Dan and Krista Coyan
In 2005, God laid on Krista's heart the question "When you die, will you regret what you did with your life?" This led her to convince me (Dan) to sell everything we had, and start life over in the Czech Republic with our two young daughters. We moved in 2007 on a "two-year" term, and have stayed here since.
The Czech Republic is considered the most atheistic country in Europe. Two generations under communist rule effectively removed God from Czech society, although there are small numbers of older Catholics and some Czech Protestant Christians. Czechs are very skeptical of many things, especially religion, and the best way to reach them is by forming long-term friendships with them and simply live among them as Christians. We have made many friends through English teaching, work, summer camps, and just being friendly neighbors. Many of them have become comfortable enough to attend one of our Bible study or spiritual discussion nights. We have even held meetings in the local recently restored synagogue.
After thirteen years living here, we decided to commit to staying and purchased a cottage in a small village, as the landlord of our rented house decided to sell it and we had to find a new home. Our younger daughter Roxie currently attends college in Scotland, while our older daughter Rebekah is in a recovery program from mental illness she has suffered the past ten years.
Over time many of our supporters have moved on, but we thank God for all who have helped us in the past and still help us. We have adopted Paul's "tentmaker" model to help make up for lost support, and both work full-time (a "well-paid" job here has a salary of about $1000/month). These jobs have increased our circle of contacts dramatically. It hasn't always been easy, as we've faced struggles including a house fire, police harassment, our daughter's mental illness, the death of both our Dads, and financial challenges. But through it all God has blessed us and equipped us to help others more effectively.