The first castle MC took us to see was Státní Zámek Vranov nad Dyjí (State Castle Vranov on the Dyjí [River]).  This was a castle originally built in the 12^th century.  Over the years, as various noblemen lived there, the castle was refurbished so that today you would consider it more of a chateau rather than a castle, although some of the battlements are still in place.  It was very interesting for the adults, but Jon got bored after a little while.

 On the way to the next castle that MC wanted to show us, he asked if we would like to stop and take some pictures of the ruins at Cornštejn.  This castle was built in the first half of the 14^th century, but, after it was conquered in 1463, it was never repaired or refurbished and was left to ruin late in the 16^th century.  Standing there in the remains of the walls and towers, we could imagine the archers on the battlements and swordsmen running back and forth as they protected their nobleman.  Jon really liked this one because it was a “real” castle, the medieval-style castle that we Americans think of as a castle.  All through the ruins, Jon kept looking around and finally asked, “Where’s the dragon?”  Since our guide spoke English, we suggested that he ask her where the dragon was.  She got a good laugh out of this – Edie told her that we told Jon that the dragon flew away because there was no one left to feed him and she agreed.  MC said he was glad he suggested we stop at this one because Jon liked it so much.

 We then drove to the third castle, another renaissance-style castle, Bítov, but arrived too late to tour the castle.  We were able to look in the chapel and tour the zoo at the castle, though.  Jon got to feed the ducklings and the Vietnamese pigs.  He thought the little foxes were very cute and was again impressed by the ravens just as he was in Znojmo.  After a long day, we drove back to our penzion and thanked MC for a wonderful time, both of seeing fascinating sights and of excellent fellowship – serious conversation and laughs together, discussing our children, and sharing hopes for the future.

Friday, June 27, 2008

 After a good night’s sleep in a bed (instead of on an airplane), we were ready to get started again.  Friday morning and afternoon, IP was kind enough to take her time to show us around the city of Znojmo and translate for us as neither Jan nor Edie speak Czech.  We had a very nice day walking around with her exploring the city of Znojmo and, more importantly, getting to know each other better.  She pointed out where two of the grocery stores are, also, so we could purchase food for the next day.  She showed us beautiful churches, the city hall tower where you could climb what seemed to be an endless set of stairs and see all around Znojmo, and the castle Rotunda.

 One of the things that most impressed us, besides IP’s kindness, was the lady attendant at the bird exhibit in the Rotunda.  Jon loved seeing the birds and learning that some of these were birds that the noblemen used for hunting, hawks and eagles, as well as owls, buzzards, ravens, and others.  Jon was curious about what was behind a locked door next to the exhibit.  The attendant very graciously opened it for Jon and let him see what was on the other side and then gave him a feather from one the birds on display, a very beautiful buzzard.

 That evening, Jan had a meeting scheduled with the elders and pastor of Znojmo ECM (Methodist) Church.  IP was also going to be there to translate as her English is very good and the pastor from the Jihlava ECM Church was also there.  The others that did speak English did not feel that their English was adequate to hold a conversation like this.  The purpose of this meeting was to discuss how our two churches, Powder Springs First United Methodist Church in America and Znojmo ECM (Methodist) Church in the Czech Republic, could work together in missions to help each other reach out to both of our communities.  True to the Christian spirit, they first invited us to break bread with them – well, it was pizza, but the same idea.  Jon was rather wound up from the day and the cheese on the pizza, so IP gave Edie directions to a playground nearby to take him to while Jan stayed and met with the elders and pastors.  It would not be appropriate to go into details of the meeting on this website, but it was a very good meeting.  MC invited us to say a few words at the service on Sunday morning, which Jan so graciously volunteered Edie to do.

 After dinner and the 2+ hour meeting, IP walked us back to our penzion and we went to bed, worn out but very excited about the future.

 
Wednesday – June 25, 2008

 At last, travel day . . .  we had been working to try to have everything ready and laid out so that all we had to do was pack it in the suitcases and go, but things don’t always work out as you plan them.  Late Tuesday evening, Jon’s doctor changed one of his prescriptions that could not be phoned in to the pharmacy, so Jan took Jon and drove to her office in Dunwoody, almost an hour away, to pick up the prescription and take it to the pharmacy and wait for it to be filled.  Then, as we were trying to fit clothes into the suitcases along with the books and other items we needed to take with us, we realized we had miscalculated how much would fit into our suitcases.  We needed one more big suitcase to carry everything, so off Jan and Jon went again to drop something off at church and go buy another suitcase.  God was watching out for us as always – the Music Director was at church for Music Camp and was kind enough to run home and get one of her big suitcases for us to borrow.

 Finally, at 3:30 pm, two and one-half hours later then we had planned; we finally left home for our 6:05 pm flight to Vienna, Austria.  RM had graciously agreed to drive us to the airport and had already called us once asking “was it today?” that we were leaving.  We arrived at the airport at 4:35 pm and rushed to the check-in line.  We were somewhat concerned about how long it was going to take us to get through the line, but an attendant called for anyone flying to two or three locations, one of which was Vienna, and pulled those people to the front of the line.  Next we rushed to the security checkpoint – another wait in another line.  This line moved fairly fast and we did not have too long of a wait.  Of course, our gate was in Terminal E, the last stop on the airport transit train, and our gate was the one at the very end of the terminal.  By the time we got to the gate, they had already boarded the first class passengers and were in the process of boarding the rest of the plane.  We got our carry-on bags put away and barely had time to settle in our seats before we took off.  The flight itself was pretty uneventful.  Jon behaved rather well and Edie actually got him to go to sleep for about the middle 6 hours of our 10 hour flight.

We had hoped our flight would land on time at 10:05 am (Vienna time – 4:05 am Atlanta time) and it would not take too long to get through customs and get our checked luggage so we could ride the bus from Vienna, Austria, to Brno, Czech Republic.  We only had a little over an hour from the time we were due to land until the bus departed.  If we missed the bus, it would mean taking a taxi to the train station in downtown Vienna and a one to two hour wait for the train, which was more expensive and took longer to get to Brno.  We were not hopeful that we could make it through the airport in time to catch the bus, but again we should not have worried – the whole process took less than 30 minutes, which gave us plenty of time to figure out where to catch the correct bus and even enough time to go back into the airport to exchange some money.  The 3 hour bus trip was very comfortable – they had a bathroom on the bus; had cold soft drinks and juice available to purchase; and even showed a movie (in Czech of course, but with English subtitles).  JK, the Czech Mission Coordinator, met us at the bus station and drove us to the Brno Airport to pick up our rental car.

 After the long flight and bus ride and then picking up our rental car, all of us were hungry.  JK pointed out a place where we could stop on our drive from Brno to Znojmo to have lunch.  We enjoyed traditional Czech meals, two of us a lunch of pork, bread dumplings, and cabbage (what we would call sauerkraut) and the other potato dumplings stuffed with smoked meat.

 God was definitely driving the car, as Jan drove all the way from Brno to Znojmo, directly to the church where he had only been once, without any wrong turns or problems.  When we arrived at the church, we called IP, our contact (and friend) for the Znojmo church.  Somehow we all managed to pack ourselves into the car and she directed us to our penzion (hotel).  Penzion Mikulase is a small bed and breakfast in an old building that has been converted.  We were very fortunate that our room on the third floor has a small bathroom (toilet and sink with only cold water) right in the room.  Most of the rooms did not have a bathroom in the room, but had to use the bathrooms in a central hallway.  We do share a common shower in the hallway.  European showers are somewhat different from American showers – they do not use shower curtains, but have either an area in the corner of the bathroom or a small bathtub with a hand-held hose.  Up another flight of stairs on the fourth floor is a common area with a small kitchen, a sitting room with a couple of couches and a table, and a balcony that overlooks the city.  Our room is very simple but very comfortable – just what we needed.

 After Jan and one of the hotel owners/managers carried all of our suitcases up to the room and we got settled in, we went to explore and try to find the grocery store that IP had told us was close to the penzion.  No one we asked on the street about the grocery store could understand us, so we kept walking and trying to find it.  We finally saw a gas station that was open (most stay open 24 hrs).  One of the clerks was able to direct us to the Hypernova, their version of a Super-Wal*Mart, only much smaller.  The Hypernova ended up to be about 1-1/2 km from the penzion.  There we were able to buy hard rolls, sliced ham, a box of cereal, and 2 bottles of soft drink, Coke and Sprite – we were set for the night.  The Hypernova was open until 8:00 pm, but we found out later that most of the stores in Znojmo close between 4:00 and 6:00 pm, including the grocery store we were looking for.

 When we got back to our room, we had a quick snack and collapsed into our beds for the night.

 
June 17, 2008 – Evening

“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me . . .”

                                                                                                                             Psalm 143:10 NIV

The countdown is on . . . 7 days and counting until we leave to begin our mission trip to the Czech Republic.  We are all excited and are scrambling around attempting to finalize those last minute things.  We have our passports and our airline tickets in hand to get us to Vienna, Austria.  From Vienna, we will either take the bus or the train to Brno, Czech Republic.  Our hosts in Znojmo and Brno have been a great help in figuring out where to stay and are making our room reservations for us.  All we have to do now is purchase the last couple of items we need, start packing, and double-check that we have gotten everything done.  We had been trying to make firm, concrete plans only to be reminded in our frustrations when things didn’t work out the way we thought they should that this is God’s trip.  God has laid out the plans according to His purpose and design.  Now, we just need to listen for His still, small voice and take the first step as His plans for us unfold step by step along the way.