The Wendels

Committed, Creative, Conscientious, Candid

When we moved to Czech Republic in December of 2008 we decided it would be better if we left our spiritual super powers back in America. So we arrived with 4 very young kiddos in tow, not an ounce of language ability, and reliant on the Holy Spirit and the local church to aid us in becoming useful again. We’ve learned a lot and we’ve served a lot and we’ve been humbled more than either of the former two. Hopefully, we’ve become something useful after these years of service, because they’ve been the best years of our lives. That’s not to say they haven’t been hard in every way imaginable, but the refining work of the Spirit in the crucible of the Czech Republic makes a good sauce.

We’ve taught English for every age and ability level, run camps, taught Sunday School, established youth groups, lead Bible studies, done street evangelism, done friendship evangelism, discipled new believers, assisted pastors make strategic plans, taught seminars, hosted board game days, Easter egg hunts, Fall Carnivals, Christmas parties, 4th of July fireworks and cookie decorating. We’ve made apple pies, distributed Bibles, bought milk from the local farmer and gone on hikes where neighbors showed us where the Nazi bodies were secretly buried during the World War. We’ve preached, baptized, advised, admonished, birthed a couple more babies, confronted, reconciled, taken the back seat, taken the wheel, established a ministry center, led children to Christ, taught Bible to students from 23 or so countries, lost a child on vacation and survived multiple near death hospitalizations. We did find the missing child, so there is that.

I hope that’s all to say God takes us down country lanes that turn out to be more like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but the getting there was never the point anyway. Life and ministry is a bit messier than any of us would care to admit, but there’s a strange joy in embracing all of it for what it is and running the race set before us in a way that makes the Father smile, because in the end, that’s what all of this was supposed to amount to anyway.

We’ve cried a lot. I wish we could say we’ve laughed more. I don’t know, that’s probably the Lyme’s disease or COVID brain talking. It could be the coffee, we drink a bit too much of that. We enjoy the many flavors of the roasted bean(did we mention we first met at Starbucks?), life and people around us and yet somehow manage to come out of the wash as some kind of baptist fundamental types but without all the icky stuff, or maybe it’s just collected in a pocket here somewhere…In any case if we sound like your kind of weirdos, I mean missionaries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We would love to interact with you about missions, ministry in Czech Republic, or your best recipe for artichoke spinach dip.