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Stories from the Front Lines
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Prayers and perspective from Brno...
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This morning I had a wonderful conversation with a young Czech woman who we have been working with to help us learn the Czech language. I thought I would share a little of the conversation so you can better know how to pray for us and our work here. First of all, regarding the language, it is one of the hardest (I am told) in the world to learn and my wife and I are early 50's... so that is a big request in it's own right! Ok, not to the conversation... this morning my wife woke feeling ill with a horrible headache so when our teacher arrived, I took the opportunity to ask her to postpone the normal language lesson and share with me about the Czech culture... including their spiritual beliefs. She agreed.
We had good open honest discussions about cultural / practical things which was very useful to me in "real life" situations. Being a small town Tennessee boy and trying to function in this environment can be very challenging at times... simply paying a bill or trying to communicate with people in government offices will often make you crazy when you do not know the native language or custom of the people. So, she gave me some insight to how people "think" in such situations. After a bit, I switched the conversation to spiritual matters. I was respectful and asked her to let me know an honest accounting of how Czech people think about religion and personal belief in God. To give you a synopsis of what I discovered, basically she feels that the average Czech person is simply fed up with any organized religion... then what came next was very important to me. She said that she believes that most people are still searching for answers to spiritual questions they have about God but they are just lost about how to do this. YES! That is exactly the point! I could not have heard a better answer. People are indeed searching for the answers to the mysteries of God and like the Apostle Paul of old, we have the answers to share with them about this great mystery which is now made plain through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Through this conversation, I was able to start sharing my own experience with my teacher to hopefully plant a few seeds in her heart about the importance of living a relational life with Christ. She leans toward belief in a major Eastern religion, by the way.
The big thing is to get past the baggage of the past here in Europe... the negative historical influence of how many of them perceive the "church" as political and controlling. To be honest... it is also important for me in my context to approach people in an air of openness and acceptance before I even gain an opportunity to share the Gospel with them. Many people here see evangelicals as harsh and unconcerned about the feelings and opinions of others. So, today I learned that my approach is so VERY important in the culture where I live. I have to get a seat at the table of the mind before I can even share my perspective about living a Christ centered life. Please pray for us to have wisdom and patient to sow the seed of the Gospel more wisely based upon this information and do pray that we will be given the ability to learn the language as quickly as possible.
God bless you all,
Randy in Brno, CZ
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Randy Nicholas 05/25/2011 07:25 |
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Joyce
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05/25/2011 14:01 |
Randy, thanks for sharing this with us, and God Bless you for your obedience. I so agree with your approach to those precious souls that have been hurt by the "Church". I will certainly be praying for you and your wife. Keep us posted.
Joyce
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