Right now there's a team from East Tennessee here helping with a project out at Holy Hill, a retreat in the countryside near Plzen where the Church helps young men with drug/alcohol type problems. It's a great thing. It's not conditional on becoming a Christian. It's just a loving place where guys can get help with whatever they may be seeking help for.
Anyway, the good folks from TN gave little presentations on their home Churches. They're really nice folks and the Maranatha people really appreciate the connections between our Churches. Kelly from the TN Team said she felt like we Americans have a lot to learn from our Czech brothers and sisters. I couldn't agree with her more. The Church here has some big challenges and they are very much like a family. The fact that it's even still here is pretty miraculous.
The Methodist Church was established in Czechoslavakia during the 1920s by Americans that had emigrated from Czechoslavakia. The Church grew well up until the 30s when the Nazis came around. The Methodist Church was seen an American so when the Nazis took over they pretty much wiped it out.
Then after the war the Soviet influence made it almost impossible for the Church to recover. The UMC had a lot of property but it was nationalized by the communists. The communists in Czechoslavakia had a habit of barring people that did not tow the commie line from certain jobs. Being a member of UMC put you on the wrong side of the government. Teachers, for example, were not allowed to be members of a Church. So the only people that could openly join the Church without reprisals were laborers. As a result Pastors pretty much had to do all the jobs around the Church because there was nobody else to fix leaks and mow the grass. Pastors were on their own without any lay help really. It was too risky for most people
Before the communists there were something like 10,000 Methodists. Today there are maybe 2,000 in the whole country. And that's after almost 20 years of rebuilding. Fortunately UMC was able to get a lot of their property back. Maranatha is once again a Church. It housed a University during the communist era. They didn't get all of their property back though. That's an ongoing challenge apparently.
It really makes you appreciate how blessed we are in America where the worst thing that could possibly happen to you for joining the Church is that someone might make fun of you. It also makes me glad that American Churches seem to be really looking outward for ways they can help and share fellowship around the world. I remember how we ran into so many people from mission teams in Nicaragua. And the folks here this week have ongoing relationships with Churches in Mexico as well as here. I don't feel like I'm doing anything all that special. To be honest I almost feel guilty because it's a big adventure for me. I just hope that I can give them back at least a small portion of what they are giving me. That includes you folks at home too.
shalom
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