Church Planting in the Czech: Part 1
A couple of weeks ago, a team from Providence Road traveled to the Czech Republic to explore a potential church planting partnership with a sister Acts 29 church. Before returning, I knew the people of Prov Road had a certain level of interest in what our church could do to engage in global missions. I’m not sure I knew that level of interest was so high until we returned and received so many questions on how the trip went, when we will be returning, and reminders that we were being prayed for each day.
We plan to share in greater detail what we experienced at our next Covenant Member’s meeting at the end of April. Until then, we plan to post a series of blog posts over the next few weeks to do our best to unpack our experience and why we are excited about a future partnership with healthy churches in the Czech Republic.
Answered Prayers
The week before we left, we asked you to pray for us. The months leading up to the trip were trying on our team. Surging COVID cases in January and the war in Ukraine caused some uneasiness among us as we prepared to go. Leaving our families for several days is already asking a lot of them. It compounded when adding in that we might not be back immediately because of a positive test or the unknowns of what the war in that region might become.
We went in hoping that we would form friendships with the people we were about to meet, but that was also an unknown. We had no idea how they might receive us or if the partnership we were considering would be clarified in such a short window of time. God was so kind to us in answering all of the requests we had and more. We were more surprised than we should have been when over and over we felt his nearness and favor throughout the trip.
We all tested negative and were able to travel home without issue. We didn’t experience lost luggage or missed flights. The war in Ukraine afforded us the opportunity to meet refugees and extend kindness to them in the name of Jesus. All of us were caught off guard by how quickly close bonds formed with their church leadership and other members.
We found the church there to have a distinct desire to pursue doctrinal fidelity and that we align closely with them on the things that matter most to us. In a lot of ways, it felt like Prov Road. I don’t say that because I think we are a perfect church, but simply to express that the familiarity we felt allowed us to quickly feel at home.
We were told by one person who grew up there that the Czech people are much like coconuts: they have a hard outer shell but once you crack it, they are soft on the inside. We found the key to cracking their shell was simply to ask good, intentional questions. In a very short time, they were able to feel our love for the Czech people and genuine desire to form a long-term partnership. We came away incredibly grateful to God for answering our prayers.
The Need is Great
Their country currently has less than 1% of their population that would be considered evangelical. Almost 70% consider themselves as “non-religious”, which would characterize most of the people we encountered outside of the church. When sharing the gospel with a friend or someone on the street, you are unlikely to be met with hostility or hurt. You are most likely to hear a response of: “Eh, does it really matter?” – more of an apathetic posture towards any type of religion at all.
There is some increased activity from some Bible churches to plant churches in the region, though Kostel Jinak is the only current Acts 29 church. We went with the specific purpose of connecting with the small team of people that will be sent to plant a church in Olomouc (about a 45-minute train ride from the launching city of Šumperk) sometime around August of 2023.
What’s Next?
Our hope moving forward will be to further cultivate friendships with that team and introduce some of their leaders to Prov Road. On June 24-27, Josh and Marie Ehlers will visit Prov Road to talk with us about the reason they moved to Czech, get to know our people, and cast vision for what they see our partnership looking like. In early September we will be hosting Viktor Kouřil, who will lead the church planting team in Olomouc. I can’t wait for you to meet them all! Then in March of 2023, we plan to take another team back to Czech to host English camps, evangelize, and continue to build relationships with the people of Kostel Jinak. Would you consider going with us?
Be on the lookout for a couple more blog posts over the next couple of weeks from Ben Schill and Kenton Brice, sharing their perspectives on what we all experienced and what they are excited about moving forward. We are ultimately praying that God would not only help us send out this one church plant, but that an entire church planting movement would begin and people who are now far from God, would be brought near through the gospel of Jesus.
There is much more that could be said! Feel free over the next few weeks to reach out to any of us if you’d like to hear more. We are eager to share all of what we learned and experienced.
