Many languages in one small church

---

Sunday Feb. 3rd
Almost Chinese New Year, almost Bill’s birthday, just a day after Groundhog Day (he saw his shadow here in the morning too even though it got cloudy and snowed for about 2 minutes later in the day. What a wonderful Sunday! Actually the wonderful part started yesterday. We worked from about 8 till close to 1:15 in the library and set off up the hill to get our coats and head downtown. It was so cold, so windy and SO humid with that little bit of snow coming down. We looked at each other and said, “It’s the right day for a good nap and a lot of being lazy!” We went to the room and Bill went down the hall and had the good fortune to meet A. a student from Russia. Her birthday was earlier in the week and she was baking like mad with a Lithuanian student helping her. They were getting ready for A’s birthday party. Now that is a novel idea. The birthday girl prepared her own food for her party! She is a dear and a very good cook. We all enjoyed the cake a couple of years ago that was for her brother’s birthday. It was a special recipe that she had taught him when he was younger. She’s the ‘big’ sister in a large family and all the other siblings are boys. Since she saw we were home for the day, she told Bill we should come to the party. We had brought several very small things to have on hand for any such occasion so we used a beautiful gold colored paper that came from some candy our friend D. had put in our room for us the day we arrived and wrapped a key holder with the Virginia state flower on it. Know what that is? A dogwood blossom of course. In a very uncharacteristic move, I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t even realize that Bill went back to the library and did some more work. When he shook me awake, I was very reluctant to get up. We had supper and headed for the party. Bill had met D. a former English teacher here in the library and D. was also invited by someone to go to the party. All the undergraduate students had bought A. some beautiful lilies, several folk also brought her small gifts as we had done and there was nice music to fill the background. People sat and talked and stood and talked and talked and talked. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. This is such a welcoming and cordial group of students this year. It seems they get nicer and nicer as the years go by but who could ever top this group? I enjoyed talking to D. and catching up on his life as well as eating the good baked items (stuffed variously with cabbage, marmalade, jellies, fruits), and learning to know several of the new students better. So, a good morning’s work, a great afternoon’s nap, a wonderful party with new friends and Saturday got the weekend off to a good start.

This morning’s worship was really over the top! The whole church was stuffed with people since we had all the regular members plus most of the part time PhD and Master’s students and other visitors to the campus. The worship service was very innovative from beginning to end and a real chance to express our faith and joy in serving God. The sermon took the form of a monologue drama with some surprise visitors (Elijah and Moses to be exact). Later in the service Martin Luther King, Jr. also appeared. We made use of the various languages of people present to sing some of the songs over several times in languages we scarcely knew at all. We were from so many places that the preacher for today stood and pointed out each country on the world map as people called out the names of their homelands. When I walked to the back of the room after service, a TALL man said, “Hi Nancy.” I said, “Excuse me what’s your name?” It was obvious he knew me and I was momentarily at a loss. When he said, Shawn, I was pretty embarrassed. I knew S. a missionary friend from Slovakia was coming in a day or two. His barber had cut his hair so short that he didn’t even look like himself. He told me he had always heard the difference between a good hair cut and a bad one was two weeks. But this time he thought it would be a month. He looked fine actually just VERY different. So much so that I really didn’t recognize him at all. Then after worship was complete, we went to the cafeteria for a meal that is called an Agape meal (love feast). All of us who regularly live in the community or on campus had been cooking yesterday and this morning in order to prepare for the unusually large crowd always present on the weeks of Intensive Study. There was plenty for everyone and I saw some food was even left over. None of Bill’s good ‘deviled eggs’ lasted though. He made at least 22 eggs that meant there were 44 ‘pieces’ to pick up. He used this wonderful mild curry sauce available here in Prague so they were much tastier than he makes at home. We along with 11 others on campus had made our oven available for D. to use to bake pizzas for the meal. He works so hard on things like this and helps make them pleasant and successful for others. Hurrah for all the hard work and good times of this weekend.

After church we headed downtown. It was colder today but sunny and not very windy. I think the temperature was around 25F or so. It is amazing how warm it has been here so far this January. That probably is the coldest weather we have had since it felt colder other days only because of high winds. We will prove to you how warm it has been in the pictures Bill uploads. We snapped pictures on Petrin Hill today of trees in FULL bud. I think the one that is blooming is what we call Witch Hazel and it typically has its blossom in cold weather. However the Weeping Willows are already showing that yellow/green color that says “Spring is here!”. If the snows of southern Europe and the cold of other places like Scotland arrive here before spring REALLY comes, some of these trees will be very sorry they were acting like this.

We have been so concerned for the mission of Father Anastasio who works part time here in Prague in the church that houses the Infant of Prague and the other half of the year in the Central African Republic (right between Chad and Sudan of all places). With the unrest in Chad now we are afraid his wonderful mission will be damaged or destroyed. We have been praying for him and for those people and that seminary, those trees which have turned the land green and given the people a means of living well and just all that has been accomplished for people and for God in that place. So, our first stop downtown was to pray in that church for him and those people, for Chad and for the Central African Republic. We decided to walk to the Sacristy area to see if, by chance, Father Anastasio was there today. He WAS. He was talking with a group of Italian visitors and showing them the pictures of his African mission. So, we waited to try to catch him after he finished with them. I used the time to write a petition for prayer for my friend Rosita and her mother who is ill in Portugal. Then when Father Anastasio finished with them we went up to him and asked about his mission. He looked at us and we said, “We’ve talked before”. He remembered us and who we had talked about-his colleague who works with the Kennedy Kreiger Institute in Baltimore and is associated with the adoration of the Infant of Prague. How marvelous that this busy man has such a heart of love that he recalled two people he first spoke to two years ago. I had seen him and talked to him on the street in Sept after we had first met in January but we didn’t see him at all last year. He was touched that we were in prayer for his mission. But who could fail to remember what he and others have done there and be very concerned in this present conflict? He said once before a mission had been totally destroyed and he is greatly concerned now too. So, please, if you read this pray for this mission and these wonderful African people who are now in such a perilous situation between two countries torn with strife. They are being almost overrun with refugees desperate for a peaceful spot to live. This is a time of danger and yet an opportunity for love to shine. He gave us a picture we will treasure made by one of the Africans. It is a Madonna all made from butterfly wings. Amazing!

After we left the church we went up the funicular to Petrin Hill and tried to walk in the small ‘secret’ garden we enjoy so much. The gate was locked! We never saw it locked before. We snapped a picture or two-its still lovely in winter- and then walked over the hill to the Castle grounds. It seemed the walk was shorter than in the past. At least we aren’t getting too old to find things are less strenuous than before! We took a few of those, we know we have a picture of this but we love it too much to pass without another, shots of palaces, scenes of the city, etc. If you are tired of them, just don’t look J

Bill says to try to list the languages we used this morning in the song “God is so Good”. I know we used German first, Czech second, and then we just gave the words and let people hear them without everyone trying to sing words they couldn’t even read. I gave them the Mandarin Chinese, we had Swedish, Norwegian, Latvian, Lebanese, Lithuanian, Russian, Estonian, Bulgarian, Polish, Tajik (Tajikistan), Armenian, Spanish, French, The Serbian student said the Serbian was just like the Bulgarian to some laughter, Hungarian. We also had Slovak speakers, Scots (who didn’t say it in Scottish English since he says no one can understand him anyhow), a fellow from Liberia who was quiet and someone who couldn’t recall it quickly enough in Malaysian. We are a multi-lingual, multi-cultural church.

He also says, this is so long who will read it???? But it’s my turn to write so there!njpl

---

Photos

The gate is closed
I'm peeking in very sadly since I hoped to go and sit on the bench and enjoy the winter greenery.

Protecting the roses
Czechs put the trimmings from pruning the pines and other evergreens over the rose beds and tulip beds, etc. all over the city to keep the bulbs and plants from freezing in the winter time.

Comments

[linda goehring]

hello
my old computer crash so i had to get a new one. work great. hope to fine you both well. in pray linda