www.praguefellowship.cz 1

THE PRAGUE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP POST The Monthly Newsletter of the Sbor Křest’anské společenství PCF

FEBRUARY 2019 Suggested donation 10 Kč

INSIDE THIS MONTH’S ISSUE:

PCF ANNUAL REPORT Cont.............page 2

- by Pastor John

PCF FAMILY PROFILE……………....page 3

- by Chanda Mwape

PCF Monthly Financial Update………page 4

PCF ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2018 by Pastor John Mullen

A lthough the spiritual climate of the Czech Republic is still extremely

secular,1 for the believers who live here, the Body of Christ is essential. Research shows that more and more foreigners are moving to the Czech Republic and they are more likely to be open to the Gospel message. There has never been as great a need for interna-tional churches in the Czech Republic as there is today. PCF is well posi-tioned in the heart of the city to be a light not only to English-speaking Czechs and the many foreigners mov-ing to Prague, but the rising number of tourists as well.2 Marek Prosner, the leader of our Czech denomination (Církev KS), wrote the following about PCF: “For me, PCF is an unusual church in many ways. It is an opportunity for the Body of Christ to influence many people from many different nations. Every Sunday there is a welcome time for new people. They are looking for some church where they come to worship the Lord Jesus in English. It is such an im-portant ministry to be that kind of “City-church of refuge” for people on the road. I just love every part of it: the welcoming of guests, the way they celebrate communion, how they preach and give people the opportunity to re-spond to the Word of God. In fact, I am encouraging the Czech leaders and pastors to visit PCF and get some a fresh perspective on how to practice hospitality and organize services. I am proud that PCF is part of the Církev KS churches in the Czech Republic.” Evaluation of the Year 2018 2018 began as “the year of prayer” with a church wide 40-Day Prayer Challenge from the devotional book, Draw the Circle by Mark Batterson. Half-way through, we gathered for a prayer meeting and cried out to the Lord, inviting him to change what-

ever was needed and asking that His will be done in 2018. At the end, we celebrated with a day of worship and testimony to give God glory and thanks for all the answered prayers we saw. After 15 years PCF transitioned to a new look. In the springtime we orga-nized a launch for the rebranding, complete with a new logo, banners, and signs. Jessica Spronk donated her time and talents to provide an over-due new profile which will help com-municate more clearly who we are. 2018 was the largest movement in-and-out of members in the history of PCF. It was a big transition with lots of administration. One of those who moved on was Chris Haynes, who served as an elder and associate pas-tor. But around the same time, God brought Meggan Miracle who was a miracle. She picked up most of Chris’ administration work and made the transition almost seamless. Last year PCF provided home group options almost every day of the week. Many people were involved both in small groups and in various minis-tries. Two of the highlights of the year were the spring and autumn re-treats. Another was the four baptisms that PCF hosted. Pastors John & Kel-sie opened their home and garden to one or two home groups at a time throughout the summer. It was a time of great BBQs, fellowship, worship, and sharing. We ended the year with a positive cash flow (net income) and a positive bank balance (see finances below). PCF Demographics: At the end of 2018 the PCF community was com-prised of family members represent-ing 32 different countries. Czechs were the largest people group, repre-

senting 41% of the membership (impacted by many children with duel nationalities). About 26% of the mem-bers are children. Our adult population is well represented across the age range of 18 to 75 (the medium adult age is early 30s). While some of the adult members are university students and some are missionaries, most are professionals. PCF Statistics: We welcomed 54 new members to the community and said goodbye to 52 people. The com-bined transition has never been greater in the history of PCF. Total member-ship at the end of the year was 160 members from 32 countries (117 adults and 42 children). Additionally, there are many people who attend regularly, but who, for various rea-sons, have yet to make the commit-ment to become a “church family member.” PCF’s turnover for the year-end membership level increased to 33% (typical for an international church). A total of 52 members left the community. We have prior mem-bers of PCF residing in approximately 50 countries around the world today. Baptisms: Last year we celebrated with eight people who decided to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. PCF held four separate baptism ser-vices. Those baptized came from the Czech Republic, India, France, USA, Singapore, England and Zambia. Sev-en of the eight were adults. Please pray for wisdom for the PCF parents as to when to invite their children to take the seal of Christ in baptism. At PCF the parents are considered priests of the home and make the decision when their children are ready for bap-tism. Currently, PCF has 37 unbap-tized children – a mission field in it-self.

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INVESTOR NEWSLETTER ISSUE N°3 FALL 2005

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PCF ANNUAL REPORT ((CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE)

Small Groups: In 2018 we had 12 small groups meeting on a weekly basis. Of the adult PCFers living in Prague at the end of 2018, approximately 47% of them were involved in small groups. This compares with about 16% of Christians in small groups in the United States (a Christian nation).3 Most of the pastoral care and fellowship at PCF happen in homes during the week. Small groups are the best opportunity for discipleship and building rela-tionships for a community of faith. Prayer Ministry: In 2018 a new Str ike Team was led by Carolyn Maiden to pray for immediate needs and cover the Sunday services in prayer. Also, Bridget Ćmiel transitioned the weekend Prayer Room to a monthly event called the Soaking Room. To “soak” in God’s presence is to rest in His love rather than to strive in prayer. The English-speaking IHOPP (International House of Prayer Pra-gue) session prayed for one and a half hours every Wednesday night. Cindy Riley and Carolyn Maiden continued with their regu-lar deliverance ministry until the summer (they returned to the US for three months), Staysee and Jason Chon saw individuals in their home for deliverance ministry and John & Kelsie continued a weekly prayer Home Group on Tuesday mornings until the summer break. Our Sunday gatherings continued last year to emphasize prayer for a different nation, people group or theme during each service. We also prepared for Sunday gatherings with a pre-service prayer time, and offered prayer ministry at the end of the services. The PCF pastors met and prayed weekly for the needs in the commu-nity. Outreach Ministry: In 2018 PCF continued for the fifth year our “Bible Project” which provides Bibles to community mem-bers and visitors who agree to give each Bible away to someone who does not own one. Many members of the community worked with children and students either in various schools around Prague or in student ministries. Again in 2018, Marina Torchia led the Mothers of Preschoolers outreach to Prague moms and their toddlers. Mat-thew Ferguson was involved with several youth English camps in Czech and a Scripture Union camp in Belarus. PCF continues to support the church planting effort in the small town of Úvaly (formerly a PCF ministry that we “handed off” to a sister “KS” church). Dorothy Lubwama helped lead a weekly English Club for Úvaly children. Ben O’Byrne helped with the Úvaly Sports Club on a weekly basis in the winter and spring. YWAM facilitated the ministry of many teams who felt led to come and serve the Lord in Prague (particularly helping Teen Challenge, Museum Weekday Prayer, Open Worship and the Friday Red-Light District outreaches). Roger Harsh led several small teams to the Ukraine, and he and Robin continued leading The Marriage Courses. Miranada Berg led the Thursday Home-less Ministry. Luke and Magdalena Tiehen moved to the YWAM base in Split, Croatia (and helped lead a DTS school there). Chris Haynes led an Alpha Course in the winter. James Matsinger led another Alpha Course in the autumn. Carolyn Maiden & Cindy Riley ministered in two cities in Fin-land this summer. Then they went on to the USA for three months of ministry opportunities. Ben & Nora O’Byrne partici-pated in separate mission trips to Jordan. Matthew Ferguson went with the Dunamis Team to Belarus and also went with them to Estonia. Matt also led a team to Guatemala.

Equipping: PCF began 2018 with a new teaching ser ies on Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. That was followed by the Prayers of Jesus series. During the summer we had a topical series (open topics). In the autumn we covered the Book of Luke and finished up with an Advent series. Many members of the community were challenged to pre-pare and deliver a sermon (Garth Wright, Matthew Ferguson, Carolyn Maiden, Donovan Spronk, Fionna Tan, Cindy Riley and Dorothy Lubwama). During the worship services our translation ministry team provided wireless headphones to translate from English into Czech. Garth Wright started vide-otaping the services and posting them onto our YouTube channel for the benefit of those who missed the service, and to help the speakers improve their public speaking. PCF continued to equip the Leadership Team with monthly gatherings and leadership training. In October the Leadership Team went away to the Czech mountains for a weekend fo-cused on prayer and training on the Freedom Ministries (deliverance prayer) called Free to Lead. PCF was blessed with two mission teams again in 2018 from First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, Virginia (USA). The teams taught for two weeks in the spring on "The Healing Ministry of Jesus" and one intense week in the autumn on "Spiritual Warfare and Kingdom Advancement." For the spring event, Cindy Riley and Carolyn Maiden opened up their home. In the autumn Dana La Plante organized the meetings at St. Tomás Church, and the Harshes provided accommodation for the team. We invited Thorsten Moll (Elena’s former pastor) to lead our Spring Retreat in Herrnhut, Germany. The autumn re-treat in Cesky Raj included a baptism with amazing testimo-nies and teaching from Fionna Tan and Pastor John. The PCF Home Groups take turns leading our Sunday ser-vices. It provides opportunities for group members to develop their spiritual gifts, and it provides a way that individuals can get involved in “family life” by contributing once a month. The Worship Team time together on Sunday mornings be-fore the service and Wednesday nights allowed them to prac-tice and to grow musically together. They have intentionally included Czech songs in their song lists as a means to con-nect with the Czech part of our community. The practice night functions as a home group for many of them. Garth Wright wrote several dramas, and the Drama Team performed them as part of the Sunday services. In April we celebrated the end of the 40-Day Prayer Challenge with a celebration that included a rap song especially written for the event by Jack Zagorski. He also wrote a song for the autumn retreat to publicize the event. Jennifer Bola created a promo-tional video for the song. Finances: PCF Par tners made it possible to end the year with a surplus again. The elders managed the expenses and finished the year with over 202,000 Kč surplus. PCF is not supported by the Czech government. Our expenses are paid by our PCF family contributions. Those expenses are listed in the monthly PCF Post and the weekly Thursday email. Part of those expenses include a monthly contribution per adult member to our Czech denomination who provide spiritual and legal covering (and liability insurance) for all of us.

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PCF PROFILE

CHANDA MWAPE

P urpose. It’s defined by Oxford Dictionary as “the reason for which something is done, created or for which something exists.” Purpose is something I take very seriously… maybe even a bit too seriously. Per-haps taking things too seriously is something I learned growing up in a Zambian home. Whenever I’m de-scribing my dad to someone who’s never met him, I liken him to a teddy bear. His gentle and easy-going nature is the perfect balance for my older sister, two younger brothers and I – who also share a remarkably hard-working mother. Anything that isn’t related to her work, i.e. anything that most people would find remotely entertaining (apart from music), sends her straight to sleep. Although inspiring, her intense work ethic can be tiring because the expectations she places on herself tend to transfer to others. She has ambitious standards for my siblings and me. As a result, I’ve lived my entire life trying to make her happy. I’ve never been the rebellious kind. In fact, to be com-pletely honest, I’m actually quite boring. As a young child, I was very confident and outspoken, but as I transformed into a teenager and began to understand how society works, my self-consciousness increased. I was 14 when I decided to get baptized. God has al-ways been a huge part of my life and I decided that it was the right time to publicly identify with Christ, His death and resurrection. Colossians 2:12 says, “For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Water baptism for me was a way of symbolizing the decision to follow Jesus that I had made in my heart and was a defining moment in my relationship with God. By this age, I had pretty much decided what I wanted my adult life to look like. My plan was to graduate from law school, land a job, get married, and have kids – a conventional life. Though most of my future was planned, there were a few things that had yet to be decided, like which university to attend. While my dream was to study overseas, I knew that I could only go to a country with a legal system similar to Zambia. After a tireless and seemingly exhaustive search, I realized that Anglo-American University (AAU) in Prague was the perfect option. Partnered with the University of London, it offered an affordable, Eng-lish-speaking law program. Attending here would put me in the middle of Europe and enable me to realize my dream of exploring the European continent.

After studying at a university in Zambia for a year, I turned 18 – old enough to live alone in a foreign

country. So, in September 2018, I took a humungous leap of faith and travelled thousands of kilometers away from home, to a coun-try I knew virtually nothing about, and where I had no family or friends.

Eleven days after arriving in Prague, I overheard two girls at a tram stop speaking a Zambian language. The timing was perfect. I was on my way to see a room in a flat share, but because of my limited directional skills (yes, even with Google Maps), I was stuck. Happily, the seemingly more outspoken of the two girls (Gina) looked at my directions and exclaimed, “That’s where I live!” The exact – same - house! Although Gina moved out shortly after I moved in, she invited me to her church (which after just one Sunday became our church). So, I still get to see her at least once a week. The relationship between me and her as well as her sister Edith is nothing short of sis-terhood. Also, at AAU, I met two other girls who, like me, were figuring out this whole moving-to-Europe-to-study-law thing. They’re both high quality individu-als, and I’m blessed to have them in my life. Dolly Parton once said, “Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” I came across this quote just over a year ago and it really got me thinking. I was reading Ecclesiastes at about the same time, and interestingly, I discovered two verses with complementing messages: “There is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can” (3:12). And, “Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in. But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do” (11:9). The people God has placed in my life here in Prague are much more outgoing than I’m used to. They chal-lenge me daily to get out of my comfort zone. I’m try-ing my best to not take things too seriously, and to adopt a more adventurous and spontaneous lifestyle. I’ve realized that no matter how hard I try to get something to work according to plan, God still does with it whatever He wants. I’m also slowly unlearning my old ways of shrinking myself for the sake of other people’s comfort and learning to live life out loud. I’m starting to think this transformation might have something to do with becoming the metaphorical “city on a hilltop” (Matthew 5:14). But since I’m trying to get out of the habit of having everything figured out, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Whatever hap-pens, I’m certain that a few mistakes and a whole lot

of grace later, I’ll be right where I need to be. ▪

INVESTOR NEWSLETTER ISSUE N°3 FALL 2005

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“PCF ANNUAL REPORT 2018” (CONTINUED FROM PAGE TWO)

The Prague Christian Fellowship Post

February 2019 Editors: Doug Hart, John Mullen

and Garth Wright Contact us:

pcf@praguefellowship.cz Mailing address:

Prague Christian Fellowship Komenského 204

250 82 Úvaly, Czechia

Tithes & Offerings Additional Income

Internet & Comm. KS Dues per Member

Church Rent Supplies & Equip.

Copying & Publishing

Salary/Employ. Taxes

Evangelism & Teach

Church Giving

Fees & Advert./Web

Misc. Expenses

Net Income

Budgeted + 195 833 Kč

+ 3 833 1 667 2 667

41 583 15 167

1 167 1 167

105 833 8 083 19 583 2 667 1 250

Actual + 209 831 Kč + 1 671 879 2 829 36 000 8 390 560 94 460 12 166 24 415 228 0

+29 575 Kč

PCF FINANCES - DECEMBER 2018 *All amounts shown are in Czech crowns (CZK).

PCF BANK INFO:

Sbor Křest’anské společenství PCF

Raiffeisen Account No.

181730394/5500 Variable symbole: 777

Contact Evzen Pekarek

for assistance at

PekarekEvzen@seznam.cz

In summary, our overall tithing income was 1% more than the 2017 tithing. Per adult member that represented an in-crease of 7% from the prior year. There were additional funds raised for the mercy fund that were not included in the church accounting. Tithing per adult member (year-end) increased from 17,253 Kč in 2017 to 18,402 Kč in 2018. The number of actual recorded PCF givers increased to 48 in 2018 (from 47 in 2017). Last year our expenses were approximately 16,800 Kč per adult member. This is a benchmark figure for those who do not tithe, but want to carry their fair share of enjoying a church family in Prague. PCF Church gave gifts of 153,015 Kč, gave Církev KS 33,764 Kč, and gave the benevolence fund 52,388 Kč; for a total of 239,167 Kč. That represents 11% of PCF’s total income. Addi-tionally, PCF assisted with cash donations for mission trips to Jordan, Norway and Romania, and gave away Bibles and other evangelistic materials. PCF assisted with monthly support to John & Kelsie Mullen, Ben O’Byrne, Bible Translator - Andy F., Marek Prosner’s apostolic ministry for Církev KS, Luke & Magdalena Tiehen (YWAM) and Andy & Nicole (Middle East). PCF also assisted with support to YWAM Prague minis-tries, Cindy Riley’s ministry and various members of the com-munity in need. In 2018 Zdeněk, the soundman, was paid less as he worked less. Therefore, salary expenses decreased 5%. Giving was also significantly lower in 2018 as Jiří Klimeš returned to full-time employment and PCF discontinued its financial support for his family. In 2017 PCF supported Kelsie Mullen’s transition to full-time PCF employment by gifting her the tuition she would have saved by working at CISP, rather than move her salary to full-time. In 2018 she continued to work on a half-salary but did not receive a gift to offset her extra expense. The result was salaries did not increase and giving decreased from the prior year. We finished 2018 with a posi-tive bank balance and a reserve to help us transition into a bigger venue or even possibly purchase a venue someday.

Sunday School: Last year PCF was blessed by several services with our children performing songs with choreo-graphed motions. Many thanks to Anna Wright. In 2018 PCF attracted several new families. We now have more children than ever (42). What is needed is a staff posi-tion for someone to lead Sunday School as a part-time job. We also need more volunteers to help once a month. With-out enough teachers we cannot break down the children into teachable groups. It impacts church growth (as many fami-lies make a choice about which community to join based on the Sunday School ministry). Often it is a bi-lingual envi-ronment. Please pray for Jiří Klimeš (and thank him for his gallant effort leading children’s ministry) and also pray God would bring a staff person to lead this important ministry. Church leadership changes: 2018 saw several changes in the PCF leadership. Most notably Chris Haynes sudden-ly resigned as elder and associate pastor, leaving a leader-ship gap. Michaela Šupková also resigned in the autumn as leader of Evangelism & Outreach. Dana La Plante, Bara Alderman, Gwladys Steciuk and Meggan Miracle joined the leadership team. Meggan was helping with church ad-ministration (she has returned to the US for six months) and was a huge help during the leadership transition. Cin-dy Riley and Garth Wright began attending and contrib-

uting in the weekly pastors’ meetings. ▪ _____________________________________________________________________________________

Footnotes: 1.According to a Pew Research Center survey, the Czech Republic is the least religious country of the former Eastern bloc's countries – Prague Morning 2018 http://www.praguemorning.cz/czech-republic-is-the-least-religious-country-in-europe-VOzEmmFg5r 2. In the summer, up to 4.5 million foreign tourists could arrive in the Czech Republic, up by 8 percent year-on-year, CzechTourism esti-mates. For the whole year, it expects 11 million visitors from abroad to stay in the Czech Republic. http://www.praguemorning.cz/45-million-tourists-coming-to-the-czech-republic-in-summer-QClYWAXTSK 3. https://www.barna.com/research/state-church-2016/