“So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.“ Acts 13:3 (New International Version)
If you have followed our missions trips in the past, there is a similar pattern to them: The team arrives, the team trains together with other churches that are preparing to serve across the country, then the team is commissioned to go. This trip was not different. We trained with missionaries from four other churches (including those in our team that joined us from Wisconsin) that would be hosting camps with three separate Czech churches: Český Těšín, Třinec, and Buňky. There is a special closeness that comes during these times as we gather together with others from around the globe in preparation for serving the Jesus. However, this year the closeness goes even deeper than just being brothers and sisters in Christ.
Třinec is practically a sister city of Český Těšín, with about the same population size and demographics and it is located about 15 minutes by car from Český Těšín. The claim to fame that the FBC winter mission team may share is its late night KFC restaurant that fed us when everywhere else was closed. Apart from that, the churches that serve at Třinec have been serving there for many years, so we have gotten to know their missionaries and pray for them for several times. They are typically running a camp down the hill from ours each year which provides some good-spirited competition between us in the form of an inter-camp soccer match.
We were introduced to Buňky last year because the original church that was going to help them with camp backed out, and five of us from FBC stayed an extra two weeks in the Czech Republic to help them with their camp. Although our focus is with Český Těšín, we grew close to both the leaders and the campers at Buňky last year and we are thankful to see their ministry continuing.
For the extended Family Bible Church team (including our Wisconsin members, and our interns) this was an important day. We entered the Czech Republic at different times and with different personal circumstances. Today was a time to come together, pray together, and prepare our hearts for the work ahead of us. For many of us, a highlight of the day was praying for each Czech who would be at camp by name. Whether we knew the person or not (many we did) we recognize that God has drawn them to camp with a purpose in mind, and we look forward to any opportunities for encouraging or disciple making that God provides.
The final act of training today was commissioning each team. In a now familiar pattern, each group gathered together and was prayed over by the other teams. As fellow missionaries we desire to see God’s blessing on them as they serve, just as they desire God’s blessing for us. We look forward in anticipation to how He will answer these prayers.
Tomorrow we leave Prague for camp in Malenovice. This will be our new home for about a week. I hope to write to you again after we arrive there.
Prayer Requests:
- Safe and easy travels as we make the 5 hour trip to Malenovice tomorrow.
- Health for the mission team and quick recovery from jet lag
- That Doug has no more painful flare ups and that he is able to successfully pass his kidney stone
- Remaining details for Czech English camp as we work together with the Czech team.
- That Christ would be glorified in and through the partnership between Family Bible Church and Církve bratrské v Českém Těšíně (the Czech church) this summer.