Hello

First of all, I would like to apologize for not keeping this blog updated. One of the promises I made to my supporters was to keep them aware of my situation and ministry here in Prague and I haven’t followed through. For that I apologize.

This post will be mostly information regarding the set up here with Athletes in Action, both at the University and within the Prague Lions football team. The AIA team here consists of Billy and Adrianne, Zach, Jenny, and myself. We work within the larger framework of Campus Crusade for Christ in the Czech Republic, but we are largely independent.

The university that we work at is Charles University School of Physical Education and Sport (FAKULTA TĚLESNÉ VÝCHOVY A SPORTU in Czech or FTVS for short). They teach everything from sports marketing to athletic training to coaching. Our work at FTVS is winding down, considering we are nearing the end of the school year here. At FTVS, we teach conversational English classes here in an effort to engender communication with the students. The classes have ended now that finals are upon us. We are now hosting a study break every Wednesday afternoon at 14:00 (2pm). We will host these all through finals month. Finals work differently here. As I understand it, you can take them over the course of a month, with three chances to pass them. I could be wrong, but think that is how it works.

Sports here are not connected with any high school or college, so everything is a club sport. I play and coach for the Prague Lions American Football Club. They are in the highest league in the Czech Republic. I play and coach on the senior team (ages 18+). We are in the midst of our season right now. We have two games left, plus the playoffs. We have not won a game in two years. Right after I left Prague the first time two years ago, the coaching staff at the time did not like some of the changes that were taking place with the Lions, so they told some lies and manipulated a lot of people into leaving the team and forming a new team. That left us with almost no experienced senior team members. We are still a team of boys playing in a man’s league. At times, we look like we are on the right track during games, but our youth an immaturity inevitably wins out. Our future is bright, however. Despite our recent lack of success, I see real improvement both in the personality of the players and in their play. Our junior team (high school aged) plays in the fall like we do in America and they have won the last two league championships, and it’s because of our superior coaching as compared to the other teams. Eventually, that success will work its way up to the senior team as players we have developed mature further and integrate themselves into the senior team.

Zach is the offensive coordinator for the seniors and head coach of the juniors. The split a few years ago really affected him because a lot of the guys that he had built into for years were some of those who were manipulated away to another team. As painful as that was for him, in the long run I think God’s will has become apparent in that we are able to be apart of a new beginning for the Prague Lions, as well as have the opportunity to affect a new group of people. Zach’s efforts over the last two years here are very evident to me because the guys on the team are much more open to me than the guys on the team two years ago. This has a lot to do with the culture on the team that Zach is working towards, we as well as the fact that the a lot of the guys are simply closer to my age. These first three weeks of getting to know the guys has been a lot of fun.

I think this is long enough for a first post from Prague. Over the next few days I hope to introduce you to some of the guys I play with, as well as get some pictures up from both football and the city of Prague. I appreciate all of your prayers as I have made this transition. Please continue to pray for me and my ministry.

Micah

Moving On

It's been awhile since I first posted. What has happened since January is nothing short of amazing. I finally got all of my support raised just in time to book a plane ticket. I will be leaving Monday, May 16th for Prague. I am currently sitting in a room on my fraternity at Wabash prepping for graduation on Sunday. I left my home in Iowa for the final time yesterday morning. I felt a small twinge of sadness as I departed, but that was tempered by the excitement of what lies ahead.

My family has an interesting weekend ahead. They have departed for Northwestern College in Orange City earlier today for my brother Seth's graduation on Saturday morning. Immediately following that, they will hop in a rented Suburban and drive the 670 miles to Crawfordsville, IN for my graduation on Sunday. After that, on Monday Mom and Dad are riding up to Chicago with me, where I will depart for Prague at 4:00 from O'Hare Airport.

The next few days are going to be interesting, while they lead into a more interesting next few weeks. If my schedule is correct, my first football game in Prague will be next Saturday.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!
Micah

So I have this blog...

I've always had trouble naming things. Many of my school papers had really weird titles simply because I dropped the ball when it came to names. So when it came time to title this entire blog, I froze. I thought about some Biblical principles that might apply, as well as looked at some significant verses and characters throughout the Bible. I also considered trying to find some Czech word with deeply profound meaning that could kind of serve as a war cry, during my pre-STINT and STINT tenures. As you can see, I went with neither of those options. Micah is my actual name, not inspired by the minor prophet. I settled on this name because of its simplicity. It encompasses a lot in three words. In the near future, with my newly formed legion of ministry partners, people will be able to access what God is doing through me in Prague using three simple words. With that, I would like to welcome you to Micah's Czech Blog

The name at the current time is a bit misleading because I am not in the Czech Republic. Yet. I am in the support raising process to do an international internship (STINT) with Athletes in Action (AIA). Eventually, this blog will contain information regarding my time and work in Prague, Czech Republic, but for now, it will serve as a look into my ministry partner development (Campus Crusade jargon for support raising), as well as anything that I feel like God is revealing to me through the MPD process, as well as through His word. Support raising for me in the past has always been an adventure, with some heart warming stories combined with some maddening frustration. It should be a good show, stay tuned.