Dopis číslo 20 z Prahy: Update 20 from Prague

Josh Hayden
Jun 26, 2023
4 min read

Dear family and friends- to those we love and miss, summer greetings from Prague!

It’s hard to imagine that four years ago, we were making preparations to move here. It would have been impossible to envision that a global pandemic and a war would happen. It would equally have been hard to predict the way that God has opened opportunities for us to serve not only university students, but displaced Ukrainians as well. We have worked to highlight the seeds of faith already here in Czech culture and history, and to teach authentically out of our own relationship with God. There are no campus ministries on the AAU campus, so interactions with Christian professors are one of the few ways students would come in contact with a person taking a life of faith seriously.

And now we have decided, after much prayer and discernment and in alignment with a requirement to return to the US for 6 months after being in the Czech Republic for 5 years, to carry on our work here another year and return to the U.S. in late summer 2024. This gives us time to tend to relationships with students and faculty, strengthen the Ukrainian community ministry, and prepare our family for a big transition.

Our respective school years have ended with encouragement. Josh just received the “teacher of the year” award by AAU students in late May. Anna was at the ceremony and noted the word “beloved” that students used to describe Josh as a professor. It was another reminder of the work that God is doing here to give favor with students and faculty.

We hosted many student dinners this Spring semester and will have one more for graduates in the coming weeks. One Ukrainian student, who studied abroad at AAU last year as the war began, came to our apartment for dinner during that time. Sophia returned to Prague to visit recently, reached out and had coffee with Josh. She shared that she was a resident assistant on her campus and got to apply what she learned from Josh’s leadership class over this past year. They had a rich conversation about the challenges of leading and about finding a calling in life. It was an amazing reminder that the journey with students lasts longer than their tenure in school and that many times it is after the class has ended that the impact begins.

Anna’s year of teaching at the Christian International School of Prague ended with notes of gratitude from students. One student wrote,

“This has been the best semester of English that I've had in a long time. You’ve aided me to realize that I am so much more than what others say...Thank you for the days that you helped me when you knew I’m sad or in pain. I thank you for letting me pour out my heart in journals…Thank you for having such a positive impact on my life, Mrs. Hayden.”

Anna will also teach a week-long ballet camp July 3-7 for displaced Ukrainian children that will include ballet classes, choreography, crafts and Bible lessons.

Our kids, of course, are happy that the school year is over. We are grateful for the teachers they had this year and the bonds that took place this year between our kids, their teachers and their friends. Collier, Caleb and Joseph have just finished their flag football season with the Prague Lions and Abigail’s final ballet performance of Cinderella is this Sunday.

Josh just finished teaching a three-week experiential course on Czech leaders and history. One way God used to call us to Prague was Josh’s research on Vaclav Havel. The course started with Havel and then expanded to other courageous figures; for many students it is a life-changing exposure to the Czech experience and resistance under Nazism and Communism. Josh uses this context to talk to students about how they process suffering and adversity. One student came up to Josh after seeing a town called Lidice that was completely leveled by the Nazis and most town members were killed. She was questioning her faith. Josh was able to help her process what she had just learned about the horrors of humanity and offer some thoughts about the Christian theology of suffering and evil.

We are looking forward to visiting the US next month and seeing many of you to share in person what the Lord is doing here. It is an extremely busy time, but rejuvenating for us as we head back to Prague and start our last year. Please pray for us as we process and prepare for this move back and as we consider what is next for us there.

We also ask for your help to meet our financial goals this year. We need 10 new monthly supporters at $100-$150 per month for the next year, as well as one time gifts. Any amount will help!

There are 3 ways to partner with us:

Give online at https://stbs.breezechms.com/give/online (Be sure to choose Prague Mission: The Haydens so the funds are directed to us)
Send a check to St. Bartholomew’s Church, 4800 Belmont Park Terrace, Nashville, TN 37220
Give online via Global Scholars: https://global-scholars.org/donations/hayden-josh/