I (Mitch) wrote this a couple of weeks ago to help gather my thoughts…
As we’ve been getting settled here in Olomouc and meeting various people, the questions we keep getting asked are, Why are you here? Why would you want to study Czech? You plan to be here how long? And the question potential landlords want to know is, Where’s your paycheck coming from?
In sum, Why are you here and what are you going to be doing?
Each time we get these questions it’s kind of awkward. It’s easy to tell believers back in the States about the where tos and why fors. But how do you explain it to someone with a totally different belief system—and not to mention a suspicious mindset—in a way that makes sense?
The short answer that sometimes appeases realtors and the like is, “We’ll be studying Czech for a year and then working here for several years after that.†Sometimes landlords don’t like to have university students as tenants, and so explaining that language school is a temporary means to an end opens up more apartment opportunities. But sometimes they still want to know what exactly we’ll be doing after language school.
Another short answer that often comes out of our mouths is, “We’re here to teach English and to teach the Bible.†People usually accept that and change topics, which, in this place where relationships and trust develop slowly, is fine with me. No reason to get too personal too early.
But, while that answer may satisfy the inquirer’s curiosity, is it really satisfying? Seems a bit imperialistic to me. We come here to teach! Because we have everything figured out and we have all the answers, right?
Ummm, I don’t think so.
Yes we have things to share and teach. But maybe there’s a thing or two we can learn from the Czechs as well.
No, teaching isn’t a satisfying verb for me. Hmm…
Maybe to “talk about the Bible†is better. That sounds less one-way and a bit more conversational. Dialogue. Discussion. Discovering together. I like that.
The Czechs are very intellectual and philosophical. They seek truth.
And it seems to me that if they (and we) are going to be intellectually honest—that is to say, if we are going to give different philosophies and points of view a hearing—then this Jesus and his sacred text should be put on the table.
Therefore, I’m in Olomouc to join in the search for truth and beauty already taking place here.
Yeah, that’s what I want to do here. I want to be a part of communities (eventually of faith) that seek truth and beauty together. That engage in deep discussions about things that matter, about the meaning of life, and about how it should be lived.
But not just intellectual communities. Practical communities of love and service and joy and peace. Communities that love each other and look out for one another’s needs. But they don’t just love and serve each other; they also look outward to those around them and seek to be a blessing in their lives as well.
They seek to share what they’ve learned, and hope to grow a little more in the process.
Yes, I think we’re getting somewhere—and it sounds pretty exciting—but wait. We’ve mentioned the Bible, but it’s in the name of Jesus that we’ll be doing all that we’ll be doing. Our reason for being here is not centered around a book or an organized religion, but a person.
Religions fall short. But Jesus is who he is. And I believe that in the incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus something big happened. Something of enormous and eternal proportions.
In a world of hopelessness and hate and oppression and sickness—in other words, a world held captive by the power of sin and death—Jesus changes everything. The firstborn over a new creation. The Adam to a new humanity.
Yes, in Jesus there’s new possibility. For change, for wholeness, for healing, for peace. And we seek that transformation in our own lives and want to cultivate it in each other. God is with us (and we are with each other) in our pain and despair. And, death is not the end.
This is good news—with impact on life now, and forevermore.
So, I’m here to love people in the name of Jesus. To serve people in the name of Jesus. I want to be a blessing to people.
And a spark to a holy fire.
I want to share in their lives and they in mine. To be with them and to be like them and to experience their culture and learn from it. To expand my horizons to see from another’s point of view. And hopefully in the process we’ll both see things more and more from God’s point of view. Together we’ll find truth, and that truth will set us free.