Hey Guys!
In my last prayer letter I said I was going to try and start using this blog a little bit more so that i could go into more detail about my life and ministry here in Prague. I figured a good first post would be to introduce you to the people who I work with. These are also the people who receive several mentions in my prayer letters.
First up is Billy, his wife Adrianne, and their three kids. Billy is our country director here with Athletes in Action. He heads up our weekly staff meeting, organizes various team tours sent from the States, represents our ministry on a regional level and about a thousand other things. He has set the vision, goals, and strategies for our team to follow. On top of all that, he is a PhD candidate at the Charles University School of Physical Education and Sport, which is the university where we do a lot of our ministry. He is also a professor at the university. One of the things we try to do here in Prague is become insiders in the culture here. Billy does this through teaching at the university, amongst other things. His position and past activities have garnered a huge amount of favor from the administration. So when we need to schedule our conversational English classes or want to do a special event, we are more able to do that because Billy is a constant presence and has a good relationship with most of the people in power. Billy is also an active runner, competing in many distance races.
Adrianne is Billy's wife. She does a lot in terms of taking care of her family of three children. She also disciples Becca. Her and Becca are looking to continue a seekers Bible study at the university with a handful of open girls. Adrianne is also helping Becca form relationships on the basketball team, training her on how to do ministry here in this culture. Adrianne makes sure that everyone is taken care of. She is immensely helpful to new staff (Me a few months ago and Becca now) transitioning into the ministry and culture here in Prague. One of the things she did for me was take me on a tour of the supermarket, making sure I knew enough words to at least put together a decent meal with proper ingredients. It is very handy to have words like maso (meat) and máslo (butter) in your vocabulary.
Becca is the newest addition to our AIA team here in Prague. She comes to us from Tennessee by way of Taylor University in Indiana. She arrived a little over a month ago and jumped right in with the Sparta women's basketball team. Her arrival comes on the heals of an AIA women's basketball team being here and working with her team. AIA has had a long relationship with the Sparta basketball team, so Becca comes at a good time to do ministry with the team. We are also praying that she and Adrianne will be able to continue a seekers Bible study that was started by Jenny, a STINTer whose time in Prague ended just hours before Becca's started.
Martin is also a fairly new addition to our team here in Prague. Martin is actually from Slovakia. He is also one of my roommates. Martin is a valuable member of our team because, among other things, he speaks Slovak, which is a language very closely related to Czech. He is able to communicate with students at the university better than I can. He also has a better understanding of the culture here in Czech. He is a quiet guy with a prankish nature. Martin is a full time staff person who is being trained by Billy. Hopefully when Martin's training is done he can either stay here in Prague with us and be apart of our sports ministry, or go home to Slovakia and bolster the ministry there.
Finally, we have Zach. Zach is the guy I work with the most. He has been referenced numerous times throughout past newsletters and blog posts. Zach is a full time staff guy here in Prague. Zach is the offensive coordinator on the Prague Lions senior team and the head coach of the junior team. From a football standpoint, he is heads and shoulders above every other coach in Prague. We place a high emphasis on doing things the right way, not taking shortcuts like other teams in the league, or even the league itself. Zach is all in in the ministry here in Prague, to the point that he is fluent in Czech, not an easy task. His insider role is with the football team. He has made himself an indispensable member of the Prague Lions coaching staff and organization as a whole. He has a passion for the Lions players and the organization as a whole. He takes his role on the team seriously, always having comprehensive practice plans ready, as well as searching for sponsorship for our team. He desperately wants to see Lions guys succeed both on the football field and in life. He has put together a leadership program for the Lions Junior team (high school age) called Srdce Lva (Heart of the Lion). Zach is trying to change the culture here with the football team and is having success. I mentioned some of his work and successes in an earlier blog post.
Well that is a very brief introduction to our team. You will probably see me mention these people in future blog posts and newsletters. Please continue to pray for us and our work here in Prague. We are in the midst of our kickoff week at the university and have experienced a ton of success in the responses we are gathering from students. I will detail more of that in my next newsletter. Praise God because He is moving here.
Micah
