zachharrod.com

Living in-between

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Living in the in-between can be a challenging experience, as we find ourselves neither in one place nor the other. This creates uncertainty and confusion, making it difficult to know how to move forward. As followers of Jesus, it is crucial that we cling to our faith and hope in Him during these times. I can’t help but think of this every Easter, when I think of Jesus’ first followers. The Saturday in-between Friday and Sunday must have been full of so much. What were they feeling?

They had “pushed all the chips in” so to speak to follow Jesus. They didn’t have an alternative. Their hope and faith had been put in him, he had told them he would defeat death and rise from the dead, but did they believe it? I think often times in life we feel the same whether it’s with following Jesus, following his call, or with almost every big decision in our lives.

How do we move forward in the in-between? Faith. Hope. Ultimately Jesus himself.

Our faith is what gives us a foundation for our beliefs and actions. In Hebrews 11:1, we read that “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Our faith in Jesus is what gives us confidence in the future, even when we don’t have all the answers or know what the future holds.

Our hope in Jesus is what keeps us going, even when we are living in the in-between. In 1 Peter 1:3, we are reminded that our hope is living, and it comes from Jesus’ resurrection. This means that our hope is not just a wish or a dream, but something solid and real that we can count on. It is a hope that transcends our current circumstances and reminds us that there is more to life than what we can see.

Living in-between can also be an opportunity for growth and transformation. As we hold on to our faith and hope in Jesus, we learn to trust Him more deeply and to lean on Him more completely. In James 1:2-4, we read that the testing of our faith produces perseverance, and that perseverance can lead to maturity and completeness in our faith.

Take heart, and remember that even when we are living in-between, Sunday is coming. The resurrection, the new life and hope that we have in Jesus Christ are just around the corner. Let us trust in Him, hold on to our faith and hope, and allow this time of testing to produce perseverance and growth. He is with us every step of the way, guiding us, comforting us, and leading us through the in-between.

#SurpriseUsin6 – The Long Haul

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guest post by Mike Gorter

I’ve known Zach for nearly 20 years now, and have had the privilege of partnering with him since he first began his ministry in Prague. I’ve seen the numerous twists and turns that he’s experienced on this journey, and through every new season, I’ve gained a renewed awe and appreciation for the sustained passion and commitment that both he and Míša keep for the people of Prague and for living out the Gospel within the rhythms of their everyday lives there.

One of the things I deeply value about Zach and Míša is their conviction and commitment to minister to people for “the long haul.” They have a keen understanding of the crucial place that intentionally loving, serving, and living alongside people OVER TIME has in introducing them to Jesus and the true joy of the Gospel of salvation. In their most recent visit to my hometown of Oshkosh, Zach and Míša took some time to share a few video interviews of men and women from Prague whose lives are being changed by the Gospel, which they encountered while being a part of a Missional Community (MC) with the Harrods. Their MC meets on a weekly basis and emphasizes the value of each community member as a family member, a servant, and a missionary. Together they intentionally nurture a community that actively loves Jesus, each other, and the world around them. It was nothing short of thrilling to listen to these stories unfold—people who were once far from Christ becoming a part of this MC and experiencing a regular expression of love and encouragement as they engaged in purposeful time and service! In God’s perfect timing, they came to a place of heart and life change as they took hold of faith in Christ! What a beautiful, powerful way to come up against the spiritual strongholds that have become so deeply embedded in the Czech Republic over generations!

One doesn’t have to look much farther than his or her own local community to observe the sort of brokenness that surrounds Zach & Míša in Prague. In our own cities and towns, we see shades of it everywhere. People spend hours of time in relative isolation pouring into social media instead of real relationships. The widespread reality of depression is coming into greater focus. The general lack of vulnerability, intimacy, and trust within our own local communities is not so different from what Zach & Míša describe as the norm in Prague. If you cross paths with people often enough, they’ll show glimpses of desire for deeper connection, but many seem to have trouble nurturing it. Time, commitment, and trust are precious commodities in this day and age that aren’t freely distributed. Still, I think that each of us deeply desires genuine, relational community beyond our immediate family—people with whom we can regularly share life over the course of years with brutal honesty, vulnerability, and purpose.

The prospect of living life with people at that level of familiarity is, no doubt, something that many people desperately, but quietly crave, and also find unimaginable. To make that level of commitment with people requires a great deal of trust. And yet trust is gained by committing to spend the time that it takes for trust to grow; it’s almost paradoxical! But when a community is consistently guided by a greater commitment to regularly pursue Jesus, a new dynamic is introduced. The focus is not that the community minister to each person’s needs, but that they go together to Jesus in their neediness to be changed and to help others be changed by living out the Gospel as a community. It’s under that vision that a conversation, a shared meal, a Bible study, or an evening of service can effectively foster intimacy and where a formal commitment becomes simply being willfully and continually present in each other’s lives.

For people whose trust has been abused, trustworthiness needs to be demonstrated over time. I still need to be reminded, at times, that close friends are still “for me”—the real, imperfect me, not a sanitized version of myself. How much more does this need persist for people who find authentic, grace-filled intimacy to be a largely foreign concept! It’s not a battle that can be sufficiently won inside of a 4-week hourlong study; it’s, rather, a mission that can take years to cultivate for seeds of trust to grow. What’s so incredible to me about Zach & Míša’s MC is that their mission intentionally allows for the time that’s needed to actively pursue Jesus together in a way that proves out their own personal commitment to vulnerability, service, and love and asks the same things of their fellow community members. No one disregards the need and brokenness that exists, instead they agree to regularly take that need and brokenness together to the Cross.

The discipleship model of Zach & Míša’s MC also aims to foster new communities when the time is right. Over time, these new communities disciple new people to start living new lives in their MC and ultimately, God willing, in all of life as a redeemed child of God. In light my own desire to see and experience greater discipleship in communities like their Missional Community, hearing Zach & Míša’s stories of how they are effectively nurturing this sort of Christ-centered community in Prague is nothing short of inspiring.

As I continue to support Zach & Míša (& Oliver & Baby Harrod #2), I am continually struck by the thought that, as hungry believers struggle to grow in community, we still have the richness of a personal relationship with Christ to bear us up in the midst of our valleys. The idea of carrying the weight of isolation and the longing for true connection alone, without the firm foundation of being in Christ, is deeply sobering. What Zach and Míša extend to their community is an incredible gift and the light of Life to people with needy souls. Whenever I think of it, I thank God for all He’s been orchestrating in the years that Zach & Míša have been faithfully ministering in Prague by demonstrating the power of the Gospel through living lives of love—closely and consistently—with the people around them. That their faithfulness is bearing fruit all these years later is a testimony to God’s goodness and the place of “time” in His kingdom economy.

As I’m sure Zach & Míša would agree, all of that time spent has been so important and so very worth it. I’m incredibly grateful to be part of this journey for the long haul.

 

#SurpriseUsin6 – Following the leader…

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One of the shifts we have seen serving in Prague as Czech and Europe continue to deeper shifts into what is called post-Christian culture is that the models for missions over the last 50 years are becoming dated. We don’t simply see this as a challenge for the Church in Europe but that the American Church needs to notice, as cultural shifts are happening throughout the world. The question is, “Will we adjust or continue status quo as things have been done, ignoring the changing world around us?” I must offer a disclaimer, the Gospel doesn’t change, but the way we communicate it does.

There’s several buzz words attached to the shift that some are making – insider, missional and incarnational are just a few. While I use these words often, this is nothing new, I believe this was present from the beginning of our faith. Jesus modeled it,

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Then Paul lived it out in the context of serving,

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. … I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. [23] I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19, 22b-23

This is nothing new, but somewhere in the last 50 years, we started buying into attracting people to us, planning programs, writing manuals to go through, in the place of GOING TO THEM as Jesus did and his early disciples followed His lead on. So this is nothing new, it’s more like getting back to our roots and being “old school” even though we attach different words to these things today.

Nonetheless we need not get hung up on our systems, theories and programs and start BEING the church again and become all things to all, so that we might win some and then we share in their blessing.

The question for us is will we, the Church, observe, adapt and ultimately follow Jesus’ lead?

#SurpriseUsin6 – “Why football?” pt. 2

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I was asked, “Why football?” During the start of our trip back and in my first post about this, I shared that I worshipped God through my work in the details as a coach and as a result that allows me to be fully present for my players and those in our organization. The other reason why I coach football is that through coaching I can show our guys God’s love in practical ways, which in a post-Christian society goes a long way.

Showing God’s love in practical ways comes in many different forms and it starts with stepping back and being very, very intentional. One of the ways we show this is radical generosity, which is a deep value of ours. Radical generosity means meals, creative opportunities for team building, donuts at practice and more! Generosity changes people.

Another way I show God’s love is through coaching differently, while I’m passionate and get excited, I strive to coach how I think Jesus would coach, and also be me in the process. I’m not Tony Dungy and I’m not Dabo Swinney, while I wouldn’t mind to have their success, I’m not them, I’m Zach Harrod and God wants to me to coach my guys and lead in the way he made me and ultimately in the way of Jesus. So for me, that means being quick to say, “I’m sorry” when I get too excited and need to repair a bridge. Being this type of coach is delicate balance between being a friend and also being an authority, which leads to those moments when I need to swallow my pride and pursue forgiveness. Also being this type of coach, and ultimately friend, means being honest and truthful, even if that isn’t the popular thing. I like how Brian Knight put it, “The simple skill of honesty is to tell the truth as you understand it, with love and purpose, in an effort to share something of value.”

“Why football?” Simply put, it allows me to bring value, love and purpose through relationship, which has led to character change and eternal change through a common language. While I’m still growing as a coach, leader and man, I’m humbled to see God move through the sport!

#SurpriseUsin6 – Surprise us with love!

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We are back in the Lake Geneva area for a few more days before heading back, the 6 weeks that have been part of our #SurpriseUsIn6 series, are nearly behind us. The only significant traveling before us comes on Tuesday when we head back to Prague. As Míša shared in an earlier post there have been some downs and some struggles along the way on this trip, but there have been amazingly beautiful moments as well!

When we started this #SurpriseUsIn6 deal, it started with a prayer and hope that God would surprise and he has. Through this trip God has taught us more than we could have expected. We had hoped that God would bring a lot of the pleasant surprises but knew the bitter ones might be there too. When we started these posts, I found Psalm 90:13-14 in the Message paraphrase and it is has been a source of encouragement for us:

“Come back, God – how long do we have to wait? – and treat your servants with kindness for a change. Surprise us with love at daybreak; then we’ll skip and dance all the day long.”

There have been moments of tears, when we were asking, “How long God?” Moments when we were real with him and asked, “Why?” Then there have been sweet moments of love where we have been surprised, which led to a skip and a dance. As we sit days away from returning to Prague we are waiting with anticipation for daybreak and a surprise! Honestly we don’t know what to expect, we don’t know how we will see the needed support raised, we don’t know where we will be Sunday or even if we will have one last chance to share our story of God’s work in our lives and through our lives, but we do know that in the midst of these things that God knows and we can cling to Him.

As I write this I sit in a quiet house, everyone is asleep and while I’m tired and even a bit sorrowful that things might not have gone how we desired, my heart is full, I’m thankful and I’m hopeful that God will show at daybreak tomorrow morning and I know He will be enough no matter if daybreak brings more waiting or more skipping!

 

#SurpriseUsin6 – The Long Haul

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“What I appreciate about Zach & Míša is that they are in Prague, they’ve put their roots down and they’re there for the long haul,” one pastor shared during our trip back. I was moved upon hearing this, it reminded me of what we shared from Jeremiah 29:7. This verse has impacted our church and our church’s vision, but in the last few years this section has impacted our family and how we’re living,

“Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.” vv. 5-6

Míša and I have a growing conviction that God wants us to invest more deeply into the city of Prague and put our roots deeper than we ever thought. As we read the whole of Jeremiah 29, God has called us to be fully present for the long haul in Prague. This has moved us to decisions that I never thought I would be considering or moving towards – being a co-owner of something, pursuing Czech citizenship (I can now be dual citizen) and more.

We believe this is what God has called us to, as he called the Israelites that were exiled in Babylon to build, plant and multiply for their good and more importantly the good of the place that God has brought them to. God has called us as a family to put roots down, to build, to plant, to multiply, to pray for the good of our great city, to seek her welfare and to keep our eyes off the airport. He’s called us to be ALL there and be ALL IN. In some ways this is pragmatic, because to see deep, lasting change we need to have a long-view approach, it is also a decision to be fully present. As we have inched closer to this, I have had my moments of fear, but God continues to draw us to Him and to the city that has become our home.

Has God called you to put roots down to where he has called you? What prevents you from doing that? What is he calling you to do in this moment?

Please consider helping us to be in Prague for the long haul by joining our team! CLICK HERE to give today.  THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!

#SurpriseUsin6 – Doing more by doing less

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Written by Míša Harrodová

Not many things change your world like becoming a parent. I thought I had some idea what it’d be like because I helped a lot with my brother, who’s 16 years younger than me.

Nope.

Really, I can’t think of a single thing that hasn’t changed since Ollie joined us almost 2 years ago.

A lot of those changes have been valuable lessons. God’s been using all of the unexpected, tiring yet miraculously energizing, overwhelming and fulfilling to teach us things that – I think – would not be normally accepted.

For me, one of the lessons applied to my demand for control. I have a plan, a way I expect things to go, and I want everything to go according to that plan. When things start going awry, I get anxious and even unpleasant.

When Ollie joined us I learned quickly, I wasn’t in control anymore, it started during labor and continues!

I pictured being able to do A LOT of things I used to do with little to no change.  Things like getting coffee with my friends, reading, getting to places on time, NEVER working around my child’s nap time, preparing for meetings I have, studying and getting deeper into things I want to give my time to and etc.

To my surprise, that’s not how it went. I often feel like I’m just trying to navigate through a lot of chaos, don’t have any time to myself, and have no capacity to read, study or prep. Sometimes it is really hard just to listen to another person and sometimes even harder to simply shower.

But through this all, something amazing happened. The relationships that I had seemed to be deeper! How? Instead of being prepped and having a plan of how my meeting would go, I had to start being real – share my mess, hang out, be ok with the fact that we don’t always have a clean house, I don’t always take shower or put my make-up on and I ultimately learned to trust God in the midst of it all.

God showed me, that by me doing less – and He understands why – HE IS CAPABLE OF DOING MORE! By learning to give up control, I learned this amazing truth about our heavenly Father.

Want to help us reach out goal before we head back to Prague on February 12th?  CLICK HERE to help us!

#SurpriseUsin6 Update – 2 Weeks to go!

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Some have asked us, “Zach & Míša how’s the #SurpriseUsin6 campaign going?” Here’s our update with just two weeks left! Thank you to all of you have blessed along the way, it has been a challenging season, but many of you have encouraged us to trust and keep going. Thank you. If you would like to learn more or help us send us a message or if you would like to give you can find more info on the GIVING PAGE. THANK YOU ALL!

#SurpriseUsIn6 – Momentum – The Snow Ball

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“How can we pray for you guys?” Has been the number one question we have received while being back, and while we are trusting God to provide a good chunk of monthly support, we don’t start with that. I respond with this, “Please pray for momentum and then sustained momentum because there are forces that know if the ‘snow ball’ gets too big, it won’t be able to be stopped. What we experience in church, missional communities, football, anti-human trafficking and life in general in Prague is that when a series of positive events start building and we start seeing momentum, something, someone comes along and squashes that snowball. It’s a heartbreaking gut-wrenching experience that often sends us back to the beginning. Going through this for 15 years of ministry and life is tough.”

Would you pray with us for this as well?

While we understand this is life and life in ministry, we’ve had friends who have been with us for years in this, and they have said things like, “What you’ve experienced in a few years, is what some missionaries experience in a lifetime on the field.” When we’ve heard that we don’t know how we should feel. We aren’t interested in comparing ourselves to others, we long to be faithful and see Jesus made much of through our lives. So that means when the snowball has been crushed in the past, or maybe even today still, we start packing another snowball and start the process again, trusting that if we trust in Him nothing we do is in vain.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

Faithfulness. Being steadfast. Being immovable. Trusting in Him through it all.

Please pray that we would continue on in that and that Lord-willing, God would in the midst of this bring momentum, that then we would by His grace sustain.

If you would like to partner with us, you can CLICK HERE.

Blessing or Burden?

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Zach speaking at NCC Uprising, youth group.

I have been a “full-time missionary” for close to 14 years, which is absolutely crazy to consider! Fourteen years is a long time. It makes me feel a bit old as I type it and ponder those 14 years, close to 12 of them have been spent in Prague, the other two spent in Xenia, OH.

As I ponder those 14 years there are so many things to be thankful for and stop and praise God for. That is not a small amount of time and I can’t begin to imagine how many prayers have been prayed, how many dollars have been given and how much people, maybe including you, have sacrificed to be part of what God has, is and will be doing in Prague, Czech, Europe and beyond! I am moved to shout and sing out loud THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF THIS AND WHO WILL BE PART OF THIS!

As we have been in Washington DC this week, we have been very blessed. We have seen God’s generosity through many people here. It’s moving and I’m speechless as I think about it all. In the midst of this all, something that I have been carrying around for 14 or so years stood out to me. Somewhere in the midst of this “career” of mine and the support raising I, and we, have done for all these years I started carrying around a “I am a burden” mindset.

What do I mean by “I am a burden” mindset? That’s a good question that I’m still trying to unpack, but somewhere in those 14 years, while I would write people, call people and try to create avenues to see the support we need raised, I started to believe that as missionaries that need to raise support, that we are not a blessing to people, but a burden to them. That when they see my name in their inbox or in their caller ID, they say something like, “Oh it’s that Zach guy again, he needs money.” This might be true, but I don’t believe it is the overwhelming response of people. However, in the midst of interactions, some how, some way I started to believe this.

Then God brought us here to DC and Míša and I have had this blown up this week. We have had people remind us that we are a blessing and not a burden. It has been freeing for us. It also has helped us to see that we aren’t trying to “sell” ourselves or what we do, but we are honestly giving people an opportunity to be part of what God is doing to woo people to Himself through our presence and work in Prague and beyond.
We are excited to see how God will surprise us the rest of our trip and we are actually slightly giddy with anticipation to see how He will show up. Of course, we will have those “burden moments,” but in those moments we will preach these words to ourselves: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15) Once again, THANK YOU to all of you who have been part of this crazy adventure in some way! You are all amazing. Please pray for us, as we are trusting God to once again show up and bless us, so that we can be a blessing to people in Prague! If you would like to be part of it, please CLICK HERE to help. THANK YOU!

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Jon and his wife, Anne Marie, who put together an amazing week, to allow and show us we are a blessing not a burden.

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