Partnerships Mean More Than Words

I'm back on the train again heading north to Prague. This  will be a four hour train journey. For  the past few days we have been visiting a small congregation of the Evangelical Czech Brethren in the mining town of Orlova. It is a town very close to the Polish border.We have been meeting and sharing with a congregation that is trying to minister to a community of over 35,000 people. The Town is completely undermined and many of the houses around the church have been knocked down due to subsidence. The church itself has moved about eight inches in 15 years.  And continues to stand isolated on the edge of the community. in many ways that's the place the Communists wanted the Church to be. Today Pastor Stepan is trying hard to connect with the community through a number of programmes including a fantastic gospel choir. Štěpán and his wife have been working in this community for 15 years. He takes great encouragement from the partnership with St Ninian's in Dunfermline.

It was a great experience to join with the congregation this morning and share with them in The Lord's Supper. Around 40 people met in the little room below the church.  The  main reason being that it is easier to heat the smaller room than to try and worship in the large church which has no heating whatsoever. The temperature was around minus 2.

In Just under four hours we arrive back in Prague. The attendant on the train waits on the platform and bids us farewell and hopes we've had a good trip. We're up early next morning running to get the flight to London.

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