Yes indeed, the Lord sometimes sends us a special day even when we do not expect nor deserve it. Yesterday, a Sunday, was such a day. To be honest, the early morning started off with my mind, body and spirit being in somewhat of a funk… know what I mean? I didn’t feel very well physically and I had to force myself to even go to church which is not at all like me. I hope that is not too much honesty for you. Yes, even missionaries have those days. We are still trapped in a human shell at this point and at times the flesh wins the battle for our minds. Anyway, on to the good stuff! I went to the Czech Baptist Church here in Brno and slipped in and went to the balcony to observe the service…
- Blessing #1 – when I got to church, our young friend, Eva H. was in the booth supplying translation for us English speakers. This is a service which their church provides and is a HUGE blessing. It really helps to actually be able to understand what is being taught from the pulpit. Thanks my friends!
- Blessing #2 – was the music service. It was excellent! Their church usually has a good music service but this morning it especially reached out to me. It was mellow and peaceful and calming to my soul. The pastor, Pavel Coufal played acoustic guitar and sang, Another gentleman played the fret-less bass very well… with a mellow jazz style, a third fellow sang with them, Ailsa Randall played the saxophone and piano and sang (not all at the same time, mind you)… she is a very talented lady. Another lady played the violin beautifully and sang. On one song, Ailsa’s young son sang with them and he did a good job. God often uses music to sooth and comfort me when I feel down and He did it for me during this service.
- Blessing #3 – later in the afternoon when I went to the Roma service, the scene was strange. As I approached the building, there were Czech TV trucks and reporters all around the entrance of Armada Spasy… and our people were standing around and could not get into the building. Basically, for a few weeks we have had problems with the locks and the doors to the facility and someone had locked a different lock which none of us had a key for. As far as the Czech TV crew, evidently they were setting up to film some sort of human interest story in the area where Roma live in Brno. This is a guess, we didn’t hear the exact plans that they had. So, we decided to move up to the building on Cejl Street where we hold our Bible studies and have worship there. Soon after we started, another young Czech friend came in, Pavel K, and he translated the service for me. This was another blessing! After the services he asked me to meet with him to discuss some ministry ideas with him… so, we set a time and met later.
- Blessing #4 – later that evening I met Pavel to discuss and brain-storm ideas for a project he is developing which hopefully secure him a grant through a Czech corporation to work with the Roma for a year to implement social programs targeting Roma community improvements and societal inclusion. As we sat and discussed these things, we came upon ideas which we believe will help his chances to obtain the grant. That will be for others to decide and I would ask you to pray for this to be accepted and to be successful. If Pavel can do this, he has agreed to allow myself and our organization to partner with him with a spiritual aspect of the program. This would be awesome because Pavel speaks fluent English and could assist me with much needed translation, of course as it pertains to the overall goal of his project.
So, there you have it… blessings from the blue! I am thankful that God chooses to send us these unexpected blessings when we need them most. May He be glorified and amplified here in Brno and beyond… amen.
