Six Czech Youth Attend Presbyterian Youth Triennium

Six young people from various parts of the Czech Republic attended the Presbyterian Youth Triennium at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana USA from 16-20 July 2013. The six young people came from congregations who have partnerships with congregations in the US.

Marta Dusová comes from the ECCB congregation in Polička and this congregation has had a longstanding partnership with First Presbyterian Church in Ponca City, Oklahoma. She and her family have visited there before but this was the first time Marta had attended a Youth Triennium. Marta is currently a student in Polička. In additon to attending the Triennium she was able to spend some time in Oklahoma.

Sára Fojtů and Lucie Šimková both come from Vsetin and attend the ECCB congregation Horní Sbor. They are both students and they spent some of their time with their partner congregation First Presbyterian Church in Cumberland, Maryland. They also had the opportunity to spend some time in the Annapolis, Maryland and Washington D.C. area in addition to their trip to the Triennium.

Klára Kačenová comes from the ECCB congregation in Letohrad. She is a university student in Prague. She had an extensive trip planned with their partner congregation First Presbyterian Church in Annapolis, Maryland. In addition to spending time in Annapolis and attending the Triennium she also participated in a youth mission trip to Haiti.

Matěj Mrlina comes from the ECCB congregation Ratiboř u Vsetína. They have a partnership with Southminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A focus of their partnership has been around working with Hand Bells. Southminster has planned and led several camps and events which have taught people how to ring hand bells. Matěj is currently a student at Masaryk University Faculty of law in Brno. His trip included time in Pittsburgh as well as attending the Youth Triennium.

Another Czech participant in the Presbyterian Youth Triennium was Hana Pospíšilová. She lives in Litomyšl and has connections to our ECCB congregation in Sloupnice which has a long time partnership with First Presbyterian Church in Morehead City, North Carolina. Hanka currently works as an Assistant and Tour Guide with the Tourist Information Centre in Litomyšl. She recently finished her education with a BA from Palacký University in Olomouc. In addition to attending the triennium she was able to spend some time in North Carolina and Maryland.

The project was made possible by the joint efforts of the Ecumenical Department of the ECCB, the American Working Group here in the Czech Republic, and the Czech Mission Network in the US. The Czech Mission Network provided grants for airfare for each young person. The ECCB and Presbyterian Church USA congregations worked together to cover the needs of the youth during their trips. The Global Partners office of the Presbyterian Church USA provided some scholarships to cover tuition for the Triennium. The other youth had their registration covered by the ECCB and several of the partner congregations.

All of this was made possible through the work of many individuals and congregations both here in the Czech Republic and in the United States.

Submitted by,

Rev. Dr. Karen R. Moritz, PCUSA Mission Coworker with the ECCB.