Easter Sunday 2017

Now... Happy Easter!
Today was a very special Easter Sunday since we had the opportunity to visit three churches in the Czech Republic today.

Renata at Pisarov

We started by attending the "Preaching Station" in the town of Písařov; a satellite church of the ECCB Church in Letohrad.  Renata Popelářova conducted the Easter services and we were excited to find that

Hana Habermannová was there; her family being a foundational element of the church.  Hana was our translator during a previous English to the Church Camp (our VBS) and we became quite enamored with her. She has since moved to Prague where she is a manager with a software development company.


After the services and communion at Písařov we headed for the area's notable landmark, Králíky monastery. The monastery is called the "Mountain of the Mother of God" and has been there for 300 years. It is a very popular tourist destination and is a pilgrimage site for the faithful.

Kraliky Pano

From there we moved to the town of Neratov and the unique glass ceiling church.  This church is near the Polish border (I would say ON the border since the trip in was along a river with constant signage that it was the border).  Neratov is a Baroque church built between 1723 and 1733.  It was destroyed at the end of the Second World War and renewed at the turn of the millennium.  The church has a roof made of glass in the shape of a cross.  This church high in the Orlické mountains and is a beautiful active church and prime location for events, marriages and the likes.  Please check out the video by clicking at Neratov and watch the end very carefully for an amazing light and shadow treat.

And, oh, did I mention it was snowing?!  Yea, so take that Annapolis, we get snow on Easter and Christmas!

A Snowy Easter

Good Friday 2017

Happy Easter.... or Good Friday as of this post.

Thursday's Bible Readings

Friday's Service

As with First Pres, Easter and Christmas are the center-points of the ECCB church year.  Accordingly, the Letohrad church planned for Thursday evening activities, a Good Friday morning service, and the Sunday main service. This year, just prior to the Thursday evening passion story, we held a Contemplative Prayer session comprised of a short body prayer, Lexio Divina, and a short meditation.  This was a new experience for those attending (except for the breathing practice that most had experienced in previous exercise courses) but we all were blessed with each others presence.  Immediately afterwards we collected in the sanctuary for the passion story reading; B.J. and I had parts which were mirrored in Czech by two of Letohrad's youth.

The next morning there was the Good Friday service.  I have enclosed the service program (for all you Czech language aspirants).  There were more passage readings and communion.

Later in the day, there was a special treat in the main square here in Letohrad.  The local Catholic church sponsored a passion concert by a choir and orchestra from a nearby village.  It was very well attended since I'm sure many people from out of the town were there in addition to locals, and Friday was a national holiday.  We were very impressed with the performance, especially given the weather conditions; strong wind and chilly temperature.  For a taste of the afternoon please click here - Letohrad Passion Concert 2017.  Immediately after the concert there was Mass in the church directly adjacent to the performance and a large percentage of the crowd packed into the church.  We decided to wait for a quieter day to visit the church.

Blessings.

Just a Typical Week

Thursday's Seniors Meeting

Thought I would give you a quick synopsis of a typical week here to give you a flavor of the flow of things.  We returned from the Prague events on Tuesday, April 4th in time to meet with the Advanced Beginners that evening.  This class had not been anticipated but we had requests from some church members to conduct an English class for this level.  We had four people show up, we went over some basic vocabulary and got a sense of where we needed to go with the group.  We have our work cut out for us when, after the class, they asked what the homework was; it turns out we have the homework assignment! On Wednesday we had the two hours of our Discussion Club; the advanced group at 6 and the Intermediate at 7:15.  We revisited the subject of the 2016 Election with some followup material and then introduced a study on the US Government structure. We both had a good laugh during discussions when we realized both sides needed a primer on their own basic governmental functions. Their homework was to explain their parliamentary system on the next session.   On Thursday we had the 'Seniors' at 9 that morning. We prepared a briefing on First Pres in Annapolis and went over the campus and history and talked about our missions.  Nadá Bět'ákova translated for the dozen or so attendees and we spent a couple hours in a fruitful exchange.  It was now time for our first Czech lesson from Adéla. Errrrr, we have a long was to go!!  It's Friday and time for the three classes at the U Dvora basic school. These kids are a dream; 13 through 15 and, all in all, quite good English. Can't say enough for the support of the teachers and school.  And we get a free lunch... which is stunningly delicious. Saturday = errands. On Sunday there was a family service which is focused around the kids.  A bit noisy and boisterous but fulfilling.  That evening we attended one of the monthly discussions held at various church member residences; this one held at Dr. Roček's in Ústí nad Orlici.  That evening we exercised the new ECCB catechism; it was an enlightening evening. Which brings us to Monday and back to the other basic school in Letohrad for an additional three classes.  Ditto on the kids and staff here!!  Although not yet able to fit it in, we are planning trips to Potštejn to meet with some of Nad'á 's congregation and also to Žampach and the special needs home for men.  But, this week is Easter so we are gearing up for the special services beginning on Thursday.  Blessings to All!

Blog Reprise

In the category of little, but important, things I want to revisit my blogs of April 4th and March 24th.

In the April 4th blog I chatted about the wonderful shopping carts here which allow a complete range of motion.  I just can't let it go, so I uploaded the short video on YouTube so you can get the real flavor of my epic revelation.  Try this:  The Shopping Cart.

Secondly, on March 24th, soon after both of us were settling in, I recapped the 'Green Monster' adventure in which we slogged our way through the Czech language owners manual to get the machine to cooperate and recover some much needed fresh laundry.
Well, I guess we did not show enough deference to the 'beast' because last Wednesday we both were frantically preparing for the evening's two sessions with the Discussion Group when the power went out in the entire apartment (including our accountant neighbor who shares an office in the entrance way).  Heading into the hallway we noticed something amiss in the bathroom; there was water all over the floor and the distinct smell of burned plastic.  It seems - careful not to assign any blame here - the drain from the washer (which must be manually placed in the sink) was overlooked and left hanging over the 'beast'. The water had entered the top and shorted out the electrical control panel.  A mess.  But, no problem, simply unplug the machine, open the breaker panel and reset the breaker (and clean up the mess).  But wait ... Problem.  It seems the primary breaker panel is located outside on the front of building-- makes sense from a safety perspective in that emergency services can disconnect power in a burning building. But the outside main panel has a special key which we did not have.  [Quick technical note; there is an internal breaker panel but the washer had tripped the local breaker and the main outside.] So, here's the accountant standing with her hands on her hips, with a client at her desk, in the dark.  As fate would have it, the hardware store just around the corner had the special key and we were able to get everything back to normal ... sorta.
The good news ... we got a new washer out of the deal (our landlady was very understanding!!)

A Busy Weekend

B.J. and I were invited to attend a business meeting and a retirement celebration at the national headquarters of the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren (ECCB), our hosts here in the Czech Republic, in Prague this past weekend.  We had an opportunity to venture out a bit also and had a very full and 'heavily-walked' weekend.

We attended a business meeting of the ECCB American Group on Friday, March 31, at the headquarters in Prague.  The meeting included about 15 people and was conducted entirely in English (impressive) and centered around the joint activities of the American and Czech organizations.  Betty McGinnis, with the Czech Mission Network, was in attendance and briefed happenings there.  We also had a young Czech, Tomáš Dus, who briefed on last year's Triennium at Purdue University from the Czech perspective.  B.J. and I gave a quick outline of our visit and met some of the staff who would like us to participate in some activities later in the summer. All in all a very fulfilling morning.

Gerhard Frey-Reininghaus

In addition to the business meeting, we attended a
retirement service on Saturday, April 1, for Gerhard Frey-Reininghaus, the Head of the ECCB Ecumenical Department and Deputy Head for the External Relations Department of the church.  The celebration was held in St Martin in the Wall Church, built in the late 12th century and integrated into a 13th century wall surrounding Prague--thus the name.  Gerhard was ending a 27 year career with the ECCB in the Czech Republic.  The ceremony was equally touching and enjoyable with the ancient church filled to capacity.















As you can see in the photo, Betty and John McGinnis were in attendance as were our hosts here in Letohrad, Dan and Renata Popelářovi.  It was our distinct pleasure to get a flavor of Annapolis in the historic city of Prague.

The remainder of the weekend was filled with lots of walking around Prague from the New Town to the Old Town and in and among the picturesque building and streets that make up this marvelous city.
Although many and varied sights abound in the city, we were touched by the 'Memorial to the Victims of Communism'.  I copied this description of the site: From 2002, the memorial:

...contains seven “phases” of a man living in a totalitarian state – from the first statue being a full man, up to the last statue where only a part of him remains. This evaporation represents the gradual physical and psychical destruction of a man who is ruled by any undemocratic regime. The man disappears due to censorship, secret police, no freedom of thoughts and expressions etc.







Since we were in Prague we had an opportunity to drive north to the site of the World War II Gestapo prison in Terrazin.  I admit, I did not understand that Terrazin was not a concentration camp or extermination camp, it was a Gestapo prison adjacent to the town of Terrazin, which was a forced Jewish Ghetto of some 30,000 people.  The visit was powerful and I could go on for multiple paragraphs... but I will just let it be for you to investigate on your own.

However, there were a couple things I would like to share.  First was the number of young people on tour busses... there was a constant stream visiting the site - a good feeling to know the legacy of the place is being passed to the next generation of Europeans.  But what got to me was the moment I came face to face with the concept of time and place.  Time and Place. In one cell block which was used to hold prisoners under interrogation I noticed a couple young men, nicely dressed and impressive, coming out of one of the cells eating popsicles.  Terrazin 1943 and 2017.  Time and Place.


But, hey, we had plenty of time for good Czech food, fantastic people watching and good conversation - primarily in English, of course!

Later.......

Life in Letohrad

B.J. and I had the first community lecture on Wednesday, March 28th.  They chose the topic of the 2016 presidential elections.  I am told it was very good attendance for something like this in
Letohrad... the local Catholic Church can draw quite a few more people, especially with a Catholic topic, but this was a bit different; it will catch on we think. We had taken a lot of care to present facts and tried to stay balanced as possible.  The lecture went very smoothly since we had a professional interpreter but the crowd seemed a bit subdued... until the question and answer portion.  There was a vigorous exchange of ideas and points of view but all in attendance seemed pleased with the evening.

Sometimes the simplest things are a wonder. Take the following items for example.  We went shopping in Ústé nad Orlicí, a neighboring town, and I was especially taken by the shopping carts.  You know how hard those things can be in a crowded supermarket and how you are constantly dragging them out of the way.  Well, the solution is obvious--just put a swivel on all four wheels.  The cart will then do 360 degree turns in place and move sideways or in any direction.  (I have a video for demonstration but have not been successful in getting it into the blog...technical glitch.)  Yea, I know it's silly but I was really impressed.

And then there is the 'practical bed'... the combination of simplicity and marvelous engineering.  Need extra storage??  Try this.  Then, just pop on two single, fitted sheets, close down, add two individual duvet covers and you got it!  

So much for cheap thrills... More later...