Introducing....Team Clarkenstein!

Yes...that is our team name for Kevin Clark and Emily Klopfenstein's intern team, Summer '09.  I think it's a great team name.  In fact, last night I had a dream that there was actually a city in the US called "Clarkenstein."  I think we're on to something. :)

Without further delay, I would like to show you the line-up for our team, from left to right:

Amber Kronz: "Little sis"  Amber is the youngest member of our team.  This is her first time in the Czech Republic.  How, might you ask, did she decide to come to Czech?  Well, God told her to.  So, she listened and now she's here!  Amber is our math whiz and handles finances for us--something everyone else on the team should probably never involve ourselves with.  I am so excited to see what God does in Amber's life this summer.  I can already see Him doing amazing things in her and showing her more of Himself.  

Josh Frederick: "The Bearded Guy"  You never know what Josh has up his.....beard.  He brings such a fun atmosphere to our team.  Josh has an amazing gift of being able to connect with students and pull them in.  He is also ready to serve the team and everyone around him every moment of the day.  I know God is going to use Josh in the lives of lots of Czech people this summer and I'm so excited to see what God does through him. 

Kevin Clark: "The Pittsburgh Guy" Because of Kevin, our team knows more about Pittsburgh than we ever thought we could..or even wanted.  Kevin has been to Czech and served as an intern many years and is excited to be back here again.  He has great friendships with so many guys here and has really poured into so many of the leaders of the youth groups here.  Kevin wants to be here full-time eventually, after he finishes school.

Emily Klopfenstein: Well, you already know enough about me.  I'm just the girl that laughs a lot.  And the girl that thinks, "Why the heck did they ask me to lead an intern team this summer?"  God has already taught me so much and humbled me so much through this process and I can't wait to see how He continues to do so.  I'm experiencing His strength in weakness more than ever before.

Martin Stepanenko: "The Czech"  Martin is the final member of our team who just joined us last week.  And, let me tell you, he was exactly what our team was missing.  I have known Martin for over 3 years now and have seen him grow in huge ways in his relationship with God.  He grew up in an Atheist family and has an amazing story of how God revealed Himself to Martin.  This picture is of us after church--him being the typical, "don't-show-emotion" Czech and me being the "oh-my-gosh-everything-is-the-best-thing-that's-ever-happened-to-me" American.  Martin has a deep love for God and is such a deep thinker.  He is so intelligent and uses his gift of knowledge to further the Kingdom of God.  I'm so thankful to serve with him this summer and see how God uses him among the people of his own country!

So, there you have it.  A bunch of misfits and losers that God is using for amazing things.  When I think about our team and what an unlikely bunch we are, I think of 1 Corinthians 1:26-27. "For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong."  We are just a bunch of weak fools that have been redeemed by God and are now being used for His purposes.  And it's all so that our only boasting comes from who God is, not who we are or what we can do.  I can't wait to see how God is going to use us this summer to further His Kingdom on this earth to bring glory to Himself.  Stay tuned to hear how God is using Team Clarkenstein to conquer the Czech Republic in the name of Jesus Christ!  

 

Imitate Their Faith

One of the most interesting things to me about the Czech Republic is that it is one of the most atheistic countries in the world and also one of the most rich in Christian history.  What is now a very dark nation was once an influencing country during the Reformation of the Catholic church.  I heard a testimony last summer from a student who accepted Christ after studying the history of Czech Republic, reading the materials that other Czech people had written only a few hundred years ago.  In one of the main squares in Prague is a statue of man named Jan Hus (John Huss), who was burned at the stake being called a heretic by the Catholic church and Martin Luther himself got some views from Jan Hus.  There are countless stories throughout history of great men and women of faith in this now atheistic country.  

The saddest part of all of this is the fact that many of the memorials of these people are in places that people walk by every single day, not knowing what the lives of these people who are now statues represent.  The statue of Jan Hus that is in the square is almost always surrounded by people--sitting on the ledge of the statue as if it were a bench.  They have no idea what this man lived and died for.  

Last week, our intern team was visiting a school in Pocernice, a sub-division of Prague.  The school we were visiting is run by a man who has a reputation for being very harsh towards Christians.  The pastor of the church we were working with, who grew up under communism, said that this principal reminds him of the way school were run under communism.  This man was not happy about us coming to school to invite students to a camp where God and the Bible would be talked about.  Usually, schools will let us come into individual classes and teach an English lesson and promote camp.  This principal only gave us permission to make the announcement over the intercom.  We as a team were praying for a miracle.  We had no idea what to expect, but we knew that the God we were serving had the power to turn the hearts of kings like streams of water to wherever He wants (Proverbs 21:1).  So, we approached with confidence.  

We got to the school, found the principal's office and knocked on the door. I could actually feel the darkness.  It was as if a lid was over this school. After waiting anxiously for at least 5 minutes outside his office, he opened the door.  The pastor was the first person he saw, so the first words out of his mouth were, "For God?"  He then rolled his eyes and invited us (all the while showing his irritation) into his office.  We talked to him about what we were planning to do.  As soon as the pastor told him that we were Americans, his entire disposition changed.  God did something in his heart.  He gave us permission to stand in the hallways and pass out fliers about camp.  It still wasn't visiting classes, but it was more than just making an announcement over the intercom.  

And that was it.  We were in and out of the school within 20 minutes.  But, on the way out, the pastor stopped us to point out a memorial that hung on the wall of the lobby.   It was a sculpture that had the faces of 5 different men who had a significant impact in Czech history.  The pastor began to tell us about these 5 men.  All but one of them were followers of Christ whose main goal was to proclaim Christ in their country.  And here their faces hung in a school, hundreds of years later--students walking by every day, a principal trying to hold back any proclamation of Christ in his school--people with no regard for Christ, not knowing why they were created, without hope in this world.

I think of Hebrews 13:7-8.  "Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God.  Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."  I long for the day when more will imitate the faith of those who came before them.  But, I take great hope in seeing the lives of the few that truly are living lives of great faith, lives that imitate those of the past, lives worth imitating for generations to come.  

There are still so many here in this country that don't know Jesus Christ.  They don't know that which men and women from their history believed in so much that they died for it.  But, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever and He is a God who saves!!!  Just as He emboldened those in the past to live radical lives for Him, He will call more to Himself who will do the same.  And I can't wait to watch that unfold!