Josef Tava

A couple of days ago, I took the number 22 tram out to Dvorka Sarka and got off at the last stop, right by the mcdonalds. I met Mark Richards there, who is actually a native Czech who studied in America and is starting a prayer retreat center out in one of the national parks near Prague. The center will be contained in three very old buildings in the middle of the woods, im talking early 18th century old. He and his family have been working to restore these buildings over the past 10 years, and it is a slow and difficuly process, but I can only imagine how beautiful and perfect this place will function one day as a retreat for Christians in the Czech Republic.

I went out to meet mark because I simply was going to walk around the campus and pray for the buildings, the future inhabitants, the restoration, and basically every facet of the process. I prayed for a very long time. It was an interesting thing, to walk around this beautiful old eighteenth century restaurant and house, praying for it's future. Mark had such appreciation and avid passion the prayers that would be offered up for the place that he has poured his life into. It was so encouraging to be freshly reminded of the power and privilege of prayer. So good.


Top Five things from the past week:

1.I saw Uma Thurman walking through an alley in Old Town Square. It was the best 8 seconds of my life. She walked right past me.

2. I cut down about an acre of 5 foot tall grass in the woods at Dvorka Sarka, with a scythe. From the 18th century.

3. I went up to a monastery on top of the mountain next to prague, for the second time. It is surrounded by rose gardens and has one of the best views the city has to offer.

4. Seeing a large group of drunken Germans get stared down in the metro station by a few extremely hard Czech guys. The germans were singing the glories of Deutschland, literally, and at high volume. Germany kind of sucks to Czechs, at least these guys certainly thought so.

5.The weather of the past three days. Nothing better than a breezy, sunny day in Jewish Town, the synagogues are all brazen and guilded, and they really catch the light so well.