Report to Faith Church

Thank you dear friends, family, congregation, Alan and Sally, Elders and Deacons, Czech mission team, and all those we have loved and been loved by for the past 33 years. God has used you to train, correct, nurture, and prepare us for the work that we are now going to do. We treasure the time we have had with you. It has been a privilege to serve the Lord with you. It is a great joy and privilege to be sent by you to the people of the Czech Republic. It is not an easy thing to leave your warm embrace.


Nearly all of our Christian lives have been spent here. The story of our call to missions started here with a series of short term mission trips to teach English in the Czech Republic. God made it plain to Annette in 2006 that we should go to the Czech Republic as missionaries; it took me a couple of years to understand that she was right. God is able to work with those who catch on quickly as well as those who take a good while longer. We have seen God’s hand in every facet of our walk toward the mission field. He has provided excellent training for us through Mission to the World. He has raised up financial and prayer support for us from people and places that we would never have thought about. He has used this congregation to encourage, supply, and bless us at every step.

The Czech people have a rich Christian heritage. After Jan Hus was martyred in 1415 for his bold reformist stand, the Czechs established a powerful nation in which the Gospel flourished for over 200 years.  In the early eighteenth century, the Moravians established the first significant protestant missionary movement in history and held a 24 hour prayer vigil that lasted 100 years. Sadly, these things are largely forgotten, or simply ignored, by 21st century Czechs.

God has birthed in our hearts a great desire to see Him raise up another Jan Hus, another Moravian missionary movement, another 100 year prayer meeting. Please pray with us for the Czech people. Today, they are one of the most atheistic nations on earth, and proud of it. Pray for revival there. Pray boldly and regularly. Please pray with us for the tiny Reformed Church in Zlin. Pray for the Pastor and leaders of the church.  Pray for the vision of the church members; they need to be stirred to action and prayer for their lost nation. Pray for the missionaries who are there; they have labored long with little fruit. Pray for us as we go; we will need God’s strength at every step. Please pray that God would raise up a new generation of missionaries to take our place.

One of our MTW trainers challenged us to consider that most of us have a very small vision for what God wants to do in His world. He asked us to think about the greatness of God and how our vision should match his glory. For God has said the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, even as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).

Instead of desiring to see God convert our next door neighbors, why not our whole neighborhood; instead of our neighborhood, why not our entire city; instead of our city why not our nation? Instead of a healthy little church in Zlin, why not a Christian Czech nation? Our vision is that on the last day, that great day of the Lord, when the LORD Christ asks “Who is here from among the Czech people?” we want to hear a thundering shout, and we want the whole Czech nation to be shouting on that day.

We love you so much.

Moving Day Pictures

For those who have asked, there are a few pictures of our moving day nearby. Enjoy!

The Time Has Come

The time we have longed for has now come and we are overwhelmed by God’s sweet grace to us through you.  We have seen God’s amazing grace shown to us time and time again. As we began this journey, the Lord clearly called Johnny and me - in different ways and at different times.  Now, that call has been confirmed, not only by Mission to the World, but by you.  Time and time again, we have seen God’s gracious confirmation through you, His people, for God has wooed and drawn your hearts to give sacrificially.  Praise be to God our glorious Savior!  Thank you for all the grace you have shown us in this journey.


The sweet lessons of grace we have learned from God’s hand will stand us in good stead as we move to another culture.  Our God remains the same, even though everything else in life changes.  He is steadfast.  As I read this morning, “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”

As we prepare to leave our hearts are torn in two.  We leave so many who are dear to our hearts. Experiencing community with so many of you as we sing and praise and wonder at the glorious provision God has made for us in Christ Jesus is a precious and holy time that we will miss. The Lord’s Supper was especially sweet as we rejoiced in the beauty, glory and supreme sacrifice of Christ; that He who knew no sin was made sin for us that might become the righteousness of Christ.

We have been warned of the emotional turmoil we will face in the days and months ahead. So we pray that God will give us His grace and strength to sustain and up hold us.  Only by His enabling will we be content and even thrive as we experience a greater dependence upon Him and a deeper contentment with all the He is for us.


Even though we are torn at leaving you, our hearts long with great expectation at what is set before us.  We pray for revival within the Church in the Czech Republic.  We long to see our friends, and those we are yet to meet, come to see Christ as their all in all.  Oh, that God’s Word would run and be glorified throughout that beautiful, but spiritually dark land.  Please pray with us that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ will break forth and shine as the noon day sun upon hundreds—thousands—even millions of Czechs.

Please give thanks and pray with us:

Johnny passed his licensure exams at Presbytery
We have 1 day to finish all the final packing/sorting before the shipper comes on Friday, 5/14.  As my daughter-in-love said, we need help.

For safety, as we have purchased tickets and will fly out June 1, Lord willing

God will lead in ministry and ministry opportunities

We plan to travel to Arkansas to see Annette’s mom May 17th – 20th.

Thank you so much for your love and prayers.

Not Pretty!

So, what does it look like to sort through 39 years worth of accumulation in an attempt to decide what to leave and what to take? The title of this post says it all: NOT PRETTY! As you can see from the pictures nearby, our house is a wreck. Although we wouldn’t describe this part of our journey as “fun”, the process has had some significant benefits.

Giving away and leaving behind stuff that you thought you were attached to is liberating. Some wise man once observed that as much as we think we own our stuff, it also owns us. We have enjoyed the memories of friends and family that have popped up as we sifted through old pictures, books, and things they gave us.

Since our new living quarters will have a little more than half of the space we currently have, the culling process needs to be severe. In addition, the electricity in the Czech Republic is 220 Volts, so nearly all of the appliances, electric tools, and electronics we now own will not work there without a large transformer (a block of metal the size and weight of your car battery). Our thanks to all who have prayed with us through the decision making process about what to take and what to leave; it seems a lot clearer today than when we last wrote.

Our situation regarding our visas is unchanged from last month, but we (actually our MTW teammates in Zlín) have been hard at work gathering official documents. We are still trying to obtain work permits prior to applying for a long term visa. Based on the last correspondence from the MTW team in Zlín, we are very close to getting our official work permits. Afterwards, we must choose the best place at which to submit our visa application. The choices are: submit the application in the U.S. and wait about 90 days until the visa is returned to us, or move to Zlín as soon as we have the work permits and apply at a nearby Czech embassy (either in Austria or Slovakia). Please pray with us and our team for wisdom in deciding which of these courses is wisest for us. There has been some confusion about this due to contradicting information we have received from various government officials.

As most of you know, we had hoped to be on our way to the Czech Republic by now; but God had better plans. Due to the delay in our visa application process, Annette was able to be with her Mom during the recent cancer surgery she had. The reports from the surgery were good, and both Annette and her mother were very thankful they could be together.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and your generous financial support. God has met us above and beyond our wildest dreams and expectations, and that through you. We are blessed beyond measure. Thank you for the joy of serving together.