Why the Czech Republic?
The Czech Republic (Czechia) is a post-communistic country in Europe. It is the Western most country of what many consider Eastern Europe, and it would be appropriate to consider it Central Europe. The culture of the Czech Republic is very western as opposed to the rest of its eastern counterparts. Czechia was once occupied by the Soviet Union during the Cold War era, and the effects of the Soviets can be clearly seen. They tend to be a quiet and reserved people, likely due to that regime. They are one of the most irreligious people on the planet, and were the 3rd most atheist, only falling behind China and Japan.
10.7 Million
Souls in Czechia (2020)
8.35 Million
without religious belief (78%)
< 5
churches of Christ*
There is much discussion as to why the Czechs became so irreligious when other surrounding former Soviet states rebounded in religion. One explanation is that the Czechs have a long ingrained collective memory of abuses and corruption of the Catholic church. The Czech Republic was home to the lesser-known first reformer, Jan Hus, who was burned alive at the stake. The followers of Jan Hus, the Hussites, became a large enough influence that the majority of the Czech population no longer considered themselves Catholic. This was greatly reversed when the Austro-Hungarian empire fiercely opposed the Hussites. It is thought that sentiment from this time still reverberates today. When the Soviets took control, it further pushed the Czechs into greater dissatisfaction with religion, ultimately creating a state that is now one of the most atheist in the world.
*From my understanding, there are less than 5 within the country. We are only aware of 2 in Prague, and the others are unknown to me.
Potential in the Czech Republic
Though the Czech Republic has seemingly been resistant to the Gospel, there is still great potential there. Brother Stas Kuropyatnikov of the church plant in Lviv, Ukraine mentioned that missions in Europe are not necessarily difficult, but different. This brother and his team are doing great work in the most western influenced city of Ukraine, and they are staying true to the Word of God.
The potential of the Czech Republic is 3-fold:
Blank slates
People have no religious bias to unlearn
We will use sound doctrine and quality apologetics in our studies with Czechs
Quality teaching
The Czech Republic makes a great location to start a preaching school
Preaching School
Stas mentioned that the lack of previous religious bias from denominations has helped him evangelize those in Lviv. The Czechs are mostly free from denominational bias which has become a challenge in other mission fields. The mission then involves getting people to believe in a God and then showing them that this God is the God of the Bible.
Through my experience and research of previous missions across the eastern half of Europe, I learned what our work can improve on. The few converts from previous missions were often plagued with ecumenicism and lacked Bible focus and authority. Some Czechs who did study limited their faith by using only Bible study books. They believed in picking the theologian they liked and leaving it there. Others limited their trust or closeness to missionaries due to an expectation that they would leave. Czechs are very analytical, therefore, if they see faulty theologies, they become skeptical and choose not to pursue Christianity. On top of that, various well-meaning groups from the 90s went to eastern Europe to baptize but were not able to mature disciples. The trips were too quick. The converts were not brought up to maturity and becoming self-sustaining. Our belief is that there is an untapped population that can be fed sound doctrine from His Word and come to believe, especially given our plan to not leave this mission field.
The long-term plan is to one day open a school of preaching in the Czech Republic. It is located centrally in Europe, the cost of living is relatively low, and English is spoken more frequently in cities, therefore, we think an English-speaking school of preaching would help evangelize not just the Czech Republic, but also Europe. The Bear Valley school in Ukraine has been a large impact in evangelizing Ukraine, therefore we too believe that a school of preaching will help serve Czechia and Europe well into many generations.
The congregation of Olomouc today was first planted in 2024. We saw a need to plant the church here due to two main factors: 1. A displaced member from Ukraine and her family were already present in the city, 2. Tony’s previous experience in the city made it easier for the church to make contacts and Bible studies. The church in Olomouc is the only known eastern congregation in the country (possibly one in Brno). The church grew by two a few months after planting through Bible studies with Tony’s previous contacts and their baptisms. We have also welcomed visitors and are currently in the process of studying with the family of our members. We believe that despite slower progress compared to other missions, God has blessed this congregation!