I recently reconnected with a girl who was in my softball group at the 2013 sports multicamp in Czech Republic. She is working at a brand new Starbucks. I told her I would come to see her and she said she’d give me coffee on the house; and she did, well it was actually hot chocolate but for the same price. I went to see her again and her former boyfriend stopped by as well who I also met at the same camp. Actually she is now his boss at the Starbucks which is fun to watch. It was great to reconnect with him and we not only got free coffee but some free food as well. I think I need to keep going back to see her. The free coffee is a nice perk (no pun intended) but the real reason I need to keep connected with her is that she’s my friend and she doesn’t know Jesus.

I usually play in the worship band at my church in Prague and occasionally I give the sermon in the morning service. This provides me with a great opportunity to invite my friends to come and see me. Many of these young people would never otherwise go to church but they just might come to see their friend play music or speak. And that is why relationships are so important. In a country where trust is a major issue, especially due to the national history, maintaining a real friendship is one of the only ways one can overcome distrust. When you gain trust you earn the right to be heard whether it’s in front of the church or sitting in a coffee shop, drinking free coffee, sharing the love of Jesus.

As Matthew 9:37-38 tells us the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Please pray for us as we develop meaningful friendships in Czech Republic and prayerfully consider coming to join us here for a camp.