Newsletter March 2009

About the Czech Bible Project:

Seventeen years ago we sat on our knees asking God to give the Czech Republic a Bible that we could read, trust, and understand in our modern language. It was just a few years after the end of the Totalitarian Communist rule which forced atheism onto our land. The Bible that was in use at the time was difficult to understand because of the outdated language. Although it came from a rich time in Czech history, it was more than three centuries old and had lost its ability to speak to a new generation of post-communist Czechs.

God put the burden on our hearts and the calling onto our lives to make a difference. And for seventeen years he has provided the resources we have needed to follow this dream. By God’s grace we translated the first words of this project 15 years ago and today we are glad to announce that it is complete!

First Bibles fresh off the presses in Holland:

Sasha Flek and Jan Talafant recently went to Holland to visit the printing house where the Bibles are being printed. They were able to bring the first 100 copies back to the Czech Republic personally and witness firsthand the fulfillment of this long held dream. Sasha says “I was virtually overwhelmed, speechless. 17 and a half years ago, there was nothing, just His word: ‚DO IT‘. And now, there is something out of nothing – through His word. I think it is just so glorifying to God.” God has truly taken the efforts of these two men and the many others who have helped and supported them and multiplied those efforts beyond what they could imagine or accomplish on their own. The first shipment of 50,000 new Bibles should arrive in the Czech Republic just before Easter of this year.

Promotional Blessings:

We have had many blessings throughout this experience, but now as we prepare for the launch of this Bible translation we find that God is again pouring out his good gifts upon us. Recently The Czech Radio did a one hour interview with Sasha Flek. They were incredibly interested in the project and asked especially about the story of Sasha’s conversion and his calling to the Bible translation. The radio show host continued to ask questions about Sasha’s testimony and seemed genuinely interested in HOW TO come to Christ. This interview will air on their main news program and they will continue to air bits of it on the national news and other programs before Easter. On Easter Sunday night, there will also be a one hour LIVE radio show talking about the Bible launch and allowing people to call in and ask questions. We are praying that it will be a special time for God’s spirit to work.

The Czech Radio is not the only place that God has opened doors for His word. The Czech National TV has also agreed to air our commercials 20 times for FREE just before Easter. The filming of the commercial was a miracle in itself, as we were able to go from nothing to a TV quality tape in just three days. We also were blessed to have one of the most famous Czech actors in our commercial. God is truly moving in mighty ways to get His word out to this hungry nation.

But the blessings haven’t stopped there. We have also had over 60 cities across the Czech Republic apply to be part of our Easter Nation-wide Public Bible Reading event. This means that the whole Bible will be read aloud in a public space in more than 60 different cities. We were originally hoping for 21 cities to participate and we are so excited that we already have three times that, and new cities applying everyday!

Financial Update:

We have been very blessed and God has always provided exactly what we need for this work. We feel especially grateful that so much of our support has come from Czech churches of all denominations. The Czech people are hungry for a living translation of His word and have responded to that hunger in firm support of our project. But, today we find ourselves once again on our knees asking for God’s provision.

In order to pay for the printing of these Bibles we need to raise roughly 18,000 USD before April 15th and another 70,000 USD by July 1st. Please join us in praying for God to provide these resources. We also invite you to make a US tax-deductible contribution to help publish these Bibles and get them into the hands of Czech people who have been crying out to God for hope, direction, and purpose.

You can support the printing of these new Bibles by making your check out as follows: Vineyard Northwest Church for Czech Bible Project. Vineyard Northwest will be collecting the donations and will forward them to us. Please send your check to:

Vineyard Community Church Northwest
9165 Round Top Road
Cincinnati, OH 45251

You can also donate online through Faith & Learning International . This is still new so if you don’t see our project in the drop down menu yet, simply specify „Czech Bible Project“ in the note section.

The cost of printing one Bible is 5 dollars, so we are able to print 20 Bibles with every 100 dollar donation. We will be offering Bibles for missions and evangelism purposes from only six dolllars a piece. Your donations will help us to be able to offer these Bibles for a true nonprofit price to help the Czech christians reach as many friends, relatives and neighbors as possible.

Thank you so much! We stand gratefully amazed by the blessings that God continues to pour out through so many of you. Your prayers and contributions are truly appreciated.