One house at a time

Stacy: Church planting is something I have felt called to for a long time, even before I left for the Czech Republic. Before coming to Prague, I was a member of West End Mennonite Fellowship, where church planting is a vital part of the DNA. For a season, I was involved in one of their church plants, knowing that it was important to learn how a church plant works practically before trying something overseas. So, when I felt God’s nudge to join EMM in the Czech Republic doing church planting, I was ready. Little did I know how many years it would take. For years, this desire has lain dormant in my mind, waiting for the right time while I engaged in other ministry opportunities. At various points along the journey, I even questioned whether I would ever be a part of a church planting team or movement in the Czech Republic. And then I met Vojta (my now-husband). His experience with house church was one of the things that drew us together.

Vojta: I am the fruit of missionary work. I believed in Jesus Christ through a team of North American missionaries in 2012 when I lived in Prague. The team modeled and later planted a house church consisting of mostly new believers. They also cultivated a connection with a Czech house church network. Through this connection, I got to meet a number of other believers from the larger network. If I were to summarize what the network is about, it would be “obedience-based discipleship of Jesus.” The leadership of this network formed a vision to see a movement (i.e., four streams of four generations of disciples who form in churches) in each of the 14 regions of the country. People who have influenced the network through a personal connection and mentorship were Curtis Sergeant, Steve Smith, Jeff and Angie Sundell, and, recently, Troy Cooper. 

Stacy & Vojta: A few years after we got married, God led us to move to Teplice, a city in the northern part of the country. We moved, not knowing anyone and having no real connections, just a deep sense that God had led us here. After a short period of searching, we found a church to become a part of, which helped us to get established in the area. We still had the desire for church planting, but the timing still didn’t feel right. However, it was coming. We continued to share the gospel and disciple people as we had opportunities. In 2022, Vojta participated in an online training with the house church network. Not only was he able to sharpen tools he’d previously learned, but he was able to reconnect with a group of people who had been influential in his own story. Throughout 2024 and 2025, we participated in a few different training weekends, hosted by the house church network. These trainings focused on different things: how to connect with non-believers, different tools to use to share the gospel (they tend to use tools like the 3 Circles and 4 Fields taken from No Place Left), and how to build your team. In March of 2025, we attended a training for leaders within the network, which was focused more on strategy and dreaming big for what God has for the Czech Republic. During that weekend, we were encouraged to pray together with our team and simply ask God what vision he was giving us.