Ricany, May 1998

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

First of all we must thank all of you for the prayers which kept us during past weeks just walking on the clouds. Actually we spent many hours in the air, in the car, on the boat, walked through villages and construction sites. We looked on the world from above as well as from below as we put our faces underwater.

Trust me those are the words best describing our recent experience and vacation adventure. First of all we had a most wonderful time in Indonesia. The reunion in Jakarta was full of blessings, mutual ministering, personal sharing and spiritual challenge.

The international expatriate community in Jakarta is living for an extended period of time under the tension of not knowing Indonesia's future. Living in unstable times is adding to the stressful situation. Many people are called back, others are waiting from day to day. We could touch and encourage their hearts sharing our own experience of leaving corporate life, having uncertainty for almost two years before we were out of temporary situations and started our fulltime ministry. For two years we lived out of suitcases, but it was all worth it.

We spent three Sundays in Indonesia. It was great to be in our home church to share what transpired since we were in Indonesia four years ago. We spoke to the whole congregation, youth group and former Sunday school class where our mission training actually started. Pavel felt the same electrifying challenge we always loved in Jakarta. Klara enjoyed the Precept class with new and familiar friends. We visited a number of former friends and were treated to lavish dinners. We got a couple of invitations to minister in Australia.

Tourism to Indonesia is almost at a standstill. International news reports are truly disturbing, but our days were calm and most pleasant. To illustrate this, we watched the news reports from Europe. Only the Kosovo conflict was reported; and, based on that information, one could think that Europe is the most dangerous place to be. We must remember that Jakarta is the political center and the rest of the country is not directly involved. Two hundred million people are going about their daily tasks while a few hundred or thousand people, mostly students, are protesting in front of governmental buildings. We were amazed during presidential election time, all the speeches presented a rosy future ahead. Somehow the IMF sees the situation in a different way.

Sulawesi:
We had exciting and busy days in Jakarta and mainly restful days in Manado, on the remote Bunaken island of Sulawesi. We were able to squeeze five days of true vacation in between. We stayed in beautiful new resort which offered introductory prices. As we arrived we were surprised to find out that we were the only guests in a hotel with about 100 rooms. Klara was at first disappointed to find out that there is no beach. The beach was on the next island, but because of that the whole vacation developed totally different. Bunaken - the five-star diving center was a new memorable experience for all of us. After some hesitation Klara joined Pavel and Vit for this new adventure.

Even on the smallest island where divers come and where maybe 100 people live, we could see several churches. Actually we were diving in the front of one of the three churches on a tiny volcanic island which looked liked Robinson Crusoe paradise. The churches are not just some small chapels. They by far exceed the living standards of the people and money is constantly collected for the next church.

Diving and snorkeling is a marvelous experience - hanging over the cliff which could be a thousand meters deep. Mara followed Vit's bubbles coming from about 10 to 15 meters below. Since we were joined by only four more divers from England, we had individual attention from instructors and guides as we visited several nice sites. The colorful world of fish was unreal. We saw some unusual fish, small and huge. Experienced divers came back after the last dive from about a 60-meter depth, all excited. They saw a huge (about 24-foot long) whale shark. Fortunately, the word shark was spoken when Klara was in the boat and done with snorkeling.

We enjoyed the lush tropical scenery as we walked through different villages. We saw a house-building village, a pottery village, a furniture village, a peanut-growers village, and visited a marketplace where dog meat was sold. Right there we were told that pigs and dogs are eaten by Christians, Muslims don't eat them. Among other delicacies eaten there are special tree rats, snakes, turtles and other exotic meats. Sulawesi, especially the north part of the island, is mainly Christian - about 80%. In an area with a population of three hundred thousand people there are about 900 pastors and churches are wherever you look. We talked to the local people, and the village elders gave us exact statistics about the population, how many Protestants, Catholic or Muslims are living in their village. A young taxi driver told us: "We are the second Israel." Later on in Jakarta we talked to missionaries from the area and they filled in some more information. Apparently most of the Christians are quite proud of their own goodness. Sin and the need for repentance is not preached in the churches. Many believers are more traditionalist than converted people. There is strong pressure from Muslims to push Christianity out of the land and the believers are quite unprepared to face the takeover.

We enjoyed the villages totally unspoiled by tourism. We used local public transportation and walked through villages. Children were ecstatic when they spotted "bule" - local term for white people. They ran to meet us and followed us, smiling and laughing all the way and not asking for anything. We could use again our bahasa (Indonesian language). We truly had a great time with local people. That experience is precious. Sulawesi is beautiful and quite a safe place to visit.

Back in Jakarta we admired dynamic changes in the city. Many new buildings, new roads and because of the tension of the elections many people stayed at home. Even the traffic was moving. We admired new shopping centers, even with ice skating rinks, and could not resist some bargains. At the time dollar was worth about 10,000 rupiah. We filled our suitcases with new clothing and gifts for our friends and family. Who could pass up Polo T-shirts for two dollars? Klara was trying to pick up a dress for the wedding but the Indonesian sizes are so small that they fit a spaghetti body only. For the groom and bride we picked up beautiful wedding rings, but we missed the size for Filip.

As you can see, we had a marvelous time. Only our departure was a little dramatic. The extra charge for our baggage was first over $700, then $500, later $250. After the prayer, "Lord, we don't know what to do," and some rearranging, the suitcases boarded the airplane even with two pounds of limes Klara bought. On the top of it we had the five-star night flight. We asked for an aisle seat. Pavel had three of them and Klara had four. Eight out of thirteen hours flight from Kuala Lumpur to London were spent in a horizontal position. Door to door travel time took almost 30 hours.

Back home:
The first news on the radio after we landed was that the Czech republic is facing a shortage of potato and onions. Both are imported now and the cost is higher than tropical fruit. The next information was about an apple war. The European Union penalized the Czechs for putting quotas on apple importation, and the European Union is not allowing Czech pork and other products to be exported ... East Europeans are not prepared to compete or survive a trade war. Local farming is being systematically weakened. As during the communist era, most people living outside the cities depend on their gardens. In the European Union it is an evolutionary battle named survival of the fittest.

Fears, frustrations and expectations:
Wedding:
While we were in Indonesia, Filip and Lenka faced some dramatic developments about their marriage. The clerk where Lenka lives insisted that Filip has to prove that he is not a Czech citizen, trying to go through the legal procedure to relinquish one of his citizenship. Filip has a Czech birth certificate. His passport or residence permit issued by foreign police is not sufficient proof that he is American citizen. His only other document is a certificate of naturalization which is in a safe in Los Angeles. The problem was resolved at our place of residence where Filip is registered. So, after all, the wedding will be in Ricany and reception in Prague.

Housing:
After many months of searching and looking for a place in Prague, we signed an agreement for a future contract. We are in process of buying two apartments under construction. One for us and the other for the HCJB office. Actually there is still available space on the business floor big enough to have church.

As we mentioned many times before, the lack of legal protection in business is really frightening. The real estate law (jungle) is full of traps and loopholes. There is no multiple listing service, no title or escrow company. The most informed, efficient and creative agents are of Russian origin serving their clientele followed by the foreign real estate offices taking care of foreign executives. Other clients are purchasing properties from blueprints. They are financing the construction as it proceeds without the guarantee that the building will be even started or finished. Well, we have much to pray about.

During six years living here the prices in Prague have more than doubled. Because of the rent control on one side and the black market on the other, a decision about housing is quite intriguing. For economical reasons we decided to buy. Again, we are trusting the Lord that our retirement funds are well invested.

Construction should be finished at the end of the year; and we will be moving sometime in January or February '99 - four years after we moved to Ricany.

Words of encouragement:
During the past weeks, we received so many personal letters and notes, we are overjoyed. Our thanks go first to our heavenly Father with a request to bless you for all your care, kindness and love to us and the HCJB ministry. We want to share with you at least one:

Dear Pavel and Klara
We are Jerry and PatMcC. and have been receiving your newsletter for quite some time. My wife Pat told me she had met you both at Cactus Country RV Park at a Bible study at which / was not present at that time. Since / started reading your newsletter about one year or so ago, the Lord has put you both on my heart. I pray for both of you and the Czech Republic every morning at about sunrise as I walk and talk with the Lord in the desert. In regard to what you said in your newsletter-the Lord has provided you with two more soldiers. We will not only continue to pray for you both, we will speak the word to our friends and prayer partners across the USA. * Prov. 16:9

In Christ,
Jerry and Pat

Next events and prayer needs:

April:

• Just one week before the wedding we go to Poland for a Radio Conference. Our East European team of HCJB is growing. More than sixty people are scheduled to attend.
• Wedding and family time with children and relatives.

May:

• HCJB European Conference-representatives from East and West are coming together to share our goals and plan ministry outreach. This part is under "construction." * Meeting regular programming datelines and magazine publishing. * Preparing for Filip's and Lenka's departure.

Broadcasting:

• Pavel enjoys more opportunities to be on the radio live. We pray that all producers of Christian programs will be more Gospel oriented. Some public statements coming from church leaders are not in line with even basic truth of the Gospel. About human feelings we can not say., "It is written!"

Home ministry:

• Our drivers licenses expire in 1999 - so it looks like our target is getting closer.

In HIS Sovereign Grace,

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