Category: Czech Republic

Every post I wrote while we lived overseas.

Reflecting and Lots to Pray About

Post author By Shay
Post date September 2, 2014
1 Comment on Reflecting and Lots to Pray About

For the past two days I have found myself saying, “I can’t believe it’s September.” On this date last year I was starting my last two weeks of work at Paul Mitchell and our family was stepping into a new adventure called full-time support raising. I can’t believe that was a year ago and I can’t believe I’m sitting here in Czech Republic writing about it. No doubt God’s hand has been in this process with our family and has brought us many miles physically and brought us further in our faith. Praise the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness to us in this journey.

Maybe I’m just reflecting more tonight, but I’m amazed at the growth in my kids. Titus and Avery both seem to be making big strides in all areas of their little lives. Avery is still have accidents, but she’s consistently using the potty and telling us so we can take her. Titus is building more complicated things with his legos (photo above). He’s helping more around the house and he’s just talking a lot more. Every day he comes to the door when I get home and says, “So dad, how was your day?” I’m so thankful for their growth and for the work that Bethany puts in with them. Praise the Lord for His grace and kindness to us with our kids.

Tonight we had dinner with our new friend Soňa (pronounced “Sown-yuh”) over for dinner. You may remember that Bethany met her at a little preschool in our town. We don’t believe she knows Christ, but she told us tonight her family is Catholic. In fact, her mom texted her while she was at our house asking her to pray about the situation with Putin and Russia as she heard reports that things are escalating. Like all Czechs she brought us a little gift and even thought of our kids (photo below).

Soňa is a very busy girl with multiple jobs and she’ll be starting university (like college) later this month. She has offered to babysit for us but we wanted to spend more time with her. We see an opportunity to minister to her and see what God does. Pray for us as we seek to make wise decisions in this area. Soňa also told us about the new English teacher at the preschool who is from New Zealand. Bethany is going to try and contact her as well and see if we can help her with her visas stuff. We feel like we need to push into some of these relationships and see what God has. It’s a reminder to pray.

After Soňa left Bethany got a phone call from the lady who runs the preschool. They continue asking Bethany to come and speak/teach English. Right now they are asking her to commit for a fews day a week and we’re just not sure about it. The woman that called insisted we go to her house to discuss it and now we’re scheduled for lunch on Saturday so we’ll see what this might entail. Obviously, we’re not her to hold jobs like that nor are we legally allowed to. We would have to work out some kind barter, but we just need to pray and have wisdom. Again, I don’t believe these are accidents, but we need the wisdom that comes from above. Just another reminder to pray.

Tags opportunity, prayer

365 Czech Republic

A New Month and a New Store

Post author By Shay
Post date September 1, 2014
1 Comment on A New Month and a New Store

Tonight we had our monthly time of opening an envelope from our Bible study in the States. Until June of next year we have envelopes for every month which they have put together with gifts and fun things inside. The September envelope brought lots of fun things so here’s some photos of our kids unwrapping it all (captions below each photo).

Titus found a light up yo-yo which also wanted to take with him to bed. Avery found a rounded object that she began to unwrap.

Avery found a princess wand and finally unwrapped a great candle. She went around the house saying, “Sprinkle sprinkle, do your thing” with her wand. No clue where that came from or what exactly it means.

Titus found a Cars sticker book which he loved.

Oh… Avery found Daddy’s favorite, an iTunes gift card! She also found a book called “Lone Survivor” which is the background for the recent movie of the same name.

The kids found a letter from our friends, the Shanks family. It was written from their kids and had some great questions about our life here in Czech. Here are the questions with some answers:

Q: Do you play basketball in your new house?
A: Yes! But not in the house. We have a basketball hoop that we keep in the garage and when it’s not raining we roll it out and play in our driveway.

Q: Have you made lots of new friends?
A: Definitely! There are so many fun friends here and we’re having a blast getting to know lots of new people.

Q: Do you like your new church? What is your church called?
A: Yes. We love it. It’s called “Církve Bratrské” which means, Church of the Brethren.

In other news, we had a little hiccup at the Josiah Venture offices today which required me and my teammate, Brian, to go to Ostrava for a few things. We needed to get a couple new computer hard drives from the store because of some issues with someone else’s computer. The mall in Ostrava is actually where Bethany and I went on our second date in Czech and it’s just an amazing place. In the photo above you can see Brian using a giant touch screen display to find out where the computer store was. When he picked the location it showed us where we were and how to get to the floor above where the store was. I have never see anything like it in the States. We walked up stairs and got exactly what we needed.

Since we had already made the thirty minute drive, Brian called his wife to see if they needed anything from the mall. She said they needed brown sugar from this British store called “Marks and Spencer” which Brian knew of but I had never heard about. I couldn’t believe my eyes when we got inside. Chocolate chip cookies, English language packaging, sauces, salsa, and even brow sugar (which is apparently hard to find around here). The store was amazing considering this is the Czech Republic and I ended up calling Bethany to tell her while I was in there. I only bought two things but I think we’ll heading back at some point. Here’s the photos I showed to Bethany when I got home.

Funny thing is you have to walk through a department store to get to where this store is located. It’s all part of Marks and Spencer, but I was still confused by it.

These are the little bags of brown sugar. They cost a little less than $3.00 (US).

On the left is lots of coffee and on the right is lots of ice cream toppings. The ice cream stuff is probably splurge items, for sure, but it’s amazing that they have that kind of stuff.

Last but not least, jalapeños. I don’t know if these are hard to come by but seeing anything spicy which is even related to Mexican food makes my heart happy. You’d be surprised how these little things make you feel when you haven’t seen them a while.

Tags envelope, gifts, Marks and Spencer, September

365 Czech Republic

The Sunday Dichotomy: When The Church Service Goes Long

Post author By Shay
Post date August 31, 2014
1 Comment on The Sunday Dichotomy: When The Church Service Goes Long

When was the last time you were at church and the guy announcing an outreach ministry begins with a story about someone attempting suicide? That’s what happened this morning at our church in Czech. The man sharing was introducing a ministry called “Alpha” which, from what I could I gain through our translator, is designed to help people share their faith with those in their workplaces and neighborhoods. The story he was sharing was from his own work where a mom asked to leave work early because her son was trying to commit suicide. He continued that people at his work know he’s a Christian and are willing to share things with him. As well, he shared that in the case of the woman he asked her if he could pray for her son before she left and she said “OK.” This man encouraged the body to continue to tell others about Christ and the gospel, and invited them to “Alpha” where they can gain training and tools to aid in their own evangelism.

Watching the nationals in our church is so encouraging and spurs our own missionary family on towards gospel ministry in this place. Lord willing, more people will come to Christ because of that ministry, our church here, and the faithful witnesses of Christ.

Church today went almost three hours long. Our kids did exceptional, but we ended up going outside around the two hour, fifteen minute mark. There was a lot going on, including an entire group of students that recently came back from camp who shared about their experience and sang a few songs (video above of one part of one song). We also had a guest speaker, communion, and an extended prayer time. School will start here tomorrow (Sept. 1) and the pastors wanted to pray for all the kids in the church so they asked them to come forward and the pastors and elders prayed individually for students, teachers, and families. The place was very full today so the lines for prayer went all the way to the back and we watched as the pastors would place hands on the families and students and pray (photo below).

Bethany and I talked during lunch about how to respond to a longer service. We feel the burden of living in two worlds now: World #1 (the more American view): Being on time is right and good. It honors God to be on time–church services should end on time. World #2 (maybe a more Czech view?): Spending time with your church family is right and good. If the service goes long, it’s just extra time for prayer and fellowshipping with other believers which is a joy and encouragement–it’s OK if the service goes long. It’s a Sunday dichotomy. Both feel right and good, but you can’t have both at the same time.

I like what one friend told me in the States. On the possibility that the service might go long on a particular Sunday he told me, “Hey, you really don’t hear people complaining when the football game goes into over time.” I think he’s right. Often we (Americans) make exceptions in our minds for sports and entertainment, but not so much for church. I know I do this and am guilty of complaining when church doesn’t end when I think it should. Maybe I do need look at the other side and learn from my Czech brothers and sisters that spending a little more time at church might just be a joy and not a burden. It’s like what our Czech pastor said today about the service running long, “We love our children and our teachers. This is the wisest thing for us to do.” Amen, brother.

Above is a photo of Titus with his hands in his pockets just watching the service. We like that kid.

Towards the end of the service there were a lot of kids outside. The boys turned the grass area into a scene from Braveheart, each boy for himself with a stick for a sword. We had no clue where the other parents were.

Finally, our two little ones which seem to betting bigger every day. Thanks to Bethany they always look so nice when we go to church.

Tags church, culture, time

365 Czech Republic

Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

Post author By Shay
Post date August 30, 2014
1 Comment on Laboring on Labor Day Weekend

For the United States it’s a nice long weekend. Everyone will celebrate Labor Day on Monday and most likely take the day off. Many are probably already at the lake, on the road, or heading out someplace for a little rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, we’re not in the United States so instead of taking a break we were hard at work today on our apartment trying to get things unpacked (yes, still…) and getting our storage room organized. We shared before we have very limited space so we’re trying to make decisions on what things will stay inside and what we can put in the garage. After filling about six or seven plastic tubs we called it quits. We definitely gained some space in each room and we keep chipping away at the boxes.

Titus and I (Shay) went to Tesco (store) and did a little shopping this afternoon. Bethany stayed home to work on the house and and do laundry. If I’m going to the store I like to take my time and really just take in everything that’s available. Things change constantly and I am on the hunt for a few items, namely a good vacuum and an iron. Our iron from the States is too high of wattage for the power transformers we have and even though our vacuum works here it has to go through a transformer which really isn’t convenient and not the most efficient when it comes to energy consumption. As we were slowly making our way through the aisles I saw this board game (photo below) on learning English. It’s funny how learning English is associated with England. In my American mind I want stars and stripes on the front of this box.

This evening we had a chance to Skype with Bethany’s sister, husband and their two year old son Jude. It was nice to connect with them for the first time since we’ve been here. There’s no doubt that technology like video chatting is just such a blessing to foreign missionaries. I realize not all missionaries are able to connect back to family the way we can, but we praise God for means to do so.

More and more Bethany is having to make things from scratch in the kitchen. I think it’s great how she has jumped right into it. I’ve said before she’s braver than me and I can tell you she is doing it with a willing attitude and never complaining. We can’t just go to the store and get a familiar pasta sauce so tonight she made her own from scratch. The only down side is dinner takes a little longer some nights but I usually end of taking the kids outside if the weather allows. Tonight I took them in our backyard and put Avery’s new streamers on her tricycle (Nana and Papa sent them to us in the “box o’ fun”). She had a huge smile on her face as she made her way around the driveway and that’s always a joy for me to see.

As we were laying the kids down tonight we heard some big “booms!” coming from outside. Bethany and I ran to the open kitchen window to find fireworks coming from down the street. We’re not sure if they were happing on the Poland/Czech border and we’re honestly not sure what the celebration was, but it was fun. Bethany said, “I’m gonna get the kids!” and ran back and we all watched the big sparkles in the sky for a few minutes together. Oh fireworks, you really don’t get old and I’m not too old for you. Here’s a little video I took accompanied by a song by Sleeping At Last that I enjoy.

Tags boxes, fireworks, Skype, storage, unpacking

365 Czech Republic

The Zoo Part Two

Bethany and the kids hit the zoo today for the second time since we got here. Last time (aka: Zoo Part One) we went it was really fun, but also really hot. But today they had great weather and since we have annual passes it’s just really the cost to drive and park. The family dropped me off at the J.V. offices and half way there we realized we forgot the stroller. Thankfully our friends John and Erin let us borrow there’s for the day so that was a huge blessing.

In lieu of a normal blog with the full story, we’re just going to post the photos from today’s adventure to the zoo, part two (some descriptions are below the photos):

Go baby elephant, go!

If you look closely at the above photo you’ll realize just how close our kids are to the lions.

And this (above) is a shot that Titus got of the lion as he was walking away.

I love that Bethany took photos the pretty things the zoo has.

Remember these? You put the coin in and watch going round and round. So fun.

Avery loves the flamingos! She kept telling me that she was going to show Titus how to stand like one.

The kids zonked out on the drive home. Great day and I’m glad the family had so much fun!

Tags animals, family, kids, zoo

365 Czech Republic

Scratch That

Scratch that. Never mind. Just kidding. I guess Titus isn’t starting school on Monday.

This morning Bethany called me because she had just gotten of the phone with someone about Titus’ preschool. The school actually had to rescind their offer of a open spot for Titus because of a strange law in the Czech school system. Another boy who needs to go into primary school (aka first grade) had to take the spot that Titus was filling because he needs at least one year of preschool before he can move up. Or at least that’s how I understood it at this point. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of this story was…you know, lost in translation. Honestly though, I don’t know if I was ready quite yet for Titus to start school. I had come to terms with it and we really feel like him starting will be a huge ministry for us with other kids and families, but it all did feel really rushed so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. There’s actually still a chance another spot could open up so we’ll just take it one day at a time.

You may be wondering why there’s a photo of a microphone above. That’s from today at the Josiah Venture offices where our team was working recording a voiceover for a video we’re working on. For me it’s really interesting how God uses all of the things I’ve learned in my life to do the work I’m doing here in Czech. There was a time in my life where I did live sound and have done a little recording and now I’m having to pull some of those skills back out of my mental junk drawer. We got a really good recording today and I look forward to finishing the video with my teammate Daniel. I believe it will bless many and be a testimony to what God is doing over here with Josiah Venture.

Bethany and the kids had a little picnic today in the square since the weather was nicer today. They ended up seeing our friend Kristin and her son Beni too so they played for a bit. Bethany tells me that Avery was picking leaves for me. Here’s a few photos from their afternoon, including one of the church from a different angle than we usually post.

Tonight we had a bunch of friends over for dinner that live in our town. It’s nice to be encouraged by each other and of course let our kids play together. The boys and Avery had fun playing outside and then playing the Wii inside. Bethany made a delicious soup and we had a nice fruit crumble for dessert. God has blessed us greatly with friends and teammates near us to support and encourage each other. I do believe this is an answer to prayer from our faithful supporters and of course a testament to God’s amazing grace in our lives. Psalm 118:28-29 says it this way, “You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!”

Tags dinner, friends, picnic, preschool, recording

365 Czech Republic

First Doctor Visit and Saying Goodbye to Jitka

Post author By Shay
Post date August 27, 2014
1 Comment on First Doctor Visit and Saying Goodbye to Jitka

Everyone was up bright and early today (and by “bright”, I really mean “gray and rainy” because that was the reality for most of the day). Bethany, the kids, and our friend Kristin headed to our first ever pediatrician visit in Czech. The preschool requires a doctor check before they can admit Titus and since school starts on Monday we had to get him in as quickly as possible. For some reason the doctor only had openings between 7-9:45am so they all made it there by 8:30. In the photo below you get a glimpse into what the lobby area was like. Bethany shared with me that there’s not really a check-in area, but you just knock on the doctor’s office door (in the right side of the photo) and they will let you in if there’s no one else being seen. Apparently the lobby just works like a “first come, first serve” situation. The visit was short and sweet and the doctor just looked at Titus and gave her “OK” (through Kristin who translated). From the doctor they drove straight for the school where they dropped off all the final paperwork. That looks like the final step before school starts on Monday!

On a sadder note, not only was today our first doctor’s visit, but it was our first goodbye. Our Czech teacher and friend, Jitka, is moving to the other side of Czech tomorrow. She has been a huge part of helping us get acclimated here, getting our visas secured, and of course teaching us her incredible Czech language. I’m pretty sure we saw Jitka every day for a weeks there as she was helping us with some many things after we landed. Today we had a Czech lesson with her and were able to say goodbye. Bethany actually spent the evening with Jitka, helping her pack and load. We are bummed to lose her but excited that she is stepping out in faith and entering another chapter of her life. She really feels like the Lord has been leading her to go back to where her family live. Our hope and prayer is that she will be a light for Christ there and that God would use her in incredible ways. Thank you, Jitka, for all your help and kindness to us!

Here’s a photo we took today with Jitka. Titus was holding the iPhone while I used my headphones to actually snap the photo because he just couldn’t hold the phone and snap the photo at the same time.

Below is an outtake of the above and we’re laughing at how hilarious it was to have Titus taking the photo. Avery was also standing next to Titus saying “Peekaboo!” I think she got that from us because we sometimes try to make them laugh from behind the camera to get a better photo. Obviously it works!

Below are few photos I got of Avery today. That little girl is gonna be a heartbreaker.

Tags doctor, goodbye, Jitka

365 Czech Republic

A Haircut and Titus Starting Preschool

Post author By Shay
Post date August 26, 2014
1 Comment on A Haircut and Titus Starting Preschool

As I was getting my first Czech haircut this morning, I got a call from my friend Kristin. She told me that the preschool Titus was on the waiting list for had a spot open up for him (6 days before school starts!) and I needed to go pick up the application at the school and make a doctor appointment for Titus so he could be cleared to attend school. I felt a mixture of both excitement and panic! I finished my haircut, had lunch and called Kristin again to make a game plan for how I was going to ask for the application in Czech. By God’s providence, Kristin’s Czech friend, Miša, was at their house and offered to come right over to go with us to the school to help translate. The Lord’s provision is so specific and timely! It had been raining all morning so as soon as I could get the kids and I our boots, jackets and the umbrella, Kristin and Miša were here and we started walking.

The preschool is just around the corner from us and maybe takes 5 minutes walking with little legs. In the winter, Kristin said she took her boys to this same school on a sled because there are never any snow days. We got to the school and Titus went right to the outdoor play equipment and as we walked inside Titus and Avery headed for the all the toys. Later, his teacher explained to me through Miša that even on cold, rainy days the kids will play outside so she wanted me to make sure and have Titus bring extra clothes and a pair of shoes that will get muddy and wet. When they come inside they change, put on “house shoes” and keep the classrooms nice and toasty. Miša interpreted while Titus’ sweet teacher explained the application process and asked a few questions about Titus like, “Is he very active? A little energy or a lot?” I laughed and said, “Yes and a LOT!”

You can be praying for Titus that he would be putting into practice at school what we’re trying to teach him at home like self control and kindness towards others, even when we’re not around to train these things. We’re starting with maybe 2-3 days per week from morning until after lunch because I want that critical time with him and I at home and hope his being in school will help me see with new eyes areas we need to focus on with him. You can be praying that we would be faithful in our instruction and discipline of Titus and Avery as we’ve already seen areas they (and us!) need to grow in.

This is the view from the second story window of the preschool.

We walked home and Miša offered to come over and help me fill out the application form since it was all in Czech. Kristin made an appointment for us with their pediatrician and will come with us tomorrow morning to help translate as well. We have met so many sweet and helpful people here; we’re so thankful!

Tags haircut, kids, preschool

365 Czech Republic

Driving Around Town With Our Landlord and a Czech Friend Stops By For A Visit

Post author By Shay
Post date August 25, 2014
2 Comments on Driving Around Town With Our Landlord and a Czech Friend Stops By For A Visit

Our landlord, our friend Jitka, and I left early this morning in my car to deal with some of our outstanding utilities. Back in June we had tried to setup our electricity and gas utilities but were unable because we didn’t have our visas yet. Now that we do we rescheduled a time to get together and sort it all out. What’s funny to me is that we all have to go together to the different companies to set it all up. I don’t know if this is just something our landlord wanted or if it’s normal, but off we went today.

Both companies are in the next town over, about 15 minutes or so from us. Jitka was a huge help in translating and making sure I knew what was going on. We hit the electric company first and things went really smoothly. Considering how much paperwork it takes normally I was surprised how quickly things went and how easy it was. Our second stop was at the gas company (photo above with our landlord on the right). That stop wasn’t as simple because I didn’t have our Czech bank account information on me so I had to work the phones with Bethany and have her send it to me. Some of those kinds of things are so new and different especially how often we give out our banking information. I was actually really proud today because Jitka (who is also our language teacher) asked me to read our phone numbers and banking info to the clerks in Czech. I did it! I may not be able to tell people anything important, but if you’re looking for my Czech bank account number I can now oblige. After I finished reading a string of numbers to the lady at the gas company I said, “Whew!” out loud and made everyone laugh. Hey, I can be funny in Czech!

The gas company is located inside of a mall. It’s hard to explain it because there is a gas company, a grocery store, drug store, a tea house, and a lot of little shops inside the mall. It kind of feels like an airport to me because of all the different types of stores. Both Jitka and Pani Musilova (“Pani” means “Mrs.”) needed a few things so Jitka headed for the drugs store and our and landlord stopped at a newsstand. I guess we weren’t in a rush? I took the above photo because well, I didn’t have anything else to do and I just thought the whole experience was hilarious. Just prior to this photo we had stopped in a tea house where Pani. Musilova was having me smell different teas. “Mmmm…. ginger.” Actually, the more I think about the whole experience the funnier it gets.

Meanwhile back at home, Bethany was spending time with our friend Lída (pronounced like “Lisa” with a “d”). Lída was one of the students at the camp we served at in Czech back in 2012. She speaks English very well and she has followed our journey via Facebook for the past few years. She only lives about 20 minutes by car, but she took the train this morning out to see us and meet Titus. She met Avery back in 2012 when Avery was just seven months old. It was a blessing to see her and her in our home. As all Czechs do she came bearing gifts. She brought 2 Czech kids shows on DVD for Titus and Avery and of course left us a wonderful dessert she made. Don’t be fooled by the photo below which you may think is a pizza. It’s actually a dessert called “Frgal” (no typo) and it’s specific to this region of Czech. Other than having the look of pizza the only similarity is the size which is about the size of a medium pizza. It’s a light pastry with a fruit spread on top. This one kind of tasted like fig (I’m not sure what it was), but apparently they can come in all kinds of seasonal fruits. Mmmmm, I think I’ll go have another slice.

Tags dessert, frgal, friend, landlord, utilities

365 Czech Republic

November in August

It’s August 24, 2014 and I don’t know where I’ve been at the end of every August, but I believe that more than 90% of the time I have been in California. August in SoCal is hot. Just now I checked the weather and it’s 85 degrees in Santa Clarita. But you wouldn’t have had any idea it was August here in Czech today. The high was 60 and right now it’s in the upper 40s. It rained most of the day and at one point it was just coming down hard (photo below). It cleared up tonight and Titus and I went outside to play for a bit and I said to Bethany that had I not known it was August I would’ve thought it was November. I had a sweater and pants on and found myself trying to see my breath. All that to say I’m starting to get a little nervous about the winter here. If August is more like November where I’m from in California, then what must November feel like?

I’m sad we weren’t able to go to church today. Bethany really didn’t feel well today and even though I had gotten up and showered, I knew Bethany wasn’t well enough to go. And the thought of taking both of my kids to a two hour Czech church service by myself was a little daunting so I spent the morning with the kids while Bethany rested. I’ve noticed we have good days and bad days with our health and I wonder if our bodies are just adjusting. Already I can tell my allergies have been a problem and numerous days Bethany and I have had weird headaches. Not sure what that’s all about but I hope it’s not a long term issue.

We are nine hours ahead of California and we read online today the news as it was happening regarding the 6.0 earthquake in Napa. From what I saw there were some serious damages and apparently critical injuries. We will be sure to pray tonight for that area. Often when big events like that happen it’s an open door for churches to give the gospel and share the love of Christ with their neighbors. By God’s grace, He will even use an earthquake to draw more to Himself and that is our prayer.

Tomorrow morning I’m headed out early with a translator and our landlord to finalize some paperwork regarding our electricity and gas. Please pray it goes well because historically anything at an “official” office doesn’t go smoothly. That’s just life in Czech.

Tags earthquake, health, weather