Gospel Expectation

As we prepare to share the gospel tonight with close to 30 of our friends at English camp, we agree with this quote from Rolland Allen and share his expectation that when the gospel goes out, it will bear fruit in this world: "St. Paul expected his hearers to be moved. He so believed in his preaching that he knew it was 'the power of God unto salvation.' This expectation is a very real part of the presentation of the Gospel. It is a form of faith. A mere preaching which is not accompanied by the expectation of faith is not a true preaching of the Gospel, because faith is a part of the Gospel. Simply to scatter the seed, with a sort of vague hope that some of it may come up somewhere, is not preaching the gospel. It is indeed a misrepresentation of the gospel. To preach the Gospel requires that the preacher should believe that he is sent to those whom he is addressing at the moment, because God has among them those whom He is at the moment calling: it requires that the speaker should expect a response."  

This quote reminds me of a picture that was taken during our first year of English Camp back in 2007:

There are a lot of great things about this picture.  First of all, you can see Jess Lindgren, our current Administrative Director in Student Ministries who is with us this year on our trip in the front row of this picture, second from the right.  She was in high school when this picture was taken, and her love for Czech has continued to grow since this point in her life.

But there are three other stories that get us excited when we look at this picture.  All of the way to the right in the front row, with Jess's arm wrapped around her, is our friend Babu.  When this picture was taken, Babu did not know Christ.  The gospel was proclaimed in 2007 at this English camp and Babu received Christ. She has been a solid, strong, growing follower of Christ ever since this point.  She shared her testimony with the students two nights ago in our evening session. It was powerful and God has been using it to stir the hearts of non-believers here this week.

At the far right in the top row, just above Babu, you will see our friend Petr.  Petr also did not know Christ when this picture was taken.  He did not believe in the existence of God and did not see the point of such an existence even if it were true.  The gospel was proclaimed at camp in 2007...And again in 2008...And again in 2009...And at many other points in Petr's life after getting connected to the church in Sumperk.  Petr surrendered his life to Christ in late 2009.  He has been soaking up doctrine and clearly growing in his walk with Christ.  He shared his testimony in two parts on Sunday and Monday in our evening session, and God has also used Petr's words in powerful ways this week.

In the middle of the top row, you'll see a 17-year-old young man named Vasek who was at the time a staunch atheist who believed the gospel to be complete foolishness.  Vasek heard the gospel in 2007 and 2008, and was also loved and invested in at the church in Sumperk as he continued to hear the gospel at other various points.  Vasek came to faith in Christ in the fall of 2008. All of a sudden he was reading the Bible continuously, listening to sermons, and reading books that would strengthen the core of his faith. He spent six months with us last fall as a youth ministry intern at New Hope Church. He has been my main translator for the entire week as I deliver the evening talks to students. He is currently working with Petr, Babu, and others who were not believers at our first camp to plant a ministry in Sumperk that is geared for reaching their friends for Christ.  Clearly, the gospel continues to bear fruit and grow in Sumperk.

So please pray for us as we prepare to share the good news of Jesus Christ very directly, boldly, and lovingly tonight.  I'm looking forward to seeing pictures like this one five years from now and hearing stories of changed lives similar to the ones above.  God is at work here. As the gospel goes out, we are convinced that it will continue to do what it is doing in this world--"bearing fruit and increasing" (Colossians 1:6).

Encouragingly,

Jeremy

It's Hike Day!

Hi everyone,

Pictures are hopefully coming soon... but just wanted to write a quick update on how things are going!

Camp is going great so far. Students are doing an awesome job teaching English in the mornings and leading discussion groups in the evening. Camp has a different atmosphere than it has in the past few years because of the 25 new students here, but it is so good! Last night, a lot of students heard clearly about God for (maybe) the first time. Tomorrow night the Gospel will be shared and there will be a "labyrinth" set up for students to walk through different interactive activities and think about what they have been hearing. Please be praying for tomorrow - it is a big night!

We also want to ask for prayers today as we go on a day-long hike. The purpose of hike day is not just to climb a mountain and be completely exhausted at the end, but it is an intentional time for conversations to happen. Pray for boldness for our team and the Czech youth group as we talk with unbelievers, ask them questions about what they are thinking about and have spiritual conversations.

Also-- we would appreciate prayers for continued energy and strength! It's past the half way point through camp and our bodies can feel that. It's definitely been a spiritually, emotionally and physically intense week. Pray for strength today as we hike and in the next two days specifically as we don't want to burn out in this crucial point of the week!

Thank you for your continued prayers. We so appreciate all of you!!

Jess (for all)

Greater Than

Hello from Puste Zibridovice, Czech Republic!

We are into our first full day of camp and things are going great.  Relationships seem to be forming quickly with our new friends and relationships from previous years continue to solidify.  Additionally, we're really excited about our camp theme--Greater Than.  We are going to be telling the parable of the two sons (aka "the prodigal son") and unfolding it in story form throughout the week.  Through this story, we desire to show students that God is greater than what we usually think of as the "GOOD life," greater than the FREEDOM we think we have when we try to live life on our own terms, greater than the CHAOS that unfolds as a result of living for ourselves, greater than the RULES and expectations that we think we need to meet in order to gain the approval of God, greater than whatever else we choose to put our HOPE in, and ultimately much greater than living life for ME.

Through the gospel we find something much greater.  Through the gospel we find reconciliation with God through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Through the gospel we find true and ultimate freedom.   Through the gospel, we no longer believe that we have to hold to a certain rule or regulation in order to gain God's acceptance--Jesus already accomplished that for us.  Through the gospel we can now place our hope in something eternal--something that sin, suffering, and death can never take away from us.  Through the gospel we come to realize that the only way that sinful man could possibly be reconciled to a holy God is through sheer grace.  Through the gospel, our old selves are crucified and we are risen with Christ into a new way of life.  Our God is truly GREATER THAN anything else in this world.

Thank you so much for your prayers!  Please continue to pray for us as we enter into these crucial conversations with students this week.  Pictures to come soon!

Grace and peace,

Jeremy

We are here!

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you all know that we have safely arrived in Czech! We got into Prague at about 9:15 yesterday (Wednesday) morning and then arrived to Brejlov around 11 am.  Brejlov is our training location this year and is about an hour south of Prague. It's a beautiful location right on the river - we love it!

By the time we went to bed last night, most of us had been awake for over 30 hours... so we are (mostly) new people today after a good night's sleep and a shower! Last night and today have been filled with learning about the JV story, Czech history and culture, how to lead small groups and how to teach an English class. Besides our tiredness - everyone is doing well!

Tomorrow morning we head to Sumperk to meet the youth group students and then travel to camp to finish preparing before students come on Saturday! Pray for intentional conversations and unity in these next two days as our different teams become one team.

Proof that we are all here and doing well (Hannah was in the bathroom)!

The boys drinking the famous Kofola

Thanks for your prayers! We will try to update again in the next few days!