July 14

Prague

Well, it seems like forever since this thing has been updated, so here I go…

Starting the week of July 4, we got most of our team of teachers and helpers in Prague, and began meeting for training, prayer, and team building. We had three different groups join us in Prague. A team joined us from Colorado, although most of the team came from Paso Robles. The family from Paso Robles had a set of 16 year old triplets that were all over the place at camp helping. In addition, the leader of the team was a missionary in Africa for most of his life, and began taking teams short term after returning to the states.

A couple from Wisconson, Kurt and Kim, were there because they had served with the main sending organization for a year in Austria. They are both German teachers, and have a good grasp on how language is acquired.

The final couple, Len and Urla from Canada, had served the previous year, offering much needed experience to our team.

Our training consisted on a primer in teaching English as a Second Language, devotionals, planning time, and some tourism. Since most of the tourism took place during nap time, Cindy and I shuttled our boys home for naps while the team took in the Prague sights.

During the week, I was busily preparing a basic outline for the teen meeting, and Cindy was preparing a supply list and possible activities for her group, 9 kids ranging from 0-5. She had quite a challenge on her hands.

Once we were ready to all leave, we all boarded a bus in our neighborhood and set off for camp, about 100 miles North-East of Prague. As we went, we met other campers who had taken the ride. A woman was riding next to me who was a believer, but she was now raising her kids on her own due to a recent divorce. Her boys brought with them their hamster, parakeet (or something), and another little rat-like creature. It was great entertainment for our boys, who were looking for something to keep them occupied during the 3 hour bus ride.

As we reached camp, we were blessed to see the beauty of the Northern Czech hills. It reminded me of the Oregon coast range… green everywhere, which was also a signal of the weather ahead of us… Starting the next day, it rained every day, most of the day. That was a challenge with our boys.

That night, we had our first meeting. The teens were to meet me and their teachers, and kick off the week on a high note. Every evening, Cindy was responsible for settling the boys down for the night, so she didn’t attend the evening sessions. That night, the teens played games and laughed.

On Sunday, things were in high gear at camp. Cindy took on her first day with the 0-5 year olds. She had two helpers, neither which spoke English, 4 English speaking boys, and the rest a variety of ages who all spoke Czech. We were excited to see how things would progress the rest of the week. Her week got better, the next day, she had an additional worker (English speaker) and a translator. Her relationships with the children and her co-helpers deepened, and she was able to show consistent love and care for the kids.

Cindy especially enjoyed spending time with Lisa Griffith, deepening her relationship with Lisa, listening to her and encouraging her. Lisa encouraged Cindy’s heart for missions, by discussing various missions opportunities and sharing God’s heart for all people. Cindy and I have always had a heart for missions, and we look forward to see what God will do in our lives in missions. It is so exciting to spend time with people who have a passion for missions. She also got to spend time with Molly Shiplay, one of the team members from Paso Robles, California. Cindy also bridged the language barrier and discussing mothering with the Czech moms. Most of all, she enjoyed serving and loving rather that self-gratification. Through this experience, she experienced God’s freedom, peace, and grace.

That evening, the youth met and began their week of watching “The Truman Show”. My idea was to take that movie and show it in segments centered around “the big questions”. So, the first night was human nature… what makes us human. I wanted to have a discussion based on our first impression of Truman, and the student’s reflection upon their own human tendencies. That evening we listened to songs by REM and U2, discussed the movie, and the students began looking deeper at issues in their life.

The rest of the week for the youth was great. The discussions increased in depth, and while some youth decided to check-out, a great many of them were engaged and interested in answering some pretty tough questions. I found out from Jeff (the missionary responsible for the camp), that 60% of Czech citizens are Existentialist Atheists. So, this movie was a great way to bridge the gap. I overheard teens discussing their lives, asking questions of leaders about spiritual things, and overall, enjoying themselves.

On Thursday, we were all pretty tired, and Cindy woke up sick. We prayed, God strengthened her, and she plowed through her morning. That night, we had our final teen meeting. The youth were asked to guess what Truman would do if he held a particular world view. For example, “If Truman were an Existentialist, what would he do?” I was profoundly moved at how the Holy Spirit had changed their perspective that week. They weren’t necessarily buying the gospel, but they were questioning their own beliefs. It was wonderful to see how God had changed their perspectives.

Thursday night, Matt woke up through the night with croup, and Cindy woke up on Friday with an earache, so we sent them home early to see a doctor. Luckily, due to socialized medicine (which is a story in-and-of itself), the medical help was more affordable than paying our copayment (or paying for 5 lattes, for that matter). They are both recovering from infections, and it looks like Jake is getting sick. Pray for all of our health as we take a short break in Italy.

So, tonight I reflect back on the week and ask… what has God shown us…

1) We are a great team. Even when we aren’t doing the same things, Jesus encourages us through each other. We pray for each other and help each other through tough times.
2) I still enjoy working with teens, even after teaching for 8 years.
3) Cindy is strong, and God continues to show me deeper things about her insight and relational understanding.

Next week, I’ll have more time to reflect as we run off to Italy for some downtime. We won’t post until we return, so until then, take care!

Jon

Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/joniweller

July 2

Prague

We’ve had an adventurous few days resting, adjusting, and connecting. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we stayed out as much during the day as possible, trying to keep our eyes open so we could sleep during the night. Let’s just say that midnight snack is a popular term around here.

We visited the local missionaries, Jeff and Lisa Griffith, on Thursday to learn more about what we would be doing, and find up more about what they are doing. They picked us up and took us over to their communist era housing. Imagine giant 10 story concrete buildings each covering a city block. Each concrete building has a medical clinic, pharmacy, and other services. In the courtyard of each building is a play area for kids, basketball court, volleyball court, etc. I was amazed to find out that 10,000 people live in just 9 city blocks.

They chose to live here because it placed them in close proximity to the people they were trying to reach. They are specifically focused on planting a church in this neighborhood, and just this past year have successfully done so. They also have a small group that meets in their apartment that is growing both spiritually and numerically.

It was wonderful to see Jake and Matt, our two kids, and Joshua and David, their two oldest boys, get along so well. They played all sorts of games, including building a volcano outside and racing cars outside. These missionaries have endured slow growth, slow evangelism, and slow progress. They are committed to making a change in Prague 13 (this part of the city).

On Friday and Saturday, we decided to take an adventurous trip to a tiny town called Cesky Krumlov in Southern Bohemia. What a trip! It took us one bus ride, two metro rides, two train rides, and 5 hours later, a taxi ride to get there. Jeff, the local missionary, said that we could have traveled to Vienna in that time. It was definitely worth it. You can see the pictures on the site link below.

On Sunday, we were invited to attend the city church in Prague 6, and we were blessed by attending, but humbled in the way we take our churches for granted in the states. The church plant had taken the summer off and had joined the other church for the season. So, we got up early to get to church, took a bus, two metro trains, a tram and a short hike, and we were there. We quickly realized that everyone made great sacrifices to get to church on Sunday. There was English translation available, and the little we could focus on (our kids were with us) was moving. The pastor’s prayer was one of humility and sacrifice, asking God to change hearts in the congregation so people could see Christ. We were blessed by the depth and closeness that sometimes is lacking in our own faith.

After church, we took a tram and bus to the zoo, and the kids worked hard to wear themselves out. What a great day!

This week we will be in training, meeting the other team members, and getting our things together. We may not have a minute to update you until after camp, so check back later, but if you don’t see anything, check back on July 15.

There are pictures online at http://picasaweb.google.com/joniweller

Take Care!

Jon, Cindy, Jake and Matt

26 June 2007

Prague

I’m sitting here in our little apartment in the southwest “suburbs” of Prague. The sky is filled with billowing clouds, somewhat menacing, but moving on to other places. The air is clean, and in the street are two women, one holding a broom made of bundled twigs. They are talking about who-knows-what while cleaning the sidewalks outside their house.

The last two days have been a whirlwind. I finished leading worship at church, ran out the door, jumped in the car, and we were off. As we drove to the airport, we were discussing the weather, the people, our children, everything. We weren’t sure how the kids would do on the plane, seeing that our trip would total 15 hours from take off in San Francisco to Prague. As we left, we prayed that God would help us all get adequate rest and that our trip would be uneventful.

Things did go as prayed, while our boys did have a hard time staying in their seat (who wouldn’t?), they conked out after a few hours and slept most of the rest of the way to London, where we had a 3 hour lay over. Matt had the hardest time falling asleep, although I found a nice quiet spot in the back of the plane to hold him as he cried himself to sleep. Once he fell asleep, he was out. Jake decided to stretch out on our row, so Matt slept in my arms, then Cindy’s for a few hours.

London Heathrow airport was an adventure. Cindy and I took turns running the kids around while the other tried to doze with our luggage. I ran upstairs with Matt to get some food, and the line was very long. Matt passed the time by laying on his stomach and scooching along the floor like a worm. I tried to convey how completely unsanitary the whole worm thing was, but he just laughed and kept going.

Once our gate was announced in London, we headed over there, and found an immediate change in friendliness (not to bash the Londoners). The people were all very child friendly, and were chatty. The stewardesses on the plane were kind, attentive to our kids. Jake made a new friend immediately, passing toys between seats with a boy in front of us. They were making little clay dinosaurs and chatting up a storm.

Matt put his head down and fell asleep before we even took off, so Cindy and I both took the opportunity to sleep. I think that the theme of this little blog is sleeping, since the majority of our traveling took place in the middle of California night.

Once we got here, we were greeted by the resident missionary, Jeff Griffith. He found the nearest ATM machine with the best exchange rates for us, took us to his car where he had prepurchased for us a pac-n-play (over here they are called baby cots), diapers, wipes, snacks, and waters for our first night. We were blessed by his kindness and hospitality.

When we got to the house with our apartment, we discovered that the owner wasn’t home, and were unsure where we were sleeping that night. After a brief cell phone call and wait outside, the owner came rumbling up the street, hopped out and introduced himself, then took us up to the place.

What a perfect place for our family. We settled in, ate a snack, took showers, then all of us fell asleep by 9PM local time.

At 2AM, Jake came into our room and announced (loudly), “I’m hungry!” Realizing that it was dinner time for our kids, everyone woke up and had a quick snack, then we settled back down to bed. I was having a hard time sleeping, so I used it as an opportunity to thank God for his help on our travels, and for our friends, who showed so much support leading up to our departure.

As we sit here this morning, we praise God for his loving hand, that cares for the tiniest details, that offers his hand when we are the weakest, who uses us despite our weaknesses. Jesus be praised!

Jon, Cindy, Jake and Matt

Pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/joniweller

Dear Friends and Family;

In just about a week, we are leaving on a mission trip. I know that this is news to most of you, and hope to keep you more informed than you have been of our outreach, but hope that this will catch you up.

This winter, Cindy and I moved into our new home in Santa Rosa, settling down with our two boys Jake (Age 4) and Matt (23 Months). We have always had a heart for outreach and missions, and began praying about this summer, trying to see how God would use us. An opportunity arose to be a part of a ministry in the Czech Republic, working at a family English language immersion camp.

Team Czech, an outreach planting churches in Prague and other cities in the Czech Republic, puts together a summer camp for families focused on teaching English skills using biblical stories, discussion, and spiritually focused activities. It is a great opportunity for the local missionaries to connect with families that may be seeking something deeper spiritually. After much prayer, we determined that this was a great opportunity to experience international ministry as a family.

Cindy is working with 0-2 year olds, where Matt will be attending. Cindy will have the opportunity to make a connection with a Czech woman who is helping her, and she will also offer love, care, and consistency to the kids in the daycare. Jake will be attending the 3-5 year old preschool with some native English speakers, with the majority of other kids being native Czech speakers. Pray for Cindy, that she can be an avenue of relationship and make connections with parents and helpers in the daycare. Pray for our boys, that they will transition to the new time-zone and culture.

At the camp, I will be running a youth discussion talk in the evenings. This casual time uses video, music, and culture to sponsor discussion about the “meaning of life”. There are eighteen 13-18 year olds signed up for camp, and this is the perfect size group to really get into discussion. Pray that preparation will be helpful, and that my time in discussion will really get the youth thinking. Pray that connections will be made about the meaning of life and that God will use the discussions to draw them to him.

Our schedule will be as follows:

June 24: Depart from San Francisco.
June 25-30: Adjust to new time zone, eating and sleeping schedules in Prague.
July 1-7: Train in Prague with other volunteers for camp, learning language, culture, and preparing for discussions.
July 8-14: Camp in Janske Lazne, near the Polish border
July 15-24: Family vacation in Italy
July 26: Arrive home

We are so thankful for your friendship and continued prayer support. You can keep in contact with me via this email address (joniweller@gmail.com) and by checking our blog (http://weller.blogspot.com) once a week, where I will write a brief update and post pictures.

Thanks for your care and support!

In His Grip,

Jon, Cindy, Jake, and Matt Weller

I created this one day reflecting on some free photos online.

Love on Meth: Part I

by Jon Weller

When adults get to know one another, over time---really get to know one another---inevitably storied tales of wild parties, bad trips, “the party days,” tumble into the mix. In these moments I awkwardly slink into the corner, pretending to inspect the minute detail on the tumbler in my hand. Somehow, somewhere, I missed the drugs-or-bust period in my life. Somehow, the most anti-Nancy-Reagan thing I have ever done is eat some sort of ganja- laced food, of which I experienced no effect. Wow! Killer! Wicked!

I do have my embarrassing moments, all of which I am too ashamed to bring up in a crowd. These are not tales of bravado, but rather tales of sheepish weakness. I’d rather feign bravado and embellish, but that would just darken the murky puddles in which I mired.

Somehow, amazingly, I escaped the 80’s and 90’s without a trace (this is my chance to ignore the ganja ball) of the old Mary J. And I think it has to do with a dog, a druggie, and one freaked out kid.

At our house we had several givens. First, dinner was always at six. If you didn’t make it, you didn’t eat. Second, brothers are evil, pure evil, full of the most wicked schemes. Third, animals are omnipresent.

Our animals were everywhere. We had this beagle, or something like a beagle. My mom kindly reminded me each time I said “beagle” that she was a mutt. Hmmm… she was a beagle. I have no doubt.

I never liked her much. She was either bored or barking. She had no other mode of operation. She would lie on the ground not moving for hours. I would throw toys. I would sit on her. Nothing. Her eye would open, she would look, nothing. Boring dog. Stupid boring dog.

Then, for no real apparent reason, her ear, and only her ear, would stand to attention. She would immediately follow this with a wiggle, sniff, wiggle of her nose. And then, immediately, she would jump up, run to the door, and bark. She had this loud, high-pitched, hound-dog-gone-Michael-Jackson bark. She scratched, barked, scratched. We would tell her to shut up. No response. I threw shoes, words, hatred; still barking---until we let her out.

But letting her out was not allowed. She barked because she imagined her little body racing after the kill of the century. She smelled it, she heard it, and she imagined it. I know she thought that there was a Beagle Hall of Fame. That night she was just one glass door away from a jam session with the beagle heroes of the past.

Tragically, my wonderful siblings named her “Love.” I never got a straight story on her name. There it is. Love. What an awful, awful name. Every time I say “I love you” to my wife, I do not want to see that dog in my little mind.

---- to be continued ---- later this week/month/whenever----

The following is a quote from an op. ed. piece on http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/opinion/09wills.html read it!

"The Gospels are scary, dark and demanding. It is not surprising that people want to tame them, dilute them, make them into generic encouragements to be loving and peaceful and fair. If that is all they are, then we may as well make Socrates our redeemer.

It is true that the tamed Gospels can be put to humanitarian purposes, and religious institutions have long done this, in defiance of what Jesus said in the Gospels.

Jesus was the victim of every institutional authority in his life and death. He said: "Do not be called Rabbi, since you have only one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, the one in heaven. And do not be called leaders, since you have only one leader, the Messiah" (Matthew 23:8-10).

If Democrats want to fight Republicans for the support of an institutional Jesus, they will have to give up the person who said those words. They will have to turn away from what Flannery O'Connor described as "the bleeding stinking mad shadow of Jesus" and "a wild ragged figure" who flits "from tree to tree in the back" of the mind.

He was never that thing that all politicians wish to be esteemed — respectable. At various times in the Gospels, Jesus is called a devil, the devil's agent, irreligious, unclean, a mocker of Jewish law, a drunkard, a glutton, a promoter of immorality.

The institutional Jesus of the Republicans has no similarity to the Gospel figure. Neither will any institutional Jesus of the Democrats."

Garry Wills is professor emeritus of history at Northwestern University and the author, most recently, of "What Jesus Meant."

Please, please, please go and read this!

http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/general/2006/02/bits_of_life.php