The team looked a lot more awake and refreshed after a good night's sleep on Saturday night. We all went to the Czech service at 10:00 am. They loved the worship and all talked about how neat it was to hear them worship in their language. Many of them said it was incredible to feel the Spirit in worship even though they couldn't understand the language. We had a great service and it was good to worship with the Czech people. The team also got to meet some of the Czech teens after church. Some of them hit it off well and already began to build relationships.
The afternoon was reserved for much needed rest. The team members all enjoyed a well deserved Wesleyan hour or two, if you know what I mean. After their long flight and a night in the airport they were ready to sleep the afternoon away! And that is exactly what they did.
The team helped lead the Brno international Christian Fellowship service at 5:00 pm. This service is all in English. Most of the congregation is made up of missionaries, but there are also Czech nationals, international students, and others who join us for an English service on Sunday evening. We had a wonderful service of song and testimony. The team led in a few music specials and Sean shared his testimony. It was definitely a spirit-filled service. We were all glad to have the team share with us.
After supper with the Wesleyan missionaries the team went on a prayer walk through Brno. I could see God begin to move in their lives. We started off by praying for the lost in the city and praying that God would lift the bondage of sin, especially alcoholism, homosexuality, live-ins and other problems in Czech. We prayed for these as we went on public transport downtown. At one of the stops we sang the song "We ask for the nations." It was a powerful moment as we began to realize how "big" of a request we were presenting before God. We were able to pray more boldly for the city of Brno when we realized we could ask for the nations. I think we so often limit God because we really don't expect him to give us the nations or because we are afraid to ask for such bold requests.
We continued on through the city praying for the government of Czech and Brno, for the teens and rising materialism, and for the few Christians. We took a long walk up to the Petrov Cathedral which stands out boldly and prominently in the Brno skyline, as a symbol of a lost hope in the city. This beautiful cathedral was once built purposefully in the center of the city up on a high hill for all to see. It is not much more than a tourist attraction now but it gives hope that a once prominent faith in God could return to this city. As we walked up to the Cathedral we could see all of Brno beneath us and it was a completely overwhelming thought to think that I am supposed to make a difference in this huge city where many of the people haven't even heard about God and many more have been taught skewed truths. Many of the team members felt this same overwhelming feeling. We all began to realize then that it wasn't anything that we could do to make a difference but it would definitely have to be an incredible work of God. We all realized that the best thing that we could do was pray fervently. When we reached the Petrov Cathedral most of us where brought to tears as we cried out to our God to reclaim this city for his glory. It was an incredible moving experience, and I am convinced that we all came away from there somehow changed. We had met with God in his presence and we had cried out in behalf of the city. No one could deny the presence of God in our midst and no one can leave unchanged after they've met in with God in that way.
After we returned to Majak we sat in the Coffee shop from some time to debrief. I was impressed with the everyone on the team. No one complained about not having their luggage or having to spend the night in the Frankfurt airport. They were all positive and upbeat. They were all looking forward to the week with great anticipation. It was also apparent that God was already beginning to move in many of their lives and to speak to their hearts. It is going to be a wonderful week and I am excited about being with the team. God is doing amazing things.
P.S. for more pictures of the team visit:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mark.1615/my_photos
Praise God that we have a new sister in Christ! Gabi, one of the teens, accepted Christ last week! Some of you may have already heard the news from the SWU team, and I feel terrible that I have taken so long to post this. I wanted to let all of you praying for me and the ministry in the Czech Republic know that God does answer prayer and that he is working in peoples' lives here. I am so thankful for the SWU team and all that they did here. They were instrumental in Gabi coming to Christ. I remember praying with the teens on Sunday night with the team. I looked around the circle to see the reaction of the teens and Gabi was weeping. She wasn't crying but literally weeping. It was more than I am going to miss these new friends I've made. She had made a deeper connection with them this week, and I knew that something more was going on inside her heart and mind. The Holy Spirit was definitely tugging on her heart. I got so excited and began to wonder then how much longer it would be until she accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. She made that decision even sooner than I expected. Wednesday night she met with David Ospaly, the youth pastor, and Petra one of the teens who has been a Christian for four or five years now. They talked together about God and his love, Christ's sacrifice for us, and what it means to be a Christian, and Gabi told them that she believed and wanted to be a Christian. Her comment was, "I want to be a Christian like Petra!" What an encouraging statement for Petra. For a long time she was the only Christian teen here at Majak. She has been ridiculed for her faith even by her family and yet she is about the most joyful, funloving person I have ever met. It must be a huge testimony and encouragement to her own faith to have one of her friends say that! We have all been rejoycing in our new found sister. It has been so exciting and encouraging for everyone here at Majak. I encourage you to keep praying, God is doing increadable things here!
