Ministry In The Czech Republic

Bethlehem Bible Church

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December 3, 2023

00:00: Well, good morning, it's a it's a real privilege and joy to be with you this this morning.
00:06: I'm really sorry Like I I pay a lot of attention when pastor Mike is speaking especially in the class and everything but I'm a little bit nervous today because I'm using
00:14: PowerPoint and I didn't use PowerPoint for like 15 years and And it wasn't working but then your brother from your church made it all work and it's all it's all good now
00:23: So I'm super thankful to God that we can be here with you this this morning This is our family at least on a picture we are from Czech Republic.
00:32: I was born in Czech Republic in Right before a communist regime and ended there.
00:38: My grandfather was a pastor in a Baptist Church And then preach the gospel he ended up in a prison
00:45: Underneath a communist regime and in a work camp for a couple years But when they released him he went back to preaching the gospel and was a was a hero of faith of mine
00:54: And I was very blessed to have him as a grandfather Laura my wife
01:01: She's from Maine. Well, she would say that she's from all over but uh, but she's from Maine and God blessed us with six children.
01:08: We have five of them here with us The sixth one oldest oldest one David. It's not here with us today
01:14: And he's he's he's back in the main and uh, and we are super happy to be here with you
01:21: I was born and raised in Czech Republic. We are married with Laura for 20 years and I'm super thankful that God gave me a wife that loves the
01:32: Lord loves to minister loves Czech people and You know people sometimes say that we are missionaries.
01:39: I'm not a missionary. My wife is I'm a national I was born and raised in Czech.
01:46: I preach in Czech I I grew up in Czech and I do everything in Czech, but Laura is the hero
01:52: In our marriage because she left her school her family her church her culture her language friends and everything 20 years ago to to come to check in and And and support me in the in the ministry that that God placed on on on my heart.
02:07: So that's that's our family That's our name up there. And we are very very happy to be here with you this morning.
02:12: So Czech Republic is in the in the heart of the heart of the Europe If you never been to Europe, you are more than welcome to come
02:20: We would love to have you at our house If you ever come probably not all of you at one and at once, you know, like try to split it up But we are right there in the in the heart of the
02:30: Europe and you know Those are the countries that are around us. I was born and raised in Prague, which is the which is the capital
02:38: And right now we are living just like 10 minutes north from Brno Which is the second largest city in the chain?
02:45: There's a major highway. So it takes you like two two and a half hours To go there. There's 10 ,000 10 10 million people in the
02:53: Czech Republic And and people often say that Czech Republic is one of the most at least the countries in the world
02:59: I don't know if that's true, but it's that's I guess that's what Wikipedia says But it sure looks like it.
03:04: There is a lot of people who do not believe in God they say that there is only one there is less than 1 % of evangelicals born -again people in our in our country and Then when somebody is a believer when somebody is a
03:17: Christian It's it's it's a Roman Catholic and we are we love
03:22: Roman Catholics But unfortunately the Roman Catholic Church is preaching a different gospel and then the biblical gospel
03:28: And we have a lot of people in our church Who got saved from Roman Catholicism and who are so thankful to God that even though they grew up under in the
03:36: Roman Catholic Religion that God freed them and saved them and and show them that you know
03:42: It's it's only through Christ only by grace only only through faith So so 10 million people in a in a
03:48: Czech Republic you might have heard about John Haas John Haas was some hundred years before Martin Luther.
03:55: So so we have like a rich Protestant history Martin Luther said that we are all
04:01: Haasites when he was reading Haas's works but then the Roman Catholic Church took over and and for many centuries and and and We were we were we were in that Kind of like a environment
04:15: So the good news is there is a lot of mission to be done in a Czech Republic There are always people who need to hear about Christ and we are super thankful that you know
04:25: God has faithful churches and faithful pastors and and we are so thankful and I'm not saying it because pastor
04:31: Mike is here But we are so thankful for people who are willing to come from states and and help us, you know teach us disciple us encourage us and Partner with us so we are super super duper thankful for that.
04:44: So that's a Czech Republic and then I Think I have like 30 minutes now or maybe 35 40 so so, you know, like I'm supposed to like introduce ourselves and and tell you about us and and I was thinking about like telling a little bit about a story like What we do in our town how it started to give you some kind of idea
05:05: Is that is that is that cool? And I have some pictures and some of them are like just like a you know
05:10: Like a little different it's like, you know 20 years ago You take a picture and it's a bad picture, but it's the only picture you have
05:18: And then you come to the United States and somebody's like hey, can you show us pictures? They're like Yeah So So So the handsome, that's me.
05:32: This is my best friend And I was like man like I'm I'm gonna be showing like how we started in Cushman That's the only picture
05:40: I have is a cool to show and he's like, yes, it's alright So so anyway, so uh, so the way how we started in our town, so I Was born and raised in Prague When I was 18 years old, there was opportunity to move to the other town
05:53: I showed you to work there with mission organization and And and I want here with them then then
05:59: I volunteered some more with them And then I started working for them and in the year 2000 these two guys
06:06: Roman and Martin they came to our camps and God saved them They were like 14 15 years old
06:12: God saved them regenerated them. They went back to their town, which is like 15 minutes away That's the town where we are right now currently and they started reading the
06:20: Bible and from the reading the Bible They realized like hey, we should be going to a church because you know, it seems that that's what
06:25: Christians are doing So they found it only church that was in our town Which was a Roman Catholic Church and they started coming to the
06:31: Roman Catholic Church and a couple of weeks later They are like, you know It's probably not safe to be coming here because it's not the same like what we read in the
06:39: Bible It's not what we hear here, even though they say Jesus and Bible and God so so they stopped going there
06:45: They returned the next year in 2001 in the summer back to the camp They asked the director and my boss, you know
06:51: Do you have somebody who would be willing to come to our town and teach us Bible and and Loisa? My best friend and I who were working there
06:59: We volunteered we started coming to this town of course in 10 ,000 people No Bible teaching church, but a lot of people who are who are hungry and just just by the way that you would know
07:09: Roman now, you know 20 years later. He's a pastor in a church north from Prague Martin is a it's like a huge help to a pastor in a church west from Prague Liza he's a great pastor and a director of a
07:25: Czech Bible Institute. And so so God has done a lot of work
07:31: You know through through through some of these guys when we when we first started in a cousin
07:37: We basically were meeting with the guys Outside in the woods and in a summer in a park in a town on a bench
07:44: In a winter we would meet in a car because we didn't have a house. We didn't have a church We were not living there.
07:50: You know, we were just like commuting to come and teach those guys Bible and God was gracious enough that You know when when the guys invited their their other friends they would come they wanted to learn the
08:02: Bible and And God would provide us with like a place that we could use like for an hour or two hours during the week, so that's that's that's one of the places and and The idea was, you know, like we are gonna try to reach these these young people that That that are still moldable like we know
08:22: God is sovereign and in salvation But if you are talking with somebody who was for 50 years in a Roman Catholic Church It's a little bit harder than be talking to like a 16 17 18 year old guys who are trying to figure things out who are
08:36: You know like trying to find answers So well So we wanted to be focused on on the young man and and and hopefully through them get to their parents
08:45: Hopefully through them get to the older generation So one of the things that we did 20 years ago 18 years ago, whatever it was was that, you know, we rented a gym
08:54: Got got kids from the streets together played some soccer played some sports and and and the purpose of that was to to make
09:01: Relationships to invite them to a Bible study and and and to be with them to spend time with them
09:06: So so those are some of the kids later on we had a lot of Gypsies coming as well and we love them and they are super nice and super cute and and and really sweet The nice thing is that you know
09:17: These guys now they have like tattoos on their faces and and tattoos everywhere and they go to gym
09:23: So they're like like that and when they walk to our town everybody's going on the other sidewalk And by the way in Europe we have sidewalks and people walk on them and And you know, you don't hop in a car unless you have to drive to like a
09:36: I don't know six hours away so so you do a lot of walking in Europe even in the town and and it's really nice because like now these guys some
09:43: Of them are in a prison already, which is unfortunate, but it's hopefully God will save them but they walk on a street, you know with their tattoos and and like really big guys and everybody's like stepping on the other side and Laura and I we go on a sidewalk and they're like She's the one who made us the cookies, you know 15 years ago we like you so we are safe in our town
10:04: We we have no problems. So, uh, you know, so so that was kind of like the beginning That was the idea.
10:09: That's that's what we were trying to do and then by God's grace I Got married and I married up and and Laura was willing to leave everything
10:21: Here here in the States and come to Czech Republic and Her heart was for China When I met her she's like I need to be a missionary in China And I was like if you are in China, then we're gonna get married.
10:33: So how about check right like Maybe God was saying check not China. It starts with a
10:38: C so so by God's grace She ended up in a check and and she ended up teaching
10:45: English and in a in a high school in the town where we And that opened up a door for like another another ministry because now she's talking to like hundreds of students to teachers
10:56: She's teaching English to businessmen and and all different kinds of groups and and we were able to have them you know for four different classes
11:04: Laura was teaching them and and The really nice thing was that in her free time.
11:09: She would be teaching English and the deal was I'll teach you English for free But at the end of the class,
11:15: I'm gonna talk about Jesus, you know, and all these people were like, hey well, we'll take a free English from an Avis speaker and and So, you know, so so the gospel was spreading
11:25: Laura started teaching the English and and as I said before like and and I really mean it I don't say it just because my kids are here and Laura's here, but she is
11:34: I'm super thankful for her and and as you men know like, you know that God gave us a helper
11:40: Like that's that's that's a that's a huge blessing by God's grace You Know some sometime around this time
11:50: We had to come to a decision, you know, will we keep working with a parachurch organization? which was a
11:55: Christian and which was preaching the gospel, but which wasn't a church or Will we will we do more like a church, you know?
12:03: And if you read the New Testament God's plan for a church is to plant new churches and and it's church or church and power organizations
12:11: They can be great, you know and praise God that they preach gospel and that they are helping churches But they are not a church, right?
12:17: So it's like, you know, somebody would get saved at a camp and it's like Hey, yeah, we cannot baptize you but you want to throw a stick to the fire.
12:24: It's like hey or Yeah, like we are not gonna see you for a year because you are like living six hours away
12:30: Hope to see you again next year, you know what? I mean, it's like you preaching the gospel, which is great and God is saving people
12:36: Which is great, but a plan is local church and and there was this opportunity No in a cushion there are people who are hungry for the
12:42: Word of God. There is no Bible teaching church So we talked to different people. We have a church in the main that send us we were underneath the elders in the check
12:52: So so, you know, it seemed wise to try to plant the church, you know in a cushion
12:58: So so we stopped working with a parachurch organization God provided a house for us in this in this town.
13:06: We were able to move there open up the house, you know So now you are not a meeting in a rental You are not meeting in a high school or something but you can open up your living room people come your wife makes cookies you teach the
13:17: Bible and and And it was really it was really really sweet. So This was in our living room
13:24: You know meeting meeting with people meeting with youth a lot of focused on, you know, teaching teaching ladies
13:33: She learned Czech within two years that you know, people often ask like does your wife speak Czech?
13:39: so so she speaks Czech and And she teaches our kids Czech and when our kids have a question about Czech, I send them to my
13:46: American wife why don't you ask your mommy and And that's how it works. I know the language.
13:52: I just do not know how the language works So it's like if you have a grammar question, it's like that's how it is
13:58: But your mom has the answer because she studied again so, uh, so that was a huge blessing because You know there is there's a lot of work to be done among men and there is a lot of work to be done among among women and And you know, if you if you have somebody who loves
14:11: Christ and is willing to Teach the ladies So so those are some of our ladies years and years ago
14:18: That's that's the youth and and the kids meeting in the garage. We had a garage at our house and after we were not being able to meet in the
14:27: Living room. We were constructed a garage and and that kind of became like a church or youth room or English classroom
14:34: So this this is like a half of the garage you are you are looking at so that's where we were and here
14:41: Here is the thing. So, uh, so we are in the town, right you working with with teenagers most of them might be like Roman Catholic because 15 18 years ago grandma took me to church they baptized me there and And now
14:55: I don't go there for years, you know, it's like I'm a Roman Catholic, but I really do not know what it even means and and now
15:01: I met these Christians and they're telling me about Jesus and they're telling me about church and they are telling me about baptism and all these kind of things and we wanted them to kind of like, you know, see a
15:14: Mature church a real church, you know show them like hey church is not just like in a living room with Radek and Laura But, uh, you know, they're elders and their baptisms and there there's a
15:23: Lord's Supper and there is there's like a wider congregation So so even though we did like a lot of work during the week in our town in our house
15:32: We also wanted the the students to see the real church so on Sundays we would either load them up in a train or on a bus or in a car and and go to Brno to a church where we were members and And just wanted them to experience that and and be there so when when
15:49: God saved some some of them That's where they were baptized in a you know in a in one of the Baptist Baptist churches in a in a
15:55: Brno Sometime around that time and my wife knows all the dates
16:02: I Remember the names of our kids. She remembers the birthdays It's like she's the number person and the memory person.
16:10: So it's like yeah, it happened sometime in last 20 years and she's like no It was Monday midnight
16:16: You know, so it's like great but anyway, so, you know as the work grew and God God also provided another family and that's that's
16:27: Peter and Anna here here here on the left side and they moved to our town as well and we knew them before and God also laid on their hearts.
16:36: There would be great to have a church in that town So so now God provided another family who was like -minded close friends loving
16:42: Christ also members of the of the Brno Church and And we started meeting in their living room and you know one
16:49: Sunday in their living room on Sunday in our living room But it's that's that's like that's like the very beginnings of the of the work in a in a cushion
16:57: And we are so thankful for this couple really sweet family Great great heart for God.
17:03: So so does the yellowness? Then some 14 years ago We outgrew the living room and then we outgrew the garage kind of a thing where we started meeting in the church and we were able to rent a place which was a old disco disco hall, so So the first couple of Sundays there would be a disco ball here and I preached under in the disco ball
17:26: And then my wife was like hey, it's probably you probably should take it down. I was like, yeah, you're probably right So we took it down So, you know just like a place right in on a mainstream in our in our town and we were able to start rent in it and And and God was gracious, you know, like God was gracious.
17:47: He was he was adding see no disco ball anymore That's where it was 15 years ago, but God was adding adding people
17:57: You know, we try to evangelize we try to disciple we try to preach the word We would do
18:03: English camps. So Laura's that would bring a couple people from their church in the main
18:08: They would come for a week. We would teach English We would have 50 60 70 80 80 non -believing students come for a week of English in the morning sports in the afternoons and then preaching gospel in the evening and and and and God was just bringing bringing other people, you know to his kingdom and and to our church and it was it was
18:27: It was pretty neat I think it was in 2012 when
18:35: So in 2012 We actually became like an official church with a bit of membership and eldership and and we can't we became a part of a
18:46: Baptist Union and The reason why we became a part of a Baptist Union is because in a check you cannot have independent church unless you have 300 members, so I think here in the
18:57: States if you have like You know, it's almost like in the Bible like where two or three of you are gathered you can have a independent church
19:04: I think that's the verse and I check it's like you have to have 300 members to have like an independent church
19:10: And it's hard because the largest Baptist Church and a check has like 200 members, you know So it's like so you have to join a some kind of a denomination in order to be in the in the church box
19:21: And I grew up in the Baptist Union. I I love it I have a lot of friends a lot of pastor friends there.
19:27: My grandfather was it was a pastor there So it was like well, you know, let's let's be part of the Baptist Union Because you can still be independent you can you can preach whatever whatever you want.
19:37: Nobody's telling you what to do that the church is You know independent in that kind of a sense
19:44: So so that's what we did in around 2012 But uh, but then a couple of couple of years later 80 years later we had to leave the
19:54: Baptist Union Because you know if you are a member and I'll try to make it sure if you are a member you see this side but then when you become a part of the
20:03: Union and you are a pastor and you go to the pastor's meetings and you go to you know to the You know the big meetings with all the other leaders like now you start seeing the problems and what they are dealing with and and it's
20:16: Probably the same here, you know, like, you know, it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a it's a Should women be a pastors, you know, it's like oh I thought it was decided 2 ,000 years ago
20:21: It's like okay or or homosexuality or you know Can can we partner with the
20:27: Roman Catholics and and can we have a Roman Catholic priest preaching our church? You know because they are bigger and they are stronger and and we are small and and we need like a big brother
20:35: You know, it's like Yeah, big brother is fine. But a big cult is not you know, it's like Like like, you know and that they were like the the sufficiency of the
20:44: Bible or inerrancy of the Bible So so there were churches who fought a battle before us for for many years and and when we joined we kind of like I joined them in trying to Reform it and and for our conscience and and other churches for their conscience.
20:59: They couldn't stay there anymore So so 80 years later You know, we left and and we have like -minded churches that we work with in a
21:08: Czech Republic And And we love the people in a Baptist Union But but for our conscience we couldn't be there anymore.
21:16: So so God was adding people. This is one of our church lunches that's the that's the disco room from from the other side and and we were having lots of baptisms because God was converting people and This is this is
21:30: Veronica and Martin. They joined our church. Maybe I don't know five years ago I think it's now and and it's it's really neat Because Martin, he's a super smart guy.
21:41: He's like a Mark Margaret we Had you know super smart guy Engineer a teacher like like super super educated guy and he was a hardcore
21:51: Roman Catholic He would go to like these special places on his knees, you know, like like anything you can do as a
21:57: Roman Catholic He would done it and and that's his wife Veronica and and for 32 years 35 years
22:04: He would be going to the Roman Catholic Church in the Roman Catholic think and then one day he was sick and he's like Well, I'm sick.
22:10: I'm at home I might just read a Bible for the first time in my life For my own because he was never encouraged in his church to read a
22:18: Bible, right? Like that's that's why you have the priest. So so he's sick. He's home. He opens up the Bible He starts reading the
22:23: Bible and like a week later. He thinks I'm crazy I must be crazy like I went nuts because I'm reading the
22:30: Bible the same Bible that they preach from every Sunday But I'm reading it and I'm understanding it this way
22:38: So I must be crazy because when they read in the church They always explain it this way right like and the way how we understood it is you are saved only through Christ You are saved only by grace.
22:49: You are saved only through faith Like there's nothing you can add to your salvation Christ has done it All right, like he lived the perfect life
22:54: He died the substitutionary death and and he was rose again and there is nothing you can add to your salvation and he literally thought he
23:01: Went nuts. So he started reading Bible with his wife. God saved her now both of them thinking that they are crazy and And and and and he had no idea there is like any other church in a
23:13: Roman Catholic Church, even though he's like a you know Like highly educated great guy engineer
23:19: So he started researching online and to his great surprise and joy.
23:25: He found out he's not crazy He found out there are other believers There are other other churches other people who understand the
23:32: Bible the very same way how he understands it So he started looking for a church nearby. He found a
23:38: Baptist Church They came there and they're like, well, you know we do ecumenical think with a Roman Catholics and and he's like we cannot stay here like we are so thankful to God that he
23:47: Just saved us from there Like how can we be in the church that doesn't understand the difference, you know?
23:52: And they would try like maybe three or four different churches and that would be the deal breaker for them
23:58: It's like we cannot be in the church It doesn't understand that Roman Catholic Church, even though there's a lot of great people and a lot of like, you know
24:06: Friends and family and and really nice people but but but a teaching the doctrine is
24:13: False and then one day by God's grace, they showed up in our church and they never left They got baptized a couple of weeks later and and and Martin is one of the pillars of our church
24:23: You know huge heart for God huge heart for evangelism You know, he would be he would be going to Brno Once a week or or every other week then a couple of our guys from our church started going with him to Brno Do like a street evangelism, you know
24:40: Just talk to the people tell them about a hope we have in in Christ and and his specialty would be like, you know he would find out where different Roman Catholic churches in Brno and their thing
24:53: And he would be like, oh this church ends up this time that church ends up at that time and he would go there and wait for the people to come out and and very politely very lovingly very kindly just be like Hey, like, you know,
25:04: I was one of you but this is this is what I found in a Bible You know, would you like to hear so so he has a huge heart for reaching out to the
25:11: Roman Catholic community and and the area Where we live that's like like everybody is a
25:16: Roman Catholic. So so he has he has a lot of work. So yeah, so they were actually
25:24: Well, I'll tell you so so they're just parents heavily
25:33: Roman Catholic They were living in the same house, you know, like a one floor the the parents another floor like another generation
25:41: That's how we do it in in Europe. So you have your own kitchen. You have your own everything It's just like you live under in the same roof, even though you are like separated and and virtue was like the favorite of the family until She became born again, right?
25:54: and then like really but even even her own parents like really like Turn against her and against him and they were giving them such a hard time that they finally
26:05: I kick them out of the house And by God's grace, they ended up being our neighbors in our town.
26:10: So we have great neighbors I do not know if they have a good neighbors, but we have a great neighbors So and and they are helping in the church
26:19: So much and and we are praying for their parents and and hoping that God will save their parents
26:24: This is another baptism. And and the reason why I have this picture Uh, the reason why I have this picture is uh, is this
26:31: Pavel? God saved him a couple years ago. He has a lovely wife. Uh, Nelly. Uh, God bless them with two children and You know, they're they're one of the one of the families in our church that would be traveling like two hours by car one way
26:46: To come to church on sunday and and there are churches in the area where they live
26:51: It's it's just dead churches or churches that don't preach the gospel. So, uh, so, uh, you know, like like he's my hero because uh
27:01: For you know for the years when they were members of our church He was willing to pack up his family every sunday morning
27:08: And and be in the church before people who have it like five minutes to church, you know It's like dude like he can he brings two kids and he lives two hours away and you are late again
27:19: You know, so uh, so so we have some some great people like that and uh, and that's that's that so By the way, that's that's our baptismal.
27:28: I don't know if you have a baptismal here Oh, it's back there. Okay. Well, we have the biggest one in the check uh
27:35: We even have like swans and ducks And and stuff like that it's it's it's really cool a lot of people are jealous, uh
27:44: But it's that's that's what we do. Uh, yeah, so Oh, well, yeah.
27:51: Yeah. Okay. So when it's winter Uh, yeah, we we hope that uh, nobody wants to get baptized in winter
28:00: Yeah, we'll just leave it at that No, so, uh, so, uh, yeah, we we got that question yesterday.
28:06: So when it's winter, uh Um so So this was in the winter.
28:13: They got baptized in february, but where she has like some really really really really serious health issues
28:19: So even if it would be a summer we would not be baptizing her outside um, you know, so when it's like winter and And people have like a medical condition then we go to home depot
28:31: We loan one of those and uh, and give it back the next day and uh
28:36: Uh And uh and use it as a baptismal but then we have people and and you can see pavel is not praying he's he's shaking
28:47: You know, this is this is not prayer and this is not a smile It's like I hope this is gonna be over soon
28:55: And I have the easy job because I don't go under But uh, yeah, so we baptized we baptized in the winter, but but you know what
29:02: I was I was done in uh, I think mark or jonathan yesterday, you know, like you you see russia and you you see them like cutting
29:11: Eyes, that is this deep, you know, and and and and baptizing people so like for us
29:18: You know that there might be a little bit of ice or the ice just melted. So it's super cold but it's that's what we do and and then uh
29:25: Yeah, that's that's the baptism outside That's what we have done. And uh, uh, you know over the years
29:32: God was adding people to the church Uh still the same building. Uh, it's it's it's growing so you you can see you can see the you can see the progress you can see
29:42: Uh what what god is doing? Uh at our church that there are some visitors there as well but uh, that's that's where we are and and the thing is you know like uh
29:53: Here is our strategy uh, this is this is what what we learned from Uh crazy americans like pastor mike, you know
30:01: You just take the bible You just start in one book in the first chapter in the first verse and you go verse by verse chapter by chapter
30:10: You read the passage you explain the passage and you you help the people to to apply the passage to their life, you know, and and uh
30:17: And this this is this is to god's glory. We have people coming to our church That that find the sermons online and they are coming to our church saying like, you know what we are we are just tired and hungry
30:30: For like last five years in our church like we hear stories We hear like crazy things and this and that and nobody opens up the bible and if they finally open up the bible
30:40: They spend like one minute in the bible and it's like my story about this and my story about it And people, you know who are christians
30:47: Uh are just starving and then they finally find somebody, you know, like a who opens up the bible and they are so thankful And it is the you know,
30:56: I think that's what they say in the grace church It's like it is the work of the word, you know, it's it's not about a pastor. It's not about the the personality
31:03: It's not about like this guy or that guy It's just about you know Trying to be faithful with the word of god that god gave us and it's his word who does the work it's his work word that convinces people and encourages people and builds up people and and um
31:17: And and does that so so that's what we are trying to do. That's What i'm thankful that that I was able to learn and that's what's what's happening in a check
31:26: So, uh, yeah, so the church grew, uh, we don't meet in a park anymore and then a couple other things
31:35: Uh, hopefully they will make sense. So, uh Uh, you know that there was a war that started in in ukraine almost two years ago, right?
31:43: So, uh, so Uh, even before the war we already had some people from ukraine in our church that are members in our church and we love them
31:49: And they're they're super awesome And when the war started we had probably some 40 people including children coming to our church
31:57: Because they lived in the heavily bombarded areas And uh, and they came over and they already knew our our ukraine people
32:04: Uh, so this is some of them and uh, and we have them in our church for last. Uh, Uh, two years 40 of them.
32:12: This is a check class. We have we have uh, Misha and and jenna teaching them teaching them check and uh, you know, we we help them with the documents
32:22: We help them with the insurance. We help them Uh finding work. We we help them with finding housing
32:27: And and and you know, we try to disciple them Uh, they are there from like a more of a charismatic background churches in in ukraine
32:36: And and the neat thing was that when they came to check They found out that we are baptist even though we are not part of the baptist union like we are we're baptist
32:44: And and the neat thing was like oh you're baptists So you are the ones who love the bible, you know
32:50: So that that's the reputation that the the baptists have in in ukraine Loving the bible and and for the first time even in their lives like they are now hearing bible taught
33:02: In in a different way than in their charismatic church because it's like verse by verse chapter by chapter
33:07: And and and they they seem to be very responsive to it and very thankful for it Some of them became members in our church
33:14: Uh, some of them want to go back to ukraine when it's safe some of them want to stay Uh in our in our in our town and in our church
33:21: So, uh, so there's more of them. But this is this is a this is a check. Uh, this is a check class. So, uh, another thing that that we do in in our church is that uh,
33:32: Uh, we have we have a men's group. It's it's a it's a men's leadership group. Uh, you know, we we try to prepare men uh for for pastor ministry, uh
33:42: To to be pastors or at least preachers, uh, lay lay preachers. So, uh, this is a this is a this is a
33:50: One of one of the groups we meet once a month. Um The pictures are not in like any special order.
33:57: Okay Uh, i'm not really good with powerpoints. I'm just happy it's working Um, but uh, so so that's what we do.
34:04: Uh, but I have this picture here Uh, this is ilona. She got baptized I think two or three years ago
34:09: And and ilona she has four kids her her oldest one is 20 then 18 then 15 and and and and smaller and uh
34:19: Laura was witnessing to ilona for for many years and that's that's how it is often in a check, you know
34:24: It's not like you preach the gospel once and somebody gets saved and it's like oh today like we had 60 people
34:29: You know, it's like it's like, you know, you you sharing the gospel preaching the gospel discipling or talking to somebody for like years
34:36: And and then god saves them and ilona was one of them and uh, you know, she she was married to a roman catholic um
34:44: And and he wouldn't let her come to our church and then uh for various reasons
34:50: Uh, they they got they got divorced god saved her And and she became a member in our church and she said she's a dear lady.
34:57: She loves the lord and uh, Uh, you know a couple years ago. There was a time when the churches were shut down, right?
35:05: Uh and and in a check we were not allowed to have a church, you know like if you want to have a church you can only have 10 people and And this and that and you cannot sing and you can do our supper and all these things
35:15: And and and and we did that for some time And then we decided to reopen our church by god's grace um because It was the right thing to do and and ilona as a fresh believer, you know
35:28: She she came to one of those meetings and she's like so radic like, uh, we are not supposed to be meeting right?
35:33: Like it's all over the news and this and that it's like, uh, you know Like how come we are meeting if we are not supposed to be meeting?
35:40: It's like well ilona you need to know, you know this and that and and we try to honor god We try to honor government and this is what's happening
35:47: And this is what we decided and you know, like, uh, don't feel like you have to be here But we just want to give opportunity for the people who want to be here and I told her but you need to know
35:57: That if you show up next sunday like literally uh We might have police come into our church, you know
36:04: Just like here in the states or australia like everywhere in the world in the time and either the church will be fined money
36:11: Or us as individuals will be will be fine money, right? Like they can come and it can be like you pay thousand dollars and you pay thousand dollars
36:18: So so she asked the question I gave her the answer and I told her, you know So if you come next week, just just know that uh, you know
36:26: There might be a problem and it might it might cost you some money or it might cost our church money And her response within like a half a second was like, oh, okay.
36:35: So I just need to bring more money next next week you know, it's like Yes, you know that's that so that was really really really encouraging and and and obviously, you know, like uh
36:47: That there are people even in our church who for like health Reasons stayed at home and that's that's totally fine.
36:53: And and uh, but we just wanted to give the opportunity to people to come Um earlier than the government thought so so that's that's that's that's that that was jelena uh, you know, we have we have other people and I don't have their pictures, but uh,
37:06: Uh during covet, uh, god saved a teenage Guy, his name is tomash. Uh, he he saved him regenerated him.
37:15: Uh, he was going through some Um family issues in their in their home and he started looking for answers and he went online and he found ratchet radio
37:23: And he started listening to todd frio and somehow from todd frio he went to Which I have no idea about And uh, and he found a church, which is our church close by to him.
37:35: God saved him And and and he was able to start coming to our church a couple months ago
37:41: Um because his parents wouldn't let him but now they finally let him And when we come back, uh, he should become a member.
37:49: He wants to be baptized So, uh, we are going to have a winter baptism probably Uh, i'll send you some pictures
37:55: Uh pray that we don't have to cut Uh holes in an ice. So that's that's that's that's tomash.
38:01: Uh, we have another family right now. That's that's coming from slovakia Uh, they they travel every sunday for like two and a half hours with their little daughter
38:09: Uh, because because they they want to be in a healthy church And and and they realize that you know, it's it's it's better to travel to the church that preaches the bible than then be somewhere closer by uh
38:23: With a church that doesn't so we are super thankful. You can you can pray for them Uh, they're thinking about relocating to our town.
38:30: So they're looking for a for a house to to buy and maybe within a year Uh, they might join us. Uh, one of the things that we try to do with our church is go to old folks home
38:38: Uh, which is a great ministry. It's a it's a good training ground for for preachers It's a good training ground for for anybody, you know
38:45: Just to be there talk to the people be kind be nice sing some songs preach the gospel and then spend some time with them uh
38:53: And and this is a lot better training ground than with what pastor mike did to us in berlin Because one morning in our preaching class, he's like hey hop in a car
39:01: And we are going to go somewhere Where are we going to go and and he wouldn't tell us and when I was sharing the story with mark and jonathan
39:07: They're like, oh, yeah, you you went to the graveyard. I'm like, yes, so he does the same things here in the states He takes preachers to the graveyard and and lets them preach to the uh,
39:18: To the grave, which is which is which was a but I still remember it 15 years later And and it was a it was a really good experience realizing like, you know preaching.
39:27: It's not just like Hey, here's my story. It's my time off Somebody started the timer.
39:33: Sorry Four more pictures Uh, so so we go we go to the old folks homes and and try to minister there um
39:43: This is this is a class of biblical counseling that we do do in our church, uh, wesley, uh, he's uh, he's uh, he's
39:51: He's a british american living in the czech for 15 years. He recently joined our church
39:56: Uh, he teaches biblical counseling in a czech bible institute and now when we have him in our church You know, we thought it would be great to to use him.
40:03: Uh to to teach our church about you know, how to biblically Counsel people in the church or outside of the church, you know, instead of giving them psychology instead of sending people to um
40:16: To psychologists like okay, you have this problem Well, this is what the bible says about it and here's how we are going to deal with it
40:22: So so that's that's uh, we have this class once a month as well uh, those are some of some of the people of our church and uh, yeah the church grew this is how it looks now we don't have that uh
40:33: Somebody was in our church and they said hey, this is like a chucky cheese If you remember the orange color, so after that we repainted it now, it's white
40:41: I was like, oh Uh, and and recently a couple weeks ago or or two months ago or something like that.
40:48: We had to switch the sanctuary Uh, so so we don't have the pulpit there anymore, but we we have it.
40:55: So so now we have the pulpit over there uh, because we needed to use the platform to put more chairs there because it was like Uh, we can fit 30 more chairs in our church
41:05: Uh, if we have the pulpit over there, so that's that's that's why we switched and uh, you know 20 years ago to two guys in a park and this is what god has done and uh,
41:16: And and this is the this is the building we are meeting at. Uh, it's right in on a main street Uh, this this is our house that we are renting for last 14 years
41:25: Uh, and it has a church office and a church kitchen in in a back. This is a pub And and this is like a pension.
41:33: This is like a little little hotel and then there's like garages and a courtyard And it's just like two minutes walking distance to the train and the train takes you to brno
41:42: And you are in a in a center of brno in like 20 minutes, but a neat thing is Uh, there is a there's a door that leads to our church and there is a door that leads to the pub, you know so it's like uh, jesus said
41:54: Narrow gate and and uh and wide gate while in the check we it's it's it's it's the same
42:02: You know, so on the beginning we sometimes on the beginning like 14 years ago, we would have like a guy walking to the church you know like and it's like You know expecting that we would serve a beer and we would welcome them and uh, they didn't want to so anyway
42:19: So that's the building where we are meeting at uh, it's it's right on the main street and a cushion just a couple couple minutes away from railway station and a bus station and uh
42:30: We were praying for like last year with our church that god would provide an opportunity uh
42:38: For us to to have like a larger space Uh, because we are having a problem on sundays like like you guys here uh
42:45: To to fit everybody in and and the the owners of the building Um came to us some time ago and they said that you know
42:55: If you want to purchase the building that they would be willing Uh to sell us the the whole building so, you know, if you would be able to purchase the whole building
43:03: Then we could get expand to the pub, you know, we already converted a disco to the church Now it's the mission to convert the pub to the church and uh, you know, it would give us like a housing spaces uh for for the we have people in our church who want to live in our town, but cannot live in our town because our
43:19: Town is wicked expensive Uh, you know to rent or to buy because we are right next it's like you guys you probably like You're like right outside of a boston and uh
43:30: We are outside of a bernal. So, you know, it will give us a space for people from ukraine or people from our church
43:36: Uh who are looking for for a space and it would kind of like a help the help the church Uh, it will give us more space to work with the youth um and and much more more church offices
43:47: So that's that's where we are and because the real estate in in a check and in our town especially is super expensive
43:53: Uh, this is like nine hundred thousand dollars the building and our church pledged that uh,
44:00: You know that they would give like ninety thousand dollars about their regular giving which for me Is is a lot like our church is like, uh, you know, uh,
44:09: I don't know how it's in your church But like we have like an like nice normal people that make like a nice normal Uh thing so so for us like nine thousand is like woohoo.
44:18: Like that's like super exciting Uh, then we have other people from check, uh who watch our youtube channel listen to our sermons who are helping us financially
44:27: But we still have like a long ways to go. So, uh, you know, um That's the building that seems like an opportunity.
44:35: So we are praying we are trying to raise money for that. Uh If you would go and buy one room apartment
44:42: If you like today if you would go in a kushim and buy one room apartment That's probably like as big as your as your podium.
44:50: It's like two hundred thousand dollars, you know So like nine hundred thousand dollars for a whole thing. It's like it's like awful lot of money
44:55: But you have the church you have the pub you have the living spaces you have the church offices and the kitchen and then like a outside space here that you can convert and have people from the town, you know go there sit on a bench and And kind of like a make make it like a public public area
45:11: So it's like nine hundred thousand but like one room apartment is going to cost you in our town two hundred thousand so compared to that, it's not it's not that uh that much so Those are my 45 minutes
45:22: I hope I did good even though I wasn't paying attention in the beginning.
45:27: I'm so sorry for that Uh first impression. Sorry Uh, if you have any questions or or I can just sit down and and be quiet So is that is that is that all right to take a question?
45:40: Okay, one question better be good So what is what does it mean as incentive?
46:06: Oh, why? Okay. Good. Good question. Uh, I have a phenomenal answer as uh, as uh, dr.
46:12: Lawson says uh So that's a really good question So so the reason why people want to learn english is because it opens the whole world for you, you know
46:20: Like uh, you can get a better job. Uh, you can travel the whole world you can get like a lot more advantages so so for them that especially younger generation is like Like my parents are like we are staying in the czech
46:33: We are not living czech, you know, and my grandparents they they never traveled like anywhere outside of the czech republic
46:39: But the young generation is like we want to see the world, you know Like we want to be free and in order to do that. We need to we need to know english so so so for us at least like You know, we we did the english camps for I don't know 10 10 years
46:53: And and that that that like really worked and and I think it's still working It's one of many ways how to reach out to the community how to help them
47:02: But be straightforward like hey, we'll be happy to teach you english But we are also going to teach you about bible and the gospel, you know
47:08: So whoever comes to our camps knew this is a christian camp. They're going to hear the gospel And oftentimes they were like well, you know, we can't suffer through christianity
47:17: We just we are just here for for a thing but god used that to change their heart But we do street evangelism we do try to evangelize people around and stuff and adjust to the camp so Good question.
47:29: Thank you. Thank you I'll pray. Okay god We thank you so much for this morning
47:36: Thank you so much for the opportunity to share a little bit about what you are doing in the czech republic and what your word
47:42: Is doing in the czech republic and god. I thank you so much that uh Even sinner like like I am forgiven sinner can can be part of your work god
47:50: Thank you so much for this church. Thank you for pastor. Mike. Thank you for The other elders and other pastors in this church.
47:56: Thank you so much for the sweet families We were able to meet with yesterday and stay with and and uh for the fellowship we have today
48:04: And um god, I just thank you so much for what you are doing not only in the czech, but also in massachusetts um god, we pray that If it's your will that you would be bringing more people even from our families from our neighborhoods
48:16: From our communities to yourself, please help us to be bold preaching the gospel and evangelizing
48:23: And god we ask you that you would do the things that only you can do that you would convert Human hearts and save them from their sins show them that christ is lord and king and savior
48:34: And that they would find By your grace an eternal life In him god.
48:40: I thank you so much for this church and for the opportunity to be here today And I just pray for blessing for the service that's in front of us.