Be His Hands & Feet | Landen Llamas

Well, good morning, Heights Church. It is such

a privilege to be with you all this morning.

And as John has said, I am Landon, and this is

my wife, Jenny, and we get to serve with Josiah

Venture in the Czech Republic. I am originally

from Southern California, was born and raised

there, and went on my first trip to the Czech

Republic in 2005 when I was 20 years old, but

my wife is from the Czech Republic. That's right.

I grew up in the Czech Republic and I grew up

in a Christian home, which is very rare in one

of the most atheistic countries in the world.

And we get to serve there. And our focus is youth

ministry because we are burdened for Czech youth.

And we also feel a sense of urgency. There is

a very famous statistic that says that the majority

of people who make a decision for Christ do so

before their 21st birthday. And we want to just

say this morning, we are so incredibly thankful

for the way that Heights Church sent us out over

11 years ago when we began our journey to serve

with the youth in the Czech Republic. You guys

have faithfully prayed for us. You guys have

faithfully given financially to support the work

that we're doing. And you guys have sent teams

to come and help us with these camps that we

run in the summer. And we are so incredibly grateful.

thankful for that support. And when we moved

to the Czech Republic about 11 years ago, our

focus was very clear, Czech youth. And then one

year into our time there, we were asked to consider

also taking on a very special ministry, being

part of a team that focuses internally in our

organization on the American missionary kids.

We call them the JVK, Josiah Venture Kids. And

this is a very special ministry. We have about

100 Josiah Venture Kids. You can see a picture

of some of them on the screen. screen. They are

living in Central and Eastern Europe with their

American parents. So their home is English speaking

with American traditions. But they go to public

schools and they interact with the nationals

in their countries. Most of them speak the language

very well. And so that's another culture they're

part of. So sometimes it's very challenging for

them trying to understand who am I. And this

camp that we get to do. It's for 8 to 18 -year

-olds. Even though we have 100 GVKs, usually

about 50 of them are in that age range. And they

come to this camp every summer. And they would

say it's the highlight of their year because

it's the one week in their year when they don't

have to explain themselves. This is where they

truly fit in. We want to thank the Heights family

for providing a very sweet, literally sweet gift

to our JVKs because we have some traditions at

camp. And one of the most beloved traditions

is what you see in the picture, American Cereal

Day. And the kids wake up and they say, is it

today? And we have American snacks all throughout

the week, like Oreos and ranch packets that you

guys bring as mission teams when you. and peanut

butter and pretzel sticks and American candy.

And they live for these traditions because actually

part of being a missionary kid is always going

through some kind of transition, welcoming new

people in, saying goodbye, moving. And so anything,

even American snacks, can provide a stability

and a sense of... okay, this is something I can

look forward to that comes every single year.

So thank you, Heights family, for providing that

for us every year. Every age group gets to have

JV staff counselors. And so you can see a picture.

These are our kids that we were asked to come

alongside for all these years of camp. So we

don't change groups every year. We stay with

our same group every year and we get to come

alongside them and pray with them, encourage

them in their faith because most of them are

in. areas of Europe that are very, very secular.

So it's very normal for them to be the only Christian

in their whole school. And just so you can see

what 10 years of ministry with them looks like,

this was at our very first camp when they were

eight years old. And I can't even begin to tell

you how many years of laughter and American snacks

and prayer and Bible teaching that has been.

And this past summer, we celebrated a JVK milestone

because our JVK are graduating from this camp

and they're moving on to go to college. Most

of them will move back to America where they've

never lived before. You know, 10 years of discipleship

is so much about being present because we want

to show these kids that we want to give them

a glimpse of how their faithful God is present

with them in everything that they're going through.

And so I look forward to you hearing now from

Landon on one of his most favorite attributes

of God, and that is the God who is present. Awesome.

Thank you. Well, it really is just incredible

to be able to be back with you all, Heights Church.

And we've been here this entire week. And again,

you guys have just taken such good care of us

and have been so kind to us. We've been staying

with Matt and Joanne Golaher. And they found

out that it's my 40th birthday this month. And

so Matt and Jake, they took me, or Jack took

me to a son's basketball game. So I got to go

down to Phoenix and watch. a basketball game,

which was a lot of fun. Even though I'm from

Los Angeles and the Lakers, I turned in my Lakers

card for the week and I watched the Suns and

I cheered them on and they won their first game.

So that was fun. I got to do some horseback riding

this week. Had some great Mexican food. We've

had some great meetings with people who have

been on the trip. And you guys just always love

us so well. So thank you, Heights Church. And

it is a privilege today to be able to open God's

word with you all. And as John has said, and

as I've been learning, you guys have been going

through a collection of talks called snapshots

from the book of Exodus and looking at characteristics

of God that we can see from the book of Exodus.

And when I heard that you guys were doing a study

of Exodus, I was really excited because Exodus

has a special place in my life because when I

first started out in ministry, I was working

at a church. And I was working in the college

group and then the high school pastor left and

they said, would you go and oversee the high

school kids while we look for a new pastor? And

I said, okay. And they said, you gotta teach

them. You gotta have a series for them. And so

I said, okay, what can I teach them? And I was

taking an Old Testament survey class at seminary

at the time. So I was like, can I teach them

something from the Old Testament? And they're

like, okay. I was like, can I do Exodus? And

they're like. Okay, you can teach them Exodus.

And so I took a group of about 80 high school

kids through the book of Exodus. This was like

my first teaching challenges in ministry. And

I don't know if they got a lot from that series,

but I can tell you the Lord did a lot in my heart,

teaching high school kids through the book of

Exodus. And there's actually one passage that

has been a key passage for me that I remember.

And it stands out that summarizes. so much of

the book of Exodus for me because it highlights

God's heart for his people. And as we know the

context, right? God brings the Israelites to

Egypt because of Joseph, right? Joseph gets sold

into slavery. He goes to Egypt and then there's

this huge famine. He brings all of his family

to Egypt. And then Joseph dies and then the Pharaoh

dies. And now the Israelites are in Egypt and

they continue to grow. And there's a new Pharaoh

that comes to town and he starts persecuting

them, putting them under oppression, making them

do hard slavery. And it started out well in Egypt

and all of a sudden it turned south and they're

suffering and they're struggling and they're

going, God, what are you doing in these difficult

times? And so I want us to look at a passage.

It's Exodus chapter two. It's the very end where

we see God telling the Israelites, I see you

in your suffering. So read with me. If you have

your Bibles, it's Exodus chapter two, starting

in verse 23. It'll also be on the screen. And

let's hear God's word to the Israelites as they're

experiencing slavery and oppression under the

Egyptians. During those many days, the king of

Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because

their slavery and they cried out for help. Their

cry for rescue from slavery came up to God and

God heard their groaning and God remembered his

covenant to Abraham with Isaac and to Jacob.

God saw the people of Israel and God knew. Our

God hears the cry of his people. The Israelites

are experiencing great suffering and hardship

and they cry out to God and their cries come

up to him. And he hears their suffering. He hears

their hardship. And it says, he heard, he remembered

his covenant and he saw his people and he knew.

This is our God. He hears, he sees, and he keeps

his promises. Can I get an amen to that? Amen.

This truth became really profound to me during

our first two years in the Czech Republic. Because

my wife and I, when we left, we left with excitement

and optimism and encouragement for what God was

going to do. through us to change the people

of the Czech Republic. And we arrived, and in

our first year, we faced some very big hardships.

One of the first things that happened was when

we arrived, there grew a conflict within our

organization, and some of the people decided

that they were going to leave. And I had just

been there for six months, and it was really

hard for me to have this tension inside of our

mission team, people we were working with. But

it was even harder because the people that were

leaving were some of my closest friends, people

I knew from California before we had even gone

and served there. And now they were leaving.

And I was heartbroken over that because I was

looking forward to serving with them. On top

of that, in our first year, when we arrived,

Jenny is Czech. Her parents live in the Czech

Republic. We were excited to serve with them,

to have them be in our lives, be a refuge. And

we landed. and found out their marriage was struggling.

And from day one, we stepped into a very difficult

family situation that ultimately over a two -year

period led to them getting divorced. And we were

heartbroken. We're like, man, this is so hard.

And on top of that, within our first year there,

Jenny got diagnosed with a chronic disease. that

had a significant impact on us ever possibly

being able to have children. And here we are,

we've just arrived to the mission field and it's

like one wave after another, after another. And

you're just going, God, what are you doing? Why

would you allow us to have so much hardship?

We came here to serve and to see you work. And

it was in that first couple of years that God

humbled me. that he showed me, I don't need you.

And I'm gonna take you down and I'm gonna humble

you and teach you to walk with me before you

ever do anything amazing for the Czech people.

One of the things you have to learn to do is

just rest in me. And so one of the things that

I started doing that first year was going on

walks with the Lord. And let me show you this

path that I would go on. This is a picture of

a trail that was in our city and I would go and

I would just meet with God on this trail. It

was by the river and I just started saying, God,

I am suffering, it is hard and I just need to

meet with you. I need you to be present in my

life and allow you to pour out my confusion,

my sadness, my hardship. And so I would meet

with God on that path and I would just. Walk

and talk with God. And as I would do that, and

as I started to develop that rhythm, I started

to see God in my life. Started to find ways that

he was working, even though it seemed like everything

was chaos around me. And so one of the first

things I can tell you about what God is doing

in the Czech Republic is he still is meeting

me in my suffering. He showed up and was faithful

when he allowed us to go through hard times to

still be present. And I experienced great comfort

from God walking along that path and praying

to him as our world felt like chaos during those

first two years. And I just wanna encourage you

this morning, what are some of the trials or

the hardships that you are carrying? Does God

have you in the midst of a storm? And do you

believe, that he hears you when you pray to him?

Do you go to him in your hardship and your sadness

and your suffering and say, Lord, I am struggling.

Will you meet me? Because God promises his people,

he remembers his covenant. God remembered his

covenant to the Israelites and God is still remembering

his covenant with us today under the New Testament.

Now, I have to show you another picture, just

so you know that it's not always snowy and gloomy

in the Czech Republic. There is sun there. This

is another picture of the path during the summer.

And after those first two years, God started

in some ways to bring more joy and hope. And

this was the other side of that path. And this

is during the summer walk. And there are some

beautiful parts of the Czech Republic. And there

are beautiful times. And God has met me many

days as I walk along that path. But as God remembered

his faithfulness to the Israelites in the Old

Testament, he also was preparing them this snapshot

for a future time when he was going to send his

son. And the second snapshot that I want us to

look at this morning comes from God. sending

his son. But I want to just connect it briefly

to the end of Exodus. Because one of the beautiful

things that happens is the book of Exodus is

leading us ultimately when God comes and dwells

with his people. When he comes and he fills the

tabernacle. And this is a foreshadow of when

he's going to send his son, when he's going to

send Christ. And so read with me just briefly

how the book of Exodus ends and then how the

beginning of John begins. And we see the connection

and the foreshadowing from Exodus into the book

of John. This is Exodus chapter 40, verses 34.

Exodus 40:34

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting and

the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting

because the cloud settled on it. And the glory

of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout

all their journeys, wherever the cloud was taken

up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel

would set out. And if the cloud was not taken

up, they did not set out till the day that it

was taken out. And the cloud of the Lord was

on the tabernacle by day. And fire was in it

by night in the sight of all the house of Israel

through all their journeys. This is how the story

ends in Exodus. God comes and he fills the tabernacle

and he dwells with his people. And he says, I

am with you. I am present and I will go with

you. And then as we come to the New Testament,

we see Jesus as the fulfillment of this old.

image of the tabernacle. Look in John chapter

one, how it begins and how we see Jesus coming

and tabernacling among us. John 1, 1, in the

beginning was the word and the word was with

us and the word was with God and the word was

God. He was in the beginning with God and all

things were made through him. And without him,

nothing was made that is made. In him was life,

and the life was the light of men. And the light

shines in the darkness, and the darkness has

not overcome it. So we see this picture. The

word has come. The word is with God. The word

is God. And then it says he is the light of the

world. He brings life. And so we're wondering,

who is this word? What is this word that it's

speaking about that is with God in the beginning?

And then in verse 14, we see the answer. And

the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And

we have seen his glory, the glory of the only

son from the father, full of grace and truth.

And this is the amazing truth of the New Testament

gospel is that Christ has now come and taken

on the form of flesh and he has dwelt among us.

And this word, dwelt, it actually means to encamp

in a tent or to tabernacle. It's connecting to

that Old Testament image that like God dwelt

in the tabernacle in the Old Testament, now Christ

has come and he dwells among us. He is present

with us. And that's that second snapshot that

has become a huge encouragement to me as I have

served in the Czech Republic, is to look to the

life of Christ as a model of what does it mean

to live for God? And how does God model his love

for us? It's incarnational. He has come and he

has dwelt among us. God is not distant and just

removed, created and just let the world run its

course. But he actually said, I am so concerned

for humanity. that I have sent my son to come

and live and dwell among you. And so for me and

Jenny, one of the things that's been crucial

in our ministry is to try and follow the model

of Christ, to try and live incarnationally, to

try and spend time dwelling with the young people

in our city. And so small groups have been a

huge part of our ministry. From the very beginning,

we have said, we want to spend time with young

people. We wanna meet them where they are, and

we want to create an opportunity for them to

come together and to study God's word and to

read his word and to pray together. And so from

the beginning of our ministry, we have been advocating

and encouraging and supporting small groups.

And I wanna show you a picture. of my small group.

So here's a group of young Czech guys from my

church, and we're sitting at a coffee shop, and

we're reading God's Word. And my small group

started with just one boy from my church. And

I met him Sunday, and I said, hey, do you want

to meet together? He kept coming regularly to

our church. I said, let's just meet and start

studying God's Word. So we did. And we would

go for a walk, and we would spend 30 minutes

speaking English and 30 minutes speaking Czech.

So I could practice my Czech, he could practice

his English. And then we invited another boy.

So we had two guys. And then we added a third.

And all of a sudden, they just started inviting

more and more of their friends to where now I

have like over 14 guys on my list for my small

group. And we meet every Sunday and we have three

very basic things we do. We come together and

we share about our lives. And we use the five

Fs to help us talk about it. We talk about faith,

family, females, because that's important for

young men, finances and school, and fitness and

health. And we say, we're gonna share about the

important things in our lives. We're gonna share

our lives together. And I'm gonna help you guys

learn how to talk about your life and how can

we keep each other accountable and encourage

each other. And then we study God's word and

then we pray for each other. And one of the things

that's just been beautiful to see is as Jenny

and I open our home to people, we have these

guys in our home or we meet at our church or

in a coffee shop, is just to get into their lives

and to hear what they're going through. One of

the boys has gone through, his parents have gone

through a divorce. One of the boys in my small

group has struggled with suicidal thoughts. One

of the boys has struggled with... wrestling with

his relationship with his girlfriend? And how

should he handle himself in that relationship?

And I just get to live and be in their lives

and try and model like Christ to be incarnational.

And so I just wanna encourage and challenge you

this morning. What does it look like for you

to be incarnational where God has you? What does

it look like for you to go and to live with the

people around you? As I've been staying with

the Gallahers, one of the things I've noticed

is walking in their street, they live in an area

that's a little bit outside of Prescott and there's

all these homes and there's signs as you walk

by that say, there's a big sign or a gate around

the building. No trespassing, beware of dog,

private property. We will shoot you on sight,

right? You gotta be careful there, you know?

It kind of gives the image, we don't necessarily

want you to come and have a conversation. But

as Christians, we should have a different posture

to the world, right? We should say, look, I want

to engage in a conversation. I want to go and

cross barriers to meet you, to engage in conversation

with you. And ultimately, that's the model that

Christ has given us, that he has come and he

has died and he has given us the call. to be

incarnational, to live among the people. And

the last story I just wanna share is the way

that God has called us to share his gospel. And

in the Great Commission, he tells us to go and

make disciples, tells us to baptize them, which

we're going to see, and he calls us to teach

them all that he has commanded us. And this is

the last thing God has allowed me and Jenny to

be a part of. I get to teach at a Bible college.

I get to work with students. This is a picture

of some of the students we work with. But God,

one more, sorry, one more picture. God is working

among young leaders in Central and Eastern Europe

through a college where I get to teach. And we

have many young students that are coming and

studying and getting a bachelor's degree in Bible

and in theology. We've had over 45 students study

with us. 25 of them have graduated. And we're

just seeing young leaders being trained up and

equipped to share the gospel in Central and Eastern

Europe. And God has given Jenny a heart. He's

given us a passion to invest our lives into young

people. We wanna see them. We wanna share our

lives with them. We wanna study God's word with

them and wanna empower them to go out. And so,

Heights, I just want to encourage you this morning,

as you guys have supported us and prayed for

us, God is allowing your investment to do some

incredible things among the youth in the Czech

Republic. And the last thing is this incredible

partnership with our church in the city of Olomouc.

And our pastor has a message for you this morning

to hear from him, from our pastor at our church,

to encourage you and thank you for the way you

guys have partnered with us for many years. Here's

a video from our pastor. Hello, my name is David.

Hello, my name is David, and I'm the pastor of

the Baptist Church here in Old Roads, where Landon

and Jenny goes and serves the youth group. And

we are very thankful for them and for your support

of them. And we are also very thankful for your

support of our church, sending teams for English

camps. So thank you again and we hope to continue

the relationship with you and partnership. And

if you can pray for us, we would be very thankful

also for the church, for integrity of the church

and for openness to be mission minded also in

our area. And also for the good relationships

within the church and for the small groups also.

Thank you.