Ricany, March 1998

DEAR FRIENDS AND PARTNERS, OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST,

The world is living in the front of TV screen observing Olympic games. In a few days it will be all over; we have not seen one event yet. Just now the Czech hockey team plays US team (the Czechs won added later). In about one hour the power will be again turned off. This week we are without power and heat every other day due to a major repair. We can cook, since we have a gas stove. While we burn wood in the fireplace, I call it compulsory rest. Perhaps, we can pack for our winter vacation instead. Our deadlines before departure are truly deadly.

We have a special draw to Jakarta and Indonesia. Our missionary activity started right there. First, Pavel taught in "Kebayoran Baptist Gereja" the adult Sunday school for about three years. Klara became the chairwoman of the "Christian Women's Club. It was in 1986 in Jakarta that we started recording radio programs in Czech which were broadcast from Monte Carlo to then Czechoslovakia. When we left in January 1990, our Jakarta Church became our first sponsor, thus encouraging us to leave our professional career and join HCJB World Radio.

So, you can imagine, how much we were looking forward to see the place and get acquainted with new Church groups to present them our ministry. However,

• the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:1).

Indonesia was first hit by forest fires. They have been burning for months and the sky, according to some reports, is dark. The country has suffered unusually dry weather for months. Crops are failing. It is hard to imagine a brown Indonesia. It used to be one of the greenest countries we knew.

The natural calamity was not enough. Recently, Indonesia and the whole southeastern Asian region was hit by an economic earthquake.' The Indonesian currency lost more than 70% of its value on the US dollar. The hyperinflation wipes out the middle class savings. Unrest is growing. People have lost their jobs and many businesses are insolvent.

Shortages grow all across the country. As time progressed, the whole idea of traveling to Indonesia seemed less favorable. Riots throughout the archipelago were reported. We pray for the troubled Indonesian people and their leaders. We plan to fly right after the Olympics end. Only our Lord knows what will happen in the Middle East at that time. Not only will we fly near the "hot theater," but on top of it. Indonesia is predominantly a Muslim country. It is only natural that in case of war, Americans, especially those living in Indonesia, may encounter some problems. If all that is not enough, March is going to be an election month. The presidential election may be a critical factor as well. Now our plans look like an insane idea. We were considering, due to all circumstances, to cancel the whole trip, however', it may be the last time we have the opportunity to minister to our Jakarta Christian brothers. We are almost in daily e-mail contact with our host family. As far as we know, evacuation plans are monitored and we would be included. Adding all the facts together, we trust the Lord. Instead of a "vacation" we have a mission ahead of us. We know Who is in charge. Without His Sovereign Plan not even a hair will drop:

• Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them (Psalm 139:16).

We surely appreciate your prayers.

In the afternoon on April the 15th we are also scheduled for a three-hour lecture at the Ostrava Teacher's Institute. This will be a great opportunity to introduce to future teachers the Sovereignty and Grace of our Lord. The last destination that day is the HCJB Radio Conference in Wisla, Poland; only a two-hours'drive from Ostrava.

David Patty, a missionary from Colorado, works in the Ostrava area. In cooperation with several denominations he is doing a great job. He is an effective trainer. His Czech is good and the illustrations with small grammatical errors are hilarious. There were moments we laughed and cried at the same time.

Stolen wallet - just before Christmas someone picked Filip's wallet. A month later, when he received the bank statements, he experienced a big surprise. He stopped the cards right away but in three hours thieves were able to get over $2,500 in spite of all withdrawal limits. They got his driver's license, ID, credit cards and cash. All what was left from his former identity was the passport at home. Organized crime has its heydays, especially in Prague. The credit card theft and cheating are very well organized and profitable.

Our housing search is back to ground zero. As we investigated further the possibility of building in the attic, we found that the cost of everything is going up so rapidly that our first calculation would cover about 60% of the cost. The local currency plunged against the US dollar but the prices are immediately adjusted with an additional inflation buffer. The real estate market is as volatile as everything else.

The present political situation is calm on the surface, but very turbulent internally. We see daily new investigations, political resignations and some imprisonment.

• 1415: John Huss is burned at the stake. Fierce persecution of believers results in the birth of the Moravian church.
• 1500: 400 Moravian congregations with 200,000 believers populate the modern-day Czech Republic.
• 1600: Czech lands are 90% Protestant in the face of great oppression.
• 1621: 27 Protestant leaders are executed in Prague's Old Town Square; church members are sent to the mines, churches are closed, and Bibles are burned. The population drops from two million to 800,000 as people flee.
• 1722: Ten Czech exiles are given refuge by Count Zinzendorf, in Herrnhut (modern day Germany). This small band grows to a new colony of 300 worshippers in four short years.
• 1732: the first two missionaries from this group sail for the West Indies; 22 of 29 missionaries sent out die-still more are sent.
• 1742: More than 70 missionaries have answered God's call from a community of no more than 600 inhabitants.
• 1792: The group has sent 300 missionaries throughout the globe. Those that don't go, pray. They start a round-the-clock "prayer watch" that continues for over 100 years--every day, every hour.

Moravian zeal and gospel proclamation led directly to the conversion of John Wesley, and greatly influenced William Carey, who has been called the "father" of modern missions.

The next two hundred years in church history are tragic. Habsburg Catholicism, rationalism, liberalism, nationalism, socialism, two World Wars and a new division of power. Today the Czech Republic is the second least religious country - after Albania. Pray for His mercy and new beginning.

In HIS Sovereign Grace,

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