Ministry Partner Profile: Jan and Marie Lukl

The year was 1997. The setting was a Hussite church in the Czech Republic where the Brethren Church had just finished Sunday services. The excitement level was high for a young family who had just arrived in the Czech Republic in hopes of learning a seemingly impossible language and finding ministry partners with whom they could work. Enter a recent seminary graduate, just back from his honeymoon and beginning an internship in this church. As Jan (John) Lukl introduced his new wife to Dora and I, we immediately hit it off. We started talking about evangelism and within minutes were talking about Outreach English Camps.

Shortly after our meeting Jan and Marie Lukl, we found out that they had been leading their youth group to pray that an American missionary would come and work with them! Dora and I, on the other side of the ocean, had been asking others to join us in praying that God would lead us to a Czech pastor with whom we could work. Thus started a "match made in heaven"!

We have been friends and co-workers with the Lukls for 11 years now and lived in 3 different cities together. They taught us to speak Czech, helped us learn Czech culture, encouraged us as we learned to do ministry here, and joined us in our first church plant. We have had plenty of ups and downs and even times that we thought would destroy our friendship and our ministry partnership. But through it all, we have been able to communicate with them and talk through any problems.

Jan is a pioneer church planter who desires to plant a church and then move on. He is, above all, an evangelist who is not ashamed to preach the gospel. He is an action oriented, charismatic leader who brings new people into the church and then sets out to look for more. He is also a member of the New Churches' Trust Fund "action group" that promotes church planting in the Czech Republic. That he enjoys soccer, hockey, scuba diving, boating, and rock climbing should tell you a little something about his personality. Sitting still is not something Jan enjoys!

His wife, Marie, balances him out with her level head and systematic planning. She takes good care of their three young children and has a heart for children's ministries and young women. She is often heard to say to her husband at meetings, "That's important. Write it down." It has been fun to watch how they have learned to work together as a team and how they have raised their family.

The Lukls have given up a lot in order to plant a church in Vlašim. They have also sacrificed a lot for our family. They have always been there for us and we appreciate how God has brought our two families together as friends and co-workers. As you think of them, please pray for their family.