40 Korun Profit

The Charles Bridge is one of the most popular sites in Prague. During the day you can find a multitude of vendors selling their various trinkets to eager tourists and during the night the bridge is lined with couples experiencing the romance of Prague, the destitute begging the now not-so-eager tourists, and many different performing acts. Sometimes there are one-man bands. Sometimes there are fire-breathers. Sometimes jugglers. There are always a variety of different performers.

This is the story of two of them.

The last night with my intern team we decided to go to the bridge to say goodbye to the city. We ambled across the bridge, stopping to take in the view of the castle, take pictures, and just enjoy one another. As we neared the end of the bridge someone (it very well could've been me, but I don't remember) got a great idea, "What if Nate and Breanne performed to see if they could make some money? Nate could beatbox and Breanne could dance." I was reluctant to just drop my bags and just "perform", but I also knew this was the last opportunity to see if we could gather a large crowd. Breanne and I looked to one another. Neither of us needed to say yes, the affirmation was found in our eyes. In a matter of moments Breanne had transformed herself into a hip-hop dance and I became a beatboxer. A hat was laid on the ground in front of us and the show began.

Beats were flowing, Breanne's body was "popping" and a crowd was gathering. There was a smattering of applause as we finished our first set, but we were definitely getting people's attention. We began again. Bass, hi-hat, and an occasional scratch flowing from my mouth, while Breanne shook her body all over the "stage". Asians, Americans, Brits, Czechs, Slovaks, all gathering around to see this once in a lifetime show. People's hands dig into pockets for lose change and silver and gold fly into the hat. Even the One-Man-Band, pushing his instruments home after a long day's work, stopped to watch and even throw some of his hard earned profit into our makeshift bank.

We performed for about 15-20 minutes and ended up with over fifty people who stayed to watch at least a part of the show. As we packed up our bags and counted the change we found about 80 Kuron (about 3 dollars). We figured that our friends put about half of it in as motivation for others to do the same. 40 Koruns earned. Not bad for a night's work.

The Bartending Missionary

I have a friend who is a missionary. He is what is called a tent-maker. He and his wife moved to the Czech without raising support and are helping start an international church in Prague. In order to pay for their expenses they are working regular jobs. The work that they are doing is running a pub! That is right, running a pub. They own and operate this cool little pub in the basement of a hostel that is owned by a Christian couple. Is this a paradox? Christians and pubs? Beer and Evangelism? It can't be! Please tell me this isn't true! Well for those of us who love beer, this is a dream come true.

Chris and I met in Colorado at missionary training. As we talked and found out that we both were working in the Czech, one of the first questions I asked was, "So, do you like beer?" He replied, "For sure." To which I replied, "I don't think that you can be a missionary in the Czech without liking beer!" SIDE NOTE: Marisa was also a part of this conversation and she later told me that this comment that I made was one of the first things she liked about me! In a culture like the Czech, beer is a way of life. EVERYONE drinks beer. They drink more beer per capita then any other country in the world. They love beer. Not only that, but it is usually the cheapest drink on the menu. For a half liter of beer you typically pay about one dollar!! That would cost $4-5 in the States!! Many times Czechs think we are crazy for ordering soda since it is usually much more expensive than beer.

This week I got to hang out with Chris and Laura in Prague. On Friday night he had to work. I said I'd come along. He had a lot of office work to do and asked if I wanted to pour beers for him. I said yes. So, from 8-1 AM I poured beers and talked with people from all over the world. It was really an amazing experience. I talked to people from Australia, Germany, Britain, Belgium, Czech and the States. The kid from Belgium and I talked for about two-hours. We talked about travel, life, and love. It was really interesting to talk with him about what was driving him in life and what he cares about. Chris gets to do this four to five nights a week. He said that he has had some wonderful conversations with people.

On Sunday mornings the pastor of the church hosts a simple bible study in the Chapel at the hostel (oh, I forgot to mention that the chapel is a room that is located in the pub!!). Usually they only get a few people to stop by, but imagine the people that they are reaching.

This may sound like cutting edge ministry, but it is ministry that Jesus would do. This is vintage Christianity. Jesus went to where the sinners were and conversed with them on their ground. He resided with those who others wouldn't and couldn't reach. That is what Chris is doing. He is on the front-lines of ministry, meeting people where they are at.