New Birth in Prague: what are the chances?

I would like to introduce you to baby Evzen*, the first son of Matous* and Marketa*, born not so very long ago. This little Czech boy only had a one in four hundred chance of being born into a family with even one parent who believed in Jesus, but he has two!

Evzen had a more “normal” experience in the Czech Republic born to parents who were ardent atheists. Thankfully they didn't teach him very well such that when I first met him in 2009 he was only a nominal atheist, not even sure why he didn't believe in God. Over the course of getting to know our family and missionary team, seeing that Jesus really made a difference in our lives, he opened himself to reading the Bible to see if this was something he could believe or not. Today Matous is an elder in the small church that we helped plant in Prague. When I look back at how God brought us together I can only think, "what were the chances?"

Sadly, before little Evzen was born, Matous's father passed away from a sudden onset of cancer. Though Matous shared the gospel with him up until the last, it appears that his father rejected Jesus right until the end. Matous is now processing a permanent kind of grief, with no hope of seeing his father ever again.

Many of us know what that's like having beloved family members who might choose to go into eternity without embracing the grace of Jesus. Just like Matous longed for his father to know the love of God, our love for them compels us to try to share the beautiful message of the Bible.

How did we first hear of God's rescue plan? How did Matous? Matous was able to tell his father, will tell Evzen, and is telling his mother, his mother's friend and her daughter, because a team of missionaries were sent out to a faraway place. What are the chances that you know someone who is feeling the call to bring the good news of Jesus to a people who have so few chances to hear?

Only 0.7% of the Czech people are evangelical Christians. The effects of Communism and formal religion cause Czechs to be resistant to religion and the Bible, and to be private about their spiritual questions. People like Michal who are born into non-Christian families are waiting to hear of the good news of the gospel each and every day. We pray that baby Evzen will come to know Jesus at a young age. We also pray that just like his father, he will tell his children, who will then tell their children and God will continue to plant His church in Prague.

*Pseudonym used