Exercises in Perspective
Last weekend was a significant step for our church-plant as we had our first “Church Retreat” up in the Sumava mountains of western Bohemia. We stayed in a lodge which had been converted from a small monastery dedicated to the lesser-known St. Gunther. He was celebrated for his pilgrimages into these mountains and the modest cathedral which stands beside the converted monastery still welcomes pilgrims seeking a drink at the enshrined natural spring, which reputedly healed over 300 people during Gunther’s life and service there, and thus justified his elevation to sainthood.
Of course, magical spring waters were not the purpose of our trip. Or rather, the springs of water we were seeking were the living kind found in Christ, and the lodge made a good venue for the strengthening of our common bonds of fellowship. It was easy to see why this place was the terminal point of Gunther’s own wanderings. While the view from our lodge windows was mostly into evergreen forest, a short jaunt through the woods led us into a clearing which revealed a magnificent vista overlooking the babbling creeks and mountain meadows lending the Sumava its majesty. The majestic rolling hills and valleys were no less present when hidden from our view from the lodge windows of course, it’s just the nature of constraint to a physical body in space and time which limits our ability to see clearly all that’s around us.
Perspective and perception are vital to interpreting life, and it’s never so simple as we’d wish. We are severely limited, but it is this very limitation that drives us to dependence on Christ. I shudder to imagine the wretch I’d become if I lacked the humble blessing of uncertainty, which anchors my heart and faith to the surety of security in Christ. These past couple of months have been both stressful and revealing to our hearts as we’ve endeavored to find alignment with God’s perspective.
As we prepared to make our visa extension applications in April, we were made aware of some new residence laws taking effect. As some may recall, we’ve always had the additional expense of Czech health insurance as a prerequisite for our visa approvals. For the last ten years, this has operated essentially as a foreigner's tax, as the insurance is neither useful nor applicable even in medical situations. We still depend on our U.S. -based insurance for medical services here. Nevertheless, the Czech “health insurance” must be prepaid for the duration of a visa extension. Because of a competitive market and brokers angling for sales(in addition to the fact that no one will actually utilize the insurance thus costing the insurers nothing), we’ve been able to keep this cost manageable. However, in response to the catastrophic economic impacts of COVID, the government has passed a number of recovery measures, significant among them was a law requiring foreigners to now purchase this insurance from a single provider, and a very low flat rate commission for the insurance brokers. Overnight the foreigner insurance more than tripled in price. Our cost for each prepaid 2-year visa extensions jumped from about $6,000 to about $20,000. While this will have a lesser impact on single or small family missionaries as the overall cost is per person, for our large family the costs to renew visas has become untenable.
What does this mean? It means that we will need to return home for furlough this Summer, slightly earlier than expected. It means that we are in a season of earnestly seeking the Lord’s direction for the steps ahead. It means we are in the process of uprooting our life of the last 14 years in Czech Republic and getting it moved back to the U.S. It means a whole bunch of goodbyes that feel like they are coming far too soon. It means we need to find a school situation for our kids for the next school year, Claire’s graduation year. It means we need to “set up shop” somewhere where our family can thrive during this time of realignment. For now, we have determined that our best option for helping our own kids transition and be in transition for the next season is to land in the Kansas City area near Steve’s parents.
We understand this is somewhat shocking news, and it was for us as well. However, as the dissonance settles, our hearts are adjusting to what God’s plans and perspective may hold. I will tell you that we have peace. It is indeed stressful to manage the mountain of logistics staring us down a very tight timeframe, but we are not distressed. Our ministry in Czech Republic has always and only been at the Lord’s provision and leading, and it is clear to us that He is guiding us down this new path. As strange as it may sound, we are actually excited! We have had a growing sense, for some time now, that our experiences and giftings were pushing us to move in directions not seen on the path before us. We now know this was in alignment with the Father’s perspective and we are eager to follow the promptings of His Spirit. We’ve initiated some conversations with our sending organization and are excited for some of the possibilities for new ministries before us.
For clarity, we are not planning on leaving missional ministry, but our role and specific ministry will almost assuredly change. For those who partner with our ministry financially, our request and hope is that you continue to partner with us through this transition. We are committed to serving the Lord with our whole hearts and lives, wherever and however the Spirit leads in the days ahead. We are also committed to communicating the direction in which He leads in a clear and timely manner to you, so that you can determine if the ministry before us is one that you will continue to invest and partner with. In the meantime, we would covet your prayers with us and for us as we anticipate and discern which doors the Lord is opening!
