News
May 2024
Trip to the Alkaraz quarry
On Labour Day we went on a trip with the children. We drove to Beroun, from where we walked along the Berounka River to the Alkaraz quarry. It was a great experience for the children as we explored the old passages in the rock. We had lunch at the quarry and continued to Srbsko. There the children were soaking in the river, the older ones were even swimming in it. Finally, we took the train back to Prague.
Bike trip with the teenagers
We went on a bike trip with the teenagers. The goal was a pond in which the boys enthusiastically swam and frolicked. Then we had a snack on the pier, read something short from the Bible and set off on our return journey.
You can click on the box and watch a video from the trip.
European Teen Challenge Conference
We as staff participated in the European Teen Challenge Conference in Poland. It was very encouraging to spend time together with other staff from the Czech Republic and other countries, to hear teaching, testimony of God’s dealings, praise God and pray together. We gained new inspiration and strength for further ministry.
Toulec Yard
We visited Toulců’s yard with preschool children. The children had the opportunity to see domestic animals, someone for the first time, to walk through the wetland and to get to know the basic flowers.
April 2024
Resurrection dance
On Easter Monday, there was dancing in Hradčany Square to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Among about 70 other dancers, three teenagers from our centre took part in the dance. They really enjoyed rehearsing together and performing on the square.
Click to watch a recording of the entire dance.
Swimming in the pond
When it got warmer in April, the teenage boys really wanted to go swimming, so we went to the pond in Hloubětín. The boys liked swimming so much that they demanded to swim again, even though it was only about 12° outside. Still, they got in the water and enjoyed it.
Food collection
This year, for the first time, we participated in a nationwide food collection. We will use the food to prepare lunches and snacks at the clubs and also to support some families of children who are financially struggling. Thank you so much to all the willing people who donated food!
Church visit
Every month we visit a church that supports our centre financially. In April we visited one church that prepared a program for the children in the gym after the service. The children learned to climb a rope, climb a monkey bars and work together. The activities were enjoyed by preschoolers and teens alike. Thank you!
Bowling
We went bowling with the teenagers during the afternoon club and had a lot of fun.
March 2024
Easter Go camp
During Easter we organized together with the youth of KS Praha children’s days in Louny, Bilina and Chanov. Ten of our teenagers were there to learn how to serve others – they organized fun activities for local children, acted in skits and sang. Thanks to them, more than 220 children and many adults were able to experience a fun afternoon and, most importantly, hear about the true meaning of Easter.
Click to watch a video of the event.
February 2024
Ski trip
During the spring holidays we traditionally went skiing in the Jizera Mountains. Three days we skied, on the fourth we went to the swimming pool and then back to Prague. There were 11 teenagers with us, 6 of them complete newbies in skiing, but all of them managed to learn to ski more or less, so most of them skied down the red slopes on the third day without any problems.
In the evenings we were visited by local Roma pastors, which was quite encouraging for our boys.
January 2024
New Year´s Eve stay
Some of our teenagers spent the turn of the old and new year with the youth of KS Prague church. They were in Moravia for five days, where they enjoyed a lot of fun and spiritual program. Besides, it was very good that they celebrated the New Year without alcohol, which our teenagers would not have avoided in their families.
December 2023
Christmas party for children
On Tuesday 19th of December we celebrated Christmas with the children in the club. We told the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus, our Savior, sang carols, had a festive feast together and each of the children received a box full of beautiful gifts. We created these gifts in cooperation with the Shoebox collection organized by the Charity. Thank you to all the willing donors!
St. Nicholas day
On 5th December we traditionally celebrated St. Nicholas day. We remembered that Nicholas really lived once, loved the Lord God and therefore helped people. In his memory, St. Nicholas and an angel came to our house and were portrayed by two of our teangers for the younger children. The children received sweet gifts from them for demonstrating some of their skills.
If you want to see the talents of some of our children, click and watch the video 🙂
Christmas party for parents
After celebrating Christmas with the children, we also invited their parents and other relatives to a Christmas party. We showed photos and videos of our events and looked back at the past year, the pre-school children sang songs and told a few poems, and the older children sang carols. It was great to spend at least a short time not only with the children but also with their families.
Skating
On Monday afternoons in December we spent with teenagers at the ice rink in Letná. Teenagers like skating a lot, many of them have already learned it with us in previous years, for some it was the first time this year, but even the newcomers enjoyed skating very much.
Baking gingerbread
We baked cookies together with the preschool children before Christmas this year. The children were very skilful, they coped well with the dough and together they baked several sheets of delicious gingerbread cookies, which we then ate at the Christmas festival.
Christmas sleepover
We gathered with school children and teenagers on Friday before Christmas for the popular Christmas sleepover, despite the bad weather almost 40 children came. In the afternoon we skated at Letna, in the evening we had a Bible program, competitions, football, at Vitkov hill we said goodbye to the past year with prayers of thanksgiving and sparklers and finally slept over until the next day.
Meeting in Poštovice
Several times a year a meeting of all Teen Challenge centres from the Czech Republic takes place, traditionally before Christmas in Poštovice. This year, several of our teenagers went to the meeting with our leader Paul. It is encouraging for them to see adult clients of the centres who have decided to change their lives.
November 2023
Sleepover with a youth group
The day before the national holiday, teenagers from the KS Praha church and from our clubs gathered at our centre and enjoyed their time together until the next day. They had contests, baking, crafting, Bible program, bowling, soccer and much more on the agenda. 14 of our teens attended the event and thoroughly enjoyed their time together.
October 2023
New worker
Since October we have a new part-time worker for the preschool children. Anet loves the children and is very good with them. She has quickly gained popularity with all the children with her kind attitude. We are very happy for her!
Autumn holidays
Traditionally, our teenagers spend their autumn holidays together with Christian youth in Kutná Hora. This year, 15 of our teens participated in the event, joining about 130 other teens. They thoroughly enjoyed the event, strengthened their friendships with youth from mainstream society and were also able to experience something new with God.
Volunteer cleaning
We are so grateful to the employees from Cisco systems company who came out in October to paint rooms and clean up our backyard playground. They were very helpful, kind and hardworking and were a great help to us by doing things for free that were much needed but we didn’t have time to do. THANK YOU
Bicycle trip
We went on a bike trip with the teenagers instead of an afternoon club. We rode our bikes from the club to Hloubětín, where we roasted sausages on the fire and then headed back again, invigorated. It was probably for all the teenagers their longest bike trip. For some it was a big challenge, but in the end they all made it and rode back safe and sound.
Baptism
One of our former clients, who was coming to our center as a little girl, was baptized in October. We are grateful that she did so to publicly affirm that she has accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord.
Festival of Lights
On the last day of October, we went with the children to the Parukářka hill for the Festival of Lights, which is organized there every year by Prague 3. The children really enjoyed the crafts, competitions, children’s tattoos and nice prizes.
September 2023
Youth group
This school year the teens continue to regularly attend the youth group meetings of the KS Prague church. We are very happy that they are well received there. They love going there, making friends among the other teens and enthusiastically participating in various events and sleepovers with them.
A trip to Liberec
In September, we went to Liberec with the teenagers, where we visited the Church of the Brethren and told them the news from our centre. In the afternoon on the way home we stopped at the swimming pool, which the boys really enjoyed.
Ambassadors
Since September, several of our teenagers have started attending Ambassadors Christian Football Club training regularly. We are glad that this gives them another place to spend quality time while being in a Christian environment.
New children
After the holidays, we have started the clubs again in full and the interest of the children is great. In September alone we had over 20 new children and over 80 different children of four nationalities in total. We are happy to be able to provide a safe place for all children, regardless of difference, to spend their free time and learn about the Lord God.
July – August 2023
Camp
Right at the beginning of the holidays we went with 30 children to a camp at the scout base in Miletín. The children enjoyed games, competitions, sports, swimming, campfire and Bible devotions. For many of the children, this is the only time during the holidays that they get to get out of Prague.
Click to watch a video of the camp.
Other summer camps
In addition to our camp, about 10 teenagers from our center went to two other summer camps organized by the KS Prague church. The teenagers learn to integrate among their peers from the majority society and find friends among them. The Christian program also helps them to direct their lives towards God.
Football tournament
In August, 7 teenagers went to a football tournament in Litvínov as part of the Save my life festival. The tournament was attended by 9 teams, of which our teenagers were definitely the youngest. Nevertheless, they played bravely and won a beautiful 4th place. Congratulations 🙂
Swimming pool
In July we went to Kralupy with our teenagers to the swimming pool. We had a lot of fun 🙂
Park Gutovka
With younger children we visited the Gutovka park one hot afternoon, where there are many opportunities for them to have fun.
Pedal boats
In August we went pedal boating on the Vltava River with our teenagers. They managed to come up with a lot of different fun things to do on them 🙂
June 2023
Children’s Day with Scouts
On Saturday, after a sleepover, we went with the children to Modřany to see the scouts, who prepared for us a children’s day full of various disciplines. The children had a game in the forest, face painting, archery, roasting snails from dough, tug-of-war with a rope, stringing beads and other great activities. Thanks to the scouts!
Click for video.
Football sleepover
The teenage boys had a football event on Saturday – first they played a football match at Černý Most, then watched the Champions League final and after a night walk they slept over at our center until the next day.
May 2023
Festival Na Výšinách
With teenagers we attended the Christian open air festival Na Výšinách in Vyšehrad. The teenagers really enjoyed the concerts, especially the rapper and DJ 🙂 After the festival we walked around the Vltava river and finally slept in the club until the next day.
Click and watch the video.
April 2023
Easter event
During Easter, in cooperation with the Prague Christian Youth, we organized three afternoon programs for children in excluded localities. Our teenagers acted as leaders, preparing disciplines for the children, performing skits and telling them about the true meaning of Easter. They did a great job!
Click and watch the video.
Football match
At the end of April, the male leaders went to a Slavia-Hradec football match with some teenagers. It was a great experience for the teenagers and they remember it fondly.
March 2023
Ski course
We went on a ski course with the teenagers again. We stayed in Jablonec n.N. and went to the Jizera slopes. All the beginners quickly learned the basics of skiing and on the third day they were skiing down Tanvaldský Špičák 🙂 On the last day we visited the pool in Liberec.
Click and watch the video from the event.
February 2023
From client to worker
Kristián started coming to us many years ago as a small preschooler. He worked his way through all our age groups until he became a volunteer. Last year he successfully graduated from high school and this year, to our delight, he joined our team as a part-time worker. He is a great help to us and we are very grateful for him!
In muzeum
During the half-term holidays, we visited the National Agricultural Museum with the younger children. The children played fishermen, hunters and cooks or tried out how to operate a digger.
January 2023
December 2022
Member of a team
From September until the end of the year, Kryštof, who started coming to us as a client a few years ago, was part of our team. After a few years, he became a volunteer and started working as part-time this September. He starts a new job in January and thus leaves our ranks. But we are very happy at least for his short-term help.
Christmas celebration
Even this year, the last meeting at the center this year was special. We remembered the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Thanks to generous donors, each child received a gift prepared by name. And many children then stayed for a traditional Christmas sleepover.
Click for video.
New Year´s Eve stay
At the end of the year, 9 of our teenagers joined the New Year’s Eve stay organized by the KS Prague church. Everyone liked it there, teenagers strengthened their relationships with other young people and also their relationship with God.
October 2022
Ukrainian volunteer
We are very grateful that a young lady from Ukraine started visiting us regularly. She helps with a group of youngest children, where we now have mostly children from Ukraine. Thanks to her, we can better understand them and include activities in their language.
September 2022
Effects of the war in Ukraine
After the holidays, many new children started coming to us, many of them come from Ukraine, which they had to leave because of the war. Currently, 15 Ukrainian children come to us regularly. We therefore try to adapt the program to them and we are looking for Ukrainian volunteers to interpret for the children.
Graduates
Two of our former clients, who have been our volunteers for some time, successfully graduated this year! One of them is the first of his entire extended family to have a matriculation exam. We are proud of them!
Youth group
Every Wednesday, teenagers participate in a youth group meeting in the Christian community. In this way, they make friends among children from mainstream society and are included in the life of the church.
Hot lunch every meeting
Since September, we have been open again 4 times a week. We go to pick up the younger children straight from school, the first group at 11:35, the second at 12:30, the older ones come alone later. Everyone gets a hot lunch at our place and a hearty snack in the afternoon.
July – August 2022
Teen camp
In addition to our summer camp, we take some children and teenagers to church summer camps. There were 12 of our teenagers at the Teen camp this year. Everyone enjoyed it very much, made friends with the other participants and moved forward on the path to the Lord God.
June 2022
Children from an institution
An institution where at-risk children are housed, is located in the building opposite to ours. We have established cooperation with the organization, and some of the children who are placed with them attend our afternoon clubs. We are happy that they can laugh with us, have fun, be with a bunch of friends and also hear about the hope for every person.