English and Power Tools

As usual I must apologize for my infrequent posts. I'm sure you understand how busy life gets sometimes. So I warn you, this is a long post. Hang in there if you can, there is some good stuff! I wanted to give a quick update on our AMAZING service project to Opava, Czech Republic. More information and pictures to come. Also, if you are on my mailing list please look for my newsletter coming to a mailbox near you shortly! (Hopefully it will be your mailbox or I have the wrong address!) If you are not on my mailing list but want to be, shoot me a quick email with your info.
Ok, diving in...April 4-12th we took 35 high school students to Mendolova Gynmasium to do ESL programs (English as a Second Language) as well as a small building project (we built a Pergola to be used as an outdoor classroom.) Our students gave up their Spring Break and various trips with their families to warm destinations all over Europe to serve the students who ranged in age from 10-20 in Opava. Opava is considered the "black hole of spirituality" in the Czech Republic and pastors as well as teachers from all over the area have been praying that someone would come and help them share the gospel with their people. To them, we were that answer. We really focused on building relationships with these Czech Students as well as serving them throughout the week. At the beginning we were met with some hesitation...this country was ruled by communism for years and years, but by the end of the week we were able to pass out bibles to students we had friendships with in both Czech and English as well as exchanging emails and pictures. At night we went back to the hotel where we were staying to join with about 360 other students doing Service Projects through MCYM at other sites around the area. We had some amazing worship music and truly wonderful speakers who challenged and encouraged our students.
I personally had a great time just sitting down at lunch with these Czech Students hearing about their lives and answering questions about mine, as well as really building relationships with the students we brought on the trip. It was a wonderful time to just hang out and get to know them and we pretty much had the freedom to talk about anything we wanted in the school as long as it was in English (which was helpful since none of us speak Czech.) The picture attached is my small group. I had a blast getting to know them and have had even more fun sharing life with them since we have been back home! Please pray for these girls. They are seeking God and I have seen some definite growth since we have returned.
Please pray for the Czech students that we have built relationships with and the seeds that we hopefully planted, as well as the local Young Life staff person, Jirka, who is starting up a ministry at this school. Also pray for our students that they won't lose that "camp high" but will have forever changed lives!
I leave you with an email from an American missionary in Opava. This is a snippet of some of the amazing things that were happening behind the scenes as well....

I've been getting some responses back from people involved in the Service Project this week, and I've been very pleased with the results of this project. It seems that the project rearranged a LOT of people's perceptions of Christianity and Christians... and challenged a lot of the Christians in their walks. On Sunday, Mr. Gebauer (Brian’s Principal) was invited up to talk about what happened, and he choked back tears as he described the power of seeing 50 kids walking around his school for over a half hour praying for his students that first Sunday afternoon. He also talked about how grateful he was for the opportunities he had to share his faith throughout the week because of the MCYM kids. At the Elim staff meeting on Monday, the conversation changed from the question we've long discussed ('Can transformative ministry even happen with the kids here at Elim?') to 'How can we create transformative ministry for our kids here?' It's a HUGE step in a very short time. We plan to talk through philosophy of ministry next Monday morning to give them the tools to think about how it can happen. One (non-Christian) staff member at Elim said that the place was pulsing last week with such a positive spirit that she wants you back much more often! This is remarkable that she felt this considering the fact that she does not even speak English. (Vera spent some time with her today talking with her about her testimony and telling her about the One who gives this Spirit.) This woman also told us that her daughter goes to Sramkova (Pam's site), and that the change in the atmosphere at the school was tremendous (that school needed it, and I challenged the MCYM kids on the first day there with this... apparently they took me seriously!). Apparently her daughter cried when she got sick on Friday and couldn't make it to say 'good-bye'.

One night we invited the principals of the schools to our evening program to thank them for letting us invade their schools. After their part, the regular evening program of worship and Bible teaching continued. The principal sitting next to me was amazed when he saw 360 teens singing. I spent the next half hour trying to explain that worship is a perfectly normal thing for Christians. Our discussion touched on Bach, the Hebrew Psalms in the Bible, and Charles Wesley as I pointed out that Christians throughout the ages sing praises to God. At one point he even argued that the music we provide is surely very different from the music in churches, or they wouldn't sing like this. The obvious reply as they started singing 'In Christ Alone'... I'm sure that the vast majority of these kids sing these songs in their churches at home. Instead of dull, unengaging and typical teenagers, this one person saw these Christians as transformed, vibrant and completely different from his students. Again, one person's shattered presuppositions about Christians.

One other interesting thing I found out later (but didn't include in my newsletter)... apparently Jirka was having a very similar conversation with another school official that night a little to my left, and the Gebauers were having the same conversation with the city official that evening a little to my right. It's apparently something God wanted to teach that evening across the board.