Let me begin by thanking everyone for your interest and prayers. I know I was very blessed on this trip. I feel really good about the opportunities I had while at the same time feeling the gnawing sense of frustration about having to forgo some good teaching possibilities because of time. I feel the loss of not going to Bulgaria keenly.
The new opportunities I chose did prove very rewarding. The classes in East Bohemia led to us already having tentative plans for a spring encore. The contact with the school looks like it will lead to a spring set of lectures as well.
The steady progress of things like the church in Brno as well as the lectures there as well as the continuing growth and maturation of the church in Prague have become the kind of constants that gives me a basis for being optimistic that subsequent trips will continue to be fruitful.
Of course the brethren face some challenges, and a higher than typical percentage of my time was devoted to helping address some of these. Sadly, they are learning that well-intentioned outsiders sometimes lose sight of the importance of church autonomy. They have seen the damage done to their young people when those they should be able to look up to disappoint. Even in these things their love of the Lord and determination to do things well shines through.
The power of the gospel, the efficacy of prayer, and the wisdom of the Lord continue and shine brightly.