Monday Morning

Sunday was a wonderful day of worship. We started the morning at the Czech church. It is housed within the same building as the District Offices. Pastor Ivana welcomed us and invited us in. We filled the back two rows of chairs, set up behind rows of pews. Also behind the pews were tables for children, who were playing and coloring while waiting for worship to start. (John has the photos from this service, so I'll have to post those later when we have time to exchange photos.)

On our way to church that morning, Gary Young had explained to us that many of their hymns would be familiar to us… only the Czech language generally has many more syllables than English. Sure enough, the first hymn was “Revive Us Again” in Czech, but we were able to sing along because “Hallelujah, Amen” is universal. :)

The service had several elements that were familiar, and others that were not. They opened with a reading from Exodus and a reading from Philippians. There was a time in when an older man in the congregation got up and started making presentations, one to a child and another to an adult. We learned later that he was recognizing birthdays. There was an opening hymn, a section of praise songs led by the youth, what I like to call “open mic prayers” (not just prayer requests… individuals said prayers aloud for whatever was on their hearts)… More singing, a blessing of the children before they went off to Sunday School, a sermon by the Associate Pastor, a period of announcements about the many activities they have coming up, a prayer (including the Lord’s Prayer), and then the closing. The church is offering Alpha (Alfa), and so Ivana spent some time explaining that (I assume that’s what she was doing… I kept hearing “Alfa” :).

After worship, many individuals came up to greet and talk to us. A young man, David, introduced himself and told us that he was a pastor’s son and had grown up in another Methodist church in Prague. Another gentleman explained to John that the church had drawn him in when he was looking for a sense of freedom and hope after leading a life of oppression.

We toured the building, seeing the formal sanctuary, which is used only on Communion Sundays once a month and the District Offices.

 

Being Americans, we can’t pass up an opportunity to shop. So we headed to Winceslas Square for a little wandering, shopping and Starbuck’s. Then, we went back down to the church area, where we ate lunch at a café across the street. A few went back to the Czech Inn to pick up a couple of things, while others of us stayed behind and enjoyed visiting and resting in the courtyard of the Methodist Church.

Gary Young arrived at the church, pulling along his “portable church” – that is, everything they would need to set up for the English speaking service. We immediately got to know the facility a little better… found the kitchen and started cleaning up from the morning service, heating water for coffee and tea, and setting out the snack spread that is their tradition. The Youngs go to a great deal of detail and trouble to transform the space from the more stark look that the Czech church uses, to a warm and inviting space. There were Upper Rooms (July-August, but only just now received), brochures about the church, small gifts for visitors, and plenty of refreshments.

Worship began with a reflective reading, music led by the wonderful Gary Young, greeting time, prayer (including words and prayer from John), a wonderful sermon from Michelle including a clip from Tony Campolo (embedded below), and a benediction like no other... gathered together, hand-in-hand, Christians from all over the world singing ourselves out of worship.

We spent the next hour visiting with the congregation, sharing refreshments. They were also celebrating the birthday of one of their members, a retired opera singer, originally from Chicago. We were tasked with stalling her after worship so that she wouldn't be early to her surprise birthday party. If there’s something we’re good at, it’s inane conversation. I’m sure she thought this group of Texans was incredibly tedious, because each of us in turn stopped her as she tried to get out the door.

After worship, we headed out in the rain to continue our "suffering for Jesus" at a wonderful Italian restaurant on the river. We had a spectacular view of the night-lit castle. Richard got a great photo of it (although he wasn't in it unfortunately), but I told the team we probably shouldn't let y'all see it because you wouldn't believe we were truly on a mission trip. :)

When we returned to the inn, we finally had a chance to sit down and talk about what we've seen, heard, and experienced the last few days. God is everywhere... and we have truly seen him here. We all have ministries and mission that are close to our hearts, and I assure you that any of you who visit this place will fall in love with it. We can expect great things to come...