Message of hope and faith: Group plans trip to Czech Republic

By HEIDI DESCH / Hungry Horse News

One European country has brought three Flathead Valley women together to help others.

Tricia Goyer, Sona Blue and Iva Smid are part of a group of about 20 people planning a trip to the Czech Republic.

The trip is an outreach of the Easthaven Baptist Church in Kalispell. The group plans to teach English and run sports and drama camps. In the end, the ultimate goal is to share the group's Christian faith with the Czech people.

Not so long ago such a trip was only a idea for Goyer and Blue.

See Goyer, a writer, traveled to the Czech Republic. She was working on a book "Night Song" that would be released in 2004. That's when she felt compelled to do something for the people there.

"The people so nice, caring and real. They are very nice, but they have nothing to hope for and nothing to cling to," she said.

Blue, a young mother, had come to the United States from the Czech Republic during the 1990s. She wanted to do something for her home country also, but hadn't found a way to make it happen.

Then Goyer met Blue at their Easthaven Baptist and they began working to find a way to do something.

Goyer ran an ad in a homeschool newsletter looking for people who might want to participate.

Smid saw the ad and wanted to get involved. She had escaped the country during the 1970s when it was under communist control to come to the United States.

"It's my home country. You can't erase that. Where you are in your youth stays with you," she said. "I love the country and the people there. It is a privilege to go back."

AT FIRST, GOYER wasn't sure how exactly she might help in the country.

But then the perfect opportunity presented itself. The only church in a town of about 12,000 people in the Czech Republic was in need of a group to come teach at an English camp.

A Georgia church group had planned to run the camp, but had to back out. So the Easthaven Baptist group was able to step right in.

Located in central Europe, the Czech Republic is bordered by Slovakia on the east and Germany on the west. It has a population of about 10 million. The country had been joined with Slovakia for most of the 20th century to form Czechoslovakia, but in 1993 the two split.

From the end of World War II until 1989, Czechoslovakia was under communist rule controlled by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Blue and Smid explained that learning English in the Czech Republic is very important.

They said that as the country advances with technology it becomes more important for everyone to learn and practice English.

The camp will be made up of families from young to elderly, all with varying levels of English skills.

Blue and Smid will be able to teach those who know none or little English. Others in the group will be there to help those with previous knowledge just practice conversation.

While, teaching English is the focus of the trip, the three women really want to give more.

They would like to share a message of hope and their Christian beliefs with the Czech people.

The women explained that while the Czech people as a whole are friendly they are often unhappy. The country has a high rate of depression and rate of divorce. Most people in the country are atheist.

"Many people have given up on God," explained Blue.

SMID AND BLUE both grew up during different times in the country's history, but they faced many of the same oppressions.

Smid grew up Roman Catholic. Her mother would take Smid and her sister to church several times per year. They had a Bible in their home, but she said it was never opened.

She said religion was not looked upon kindly. Her father did not attend church for fear of loosing his job.

"Faith was for old ladies and weak people. It was not for young people," she said.

Blue's only exposure to God had been through jokes until she was a teenager.

Then one day a missionary came to her school. Blue, like many people her age, was wearing a cross necklace.

Blue explained that the Czech people are infatuated with American culture. They often idolize stars like Madonna and imitate them.

The missionary asked her if she knew what the cross meant.

Blue, a bit embarrassed, didn't know. That experienced changed the way she thought about God and she would later become a Christian.

SMID WAS A young woman in the late 1970s when she left the Czech Republic. Her future husband, Pavel, had left several years earlier eventually making his was to Vienna, Austria.

She followed. The trip was not an easy one. She made it to Yugoslavia.

"I didn't have a passport," she said. "I had to walk over the mountains from Yugoslavia into Austria."

She likened the mountain to Big Mountain in Whitefish. It was June at the time and there was no snow.

But during the journey she got lost and was forced to spend the night in the mountains. She only had a can or sardines with her, but no can opener.

She eventually opened the can and forced herself to eat, although, she says she was not hungry.

Someone helped her in Yugoslavia by giving her boots and water. Eventually she was able to make it to Austria and join her husband.

Eventually they would make their way to the United States. They didn't speak the language and didn't know where or what to do next.

They would move from Houston to Denver and then to Kalispell. They had grown tired of the city and Kalispell's mountains reminded them of home.

Eventually they would have two sons, Jakub, 17, and Josef, 14.

Now, they are able to live the rural life that Smid had remembered from visiting her grandmother as a young girl. They have goats, sheep and chickens.

"I had a taste of rural living. We wanted the simple life," she said. "We fell in love with here. God made our dream come true."

GROWING UP LATER in the 1980s and 1990s, Blue still had similar experiences as Smid.

Blue said her grandmother worked for the communist party and was brain washed.

"Everyone believes the Soviet Union was the greatest power in the world. We were taught that capitalism and America is the enemy," she said.

Blue also left the Czech Republic as a young woman, but under somewhat easier conditions.

At first she began working as a travel guide in Spain.

Eventually her sister and her then-boyfriend came to the United States with the hopes of finding jobs and making new lives.

They were living in Alabama and that's where Blue met her husband, Michael, an American.

It had been his dream to go some place he could hunt and fish. They found an apartment in Kalispell, packed their Chevy Tahoe and haven't looked back.

"Lots of our family think we're crazy (because of the weather)," she said. "We love it her. This is absolutely where God brought us."

They have two sons Matthew, 9, and Jacob, 3.

BOTH WOMEN ARE now American citizens. Each have returned to the Czech Republic since leaving, but both are anxious to return. They will be able to visit family members while there.

Smid had been planning to return with her husband, but plans were canceled after her husband recently had a heart attack. Now she will still be able to return.

A FUNDRAISER TO help the group pay for expenses is being held on May 8 at the Easthaven Baptist Church. The group must raise $2,500 per person for the 19-day trip.

Speaker Kathi Macias, a multi-award winning author of 21 books will speak. She will speak on her newest book "Beyond Me: Living a You-First Life in a Me-First World."

A silent auction will be held starting at 6:30 p.m. The speaker presentation and dessert will begin at 7 p.m.

The group is still looking for anyone willing to donate to the auction or their mission. For more information contact Goyer at 756-0799 or tricia@thegoyers.com.