This original tapestry depicting Charles IV, who founded central Europe’s oldest university in 1348, still hangs in the Karolinum, the first building erected at Charles Univesity in Prague.  

Intensive Czech this Summer!

JUNE 2019: On June 19, I presented an update on the Czech prayer app for the leadership council of the ECAVvČR (Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confesssion in the Czech Republic).  I wrote my report in Czech and presented it in Czech to the bishop, business manager and church councils of the various congregations. Vicar Damašek helped with translating the subsequent questions and my answers.

Much of the reaction from the presentation seemed positive and encouraging, even including questions about expanding the prayer app to other cities in the Czech Republic to support our Lutheran congregations in other communities.  The prayer app is still a pilot project and we don’t know yet how it will work. The key will be if we can get users to connect to the churches, because there isn’t a mobile app around that baptizes people into the body of Christ.  The emphasis needs to be on Word and Sacrament.

I also spent several afternoons and evenings in June walking the streets of Prague with the vicar and handing out cards with the QR code for the prayer app. We got permission to place the cards in coffee shops, libraries and on university bulletin boards.  One afternoon, we walked more than 17,000 steps handing out cards! 

I will be talking more about the prayer app during my home service and the challenges we face in sharing the Gospel in the Czech Republic among atheists.

Lutherans Engage magazine published a nice article that they asked me to write about the prayer app in their summer issue.  If you haven’t already seen it, you can read it online at https://engage.lcms.org/czech-app-summer-2019/.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we try to use technology to help share the Gospel.  Farmers used to plant every seed by hand, then with ox and plow, and now with fancy tractors and GPS technology.  The seeds in the farmer’s field still depend on God, who controls the sun, wind and rain, to grow.  I imagine the same with the seeds of the Gospel.  We can sow the seeds one by one or we can use technology, but we depend on the Holy Spirit for those seeds to take root and bring people to faith.

JULY 2019: 

I spent most of July attending summer school at Charles University for intensive Czech language skills.  I was placed in the intermediate level, along with adult students from Japan, Italy, England, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico and Germany, all wanting to learn and speak Czech more fluently.

For five hours each weekday, along with afternoon outings on Czech history and culture, and nightly homework, I was immersed in Czech.  And my Czech has improved! I am not fluent yet—that will come with more time and continued study—but I am thrilled with God’s provision, through you, to be able to make such strides.

 (to read more about my latest home service schedule, read the full newsletter)

Today, I am reminded of our reliance on God in all things, including my upcoming travel:

“The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” 

Psalm 121:7-8 (ESV)

Would you still like to arrange a mission presentation for your congregation or see my schedule of visits when I am back in America for home service this fall? Read the entire newsletter to find out more details.