En route from Gefrees, we passed by a winter ski resort and just had to stop. It was a photo opportunity and the ski jump confirmed how horrific the sport is; standing at the top of a really high jump to come hurtling down a slope to jump into the air and to land hopefully within the allotted zone. It defies common sense makes it an amazing spectacle albeit death defying. We came away revising our thinking about ‘Eddie the Eagle’ – he really was very brave; stupid but very brave!
Arriving at Prague we were met by Lina and over a meal caught up on happenings; personal, community and seminary. It was really good to be back in Prague and the mutual appreciation of the partnership we share was evident from the off. It was to be a demanding sixteen hour day week but one of overwhelming privilege, to serve, share, work with, worship and relax together with staff and students. As with Belgium and Germany there were just some lovely little whispers of God’s affirmation in what we were doing. For example on our first morning at the seminary, I’d been invited to preach and for Ken to be interviewed about his work in Belfast. Lina had emailed through the lectionary readings a few days before we left and as I sat down to read the passage and prepare on Friday in Gefrees, was thrilled to discover that it was John 4 and immediately the passage spoke to me about Jesus crossing boundaries. Ken shared about encountering ‘the other’ in crossing religious and cultural boundaries, Joshua sent me his draft paper that he was delivering at a Peace Conference on how we engage with others different from ourselves and as we shared in prayer from the Community’s Prayer Guide on the Sunday morning, I was thrilled to see that the day’s theme was Crossing Boundaries and Borders! I should have known this because it is me that writes the Prayer Guide and I hadn’t remembered until I came to use the Prayer Guide that day.
It was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones and Sunday lunch was taken at a nearby hotel and it marked the beginning of a whole series of meals and drinks with various members of the Community including a fun filled evening around the dining table with Keith, Denise and Lina over a Raclette supper.
Part of the privilege is meeting and listening to the stories of these young people from Eastern Europe many of whom have so little in comparison to the wealth and resources of the West. Many of them have little or no ability to fund their time at Prague and are reliant upon bursaries, gifts and the support of others. The Seminary, like ourselves, is financially vulnerable and unlike us, there remains a question mark over the financial viability of them staying on their present site. Please pray. Everything within me feels that the site is so appropriate for the community and its work across Europe and the Middle East. They were a great bunch of students, a lovely group of young people who engaged with us and the lectures, seminars and activities that we facilitated. We gelled so well with the community there because of the common experiences of being communities. I am deeply saddened and concerned that very few theological colleges in Britain offer any residential community based training for the ministry. I know from our own experience of being in community, together with the time Shirley and I spent many years ago training in a residential setting at Bible College that living in community is a deeply spiritual formative experience. So, at the seminary in Prague, to gather at the start of each day, to share Morning Office and to say Midday Prayer before lunch and to end the day with Compline helped to provide a framework and a rhythm which in itself is a great community builder and life shaper. We worked mostly this year with what are known as CAT students (Certificate in Applied Theology). I am going to encourage Companions alone and together in some of our Community groups to adopt one of the students which would involve praying for them, corresponding with them and thinking about providing some financial help to either enable them to come to Nether Springs, (which they all want to do but for whom many it will not be possible as our government has tightened up in a ridiculous way on quotas which has ruled out students coming even for a one week stay) or for them to receive a gift that they can use on their return to their homelands or a contribution to IBTS which is enabling them to study and train at the seminary.
Joshua, who taught there for a term in the autumn and Shirley was able to spend a few days there, told me how good a group of students they were, every one of them a gem, e.g. from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Barundi, Belgium, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Kirgizstan and Holland. One of the students showed us some photos after Compline one evening and the poverty and misery of the images, hit all three of us. We thought at first that she was showing us photos of some homeless shelter or work with people on the streets. She was in fact depicting images of a hospital that she and other Christians visited. She was thrilled to tell us that they had been able to gather and gift to the hospital several rugs and mats, not new by any means, but nevertheless better than the stone floors the patients were having to sleep on. The rickety old chair that had a hole crudely cut with a bucket underneath served as the ward toilet – a stark series of images of the contrast between the affluence of our Western society and the poverty, deprivation and suffering of those in other lands. A brave and courageous young woman living in a context where Christians are persecuted, beaten and suffer for their faith. The most harrowing photo for me was taken secretly when the team brought some bread into a hospital ward of elderly patients. Starving, they clammered for the bread loaf and the disorderly scene that ensued was broken up by the ‘nurse’ who proceeded to beat them with a stick.
It is very humbling to hear these stories, to sit and share, pray and learn from brothers and sisters from such situations. It’s a reminder for us in Community that our calling to Availability and Vulnerability embraces a commitment both to hospitality, to wandering for the love of Christ and to look for the kingdom of God on the streets, all of which much reflect and express God’s heart for the poor and marginalized.
Two other events stand out form our week there; the concert that Andy Lang, our German friend and Celtic harpist performed at the local hotel Jeneralka, the pub/restaurant opposite the seminary. We also recorded a whole series of readings and reflections for Holy Week which will be available to listen to on our website from Palm Sunday. There you will have the opportunity to some of the delightful accents and voices of our friends at the seminary.
Next year, we will return and its our hope to take a bigger group of people so watch the website for further details. The dates will be published in the next few weeks.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
