i spoke in church on sunday

you may not think that speaking in church is a big deal, especially for me, since i talk all the time, but it is a big deal when it is in czech!

last monday, during my prayer and fasting day concerning my future (see previous post), one of the things i felt like God was calling me to was getting more involved in my local church.

every week at church the mic is open for the congregation to share whatever God is doing in their lives...often times they turn into preachamonies*.

well, this past sunday, as i sat in the pew worshipping, i felt compelled to share my decision to stay with the church...the only problem is that i also felt compelled to share it in czech.

[let's take a brief moment to talk about the czech language barriar. i can hear many of you saying to yourselves, "Come on, Nate, you've lived in Czech for almost two years, you should totally be fluent by now." well, czech is freakin' hard, so back off!! seriously, czech is hard. people who have lived here for twelve-years are still studying! yeah, its that hard.]

so anyways, i was super nervous to share in czech, but i knew i had to.

the worship band is made up of some students from the youth ministry and is lead by a friend of mine, so all of them know me...they also know my czech skill. so, when i stood up and began walking up to the pulpit, i could read the looks on their faces:

"oh, my gosh! what is he thinking?"
"he isn't going to ask me to translate is he?"
"is nate getting up to use the bathroom?"

when i got to the podium and began speaking the looks of the people in the congregation were classic. they looked like they were watching the children's program on Easter. They had that leaned forward/what cute thing is he going to say/awwwww, isn't he cute look on their faces.

i then stummbled through a testimony (i'm sure it wasn't long enough to be a preachamoney) in my broken czech. making statements that probably sounded like this:

"i live here two years"
"God lead me here"
"i decide stay"
"hard it is because the family and lots friends live there"

i finished.

they clapped. i'm pretty sure it was because i spoke in czech, not because i'm staying.

so, that was it. i spoke in church on sunday.

*def: a testimony which is longer (sometimes much longer) than it should be. it often includes a passage of scripture, a three-point outline, and multiple illustrations. it never extends long enough to ever be called a sermon.