Jan Hus

Here is a picture of Larry's Parents with Zachary, Laini and Larissa in front of the statue of Jan Hus in Old Town Square in Prague.

Jan Hus was a reformer who was influenced by John Wycliffe. Hus is mainly known for believing that people should have the Bible in their own language and that everyone should get to take the cup and the bread in communion (Catholics only got the bread and the priests took the cup). He also was against the church amassing wealth and property. Hus was invited to the Council of Constance in 1415 to defend his views. He was guaranteed safe passage, but when he got there they burned him at the stake. This set off a huge protestant movement in the Czech lands, which remained predominantly protestant until 1620 when the Catholics finally crushed them at the Battle of White Mountain near Prague. Not long after the defeat 27 protestant nobles were beheaded at Old Town Square and for years their heads hung in baskets on the tower of Charles Bridge.

Easter Monday

In the states churches fellowship with food! In the Czech Republic they go on a 8km walk! On Easter Monday we went on a trip with the Czech church. We rode the train about 45 minutes out of Prague. Then we walked about 8 km through the woods. On the way we stopped and built a fire and cooked hotdogs (okay they can't avoid the food altogether!) We ended up at Karlstejn Castle. It is an incredibly beautiful castle built in the 1300's. Here are some pictures. If you would like to see more pics here's a link. http://www.vinohradskysbor.estranky.cz/fotoalbum

Hody Hody Doprovody

Hody hody doprovody

Dejte Vejce Malovany (Give me a painted egg)

Nedate-li malovany (If you don't give me a painted egg)

Dejte aspon bily (At least give me a white one)

Slepicka vam snese jiny (The hen will lay another)

Now here is a different tradition...On Easter Monday, men and boys set out in search of girls, in order to hit them with their Easter wands (Pomlazka), which are braided from four, six, or eight willow branches and decorated with one or more colored ribbons. Czechs thought that it was good luck and healthy for the girls to be hit with this stick! (Guys, don't get any ideas) During this carolling and whipping, the girls present the boys with eggs - painted, colored, or even just white.
In the homes, men also receive something besides eggs - alcohol. So on that Monday you will see many very drunk men.

Easter, just like Christmas, is a "religious" holiday that continued to be celebrated even in socialist Czechoslovakia. It simply acquired a slightly different interpretation from the years 1948 to 1989 - it was celebrated officially as a holiday of spring.

Sir Larry, lord of the forest

For several months, Larry has been attending the Myslivost class so that he can get his Czech hunting license. The class has been (of course) taught entirely in Czech, so Larry has been working very diligently to translate and to understand the curriculum. (The textbook was several inches thick-full of information he had to know.) Saturday, March 8 was the day of the exam. All of the students went from one teacher to the next in order to answer questions orally.

After the testing was finished, there was a ceremony. They actually knighted (with a sword) the new "graduates". So now you must address Larry as "Sir Larry, lord of the Forest" The leader gave a speech saying that Larry was the first American to take and pass the test.

Červinka

Here is an article for all of you cow lovers. I thought it was interesting.

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/101597

English Club to McDonalds

This last month at English Club we taught the children how to order food in English. The last week of the series, we took them to McDonalds so they could practice ordering in English. The children loved it. (Fortunately we went to a McDonalds where someone actually understood English!!)

This month (March) we are teaching them about Easter! Most of these children have never heard about Jesus (except at English Club). There are about 30+ children and it is such a sweet group of children (ages 5 to 16).

Classes for the adults: While the children are downstairs, having lots of fun, learning lots of English, and hearing about God, many adults are upstairs in English classes. Many of the adults really appreciate this because knowing English is helpful in their jobs. The classes have grown so much this year that they have split into 3 different groups: beginner, intermediate and conversation. Larry has recently begun to help teach the intermediate adult class. He is enjoying this and it is a great way to learn some new Czech words at the same time.

Grandma in Prague!

We just had a wonderful week with Melissa's mom (from PA) and her great friend, Cheryl (from VA).

We walked miles everyday, but thoroughly enjoyed every minute. We, of course, took them to Prague Castle, Old Town and Charles Bridge. We walked up 299 steps of a tower to see an absolutely amazing view of this city. The beautiful and amazing architecture never seemed to end.

We (the girls) rode the train (along with some other Americans) to a small Czech town to a factory crystal shop. While we were there, I (Melissa) got brave enough to ask in Czech for a tour of the factory. The tour guide was so kind. She patiently waited while I tried to translate what she was saying.

On Sunday, my mom and Cheryl went with us to English Club. It was McDonald's night when we took all of the children to McDonalds and they had to order in English. Mom and Cheryl jumped right in to help out.

Myslivost? What's that?

Myslivost is the Czech word for game-keeping or game management. I have been taking the myslivost class to get my hunting license. For the most part I like the way they do things here. You have to take a serious course. It starts in October, takes a break for December and January and then starts up again in February. In March there is an oral test. Hunters are viewed not just as hunters but as game managers.

It has been interesting since everything is in Czech, but it is very good for my language. You can pray for me March 9th as I take my test. I'll have someone there to translate for me, but it could still get interesting.

Here is a picture of the new Czech record red deer. Thought some of you might enjoy it.

Skiing in the Alps!

The week before Christmas, we had to go out of the country for

Visa/Passport purposes. So we drove to Austria and had an amazing Skiing Weekend in the Alps.

The mountains were absolutely beautiful. Larissa kept saying (and we were all thinking) "Can you believe we are skiing in the Alps!!!"

We enjoyed a great sled-riding hill that was right outside of our apartment, and a ski trail that came right to our back door. It was such a blessing to us to be able to enjoy this beautiful part of our world.

The Nazi Concentration Camp at Dachau, Germany

On our way home from Austria, we drove through Germany. When we got off of the highway to look for a place to eat, we saw a sign for Dachau. Larry's grandfather came to Dachau with the U.S. Army in WWII and liberated the prisoners of the concentration camp.

We were only 10 miles from Dachau, so of course we had to see what was there! The entire concentration camp is still standing and is now a memorial site. It was pretty amazing to read about what happened and also pretty amazing to think that Papa rolled through that very country side in his tank.

More than anything, we enjoyed calling Papa to tell him where we had been and hearing his amazing stories about that historical event.

What an exciting History lesson!

Carp for Christmas!

The Czech tradition for Christmas---A few days before Christmas-all over Prague there are tanks of live carp. You buy your carp, take it home and put it in your bathtub!!! -No kidding!- Then Christmas eve dinner, everyone eats fried carp and potato salad.

We named our fish "Reba". "Ryba" (in Czech) means "fish".

Mikulas Day!

December 6th is Mikulas Day! The Czechs celebrate on "Mikulas Eve"- December 5th. All over Prague you can see Mikulas, the devil and an angel walking together and stopping to talk to children.

Mikulas (St. Nicholas), they say, comes to all of the children and brings them small gifts on December 5. Mikulas will come to your house (along with the devil and an angel) and if you have been bad, the devil will give you a hard potato and a piece of coal; but if you have been very bad, the devil will put you in his bag and take you to hell. (Needless to say, we witnessed some very scared children that night!!!) However, if you sing a little song to them, you will get a piece of candy.

We decided to go to Old Town to see the festivities. Laini had been hearing about Mikulas all week at school, and she was determined to get some candy from him. We found a set of "3" that was not swamped with children and she boldly went up to the angel and asked if she could sing her song in English. She then sang "Are you sleeping, brother John", and was very proud to receive her gift of candy!!!

Exploring Prague

We are having fun exploring Prague while we learn our way around the city. Here are some pictures from Old Town, Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and a view from Prague Castle.

English Club

Every Sunday night, Melissa and the kids have been going to "English Club." This has been a fun activity for us to be involved in. Zachary, Larissa and Laini have had fun hanging out with the Czech children and Melissa has been able to work with the older children. About 25-30 children attend each week and there are also adult classes at the same time.

This program has been a great way to share the gospel with those who attend. Each month there is a new theme. In October, the theme was cooking so the Czech children learned how to cook some American foods and they learned many English words and phrases that go with cooking. November was all about shopping. It was fun to hear the Czechs say "How much does it cost?" and "I would like to buy..." with their cute accents. In December we had a store for them to use their newly learned English words to purchase toys, etc. Each week the teachers do a fantastic job of being creative and also teaching from the Bible.

A few of the children from Zachary and Larissa's school also attend English Club. Each week they walk home with us and the kids play "Mashi" (tag) on the streets of Prague. Radek and Pepa have been so patient to help us with our Czech on the way home. I think we just need to hang out with children long enough in order to learn this language! They are much more patient.

God understands Czech when we do not!

Many of you have asked what we have been doing for church...

Most Sundays we attend the Czech Baptist Church in Prague. It is about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. At first this was a great adventure...listening to a sermon and singing all in Czech and trying to learn new words as we listened!

6 weeks later, it is not such an adventure :).

Sunday, the service was 2 1/2 hours long. It seemed like they were having a nice time. (Some day we will actually know what they are saying.) There is just enough room in the pews to squeeze in , so once you are in, you don't move.

***Actually we have been enjoying the singing. This Sunday, we were even able to know what song number we were on without peaking at our neighbor's hymnbook. And it is very nice to experience this...to hear people worshipping in another language and knowing God completely understands!!!

Some weeks, the children go to a children's class, and Larissa and Laini have attended. I'm sure that is as challenging for the Czech teacher as it is for them.