April 15, 2008

Beloved Friends,

While I am writing this letter, John is outside the apartment where we live in Prague, visiting with a very friendly grey cat whose human family apparently left her behind when they moved away. “Stín” (or Shadow), as we call her in celebration of her color, has manifested an admirable coping method. You see, she invariably offers warm feline hellos to everyone who crosses her path. Thus, she has charmed an entire neighborhood into providing her with the food and caresses that she needs to survive. John is among Stín’s most beloved benefactors, but I also hold her in high regard for the image that she has given me of the possibility that new situations may be embraced in ways that are trusting and open, rather than defensive and anxious. Stín is definitely not a “scaredy cat,” so I am grateful for her presence at a time when I am trying to embrace a number of new situations with energy and calm.

It has become necessary for me to temporarily add John’s work responsibilities to my existing tasks—with the concurrence of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and the PC(USA)’s World Mission ministry unit—while he addresses some ongoing health issues. Hence, I am facing many unknowns as I seek to carry out John’s work in a way that will not fall too far short of the standards of excellence that he has always set and achieved. Will I be able to transform my extensive knowledge of written Czech into spoken words sufficient for handling telephone communication? How will people who are used to John’s vivacious personality respond to my more reserved nature? Will I be able to keep up with all of the email correspondence and relational aspects of John’s position, and still carve out enough hours of uninterrupted time to complete a couple of major translating projects that have been on hold for far too long? When will I find time to translate church documents, write BRIDGES, send thank-you notes to supporters, and prepare letters like this? And will I be able to understand the unique structures of the PC(USA) quickly enough to be properly accountable to the right people at the right time? (After all, I am a United Methodist by birth and ordination.) Looking at all of these questions at the same time has sometimes made me feel like Stín’s opposite.

Nevertheless, excitement over what my colleagues in the ECCB’s ecumenical and international department sometimes call “the American year” has restored my “Stin-nature” time after time. I have enjoyed chatting about programming possibilities with my co-worker, who is planning the October partnership conference during which representatives from ECCB and PC(USA) congregations will meet in the Czech Republic to explore to possibility of establishing ongoing relationships. I am thankful that so many PC(USA) contributors have sent articles for BRIDGES and the Czech Mission Network News in recent months. And I am delighted that some interesting events for PC(USA) pastors, choristers, and scholars are on the horizon for 2009.

However, the most thrilling interlude of all began last month when I met with a Prague pastor to discuss his involvement in the Presbyterian Women’s Global Exchange in September. Last fall, Naděje Mandysová and I had a grand time drawing up an outline of potential events, but I was not sure how people whom I had never met would react to the letters that I wrote inviting them to share their expertise with our American guests. However, I found Rev. Šourek’s openness and creativity to be invigorating, and my sense of encouragement continued to grow as that conversation was followed by a whole series of enthusiastic responses from other people. Not only were each of their replies quite positive, but some of those obliging folks offered to do more than Naděje and I had envisioned. For instance, an ECCB pastor who is a volunteer chaplain at a woman’s prison has offered to take the Global Exchange participants to that facility; another pastor would like to accompany the group as it travels to her home town to visit two unique ECCB congregations and a nearby diaconal center that serves a group of displaced Roma; the current secretary of the Czech Ecumenical Council of Churches has proposed some very tangible ways of bringing her work to life; this list of possible adventures could go on and on. Thus, I am now faced with the pleasant task of discussing this multiplicity of options with three representatives from the Global Exchange who will visit the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine next week.

This incredible receptivity on the part of folks from our partner denomination is certainly enhancing my “Stin-nature.” Thus, I want to assure you that I remain committed to helping you develop your Czech connections in any way that I can, even as I seek to care for John. It is my prayer that John and I, and every one of you, will be blessed with the élan that is needed to proceed in ways that are characterized by trust and openness, energy and calm. Indeed, I trust that repeated resurrection encounters will erase any of our lingering doubts and revive the most fundamental of our God-given hopes throughout the weeks of Easter-tide and beyond.

Truly,

Joyce and John Michael

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 157