Výlov = Lots of fish and fun

Last weekend we visited our dear friend Mirka Štenclová in southern Bohemia.  Mirka lives about 45 minutes away from the largest lake in the Czech Republic.  Every two years, the fishermen who manage the stocks in the lake, drain the water in the lake and catch all of the fish.  This is known as a výlov.  When this occurs, it brings out musicians, chefs, fish lovers, and folks who enjoy eating and watching as the fishemen do their thing.  We joined the crowd, ate fish, watched fish being caught, listened to music, and had a really nice day with Mirka and her two children.     

Communicant's Class

Something very encouraging has started in the past few weeks: our church is holding its first ever communicant’s class.  Several of the older children in Sunday School have recently expressed a desire to join the church.  The elders discussed this and decided to offer a special series of classes to prepare them for membership.  As word of these classes began to spread (this doesn’t take long in a congregation of 40 people), several adults and some teens asked if they could be included.  The result is that we now have two different groups with about six or seven in each group!  The picture in this post shows the group of adults and teens. 

We are very encouraged about these classes and our students are as well.  Class time has been primarily devoted to discussion and the exchanges have been lively and meaningful.  Please praise God with us that he has brought us so many who want to make a public profession of their faith!

Something New

A few weeks ago, we held a brief retreat to make plans for the year ahead.  We didn't go very far - just ro the lovely little mountain village of Velke Karlovice.  We included our Czech leaders in this planning process.  We tried to ask them a lot of questions and listen to their perspectives on the values that guide the church, the challenges that the church faces, the resources available to the church, and the vision they have for the church.  These discussions were very good and will hopefully lead to some new plans to reach our city.  Please pray with us as we seek to follow God's leading. 

Happy Work

Every calling has joyful and difficult parts.  Ours is no different.  One of the happiest parts of our work is the time we spend studying and praying with Czechs.  We have written about some of these opportunities in earlier posts, but here we want to tell you a bit about two groups we meet with on a pretty regular basis.

One of them is a young couple that lives in a nearby village - or maybe it's a town (there are more than 6,000 registered cities/towns/villages/wide-spots-in-the-road in this country, giving rise to endless conversation about the differences between a town and a village and a city...).  We meet with them almost every Monday evening for a couple of hours of reading and studying together.  Our friendship in Christ with them has deepened noticeably over the past several months.  And we see the Lord at work in them, and us, which is a huge delight! 

Another group is composed of the members of an extended family - grandparents, Moms and Dads, grand kids.  We have been studying the book of Mark with them and have been so encouraged by their eager interest and the lively discussions we have with them.

Please pray with us that the Lord will do a great work in the lives of these dear ones.  We often leave amazed at the sweetness of what the Lord has given us in these two families.