Finishing Well: Our Final Day with our Students

We woke up to a crisp autumn day and began our final walk to the school. Can you believe it? Our last day of teaching and our final day with these amazing eighth graders! In some ways, it feels like we were walking into the school for the first time just yesterday. Yet here we are, already at the finish line of our English teaching week. Time really does fly when you’re having fun and building relationships!

After breakfast, our team gathered for devotionals and a timely reminder: Extend grace in the unexpected.  Mission trips don’t always go as planned. Sometimes mistakes happen, schedules change, and things turn out differently than we imagined. But those moments give us an opportunity to model humility and extend grace to others. When our plans change, we have a choice. We can become frustrated, or we can pause and ask, “Lord, what are You doing here?”  Grace reminds us that God is still at work, even when our plans take an unexpected turn. With that encouragement fresh in our hearts, we headed off to school for our final day of classes.

Today’s English lessons focused on camping and culture. The Czechs love spending time in nature, and who can blame them? Their country is beautiful, with plenty of opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors!  Our students practiced new English vocabulary through games like Headbanz and the imaginative storytelling activity, “I Was Walking in the Woods, and I Saw a …” There was plenty of creativity, laughter, and learning along the way.

The feedback from the teachers and the principal has been incredibly encouraging, especially since this was our first time working with this school. Our culture lessons have also opened doors to meaningful conversations. As we learn about Czech traditions and beliefs and share a little about our own, we find natural opportunities to talk about our faith. These conversations remind us that sharing doesn't always require a formal presentation. Sometimes it begins with listening, asking questions, showing genuine interest, and being willing to share what matters most to us. We prayed for more opportunities to connect with our students during our final afternoon together, knowing that every conversation was a gift.

After a lovely traditional Czech lunch, we returned to our rooms for our final afternoon of games with the students. Laughter filled the hallways and classrooms, along with Kofola, Pringles, and Sour Patch Kids! It was a joy to spend these last hours together, enjoying the friendships that had grown throughout the week.  It's amazing how quickly a classroom full of unfamiliar faces can become a group of students you genuinely care about. What began with excitement and a few nervous smiles on our first day has grown into shared experiences, inside jokes, meaningful conversations, and relationships we will remember long after we leave Teplice.

As we reflected on our final day, we were reminded once again that our mission was about so much more than teaching English.  It was about seeing each student as VALUED by God and VALUABLE to the world.
Every student matters to God. Every smile, every conversation, every moment of encouragement, and every opportunity to listen has value. Our prayer is that, through conversations seasoned with salt, we have planted seeds of truth, encouragement, and hope that will continue to grow long after our team has returned home.  We may never know the full impact of the moments God gave us this week. But we can trust Him with every seed planted, every word spoken, and every relationship formed.  The lessons may end, but the relationships and seeds planted will continue.  Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our team and supported this mission. You have been part of what God is doing in Teplice, and we are grateful to have you alongside us!

Tonight, we look forward to a wonderful dinner with our new church friends who have helped us throughout the week. We are so thankful for their friendship, hospitality, and partnership in serving these students.

After a full week of teaching, games, conversations, and adventure, we're also looking forward to a well-deserved lie-in—which is British English for sleeping in!

Tomorrow, we'll head back to Prague, carrying a suitcase full of memories, hearts full of gratitude, and prayers for the students and teachers we are leaving behind.  As we close this chapter of our time in Teplice, we hold on to the words that have encouraged our team throughout this journey:  “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way.”
May we continue to trust God's plan, obey His calling, extend His grace, and see the value of every person He places in our path.  Every student has value. Every conversation matters. And every opportunity to share the love of God is a gift.