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Radim Capla works as mission coordinator and administrator for the NLI Church Planting project in Czech Republic. We’ve just completed the first full year of this project, so what better opportunity for Radim to reflect back on his first year…

Radim Capla

NLI has been in relationship with a group of Pentecostal churches in the Ostrava area since 2005. In 2009, six new churches were launched in target cities that are mostly without any evangelical church at the moment. I joined NLI in January 2009 and have already learnt a lot. My scope of responsibility is to assist the church planters in communication with NLI, with the overseas partner churches and to help with organisational matters.

The idea of planting new churches as a way of a church growth is excellent. There are so many lost people, maybe even looking for ‘something’, but no church is available in their neighbourhood. I’ve been humbled by the church planters’ attitude. Their way of serving the Lord is amazing. The sacrifices they bring as families are sometimes enormous – small babies, full time jobs, serving in their mother church and on the top of that, starting a new church in another community! For some of them it is a real sacrifice for the Kingdom. I love these people.

Church Planting…

The NLI commitment to actively support the church planters works very well: really a good vision. It would be much more demanding without such a support: for some planters perhaps even impossible. Now you can see how visions and dreams, which some church planters have had for a long time, are becoming real! Isn’t it awesome? The permanent NLI involvement also creates the feeling that the church planter is not left alone somewhere in space! It is very encouraging. The church planters can see that there are many people supporting them – their mother church, NLI, and brothers and sisters from the partner churches.

I can see how demanding the task is to start a new church. Without God’s blessing it is impossible. However, the importance of other people’s support, faithful brothers and sisters, is to be emphasized too. Church planters need another people to support their hands. What is great about this project is that there is real teamwork. NLI creates a bridge between overseas partner churches willing to support the missions here, and the Czech church planters who are called to do the job. It is really nice to see this kind of cooperation and commitment. The partner churches are doing a great job in faithfully supporting the planters with prayers, finances and mission teams. I applaud it! It is a strong help for the project!

Mission Teams…

The mission teams did a great job here this first year. I realised how vital the short term mission teams can be. They can make a real impact on the community or on a group of people, especially when the mission is well prepared in advance. It was encouraging to see the effort of teams helping the church planters to impact their community. Contacts and friendships were made and I am really looking forward the next few years, as I believe we will see fruit from the mission. I was nicely surprised that all the teams came with a humble attitude – “What do you want us to do here? We came to serve you. Tell us what you want.” They even came with a willingness to do manual (practical) work to bless the local community.

The soil in Czech is not that soft, but we can see how things are moving forward. We read testimonies from the field of how God is opening doors and how people are responding. It is a long race and we rejoice in every small success. We cannot see multitudes coming yet, but each soul given by God is a miracle. I think that at the end of the project we should have a big celebration of what the Lord has done! Please continue to pray for us, as the opposition is often strong.

Thank you all who support the church in our country in any way. May the Lord reward you in abundance! God bless you real good!

Thanks Radim. You’re doing a great job!!

Please pray for Radim and his family. He does a great job in helping us support the church planters and in organising the mission teams in Czech Republic. The work can have its frustrations, so pray particularly for smooth and effective communication with the church planters, partner churches and project staff.

To find out more about Leadership development, church planting and mission teams in Europe, check out the ‘mandate’ and ‘mobilize’ pages on the NLI website….

Building upon the foundation of two previous leadership events, NLI hosted its’ third Advanced Leadership Training Conference in Malenovice, Czech Republic. Leaders from both the Apostolic Church and the Word of Life churches gathered together for teaching, inspiration and dialogue.

Seasoned church leaders from the US and Canada taught a variety of topics ranging from Building Team to Balancing Ministry and Marriage.  A key feature of the training conferences is the small group and feedback sessions. There the material being taught is put to the test of culture and context. The openness of the delegates grows with each conference, which only increases the effectiveness of the training.

After the conference was finished, a few of the trainers joined the NLI team, as they met with potential church planters and visited target cities. The group spent time with the church planters praying for them and their communities. A growing sense of purpose is building in the hearts of the Czech leaders. The expectation is that 7-8 new churches will be launched later this year. Small group meetings, outreach events and further prayer will lead to a foundation for growth being laid in the target cities.

NLI has partnered with Stanislav & Eva Bubik for the last 5 years to plant a city centre church in the great city of Prague, Czech Republic. This is one of the most atheist countries in the whole of Eastern Europe. It is quite different from many of the other countries we have worked in. There is a great distaste towards the church, Christianity and religion. Although the city is filled with spires, the actual church attendance is miniscule.In the heart of this hostile environment Stanislav and Eva have planted a church. They are consistently seeing new people come to church and currently over 100 people attend their corporate worship service on a Sunday morning. The Bubiks are being incredibly innovative by opening a coffee bar which is a part of the theatre complex they are renting on Sundays. It gives them the opportunity to have a commercial concern in the heart of the city and also to be touching real people on a daily basis. In addition to this, when the theatre runs they open the coffee shop and make connections as they begin to serve the clientele. Brochures and leaflets are available for people to take concerning the church’s activities.

Over the past 12 months they have had a huge opportunity into high schools in the city of Prague. Two full time workers have spoken to in excess of 8000 students concerning the dangers of drugs and pre-marital sex. Through this these workers are creating other opportunities to share the good news of Jesus on a personal level. All the signs look very encouraging and in the next year the Prague church will be planting another church in the city of Kladno.