My name is Stanislav Stebel. I am the pastor of a Brethren Church in the Czech Republic. The first time I heard about Entrust (then BEE) was in 1985. I studied in a first-generation group in the Slovak Republic. Under communism I served as a leader in a small preaching station and had no experience in church planting. One older pastor counseled me about working with youth, how to preach and to invite people to our meetings. The Entrust courses helped me to strengthen my personal relationship with God and I learned how to teach others to help me. They also studied the courses and now live all across the Czech Republic. Most of them serve in the church, many as pastors.

In 1989, before the “velvet revolution,” the church asked me to serve full-time as a pastor. I declined because at that time I had no theological education; my degree was in economics and transportation. I worked with computers at a research institute and I loved my job. My wife and I prayed for two months, then we understood that God called us to serve wherever the denominational leaders sent us. We went to Vsetin in eastern Moravia, which already had a church of 300 members who had been without any training opportunities for many years. The congregation was very thirsty for training and we started using the Entrust courses with groups for both men and women. Entrust staff from abroad came faithfully each month to help both my wife and me with the groups. The time in our home over dinner and breakfast was very valuable for discussing all aspects of church life. Amazingly, about 100 men and 30 women completed the courses. During the 10 years in Vsetin we baptized about 130 people and planted three other churches. When we left we could see much fruit from the work and by then more than 10 others were qualified to teach.