We met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend in 1989. We were married a couple of years later and have two amazing adult sons, Christian and Carson. Our mid-life redirection to the Czech Republic in 2019 was the culmination of God’s decade-long preparation process. We live and serve in the town of Písek, the site of our first short term mission trip to the Czech Republic back in 2009.
We serve a relational God and mirroring His nature is the cornerstone of our efforts to reach the lost in the Czech Republic. Due to a combination of factors over time, the Czech people became disillusioned with and highly skeptical of religion. Tragically, those who don’t know God, now represent the vast majority of Czechs. Piercing that veil of skepticism with the Gospel message requires a personal relationship with someone and this takes time. By fostering relationships of mutual trust and love, we can introduce people to Jesus in meaningful ways and continue those relationships through discipleship.
My (Candy) journey with Jesus began my second year in college when I first learned about a personal relationship with Jesus. This set me on a path of discovering God’s incredible love and plan for my life. After college, I put my education, love of sports and gift of administration to work organizing youth sports programs for the City of Westminster, CO. I later accepted a position organizing special events for the city of Highlands Ranch. After serving as a lay coordinator for Vacation Bible School, I discovered the joy of using my gifts to serve God. As I continued to volunteer, God began tugging at my heart and I felt called to leave the safety and security of my current position and go to work in children’s ministry at our home church, Cherry Hills Community Church where I served for 21 years.
After graduating from college, I (Jim) began a 35-year career working in the commercial banking industry helping middle-market businesses and large group medical practices to grow and thrive. While that career was rewarding in some ways, life felt hollow in the most important areas. Shortly after we began dating, Candy introduced me to a personal relationship with Christ. It was only after accepting Christ that my life truly opened up and took on its full meaning. Over the years I volunteered in numerous programs at Cherry Hills Community Church including sports ministry.
As we raised our sons, we began serving on and leading short-term missions’ trips to Juarez Mexico, Mississippi in the years after hurricane Katrina, Mozambique Africa and eventually to the Czech Republic. Our first trip to the Czech Republic involved leading a basketball camp in partnership with Elim Church in Písek. Sports served as a connection point from which relationships could be built. Before the camp ended, we found ourselves promising to return the following summer, and then the next and the next. Over the course of ten years we recruited, trained and led 17 teams for basketball, soccer and children’s English camps, all the while developing many relationships with the Czech people. Písek began to feel like our second home, and in 2014, God made it clear he was calling us to serve in the Czech Republic full-time.
In July of 2019, ten years after our first trip to the Czech Republic, we left Highlands Ranch, CO and moved to Písek. We partner with Elim church and Cesta school serving in youth ministry, summer camps, hosting small groups, spending time with people 1:1 and teaching English.
