Harvest St. Louis Mission Work - Summer of 2010
Summer of 2010 has been an active missions
time for Harvest St. Louis-West.
Beginning with rehearsals in January, twenty Harvest members joined 11
others from 8 churches in 3 states to become the St. Louis Gospel Choir and
Orchestra. From June 2-14, they toured
cities in the Czech Republic and Germany, giving concerts in halls, churches,
and ancient cathedrals; singing on the street corners; and appearing on
national Czech TV. Many styles of music
were employed, from opera to our Harvest praise music, but the Czech people
were especially drawn to the Afro-American spirituals, which offer hope to
those who formerly lived under godless communism. In addition to Harvest member testimonies,
Pastor Michael Šust
gave a clear presentation of the Gospel at each concert. Many responded with questions, some confessed
Christ as their Lord and Savior. One
lady who prayed to receive Christ had heard our last concert in 2007 and couldn’t
get the message out of her mind - a real encouragement to keep planting those seeds!
Other highlights included visiting and
performing with music students we have relationships with through an ongoing cultural
exchange; meeting these students’ families; meeting David, a Messianic Jew who
was in Germany with a ministry of Jewish-German reconciliation; and the joy of
seeing our Czech bus driver worshipping and coming to Christ.
On July 24, we invited the WHOLE church to
accompany the Gospel Choir and Orchestra to Cape Girardeau, MO where we
presented our Gospel concert to the men of Teen Challenge, an addiction rehab
facility. This is a Christian program, but
only about 1/3 of the 140 men there know Christ. Though the weather was hot, we also received
a warm welcome – it was a privilege to share and worship with them!
Church of the Brethren - Prague
Singing on the streets of Hradec Kralove, CZ
Praise Band in Pelhrimov, CZ