Youth Revolution Activities
The month of April has been a very busy time for some and a much more relaxing time for others. For both Eliška and Táňa, April was a very busy month. Both of them are finishing their time at their respective schools. Eliška was busy working on her bachelor's thesis for her university studies and has been preparing for her final exams and Táňa has finished up her final tests and projects of her high school career and has been preparing for and beginning to take her maturita exams. The Lord has faithfully answered the prayers of many and have brought them through thus far. Please continue to pray for them over the next few weeks as they study and take their final exams. Pray that God would give them energy, endurance and peace as they seek to successfully complete their studies at their respective schools.
For the remainder of the youth, the month of April has largely meant a time of relaxed schedules and workloads because of the Easter holiday and high school entrance exams. Schools were closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday as state holidays as well as a couple of other days so that prospective high school students could take entrance exams at the high schools of their choice. This year, our group doesn't have anyone making the transition from elementary school to high school, so the test days have meant a time of relaxation instead of a time of stress and anxiety about the future.
Over the last month, things have been very different from week to week for our youth group. In the beginning of April we continued our study of the practical essentials for the Christian life by speaking about growing in our relationship with God through the reading of the Bible and through prayer. One week we had two guests come and speak with our group about their experience of coming to Christ and the persecution that they suffered for their belief in their home country (not the Czech Republic). Although I can't comfortably say much more about it, for the safety of the two guests, I will say that I believe it was a blessing for all of us who were able to hear their testimony. On Good Friday, the youth meeting was canceled so that people could attend Good Friday services and the following week we had an evening of fellowship. Instead of our regular youth meeting we spent some time together at a local park. We had a bit of a picnic and spent some time talking and enjoying some nice spring weather. Although I don't have a lot of pictures of the youth group over the last month, here are a few that were taken several weeks ago after one of the lessons.
Church Spring Weekend
Each year around this time, the church in Ostrava-Poruba spends a weekend together away from Ostrava on a retreat. It has always been a nice time for people to pray, worship and fellowship together as a body of believers, but this year was a bit special for me as the weekend was held in the same hotel at which I spent my first English camp with this church. I was reminded of the relationships which I first built with the people of this church and how much things have grown and changed since then. I thought about teaching my first English lessons at that hotel. Two of the people who were in my first class were a couple named Pepa and Monika. At the time, they had to take turns attending the class, because one of them had to be available to check on their young daughter who wasn't quite a toddler. This past weekend, I saw this same daughter, now about nine years old, running around with the other kids playing games. On Saturday morning during a break in activities, I was sitting on the terrace with Míla, reflecting on the first time I spoke with she and her husband, Radim. During our first meeting, the only thing that I could think to speak with them about was the final Harry Potter movie and now they are two of the people with whom I am the closest here. I also spent a bit of time this past weekend thinking about how much our camp has grown over the years. Although that hotel was great for what we needed on my first visit to the Czech Republic, it could not come close to holding the amount of people we expect to attend the camp this year. God has been so faithful in many different ways over the years to me and to the people of this church. Would you praise the Lord for His faithfulness along with me and would you lift up this church and the different needs of the people here in your prayers.
Here are a few pictures that I took during the weekend. There are a few others floating around Facebook of me dressed as a traditional Czech woman as part of a skit and a video of me dressed as Chubby Checkers doing a bit of a performance, but to see those you'll have to search for yourself.
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