In the entries below, you will find the stories and experiences of the people of UBC on mission for the glory of God. We created this weblog so that you may join with us as we passionately seek to declare, demonstrate and display the gospel of Jesus Christ to every tribe, language, people, and nation here in our community, state, nation, and to the uttermost parts of the world.
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The past two days have been busy. Each morning has started with a Bible study in 2 Corinthians in our hotel before we left to work with Czech students at a local high school.
The work this week has been wonderful and busy – full of seed planting through casual conversations, and several deeper relationships that took team members around Prague to meet both new and old friends and share the gospel on another level.
One young man named Patrik, showed particular excitement to meet up after school to discuss business. He met with Sam and Anna Thursday evening for 2.5 hours. Patrik is a senior in school and an entrepreneur. Currently he owns a shoe cleaning business and runs it out of a small office where he has his friends work on commission to clean and polish shoes. His mission is to create time for his clients by removing the burden of shoe cleaning from their plates. The entire first hour of the meeting Sam and Anna shared the
gospel with Patrik and discussed how it impacts every area of life – including business.
What makes this story so amazing is Sam and Anna where just part of a long line of Christians investing into Patrik’s life. Patrik’s English teacher is a born again believer and invites as many English speakers into her classroom to share about America, and also Jesus as the opportunity presents itself. One of these interactions was just a month ago Robbie Bader came and connected with Patrik while the Baders were visiting Samantha. No doubt these consistent gospel interactions have made an impact on Patrik’s life. We are continuing to pray for his soul and that he would make the final decision to make Jesus Lord of his life. But for now, we are encouraged and will continue to build a relationship with Patrik.
Another story was one of Ryan Troglin’s former students (from 9 years ago) and this student’s girlfriend worked his schedule to spend three evenings with Ryan and the team. Tobias and Wanda clearly enjoyed a rekindled relationship with Ryan but also where asking deeper questions about the purpose of life and when it was too late to make a decision to follow Christ.
These stories and many others are a small sample of how God is at work in Prauge and the Czech Republic.
In the afternoons, as a team, we prayer-walked the neighborhood and worked to plant seeds in the local community. Friday evening we hosted students and friends for a movie night with short films and discussion questions for students we had met earlier in the week.
It was encouraging to spend time, share the gospel, pray together, share the gospel, talk to students and see so much fruit.
Please be praying for seeds that we planted into the lives of: Anna, Paula, Vosta, Teresa, Marie, Multinda, Christian, Jonny, David, Marek, Tobias, Wanda, Patrik, Mathew, Laura, Anna, Michelle, Petra, Zena, John, Samuel, Clara, Linda, Martin, and Denak
By the grace of God we were an encouragement to Samantha and help her advance the work of Christ in Prague.
By the grace of God,
The Prauge Missions Team
We arrived to GP JP High School to teach English to three different classes. We were warmly greeted by Irena, and she gave us some instruction of what the class format would be like today.
At the beginning of each class, we had the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the entire class and share; where we were from, what we do, our hobby, what we like about Arkansas and who our favorite Avenger was! We then broke into seven groups and asked them questions about Czech culture and also personal questions to learn about each student individually. There were many fruitful conversations today, because at this school we were able to have a full 20+ minute conversation with the same students. This allowed for more in depth
conversations.
From the school we traveled back to Samantha’s apartment where the ladies
made cookies for an outreach event later this week and enjoyed some “girl time” with Samantha.
We finished up this wonderful day at the local church plant where Ryan led a compelling and very encouraging gospel presentation of what the “most important thing in life is” and basing his talk off of 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. Sam Russell and Dezi Tartaglia boldly shared their testimonies of how God called each of them to live for Him.
Praising God for His presence today, and that He went before us. He is opening up and preparing the hearts of the Czech people to hear the gospel as we sow seeds in a nation that is only 30 years post communist. It is so encouraging to see and be apart of Samantha’s ministry and the good work happening in Prague.
Written by Anna Russell
On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to serve in the school where Ryan Troglin taught at eight years ago and Samantha was able to
build new relationships with the teachers and students. We talked with seven groups of teens ranging from the ages of 16 to 19. They were able to ask us questions about life in the Americas, while we learned more about them personally and about the Czech schools and culture.
One question that continued to come up was “why are you here?” Through this, we were able to tell them that we were part of a church that was supporting Samantha’s work here in Prague and encouraging her as she shares Christ with the Czech people. At the end of each class, Samantha was able to invite them to a movie night we are hosting Friday evening. After leaving the school, we left Prague and got to do many fun things such as walking across the bridge in daylight and tasting fresh gingerbread that spread its scent across the street. For dinner, we ate at this amazing Asian place and all ordered the Chicken Tikka 
Masala. To end the day, we rode the tram back to our apartments as we laughed at Steven Martin’s jokes.
Written by Dezi Tartaglia
We left Arkansas at 8 a.m. and landed at 8 a.m. Prague time the next day. Praise God that it all went smoothly.
Samantha was able to meet us at the airport with her teammate Brian. It was such a joy to see her again after two years! We spent the day traveling around Prague by using 4 different means of transportation:Tram, metro, gondola and bus.
Next we went to the church Samantha attends where the pastor taught on 1 Corinthians 11 and Samantha translated for us. It was encouraging to see her close relationships with the church and the fruit of all of her language work. Later in the evening, as we checked into our hotel Sam Russell was able to share the gospel with our hotel concierge Denyk. Continue to pray that he would be drawn to Christ and come to future gatherings with Samantha’s church.
On day two, we were able to explore Prague. We traveled to the castle, Old Town square, and the main bridge. Our last stop was Jan Hus’ church. Jan Hus was a Czech forerunner of the reformation, who was martyred for criticism toward indulgences and his desire to see all partake in the Lord’s Supper not just the clergy. You can read below for more information on Jan Hus’s life and work. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-goosefather
For dinner we had an authentic Czech food and met with Laura and David whom we will be working with tomorrow at their high school to teach English.
It has been a treat to watch Samantha speak fluently in Czech. Each time we have walked into a store or restaurant, you can visibly
see the demeanor of the people change as she speaks their language.
As a team, and with Samantha’s lead, we are studying 2 Corinthians. It is our prayer that the Czech people
would find their ‘yes’ in Him and be established in Him.
For all the promises of God find their ‘yes’ in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our ‘Amen’ to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. – 2 Corinthians 1:20-22
The Family Mission Trip in St. Louis was such a blessing. Our UBC family has many talents and worked together to do this work for the Lord. We had a cooking team, visiting team, two teams that worked in the park, evening VBS team, construction team, and an English teaching team.
The young people were amazing, serving and loving those they came in contact with, young and old alike. They played with kids in the morning at the parks and in the evening at the church, had gospel conversations with the teenagers that came to the parks, and discipled each other as well. The devotions led by teenage boys were thought-provoking, encouraging, and inspirational.
The English classes were held in the evening. We would come together, sing, pray, have a story, and dismiss to our classes. Most of our English students were from countries where Bosnian, Arabic, or Russian was their heart language. We had primary, beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes. We were able to build relationships with these students by visiting before, during, and after classes. It was also a social time for our students, and they were able to connect with each other.
Even though we had a curriculum to go by, we felt like we needed to be flexible and improvise to meet the needs of our students. One of our primary students had things she wanted to learn such as traffic signs for a driving test. Others in the intermediate or advanced classes had specific social questions they wanted to discuss. Obviously, these classes were very important to them in learning the American way of life.
A few were Christians, but most were not. The Lord led in some instances so that some of the teachers were able to give their story. The students wanted to share their culture with us. They brought a feast for us to enjoy on Wednesday night. On our closing night, the students were given certificates of completion, and many pictures were taken. One lady who comes every year and is such a joy brought snacks and gifts.
Relationships were built and all in all English was spoken and the students gained conversational skills and knowledge of the English language. We were all blessed.
Written by Sara Gilliland
A group of us set out on Sunday to advertise the Backyard Bible Club which the Church At Affton was hosting. We were canvassing in the neighborhoods around Mathilda park. One of those doors we knocked on belonged to a girl named Fahima. She greeted us with a huge smile on her face, remembering some of us from last year, and we encouraged her to come to the Backyard Bible Club we were putting on. The next day we unfortunately got rained out, which caused a delay in our meeting time at the parks. A few of us went to the park to put up a sign with the time changes. She was at the park when we arrived and we got to greet and talk to her about her home life, culture, and her aspirations, and we encouraged her to come later in the day. When we arrived at the park later that afternoon, she came back and we got to play games, paint, and engage in some spiritual conversation. Dezi Tartaglia asked her about what she believed and if we should share what we believed. We briefly shared the gospel with her and got to talk through some things.
The next day, Fahima brought her older sister, Madar with her to the park. Mr. Tartaglia led us through the first few chapters of Genesis during our time together. Fahima read the text intently over my shoulder. After we had finished, we were led in a time of prayer. During that prayer, I prayed that I would be given an opportunity to share about the gospel with Fahima. As soon as that prayer was finished, Fahima looked at me and said, “I find it so interesting how religions are so similar… Islam, (what she identifies as) Catholicism, Christianity…” I was taken by surprise for a second at how quickly God answered my prayer and tried to think of a way to respond to her. We quickly dived into some of the differences between the beliefs of a Muslim and a Christian. Soon, Audrey Rainer and Dezi Tartaglia joined into the
conversation. We discussed the structure of the Bible, what books we recommend she start with, and discussed deep and hard topics such as The Trinity and Jesus being fully God and fully man. We shared that all sin is worthy of condemnation and how we can’t be saved by any amount of good works we may accomplish…only by the precious blood of Jesus! She was very interested and open to discussing these topics, which of course, was a huge blessing! Another blessing is that during this deep conversation, Madar, her sister, was sitting behind us listening in on the conversation. She turned to Page Wheeler and asked her a question about what she was hearing. Page and Scarlett Turner jumped right in to explaining.
While Fahima was very interested, it was still difficult to get across how important the differences between our religions are, and that there is only one true gospel. Though they may hold similarities, there is only one way to get to heaven, through Jesus. In her religion, Fahima believes by being a good person and performing good deeds, that is what gets you into heaven, and we dove into explaining how very imperfect we all are and how we commit sins daily. There is no way we could ever be perfect and avoid all sin, and that is why the hope of Jesus is so, so important!
We were so excited to be able to dive into these topics with these girls, and we praise the Lord for giving us such a special opportunity. We are in prayer for Fahima and Madar, along with the rest of her family. We pray and trust that God will use our time with her and her sister to plant a seed, or water one that already remains inside of those precious souls.
Written by Kendall Keller, Dezi Tartaglia, Audrey Rainer, Scarlett Turner
My experience with the in home visits was one of the most interesting things I have done on the trip this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to experience a new culture that we rarely get to see in Arkansas. At the in-home visits, as a sign of respect, we took our shoes off before entering our Arabic friend’s home.. Once we had entered, we were treated with a kind of hospitality that I have never witnessed before being served both food and drink. The fist house we went to, our host had been expecting us and had prepared an entire feast of traditional Arabic food, which was delicious!
At another house we went to, one of the children handed me his video game controller and turned on the TV to play Minecraft. Whether through food or playing games, the Arabic culture is a hugely hospitable people. Besides the remarkable hospitality, our hosts were very social and got a chance to practice their English skills. Through these visits, we were able to help build relationships with families in the hopes that they will see the way we live our lives, as Christians, and be open to hear the gospel.
Some of the people we went to see are those who attended our English class last year. We had already gotten to know some of them, and their stories, and it was encouraging to get to go to their homes this year and share the gospel with them in class. I hope I will get to see them again next year and continue to minister to them in such an incredible way. Over all, I enjoyed getting to talk to, laugh with, and hear the stories of some of the families we went to go see and hope to see some fruit in the upcoming years.
Written by Ethan Whiteley
It has been such an encouraging start to our 3rd St Louis Family Mission Trip. Saturday afternoon everyone arrived at Tower Grove, the school/ church that we will be living in for the next week, and then we headed over to the Church at Affton for dinner and orientation. We met as a team to talk through each person’s role and their responsibilities over the next few days. It was encouraging to see everyone’s enthusiasm for the week to come!
This past April The Church at Affton’s senior pastor, Jason Helmbacher, died from a heart attack. We have already seen and felt the suffering of this church family over the past two days. Jason’s wife, Rachelle, communicated their passion and desire to continue the work of the gospel ministry to the refugees here even in the midst of many unknowns in this trying season.
Yesterday morning as we worshiped with this hurting body I was encouraged and overwhelmed by the strength and hope that surrounded the room. Since Jason served both in preaching and leading worship, our team lead in both during the morning service. Pastor Brad expressed our church’s commitment to pray for them over the past few months. The service was simple and rich and was received by vulnerable hearts- even though the AC units were out and we were all drenched in sweat by the end! I think it set the stage for the rest of the week!
While most of us spent the afternoon canvasing apartments and neighborhoods to recruit people for our English classes and Kids Camps the rest of the team made home visits to refugee families who are known by the church. Those who visited homes were surprised by the warmth and hospitality that they received. This evening we started the English classes for Bosnian, Syrian, and Russian refugees and had about 20 people show up. We are prayerful and expectant that more people will come tomorrow and as the week goes on.
Living together, serving together, and even sweating together has been such a joy so far. I am excited to see how the Lord uses our time here this week to bring glory to His name and grow us in Him together and individually.
Prayer Requests-
Church at Affton:
Pray that they would be blessed as we strive to encourage and serve alongside them.
Pray that Rachelle would have wisdom to care well for herself and her children.
Our team:
Pray that we would serve with joyful and willing hearts all week; pray for health and stamina as we enter into a week that will be full of energy.
Pray for team unity; our ability to be effective here relies greatly on our relationship as a team.
Pray for Gospel opportunities during our events.
Written by Katie Anne McCollum
Around 30 from UBC were able to serve alongside the community in our annual Love the City Serve Local Work Day. We assisted in cleaning up the trail system throughout Fayetteville, as well as other hands on projects at the UA BCM. Here are some highlights.
Today we went to Ras al Kaimah (RAK) to visit Jenny Manley(pastor’s wife, as Josh is traveling overseas) and RAK Evangelical Church. Erin led a study with women on the church in Josh and Jenny’s home while Brad and Michael watched the kids with a few of the other men. I (Guy) had the pleasure of working in her dryer which fortunately didn’t need any parts and seemed to be fixed before we left.
UBC Missions 