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Tear Up

Tonight we had our second follow-up bible study at church.  Again, there were 14 attendees, including many that were not at camp, and some that were relatively new to bible study.  The discussion was in-depth and encouraging.  But something that happened earlier today is what I want to focus on in tonight’s blog

Around noon today I headed to a neighboring village to visit its church.  The plan was to meet some leaders of a bible school who work on training up the next generation of christian youth leaders.  My main goal was to better understand the context in which we are serving here in the Czech Republic.  Beyond that, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

I was greeted at the train station at Hradek by David, one of the partners we know from our work in Český Těšín.  As we got into his car and made the short drive up the hill, he let me know that this church was a special place.  In many ways, it was the birthplace of the Christian movement that fuels our work today.  The church in Hradek is celebrated its 100th anniversary last year, and is the mother church of all the churches in the CB denomination, including Český Těšín.

After briefly meeting with leaders of the bible school,  I got a partial tour of the church building.  Students were everywhere.  Some were relaxing, taking a break from their studies.  And others were gathered in the cafeteria.  When we entered the worship center (which I had only visited before in streaming videos), there was an informal worship “jam session” going on, and as I was taking it in, I heard the friendly greeting of “hey Doug” from across the room.  It was a former English camp student of ours.  We knew that he planned to study to be a pastor, but it was really encouraging to see him pursuing that path.

The highlight of the trip for me, however, was when I met Josef – a former pastor of Český Těšín, who is now serving in Hradek.  He is a humble man with a heart for building bridges between the church and community.  Not only has he been instrumental in guiding the course of the church we work with, he also has a deep sense of the wonder of God’s faithfulness to to the Hradek church throughout the decades.

As we stood by a bulletin board adorned with images from the church’s past, he poured out his heart through story after story of God’s provision, mercy, grace, and goodness through the decades.  There were stories of salvation and stories of reconciliation.  There were stories of hardened hearts that were softened by God’s transforming love.  So many different stories, but one constant theme – the mercies of God through Christ.

Some might say that Czechs tend be be tougher and less emotional than Americans.  But don’t believe it.  As Josef, shared about  God’s unending goodness, first his eyes began to glisten.  Though speaking in Czech (or the local dialect of Czech-Polish-German), the emotion came through without need of translation.  Next David, my interpreter began to tear up as well.  Lastly, as the power of the words washed over me, I found myself fighting off tears too.

I’m thankful for this moment we shared.  Three men.  Brothers in Christ.  Shedding tears of joy and thankfulness for the amazing care of the God we serve.

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