Story by Cary Griffin, Forney Messenger; Photos Submitted by Scott Lyle

Between July 17 and July 25, a group of volunteers from First Baptist Church Forney traveled to the Czech Republic. The visit was one in a series of visits that began about 2 1/2 years ago to open doors of communication with the Czech people, to build relationships across an ocean, and to win followers for Jesus Christ.

Leader of each trip has been Scott Lyle, FBC’s Pastor of Leadership and Missions.

This summer, Lyle took a group from FBC Forney to Plzen (Pilsen), a community with a population of some 175,000 about an hour’s drive west of the Czech Republic’s capital city, Prague. The group flew in to Prague, then took a train to Plzen.

The group from Forney went to Plzen to teach English at a public school. School was out in Plzen for the summer, just as it is here, so the group conducted what Lyle later called an “English camp”. They ended up with about 60 Czechs who wanted to learn or practice English, of assorted ages from children through adult. During the day the Americans taught classes in English; in the evenings, they conducted sessions in conversational English.

Lyle said English classes are offered in the Czech school system, and so a lot of the younger people there are already learning it.

“They were excited about us being there and about having an opportunity to speak English (with native speakers),” Lyle related. He added that through giving Czechs the opportunity to speak and practice English, God is opening doors to spiritual conversations. At such times, the members of Lyle’s group and students wishing to hear more about the Gospel used Bibles both in English and in Czech, and during their stay, the FBC group gave away new translations of the Bible in the Czech language.

Although Czechs have a strong Catholic history, many Czechs today identify themselves as atheists, Lyle related. In fact, he said, the Czech Republic is known as one of the most atheistic countries in the world—a fertile ground for the Gospel. Lyle confirmed that during the week they were in Plzen, the volunteers from Forney First Baptist were able to share the Gospel numerous times, and one young woman became a Christian while they were there.

But first, trust had to be established. Lyle said Czechs are suspicious of outsiders, but once you’ve established their trust, communication flows with relative ease. One of the ways the group from FBC built that trust was to charge for the “English camp”—Czechs see anything offered for free as possible exploitation. The small fee the group charged—$20.00 per person—went to buy Bibles and snacks, Lyle said. None of the money went back to the group or its members. In addition, the volunteers who took the trip paid their own way.

Lyle said that over the 2 1/2 years he’s been conducting groups of FBC volunteers to the Czech Republic, he’s seen major changes.

“The change for me is that we’ve built trust among the people we’ve visited,” Lyle explained. “Everywhere we go, more and more doors open up.”

“They want us to come back next year,” Lyle said. He indicated that he’s already planning another trip to Plzen next summer.

Anyone who wants to ask more questions about this project or to get involved may contact Scott Lyle, Pastor of Leadership and Missions, First Baptist Church, at 972-564-3397; on his mobile phone at 972-765-0731; or by e-mail at .

Besides Scott Lyle, those making the trip were Trey Lancaster, Mark Kuban, Laura Kuban, Sandra Ledford, Jennifer Weaver, John Hegar, Roland Tyler, Corley Padgett, and Christen Thompson.

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This story and any accompanying photo(s) were originally published in the Forney Messenger and are Copyright © 2009, Forney Messenger, Inc. and have been used by permission. The Forney Messenger is the publisher of Kaufman County’s oldest newspaper and may be found online at www.ForneyMessengerInc.com

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