Czech Mate Ministries International

ENGLISH CAMP AFTER-PARTY 2011

2011-11-05T13:28:00.003+01:00

Two weeks after the North Bohemia English Camp, we had an English Camp after-party at Zakopane Pes, the Christian Youth Center in Liberec. (A local church has a ministry center which is like a mini-Dream Center that houses various Christian ministries to the community.) It was in the 90's and one of the hottest days of the summer. So what else than to have a WATER theme.

For the first game, we divided into 4 teams. Each person filled their mouth with water from the small pool, ran around the large yard and then spit the water into their team's bottle. First team to fill their bottle won.

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Next a full fledged war with water balloons. It's every man for himself!

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The water balloon fight quickly escalated - everyone knows that balloons don't hold much! What else can I grab? .. buckets, bottles, orange cones, the hose ...

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After everyone is as wet as can be, what else can we do? How about an improvised Slip-n-Slide? No, a BIGGER ONE!!!!

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What better way to end the party than with Pepsi (or Kofola) floats!

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N BOHEMIA ENGLISH CAMP Aug 6-13, 2011

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This year's English Camp included many new and younger teens, many of whom had little knowledge about Jesus. It was a fantastic outreach. These teens grew up in a post-communist society and they were much freer to hear and ask questions about Christianity than groups in the past. The evening meetings were followed by small discussion groups and the Holy Spirit often changed the planned topic to go into depth to answer their questions. I often heard leaders say, "I didn't plan to say that, but ...", throughout the week (even Ken and I).

There were 40 Czech teens, 10 American teens, and 12 leaders. Everyone seemed to have a great time. Each day had a theme with a different leader/team responsible for the day. It worked out well, no one felt overwhelmed. Being an English Camp, we had English for a few hours everyday which Linda planned and prepared ahead of time. We divided almost evenly into 4 groups, each at a different level of ability.

Following are some photos of our time together.

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Each day had a theme. One day was Houston Day where the teens climbed into a space capsule. One day was Hollywood Day where the teens made a movie. Another day was New Mexico Day. During the evening meetings we sang a camp song. This night it was led by a "famous" rock star, Kigi.

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The teens were divided into 4 English groups with Aretta, Ken, Linda and Stephan as teachers. We have pictures of 3 of the 4 groups. Unfortunately I did not get a picture of Stephan's beginner's group.

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The teens had fun hanging out. On the last night we had a campfire. It was the first time for many to roast marshmallows and eat "ewy sticky sweet smores."

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Ben, do you have what is takes to be a leader? (How much pain can you endure?)

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Aretta and Johanka. Notice one hand has US flags and the other has Czech flags. English Camp was truly a unifying experince.

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3 WEDDINGS

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As in the United States, Spring and Summer are the seasons for weddings. We had the privilege of attending three weddings. Each was unique and special in its own way as are the people who were getting married.

Petr and Wanda Jarkovi Wedding

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We were pleased to have our car chosen as the "limo" for the Bride to be taken to the church, and the new couple to be taken to the reception. It was decorated with a doll and ribbons. Petr's family and friends met at his house and we drove together to the bride's house. There Petr was offered other potential brides but he refused until they offered him Wanda. Then both families formed a procession of cars and went to the church together.

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Petr Jersak, the gypsy church pastor, performed the ceremony as Petr and Wanda vowed their love and commitment to one another.
After the ceremony there is a group picture of everyone who attended.
And another picture of the immediate families of both the Bride and the Groom.

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They did some fun things we have not seen before at a wedding. The bride was put in the middle with her maid-of-honor holding a tray covered with a cloth and the best man held a tray of shots. People danced in a circle around the bride. One at a time someone would dance up to the tray and put some money under the cloth. Then they could choose to dance with the bride or take a shot (or both).

The couple were blindfolded and fed each other wedding cake.

The bride and groom broke a plate and then had to sweep up the pieces together. Among other things this symbolized the separating from their parents and beginning a new family of their own.

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Vlasak Wedding

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Martin Vlasak was the youth pastor in Liberec with whom we did many activities. He is now the pastor in Rychnov nad Orlici in East Bohemia. His bride, Tereza from Turnov, is Petr Boudny's sister-in-law. They had their wedding in the garden of the Liberec ministry center on Knopna Street. (see October 2009 Liberec English Camp which built the stage used in this wedding) Tereza was also a member of the Frydlant Drama team, hence the live chicken in a skit at their wedding.

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As they were introduced as Man and Wife the first thunder sounded and soon we were inundated with heavy rain. Fortunately the food was under shelter on the balconies. The Bride was gallantly carried by the groom from the stage with a children's swimming pool held above her as an umbrella. As the evening fell, the rain stopped and the dancing began and continued well into the night.

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Fronek Wedding

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Jarda Fronek lives and goes to church in Frydlant, works in Liberec, attends our English conversation group in Turnov and got married in the garden of the Nove Mesto church. These are all towns that we work in also. His wedding was less formal and outdoors. It was a cold and windy day, but thankfully no thunder, lightening or rain!

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SUCCESSFUL END TO FOUR ENGLISH CONVERSATION GROUPS AND A BUILDING PROJECT IN CHRASTAVA

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In June we finished our four weekly English conversation groups in four different towns: Chrastava, Turnov, Liberec and Nove Mesto. One of the final classes included a visit by three American students from Pfeiffer University led by Dr. Chris Howard (who used to be a Club Beyond leader in Europe and brought teams to Czech for Service Projects). We hosted Dr. Howard and his team in our home, Rachel Ford sleeping in the guest bedroom, Dr. Howard and Tyler Joyner in the living room and magnificent poet John H. Anderson III in the kitchen so there were two doors between the snorer and the rest of us.

It worked out well, because we kept busy all day and evening and were only home long enough to sleep and eat breakfast. During the morning and afternoon the team helped build a stage in the backyard of the Chrastava Church. One morning they visited a local school's English classes whose teacher attends our conversation group. In the evening they visited our English groups in Nove Mesto and Turnov. Who says you can't get a lot done in four days!

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Local Pastor Simon Dvorak and teacher Katerina Kaskova watch as Dr. Chris Howard and his team talk with students in Chrastava. Linda introduces the team.

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Building a stage by day/visiting English conversation groups at night. Thank you Dr. Chris Howard and team.

Final Chrastava English conversation group on finished stage.

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2011 New conversation group started in Nove Mesto

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This year we started a new English conversation group with a church in Nove Mesto, a town 45 minutes from Liberec. They recently bought an old theater building and have started reaching their community with services including a mothers with children center, a teen center, a gypsy church and weekly English conversation classes. One of the last classes included a visit from Chris Howard's team which had us laughing the whole hour and a half. This is a fun group and we are looking forward to continuing it next year.

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2011 Turnov English conversation group

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Our English conversation group in Turnov started out with mostly teens but ended with mostly adults. After daylight savings time began and the end of the year intense studying for tests began for those who were graduating, we lost our teens. But at the same time adults discovered our class. This year we also were asked to read "The Hound of the Baskervilles" in English at the public library. We will see what next year will bring!?

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2011 Liberec English conversation for teens

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In our hometown of Liberec we had a weekly English conversation group for teens. One of our final projects was to make chocolate chip cookies. Not an easy project when you have to use cups and spoons instead of grams and milliliters or Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. Making cookies was intense, fun and delicious.

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Petra putting dough on cookie sheet.

SATISFACTION - the final product

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MARCH 29 - APRIL 2, 2011 OUTREACH TO KRALIKY IN EAST BOHEMIA

2011-05-19T14:31:00.002+02:00

For many summers we have held English Camps in East Bohemia where we met many teens that we continue to communicate with through Facebook and occasional visits to their home towns. Some invited us to their ples (Czech equivalent to the American prom but relatives and friends are invited too). At the ples we met some of their teachers who asked if we could visit their English classes at school. We connected them with the local pastor, Petr Appl, who arranged meetings in four classes in their school in Kraliky on Friday and in four classes in a school in Jablonne nad Orlici on Monday (20 minutes from Kraliky). Ladka Applova, the pastor's wife, went with us to all the classes. We never go into any community without an invitation and support from a local pastor, so that there will always be someone for follow-up after we leave. We have found that this strategy has opened doors and fostered good relationships between churches and the schools in many communities. On Saturday we had a pizza party for youth at the pastors home that was well attended, fun and deepened relationships. And on Sunday Ken preached, then we had lunch with a local family and then an all-church BBQ in their spacious yard. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and outreach. Our only regret is that Kraliky is three hours from Liberec. Otherwise, I am sure we would spend even more time there. We rejoice in the work that God is doing here in Czech.

Friday and Monday we were in 8 classes in two differnt schools in two different towns

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Saturday: An outreach party for teens included English, pizza and outdoor games like petanque

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Sunday with the Church in Kraliky: Ken preaching in the morning and a BBQ in the afternoon

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CONSECRATION OF TWO NEW CZECH BISHOPS

2011-05-18T13:44:00.005+02:00

March 28, 2011 is now a historical date. For the first time in 44 years, new bishops were consecrated in the Czech Republic in the Jednota Bratrska Church. We feel privileged to have been invited to this international event held in Liberec in the magnificent North Bohemian Museum. Rev. Evald Rucky and Rev. Peter Krasny were consecrated Bishops by the worldwide United Fratrum, presided by Rev. Dr. Paul Gardner, President of the Unity Board and from the Jamaican Province. The Rev. Samuel Gray, Bishop from the south USA Province, and Rev. Kinsley O'Reilly, Bishop from the east West Indies Province consecrated the new bishops. It was attended by a high ranking Senator and the Minister of Culture, mayors and pastors from all over Czech. And was followed by a fantastic reception. Since we know these new Bishops personally, we know that God is blessing this country with quality and tireless workers to see His Kingdom Come to Czech. And we thank God to be only a small part of His plan to bring revival to the Czech lands.

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MOTHER'S WITH YOUNG CHILDREN'S CLUBS IN LIBEREC

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Ken and Linda have the freedom and joy to be of service to many different Christian groups reaching out into their community. The Liberec church has 3 Mother's with Young Children Groups throughout the city ministering to mothers with children between the ages of 1 and 5 years of age which meet 2 or 3 times a week. Every once in awhile they have a special activity. We were invited by 2 of the groups to attend their masquerade parties on March 16th and the 29th, and Ken was asked to make balloon animals for the children as part of the program. As you can see in the pictures the moms and kids had a joyful time: dressing-up, singing and doing special activities like decorating cookies, playing doctor with a giant syringe and bandaging a doll and choosing which balloon animal to have Ken make for them. This may seem like a strange evangelistic outreach, but because of the past communist attitude towards the church many adults are afraid to even enter a church building. It is never too early to let the children know that church is a safe, fun and wholesome place to be.

Both children and mothers dressed up

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Fun Activities at Mother's with young Children's masquerade parties

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KEN Talks to Teens about We Were Hippies

2011-04-02T22:42:00.002+02:00

There are few Christian Schools in the Czech Republic. But there is a large one in Liberec that includes a kindergarten, a pre-school and grades 1-9 called Jan Amos Komensky (JAK) Christian School. It is also one of the few schools authorized to sponsor a home-schooling program. On March 8, 2011 Ken was asked to share his salvation testimony in a presentation called "WE WERE HIPPIES" with a group of 8th and 9th graders. Stepan Horacek pictured with Ken often translates for us and is a teacher at this school.

JAK (Jan Amos Komensky) Christian School in Liberec, CZ

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2011 ENGLISH WEEKEND IN NORTH BOHEMIA

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On February 18-20 a group of 20 Czech teens from Liberec, Hejnice and Nove Mesto and their leaders (Christian youth group leaders) met with a group of 15 American teens and their leaders (from an American base in Germany that run Christian clubs for military youth) in a snowbound mountain lodge. We challenged the Czechs to speak English only and they did a great job. Some of the time we divided into smaller conversation groups so everyone could practice their English. We also played games and had interesting projects. In the evenings there were times of worship and devotionals. Several were challenged to grow in their faith and some were confronted, for the first time, with the claims of Christ.

ENGLISH WEEKEND IN PICTURES

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We divided into fun English conversation groups and discussed the topic of movies and later presented skits based on The Truman Show, Shrek, The Titanic and Forrest Gump.

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SKITS
The tv show: The Truman Show
In the skit the audience watching the tv show
The audience watching the tv audience watching the tv show

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GAMES: such as Chess, Last Word and Sorry
During our free time we played games together.

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CONTESTS
How many slices of bread can you eat?
Oh, did I forget to tell you which way we cut the slices?
And then there were two.

CONTESTS

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CREATIVE ARTS: Marshmallow creations and Bread Sculptures

I don't know what it is, but it sure was fun making (and eating) it!

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The Winners

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Bread Sculptures

NOVA PAKA November 29, 2010 WE WERE HIPPIES

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Believe it or not, we are often asked to do a presentation called We Were Hippies. Ken and I have done this over 20 times in about 16 different towns. We were hippies when we were in college and as a young married couple so many years ago. But this is a subject of great interest to both young and old here in Czech. In 1968 the Warsaw Pact re-invaded Czech as they were trying to get closer to the West and information about what happened in the hippie movement was no longer available. Many Czechs have never heard that thousands of hippies found what they were looking for (LOVE, PEACE AND BROTHERHOOD) in Christ. We talk about the hippie lifestyle and philosophy and then our personal conversion story. It is a powerful testimony.

On November 29th we were asked to do it in Nova Paka, a small town about 40 minutes from Liberec . It was a very cold (20F) evening and snow had been falling for the last few days. We were wondering if maybe we should cancel. But to our delight we arrived to a full room of both young and old. One of the unusual things we do on these evenings is introduce them to pseudo-hippie food - brownies laced with mint leaves and electric Kool Aid with fizzy vitamin C tablets as the replacement for harder drugs.

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Sorry for the small pictues at the bottom. We didn't take any pictures ourselves and this is all we could get from another source.

THANKSGIVING 2010 IN CHRASTAVA AND RYCHNOV

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We got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year.

On November 19th Pastor Simon Dvorak of the Church in Chrastava welcomed 30 guests to his church to enjoy a full turkey dinner. Ken cooked and presented the whole roasted turkey and Linda gave a slide show on the history and traditions of Thanksgiving in America. Many of the guests currently or formerly attend(ed) our English conversation groups that we hold weekly in the Chrastava church. Each table had a turkey craft in which each person wrote on turkey feathers what he/she was thankful for this year and then each table shared it with the group.

The following week we traveled to Rychnov for our second full turkey dinner with 30 members of the church there and their guests. We again did the turkey craft to share what we were thankful for and presented a slide show about Thanksgiving traditions in America. Thanksgiving is such a natural way to share about our faith and thankfulness to God for His many blessings.

Thanksgiving in Chrastava November 19, 2011

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Thanksgiving in Rychnov nad Kneznou November 26th

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FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS RE-ESTABLISHED IN SEMILY AND TURNOV Nov 5th and 6th

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Some towns in the Czech Republic are re-introducing the celebration called Lampiony (festival of lights) in which the children can dress up in costumes and the community walks through town with lanterns. The Turnov church was asked by the City Hall of Semily if they would organize it for their town which they did. They held the lantern walk in Semily on November 5th and in Turnov on November 6th. Ken was asked to be the leader of the parade and he dressed up as Luther and carried a lantern high for all to follow. As you can see by the pictures, it was a family affair with many happy children. Over 300 participants walked in the parade in Semily and 200 in Turnov. The Turnov church is planning to plant a church in Semily and has been asked to start a youth center there similar to The Bouda in Turnov.

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ROYAL RANGERS CAMP CZECH STYLE October 26-31st

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Many may be familiar with Royal Rangers. There is a Royal Ranger Camp near Brno, Czech Republic. It is very primitive and spartan. But what it lacks in amenities, it makes up for in enthusiasm. We had not worked in Brno for many years and have few contacts in that city (it is about 5 hours from Liberec). Three churches with Royal Ranger outposts scheduled their third annual English Camp for October 26-31st. Then they discovered that their native speaker guests could not come. Through mutual Christian friends, we were asked to participate. It was a joy to meet a whole new set of Christians and minister together to a group of youth ranging in ages from 12 -25. In the pictures you can see an illustrated sermon on the armor of God including medieval and modern military examples and one of the many English classes where the kids were challenged to write as many body parts as they could think of in colorful letters. And as an added blessing, another Christian friend knew a Christian family who had a house in the small village where the camp was located who graciously allowed us to stay in their home. So we had a bed and a toilet at night instead of pillows on a cement floor and an outhouse. God is SO GOOD.

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AMERICAN FOURSQUARE MISSIONARIES RETREAT September 7 - 11, 2010

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It was our privilege to organize and host 29 American Foursquare missionaries in a retreat held in Turnov, Czech Republic, September 7 - 11, 2010. Eleven couples, 7 singles and 5 young children serving in 15 countries: France, Netherlands, Estonia, Hungary, Russia, Albania, Spain, Poland, Ireland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the USA and 3 closed countries we cannot name. Most of us are in non-English speaking countries with no other Americans around and we often feel quite isolated and alone. So you can imagine the joy when we can meet and talk together. It had been 2 years since our last meeting. We are so glad that the majority of time was spent hearing from each missionary unit sharing what was happening in their country and in their lives and then everyone could pray for them. We also had ample free time for relationship building and having fun.

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What better way to spend our time then in Praise and Worship, Sharing our life and ministry, and praying for each other.

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During the week we had time for Questions and Answers with the Foursquare Missions Director, Jonathan Hall. We also had a Skype call with the President of Foursquare, Glenn Burris.

During free time some of us visited the tea house run by Christians from the local church. This tea house is in the basement of the city library and close to 3 major high schools.

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Communion with Bohemia Crystal glasses

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On our last evening together we shared communion. During each conference we give the missionaries some special souvenir that is unique to the host country. We choose to give each missionary a Bohemia Crystal glass. After communion they took their glass with them as a reminder of our time together.

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Excursion Day for the Missionaries

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Thursday afternoon and evening were set aside to give the missionaries a taste of the host country, the Czech Republic. Turnov is known for its handcrafted garnet jewelry. The factory usually does not give large tours but made an exception for us. This factory is unique in that it is employee owned and each person is paid by the piece rather than a wage. It was amazing to watch the workers hand set each small garnet. The jewelry was quite exquisite. There were hundreds of small garnet stones laying on tables that could have easily been slipped into a pocket. I am glad we were honest people.

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Tour of the Svijany Brewery established in 1564

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The second stop on our excursion day was the Svijany Brewery, a local brewery that has been brewing beer since 1564. The Czechs take national pride in their beer. Each region has its own local brewery.

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The yeast takes time to do its job. It is very bitter to the taste. Only a few brave souls gave it a taste. It is hard to imagine how much beer is in all those tanks. Even harder to imagine that 90% of it is consumed in the Czech Republic. We are told that there is an ongoing competition between Germany and Czech as to who has the best beer and which country consumes the most beer per person. Any guesses?

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Missionaries treated to a Medieval Feast at Detenice

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In the evening all the missionaries were treated to a medieval feast at the castle at Detenice. Everything was authentic: the food, the music and musical instruments, the costumes and the atmosphere (no lights, only candles and food cooked over hot coals). It was like stepping back in time 600 years. It was a very entertaining and unique experience.

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For entertainment there was authentic musical instruments, music and costumes, including dancing and sword fights.

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Celebrating retirement with a Pig Roast

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During this summer we were invited to our favorite teacher's retirement party. We have become good friends with Jana Horalova and her husband, Jirka. Over the years she has invited us into her English classes, arranged for Service Projects to be in her school and organized a weekly English conversation group for teachers in her school. Her party for family and friends included a whole roasted pig that was the best I have ever had. It was held in a friend's garden near her summer cottage.

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Flood Relief BBQ in Turnov

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The Turnov church held a fundraiser BBQ in their backyard for flood relief in north Bohemia. It was advertised in the local paper and a record number of people attended. Many teams have helped make this yard a usable space for ministry. The first team from Seattle helped clear the jungle and made a park-like setting. A few years of MCYM Service Projects added the play area for the kids and the fire pit. Now it seems like there is always something going on. There are no pews in this dynamic church.

In the center of the picture you can see Pastor Petr, his wife, Klara and their baby, Viktoria.

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Flood relief BBQ in the backyard of the Turnov Church

FLOODING IN NORTH BOHEMIA Aug 7-8, 2010

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While we were away at English Camp in East Bohemia, our hometown area of Liberec in North Bohemia had a major flood. Two days of continuous down pouring rains turned small rivers into torrential flood waters that destroyed and/or damaged town squares, homes, businesses, roads, bridges, cars and property. Below you will see a few pictures which really cannot do justice to the damage. Many of the churches and families with which we have strong relationships have been affected. Please pray for their recovery.

One of the good things we can see that came out of this is that the churches were able to be a great source of help throughout this crisis. Churches from all over Czech sent teams to help with the clean up. This is something that would not have happened 20 years ago. But because of intentional connecting of the churches and church leaders and the revelation that the church should be involved in community, the small Christian churches in this country were able to be a source of help and encouragement. Our town of Liberec survived with little damage, so we were able to be a staging area for recovery. Our new ministry center was able to house and feed the teams that came to help in the clean up and coordinated collecting and distributing aid to those in need. It was a marvelous example of Christ in action and greatly appreciated by those in need and those who were trying to help them. The Church may be small but we are mighty through God. Their quick and organized response was probably the most effective sermon that could have been made to an atheistic society.

FLOODING IN CHRASTAVA Aug 7-8, 2010

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Clean up in Chrastava will take a long time.

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After the flood water receded three teens who are our close friends survey the extensive damage to their town of Chrastava.

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There is a church in Hejnice and a fledgling gypsy church in Raspenava. These towns border a small river that became a torrential flood destroying homes and roads. Some people lost everything.

FLOODING IN RASPENAVA Aug 7-8, 2010

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Flooding in Frydlant. The Frydlant church has a dramatic group that travels all over Czech presenting the Gospel through theater. Their trailer which they use to transport their props was swept away and their meeting room and second hand shop were inundated with water and mud.

FLOODING IN FRYDLANT Aug. 7-8, 2010

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2010 EAST BOHEMIA ENGLISH CAMP in Kraliky, August 1-8

2010-08-18T13:31:00.003+02:00

The leadership for this year's East Bohemia English Camp came from 5 different towns/churches in the Czech Republic: Rychnov, Usti nad Orlici, Kraliky, Dobruska and Liberec. But we worked as a great team. There were 29 teens, ages 13-19. About 1/3 were Christians and 2/3 were unbelievers. And we had a terrific team of 8 American teens from Club Beyond and their leader come from an American military base in Germany. This year's camp had a great blend of English classes, fun and spiritual input. In the evening there were short talks followed by small group discussions that covered important topics for teens and challenges to consider Christ. And, of course, during the day Christ was presented incarnationally through the lives of the Christian leaders and believing teens. It may have been the first time some of these teens have ever met a lively Christian. Only 1/2 of 1 percent of the population are born-again in the Czech Republic. Although technically an atheistic country (70% marked atheist in the last census), many have just never considered Christ. It was a pleasure to see how open the teens were to hear and ask questions about Him. Another great aspect about this camp is that the leaders have committed to continue to minister to these teens throughout the year. We praise God for this opportunity to affect the lives of these precious people. Please pray for His continued outpouring on this country.

2010-08-18T13:16:00.003+02:00

Each morning included 3 hours of English (after all this was published as an English Camp) and each day we visited a different place in our Journey to America which set the theme for the whole day. After a large group presentation, we divided into 4 smaller groups according to language ability. Each group had a Christian leader and 2 Christian American teens. We were able to bond with the teens and share Christ in a natural way. In the afternoons we had group activities. And in the evening we had fun activities followed by a short talk on some important theme for teens and then broke up into small discussion groups. These groups were conducted in Czech with each town's pastors and leaders facilitating the discussion. Many were able to go deep into these teens' lives and develop great relationships with them. The great thing is that they are committed to continue to minister to these teens throughout the year.