Bloom where you are planted

Greetings from the Czech Republic! My name is Rachel (some of you remember me as Stephen) Brunclikova and I’m the newest (re)addition to the Roma Team. Many of you have been praying for me over the last few months and I want you to know that those prayers have been felt every day! I continue to recover from my second surgery and am gaining strength daily. I’ve decided to get myself started blogging – we’ll see how it goes. Those of you who know me know that I have felt a call to missions since a young age. As I look back over my journey, I see how God’s work tends to be cyclical and that these last few years when I’ve been “out of missions”, I’ve actually been going through a very important time of preparation for this new work. I also got some time to just be a wife and a mom – both answers to years of prayer. Since I have been living as a “real Czech” for the last seven years, I see how God has uniquely prepared me to work with the Roma and the Baptist churches here and hopeful stand in the gap to foster cooperation and understanding. I remember when I was young hearing in Sunday school that we should “bloom where we are planted”. There was always this voice inside of me that said “No!! I’ve got to GO somewhere”. Well, I went. . . . and now I’m planted here. . . and guess what God is asking me to do – BLOOM WHERE I’M PLANTED!! Of course, making something bloom takes good soil, the proper amount of water and often a little fertilization – and all of that means work. I ask for your continued prayer as I “bloom” and start working with the ongoing projects here in the Czech Republic and look for other projects to support.