Living Intentionally.

Being over here in the Czech Republic is all about living intentionally. That’s a pretty big word so I feel like I should give it a “working definition” so to speak. To me “living intentionally” means being aware of the people, things and situations around you and consciously trying to impact all those things in a positive way. Since I first left for South Africa in January 2008 I have been amazed at how powerful my words or actions can impact someone else for good or ill. Of course, Scripture (in James and other places) backs this up. Here in the Czech Republic living intentionally is all that much more important. Things aren’t just going to fall in my lap. I have to be focused. I have to care. I have to keep my eyes open.

This is not my natural state. I am an American and even worse I’m from the Northeast. Let me explain. We on the East Coast value independence. We work hard, don’t whine and we look out for ourselves alone pretty much. Plus I’m an introvert. I like people but only in the right situations. I would rather sit at home all night than go somewhere with a large group of people I don’t know. I often (consciously and not) value honesty over relationship.

I have a problem. Large parts of my culture and personality fly in the face of the religion and belief system that I claim to profess. Think about it.

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it- Luke 9:24

Christianity flips my values on their head. It’s not about me, it’s about others. If I try to look out only for myself it’s hopeless. And of course this is perfectly exampled in the acts of Jesus: God himself, the Savior of the world, giving himself up to be publicly tortured, ridiculed and killed in a major city. And the crazy thing is this: In this ultimate act of unbridled, unrestrained love and intentionality, the entire World has been given hope and salvation.

Wow. I’m not saying it’s easy, but I think I need to focus on living intentionally more.

Experiencing the Body

I had a long weekend break from school this past week. I wanted to go somewhere and after discovering a cheap bus ticket to Budapest I was on my way. ESI has a number of teachers in Hungary and I was going to stay and meet up with some of them. While I did a fair amount of sight-seeing and this trip cannot not be construed as anything but a vacation I also got to see the body of Christ in action.

It’s neat to visit other teachers not only to see them but to see what their experience and ministry is like where they are. Every city and town with ESI teachers is different. This past Friday myself and another first-year teacher went to a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) supported coffeehouse in central Budapest. It is only open Fridays currently but its vision is to open full-time everyday. The goal of the coffeehouse as I understand it, is to be a place where Christians and non-Christians can come, hang out, enjoy a good cup of coffee and build relationships. ESI teachers in Budapest currently bring interested students here each week. It needs more funding but it looks like it finally has the leadership to push this idea all the way to its completion. When it opens it will start offering 9-month internships to American Christians who want to be a barista and serve people in Hungary.

I would be a terrible barista. Just not the thing for me. I have done a bit of retail and I did fine, but add food into the equation and it would end pretty fast for me. Despite my natural inability to help directly with this effort it was a pleasure to experience. The coffeehouse was bumping the night I was there. There weren’t enough seats for everyone. The cappuccino I had was excellent. I have a good feeling about this endeavor.

God has gifted us to do different things. He put me in Sokolov this year. He has put a bunch of Christians in Budapest. We are doing very different things. But experiencing the body of Christ in all its holy variety is truly a pleasure. And in fact, as I sat relaxing in that coffeehouse, soaking in the atmosphere, the idea nearly crossed my mind, in the small, subconscious part of my brain, and only for a split second: this might be something you might enjoying doing Matt. It was nice.

 

 

 

Authenticity

I’m a very honest person. I’m not stroking my ego with my previous statement. Being honest has gotten me in trouble. A lot. Often with females but everyone in general too. If I know you well I am liable to tell you (in general) what I think, good or bad, nice or mean. My overriding concern is generally not “will what I say be helpful?” but “will what I say be true?” For me, truth is of paramount value. It’s in my personality and it’s how I was raised too.

Our society (in America) does not value truth as it once did I think. As a college professor once declared (erroneously) to my class, “You are all relativists.” What works for someone might not work for everyone (or anyone) else, but if it makes that person feel happy or right inside that can be truth for them.

I want to be nice to people. I want people to like me. I want to show people love in this world because our world is hurting in a brutal fashion. I think the word that sums up what I want to be the most however is authenticity. I long to be authentic.  I am not a salesman. I’m not trying to suck anyone into my worldview. I don’t want your money or support or time. I merely want to be real. I want to discuss things that matter. And I want to share what I believe to be the truth that can dramatically change anyone who wishes to be changed.

All that stuff in the Bible? It really happened. All that stuff Jesus did? He really did it. It matters whether it is true or not and it is important to consider what it means for your life. I’m not out to force a decision on or from anyone. I just want to give whoever I happen to meet an opportunity. An opportunity for true life, real life, life life. It cannot be found completely in anything else.

Call me close-minded, intolerant, or backwards if you want. Just don’t reject Christianity out of hand because of something superfluous. It’s important, it’s awesome, it’s amazing. It’s truth.

A Little Czech goes a Long Way…

I have a class in my Basic School that if forced to describe them with a funny name it would be “The Super Beginners.” They have all of one year of English under their belts and are only halfway through their first-year book appropriately called “Project 1.”

At training we were told that just by speaking English it helps the students learn and not to use dictionaries much at all because things don’t always translate nicely and I agree. However about a week ago my school got an ENORMOUS English-Czech/Czech-English dictionary that now sits proudly on my desk at school. And it has been useful.

Last Tuesday with my super-beginners I decided to translate a few words just to make sure they understood the categories. I then said one of the words I’ve picked up recently, “Rozuminte?(Do you understand?)”, after explaining the topic for the day. Let’s be clear. I CANNOT speak Czech. But my students LOVE it when I try and throw words out to them.

My main point is this. There’s a girl in my class named Dendy. Sits in front row, seems like a nice girl. But for most part she doesn’t come off as that great of a student. Doesn’t volunteer much, seems like she is usually struggling in general with the material. After my brief foray into Czech however, her entire countenance changed. When I asked her questions she would say the sentences confidently. She was raising her hand. She was trying. She was smiling. It was a near 180-degree change in classroom behavior.

I’m not a great teacher. I don’t enjoy every lesson and neither do my students. But good things are happening, students are learning and God is working in the small things. I don’t think I can ask for more than that.

Really?

This is another entry about Cheb’s English club, the last entry was getting too long.

One of the great things about the whole evening was to have students you could actually talk to and have them understand you back. Their grammar and syntax might not be all there but you can have a conversation. It’s awesome. After the hoedown fun (see last entry) we settled down to listen to two students give their account of a trip to China they got to take last summer. They went as part of a Czech Physics team and competed in an international competition near Beijing. It was cool to hear about.

After the talk people were mingling and one of the presenters, George, asked me about colleges near Boston (I had introduced myself and said where I was from to the group earlier). Soon him, me and his girlfriend are all having a nice conversation. And then he asks the question. The one that I want to hear so much but dread at the same time.

So why did you decide to come to the Czech Republic?

Here it is. An opportunity to talk to a Czech student about things that matter. It’s amazing how you get to the purpose of being somewhere and then you almost freeze. I did marginally better than my flight in July but still only so-so. I talked about wanting to teach and how I’m interested in why so many Atheists are here but that was about it. They seemed politely interested but then we talked a bit more about other things.

In any case I am thankful for opportunities no matter how I might botch them up. A final note about getting to know students is that after the presentation two other students came up to me and asked if I knew “The Big Bang Theory”. I asked if they meant the theory or the show and they said the show which I really enjoy. They than informed me that I remind them of the character Howard which, if you have ever seen the show, is a hard compliment to take. All I have to say to it is:

Really?

God has a Sense of Humor.

Last night my flatmate, Derick and I had the opportunity to help out with the English Club at Cheb that a few ESI teachers were having. This is a common ministry here that allows us to meet and hang out with students outside of school, speak English and have a fun time. They were expecting close to 30+ people so they asked me and Derick to come to help as native speakers of English.

It ended up being around 20 but still a really big group and it was a lot of fun. We had tons of cookies, crackers, drinks and other snacks to chow down on and I got to meet a bunch of students who speak English stunningly well. Being able to carry on a conversation with a person here is a precious thing that I do not take for granted.

So a funny historical quirk of our area is that during Communist times, even though the Czech Republic is 94% ethnically Czech, they invited people from Vietnam, a fellow Communist nation, to come and live and work in the country. So now there is a small but noticeable minority of Vietnamese in town and in our school. Many of the students who came last night were Vietnamese.

I don’t know how it started but everyone started trying to teach the group various dances at the beginning of the evening. We got started with some country “Cotton-Eye Joe” stuff, took a detour to waltzing and Czech dancing, and eventually settled down to learn “Hoedown Throwdown” straight from Hannah Montana. So I got to watch a bunch of Czech students learn this dance and do this last night as it was being taught by a Vietnamese student.

All I have to say to this is God has a sense of humor that makes me look like an old stiff.

Having an Impact Elsewhere?

Hello my friends. Last friday the internet went out in our flat. It was expected but getting it back up has been, well, slow. Welcome to a land where you can’t speak the language. Anyway, it’s been a bit since I last blogged so I hope you enjoy.

At the start of the year we had a one day retreat in Prague. During it, we were asked to write a prayer for our year and ministry on an index card. Short, simple, to the point. I wrote “Lord, give me an opportunity everyday to talk to someone, somewhere about anything important.”

I’m in the Czech Republic. I want to be here and meet people here and get to know them and even share Christ with them if the opportunity presents itself. However, why limit myself to just people here? We are blessed with the internet, something that truly makes our earth a village. In an average day I have been able to talk to someone I know in places as far afield as Vietnam, South Africa, Hungary and the US. Pretty cool.

Last week I was asked by a former intern (who is now staff) from  Thrive Africa to write a short promo for the internship I did in 2008. It was recently put on their site. You can see it here.

Even though my new year here is in full swing I’m still being given opportunities to hopefully impact people elsewhere. It is a blessing and a challenge. It is good to think everyday however, “Where am I having an impact?”

God “Nose” What’s Up.

First of all, sorry for the pun but isn’t it just fantastic?

So by now, faithful blog reader, you likely are aware that I am out of the hospital and back home in my trusty flat in Sokolov. I could give you a lengthy moment-by-moment account of my time in the hospital but frankly that is just boring so I’ll do this instead.

The hospital was boring. Pretty much no one besides the doctors (who I rarely saw, remember I was kind of incapacitated in the operation room) spoke English.  The nurses enjoyed giggling though when they tried to tell me stuff. Apparently the best time to have your temperature taken is 4:45 IN THE MORNING. They did it both nights I was there. The operation was pretty quick and about 24 hours after it was done I was released from the hospital. I would of died of boredom if I had to spend another day in there. However I did manage to meet one person.

His name was Jaroslav and he was a few years older than my dad. I know this because at the end of our beds we have handy clipboards with our name and year of birth on them. Anyway the first afternoon he asked if I wanted to play chess. And by ask I mean he held up the board and sort of looked at me. After confirming they were chess not checkers pieces I offered to play that evening in halting one-word Czech/English answers. He agreed and that night he plopped the board on my bed and we played Chess. He promptly destroyed me. However he enjoyed helping me with moves. Over two days I realized how woefully inexplicable Czech is to me as I heard everyone around me speak it. But Jaroslav and I were able to to play chess together and that was cool.

Over the next day after my operation he helped me understand a few things with his very limited english. That night we played chess again. He was excited about my “training”. I know this because he kept saying the word training. Again he helped me with my moves while still beating me pretty badly.

The next morning I found out I could go home but when I left I said good bye to Jaroslav. He said “Good Luck…to you…in life…everything!” I wished him the same and bid him goodbye in Czech “Na Sheldanou!” He seemed happy about that.

God truly knows what up. He knew my nose would be a challenge but he provided a way to have it fixed with minimal interruption to my start of the year. He raised up SO MANY people to pray for me and cover me with love and support (Thanks Everyone). He allowed me to connect with another person in the hospital even just a little bit, language be darned. This entry is already too long but I’ll end with this: in the last 48 hours I been realizing that slowly, almost inexplicably, relationships are happening here. Lives will be changed. And my nose will soon be back to its good old self. Don’t worry, God’s got it covered…

Renewal

I have been impressed with the amount of construction going on in Sokolov in the past few weeks. Building after building has scaffolding on it, including one side of my flat building and the middle school that I teach at. The scaffolding though isn’t the cool part. The cool thing is that in only a few short weeks I have seen buildings go from drab, gray, construction sites to bright, colorful and exciting. Sokolov, at least on a superficial outward level, is being renewed.

I think this idea of renewal is a great metaphor for our own lives. Of course I think we all want to be renewed, especially on a daily basis. We want to jump out of bed, pull the curtains, let the sun in and just thank God for the day. It doesn’t matter if our eyes are still crusty or we are wearing the giant stinky T-shirt that we have slept in for ages. We feel renewed.

I don’t think renewal is an easy thing though. The buildings in Sokolov are not being changed overnight or by any simple process. Many, many workers are putting in full days, doing what they have to do to prepare and paint the buildings that they are assigned to. We can’t force ourselves to be happy. We can’t mumble a simple, memorized prayer and expect to be refreshed. It takes effort. And hope. And faith. It is not a paint-job on the surface, it goes deeper to our very souls, our core being.

I want to be renewed. I want to wake up everyday with the thought that, “If God is for me who can be against me?”, no matter what my circumstances might be. And I want to see  Sokolov renewed as well. I want to see people’s hearts be as radiant as the colors I am seeing spring up all over town. I want the church I attend to grow so much that when I leave it is thinking about planting another. I want my students to feel the love and purpose that only a relationship with God can bring.

It won’t be easy. I better start praying now.

Feeling Festive

Being in a small town is certainly different than living in the big city. Generally most everything shuts down at noon on the weekends in Sokolov. On Sunday after church you can walk downtown, see next to nobody and have lunch in a restaurant by yourself.

And then sometimes small towns like to have giant festivals. Hornicka pout 2009 (Mining pilgrimage?) came to Sokolov this weekend and it was rocking.

Sokolov has some large mines near it and they used to be (and some I think still are) a large part of the economy here. This weekend was a festival to celebrate the town’s mining heritage. Each square (we have a “new” and “old” one) was packed with people and tents filled with food, beer, colorful wigs, cheap toys, colorful gingerbread and neat handicrafts. Stages were set up with live music and dancing throughout the day. Tons of display owners were decked out in medieval clothing. On the edge of downtown next to a park, a massive fair was set up with carnival rides and more food. There were at least three full size bumper car arenas.

My roommate, Derick, our fellow teacher Kathryn and I walked through and experienced it all. It was pretty awesome to see our fairly quiet town bustling with crowds and activity. One cool part was I ran into quite a few of my students. While at this point we aren’t much beyond the “Hello, how are you?” point of things it still nice to see faces you recognize in a foreign land.  So that was a cool weekend in Sokolov.