church today!!

So, today I ventured out into the city to find a church since it was the first Sunday I have actually been in Prague. A church called Prague Christian Fellowship was recommended to me by a friend in my bible study at Virginia Tech. Well, actually she asked someone she knew who asked someone else....so really I found it through friend of a friend of a friend. Confused...lol? So, I got the address of the church over Christmas break, as well as the contact info for the couple who recommended it. So I emailed them yesterday, just as a kinda of "Hey, I will probably be at church tomorrow, it's my first time so what time does it start?" thing. I got an email back with a more specific address and the time it started. Which, as it turns out, isn't until 4:30 pm, this is my kinda church! Anyway, it is a fair distance from my dorm and I knew I would have to walk a couple blocks after I got off the metro, so I gave myself an hour to get there...turns out I needed the whole hour cause I got myself pretty turned around after I got off the metro. So, I found the address and long story short...it was in a really out-of-the way spot that even luck couldn't have helped me find...it was totally a God thing. Anyway, I made my way inside and met the pastor's wife briefly, and she seemed really nice. I didn't talk to anyone else until after the service, but that was probably a good thing seeing as how as soon as I walked into the church I was overcome with emotion. I could hardly talk to the pastor's wife...she probably thought I seemed a little strange when I choked up as she was asking if this was my first time visiting the church. I don't really know that I could describe exactly what it was that made me so emotional (I mean aside from the fact that I am an extremely emotional person anyway :) ) except to say that it felt like I was at home. I didn't know anyone, and yet it felt like all of my anxiety, all of my worries and fears and my loneliness was gone. And I was just overcome with this huge peace. A peace that only comes when you are at home with God. I didn't even realize how badly I had needed to worship and fellowship until I was there. The church is even smaller than the Kirk (if you can believe it) with probably less than 20 full time members. It is an international, English speaking church, so a lot of the attendees are students or teachers who are only there for a semester or a year before going back home or moving on. It was really cool how they did service though, and it reminded me a lot of the church I attend at Virginia Tech, The Dwelling Place. There was a lot of emphasis on worship, which is my favorite part, and they sung songs in English and then a couple in Czech with English subtitles. It was really cool! The worship actually lasted so long today that the pastor only gave an introduction about what he will speaking on for the next couple of weeks...which is 1 Corinthians. There were a couple of announcements, and then introductions :) Since it is so small, it was pretty obvious to them who was new so they made us stand up and introduce ourselves. There was another American student named Chris, and a Swedish student named Elizabeth who were also there for the first time. After the service, several people came and introduced themselves to me, including a women who got her graduate degree at Virginia Tech! Can we say small world??? I also got a chance to talk to the woman who kinda leads the student/young adult home group which meets on Tuesday nights. I am going to go to that this Tuesday, and I am really excited about getting fellowship with other believers. Chris, the other student and I were both really excited about the fact that we have another American student at the church to hang out with. So, I am excited about this chance at a solid Christian friendship. Overall, today was by far the highlight of my entire experience in Prague so far. I am so excited about going back to the church that I don't know if I can wait until Sunday! You can pray that the home group meeting on Tuesday goes well, and that I can feel at home among these people.

Also, I will posting more pictures soon!