Praising the Lord for our health

The third calendar week of this year has seen a general increase of influenza cases as well as local outbreaks across the Czech Republic. The highest increase has been reported in Prague, as well as the Karlovy Vary and Central Bohemia regions. In Prague alone, the week from January 15 – 21 has seen 972 cases for 100,000 inhabitants.  Within this same period, the number of acute respiratory infection cases has risen by 15%. These acute respiratory diseases include the flu as well as other seasonal diseases of viral origin. In fact, the amount of influenza-like cases has increased by almost 82%. Further, an increase has been detected in the number of confirmed cases of the Influenza A (H1N1) subtype virus.

2017 plans

My desire for the coming year is to greatly increase the number of people to which we can communicate the gospel message. We are using direct distribution on the streets, distribution to homes and apartments, Facebook ads, confrontational evangelism, along with offers to teach English and parenting classes. We have seen a great deal of traffic to our web site due to the ads on Facebook. As the Lord provides, we will increase our advertising outreach as well as the preparation and printing of new tracts. The day of the Lord draweth nigh. Let us not grow weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. It is our sincere desire to bring glory to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and be witnesses unto Him until the day of His return. May He richly bless your ministries in the coming year.

Holiday Outreach

One of the holidays the Czech people observe is Mikulash day. It falls on the 6^th of December. St Mikulash goes from house to house along with a demon and an angel. If the children sing for this trio, they can receive a small gift. If they have been disobedient, they get coal. So you see it falls somewhat in line with the Santa Clause story some people observe in America. We had some tracts printed specifically for this holiday and handed them out that day, along with an invitation to church. We gave some of the tracts to young Maty Mazgut, who in the 2^nd grade. He intended on handing them out at school. He boldly went to all his classmates and attempted to give out the tracts but not one child was willing to take the material. Every one of them said that they don’t believe the legend about the existence of God. We praise the Lord that he was courageous enough to take the tracts and try to hand them out.

We had been praying that our personal outreach, tract distribution, along with the Facebook ads would bring out a larger group of people on Christmas day, however, we did have two returning visitors which had not attended in a long time. The children performed a puppet play. I preached on the virgin birth and then we had a wonderful meal prepared by my incredible wife.

Grateful hearts

We look forward to the new year with joy unspeakable. God has done such great things for us. It is an honor and privilege to serve Him here in the Czech Republic. I want to begin by expressing our sincere gratefulness for the prayer and financial support this past year. We are humbled by the sacrifices the Lord’s people make so that we can continue to reach out to the Czech people. The special offerings and Christmas gifts make such a difference. It is hard to describe the joy a MK feels as he/she opens birthday cards and receives gifts from our supporting churches. It is our desire and greatest prayer request for Christ to work in hardened hearts, drawing them to Himself.

Happy New Year

Šťastný Nový Rok 2017