Czech: the most atheistic country on the most atheistic continent

Last week EB and I, along with Quentin, traveled to a campus in Ostrava, Czech, to speak to a student group there about the reliability of the New Testament Scriptures. The name of this Czech-led evangelical ministry is KVZ {www.kvz.cz}, a ministry with close ties to Campus Crusade for Christ. We have ministered with this group several times over the past few years and have grown to love their staff and students. KVZ has done a great job witnessing for Christ in this spiritually dark country.



EB is pictured here (2nd from the left) with a group of students involved with KVZ in Ostrava. The two girls in dark shirts in the middle were just recently baptized as new believers in a local evangelical church!



Martin, on the right, is one of the KVZ staff members. He has a doctorate in microbiology yet heard the Lord's call into ministry. Here he is witnessing to a student after my talk from Josh McDowell's Czech translation of "More than a Carpentar." This particular student is from Bulgaria, studying in Czech, talked with me in Hungarian and is named Vladimir....only in Europe.



Lada and Eva, KVZ staff and our excellent hosts! They fixed a typical and tasty European breakfast for us.



Quentin went with us and found a listening ear in Lada (Lladislaw), our host in Ostrava. Lada didn't know much about baseball and his English isn't perfect either. But that didn't stop Quentin from telling him all about the most recent Braves game.



If you wanted to know what happened to Carl from "Up", I found him on a bus in Ostrava. Pixar sent him there to scout out a location for a sequel ("Down"?).



From high up in a student dorm looking down on graffiti in the courtyard on campus



I believe that policemen are overworked, underpaid and under appreciated. But oh just this once I wish I had a bucket full of water balloons!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE WORK OF THE GOSPEL IN CZECH! THE LORD HAS NOT ABANDONED THIS ATHEISTIC COUNTRY!

I should have just sat down…

There is plenty of religious imagery in Europe even though it is the only continent where the Christian church is not growing.

I should have just sat down and let EB give the rest of the message. After speaking for nearly an hour through a translator to college students in Brno, Czech Republic, I asked EB to come forward and share her story. EB did a fantastic job with the Czech students. My seminar was about the reliability of the Bible and I presented a lot of facts. In a country where the Bible is considered outdated and irrelevant, the facts are important. And I may have presented lots of head knowledge but what really made an impression with the students was when EB spoke of her heart knowledge.

EB instantly connected with the Czech students by speaking of her Czech roots. She spoke of her great-grandfather and his wife, Frank and Katrina Bizek, and how they homesteaded on the Kansas prairie after immigrating from Czech. Yet she also told how her father Paul Biays, who taught college literature, logic and philosophy, was also a pastor who taught his family, his church and even his college students about the trust-worthiness of Scripture.

EB also mentioned how since she was a young girl the Bible has guided her in her major life decisions and even today how we are raising our children to treasure and learn from the Bible. Maybe this doesn’t seem like much to an American Christian ear but to our post-Communist Czech audience, where today’s greatest religious influence is secularism, EB’s testimony had a profound impact.

After the lecture many great gospel conversations took place. I am continuing several of these conversations by email. The evangelical ministry that invited us to speak (http://www.kvz.cz/english/), received contact info from the students who attended and are following up those who expressed more interest in knowing Christ personally.

The next morning I shared from the Bible what the Lord had been teaching me lately with the staff of KVZ, the Czech evangelical ministry that hosted EB and me. Our hosts were wonderful and so appreciative. EB and I have bonded with the Czech Christians in that ministry!

Much of missions work is tedious, difficult and unexciting. Every once in a while though you break through the clouds and the warmth of the glory of God shines in your face. EB and I found our time in Brno, Czech Republic to be such a moment. On the train ride back to Budapest EB and I together thanked God for great opportunities like this one that He has given us during our years here in Eastern Europe!

You know you are a long way from home when the signs are in three languages, none of which are English!

The Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul rises majestically above the other buildings of Brno. Unfortunately, less than ½ of 1 percent of the Czech population is evangelical with atheism being the dominant worldview in this country.

Two more pictures from Brno that are quintessentially European…

"The Cabbage Market," an open air market in the center of Brno.

This is the cleaning lady's contribution to a photo I really like.