Shoots from the Soil: Update 8 from Prague
- Josh Hayden
- Jun 16, 2021
- 4 min read
Dear family and friends;
This week a professor colleague shared a profound spiritual experience with Josh that he said he couldn’t talk to any of his atheist friends about. Josh is his only believing friend here. His encounter came just before his roommate was found dead with no apparent cause. He is grieving and asking some big questions about faith. Josh and this professor colleague discussed deep questions like the Trinity, and Josh was able to speak from his own personal experiences. The whole conversation took place walking through the Old Town of Prague where some “witnesses” are remembered in stone. It was again an encouragement to continue to show up with the eyes of faith in people’s lives, to bring comfort and bear witness to what we know and have seen.
Your encouragement on our Zoom calls during Lent has been a great boost for us as the Czech Republic has ever-so-slowly been emerging from pandemic restrictions and getting vaccinations moving. Like the seeds we planted in a window box outside our oldest boys’ room, we are seeing some shoots from the soil sprout up in the relationships we have here as we head into year three. Meeting with colleagues and friends at work, in public, and at church face to face is a joy and something we appreciate much more than ever. The kids have just finished school and Josh has completed another semester of online teaching. Josh just this week saw a student he had this semester for the first time in person who ran and gave him a hug, much to his surprise!
One opportunity we mentioned during our Zoom updates was the research presentation that Josh gave on spiritual leadership on April 30th. To those who were aware, thanks for your prayers. Josh wrote and presented a paper comparing the spiritual leaders of the Civil Rights Movement and Velvet Revolution, which was well-received and sparked a great discussion among faculty and students in attendance. The paper cited a favorite quote of ours from Václav Havel. Havel said hope was “not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” The Czech word for what is translated as “makes sense” is closer to the phrase “has meaning.” We want this kind of hope formed in us, one that keeps our eyes fixed regardless of what the road ahead may look like.
The road to recovery for Anna’s ankle (she broke it in early March) has been a long one, and as you might imagine, frustrating for a dancer. She is off crutches now after 12 weeks (which seemed like forever to her) and getting better each day, but the ligaments she tore wear out from all the walking necessary in Prague. She is still being asked by her ballet friend Šárka to perform in late November, and the theology and dance class she was going to co-lead has been mercifully postponed to the fall. We would appreciate your continued prayers as she now has to restrengthen her ankle and regain her full range of motion over the upcoming 12 weeks, something she is particularly worried about.
This academic year has been a challenging one for all of us. Learning online did not work well for our kids and after they were physically back in school we needed a complete detox from screens. We think we are still feeling the effects of the habits that were formed over the better part of two semesters. We are thankful that all our kids have really bonded with their teachers and we’ve enjoyed having teachers to our apartment or meeting them in the park. Josh recently finished the semester and connected individually with several students in courses. One Czech student would stay after class each time and ask questions on a range of topics, another routinely showed up as soon as Josh opened class 15 minutes early. AAU gives awards each year, voted on by students, and Josh’s Decision Making class won Best Online Adapted Course for the year.
Summer gives us the opportunity to reconnect as a family, reach out to those relationships the Lord has given us here, and develop some projects that were sidelined during the lockdown. As she recovers Anna is seeking opportunities to choreograph and develop her theology and dance teaching. In the absence of good camps to send kids to, we are trying to find ways to engage their interests in art and music and plenty of physical activity. Josh teaches a Czech leaders and heroes course for community members in July, and just taught a related seminar on the role of truth in leadership. He was asked to lead another taskforce for teaching at AAU and will lead training in early Fall.
Our last update is that we are almost to our fundraising goal for the next year. We still need a few monthly and one-time givers to help us focus on year three in Prague. You can see what’s left on the board below. We are incredibly thankful for the generosity of all our supporters: those who gave around our Lenten challenge, as well as those who started with us in August 2019. Our next year goes to August 2022. We are filled with hope for the year ahead and need your prayers.
Prayer requests:
1. Raising a pre-adolescent boy, our Collier. We need all the resources we can muster and have found things around technology especially helpful right now (We would highly recommend the Trinity Forum’s recent conversation with Andy and Amy Crouch on this subject. You can find it on their website).
2. Recovery for Anna’s ankle, for wisdom and good counsel for rehab.
3. Josh is contemplating a book project on leadership. Pray for wisdom, discernment and time to do this well.
4. Connections with friends and activities for kids over the summer. Prague is quite transient in some ways, so some friends are moving away and many are traveling this summer.
5. Completing our fundraising goals. We are thankful for God’s abundance.
With love and gratitude,
The Haydens
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