August 19, 2010
Dear Zion of Petroleum Valley Prayer Team,
Thank you for all the prayers and support for Jessyca and me as we made our trip to Prague. Our team did well. This is a closed hearted place, so career missionaries spend months (even years) building relationships to see fruit. We will send out a report letter soon; let me know if you want one (you will automatically receive it if you responded to our initial prayer letter).
Another summer is coming to a close. With school starting, let’s focus on students:
• While the situation has improved, we may not start school on time (Sept. 1) due to labor negotiations. Pray for final contract issues to be resolved.
• 5th Quarters start on Sept. 10. ZPV is a fourth mile from the high school, so we open up the building after home varsity football games for fun, food, friendship, and some Bible. We build relationship with students by giving them something to do after the game.
• FUEL starts on Sept. 16. This is our small group study with students.
• Save a Life! If you recall, last spring I reported that a teen, whose mom attends Zion, committed suicide. It was a difficult time. But, our God raises amazing things from ashes. Save a Life starts as an event on 9/11 at the Petroleum Valley Youth Center – not far from ZPV. This is a community wide event with several organizations and churches involved. The goal is to provide students hope in Christ and life resources that they may not turn to suicide. Please be praying for the students to hear!
• I hear good things from students. Many reported stories to me of what God accomplished in their lives over the summer. They made commitments to living godly lives, making a difference on their campus, abandoning hypocrisy, sharing their faith, and considering the ministry as a career option. God is working in our next generation.
And, please pray for One Day on Sept. 5. All three Zion campuses will be out of the buildings and into the communities serving where we can. This includes projects for communities & individuals as well as visiting nursing homes.
One more…Zion of Jefferson County launches 10-10-10!
Feel free to send me a note of how I can pray for you at joe@zionlife.com or snail mail to the address below. Thank you for supporting Zion!
In Christ,
Pastor Joe
Zion of Petroleum Valley
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Czech Log August 6
August 6, 2010
Rain put a damper on ministry opportunities today, so not much to report on that front. We visited a castle, and I did get a chance to invite the tour guide to our English classes.
We (by “we” I include us all – not just this team) can start praying now for Steve, his family, and his team. These are solid people. Beg God for his Spirit to come upon Prague. Pray for their witness and the continual building of relationships. Pray for Bridge Community as they utilize their new facility.
Zion’s Prague Team will be back in PA Saturday night. We should see you Sunday.
Thank you for supporting and praying for us!
Pastor Joe
Rain put a damper on ministry opportunities today, so not much to report on that front. We visited a castle, and I did get a chance to invite the tour guide to our English classes.
We (by “we” I include us all – not just this team) can start praying now for Steve, his family, and his team. These are solid people. Beg God for his Spirit to come upon Prague. Pray for their witness and the continual building of relationships. Pray for Bridge Community as they utilize their new facility.
Zion’s Prague Team will be back in PA Saturday night. We should see you Sunday.
Thank you for supporting and praying for us!
Pastor Joe
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Czech Log August 5
August 5, 2010
So Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Now Pilate did not know that his question would one day describe the people of Prague. We spent some time speaking with Maggie tonight as she showed us the city at night. What a beautiful place, and what a dark place! It used to be that we only had to answer the question, “What is true?” We would present the facts and apologetics of the Bible, Jesus, and creation, etc. and win the argument. Not so fast in Prague. Before we can even get to the place of figuring out what is true, we need to back up a step and convince them that truth actually exists. We can really know that we do NOT live in a computer generated matrix. Truth must become a reality before any progress can be made.
So, if this is the case in Prague (and it is), how effective is it to blitz a city with a bunch of Bible tracts and eager college students? If Prague citizens do not even accept truth, tracts and American style evangelism falls woefully short. Slowly, the blindness needs to erode away. Because of all this, I’ve learned three things this week.
1. It takes relationships. Months and years need to be invested into people here. Trust must be developed. And, you have to be happy with low levels of fruit. Many Muslim countries have higher conversion rates than Prague along with flourishing (albeit underground) churches.
2. The people of Prague have nothing. While their economic status has improved since I drove through the country in 1990, there is not even an inkling of Jesus as children grow up. No Bible stories. No Sunday schools. No prayers around the dinner table. Again, if they’ve rejected even the notion of truth, they cannot easily reach the truth of the Gospel. So, that leaves them with a whole lot of vanity: sex, humanism, materialism, hedonism. Not much hope with these idols.
3. I need to be praying for the missionaries here. Steve, his family, and his journeymen (and women!) run into this concrete wall everyday. How would you hold up as the months go by? After a week, I’m tired. All I got for my efforts is one young man saying today, “I reject Christianity.” But, God knows the hearts. When we present the survey questions, most of the respondents have never thought through them before. In the quietness of their hearts, they wonder if there is something more.
Pastor Joe
So Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” Now Pilate did not know that his question would one day describe the people of Prague. We spent some time speaking with Maggie tonight as she showed us the city at night. What a beautiful place, and what a dark place! It used to be that we only had to answer the question, “What is true?” We would present the facts and apologetics of the Bible, Jesus, and creation, etc. and win the argument. Not so fast in Prague. Before we can even get to the place of figuring out what is true, we need to back up a step and convince them that truth actually exists. We can really know that we do NOT live in a computer generated matrix. Truth must become a reality before any progress can be made.
So, if this is the case in Prague (and it is), how effective is it to blitz a city with a bunch of Bible tracts and eager college students? If Prague citizens do not even accept truth, tracts and American style evangelism falls woefully short. Slowly, the blindness needs to erode away. Because of all this, I’ve learned three things this week.
1. It takes relationships. Months and years need to be invested into people here. Trust must be developed. And, you have to be happy with low levels of fruit. Many Muslim countries have higher conversion rates than Prague along with flourishing (albeit underground) churches.
2. The people of Prague have nothing. While their economic status has improved since I drove through the country in 1990, there is not even an inkling of Jesus as children grow up. No Bible stories. No Sunday schools. No prayers around the dinner table. Again, if they’ve rejected even the notion of truth, they cannot easily reach the truth of the Gospel. So, that leaves them with a whole lot of vanity: sex, humanism, materialism, hedonism. Not much hope with these idols.
3. I need to be praying for the missionaries here. Steve, his family, and his journeymen (and women!) run into this concrete wall everyday. How would you hold up as the months go by? After a week, I’m tired. All I got for my efforts is one young man saying today, “I reject Christianity.” But, God knows the hearts. When we present the survey questions, most of the respondents have never thought through them before. In the quietness of their hearts, they wonder if there is something more.
Pastor Joe
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Czech Log August 4
August 4, 2010
Let me tell you about the surveys. Most Czechs never give God a thought. The surveys put the thoughts in their minds by asking them their opinions about Jesus, the Bible, the church, and Christianity. There is also a section about their interest: would they like to discuss the Bible, attend a sports event, come to church, hear a lecture/debate, do something in nature? And, we ask them if they would like a Czech New Testament. Many just fill them out and hand them back. However, the key is that they start thinking about these questions. They’ve likely not done so before. Is there a God? Who is Jesus? What is the point of the church? And, what does this have to do with me? As with all people, they need to wrestle with these issues.
Here’s what happened today with the surveys.
• We completed a total of 30 (a good day!).
• One lady was in the park getting some fresh air. She wore a hospital band. She thought it was too late for her. We left her with a Bible and a promise to pray (which we did). Some tears welled up.
• A homeless man became very interested in coming to our services. He even stopped us late to make sure he had the time and date correct.
• A teen gave one of our workers a contact number to follow up with English classes.
• A man blinked in unbelief as we were able to hand him a Czech New Testament. After all, he indicated he would like one on his survey. He was excited about any volleyball games we would be playing.
• A college student from Holland wants a team to go to his home country.
• And, we distributed six Bibles…most days, no one wants one.
While we again did not have students for English classes tonight, God can work anyway he wants to work. We will hand out bottled water tomorrow as a promotion for the classes too.
Keep praying!
Pastor Joe
Let me tell you about the surveys. Most Czechs never give God a thought. The surveys put the thoughts in their minds by asking them their opinions about Jesus, the Bible, the church, and Christianity. There is also a section about their interest: would they like to discuss the Bible, attend a sports event, come to church, hear a lecture/debate, do something in nature? And, we ask them if they would like a Czech New Testament. Many just fill them out and hand them back. However, the key is that they start thinking about these questions. They’ve likely not done so before. Is there a God? Who is Jesus? What is the point of the church? And, what does this have to do with me? As with all people, they need to wrestle with these issues.
Here’s what happened today with the surveys.
• We completed a total of 30 (a good day!).
• One lady was in the park getting some fresh air. She wore a hospital band. She thought it was too late for her. We left her with a Bible and a promise to pray (which we did). Some tears welled up.
• A homeless man became very interested in coming to our services. He even stopped us late to make sure he had the time and date correct.
• A teen gave one of our workers a contact number to follow up with English classes.
• A man blinked in unbelief as we were able to hand him a Czech New Testament. After all, he indicated he would like one on his survey. He was excited about any volleyball games we would be playing.
• A college student from Holland wants a team to go to his home country.
• And, we distributed six Bibles…most days, no one wants one.
While we again did not have students for English classes tonight, God can work anyway he wants to work. We will hand out bottled water tomorrow as a promotion for the classes too.
Keep praying!
Pastor Joe
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Czech Log August 3
August 3, 2010
The rain fell today, so we took some time to learn about the Czech Republic and her history. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to Communism, the church has pushed Christ aside for simple (yet shallow) religion. While the cathedrals still stand and Huss is honored in the square, this nation has no room in her heart for God. Knowledge of the Bible is miniscule. Jesus, that cute baby, brings presents at Christmas, only. While I realize my comment is subjective, their faces reflect a vacuum of spirituality. Wake, work, come home, repeat. Just exist in purposelessness.
With the bad weather, we could not do any surveys or handout flyers for English classes. Sadly, we again had no students tonight. But, we will try again tomorrow. We will deliver more flyers, conduct more surveys, and pray for some students to come for English classes. We would appreciate your prayers too.
Pastor Joe
The rain fell today, so we took some time to learn about the Czech Republic and her history. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to Communism, the church has pushed Christ aside for simple (yet shallow) religion. While the cathedrals still stand and Huss is honored in the square, this nation has no room in her heart for God. Knowledge of the Bible is miniscule. Jesus, that cute baby, brings presents at Christmas, only. While I realize my comment is subjective, their faces reflect a vacuum of spirituality. Wake, work, come home, repeat. Just exist in purposelessness.
With the bad weather, we could not do any surveys or handout flyers for English classes. Sadly, we again had no students tonight. But, we will try again tomorrow. We will deliver more flyers, conduct more surveys, and pray for some students to come for English classes. We would appreciate your prayers too.
Pastor Joe
Monday, August 2, 2010
Czech trip, Day 2
August 2, AM: This is our first day of many firsts. We will go out with the surveys for the first time. We are not the first group ever to do this, but it’s our first try at it. And, we will hopefully have some students for English classes today.
The team seems in good spirits and is adapting when and where they need to.
August 2, PM: In our morning meeting, we discussed how hard it is to reach the Czechs. In our survey when asked about church, some wrote it reminds them of the inquisition or harming children. Many have almost no thought of God…period. They simply go about their day making the most of it. There’s really no joy or even happiness – just existence. So, the goal is to show them Jesus and disassociate from poor examples in the past. As an example, reaching Prague is not just plowing in concrete but plowing concrete with a toothpick. It takes quite a bit of patience to work here.
In fact, we handed out 400 invitations for English classes today. No one showed. However, it is very common for first nights of English class to be like that. No one wants to be the first one there. We did get some firm contacts and look forward to tomorrow. We will hand out even more invitations too.
We also conducted spiritual surveys. Most went well. Kelly and I approached two young moms. Not only did they not speak English, they were deaf. The next couple we tried speaking to were obviously in the middle of a big fight. Pat, Maria, and Jessyca were more successful. We will have more chances later this week.
So, pray for students to come on Tuesday!
Pastor Joe
The team seems in good spirits and is adapting when and where they need to.
August 2, PM: In our morning meeting, we discussed how hard it is to reach the Czechs. In our survey when asked about church, some wrote it reminds them of the inquisition or harming children. Many have almost no thought of God…period. They simply go about their day making the most of it. There’s really no joy or even happiness – just existence. So, the goal is to show them Jesus and disassociate from poor examples in the past. As an example, reaching Prague is not just plowing in concrete but plowing concrete with a toothpick. It takes quite a bit of patience to work here.
In fact, we handed out 400 invitations for English classes today. No one showed. However, it is very common for first nights of English class to be like that. No one wants to be the first one there. We did get some firm contacts and look forward to tomorrow. We will hand out even more invitations too.
We also conducted spiritual surveys. Most went well. Kelly and I approached two young moms. Not only did they not speak English, they were deaf. The next couple we tried speaking to were obviously in the middle of a big fight. Pat, Maria, and Jessyca were more successful. We will have more chances later this week.
So, pray for students to come on Tuesday!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Czech Log, Day one
So, for the next week, this is my new Czech blog. Check (hopefully daily) for updates.
August 1, AM: We arrived safely with very little travel setbacks. One of our boarding tickets would not scan, we received a bag of cookies instead of the lunch listed on our itinerary, and our eight hour layover was not that bad. We found some lounge chairs in one part of the airport that allowed us to sleep.
Our team met our missionary leader…Steve and his family. They are putting the long, hard days, weeks, months and years necessary to reach these people. They are so concerned for them. Over the generations, “church” has become something to be distrusted. It takes time to develop relationships so people will let their guard down and see what Jesus is all about. Our goal this week is to help start those relationships through our English classes and other interaction.
Today, we learn. We familiarize with the materials we will be using, learning more about the culture, and how we will work together.
August 1, PM: We saw a castle today. Amazing what man can build. Speaking of which, we did not have time to go inside (maybe Wednesday), but we stopped by St. Charles Cathedral. Breathe taking. I wonder if this is the kind of thing Jesus really wanted built. But, I heard an interesting presentation about architecture in the Bible years ago. The Tabernacle and the Temple were exquisite. God does love creativity. I just wonder about this tension though.
The strategy here is to build relationships. We will do this by starting with a survey about spiritual matters. We will then invite them over for English study in the evening. From there, the church can continue contact. The relationship and community is vital for a Czech. It often takes over a year before someone commits. We will be part of that chain.
We enjoyed the first service for Bridge Community at their new location (which also happens to be where we are staying). Most of the service was in English, but we sang some of the songs in Czech and the passage was read in Czech too. Since it is common to take one’s shoes off before entering a home, we had our church service in socks or bare feet. I’m going to try that some Sunday at Zion just to see what happens.
Finally, it was almost 8PM and our team had no supper yet. We head to the mall for a quick bite. We ate at a place called McDonalds. A big mac is a big mac is a big mac wherever you go. The mall has shops of the very expensive to the somewhat expensive. I drove through Eastern Europe (including Prague) twenty years ago. The change is drastic from a cold war era grey town to one filled with commerce and color. But overall in terms of Jesus, they are no better off. This is a tough place to work.
Pastor Joe
August 1, AM: We arrived safely with very little travel setbacks. One of our boarding tickets would not scan, we received a bag of cookies instead of the lunch listed on our itinerary, and our eight hour layover was not that bad. We found some lounge chairs in one part of the airport that allowed us to sleep.
Our team met our missionary leader…Steve and his family. They are putting the long, hard days, weeks, months and years necessary to reach these people. They are so concerned for them. Over the generations, “church” has become something to be distrusted. It takes time to develop relationships so people will let their guard down and see what Jesus is all about. Our goal this week is to help start those relationships through our English classes and other interaction.
Today, we learn. We familiarize with the materials we will be using, learning more about the culture, and how we will work together.
August 1, PM: We saw a castle today. Amazing what man can build. Speaking of which, we did not have time to go inside (maybe Wednesday), but we stopped by St. Charles Cathedral. Breathe taking. I wonder if this is the kind of thing Jesus really wanted built. But, I heard an interesting presentation about architecture in the Bible years ago. The Tabernacle and the Temple were exquisite. God does love creativity. I just wonder about this tension though.
The strategy here is to build relationships. We will do this by starting with a survey about spiritual matters. We will then invite them over for English study in the evening. From there, the church can continue contact. The relationship and community is vital for a Czech. It often takes over a year before someone commits. We will be part of that chain.
We enjoyed the first service for Bridge Community at their new location (which also happens to be where we are staying). Most of the service was in English, but we sang some of the songs in Czech and the passage was read in Czech too. Since it is common to take one’s shoes off before entering a home, we had our church service in socks or bare feet. I’m going to try that some Sunday at Zion just to see what happens.
Finally, it was almost 8PM and our team had no supper yet. We head to the mall for a quick bite. We ate at a place called McDonalds. A big mac is a big mac is a big mac wherever you go. The mall has shops of the very expensive to the somewhat expensive. I drove through Eastern Europe (including Prague) twenty years ago. The change is drastic from a cold war era grey town to one filled with commerce and color. But overall in terms of Jesus, they are no better off. This is a tough place to work.
Pastor Joe
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