a realization...in some mission fields, the missionaries would be offering literal food to the people they were ministering to, whereas here in our ministry location we are offering jewelery...??? Hmmm...well, it is true that here in Prague many peoples' physical needs are provided for, but EVERYONE still has a common need-something that is shared across cultures and social classes. This is the need for MERCY, grace, forgiveness and LOVE. This is the need for a SAVIOR-someone who will take away our sins and bring us back into unity with God the Father! This is the need for redemption and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!
That need is met by Jesus Christ alone. No matter what country a person is in, no matter what physical or other needs a person might need to have met, everyone shares the same deep need for the truth that God offers. This is the truth that "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
This truth is still the same whether people are receiving bread from a worker in Africa, or whether they hear this truth while participating in a craft night here at Skalka in Prague!
Our hope is that the relationships that begin at these Skalka craft nights will help will help those who are searching for truth make vital connections with people in the Skalka community. We hope that as they continue to be involved that the truth will grow in their lives and they will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Will you please join us in this prayer? Thank you! :)
My co-worker Michelle and I had gone shopping at the bead store earlier in the week for supplies (which was really fun) and I was feeling quite proud about being able to be the earring making helper/instructor. I was quite humbled at the event though. I had drawn a diagram for making the earrings on the board and was getting ready to teach the people who had come how to make them. I had assumed that the people wouldn't have any experience with making earrings, but oh, I was wrong!
One of my students, Jitka, from one of my weekly English classes was there with her daughter. I was really excited to see her there. She always comes to class with a smile and a cheerful attitude, but in the past was reserved and was rarely very talkative. When I started to explain the pattern for the earrings to her, she smiled and nodded. I could sense that she thought that this was simple and that she already had a good understanding of the earring making process.
Yes, so my "important knowledge" wasn't as "important" as I had thought, hmmm, sheepish grin...It was quite a pleasure to get to watch Jitka work with her daughter to craft some lovely pairs of earrings throughout the night though! Oh, what a good reminder that we are all blessed with certain unique gifts and talents. It turned out that one of Jitka's is jewlery making! I must remember that while not everyone may excel at learning English, that doesn't mean that they are not highly capable in one of the multitudinous areas of life in which there are to excel! Praise God that He made us each different and unique!! :)
I also noticed this uniqueness in the designs for the earrings that people chose to create. My co-worker Michelle and I bought beads for the earrings in many colors...but it was so interesting to me to see how people came up with combinations of beads that looked really good together that I never would have imagined! Praise the Lord for how we all have different tastes and preferences and even with these differences we are all made in the image of God and we all display something of His glory! :) God is a God of diversity! How awesome it is that he receives and deserves glory from people in all cultures around the world who outwardly appear different, but inwardly we were all made to glorify and praise Him!!
"And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." (Revelation 5:9)
Yes! Jesus is worthy to receive glory from people in every tribe, language, people and nation! (Including the Czech people and the American people too!) :)
As we were shopping for the beading supplies before the event, I was struck by a realization...in some mission fields, the missionaries would be offering literal food to the people they were ministering to, whereas here in our ministry location we are offering jewelery...??? Hmmm...well, it is true that here in Prague many peoples' physical needs are provided for, but EVERYONE still has a common need-something that is shared across cultures and social classes. This is the need for MERCY, grace, forgiveness and LOVE. This is the need for a SAVIOR-someone who will take away our sins and bring us back into unity with God the Father! This is the need for redemption and UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!
That need is met by Jesus Christ alone. No matter what country a person is in, no matter what physical or other needs a person might need to have met, everyone shares the same deep need for the truth that God offers. This is the truth that "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
This truth is still the same whether people are receiving bread from a worker in Africa, or whether they hear this truth while participating in a craft night here at Skalka in Prague!
Our hope is that the relationships that begin at these Skalka craft nights will help will help those who are searching for truth make vital connections with people in the Skalka community. We hope that as they continue to be involved that the truth will grow in their lives and they will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Will you please join us in this prayer? Thank you! :)
Homelessness in Prague
I have been saddened in recent days as I become more and more aware of the presence of homeless people here in our community in Prague. It is sad when, in the evenings, I hear the dumpster outside of our flat open. Instead of some neighbor going to the dumpster to put in their garbage it is often a person who is homeless opening up the dumpster to rummage through the trash in search of some food or some other "treasure." :( This is so sad!
What are we to do??! I have felt that a good solution would be to purchase bread for these homeless people. On a few occasions I have been able to do this. It was received with the question "proc?" ("why?") Unfortunately, I didn't have tracts in Czech to give them to let these people know that the reason is because Jesus loves them... I prayed for them. I pray that they will know the love of the Lord someday, somehow...
What do these homeless people look like? Well, often they are wearing dirty, soiled clothing which is not substantial enough to keep them warm in this chilly winter weather that we have been having. Usually they are carrying just a duffel bag with them...can you imagine fitting everything you own, all of your worldly posessions into one little bag?? I can't... :(
Where do they congregate? Well, I often see the homeless people near bus shelters or in the metro. Sometimes they ride the metros and busses all day for a place to stay warm. ...The other day, I was on the metro when the metro police came and asked a man (with a particularly powerful odor) to exit the metro at the next station. I felt bad because it was extremely cold outside that day.
I also noticed that in the summer the homeless people (and their dogs) spend time on the benches in the park near our church. We are the church! We are the ones who are supposed to be reaching out to help them! Oh, I pray for more grace, strength and humility to be able to do this.
The other day while shopping in our neighborhood market I had a very unpleasant experience...I was in line at the check out counter and I started to notice a very bad smell. I looked through my food to try to determine if something that I had chosen to purchase was rotten. I could not detect anything, but the awful smell was still there lingering in the air! I looked up and noticed that there was a homeless person behind me...and I realized that the stench was coming from him! How sad, how repulsively disgusting...oh how sad I felt for that man. Can you imagine not having a place to shower? To not have a place to wash yourself and get clean?? :( That is miserable. What a contrast to the "fragrance of Christ" that we Christians are supposed to be (2 Cor. 2:15)
Well, I just paid for my items and was putting them in the bag to get ready to leave. The homeless man was ready to pay for his few things too and he only had a handful of change. Was it right for me to pay for his items even though as I was doing so I noticed that there was a container of wine among them? ...I pray that the Lord will bring mercy and hope to this man and to others like him-that they will find their identity in Christ and that they will look forward to their eternal home in heaven with a new hope.
I was very very pleased and excited to learn that a church youth group called "Youth Praha" will be having an outreach event tomorrow evening in the city center to connect with the homeless people! Yay! I'm excited to join them. We have been asked to bring food, warm beverages, clothes, blankets and the good news about the love of Jesus Christ with us to share with them!! :)
Will you please pray with us?! Let's pray that the Lord will be pleased to come and meet physical needs...but more than that-that He will send His Holy Spirit to open peoples' hearts tomorrow-that they will see their need to repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
God is our provider and He meets all of our needs. (Matthew 6:31-33) This is good news! :) Let us trust the Lord that he will come and provide for these people the things that we are all looking for...things like a hope and a future...
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Let us trust God-that His promises are true, that He does love us, that He is sovereign and that He will provide for us all of our days by His loving grace and mercy.
What are we to do??! I have felt that a good solution would be to purchase bread for these homeless people. On a few occasions I have been able to do this. It was received with the question "proc?" ("why?") Unfortunately, I didn't have tracts in Czech to give them to let these people know that the reason is because Jesus loves them... I prayed for them. I pray that they will know the love of the Lord someday, somehow...
What do these homeless people look like? Well, often they are wearing dirty, soiled clothing which is not substantial enough to keep them warm in this chilly winter weather that we have been having. Usually they are carrying just a duffel bag with them...can you imagine fitting everything you own, all of your worldly posessions into one little bag?? I can't... :(
Where do they congregate? Well, I often see the homeless people near bus shelters or in the metro. Sometimes they ride the metros and busses all day for a place to stay warm. ...The other day, I was on the metro when the metro police came and asked a man (with a particularly powerful odor) to exit the metro at the next station. I felt bad because it was extremely cold outside that day.
I also noticed that in the summer the homeless people (and their dogs) spend time on the benches in the park near our church. We are the church! We are the ones who are supposed to be reaching out to help them! Oh, I pray for more grace, strength and humility to be able to do this.
The other day while shopping in our neighborhood market I had a very unpleasant experience...I was in line at the check out counter and I started to notice a very bad smell. I looked through my food to try to determine if something that I had chosen to purchase was rotten. I could not detect anything, but the awful smell was still there lingering in the air! I looked up and noticed that there was a homeless person behind me...and I realized that the stench was coming from him! How sad, how repulsively disgusting...oh how sad I felt for that man. Can you imagine not having a place to shower? To not have a place to wash yourself and get clean?? :( That is miserable. What a contrast to the "fragrance of Christ" that we Christians are supposed to be (2 Cor. 2:15)
Well, I just paid for my items and was putting them in the bag to get ready to leave. The homeless man was ready to pay for his few things too and he only had a handful of change. Was it right for me to pay for his items even though as I was doing so I noticed that there was a container of wine among them? ...I pray that the Lord will bring mercy and hope to this man and to others like him-that they will find their identity in Christ and that they will look forward to their eternal home in heaven with a new hope.
I was very very pleased and excited to learn that a church youth group called "Youth Praha" will be having an outreach event tomorrow evening in the city center to connect with the homeless people! Yay! I'm excited to join them. We have been asked to bring food, warm beverages, clothes, blankets and the good news about the love of Jesus Christ with us to share with them!! :)
Will you please pray with us?! Let's pray that the Lord will be pleased to come and meet physical needs...but more than that-that He will send His Holy Spirit to open peoples' hearts tomorrow-that they will see their need to repent and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
God is our provider and He meets all of our needs. (Matthew 6:31-33) This is good news! :) Let us trust the Lord that he will come and provide for these people the things that we are all looking for...things like a hope and a future...
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Let us trust God-that His promises are true, that He does love us, that He is sovereign and that He will provide for us all of our days by His loving grace and mercy.
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