En Route Stories

Ahoj! This is my second day in Prague. I arrived at 1 o'clock (Czech time) on Saturday afternoon. I have already had the chance to do some sight seeing and this evening I went to the local church. Sadly, the Southcity Church (which meets in an elementary school) is the only evangelical church in the Southcity side of Prague's 4th district. There is one Catholic church also but that's it. This means there are only 2 churches for 45 thousand people! Can you imagine? On the way to the service Mark Potma (missionaries I'm staying with) told me that Czechs don't even use churches for weddings and funerals!

But I was going to talk about my flights. Wow! I could totally tell you guys were praying. Everything went so smoothly. I also got to have some really neat conversations with the people who sat next to me. From Chicago to London I ended up sitting between two University of Missouri students. They were also on their way to Prague for an exchange/study abroad program. Jonathan, who sat on my right, is of Italian descent. His family are strong Catholics and we had an amazing conversation about the differences and similarities of our faiths. We really hit it off. He also had a book about Prague and the different sights which I was able to read on the flight and it was super informative. Another bonus was that since we had the same connecting flight I was able to navigate the London airport (Heathrow) with them. So that was a load off my mind. I gave Jonathan the Potmas number so hopefully when he and the others from the group go sightseeing I can join them.

The flight from London to Prague was fairly empty. I was in an aisle seat and was going to move to the window when the guy with the window seat arrived. At first I didn't think we'd have a chance to talk and I couldn't place the guy's accent. I prayed for an opportunity and went back to reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brenan Manning. Sure enough an opportunity came. It turned out that Jara was Czech! He was on his way home from 5 months in Australia where he was trying to learn English. Once I found out he was Czech I proceeded to pick his brain. He was super helpful and gave me some good info on the language and on places to see. He commented on how atheistic his country was and I asked him if he thought that was a good thing. I can't remember the first part of the reply but the next part was quite insightful - it is important to have hope he said. He told me that the Australians were super friendly but he said that very few took a real interest in him and in who he was. At the end of the flight I asked him if I could give him my book. I told him it had religious content and that since I hadn't read it (except the first 17 pages) I wasn't sure if it was all that good but if he wanted it he could have it. He did take it and thanked me quite profusely. Please pray that the gospel that is outlined in Manning's book will take route in Jara's life.

Needless to say I arrived in Prague feeling excited and encouraged despite the time change and lack of sleep. People just really want to be noticed and have someone care. Since arriving I've been having quite the time adjusting to the new time zone. The Potmas, Mark and Gretchen and their four adorable kids are great hosts but my body is so run down this morning that I started to feel sick. Hopefully tonight's rest will help with that. I'm going to attempt to attach a few photos. Haven't had much success in the past. Once again thank-you for your continued prayers. Keep them coming.