Sunday Number Two - A Day to Fellowship

Sunday Pastor John Waldrop at the International Church of Prague spoke using Psalm 91 as his text. This Psalm tells us that

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

It is actually a bit easier to make the Most High your dwelling when you live in a land that is foreign to you, in which you cannot speak the language and in which customs and culture are somewhat different.

In Prague it can be difficult to figure out what would be a normal situation in Lenexa that takes no thought to accomplish. Living in an urban setting also makes it more difficult for us to execute normal situations. Here, like on Manhattan Island, one must go to an apartment building, push the buzzer at the entryway and wait for the occupant to respond over the intercom. To someone raised in the suburbs this seems strange. Also, we must double lock each of two locks on the door to our apartment. Of course we also have a security gate that we can buzz people in who call us through our intercom. Having security like this after living in Lenexa just makes one wary of crime which may or may not be a greater risk here than at home. Also, we have graffiti on our building – this certainly does not give one confidence in the safety of the neighborhood. But there seem to be two kinds of buildings in Prague – those with graffiti and those that have been recently repainted.

There are just many more reminders to us here that we live in a broken world in which evil does exist. We think we have mastered the public transportation system, but now are being confronted with transportation system re-routings due to construction. When one thinks he is getting better at something, the curve balls seem to come.

My previous blog was about our Saturday happenings. Tonight (Monday) I will get Sunday’s events covered and maybe today’s also.

Our second Sunday in Prague had our starting as a repeat of last Sunday. We left home a little after 9:00 AM and took a thirty minute ambulation from
our apartment to the Mustek metro stop. This takes us right through Wencelas Square which is the heart of the tourist district and which is filled with tourists on Sunday mornings. At Mustek we hop on the green line for a short trip to the yellow line where we get off at Andel and then take bus 137 to the Ubanova stop which is right in front of the building the church meets in. It is quite a nice building which I think is owned by a seventh day Adventist group or some such. The worship is much like Westside’s worship and the teaching is similar but longer.

We then went to the Waldrop’s house in Ester van along with Johnny (8th grade), Molly(1st grade), Christina, Dori and two of Dori’s friends and head for Roztoky where the Waldrops live. Once there Dori and her two friends begin a grill that they brought with them. It is probably a Pilipino grill as Dori and her friends are from that country, but Dori has lived here for thirteen years. Luscious fragrances waft from the deck where they are grilling.

Liz and I start chopping veggies for a big tossed salad. Christina (CA girl) is busy making a corn salsa mixture. Molly and Johnny are here and there and Ester is organizing and multi-multitasking. Then Molly strolls through the kitchen with a kabob of beef straight from the grill that Liz volunteers to taste. At just the right time Ester tells me to get out the chips/nachos which I attend to immediately. We have nacho cheese nachos which I begin nibbling on.

Soon many guests start to arrive. It is Pastor John’s birthday celebration. The Waldrops are extraordinarily hospitable people who have lived in the Ukraine as well as the CR. Everyone knows and loves them. Liz and I talk with another IICS fellow, Bill, who has been here and there also. He gives us much good info about the CR, Prague, visas, the foreign police, etc. Then it is time to eat and we dive into the salad, salsa, potato dish, grilled chicken and beef kabobs. All is well in Roztoky.

We leave about 5:30 with a group of about ten who all head for the bus stop together to catch the 5:41 which will take us to the metro green line. We part all board at Dejviska and travel back into Prague. We and a couple from the Ukraine get off at Naroudi Trida and make a few purchases for school at the Tesco at that stop.

Then we know that all we need to do to get home is hop on the number 9 tram. We go across the street to the stop and wait for it to come. We see it round the corner and get on. After a few stops we sense that we are not going the right direction. So we get off and discover that we are not on the normal 9 tram route. What we eventually figure is out is that due to construction on the tracks, the 9 tram does not run in our direction to take us home. We do get help from a man who speaks a little English and do get back home eventually, stopping to shop at Albert for groceries on the way home. Right now it appears that there is lots of construction on the tram lines and we will need to be careful about the ones on detour.
All for tonight. Liz just went across the street to a potaviny to pick up a watermelon for which she is longing. We plan to go to an Alberts for shopping again tonight. Why do we shop so often for food. Just look at our refridgerator and you will know the answer. I think it is about 2 or 3 cubic feet and holds very little except for our drinks and cheese, mustard, mayo, butter, milk, etc.